• Hozier – Wasteland, Baby!

    March 9, 2019 - By 

    It’s been five years since the release of Hozier’s hugely acclaimed self-titled debut. Tracks like ‘Take Me to Church’ and ‘Someone New’ catapulted the Greystones-native to international attention. Now, having left fans waiting, we’ve been landed with follow-up, Wasteland, Baby! The world has been waiting to see if Hozier would manage to dodge the classic “difficult second album” pitfall. With Wasteland, Baby!, it seems he has. Wasteland, Baby! – despite its name – is an album that feels infinitely more positive and bright than its predecessor. It feels like Hozier is allowing himself to have fun on this record, despite…

  • RTÉ Choice Music Prize 2018

    March 8, 2019 - By 

    It’s hard to convey the buzz in Vicar Street as the place starts filling up. You can’t look anywhere without spotting a handful of familiar faces. From my vantage point. rappers Kojaque and Luka Palm can be seen relaxing on the right side of the balcony, while blogger Nialler9 sits further to my left. Anybody that is a somebody in the Irish music industry is present. The show kicks off with a little introduction from presenter Eoghan McDermott. There’s the usual spiel of “Are we doing well?… I said, ‘Are we doing well?’” before he cracks on introducing the first…

  • Isn’t It Romantic

    March 7, 2019 - By 

    A young girl named Natalie watches Pretty Woman in an early 1990s sitting room. Her mother pours a glass of wine and warns that they don’t make movies about girls like us. Except Hollywood does. Isn’t It Romantic is a romantic comedy disguised as a parody of the genre. The characters run through every convention of the sometimes unfairly maligned genre while proclaiming that they are not falling for its charms. You can guess what happens next. Adult Natalie (Rebel Wilson) is disenchanted with idea of love and a cynic about romantic comedies. After a mugging, she wakes up in…

  • The Man Who Felt No Pain

    March 7, 2019 - By 

    As high-concept premises go, The Man Who Feels No Pain (Mard Ko Dard Nahin Hota) has an absolute humdinger. It’s an Indian martial arts film about Surya, a man with a rare disorder that prevents him from registering pain. With an irreverent tone and a theme song featuring the lyric “Break it! Shatter it! I am the man who feels no pain!” this should be martial arts movie for the ages. So why is it such a chore to watch? Well, the pacing for one thing. The Man Who Feels No Pain is a turgid 134 minutes long, inconceivable considering the…

  • Resident Evil 2 (Capcom, Multiformat)

    March 6, 2019 - By 

    Some videogames attain immortality status and their greatness can never be questioned by lowly humans. The likes of Jet Set Willy, Oblivion and Super Metroid are spoken of in the same hushed, reverent tones as “classic” albums such as OK Computer, Revolver and In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, and gamers still grow misty-eyed when speaking of when they first booted up the console and inserted the appropriate cartridge. Often included in those hallowed halls of wonder is Resident Evil 2, first released twenty years ago on the original Playstation. Yes, it had wonky polygonal graphics and excruciating loading times – the animation of an opening door was used to…

  • The Aftermath

    March 6, 2019 - By 

    To imagine the level of destruction and ruthless vengeance that was wrought upon Germany in the later stages of WW2, as it was facing defeat, is a hard thing to do. But this is one thing that director James Kent (Testament Of Youth) achieves exceptionally well, with the help of Ridley Scott in the producer’s chair. And while the performances from the three leads are all impressive, in particular with Kiera Knightley and Alexander Skarsgård, The Aftermath comes across as a predictable, paper-thin adaptation of the Rhidian Brook novel of the same name. The Aftermath tells the story of a…

  • DIFF19: Rafiki

    March 5, 2019 - By 

    When you think of films set in the African continent, what subject matter comes to mind? Poverty? AIDS? Child soldiers? That isn’t to be disingenuous. Of course African countries face dire problems that need more attention. But how often do we see films that reflect the stunning culture and spirit that they have to offer? After all, that’s what made last year’s Black Panther so revelatory. To that end, the last few years have seen the emergence of an African art collective called AFROBUBBLEGUM (the capitalization is mandatory). Comprised of filmmakers, clothes designers, graphic designers, its mission is to create…

  • DIFF19: Ray & Liz

    March 5, 2019 - By 

    Writer/director Richard Billingham has said that Ray & Liz reflects his memories of his childhood, rather than the reality. After watching this blisteringly bleak film, I can’t tell if that’s cause for relief or great concern. The film serves as an adaptation of ‘Ray’s a Laugh’, a collection of portraits featuring Billingham’s alcoholic father. In the present day, Ray lies in his high-rise tenement flat in Birmingham, drinking homebrew made by his friend Sid. Ray’s welfare does just enough to cover his addiction and since Sid picks up his dole, he scarcely needs to move – except to pour booze…

  • Pond – Tasmania

    March 2, 2019 - By 

    Perth- based psych-rock wild men Pond return with Tasmania, produced by Tame Impala frontman (and frequent Pond collaborator) Kevin Parker. While their overlapping membership and frequent collaborations with Parker’s giants might frame them as a sort of ‘little brother’ band to Tame Impala, they’re perhaps closer in spirit to fellow Aussies King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard: prolific and seemingly existing in their own self-contained universe, they continue to grow from their garage beginnings to sounding fuller, more eclectic and more out there on each release. Tasmania, Pond’s first LP since 2017’s well received The Weather, kicks off with the…

  • DIFF19: Dear Son

    March 1, 2019 - By 

    For western society, ISIS is often depicted as a bogeyman hiding in the shadows, waiting to strike. Rarely do we have to contend with the possibility that our children could be seduced by its poisonous ideology. That is the ordeal faced by Liadh, a middle class Tunisian father in Mohammed Ben Attia’s Dear Son. Sadly the film is crippled by a myopia that prevents it from fully exploring its striking premise. The film’s solid first act at least takes the time to establish its protagonist. Played by the endearing Mohammed Dhrif, Liadh is your quintessential doddery dad. He fumbles for…