Tár: Cate Blanchett in full symphonic mode in role tailored to her strengthsSocial provocations are secondary in a work that strives first to make a fully angled fictional characterTue Jan 10 2023 - 13:50
Tár, starring Cate Blanchett, has already stirred up Oscar buzz and ruffled culture war feathers‘We’re at a point where generations are screaming at each other,’ says film director Todd FieldMon Jan 09 2023 - 05:00
Four new films to see this week A Man Called Otto with Tom Hanks, Till starring Danielle Deadwyler, Catalan-language film Alcarràs, and avenger thriller The EnforcerSun Jan 08 2023 - 05:29
The rules of new year reading: pick a long novel, make sure it’s ‘difficult’, no swearing at dense paragraphsEndless novels from the 19th century and earlier are there waiting to eat up the pre-Easter gloomSat Jan 07 2023 - 05:30
The Enforcer: sometimes too sleazy, but often not sleazy enoughWhy is Antonio Banderas bothering with this sort of barely upright avenger thriller?Fri Jan 06 2023 - 05:00
The Movie Quiz: What was the last Star Trek film with a number in its title?Plus: How many MCU movies feature ‘Avengers’ in their titles?Fri Jan 06 2023 - 05:00
A Man Called Otto: Works well enough as a middle-brow hankie dampenerUS remake of a Swedish film about a neighbourhood curmudgeon’s rehabilitation handles the tonal shifts less deftly than the originalFri Jan 06 2023 - 05:00
Four new films to see this weekEmpress Elizabeth Austrian drama Corsage, Lars Von Trier’s The Kingdom: Exodus, Léa Seydoux in France, and odd beast nature documentary WildcatSun Jan 01 2023 - 05:00
50 films to see in 2023 From Oppenheimer to the Blitz and Babylon to Barbie, exciting releases are coming our way in the year aheadSat Dec 31 2022 - 05:00
Donald Clarke: Will we ever again have a ‘Who shot JR?’ moment? Shut up, you dull idiotIf you offered today’s cornucopia of readily available culture to any child stuck with one channel in 1970s Ireland they’d have clawed your arm off in gratitudeSat Dec 31 2022 - 05:00
The Kingdom: Exodus – Lars Von Trier at his dementedly mischievous best The Danish director’s diagnosis with Parkinson’s disease adds new poignancy to the morbid humourFri Dec 30 2022 - 05:00
Whitney Houston: Can this Rocketman-style biopic do justice to a flawed, fascinating woman?I Wanna Dance With Somebody: This by-the-numbers film is saved from utter blandness by Naomie Ackie’s strong, occasionally eccentric performanceWed Dec 28 2022 - 05:15
Vicky Krieps: ‘Wearing these dresses is actually torture. It cuts off the emotions’Vicky Krieps’s award-winning performance in Corsage as an iconic Mitteleuropean monarch strips away the myth and the glamourTue Dec 27 2022 - 05:00
Four new films to see this weekWhitney Houston biopic I Wanna Dance with Somebody, plus Ozon upturns Fassbinder with Peter von Kant, Christian Bale streaming in The Pale Blue Eye, and classic British gothic The Queen of SpadesSun Dec 25 2022 - 05:00
Cinema Speculation by Quentin Tarantino; Hollywood: The Oral History by Jeanine Basinger and Sam Wasson Favourite films and foundational years via essays; a tribute to the rise, fall, rise again and maybe final fall of a defining American institutionSat Dec 24 2022 - 05:03
It’s Christmas! How could we possibly forget?Donald Clarke: The generic streaming Yule flick serves the same purpose as the low-grade compilation playing in the Lager Mart. It is there to reassure you it really is ChristmasSat Dec 24 2022 - 05:00
‘When Whitney married Bobby we were all, like, What about Robyn?’ I Wanna Dance with Somebody tries to untangle the troubled life of America’s princess, from her drug abuse to having to hide her sexualityFri Dec 23 2022 - 06:01
Christmas TV and film guide: 40 of the best shows and movies to watch over the next weekIncluding The Banshees of Inisheerin, Glass Onion, Motherland, Chariots of Fire, Marie Antoinette, How Ireland Rocked the 80s, and Callan Kicks the YearFri Dec 23 2022 - 05:00
The Movie Quiz: Donald Clarke’s bumper Christmas editionVarious Scrooges, Robins and Hollies are in the mix along with Home Alone and Die Hard, plus the most painful First Noel pun you’ll ever hearFri Dec 23 2022 - 05:00
Wildcat: A helpless creature, a traumatised young man, and too many unanswered questionsAs is often the case with fly-on-the-wall documentaries, we are often left wondering who is the fly and where is the wallFri Dec 23 2022 - 05:00
The Queen of Spades: Martin Scorsese calls this stunning film a true classic. We agreeThe film returns at a time of the year when ghost stories are particularly cherishedThu Dec 22 2022 - 05:00
Oscars 2023: An Cailín Ciúin shortlisted for best international filmDonald Clarke: Colm Bairéad’s Irish-language film continues a remarkable run by becoming one of 15 titles vying for an Academy Awards nominationWed Dec 21 2022 - 20:21
Four new films to see this weekJames Cameron’s long-awaited Avatar sequel, plus indie thriller The Apology streaming and reissues of Fanny and Alexander and The Bishop’s WifeSun Dec 18 2022 - 05:00
The pointy-headed film critic is nothing new but audiences’ tastes have changedDonald Clarke: Elon Musk joined the catcalls against this year’s New York Times top tenSat Dec 17 2022 - 05:00
The Movie Quiz: Who was the first Irish performer nominated for an acting Oscar?Plus: What is the highest grossing Star Wars film of all time?Fri Dec 16 2022 - 05:00
The Bishop’s Wife: The third best Christmas film everThe 1947 film is loaded with Hollywood greatsFri Dec 16 2022 - 05:00
An Cailín Ciúin named film of the year by Dublin Film Critics’ CircleMartin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin, guaranteed Oscar attention, was also honouredThu Dec 15 2022 - 16:07
Avatar: The Way of Water review – I needed a dark room and an ice pack on my forehead after thatThe liquid images all look as if they have spent too much time dissolving industrial strength toilet blockWed Dec 14 2022 - 17:33
Golden Globes 2023: The Banshees of Inisherin leads with eight nominationsMartin McDonagh’s film lands eight nominations, the most by a title this year, including best director and screenplayMon Dec 12 2022 - 16:27
Colin Farrell shows Jamie Lee Curtis music by Irish composer and she loves itFilm stars discuss inspirations, lessons learned in recovery and films in Variety’s ‘actors on actors’ videoMon Dec 12 2022 - 13:54
Four new films to see this weekA stop-motion version of Pinocchio by Guillermo del Toro, plus Don DeLillo’s famously ‘unfilmable’ White Noise, British drama The Silent Twins and, from China, controversial Return to DustSun Dec 11 2022 - 05:00
These could be the most Irish Oscars everDonald Clarke: The country’s film actors are enjoying an unprecedented moment of global attentionSat Dec 10 2022 - 05:00
Avatar: The Way of Water – Expect the film to make another huge splashJon Landau has produced the biggest blockbusters of all time, but now he and longtime collaborator James Cameron are going even bigger.Sat Dec 10 2022 - 05:00
White Noise: Skewering black humour saves Greta Gerwig and Adam Driver Noah Baumbach’s fitful adaptation of Don DeLillo book is sometimes funny, sometimes mad, sometimes flaccidFri Dec 09 2022 - 05:15
The Silent Twins: Oddball sister act works in surprising waysThough skilfully made and formally structured, the film occasionally takes on the quality of ‘outsider art’Fri Dec 09 2022 - 05:00
The Movie Quiz: Who belongs with Freddie Prinze Jr, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Matthew Lillard?Plus: So, which film has never topped the Sight and Sound critics’ poll?Fri Dec 09 2022 - 05:00
Kirstie Alley: Scientologist, Trump supporter and genius star of one the greatest US sitcomsThe actor, who felt shunned by Hollywood for her beliefs, made her Cheers character, Rebecca Howe, as much of a Reaganite icon as Gordon GekkoTue Dec 06 2022 - 10:25
Four new films to see this weekViolent Night on wide release, Tori and Lokita and Three Minutes: A Lengthening in select cinemas, and Lady Chatterley’s Lover streamingSun Dec 04 2022 - 05:00
The films of 2022: The good, the bad and the unexpectedThe medium still feels in queasy transition as this year presents a very mixed bag with a few surprisesSat Dec 03 2022 - 05:00
Donald Clarke: The enduring divide over Oliver CromwellEnglish and Irish perceptions of the 17th century leader differ wildly, largely because the English know little or nothing about his actions in IrelandSat Dec 03 2022 - 05:00
Violent Night: Part Home Alone, part Die Hard, part sentimentality. That’s not a recommendationTommy Wirkola’s unfunny, unexciting Christmas movie has a severe case of identity confusionFri Dec 02 2022 - 05:06
Tori and Lokita: Dardenne brothers’ heart-rending tale of misused immigrantsNot since the first decade of the century, with searing dramas such as L’Enfant and The Son, have the directors delivered something so abrasively movingFri Dec 02 2022 - 05:00
The Movie Quiz: Who gets swallowed whole at the end of Jaws?Plus: Who has the very first line in The Godfather?Fri Dec 02 2022 - 05:00
Best movie of all time: The world’s critics crown a new winnerSight and Sound’s influential list of the 100 greatest films of all time is voted on by more than 1,600 professionals around the worldThu Dec 01 2022 - 19:00
Four new films to see in cinemas this weekBenoit Blanc returns in Glass Onion, plus muckraking Harvey Weinstein exposé She Said, YA cannibal romance Bones & All, and Roald Dahl’s Matilda the MusicalSun Nov 27 2022 - 05:00
Luke McManus: ‘The North Circular Road tells the story of Ireland’For his feature debut, the director offers a fascinating psychogeography of a thoroughfare and beyondSat Nov 26 2022 - 05:05
Donald Clarke: Commentators forget that Oscar-nominated misery is as old as the hillsAudiences are staying away from cinemas because of Covid and streaming, not because they won’t tolerate a downbeat drama any moreSat Nov 26 2022 - 05:00
The Movie Quiz: Who was the first person born in the 21st century to be Oscar nominated?Plus: How many Marvel films have been released in 2022?Fri Nov 25 2022 - 05:00
She Said: The unearthing of Harvey Weinstein’s crimes becomes a taut, powerful piece of film-makingCarey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan star as the journalists Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor. Jennifer Ehle is moving as the Irish survivor Laura MaddenThu Nov 24 2022 - 05:00
Glass Onion: Daniel Craig’s detective returns – in an Oscar-worthy line of nautical romper wearThis Knives Out sequel, part of a scarcely believable €450m two-film deal, features a hugely enjoyable performance from Daniel Craig as Benoit BlancWed Nov 23 2022 - 05:45
