IRISH MOVIES 2008

We haven't posted in a while as news was pretty thin on the oul ground there, but 2008 has a wealth of Irish movies and related news on the way...

Hugh O’Conor (right) hopes to put the dreadful Speed Dating behind him with WAITING FOR DUBLIN. In a Chicago nightclub on New Year’s Eve, 1944, a drunken Lt. Mike Clarke (O’ Connor) makes a bet of $1000 with a stranger (Karl Sheils – Capital Letters) that we will become a WWII flying ace by shooting down 5 enemy aircraft. When Mike sobers up, he realises that the stranger’s uncle, the man who witnessed the bet, is none other than Al Capone! Madcap antics enuse. Frank Kelly (Father Ted) and David Wilmot (Studs, Six Shooter) co-star. After that, Hugh will star in Martin Duffy's (The Boy From Mercury) drama SUMMER OF THE FLYING SAUCER.

After playing a hitman in Martin McDonagh’s In Bruges (release date sometime this March) Colin Farrell will star with Ed Norton in PRIDE AND GLORY: A crime drama that sees Ed Norton’s cop investigate a scandal involving his brother-in-law and fellow cop Colin Farrell. Jon Voight co-stars.

Farrell’s co-star in the Belgian black comedy, Brendan Gleason, is to make his directorial debut adapting Flann O’Brien’s 1939 novel AT SWIM TWO BIRDS. Cillian Murphy, Colin Farrell, Sean McGinley and Gabriel Byrne are set to star alongside a who’s who of Irish actors.

Apart from appearing in the upcoming ANTON, Gerard McSorley (left) will team up with his Veronica Guerin director Joel Schumacher to star in the horror thriller TOWN CREEK, which sees two brothers caught in an occult experiment that dates back to the Third Reich.

Liam Neeson will return as the voice of Aslan in THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN and take the lead in Pierre Morel’s TAKEN. Neeson plays a spy who relies on his skills to track down his estranged daughter.

The Halo Effect writer/director Lance Daly returns to direct KISSES, which sees two kids spend a horrific night on the streets of Dublin after running away from home. Stephen Rea takes the lead (not as one of the kids of course – our special effects artists just aren’t there yet).

The lovely Nora-Jane Noone (right) and the just as lovely Olga Wehrly (left) will play the eye candy in Brendan Foley’s (The Riddle, Johnny Was) horror BOG BODIES. The plot sees a 2000-year-old murder victim unearthed from a bog and go on a bloodthirsty rampage (as you do). Vinnie Jones stars.

Adam And Paul and Garage scribe Mark O’Halloran will star in Brendan Grant’s TONIGHT IS CANCELLED. O’Halloran plays a film director who wants to make a film about a Slav couple who escaped the war in Kosovo and made it to safety in Ireland. The film was completed last year and it’s unsure whether or not it will see some distribution.

Ciarán Hinds will be a busy man: he will star in Kimberley Pierce’s (Boys Don’t Cry) drama STOP LOSS, team up with Jean Reno in the comedy CASH and lend his voice to the animated adventure THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX.

Song For A Raggy Boy helmer Aisling Walsh (left) will direct Eva Birthistle (Middletown) and Samantha Morton in THE DAISY CHAIN. The plot sees crazy things happen when a couple adopt an autistic child.

I Went Down main man Peter McDonald will star with Iain Glen in the TV series CITY OF VICE.

Colm Meaney wil star in the US version of Life on Mars, but will also star in the thriller CLEAN BREAK, the comedy and the mini series 3 AND OUT and ZOS: ZONE OF SEPARATION.

Aidan ‘Oi loved her’ Quinn will star in the romantic comedy WILD CHILD, the drama THE OFF HOURS and is rumoured to take the lead in the Eric Stoltz-directed comedy PADDYVILLE, which will star Frank McCourt and Domhnall Gleason.

Can He Fix It? Yes He Can

After writing and directing Cowboys And Angels and The Front Line, David Gleeson (right) will leave the script duties to A. Nother when he takes on Chuck Wachtel's novel Joe The Engineer; that A. Nother is none other than Wachtel himself, who debuts to adapt his own debut.

Tagged as a 'blue collar novel', the plot follows the titular character, a meter reader for a water company, who, after a tour in Vietnam, is tired of his meaningless life and tries to figure out what is going on on this crazy planet. Brad Renfro (Apt Pupil, The Jacket) is rumoured to play the lead.

Reviews for the book have been good ("a great, rough, sympathetic ode to real people"), but one worrying critique was that "the reader isn't it in for the plot" (that review can be read here). After two linear-plotted movies, is Gleeson about to direct an (whisper it) arthouse film? What is strange is that Wild Eye, David's own production company, are not behind it (that role falls to US house Toulillian Films), elbowing long-time partner Nathalie Lichtenthaeler into the cold. Oh, is there trouble in the Dutch camp?

You can catch David's interesting 'Writer's On Writing' interview with Irish Playwrights And Screenwriter's Guild here.

No One Will Sleep Through This Alarm

You've a better chance of finding your baggage in Lockerbie than seeing a decent psychological thriller set in Ireland but lo - there's one on its way. Not for another year, however...

Guiltrip and About Adam director Gerry Stembridge has just finished a five week shoot of Alarm. The plot sees a young woman, Molly (Ruth Bradley - Love Is The Drug), who moves from her idyllic suburban Dublin life to a housing estate way outside the city and her life begins to unravel.

Co-produced by Venus Film And Television, the film will star Owen Roe (Intermission), Tom Hickey (Garage), Anita Reeves (Adam And Paul, The Butcher Boy) and Emmet Bergin (Veronica Guerin).

Although shooting has wrapped, the film is unlikely to hit our screens until late 2008/early 2009. Now TToH will admit that we don't know a lot about post production, but surely a mentally-retarded snail would edit the film faster than that. Come on, guys - get the finger out.

An Irish Opera? And It's A Comedy? Starring Ronnie Drew? You're On A Giraffe!

So obscure IMDB don't even have it, O'Donoghue's Opera was made in 1965 but it wasn't seen until veteran filmmaker Tom Hayes restored it ten years ago.

Directed by Kevin Sheldon and starring Ronnie Drew (right) and The Dubliners, the comedy is based on the ballad The Night That Larry Was Stretched and sees Ronnie in a hangman's noose for being the best burglar in Ireland.

With nods and winks to all sorts to beat the band, the 37 minute O'Donoghue's Opera will screen in the IFI from Tuesday 11th December.

Oh Wow, Sir...It's A ...Oh, It's A Grammy

We all remember The Simpsons parody (The Barbershop Quartet one), which brought to light that the Grammys aren't the most respected award a musician can receive, but it's just one more string in the bow for John Carney's Once, the little film that could.

Once has been nominated for Best Compilation Soundtrack while the song Falling Slowly is nominated for Best Song. Written by The Frames's Glen Hansard and Czech diminutive singer/songwriter Marketa Irglova, it sounds like a tune The Grammy's would go for; James Blunt won last year.

With Neil Jordan and Jim Sheridan shutting up shop and heading out west when they made it big, will John Carney be seen this side of the water again? And if not, would you blame him? Please post your thoughts below.

Falling Slowly, with some visuals from the film, can be heard below...

"I'd Bloody Love It If We Beat Them, I'd Bloody Love It...

....and they still got to go to Sundance next month and get something...." Martin McDonagh's In Bruges will open Sundance this year, but it won't be the only Irish entry to the festival...

Simon Fitzmaurice's short The Sound Of People has joined the 19 titles (whittled down from 5000) for the Dramatic Shorts selection. Produced by Noreen Donohoe and starring Martin McCann, the story sees an 18-year-old connect with both his past and his future while dealing with his own impending death. Fitzmaurice: "I am absolutely over the moon about getting into Sundance. Everyone worked heart and soul on this film and this is a wonderful response."

In the Documentary Shorts section, Ken Wardrop has two entries: 'Farewell Packets Of Ten' sees two women discuss the pros and cons of smoking and 'Scoring' documents the power of the kiss.

TToH are still waiting on word for their own documentary - Doggin' Into Some Young One Down The Back Of The Cinema. Hopes are still high.

Gadzooks! Odds And Innards! Politician Comes Through On Promise

The proles have spoken; the falcon has heard the falconer; the squeaky wheel gets the grease; you can put a cat in the oven, but that don't make it a biscuit; you can't make a silk purse out of toilet roll inserts (stop us - we're in a loop!).

In yesterday's budget, Minister for finance Brian Cowen has promised to invest €245m in the arts with The Film Board seeing an increase of 18% in its funding (good news for TToH as we've applied for a First Draft Loan. Get in, my son). Also, Section 481, the tax relief scheme for film and television production, is to be extended until 2012.