Galway Advertiser's Best Films of 2020

Films Reviews Mon, Dec 21, 2020

Wolfwalkers: This may be is the best Irish film made in the last 10 years. An absolutely beautifully told story about two young girls in Ireland during the 15th century, it is a cert to be nominated for best animated film at the Oscars and could finally be the winner Kilkenny based studio Cartoon Saloon deserves after being nominated for its last three films. Available on AppleTv+

Film review: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Films Reviews Tue, Dec 08, 2020

THIS WEEK sees Netflix release another Oscar hopeful - a filmed version of the August Wilson play Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, with Viola Davis in the title role.

Film Review: Mank

Films Reviews Tue, Dec 01, 2020

NETFLIX HAS two big budget prestige films out this month - Hillbilly Elegy, traditional Oscar bait and frankly one of the worst films I have seen this year; and Mank, from director David Fincher, which is a Hollywood biopic, traditionally a genre that does well at award season.

Wolfwalkers - an Irish cinema triumph

Films Reviews Tue, Nov 17, 2020

ONE OF my most hotly anticipated releases this year is from Kilkenny based animation studio, Cartoon Saloon, which burst on the scene a decade ago with the Oscar nominated Secret Of Kells.

Films to discover, films worth watching again

Films Reviews Tue, Nov 10, 2020

THE CINEMAS have not yet reopened and the nights have gotten even longer, so I have put together a list of some excellent films available on Netflix you might not have watched or be aware they are available on the service.

Film review: Rebecca

Films Reviews Tue, Oct 20, 2020

ON THE French Riviera, a young, working class, woman is traveling as an assistant. While alone one afternoon she meets Max de Winter, a handsome widower who invites her for a drive. After a whirlwind romance they wed, and spend another week on the continent.

Les Misérables; a tension filled look at France's uneasy problem

Films Reviews Mon, Oct 12, 2020

Little did I know when I had left my recliner seat in screen seven at Omniplex Salthill on Thursday October 1 that it would be my last cinema experience for the foreseeable future as a level three lockdown was enforced the next Tuesday. But like most things in life, it is always good to go out with a bang and Les Misérables certainly provides plenty.

Film review: Trial Of The Chicago 7

Films Reviews Tue, Oct 06, 2020

THIS WAS originally a Steven Spielberg project a decade ago. He had a personal interest in the story and asked writer Aaron Sorkin for a screenplay.

Rocks - a realistic look at adolescence and poverty, that's also fun

Films Reviews Tue, Sep 29, 2020

SOMETHING A bit different this week - a movie in the cinemas that is not available via streaming. If you want to see this, and you should, you are going to have to go to a cinema.

The Devil All The Time - too much misery and too much dirt for 2020

Films Reviews Tue, Sep 22, 2020

THE DEVIL All The Time is adapted from a 2011 best seller which Netflix bought last year for distribution. It has released it for streaming but apparently has a big campaign ready to go when awards season kicks off.

Savage; journey far more interesting than destination

Films Reviews Mon, Sep 21, 2020

My two previous experiences of New Zealand independent cinema, the excellent, hard-hitting, Once Were Warriors and the fun Hunt for the Wilderpeople, were ones I thoroughly enjoyed so when I saw the trailer for Sam Kelly's directorial debut, Savage, I had high hopes.

Bill & Ted Face The Music

Films Reviews Tue, Sep 15, 2020

THIS MOVIE has been rumoured for the past 10 years and kept falling apart in preproduction. However, given that Keanu Reeves has had a pretty stellar decade in the box office, it means he has enough pull to get this passion project made.

I’m Thinking Of Ending Things - the ideal film for 2020?

Films Reviews Mon, Sep 07, 2020

CHARLIE KAUFMAN, the man who brought us Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, has written some of the finest films of this century - and he does not release films often.

Tenet; lots of action, lots of special effects, lots of confusion

Films Reviews Mon, Sep 07, 2020

First of all, how good is it to be back in the cinema, watching movies on the big screen? In my humble opinion, so good.

Tenet - a feast of unparalleled stunt work and action scenes

Films Reviews Mon, Aug 31, 2020

FOR THE first time since March there is a big new Hollywood blockbuster in the cinemas. Christopher Nolan's Tenet is charged with saving the global cinema industry and, after quite a successful opening weekend, might actually do it.

Inception - convoluted, overrated, but worth another look

Films Reviews Thu, Aug 20, 2020

NEXT WEEK sees Tenent - the first proper international blockbuster released since March and the eleventh film from director Christopher Nolan.

Greyhound - Tom Hanks leadership qualities shine in no frills movie

Films Reviews Thu, Jul 23, 2020

In terms of victims of the pandemic, big budget Hollywood movies are quite low down on most people's sympathy lists. Only a year ago Avengers: Endgame broke the record for box office takings with $2.7 billion, so limited sympathy is appropriate.

Arracht - life amid the harshness and beauty in Connemara

Films Reviews Thu, Jul 16, 2020

THE 2020 Galway Film Fleadh should be considered a monumental success. To put on anything this year is an achievement, especially as the easy option would have been to postpone and pick it up in

Stand in awe of all Mná

Films Reviews Wed, Jul 08, 2020

LIKE EVERYTHING this year, the Galway Film Fleadh is a bit different. Usually the opening night is in a packed out Town Hall Theatre, but in 2020 we are all tuning in from home.

Da 5 Bloods - a wake up call and great entertainment

Films Reviews Thu, Jun 18, 2020

WELL THIS is a treat. A new Spike Lee movie on Netflix. The titular five bloods are a group of Black GIs who return to Vietnam to take back the remains of their commanding officer, Stormin' Norman, and the gold they buried with him years ago.

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