Misbehaviour; All Dressed Up with Nothing to Say

Director: Philippa Lowthorpe Starring: Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Jessie Buckley, Keira Knightly, Greg Kinnear, Lesley Manville, Rhys Ifans Running time: 106 mins Misbehaviour benefits from the pedigree of a strong cast, a compelling story and a seasoned director at the helm; Philippa Lowthorpe was the first woman to win Best Director at the Baftas, and she’s won…

Stephen Cleary on Power & Gender in Storytelling

Later this month the experienced writer/producer Stephen Cleary will be in the fair city of film to provide two intriguing workshops on interest to budding storytellers on screen. Running next week with Film Network Ireland, the workshops will provide an opportunity to advance their knowledge of story structure, genre writing and more. We decided to…

Ready Or Not, Here Comes an Instant Hit

Directed by: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett Starring: Samara Weaving, Adam Brody, Mark O’Brien, Henry Czerny, Andie McDowell Runtime: 95 mins Ready Or Not manages to balance fun with suspense, its fast pace keeps the viewer onboard throughout the simple but bonkers premise. The film opens with Grace, who is marrying into the Le Domas board…

Midsommar Night’s Scream; What did we think of Ari Aster’s Latest?

Director: Ari Aster Starring: Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, William Jackson Harper, Will Poulter, Ellora Torchia, Archie Madekwe Runtime: 147 minutes Watching Midsommar feels like watching someone boil a frog. And no matter how much pretty lighting and composition you use in the process, you can’t help thinking “Why are we boiling this frog?”

Does Booksmart Innovate or Play it Safe?

Director: Olivia Wilde Starring: Kaitlyn Dever, Beanie Feldstein Running Time: 102 minutes The premise of Booksmart is simple; two bookish besties are about to graduate high school attempt to have a wild night before heading their separate ways. This formula of loser-lets-loose has basically become a subgenre; think I Love You Beth Cooper, Superbad, Netflix’ Good Kids even. Booksmart does something a little different in spotlighting a…

Best of 2018: A Quiet Place

A Quiet Place was a stunning debut from John Krasinski, showing that the horror genre has the scope to be emotionally-intelligent when handled properly. The film follows Lee Abbott (played by John Krasinski), Evelyn Abbott (Emily Blunt) and their children, who are struggling to navigate a world overrun by violent aliens who are attracted by…

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom passes muster

Director: J. A. Bayona Starring: Bryce Dallas Howard, Chris Pratt, Isabella Sermon Running Time: 128 minutes The central conflict of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom isn’t about dinosaurs, it’s not even about being pro-dino rights or pro-bioweapons. The central conflict is the friction caused by J. A. Bayona’s directing style bumping against the constraints of this franchise, like a T-rex testing…