Sweet Story: An Exploration of Film and Culture
A Date for Mad Mary. Element Pictures, 2016. Directed by Darren Thornton. Screenplay by Darren Thornton and Colin Thornton. Produced by Ed Guiney and Juliette Bonass. Adapted from the one-woman play 10 Dates with Mad Mary (2010) by Yasmine Akram. Starring: Seána Kerslake, Tara Lee, Charleigh Bailey, Denise McCormack, Siobhan Shanahan. [Image: scannain.com] Darren Thornton’s... Continue Reading →
About halfway through Maeve Brennan’s novella The Visitor, the author comments on the two worlds that exist within the landscape of a city. She distinguishes these two worlds by describing them as, the one with walls around it, meaning the private interior world of the home, and the one with people around it, which is the public... Continue Reading →
In 2011, an independent Irish film entitled Parked debuted to somewhat mixed reviews and little attention. While many critics praised the strong performances in the film, its plot and pacing received a mixed response. It won awards and was well-reviewed at several international film festivals, but it didn't seem to get much attention at home. Overall the... Continue Reading →
In 2016-17, I completed an MA in English, specialising in Irish Writing and Film, at University College Cork. As part of the course, everyone in my class was required to set up and regularly update a blog. The idea of the blog initially filled my classmates and me with dread, as blogging was completely uncharted territory for... Continue Reading →
“I remember one particular kid… one of the players… he left the pitch and he said to his dad; ’I don’t give a fock how you think I played, just crack open the wallet dude’ … and that’s the moment in my mind that Ross O’Carroll-Kelly was born.” Paul Howard, Episode 86: An Irishman Abroad... Continue Reading →
Since its debut on Channel 4 this spring, Lisa McGee’s Derry Girls proved to be a hit with critics and viewers alike. Partly based on McGee’s experiences growing up in Derry, the series offered a refreshingly warm and funny look at adolescence in 1990’s Northern Ireland. Throughout the first season, the Troubles acted as a... Continue Reading →
The following article looks at two BBC productions that recounted true incidents of violence against women. The three-part drama Five Daughters aired on BBC One in April 2010. Written by Stephen Butchard, the mini-series revolves around the Ipswich serial killer case, when Steve Wright murdered five young women during the winter of 2006. The BAFTA... Continue Reading →
A profile of David Gleeson's 2003 comedy-drama. Contains some spoilers. Set in Limerick city during the boom years, Cowboys and Angels depicts the growing friendship between two very different men and looks at the anxieties and challenges faced by young people trying to establish their identity in a modern city. When shy civil servant Shane... Continue Reading →
In his 2012 film What Richard Did, director Lenny Abrahamson depicts the downfall of the titular rugby playing 'golden boy' following an act of violence. The film's serious subject matter and the fact that its plot was inspired by the real-life events surrounding the death of a Dublin teenager, meant that its production was a heavy... Continue Reading →
In his 2007 essay "Cinema, city, and imaginative space: 'Hip hedonism' and recent Irish cinema", McLoone outlines how the relative prosperity and optimism of the Celtic Tiger years led a cultural rebirth of Dublin, and a re-imagining of Ireland's capital in film as a space of "sexual freedom and exploration" (213). Films like Goldfish Memory... Continue Reading →
Scéal Milis 