(3) REEL NEWS

Colin Farrell didn’t think he should have been hired for ‘In Bruges’. The Irish actor fell in love with the story when he read it, but was worried his troubled personal life would take too much attention away from the movie and suggested the role of a suicidal hitman be offered to someone else. Thankfully, director, Martin McDonagh, didn’t listen to him.

Five cinematic snippets you simply need to know about this month...

1 – The Irish Film and Television Awards rolled into – then drunkenly around – our dirty old town recently, leaving behind it more than a few worthwhile scraps for the likes of me.

Conor McPherson’s supernatural Drama ‘The Eclipse’ picked up the award for best Irish film on the night, while Jim Sheridan’s war drama ‘Brothers’ earned him a Best Director gong.

Saoirse Ronan’s turn in ‘My Lovely’ Bones finally got the hat-tipping it deserved when her name came out of the Best Actress drum, with Colin Farrell adding a Best Actor ribbon to the stunning girlfriend, adorable chiseler and coming-of-age he’s already enjoyed through Neil Jordan’s ‘Ondine’.

Aidan Quinn picked up the award for Best Supporting Actor, and honorary Irishman, John Boorman, got his much deserving hooks into a Lifetime Achievement Award. Tally-ho…

2 – More awards ceremonies to speak of, and this time it’s The BAFTAs. Again, poor Saoirse Ronan had to settled for a resigned smile, a slow, deliberate clap and a needle peppered voodoo doll in the shape of Carey Mulligan, as she watched ‘The Education’ star pickpocket the Best Actress prize. But, for us at least, consolation arrived in the form of Richard Baneham. Never heard of him, eh? Well, neither had we. But the dark, Tallaght born horse is, amazingly, the bloke behind the special effects in ‘Avatar’.  Visually, the most spectacular flick of this or any other generation, it’s seems he and three other colleagues (Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum and Andrew R Jones) let loose their kaleidoscopic imaginations, and haven’t looked back since. They won the award for Special Visual Effects and I think his is a name we’ll be hearing more and more in the coming years.  

3 – Back to the previously mentioned dirty old town for the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival. It’s kicked off, it’s underway, the horse – I repeat, the horse – has bolted the stables, and this year’s line-up is a lip-licking mix of home-grown and far flung gems. Once a feather-weight journeyman in the mould of, say, ‘Cinderella Man’, the festival has gotten leaner, harder, faster as the years have rolled on, establishing itself as one of Europe’s more worthwhile cinematic events. The finer details are available at www.jdiff.com , but, if you’re pushed for time, here’s a few of the supposed highlights:

Tim Burton's highly anticipated ‘Alice in Wonderland’; Michael Moore's latest documentary ‘Capitalism: A Love Story’; Irish inner-city gangster flick, ‘Between The Canal’; ‘When You're Strange’ - a Film About The Doors; and Martin Scorsese's much blabbed about ‘Shutter Island’ but to name a few.

4 – Listen very carefully, I shall zay zis only once. You know your one that was going with your man - Charlize Theron? Well, since her split with Ireland’s own Stuart Townsend, we here at the MovieExtras Ezine have been forensically pawing through the relationship debris, and we think we may have found something. A motive. The hammer that drove the nail, so to speak. And it looks a lot like…KABBALAH.

Why Kabbalah? Well, here’s the timeline. She splits with poor auld Stu, right? Then, not a wet week after, she’s spotted in Los Angeles with Quentin Tarantino, before making tracks to a Kabbalah class. If that’s not proof enough, the Hancock actress was then seen wearing the distinctive red bracelet that denotes followers; which, we’re told, wards off evil.

Sources not in the least bit close to Charlize claim her leap into Jewish mysticism is more of a political move that, say, a spiritual one. “Kabbalah is not just a religious interest for her” said the priest to the rabbi. “She also views it as a means to a social life and mixing with the Hollywood elite”.

5 – Odeon cinemas across Ireland have – wait for it – decided to boycott Tim Burton’s new yarn-spin on Alice In Wonderland. But isn’t that a guaranteed box-office success? I hear you ask. Won’t it make a fortune even if it’s turns out to be rubbish? Isn’t Johnny Depp the lead? Yes. Yes. And Yes. But their beef is as follows:

Disney studio's plan to reduce the period in which it can be shown only in cinemas from the standard 17 weeks. The plan would, therefore, allow Disney to release the film on DVD at the end of May, pocketing millions more for themselves but short-changing the Odeon.

The Odeon countered, saying it would "set a new benchmark, leading to a 12-week window becoming rapidly standard". And so they’ve reached an impasse. Arms are crossed, faces are fixed in a stubborn rage, and all manner of toys are being flung from the proverbial pram.   
Cineworld cinemas will show the movie, however, after reaching an independent agreement with the Disney.