Cork'08 - Irish Film Board Shorts
Okay, I've covered the "Irish Shorts" programme, but I've still got a couple more to do. Here's the "Irish Film Board Shorts" programme.
UNCLE BILL'S BARREL (Eoin Ryan) - Two famous Irish traditions (wakes and drinking) combine with some strange goings on in a rural community when a deceased man's special booze supply is cracked open. Stylish and funny, it's like a comedy fusion of classic Irish literature and 70s Hammer films. (8/10)
Unfortunately Kealan O'Rourke's FAIRY CATCHER wasn't quite ready in time for the festival but they did show a little teaser trailer and it looks very promising indeed.
THE MAN INSIDE (Rory Bresnihan) is an intriguingly weird short that details what happens when a man finds himself locked inside his apartment one morning and is unable to escape. There was something about the film that didn't quite sit right with me, and I can't figure out what. The acting is competent enough and the visual style of it (particularly the imaginary city in which the lead character lives) combines well with a quirky atmosphere (helped by a real mish-mash of accents) to give the film a unique feel. I certainly can't fault the story either, since it takes a decent concept and follows it through to a wonderful ending. There was just something about it that didn't quite stick together but I'll be damned if I can put my finger on it. (7/10)
TWO POINT FIVE BILLION (Jamie Hannigan) is similar. The story is an interesting one (ADAM & PAUL writer and star Mark O'Halloran is a scientist who comes a cropper during a time travel experiment), the acting is good (O'Halloran convinces, and the film gets bonus points for including a brief role for Laura Way, quite possibly my favourite lady in the whole of Ireland). Again, there's just something missing but alas I lack the critical nous to determine exactly what it is. Still a very good film though, it's just not quite top marks from me. (8/10)
The above films were accompanied by two documentary shorts, VISITING DAY (Ciaran Deeney) and WATER BODIES (Jennifer Keegan). I'm afraid neither of them really appealed to me. I was never entirely clear on what was going on or what I should take from the former (a look at the effects of imprisonment on the family of the prisoners), and the latter (a fly on the wall observation of two sites of pilgrimage) didn't really grab me. Maybe it's just because I wasn't that interested in the subject, but it seemed to me like fifteen minutes of people wading around in water and nothing more. Shame, as it looked very nice. VISITING DAY gets 4/10 and WATER BODIES gets 5/10.
UNCLE BILL'S BARREL (Eoin Ryan) - Two famous Irish traditions (wakes and drinking) combine with some strange goings on in a rural community when a deceased man's special booze supply is cracked open. Stylish and funny, it's like a comedy fusion of classic Irish literature and 70s Hammer films. (8/10)
Unfortunately Kealan O'Rourke's FAIRY CATCHER wasn't quite ready in time for the festival but they did show a little teaser trailer and it looks very promising indeed.
THE MAN INSIDE (Rory Bresnihan) is an intriguingly weird short that details what happens when a man finds himself locked inside his apartment one morning and is unable to escape. There was something about the film that didn't quite sit right with me, and I can't figure out what. The acting is competent enough and the visual style of it (particularly the imaginary city in which the lead character lives) combines well with a quirky atmosphere (helped by a real mish-mash of accents) to give the film a unique feel. I certainly can't fault the story either, since it takes a decent concept and follows it through to a wonderful ending. There was just something about it that didn't quite stick together but I'll be damned if I can put my finger on it. (7/10)
TWO POINT FIVE BILLION (Jamie Hannigan) is similar. The story is an interesting one (ADAM & PAUL writer and star Mark O'Halloran is a scientist who comes a cropper during a time travel experiment), the acting is good (O'Halloran convinces, and the film gets bonus points for including a brief role for Laura Way, quite possibly my favourite lady in the whole of Ireland). Again, there's just something missing but alas I lack the critical nous to determine exactly what it is. Still a very good film though, it's just not quite top marks from me. (8/10)
The above films were accompanied by two documentary shorts, VISITING DAY (Ciaran Deeney) and WATER BODIES (Jennifer Keegan). I'm afraid neither of them really appealed to me. I was never entirely clear on what was going on or what I should take from the former (a look at the effects of imprisonment on the family of the prisoners), and the latter (a fly on the wall observation of two sites of pilgrimage) didn't really grab me. Maybe it's just because I wasn't that interested in the subject, but it seemed to me like fifteen minutes of people wading around in water and nothing more. Shame, as it looked very nice. VISITING DAY gets 4/10 and WATER BODIES gets 5/10.
Labels: cork film festival, Film festivals, Irish film, short films
posted by Alan at 6:30 pm
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