• Jawbone

    May 19, 2017 - By 

    There is no doubt that Jawbone, director Thomas Q. Napper’s debut, follows many of the usual tropes that most of the boxing/fighting movies out there fall into. You could even say that its subplot, dealing with first time writer and star, Johnny Harris’ (Gangster No 1) alcohol addiction, is a formula that has been flogged to death in this genre. However, what gives Jawbone an edge over the rest is its superb cast and acting, the brutally honest and realistic manner in which it deals with addiction, depression and societal decay, along with a refreshing lack of glorification surrounding its premise.…

  • The Mountain Goats – Goths

    May 19, 2017 - By 

    The truth isn’t as truthful as it once was. The line between slander and sincerity is blurred beyond recognition. It’s comforting that there are some ideas with an aura of objective honesty. One of them is this: The Mountain Goats, and by extension John Darnielle, do not make bad songs. It’s been nearly three decades and the man has a track record to rival Lasse Virén. He’s not the type to rush and hastily release some cash grab. Even a cursory glance shows how much his work is defined by care, consideration and an unwavering cynicism. From his earlier stripped…

  • Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh & Cormac Begley @ An Droichead, Belfast

    May 19, 2017 - By 

    There was double reason for celebration at An Droichead – South Belfast’s primary centre of Irish language and culture. Firstly, there had been the launch earlier that day of the Belfast Traditional Music Trail. This initiative, to be held every Saturday afternoon, presents traditional Irish music to all-comers, on a trail that traverses the Cathedral Quarter – taking in some of the city’s most iconic pubs. Then, just a few hours later, a full house at An Droichead welcomed fiddler Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh   and concertina player Cormac Begley – two of the finest exponents of their respective instruments in Ireland…

  • Pumarosa – The Witch

    May 16, 2017 - By 

    Imagine you have a piece of rope, approximately two metres long, with a diameter of approximately 11mm. Create two bunny ears in the rope, cross them over, make the bunnies run round the tree, watch the bunny jump in the hole, pull tight and voila – you’ve created your first knot. Add a few more, such as a bowline, figure eight and square knot and eventually you’ll be left with a tangled mess that is, scientifically speaking, significantly weaker than the original piece of rope. You’ve twisted and contorted the rope to such extreme proportions the tensile strength has been…

  • Raw

    May 15, 2017 - By 

    The French rarely fail to impress on at least some level with their film-making. Their absolute disregard for cultural taboos is something that I’ve always admired but with Raw, you could be forgiven for initially thinking that you are watching exploitation cinema at its most gratuitous and possibly grating. To my surprise, writer/director Julia Ducournau’s debut feature turns out to be a deviously sharp horror/social commentary that makes for a carnivorous shocker that is a cut above most others in this genre. Quite the feat! Following in the footsteps of her family, Justine (Garance Marillier) is an aspiring vet and…

  • April Verch Band @ The Old Courthouse, Antrim

    May 15, 2017 - By 

    Antrim’s The Old Courthouse was a fitting venue for the April Verch Band, which brought its vibrant, fiddle-based Americana to a building that dates to 1776. Fitting because, in a way, fiddler and step dancer Verch was bringing the music home. In the seventeen hundreds over a hundred thousand Irish left home to begin a new life in North America, bringing with them their fiddle music, songs and dance traditions, and these roots — amongst others — were evident during a captivating ninety-minute show. Of course, along with the Ulster-Scotts/Irish came the Scottish, French and Polish — amongst multiple nationalities…

  • Bob Dylan @ 3Arena, Dublin

    May 16, 2017 - By 

    Some things never change. There are still people streaming towards the exits long before the end of a Bob Dylan show and tonight is no different. Despite the availability of decades of set lists and live reviews online, the expectation of an acoustic-driven evening of hits prevails among many of the audience sprawled around the cavernous 3 Arena. Here is a Nobel Laureate who can perform at the White House without saying a word to the President of the United States, yet people are disappointed that he fails to acknowledge the audience or the occasion with as much as a…

  • Snatched

    May 12, 2017 - By 

    Snatched begins with Amy Schumer, her second leading role after 2015’s Trainwreck, in a familiar comic persona from her standup, film and TV work: the Messy White Girl, whose oblivious, entitled sense of privilege is expressed with a malice-free, faint irony. Emily (Schumer) is fired from her retail job (after a funny bait-and-switch with screenwriter Katie Dippold) and dumped by her rockstar boyfriend, responding to the slights with hurt, haughty denial. Left with no-one to join her on a non-refundable resort trip to Ecuador, and conveniently moved by memories of her divorced homebody mother (Goldie Hawn) in happier, more fun-loving…

  • Moon Duo – Occult Architecture Vol. 2

    May 12, 2017 - By 

    The double album is a much maligned concept nowadays, something that can be thrilling when done right but is far more often overly long and bloated, easily chopped down to a single album of highlights. The announcement of a double album release sets alarm bells ringing as fans start to worry about their favourite bands’ ambitions starting to fly a bit too close to the sun. Perhaps splitting them up into a part 1 and 2 is a good way of keeping things less bloated, but then of course the records both have to be good enough to justify buying…

  • Alien: Covenant

    May 11, 2017 - By 

    A recurring theme in Ridley Scott’s late-career return to the Alien universe, with 2012’s Prometheus and now Alien: Covenant, with more possibly on the way, is the disappointing and disastrous consequences of hubristic father figures chasing perfection. The ill-received Prometheus, part Alien teaser, part Lindelofian word cloud, spun its mythic pretensions into a gorgeous, cynical and narratively garbled take on will and birth, outlining how humanity’s space-monk creators tried to wipe us out once they realized their children’s deep, deep failings, deploying a weaponised virus that escaped their control. A formulaic monster horror with an interest in sci-fi abstractions, Covenant…