For anyone looking to spend Valentine’s Day cuddling up and watching a movie, sure there’s always the option of some Netflix and chill, but you can also step outside the house too. Cinemas across Dublin have a range of romantic films on show to make for a special Valentine’s for Dublin’s film fans.
The Brooks Hotel has put together a Valentine’s cinema package. This February 11th and 14th, they’re offering Valentine’s packages in their Private Cinema. They’ll be showing the Saoirse Ronan hit Brooklyn on Saturday the 11th, followed by the intruigingly unconventional choice of Gone Girl for Valentine’s Day itself. The Drury Street hotel is offering packages for a ticket & popcorn for €14 and a ticket, popcorn & three course meal for€48.50. Each film starts at 8pm sharp on their respective days and with limited space available booking is essential.
The Pavilion Theatre is also holding a double-bill on Valentine’s. For €12 you can double up and watch Brief Encounter followed by Lost in Translation at the Dun Laoghaire theatre. Screening at 5pm , Brief Encounter is a 1945 romance, for those looking for something very old school. Directed by David Lean (also of The Bridge on the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia among others), the film is an adaptation of Stil Life by the renowned playwrite Noël Coward (who also helped write and produce the film), telling the story of a married woman, whose conventional domestic life is increasingly complicated after she meets a mysterious man at a railway station and embarks on an emotional affair with her. That’s followed at 8pm with Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation. See Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson’s unlikely connection as they play an aging actor and recently married graduate respectively, bonding in the face of the culture shock, boredom and melancholy of their time spent in Tokyo. Tickets for this can be bought individually or for a discount for both.
At the IFI, the focus is on the classic ‘women’s picture’, as exemplified by Douglas Sirk and his 1954 film, Magnificent Obsession. Described by the IFI as ‘a world of fast cars, rugged men and heroic gestures’, Magnificent Obsession stars Rock Hudson and Jane Wyman as the reckless playboy seeking redemption and the widow literally blinded by his actions. Featuring exceptional costumes and use of colour, light and shadow, this is trademark Sirk. The IFI will be showing Magnificent Obsession at 6.30pm on Valentine’s Day, and the film will be introduced by the radio broadcaster, lecturer, writer, producer and director Steven Benedict.
We also can’t forget the Ryan and Dine event organised by the Light House Cinema, with an afternoon and evening full of some wine, food and Ryan Gosling’s finest films. And finally, practically every cinema in Dublin is going to be showing a certain film, out today. You may have heard of it, it involves light BDSM and office decor and abusive stalker boyfriends with no respect for boundaries? Fifty Shades Darker, is that it? So there’s that too. No matter what you’re into, from Golden Age classics to the latest romantic blockbuster, you’re spoilt for choice next week in the fair city of film.