Film‘Wholly inappropriate’: Film officials warned of under-10s attending Joker: Folie à DeuxDocuments show a variety of complaints made to the Irish Film Classification Office this year about film ratingsBy Simon BrackenSat Dec 28 2024 - 06:00
Film50 films to see in 2025, from Babygirl to You’re Cordially InvitedNicole Kidman stars in a kinky office romance, Reese Witherspoon and Will Ferrell play wedding planners, and Éanna Hardwicke and Steve Coogan replay SaipanBy Tara BradySat Dec 28 2024 - 05:30
Subscriber OnlyAuthor’s musings on death place a comforting hand around the flickering candle of lifeBooks by Elias Canetti, Kirsten Miller, Angeline King, Noel Russell, Ben Macintyre and Robert Schmuhl
TV & RadioTV in 2025: 25 of the best new and returning shows to watch out for in the 12 months aheadIncluding The Traitors, The White Lotus, Zero Day, Your Friends & Neighbors, The Walsh Sisters and The Bear
Subscriber OnlyFiction to look out for in 2025: From Eimear McBride to Ben OkriEmma Donoghue, Joseph O’Connor and Colum McCann are just some of the big names with new books coming out in 2025. Here’s our pick of fiction for the year ahead
‘On the ninth day of Christmas, Nietzsche said with glee: sever links with your family’ Unthinkable: For the seasan that’s in it, we’ve gone for a philosophical Christmas carolBy Joe Humphreys
Subscriber OnlyThe Movie Quiz: What is the only 2024 film in the box office top 10 that’s not a sequel?
From Notify to Ani DiFranco: The top five trad/folk albums of 2024Joyful Irish traditional music and politically charged folk feature in our LP picks of the yearBy Siobhán Long
One Leg One Eye review: Forget Fairytale of New York. This is a soundtrack of the real Irish ChristmasIan Lynch and George Brennan offer a wonderful ghost-train ride through droning electronica, warped uilleann pipes and spirals of unfiltered noiseBy Ed Power
The Pogues at 3Arena: Applause rang out into the night, the crowd singing their way out on to the quaysA stacked line-up including members of Fontaines DC, Lankum and The Mary Wallopers delivers a brilliantly infectious performanceBy Una Mullally
The 2 Johnnies Christmas Party at 3Arena: It’s easy to sneer at the triteness and crudeness, but are 13,000 happy fans wrong?Support for the podcast stars, whose guests include Marty Morrissey, Nathan Carter and Dustin the Turkey, is fanaticalBy Cian O'Connell
‘Wholly inappropriate’: Film officials warned of under-10s attending Joker: Folie à DeuxDocuments show a variety of complaints made to the Irish Film Classification Office this year about film ratingsBy Simon Bracken
50 films to see in 2025, from Babygirl to You’re Cordially InvitedNicole Kidman stars in a kinky office romance, Reese Witherspoon and Will Ferrell play wedding planners, and Éanna Hardwicke and Steve Coogan replay SaipanBy Tara Brady
How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies review: Warm, witty tear-jerker about an improbable subject By Tara Brady
Better Man review: Robbie Williams as a monkey is a surprising look at the ego-driven’s star’s life By Donald Clarke
Author’s musings on death place a comforting hand around the flickering candle of lifeBooks by Elias Canetti, Kirsten Miller, Angeline King, Noel Russell, Ben Macintyre and Robert Schmuhl
‘Narratively ingenious with gorgeously toothsome art and character design’: The best graphic novels of 2024From Lynda Barry’s moving and frequently hilarious workbook for making and thinking to Seán Hogan’s ripping yarn set in a Tipperary townBy Séamas O'Reilly
TV in 2025: 25 of the best new and returning shows to watch out for in the 12 months aheadIncluding The Traitors, The White Lotus, Zero Day, Your Friends & Neighbors, The Walsh Sisters and The BearBy Kevin Courtney
Henry Mount Charles: A Lord in Slane – The strange blend of fact and fiction around one of the last Anglo-Irish eccentricsTelevision: Much we think we know about the custodian of Slane Castle is conjured from thin air, as becomes clear in this absorbing documentaryBy Ed Power
Squid Game season two review: Tense, bloody follow-up ticks boxes if you’re craving more Red Light, Green LightTelevision: Seong Gi-hun, the down-and-out hero from season one, is on the trail of ‘the Recruiter’, the dapper gent who searches for contestantsBy Ed Power
Mrs Brown’s Boys Christmas Special review: Unkillable comedy’s wit is as sharp as a mouthful of Brussels sproutsTelevision: Brendan O’Carroll’s slapstick purgatory remains a Bacchanalia of single entendres and fnarr-fnarr gagsBy Ed Power
The best theatre of 2024: Blessed are the risk-takersGambling on longer runs of unfamiliar work paid off in a gratifying number of cases. But Irish theatre still isn’t as inclusive as it should beBy Chris McCormack
Beauty & the Beast review: On the way home, younger audience members re-enact scenes. There’s no higher recommendationAlan Hughes and Karl Broderick’s interactive pantomime, directed by Simon Delaney, features the promising Caoileann Woodcock as BelleBy Tara Brady
Hamad Butt: Apprehensions review – A prophet of dread wielding precise, precarious instrumentsArt: The British-Pakistani artist died 30 years ago, at just 34. His work is being rehabilitated with the help of the Irish Museum of Modern ArtBy Tom Lordan
The art of 2024: 10 of Ireland’s best exhibitions of the yearFrom big group shows exploring topics as vast as time to small but beautifully formed solo painting exhibitions, art has rewarded on many levels this yearBy Gemma Tipton
