Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3: You may as well try to drink water from a fire hose for 2½ hoursFor all the extravagant special effects and efforts to tug at our heartstrings, what we get is more of an epic variety show than coherent space operaWed May 03 2023 - 13:14
Hollywood screenwriters strike: how will it affect what I can watch in Ireland?Hollywood TV and movie screenwriters are going out on strike for the first time in more than 15 yearsTue May 02 2023 - 13:44
Rise up: 175 years of radical art, from O’Casey, Zola and Picasso to Public Enemy and Marvin GayeFor May Day, 15 books, films, plays, artwork and music that have furthered the progressive cause over a century or twoMon May 01 2023 - 06:00
Four new films on select release this weekIrish biopic on Ann Lovett, plus French feminist biker flick Rodeo and documentaries on Little Richard and Castro’s spiesSun Apr 30 2023 - 05:00
God, swerve the king: rock’n’roll proclaims independence from the royalsDonald Clarke: A minor scandal in the wind over the coronation playlist suggests rubbing shoulders with monarchs is no longer the done thingSat Apr 29 2023 - 05:00
The Movie Quiz: How many feature films has Richard Curtis directed?Plus: Which unlikely British star links Denzel Washington and Nicolas Cage?Fri Apr 28 2023 - 05:00
Castro’s Spies: Excellent Irish chronicle of Cuban spies in the USFew documentaries have offered such fascinating material on ‘trade craft’Fri Apr 28 2023 - 05:00
Ann Lovett would be 55 now. This film about her awful death is a brave, at times daring tributeCiaran Creagh’s Ann is an undeniably sincere and considered effort to pay homage to a generation of misused women and girlsThu Apr 27 2023 - 05:45
Harry Belafonte: a trader in uncomplicated happiness who became a magnetic civil rights figureBelafonte, once one of the most electrifyingly performers, remained an inspirational humanitarian throughout his lifeTue Apr 25 2023 - 17:08
Four new films to see in cinemas this weekBlazingly grotesque comic horror Evil Dead Rise, plus provocative Irish documentary Pray for Our Sinners, Sick of Myself from Norway and Pacifiction from FranceSun Apr 23 2023 - 05:00
Jim Broadbent: ‘I don’t have any regrets either professionally or personally’The British actor reflects on his 40-year career, identifying with the lead character in his latest film and turning down the role of Del BoySat Apr 22 2023 - 05:00
The Irish are just as guilty as the UK for having an ‘anti-maths mindset’Donald Clarke: It isn’t often I support the leader of the Conservative Party over Shaun of the Dead’s Simon PeggSat Apr 22 2023 - 05:00
Pray for Our Sinners: Powerful account of resistance to ‘empire designated to punishing girls’Sinéad O’Shea returns to her home town to explore a time when many ordinary citizens submitted to an ‘empire designated to punishing girls’ - and a few rebelledFri Apr 21 2023 - 05:15
Evil Dead Rise: Gutsy, rip-roaring, cheer-along horrorIrish director Lee Cronin flings new ingredients into the flying-viscera-and-Three-Stooges-slapstick recipeFri Apr 21 2023 - 05:10
The Movie Quiz: With the new Evil Dead Rise, how many films does that make in the series?Plus: What is about to come next: ROTLA, IJATTOD, IJATLC, IJATKOTCS?Fri Apr 21 2023 - 05:00
Four new films to see in cinemas this weekTwo raving Nic’s in gory horror comedy Renfield, plus masterly Japanese animation Suzume, Egyptian-set machinations in Cairo Conspiracy, and Léa Seydoux in affecting French drama One Fine MorningSun Apr 16 2023 - 05:00
Everyone needs to calm down about Barbie. Including meDonald Clarke: The frenzy of online irony is woven in with reasonable expectations the film could turn out to be a classicSat Apr 15 2023 - 05:00
Renfield: Dracula comedy fails to leave much of a markMiddling caper portrays the count’s servant as a therapy-bound unhappy henchmanFri Apr 14 2023 - 05:15
The Movie Quiz: Where does David Lynch’s Blue Velvet take place?Plus: What is the correct name of an indestructible Texas-set horror classic?Fri Apr 14 2023 - 05:00
Suzume: Another essential work from a modern master of animeMakoto Shinkai balances the engaging personal story of a teenage girl with an apocalyptic yarnFri Apr 14 2023 - 05:00
Cannes 2023: official selection reveals heavyweight directors to compete for Palme d’OrWes Anderson, Aki Kaurismäki, Ken Loach, Todd Haynes and Nanni Moretti among hopefulsThu Apr 13 2023 - 14:13
The problem with Star Wars is there’s too much Star WarsDonald Clarke: Star Wars is now more than a franchise. It is a culture. It is an industry. It is a nationWed Apr 12 2023 - 16:07
Four new films to see in cinemas this weekBen Affleck’s Nike dramedy Air, plus Icelandic Godland, animated Super Mario Bros, and imaginative alt-history fantasy LOLASun Apr 09 2023 - 05:00
Harry Potter reboot: hate it all you like, it’s going to be bigger than HagridDonald Clarke: Too soon? We are approaching the point where the remake happens before the original is releasedSat Apr 08 2023 - 05:00
Nicolas Cage on playing Dracula: ‘You supplant one addiction – like alcohol or heroin or sex – with blood and we can relate to that’Put that stake away. When it comes to movies, Dracula is indestructible, with Nicolas Cage starring in the first of several new versions coming our way over the next yearSat Apr 08 2023 - 05:00
The Movie Quiz: There’s Something About Mary is narrated by which wandering minstrel?Plus: ‘This is the weekend they didn’t play golf’ is the tagline to which 1970s classic?Fri Apr 07 2023 - 05:00
Lola: Impressive debut film from Irish director destined for cult status Singular debut feature from Irish film-maker Andrew Legge that’s like the Sorcerer’s Apprentice as written by HG WellsFri Apr 07 2023 - 05:00
Johnny Depp’s speedy return to limelight at Cannes raises eyebrowsHistorical drama with Depp in leading role to open the 2023 Cannes film festivalThu Apr 06 2023 - 14:51
Air: Ben Affleck’s creamy period project seeking to glorify a Nike gym shoeThis portrayal of Nike’s efforts to get Michael Jordan’s endorsement for its new basketball shoe buzzes furiously through its engagement with unlikely truthsWed Apr 05 2023 - 05:30
Four new films to see this weekDungeons & Dragons and French drama The Night of the 12th in cinemas, Please Baby Please and Tetris streamingSun Apr 02 2023 - 05:00
James Dean’s red jacket, Casablanca script notes, Batmobiles galore: An orgy of iconography hidden in a Hollywood barnAs Warner Brothers celebrates its centenary, our film correspondent is granted access to a revelatory, spiritual experience - the treasures of its archiveSat Apr 01 2023 - 05:00
The April Fool prank has had its dayDonald Clarke: Once enthusiastically embraced by newspapers, the tradition has ebbed in recent yearsSat Apr 01 2023 - 05:00
The Movie Quiz: Who has appeared in the most films playing Batman?Plus: What is the name of George Lucas’s very first feature?Fri Mar 31 2023 - 05:00
Tetris: Taron Egerton stars in agreeable comic mash-up of The Social Network and Gorky ParkJon S Baird’s diverting movie deals with efforts of an entrepreneur to secure rights to Tetris in the face of KGB resistance and tangled bureaucracyFri Mar 31 2023 - 05:00
Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves – Unpromising material, great filmScrewball chemistry between Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Hugh Grant and Regé-Jean Page makes this film fizzThu Mar 30 2023 - 05:30
Four new films to see in cinemas this weekPaul Mescal is enigmatic in God’s Creatures, Keanu Reeves is back for more revenge as John Wick and moreSun Mar 26 2023 - 05:00
Emily Watson: ‘It’s easy to be proud to be Irish. It’s not so easy to be proud to be English’The actor on learning from Lars Von Trier, working with Paul Mescal and mastering a Donegal accent for her latest film, God’s CreaturesSat Mar 25 2023 - 05:00
Holy flops, Batman! Could this be the end of the superhero franchise?Donald Clarke: Viewer exhaustion and the malign influence of superfans are dragging these films down, but there is another waySat Mar 25 2023 - 05:00
The Movie Quiz: How many Daniel Craig Bond films share their titles with Ian Fleming yarns? Plus: Who is the star of Barry Lyndon?Fri Mar 24 2023 - 05:00
The Beasts: Five stars for this terrific, gripping western in disguiseDirector Rodrigo Sorogoyen has worked hard at conveying the unforgiving rigour of the rural lifestyleThu Mar 23 2023 - 05:45
God’s Creatures review: Paul Mescal’s new film is out – and it’s well worth seeingThe Oscar nominee plays an estranged son whose mother, played by Emily Watson, unwisely brings him back into the familyWed Mar 22 2023 - 06:00
Four new films to see this weekLiam Neeson takes on the hardest of hard-boiled detectives in Marlowe, sparky romantic comedy Rye Lane plus intriguing horror sequel from Ti WestSun Mar 19 2023 - 05:00
Mia Goth: ‘I love the people of Northern Ireland. They really know how to have fun’Mia Goth’s new film, Infinity Pool, looks to be surfing a wave of cinematic outrage at the super-richSat Mar 18 2023 - 05:00
Gulp, fiction?: Is Quentin Tarantino really planning his last film?Donald Clarke: The director is supposedly planning his final film but take that, like everything else, with a grain of saltSat Mar 18 2023 - 01:15
The Movie Quiz: In what month was some gombeen taking Amy Adams from Dingle to Dublin?Plus: what did the fella in Wild Mountain Thyme turn out to beFri Mar 17 2023 - 06:00
Rye Lane: A cracking romance. A great London film. A sign that cinema is still alive‘No other British film has, in a generation, done such imaginative work in restructuring romantic comedy’Fri Mar 17 2023 - 05:15
Marlowe — Liam Neeson and a game cast mostly make something juicy of hard-boiled private-eye staplesFilm does not offer convincing re-creation of noir aesthetic but worth making your own mind up aboutThu Mar 16 2023 - 05:45
Liam Neeson on his 100th movie: ‘If I’d been asked in Ballymena in 1969 if I’d be sitting here… I never thought I’d be so lucky’The Antrim actor plays the latest incarnation of Philip Marlowe in Neil Jordan’s new filmTue Mar 14 2023 - 23:09
Oscars 2024: Donald Clarke predicts next year’s best-picture nomineesLet’s stick with the regular suspects, that way we’re sure to get somewhere near 50% right – right?Tue Mar 14 2023 - 12:00
Oscars 2023: Was that the real Jenny, and nine other key questions about this year’s Academy AwardsIncluding: Was The Banshees of Inisherin ever going to win anything, and what was Colin Farrell’s SNL remark about?Mon Mar 13 2023 - 14:59
