handsomepig

Zoe Kavanagh's 'Demon Hunter' played to a packed audience in Dundrum in Dublin recently in a one off special screening, earning it a well deserved rapturous applause 90 minutes later. Knowing the time & effort Zoe put into making this Jewel in her Crown of achievements so early in her career, I can only say I was blown away with what I saw. Heaven knows what she would do with a big budget at her disposal. As it is on limited release & picking up awards across the globe, I made sure I ordered it on pre-release from Amazon. When it arrived I watched it again & still loved it. This may look like one of the biased reviews that litter IMDb with the suspicious markings, but the production, direction, sound fx, soundtrack, visuals & excellent performances from Niamh Hogan & Michael Parle (especially one on one) compels me to give high marks. Watch it & remember it's a 70k budget then make your own minds up. I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. Bigger budgets & better things are ahead for Zoe but who will obviously attract jealous 'types' voting this down without even seeing it which is sad. Keep 'em coming Zoe. Everyone is so proud of you.

I have enjoyed the TV Show & live DVD's so I am not reviewing this as a hater of the Mrs. Brown's Boys Franchise. I didn't see it in the cinema but just bought the DVD to satisfy my curiosity. What I witnessed was one of the worse attempts at a movie I have ever seen. It is unfunny & an attempt at a plot to carry this for an hour and a half is invisible. Even the reusing of old jokes which has been Brendan O'Carrolls trademark for years couldn't lift this off the bottom of the septic tank it sits in. Brendan himself is very sharp & very funny as a comedian & in a live situation is hilarious. But he obviously wrote down all the jokes he heard in school & dusts them off oh too often. Only his sister Eilish who plays Winnie can claim she put in a decent shift in this. Delivery of the weak punchlines was slow & poor throughout & mistaking a Pakistani man for a Jamaican might be slightly funny the first time. Blind Ninjas & O'Carrolls attempt at what I assume was a Chinese man were embarrassing. We pretended to be Chinamen in school Brendan... snap out of it! Brendan O'Carroll has taken this recycling thing too far & whoever said in the trailer that 'it's the funniest film this year' was either well paid or has only seen one film this year! Avoid the movie but watch the live show.

Once again a much hyped up Irish movie with an excellent cast is wasted by a disjointed shabby storyline which goes nowhere. It's one of those that you want to be good but only keeps your interest by some good acting by the leading men, especially Gleeson who was badly under used but was brilliant. Jim Broadbent with an Irish accent... I don't think so & why the hell is everyone in the movie using the word MAN at the end of every sentence. I have lived in Dublin a long time & that word in that context can only be associated with junkies. Yet it's an everyday word used by the majority of people in this movie (I was expecting the dogs to bark out the words MAN!). Plot holes too were everywhere, especially regarding the police... where were they? One of their cars is stolen & the thieves are able to drive around at their leisure... what about the two helicopters they have? Shootouts everywhere & no police. The overall storyline went round in circles & when it was over it was a relief & a huge disappointment! Come on MAN... Make better movies MAN!