Top 20 Irish Movies Of The Decade

Many of these films could have made the Top 50 but we decided to separate them to shine a little spotlight on Irish cinema in the past decade. The usual debates over what constitutes an Irish film have been set aside in the interests of inclusiveness.

1. Bloody Sunday *
2. Adam & Paul
3. Once
4. In Bruges
5. Garage
6. Hunger
7. Eden
8. Intermission
9. The Magdalene Sisters
10. Breakfast on Pluto
11. The Wind That Shakes The Barley
12. The Halo Effect
13. MickeyBo and Me
14. Disco Pigs
15. In America
16. Inside I'm Dancing
17. Kisses
18. Kings
19. Omagh
20. A Film With Me In It (seriously flawed but sufficiently inspired to creep into
the list - plus, there's a serious lack of Irish comedies in the past decade. Odd considering it used to be our bread and butter - honourable mentions in this regard go to Man About Dog and When Brendan Met Trudy).

* We still hate James Nesbitt

Neil + Neil = Excitement

Neil Jordan - who doesn't get enough credit internationally for being a supreme visualist - should be linked with every adaptation of any graphic novel with half a brain that gets bandied about Hollywood but his tendency to develop his own projects means that he rarely gets attached to big-name projects (with the exception of Interview With The Vampire). Today however, he is being linked with The Graveyard Book, a Newberry Medal winning book by none other than Neil Gaiman, arguably Britain's finest fantasy/horror writer.

We haven't had the pleasure of reading The Graveyard Book but apparently it's a litle like The Jungle Book but with ghosts instead of panthers. It's about a little boy who clambers out of his crib one night and out of the house - the same night that his entire family is killed by a terrifying man called Jack. The baby wanders into a graveyard, where he is hidden from the killer by friendly ghosts, and then adopted by them. Nobody, as he is then called, is raised by the Owens, a deceased couple, Silas, who's neither dead nor alive, and a whole graveyard full of spooks.

Jordan, a top class writer to boot, especially when it comes to adaptations, is also set to pen the screenplay so this could be a supreme match of two fervent imaginations. As it stands though, nothing is set in stone so keep your fingers crossed. No really, we're watching you.

Sheridan Announces Boston Mob Project

Jim Sheridan and Nye Heron have written a script based on the book Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob, by Boston Globe reporters Dick Lehr and Gerard O’Neill. The book chronicles the rise of Whitey Bulger from Mob enforcer to boss of the Winter Hill Gang. Sheridan will direct the project.

Bulger’s rise was assisted by his childhood friend John Connolly, who just happened to be an FBI agent. And yes, Bulger became an informant… until his disappearance 14 years ago, which caused a massive scandal.

After the career low that was Get Rich Or Die Trying, Sheridan looks to be picking up the pieces with aplomb. Black Mass (as the movie looks set to be called) will be his follow up to Brothers which boasts a serious stellar cast and could be an awards contender next year. This could make it a powerful one two. Speaking of powerful one twos. This pair seem to have our Jim entranced.

Cineworld Pass On 3D Price Hike Early - Watchmen Boycott

You may remember that we reported that this year Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of Dreamworks planned to start charging $5 extra for the 'privilege' of seeing 3D movies in your cinema, beginning later in the year with Monsters V's Aliens. Well Cineworld have decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth and have already begun to charge up to €5.30 extra into 3D films.

According To Katzenberg, they want to charge extra because it cost them extra to make. Even though, the reason they are spending that money in the first place is to provide an extra attraction that will bring punters into the cinema and make them bucket loads of money. Consider this analogy. If a studio spends $20 million on Tom Cruise's salary are we going to be charged an extra $5 for the privilege of seeing the flick? No! Studio's (perhaps incorrectly in the case of Cruise) assume that the attraction of Cruise will bring audiences in and pay for his salary and make them a bucket load of money to spend on coke and hookers. If a movie spends extra money on an expensive action sequence are we going to be charged extra for the privilege of seeing it? Of course not. 15 year old boys will go see the movie for the very reason that it includes said badass action sequence. The same should hold true for 3D.

Cineworld may argue that we are paying for the technology in cinemas. Funny I don't remember ticket prices being raised by over 50% when sound, colour, technicolour, widescreen, panorama, digital projection or any other development was brought upon us.If it had, we'd now be paying 50 quid for a ticket. These things were done to attract audiences and they did. This is the thin end of the wedge folks. You could maybe justify a euro/dollar extra for the price of the glasses...maybe but as a Welshman more articulate than myself once said, if you tolerate this, your children will be next.

We say this pointedly and loudly. We will not go to a single 3D movie where the price is increased. The boycott starts here. Spread the word and speak up if you've anything to say on the matter.

Brendan & The Secret Of Kells - French Trailer

At last, an Irish animation studio that has a strong sense of style and quality. Some of us may be a bit biased, but ‘The Secret of Kells’, directed by Tomm Moore and produced by Cartoon Saloon, is looking like the best animated film to come out of this country to date. There are certain influences that can be clearly seen from the trailer, Genndy Tartakovsky (Samurai Jack) and Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away) to name two, which are not the worst guys in the world to have as your benchmark. Unfortunately only the French Trailer has been released so you can’t enjoy the smoky voice of Mike Lally and strong tones of Brendan Gleeson. But that just gives you something to look forward to this March.

Walsh's 'Chatroom' To Be Filmed By Hideo Nakata

Hideo Nakata, the director of 'Ringu', 'The Ring Two' and 'Dark Water', is being lined up to bring Irish writer Enda Walsh's play 'Chatroom' to the big screen. The film will mark Nakata's first original directing effort in the English language.

Walsh is one to watch. His plays are consistently ambitious from his debut Disco Pigs, which he adapted into a film directed by Kirsten Sheridan to more recent efforts like the brilliant Walworth Farce. To add extra fire to his hot streak, he recently co-wrote the screenplay for the Cannes Camera d’Or winning 'Hunger' (see what we think of that in our reviews section). Walsh himself has adapted the script for the psychological thriller about teenagers who urge each other to engage in destructive behaviour. This sounds like every teenager we know but I'm sure Walsh has found something interesting to do.

Hunger Review

Check out our review of award-hoovering debut of director Steve McQueen. The review of Hunger is up in our reviews section here