It's been 24 years since Mickey Rooney was presented with an honorary Oscar, an award generally given towards the end of the recipient's career. Rooney, who turns 87 next month and was last seen on our screens this year in Night at the Museum, hasn't stopped working since he made his film debut at the age of four.
In the tradition of the memorable "Let's put on a show" musicals he made with Judy Garland more than 60 years ago, Rooney is back on the road with a touring show due at the National Concert Hall in Dublin on September 9th.
Married eight times (first to Ava Gardner in 1942), Rooney will be joined on stage by Jan Chamberlain Rooney, whom he wed in 1979, for an evening of song and dance accompanied by a three-piece band, anecdotes about his life, and film clips from his long career. www.nch.ie
Scorse's Stones doc postponed
Rolling Stones fans looking forward to seeing Martin Scorsese's documentary on the band at cinemas next month should make the best of their concert at Slane Castle tomorrow. Shine a Light had been scheduled to open on both sides of the Atlantic on September 21st, but Paramount announced this week that the release has been postponed until next April.
The movie takes its title from a track on the band's 1972 album, Exile on Main Street.
'Once' inspires Spielberg
Irish director John Carney may be blushing at the news that Steven Spielberg told USA Today: "A little movie called Once gave me enough inspiration to last the rest of the year." The micro-budget Dublin musical continues to power away at the US box-office, having taken more than $7 million on limited release. Director Todd Haynes has asked its singing stars, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, to record a Bob Dylan song for I'm Not There, in which Dylan is portrayed by, among others, Cate Blanchett, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger and Christian Bale.
Lucky Woody can thank his stars
Although two recent Woody Allen movies (Hollywood Ending and Scoop) failed to get a cinema release here, the good news for Allen admirers is that his latest picture, Cassandra's Dream, has been acquired by Optimum for distribution in Ireland and the UK. A release date has yet to be set for the thriller, Allen's third consecutive film to be shot in London, starring Colin Farrell and Ewan McGregor as brothers turning to crime.
Allen's 39th feature, is now shooting in Spain with Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Scarlett Johansson and Patrcia Clarkson.
Irishman shoots Eddie the Eagle
Wexford native Declan Lowney is set to direct Eddie the Eagle, a biopic starring Steve Coogan as the Cheltenham plasterer (real name: Michael Edwards) who attracted widespread media coverage when he finished last in two ski-jumping events at the 1988 Winter Olympics.
Lowney worked extensively on TV productions - from TV GaGa to Father Ted and Cold Feet - before directing his first feature, Wild About Harry (2000), starring Brendan Gleeson.
Let Bourne have him for five minutes
David Duchovny's new TV series, Californication, which started in the US on Monday night, is said to be so risque that some publications have dubbed it The XXX Files. According to the Variety review, however, the best scene in the opening episode has Duchovny confronting "a lout who answers his cell phone during a movie".
The plague of mobile phones in cinemas continues unabated, even at Dublin press screenings. During last week's preview of The Bourne Ultimatum, a gentleman was texting during one of the most exciting scenes, distracting everyone else in the audience with the light of his phone. It is time that interceptors be permitted in cinemas and theatres to stamp out this intrusive, selfish practice.
Sneak preview of 'Hallam Foe'
Scottish director David Mackenzie's thoroughly intriguing new film, Hallam Foe, which opened the 61st Edinburgh International Film Festival on Wednesday night, will have a special preview at the Irish Film Institute, Dublin at 6.20pm on Sunday, followed by a public interview with the director, which I will conduct. Mackenzie will also introduce the IFI screening of his earlier Young Adam at 4.20pm on Sunday. Hallam Foe opens in Ireland on August 31st. www.irishfilm.ie
n Meanwhile, the once notorious Last Tango in Paris, which was unavailable to Irish cinemas for decades apart from some club screenings, is reissued at the IFI for a week from today - and, by a remarkable coincidence, will be broadcast tonight on Channel 6.
