Birdman_1

What you may need to know:

1. Michael Keaton plays a down-at-heel actor, once famous for playing iconic superhero “Birdman,” but now struggling to reclaim the respect of his peers.

2. It’s been 25 years since Batman (1989) forever changed big studio attitudes to comic book movies. Expect much meta-referential in-jokery.

3. Keaton’s presence automatically improves any project by at least 25%.

4. Birdman is director Alejandro González Iñárritu’s first comedy, after the weighty (geddit?) 21 Grams (2003) and Babel (2006).

5. It’s Kind of a Funny Story (2010) showed that Zach Galifianakis can do serious, but if it’s funny you’re after then Between Two Ferns is where it’s at.

6. There’s talk of this being presented as one continuous take a la Hitchcock’s Rope (1948). If anyone can pull that trick off, it’s Gravity’s (2013) Oscar-winning cinematographer, Emmanuel Lubezki.

7. Broadsheet Prognosis: We’re all over this.

Release Date: January  2,  2015 (UK)

(Delboy is away)

Mark writes on culture for WhyBother.ie

coffee1coffee2Bell Lane coffee founder Stephen Bell

The electric breakfast?

The little cup that cheers?

Read on.

Eoin writes:

“Artisan coffee roasters, Bell Lane, in Mullingar, Co Westmeath have just been awarded three-star gold at the Great Taste awards in London for their Dragonfly espresso blend. It’s kind of a big deal. To put it in context, out of 10,000 products entered from all over the UK and Ireland, only 125 achieve the top three-star accolade.

“In celebration, Bell Lane founder, Ferris Beuller Stephen Bell, wants to give one of you a KILO each of the most critically-acclaimed espresso blend on the Irish market: Dragonfly; and another of their equally delicious Moondust blend. And to grind your beans he’ll also throw in a Hario home grinder (top).

“All you have to do is complete this jitteringly easy sentence: Espresso is the finest member of the Italian coffee family because____________________.”

Lines MUST close at 5.45

Bell Lane

Screen Shot 2014-08-17 at 23.02.29

Camille Hamet and Séréna Robin write:

We are two young French film makers working on a documentary about Irish women traveling to England to have an abortion. It will be broadcast on French public TV Public Sénat in December.
We just arrived in Dublin and plan to stay in Ireland for two months. We are already in touch with the IFPA [Irish Famile Planning Association], the ASN, Doctors for Choice and Senator Ivana Bacik, among others. But we are currently looking for Irish women that would agree on sharing their own personal experience of abortion. Our main challenge is to find a woman that would agree to let us follow her while she is in the process of seeking an abortion in England. Anonymity will be contractually guaranteed but we don’t even know how to reach them to discuss it. Therefore, we were wondering if it was possible to mention our project on Broadsheet. It would be very helpful. If anyone would like to help us  regarding this please don’t hesitate to contact us.at taketheboat.themovie@gmail.com.
Here is a link to the project. You can also check its Facebook page and its Twitter account.

birdsketches
screen-grab4

Digitally animated ‘audio lifeforms’ that respond to audio signals (in this case, recordings of birdsong by the Netherlands Institute For Sound And Vision) by Australian artist Andy Thomas.

More about the complex software involved and how Thomas applies it here.

colossal

Screen Shot 2014-08-18 at 14.17.46

DUP MLA for South Down Jim Wells receives feedback from the electorate as he attempts to prevent private clinics performing abortions in NI.

A staunch flegger and pro-lifer, what’s not to like?

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BSfHxrGso8&start=172&end=218]

Here’s Jim getting hysterical on a visit to Dundalk in 1986 as his colleague Peter Robinson was appearing in court for his part in a disturbance in Clontibret, Co. Monaghan.

Calm down, dear.

Good times.

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Sandycove, Co Dublin today.

If the cold doesn’t get you…

Sasko writes:

“The most venomous jellyfish in Irish waters has been spotted at Sandycove and Sutton beaches, Dublin Bay. Due to high water temperatures and strong westerly winds, it is likely such jellyfish will be seen more frequently in coming weeks….”

The Lion’s Mane Jellyfish (Cyanea capillata), (aka Hair Jelly)

(Sasko Lazarov/Photocall Ireland)

grill

Overcast but sizzling.

Sophie Devere writes:

“I work for a movie editing app called Shotclip, Thought you might like to post up a video we made at the Big Grill festival this weekend in Herbert Park, Dublin. It was deadly, here’s some footage anyway if you feel like sharing :)”

Well normally we dNOMNOMNOMNOM

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