Charming is the right word to use, mostly because it’s Irish; fans of Edgar Wright’s SHAUN OF THE DEAD will feel right at home. Here, though, BOYS FROM COUNTY HELL’s comedy mostly comes from deadpan realism—from vampire-zombies who emerge and go for the kill, and from living characters yelling expletives who spend most of the 90 minutes fleeing chaos and bickering.
A new documentary, which includes an expedition by a group of Irish explorers on a special research mission to Iceland, received it’s premiere on RTÉ One this past weekend. Filmed by filmmaker Tony Whelan, the film is about a group of Irish whales and dolphins traveling to Iceland in May 2018 on a unique research expedition.
One of the best and most significant Irish films ever made has just arrived on Netflix. IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER reunited director Jim Sheridan with star Daniel Day-Lewis in a powerful biopic that examines the Irishman Gerry Conlon, who was wrongfully sentenced to life in prison for an IRA terrorist attack that killed four people.
Liam Neeson has told of how the script for his new movie – about a father and son who bond after their wife and mother dies – left his gut “churning” because it mirrored his own life. The TAKEN star said while the script for MADE IN ITALY wasn’t written for him, it was “near the knuckle” following the death of his wife, Natasha Richardson.
TOWN OF STRANGERS is almost certainly a documentary, but it began life as something like a drama. O’Brien arrived in the Co Galway town of Gort – also subject of the recent doc When All Is Ruin Once Again – with a mind to casting actors for a fictional film. She drives about in a van blasting out requests for the locals’ “loves and losses”, and, intrigued by the auditionees’ stories, decides to make them the subject of the picture.
U2 have announced online concert film series The Virtual World, that will be broadcast on the band’s YouTube channel. The series will showcase four of U2’s most legendary performances from over their four-decade career, kicking off on March 17 with the band’s 2001 concert at Slane Castle in County Meath. It will be the first time ever that three of the concerts have been made available digitally, and they will remain available to watch online for 48 hours after their broadcast.
WOLFWALKERS, made by Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon, has been nominated for an Oscar. Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart’s Wolfwalkers, produced in Kilkenny, has been nominated as best animated feature for the upcoming 93rd Academy Awards.This is the Irish studio’s fourth nomination in the category and, locked in an apparent two-horse race with Pixar’s Soul, offers them their best chance yet to win the prize.
Irish football fans are in for a treat because Virgin Media has confirmed it will air the documentary FINDING JACK CHARLTON on March 28. Given the subject matter of the documentary which chronicles Charlton’s own battle with dementia, the broadcaster has also teamed with The Alzheimer Society of Ireland to launch a fundraising week from 22-28 March.