In our latest Review Round-Up, we’re looking back at a pair of homegrown comedies that caught our eye at the 2021 Dublin International Film Festival. These Irish comedy films both have a dark sense of humour and a heartening sense of ingenuity, highlighting some of the best in filmmaking on our island.
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A new film festival in Dublin dedicated to comedy promises offers up some much needed winter levity with an online programme of films and live stand-up acts. A mix of films and live comedy will take place at the first Dublin International Comedy Film Festival next month. Some of our Ireland’s top comedic talent on screen and off will share new shorts, features, sketches and stand-up.
- November 26, 2020
- 2020, Comedy, December, DICFF, Dublin International Comedy Film Festival, Features, Film Festivals, Irish Film, Online, Short Film, Sketches, Web Series
In Direct Line, Film In Dublin cuts to the chase, asking 20 questions of Ireland’s directors to get a brief look into their outlooks, influences and inspirations.
An award-winning actor, writer, director, and producer, Maureen O’Connell is a recognisable name to anyone with an eye on the Irish film scene. Her short films, wide ranging comedies like Meitherhood or the 1916-themed Proclaim! are regular selections for any solid Irish festival programme. More recently, the director’s comedy feature Spa Weekend has been a hit at festivals home and abroad, screening in British and Irish festivals and last year winning the ‘She Is On Fire’ Award at the Female Filmmakers Festival in Berlin.
Keeping that fire lit, Maureen O’Connell is now organising the first Dublin International Comedy Film Festival. Taking place online from December 3rd and 4th, the festival promises to offer some much-needed winter levity with a selection of short and feature films.
- November 10, 2020
- 2020, Comedy, Direct Line, Directors, Dublin International Comedy Film Festival, Interviews, Maureen O'Connell, November, Short Film, Spa Weekend
The inaugural Dublin International Comedy Film Festival launches online in December 2020 and submissions are open now to filmmakers until this Saturday October 31st.
- October 28, 2020
- 2020, 2021, Comedy, December, Dublin International Comedy Film Festival, Generator Hostel, Irish Film, Maureen O'Connell, Short Film, Submissions
Director: McG Starring: Judah Lewis, Emily Alyn Lind, Jenna Ortega Running Time: 101 minutes
Released on Netflix in 2017, The Babysitter was a good example of what the streaming platform hopes for with a large amount of their ‘original’ films; fun, watchable, kind of disposable, and with a simple hook to lure viewers in: a murderous babysitter and a crew of high school clichés going after the kid who idolises her for a satanic ritual. It was a winking bit of playtime with horror tropes that new what it was and didn’t overstay it’s welcome, but what kicked it up a notch from ‘grand’ to ‘oh that was actually pretty good’ was Samara Weaving in the titular role, elevating proceedings through sheer force of charisma as she went on to do in Ready or Not and looks set to do in a fruitful career in Hollywood.
This sequel sees the return of some of the kids from the first film, as young Cole Johnson, now in high school, grapples with the events of the original. He’s a pariah in school and his parents doubt his mental health, nobody believing his side of the story. Weaving, now in high demand, is a shadow that hangs over Killer Queen, and while the film carries the same spirit of its predecessor quite well, it also serves as a strong indicator of the Aussie’s talent: it’s quality compared the first one is more or less proportional to the extent of her absence.
- September 12, 2020
- 2020, Bella Thorne, Comedy, Emily Alyn Lynd, Hana Mae Lee, Horror, Jenna Ortega, Judah Lewis, Ken Marino, Leslie Bibb, McG, Netflix, Reviews, Robbie Amell, September, The Babysitter: Killer Queen
In the latest episode of the Breakout Role Podcast, Luke and Jess look at a more recent success story, that, in a personal attack on Luke as he pushes 30, was also 9 years ago…It’s Attack the Block! Joe Cornish’s cult hit sci-fi story of a group of London kids taking on vicious aliens in their block of flats.
- August 28, 2020
- 2010s, Attack the Block, Comedy, Horror, Joe Cornish, John Boyega, Podcasts, Sci Fi, Star Wars
With news, reviews and events in the fair city of film a little thinner on the ground at the moment, Film In Dublin will taking an occasional look at What’s On…The Shelf, taking a deeper dive in to some of the films in their personal collections. This time, Luke Dunne goes on long on John Carpenter’s Big Trouble in Little China.
- May 18, 2020
- 80s, Action, Big Trouble in Little China, Comedy, John Carpenter, Kurt Russell, Martial Arts Films, What's On The Shelf
Director: Robert Eggers Starring: Robert Pattinson, Willem Dafoe Running Time: 109 minutes
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Flying witches, talking goats, mystical seagulls. That’s only a select few of the mad and intriguing things that director Robert Eggers has brought to his first two feature films; 2015’s The Witch and, now, The Lighthouse. There is no doubt that Eggers likes to challenge cinema goers or, more accurately, create stories that demand attention and encourage debate. A straightforward cinema experience is not something you are going to get here, but you are, without a doubt, the better for that. With The Lighthouse, Eggers delivers an atmospheric psychological thriller unlike any other you’ll see all year. This is an intoxicating, feverish, unnerving and often hilarious experience and one that will have fans ruminating on its messages for years.
- January 29, 2020
- A24, Comedy, Craig Lathrop, Horror, Jarin Blaschke, Lighthouse, Movie, Review, Robert Eggers, Robert Pattinson, Willem Dafoe
Do you want one of the finest comedies available to humanity? Do you want them here and want them now? The Sugar Club will try to sate your desires with a screening of British dark comedy classic Withnail and I on Saturday 7th December.
- December 5, 2019
- 2019, 80s, Bruce Robinson, Classic Movies, Comedy, December, Paul McGann, Richard E. Grant, Richard Griffiths, The Sugar Club, Withnail and I
Director: Rian Johnson Starring: Daniel Craig, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Lakeith Stanfield, Katherine Langford, Jaeden Martell, Christopher Plummer Running Time: 130 minutes
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“The game is afoot” renowned mystery-solver Benoit Blanc knowingly crows during one of Knives Out‘s twisty turns, and it seems clear from the outset what game director Rian Johnson is playing here. However mixed (and wearingly unending) the reception may have been for Johnson’s last movie, the man clearly has strong support from Hollywood higher-ups, enough to fund a big “one for him” movie, a “dig out an old idea you’ve always wanted to do and hire everyone you’ve always wanted to work with” movie. And so we get Johnson’s loving homage to the murder mystery genre, a story he’s been kicking around since just after Brick, packed to the seams with rising talents, esteemed character actors and Hollywood royalty. And it’s a bloody delight. The opportunity to self-indulge to this extent is not a luxury every filmmaker is afforded, for what it’s worth though, Johnson uses the platform to delve into some unexpected areas worth examining. If you’re going to do something silly, you might as well do it smartly, which Knives Out accomplished on a number of levels.
