Dublin International Film Festival Preview

Well, it may only be a fledgling film festival, an impudent stripling when compared to the big boys, but the Dublin International Film Festival is growing every year, and there's a bumper crop of new and old Irish and International movies to choose from this year. Here's a quick run-down of the ones PCMR will be watching (reviews of all these will follow after the viewings):

The Good German
Ok, so it's on at half ten on a Saturday morning, but Steven Soderbergh's collaborations with George Clooney have produced some of the best stuff either of these two have done, and their foray into a bit of noir should be at least an interesting way to wake up! It's being touted as 'an experiment' for Soderbergh, and this may be another way of him saying 'don't give me grief if it sucks', but PCMR reckons a little noir first thing on a Saturday morning is no bad thing. (No comment - Ed)

Sunshine
Danny Boyle's sci-fi is apparently a bit of a labour of love for the 'Trainspotting' director. It stars the always good Cillian Murphy though, their first outing together since '28 Days Later', and it's rumoured to have been a colourful production, with the cast locking themselves into a claustrophobic setting for weeks on end, and apparently getting genuinely pissed off with each other in scenes that made the final cut...

Metropolis
Fritz Lang's 1927 sci-fi masterpiece wrote the book. It is doubtful if another single film has been more influential on the world of cinema in general, and the sci-fi genre in particular. Packed to the gills with iconic imagery, this showing is in the National Gallery and has a live soundtrack. Can't wait for this one.

Fast Food Nation
Richard Linklater's adaptation of Eric Schlosser's ubiquitous anti-burger-and-fries diatribe should be interesting at the very least. If it's as harrowing as the book though, PCMR may just have to comfort eat in Burger King on the way home.

Curse of The Golden Flower
The most expensive Chinese movie production ever. Chow-Yun Fat, Gong Li and many many large scale kick-ass battles, this one should reward those who take the opportunity to watch it on the big screen.

Color Me Kubrick
John Malkovich plays a con-man pretending to be Stanley Kubrick in this off-beat comedy written and directed by close collaborators of the late director. This should be a hoot.


PCMR Would also Recommend:

Letters From Iwo Jima
Clint's japanese companion piece to 'Flags of our Fathers' is rumoured to be the superior of the two Iwo Jima movies he's cobbled together lately, and given that it's up for a Best Picture Oscar, and topped most American critics' picks of 2006 lists last year, it must have something good going for it. (Plus PCMR foolishly has ten euros on it to win the Oscar at 11-1 - Ed)

Half Nelson
Ryan Gosling's performance alone is worth the ticket price for this one. I can't recommend it highly enough. Read PCMR's review if you're still not convinced!

Rescue Dawn
Freed from the shackles of big-budget Hollywood productions such as Batman Begins and The Prestige, Christian Bale should relish the opportunity to flex his acting muscles in this, Werner Herzog's latest. It's an intelligent war movie, and Christian Bale is possibly the most under-rated British actor of his generation... what more do you need to know?