The first original screenplay by Irish novelist Roddy Doyle is automatically a cinematic and literary event. When Brendan Met Trudy offers many quirky delights, but it is an uneven and ultimately disappointing film. Doyle's oddball yarn about a movie-obsessed Dublin schoolteacher (Peter McDonald) who falls in love with a thief (Flora Montgomery) is dragged down on screen by its … [Read more...] about Film Forum: When Brendan Met Trudy
Film Review
Film Forum: That Sinking Feeling, Titanic Town Goes Under
Titanic Town, the fictional story of a Northern Ireland woman who mounts crusade for peace in 1972, is not the first movie to attempt to trade on James Cameron's 1997 blockbuster Titanic. The European film The Chambermaid on the Titanic barely managed to beat Cameron to the screen but had its title changed to The Chambermaid in 1998 U.S. advertising. That probably discouraged … [Read more...] about Film Forum: That Sinking Feeling, Titanic Town Goes Under
Film Forum: No Non-Irish Need Apply?
Ethnic casting issues in movies. ℘℘℘ Our moviegoing experience would be much diminished if we had never had the chance to see Liam Neeson as Oskar Schindler, Peter O'Toole as Lawrence of Arabia, Greer Garson as Mrs. Miniver, Pierce Brosnan as James Bond, or Kenneth Branagh as Henry V. We would have been equally impoverished if we had not seen Vivien Leigh as Scarlett … [Read more...] about Film Forum: No Non-Irish Need Apply?
Film Review: Two Family House
Starring Michael Rispoli, Kelly MacDonald, and Kevin Conway. Written and directed by Raymond De Felitta. Lion's Gate Films. ℘℘℘ In the tradition of films as diverse as Saturday Night Fever and Working Girl comes Two Family House, a charming movie about a blue collar guy who wants a little bit more than his drab background offers. Just don't go to this movie expecting … [Read more...] about Film Review: Two Family House