Donald Clarke: Black Friday is a white elephantWe no longer need to covet the American way of life as our ‘stuff’ is the same as theirsSat Nov 28 2015 - 01:00
Bridge of Spies Review: Land of the Free and home of Tom HanksThe actor again represents the Good America in Spielberg’s irresistible movieFri Nov 27 2015 - 11:17
Carol review: One of America’s great film-makers has returned in triumphTodd Haynes’s new film surges with suppressed emotion as he tells the tale of two women in love in the 1950s,Fri Nov 27 2015 - 11:16
Pixar president Jim Morris on the 20 year journey since Toy StoryPixar raised a generation of children before recently slipping into a slump. Don’t be predicting its demise any time soon though, its president Jim Morris tells Donald ClarkeThu Nov 26 2015 - 11:00
Black Mass review: the best fake Martin Scorsese film of the yearJohnny Depp is convincing, and the tale is told with energy, but there’s little new in this based-on-fact story of Boston crime boss Whitey BulgerWed Nov 25 2015 - 16:00
Donald Clarke: Bad Sex Award – the agony and the ecstasy‘The promiscuous shell-collecting in Jane Austen gets my juices flowing’ . . . and so onSat Nov 21 2015 - 01:00
From Boba to Yoda: The A-Z of Star Wars‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ is out on December 17th. Here’s your Star Wars guideFri Nov 20 2015 - 15:55
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 review: running to the finish on emptyDespite Jennifer Lawrence and some effective mayhem, this last, long episode of the fantasy quadrilogy huffs and puffs to its conclusionFri Nov 20 2015 - 09:41
Todd Haynes: ‘We don’t always move in a progressive line towards tolerance’Todd Haynes nearly ended up in the halls of academia, but instead turned to film, and in the process brought a new aesthetic to the mainstreamFri Nov 20 2015 - 06:00
Love review: big-screen 3D sex is not a many-splendoured thingWhile it has some original ideas, the 3D scenes may eventually be too much for youFri Nov 20 2015 - 01:08
The Perfect Guy review: the satanic beat goes on . . . and onVirtual remake of ‘Boy Next Door’ has its ruthless moments but is ultimately predictableThu Nov 19 2015 - 18:00
What to buy for your modern family? Boxsets, CDs and games to match their personality typesThe last thing we would want to do is stereotype people by age or inclination, but, when it comes to buying Christmas presents, who has time to consider complex nuances of character?Thu Nov 19 2015 - 12:00
Donald Clarke: You pretend to like us Nordies but you don’tEven fervent Southern nationalists harbour guilty suspicions of Northern othernessSat Nov 14 2015 - 01:00
Steve Jobs review: a quasi-biopic of an unremittingly monstrous personalityWith a brilliant script from Aaron Sorkin, elegant design and ruthless discipline mark out Danny Boyle’s unexpectedly impressive film. Steve Jobs may have approvedFri Nov 13 2015 - 11:22
Seth Rogan: ‘People expect me to be a gregarious party animal. I'm not at all’Party animal; campaigner for law reform; controversial film-maker; and now Steve Jobs’ conscience: Seth Rogen explains his many career twists and turns to Donald ClarkeFri Nov 13 2015 - 06:00
Tangerine review: The best Christmas movie about trans prostitutes ever madeTangerine’ glows with aesthetic and technological flair, but it is the humanity on display that makes Sean Baker’s film specialThu Nov 12 2015 - 19:00
Lady in the Van review: Alan Bennett’s everywhere, but Maggie Smith shinesThe cyclonic Smith has an indecently appropriate role in this starry film adaptation by Bennett of his own hit West-End playThu Nov 12 2015 - 16:30
The Fear of 13 review: death-row tales of the unexpectedNick Yarris – sentenced to death for rape and murder in 1982 – tells his own story in this fascinating, if flawed, new documentary from David SingtonThu Nov 12 2015 - 13:46
13 things to do indoors this winter: ski, climb, watch, visitIt’s getting colder, darker, wintrier. Whether you favour active or stationary pursuits, these suggestions will get you through the coming monthsMon Nov 09 2015 - 12:00
Burnt review: over-garnished cliche, and that’s just for startersPlaying a bit like the world’s most lavish episode of Masterchef, Bradley Cooper latest is all pretty food and bourgeois nonsenseSun Nov 08 2015 - 13:24
Donald Clarke: Let’s not start another war over the wearing of the poppyWear it or not, as you please, and ignore the multitude of whingers in both campsSat Nov 07 2015 - 14:26
Chemsex director Max Gogarty: ‘We agonised about how to tell this story’"It's a perfect storm that has shifted things for a significant portion of people" - Director Max Gogarty's new film explores the rise of drug use within London gay hook-up cultureFri Nov 06 2015 - 05:30
In its 60th year, Cork Film Festival shows no signs of growing old gracefullyThe festival started in 1956, when priests still flung themselves angrily before any screen that dared to project uncovered anklesThu Nov 05 2015 - 17:00
Kill Your Friends review: a farrago of witless filthNicholas Hoult tries his best but can do little with a screenplay full of derivative misogy, misanthropy and bad writingThu Nov 05 2015 - 16:31
Reissue of the Week: David Lean’s Brief Encounter - pure miserablist brillianceA welcome big-screen return for one of the greatest romances ever made, though you may be left wondering just why the film was banned in Ireland until 1962Wed Nov 04 2015 - 17:32
Brooklyn review: a most unconventional conventional romanceA good Irish Catholic girl immigrates to New York but can’t quite leave the old country behind in this delicately understated period drama based on Colm Toíbín’s novelWed Nov 04 2015 - 15:24
Donald Clarke: Plan to change New Zealand flag has a mad logicNew Zealanders are about to vote in a most unusual pair of referendumsSat Oct 31 2015 - 01:00
Colm Tóibín: enjoying life on the Brooklyn roadAs the film of ‘Brooklyn’ gets good reviews, Tóibín’s status at home and abroad rises yet another notchFri Oct 30 2015 - 11:30
From Skins to Mad Max, Nicholas Hoult knows how to pick a roleThe actor who played the geeky kid in ‘About a Boy’ is now a bone fide starFri Oct 30 2015 - 06:00
The Black Panthers review: a disappointingly thin treatment of a fascinating subjectThis documentary on the 1960s black power movement is no more than efficient, but does demonstate that not all gun nuts are ‘right-wing’Thu Oct 29 2015 - 19:00
Tehran Taxi review: a fascinating look into some dark corners of Iranian societyJafar Panahi comes up with another inventive way to truth-tell in modern-day IranThu Oct 29 2015 - 17:04
Spectre review: James Bond back on form, but...Tension between innovation and tradition ultimately pulls latest 007 episode to piecesMon Oct 26 2015 - 11:20
Maureen O’Hara: the exotic cinema star from RanelaghWith red hair and green eyes O’Hara was made for showing off the rise of TechnicolorSun Oct 25 2015 - 08:22
Donald Clarke: Don’t we know web reviews are unreliable?Amazon is taking legal action against about 1,100 people paid to write positive reviewsSat Oct 24 2015 - 01:33
Maya the Bee review: well-meaning, well-voiced and entirely devoid of characterBees and hornets learn to live together in a harmless kids’ cartoon – based, fascinatingly, on a rabidly nationalistic German kinder bookFri Oct 23 2015 - 12:57
Mississippi Grind review: the cliches come a little too fast and fruityThis sporadically effective card-sharp drama is no ‘Cincinnati Kid’ but does have two aces up its sleeve courtesy of stars Ben Mendelsohn and Ryan ReynoldsThu Oct 22 2015 - 17:00
Ben Mendelsohn: ‘My main skill was determination. Is that even a skill?’Ben Mendelsohn had worked the acting angles for years, before ‘Animal Kingdom’ helped him hit the jackpotThu Oct 22 2015 - 06:00
Donald Clarke: James Bond and ‘Playboy’ turn over a new leafTwin relics of an age of bogus sophistication have finally started to move with the timesSat Oct 17 2015 - 01:00
Beasts of No Nation review: Netflix makes a visceral start in the movie businessIdris Elba wafts malign charisma, but for all the murky brilliance on display, Cary Fukunaga’s story of African child soldiers ultimately suffers from a lack of contextFri Oct 16 2015 - 13:55
We meet again Mr Bond: On the set of Spectre with Daniel CraigBuoyed by the smash success of ‘Skyfall’, the makers of ‘Spectre’ are promising the biggest 007 thrill ride yet. Donald Clarke joins cast and crew on set during the Mexico leg of the Bond shootFri Oct 16 2015 - 06:00
Talking to my Father review: an efficient consideration of Irish modernismSimon Walker, now a successful architect in his own right, as he delves into the story of his distinguished father Robin WalkerThu Oct 15 2015 - 21:00
Pan review: this joyless fantasy is sprinkled with something, and it sure isn’t pixie dustCome back, Steven Spielberg’s Hook! All is forgivenThu Oct 15 2015 - 18:00
The Lobster review: a spookily beautiful corkscrew comedyDeadpan comedy on the pressure society places on people to pair offThu Oct 15 2015 - 17:00
The Hit Producer review: words don’t come easy in this eye-bogglingly strange Irish comedy thrillerMichelle Doherty brings some charisma, but can do little about the uncertainty of tone and unsayable scriptThu Oct 15 2015 - 16:20
Donald Clarke: Time for vampires to come out of the twilight againIt’s 10 years since the first ‘Twilight’ book was published and vampires are having a momentSat Oct 10 2015 - 01:00
Pan director Joe Wright's going back to Neverland, and this time it’s personalJoe Wright, director of ‘Pride and Prejudice’, ‘Atonement’, and ‘Hanna’, returns with his ‘sideways take’ on JM Barrie’s classic tale of Peter PanFri Oct 09 2015 - 06:00
Sicario review: a thrilling blend of action, intelligence and moral ambiguityAmerica’s endless War on Drugs is given a provocatively cynical spin in this intelligent, riveting thriller starring Emily BluntFri Oct 09 2015 - 00:13
Tana Bana review: looming technologyIndia’s traditional silk weavers face change in this stunning Irish documentaryThu Oct 08 2015 - 19:00
Suffragette review: unimpeachable, well-dressed, a bit too glossyin Sarah Gavron worthwhile drama, the hard, brave campaign for women’s rights is given the soft-centred treatmentThu Oct 08 2015 - 15:23
“I’d rather be a rebel than a slave”: Meryl Streep’s Suffragette slogan stirs racist outcryMeryl Streep and Carey Mulligan pose in T-shirts to promote new movie. In the US, many interpret the T-shirts as sympathetic to the losing side in the US Civil WarThu Oct 08 2015 - 14:30
