joegreene32

Good old Ken Loach. This dedicated English socialist has made the most interesting film to come out of Ireland in recent years. He has managed to pack in a history lesson, a war movie, a love story and sibling rivalry into two hours. Good performances all round - Cillian Murphy's best to date. If you know nothing about the unraveling of the British Empire and the foundation of the Irish Free State, look no further. Streets ahead of the overblown Michael Collins, Loach's sparse, naturalistic style serves the bigger story well. Focusing on two brothers fighting the good fight against the Brits in Cork in the aftermath of the 1916 rebellion, the film is at its best as the battle hardens young minds. When the Brits eventually pull out, leaving chaos and bad feeling behind them, the tide turns and brother goes against brother. Credit to writer Paul Laverty for turning this pivotal period of Irish history into a gripping tale. High point the ending, low point no Brendan Gleeson.

This is a good looking sexy Irish film and no one is talking in that cod Dublin accent so beloved of Irish filmmakers. Featuring solid performances from Aidan Gillen and newcomer Renee Weldon as two lovers adrift in present day Dublin who meet in a pub, this is a curiously engaging film. The dialogue is relatively sparse, the piece very European. Images are used to tell the story. There are some good cameos – Eamonn Morrissey singing I got my hole on the Malahide Road and a barfly talking about playing handball against the twin towers "before they knocked them over". The story is very straightforward. Weldon strikes up a relationship with the reserved Gillen, they get it on and begin a series of sexual assignations in and around the city. Never mind the explicit 9 Songs. Here, the love scenes are well handled, stylised and the whole thing kind of works. Dublin has never looked so romantic, thanks to striking photography and good songs. You can smoke in these pubs. Weldon is especially good and you can see why she won awards for her acting. High point Weldon, low point extraneous detail. Warning: Brendan Gleeson is not in this film.

Finally saw this online and wondering what all the fuss is about. Almost whimsical, I couldn't quite believe the darkness at the centre of the story. There are a couple of good lines and the performances are solid – Rory Conroy being the best. Martin McDonagh is a very talented playwright, but on this evidence his directing is a little flat. Film looks and sounds flat too. What struck me about it was the superficiality of it all, the cynicism. However it does have some funny moments and moves along at a brisk pace. I'm not surprised it was looked on so favourably by the academy, picking up an Oscar for Best Short Film – it has hip written all over it. And it is one of the better short Irish films I've seen, complete with twists and double twists and a lot of flippant dialogue. McDonagh is planning a gangster film with Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson. I'll pay money to see that. He obviously wants to be the Celtic Scorsese. High point a cow explodes. Low point rather tasteless plot line about a baby's death. Brendan Gleeson is in this film.