Tag Archives: Mark Ryall

Suicide Squad

What you may need to know:

1. The Comic-Con trailer didn’t have enough gratuitous shots of Margot Robbie’s bottom. That’s been fixed.

2. It’s now confirmed that Ben Affleck’s Batman is in this. Too much?

3. Stop what you’re doing and watch this fan-cut of Batman v Superman. It‘s pure genius.

4. Jai Courtney is the spit of Tom Hardy.

5. We’re still not sold on Jared Leto’s Joker. Losing the grill would be a good start.

6. Broadsheet prognosis: Very, very frightening (thunderbolt and lightning).

Release Date: August 5.

The_Survivalist

What you may need to know:

1. A self-sufficient loner lives off a small plot of land in a time of starvation. His existence is threatened when two women seeking food and shelter discover his farm.

2. It’s Mad Max in a field up north.

3. This is writer/director Stephen Fingleton’s debut feature. He’s up for a BAFTA. Good for him.

4. Tonight, Matthew, I’m going to be Bono.

5. What happened to Mia Goth’s eyebrows?

6. Broadsheet prognosis: We’ve heard good things.

Release Date: February 12.

dirty_grandpa

What you may need to know:

1. “Daddy, what was it like when you were young?”

2. “Well son, I remember when all this was Robert De Niro movies as far as the eye could see. And not turdy ones either. The Godfather II (1974), Raging Bull (1980), Once Upon a Time in America (1984), Cape Fear (1991)… the man was unstoppable. Then he started doing comedies, and nothing’s been the same since.

3. “You mean, Midnight Run (1988) somehow opened a Pandora’s Box that led to De Niro strapping on a fake boob and breastfeeding a kid?”

4. “I’m afraid so Son.”

5. “Daddy… I’m sad.”

6. “Me too Son. Me too.”

Release date: January 22

10-CLOVERFIELD-LANE

What you may need to know:

1. After crashing her car, a young woman (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) wakes up in a bunker guarded by a caretaker (John Goodman). He says that a nuclear attack has left the outside world uninhabitable, but she begins to have doubts.

2. This trailer came out of nowhere on Friday. It’s either a “blood relative” sequel to Cloverfield…

3. …Or a completely unrelated micro-budget project formerly called “The Cellar” for Paramount’s now defunct Insurge stable.

4. Some reshoots – written by Damien Chazelle (Whiplash) – were carried out to link it to Matt Reeves’ found footage disaster movie.

5. Great use of Tommy James & Shondells, though.

6. Broadsheet prognosis: Here be Monsters (Inc.).

Release Date: March 11.

Sing Street

What you may need to know:

1. John Carney’s new flick. A young fella starts up a band to impress a young wan.

2. Can we forget about Once (2007), now?

3. Contrary to popular opinion, it wasn’t all bad back in the eighties. Jazz mags, Toni the exotic dancer, and cheap Doc Martens ’round the back of the Ilac. Good times.

4. Say hello to ADIFF, wave goodbye to JDIFF. Sing Street is the opening film at the newly-named Dublin Film Festival.

5. Still waiting for the Bachelors Walk box set.

6. Broadsheet prognosis: Less About A Boy, more Good Vibrations.

Release Date: March 18.


What you may need to know:

1. Following a bad tip, Kyle Budwell (Jack O’Connell) loses his life savings, and takes financial analyst Lee Gates (Gorgeous George Clooney) hostage on live TV.

2. It’s a Jodie Foster joint. Foster has directed episodes of Orange is the New Black and House of Cards after trying (and failing) to rescue Mel Gibson’s career with The Beaver (2011).

3. My millions are tied up in pork bellies and frozen orange juice, so it’s all good.

4. Although Today with Maura and Dáithí incites some dark thoughts.

5. Broadsheet prognosis: Mo Money Mo Problems.

Release Date: May 27

conjuring2(1)

What you may need to know:

1. Paranormal investigators Lorraine and Ed Warren (Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson) go to London and check out a poltergeist.

2. The Conjuring (2013) grossed $318m worldwide and is up there with The Exorcist and The Sixth Sense as one of the most successful scary movies of all time.

3. Poltergeists were big in the 1970s, like fondue sets and Giant Haystacks. You don’t hear much about them these days.

4. Irish represent, yo. Simon Delaney and Maria Doyle Kennedy both have unspecified roles. “They’ll be eatin’ chips out of our knickers.”

5. @1:18 – lash on a bit of Lionel Richie there, will ya?

6. Broadsheet prognosis: Who ya gonna call?

Release Date: June 17.

independence-day-2-resurgence-title-treatment

What you may need to know:

1. 20 years after the first one, the aliens return to finish what they started. And this time they’ve installed Norton.

2. How did you get over the Christmas? Jeff Goldblum spent his hawking computers. We do love a bit of Goldblum.

3. No Big Willie this time. The Fresh Prince was too expensive.

4. Randy Quaid’s problems go beyond getting himself killed in the first one.

5. What would Trump do? Simple…Build a wall.

6. Broadsheet prognosis: “We come in peace. Now bend over.”

Release Date: June 24.

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What a year!

Said very few people.

‘sheet movie critic Mark Ryall’s favourite and least favourite moments of drama on screens both big and small this year.

Best Movie: Birdman

Michael Keaton runs through Times Square in his pants, and his career gets a well-deserved boost. Yes, Birdman was released in 2015 (Waaay back on the 1st of January in fact). Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s one-take meta-textual dramedy was hilarious, creative and wholly original. Amongst all the sequels, prequels, reboots and retcons, Birdman was a reminder that mainstream film still has the potential to give us something fresh.

Honourable Mention: Mad Max Fury Road – The mad, undiluted genius of Dr. George Miller.

Best TV Show: Fargo Season 2

Because The Leftovers was just too damn bleak. Yah sure Fargo’s first season was real good there, but season 2 went back to the 1970s and upped the ante. With a little Bruce Campbell and a lot of Minnesotan weirdness, Fargo was shocking, funny (often at the same time) and thoroughly brilliant. You betcha.

Honourable Mention: This is England ’90 – Shane Meadows’ happy ending. In your face, Linklater.

Best Documentary: The Queen of Ireland

Long live the Queen! Conor Horgan’s documentary is as much a snapshot of Irish society in 2015 as it is the story of a drag queen from Ballinrobe. Chin up, it could be worse.

Honourable Mention: Cartel Land – Savage, brutal and utterly compelling. Cartel Land is no fun, but it’s essential viewing.

Best Male Performance: Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything).

Daniel Day–Lewis in My Left Foot is the obvious comparison, but for my money, you’d have to go back to John Hurt’s Elephant Man to find a better physical performance. A tough gig bagged Redmayne the Oscar, and deservedly so.

Honourable Mention: Bertie Ahern (The Banking Inquiry) – I believe I can fly etc.

Best Female Performance: Cate Blanchett (Carol)

Blanchett’s effortlessly elegant turn in Todd Haynes’ homage to old school Hollywood hit every note on the emotional spectrum. From the giddy excitement of first love to the melancholy of heartbreak, Blanchett was profoundly affecting throughout.

Honourable Mention: Emily Blunt (Sicario) . Blunt’s bit-part years finally pay off.

Worst Movie: Love

“I hear you’re a pornographer now, Father.”  If Terry Richardson made a movie, it would be Love. The competition was fierce (I’m looking at you, Entourage), but Gaspar Noé’s meditation on “sexual sentimentality” blew the rest away. I would assume that at least half of the production budget went on class A drugs, which might account for a seven-page script. Exhausting and unrelentingly foul.  And can you imagine the stink on that set?

Dishonourable Mention: Ted 2 – Like the first one, just without the jokes.

Worst TV Show: True Detective Season 2

Sure, Orange is the New Black was a real chore this year, but True Detective 2 was the biggest anti-climax since the millennium bug. Despite Colin Farrell’s best efforts, nothing could save this mess of miscast actors, clunky dialogue and an underwhelming story.

Dishonourable Mention: Broadchurch 2 – Pointless, unnecessary, and oh so boring.

Good stuff coming in 2016: The Revenant, Room, Spotlight, Trumbo, The X-Files, Peaky Blinders, Westworld and of course… Twin Peaks.

*popcorn*

Fight!

Yesterday: ‘Damn near Perfect’

new_star_trek_beyond_logo_by_gazomg-d8zew0f

What you may need to know:

1. Lest we forget, there’s another installment of a long-running sci-fi franchise in the pipeline.

2. It looks like incoming director Justin Lin (Fast and Furious) has thrown a curveball and decided to go small.

3. Co-written by Simon Pegg. “What about… MORE SCOTTY?”

4. That might be Idris Elba @0:55.

5. How many times has the Enterprise been destroyed at this stage?

6. Broadsheet prognosis: Star Trek: “Woohoo! Look at meee!” Star Wars: “Yeah, whatever.”

Release Date: July 2016.