Archive for September, 2007

Huge Crowds In Costa Rica Protest U.S. Pact

Sunday, September 30th, 2007

Yet another inch of a nation’s sovereignty is sacrificed to the altar of libertarian philosophy:
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (Reuters) – More than 100,000 Costa Ricans, some dressed as skeletons, protested a U.S. trade pact on Sunday they say will flood their country with cheap farm goods and cause job losses.
Chanting “No to the free-trade […]

In Search of British Values

Saturday, September 29th, 2007

The West is going through a profound identity crisis. Among the individual western nations, and within the context of mass immigration from third world nations (particularly when said immigrants are you know what), this question, and the unfolding public debates surrounding this question, is remarkably similar. In a cover story, Prospect broaches the subject:
In July, […]

Review – 3:10 to Yuma (2007)

Saturday, September 22nd, 2007

Dave Corkery


Westerns are a funny thing. At one time in cinema history, they were a dime a dozen and were the staple of childhood heroic fantasies. You can be pretty sure that when you’re dad was a young whipper-snapper, he was swaggering his shoulders around the house and tilting his high-brimmed hat politely to imaginary ‘dames’ or drinking a bottle of cheap whiskey (milk) and challenging strangers to ‘pistols at dawn.’ Cowboys were the mindless escapist action-films of days gone by. But when the hard-hitting, gritty cops of 70s films suddenly made audiences think that ‘now’ is more happenin’ than ‘an arse-load of years ago’, the Western suffered a sudden and unfortunate demise.

After Eastwood’s Unforgiven saw a resurgence in the genre, contemporary Westerns have had to up their game to shine through and be seen; gone were ‘pistols at dawn’ in favour of gritty character realism and ‘harsh times’ seen through weary eyes.

What’s good about 3:10 to Yuma is that it finds a nice balance of both. It doesn’t shy from the good guy/bad guy shoot ‘em up cheesy movie goodness of the classic Western (it’s actually a remake of a 1957 film of the same name), but also delivers full, interesting characters lead by strong acting turns.

Indiana Jones Title Announced

Tuesday, September 11th, 2007

After speculation and spoof titles abound, the title for the fourth Indiana Jones has finally been revealed. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls is the official title of Harrison Ford’s return to the fedora and whip. The title was revealed by Shia leBeouf at the MTV Video Music Awards.

What do we make of it? It’s lengthy but fitting. Kingdom, Crystal and Skull are all totally suitable Indy words, but together, they make for one hell of an impressive title.

And what does it all mean? Well apparently there’s a modern legend claiming that there are 13 crystal skulls worldwide, of which five have actually been found, which have mystical powers and are of ancient origin. Sounds like the kind of thing Indiana Jones would have great interest in alright.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull stars Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett, Shia LeBeouf, Karen Allen, Ray Winstone and John Hurt.

It will be released in the U.S. and simultaneously in most territories worldwide on Thursday, May 22, 2008. Frank Marshall returns as producer, with Kathleen Kennedy joining George Lucas as executive producer.

Review – Knocked Up (2007)

Saturday, September 1st, 2007

Dave Corkery

Championed as the sleeper-hit of the US summer, this simple story of a one-night stand turned 9 month ordeal gathered a lot of buzz overseas before the trailers even made it to Irish cinemas. In a movie summer full of sequel-crud, Knocked Up apparently shone through as an original breath of comedy fresh-air.

So here we are several months later and the small comedy that could has finally made it to UK and Irish cinemas, carrying with it not just a bun in the oven, but an immense wave of hopeful anticipation. Fearful that it may not live up to expectations, excitement was duly reigned in on our part. Fortunately, and unlike almost every other film of this year’s disappointing summer, Knocked Up lives up to its own hype.