It’s cinema season here in Dublin! For eleven days of February the city will play host to the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival, ampoule a celebration of film in all its forms. This is the 11th year that Dublin has played host to the event and as always it promises something for every taste, buy viagra with selections from international cinema, generic independent productions and even blockbusters on offer.
The festival itself is just one of several cinema-based events that Jameson Whiskey has started promoting; indeed, as a company they seem dedicated to bridging the gap between on-screen action and audience. For example, for many years now the company has been collaborating with Empire Magazine to bring us the Jameson-Empire Awards, where awards are allocated according to the results of a public ballot; and the now long-running Jameson Cult Film Club is still promoting more esoteric cinematic offerings to the discerning viewer through immersive and interactive themed screenings
The festival is approaching fast. Starting on the 13th February and running until the 23rd, tickets are already starting to sell out, so anyone interested should head straight to www.jdiff.com and start booking. However, with so much on offer and cinema ticket prices still not being exactly reasonable for students, ranging as they do from absolutely nothing to 18 Euro, here are your humble critic’s personal top choices to try for in each category:
OFFICIAL SELECTION- INTERNATIONAL: ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE (Feb 15th, 11.00am, The Savoy, E11.00)
A lyrical, passionate attempt to reclaim vampires in cinema from the unfortunately still popular fruits of Stephanie Meyer’s imagination, Only Lovers Left Alive stands set to take critics and audiences by storm. Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton star as centuries-old Adam and Eve, now living in modern-day Detroit, living an eternal erotic lustful fantasy until Swinton’s in-film sister appears on the scene. With a fantastic supporting cast including none other than John Hurt as Christopher Marlowe (who will be making a guest appearance at the showing) and the continuing creativity of director Jim Jarmusch, Only Lovers promises to be a bloody, sexy, refreshing treat.
WORKSHOPS AND EVENTS: PYROTECHNICS AND PISTOLS (Feb 14th, 2.00pm, Smithfield Square, FREE!)
A must-see for anyone with an interest in special effects and explosions. A skilled team of special effect supervisors will take the audience through the world of the action sequence, with live, practical demonstrations of gun fights, car chases and, of course, explosions. All of this completely free.
REAL TO REEL: VISITORS (Feb 15th, 3.30pm, Cineworld, E11.00)
Godfrey Reggio returns with his first film in a decade. A sublime exploration of the universe and our place within it, Visitors seeks to explore what it means to be a visitor in our interconnected society and world. Reggio combines personal iconography of the human body with beautifully sharp black and white photography to create a personal, dreamlike exploration of humanity and meaning, all supported by another stunning score by Philip Glass. A complex, moving masterpiece not to be missed by fans of documentary film.
OUT OF THE PAST: THE SWIMMER (Feb 16th, 4.00pm, Lighthouse Cinema, E11.00)
This year JDIFF brings us a reshowing of Burt Lancaster’s finest performance in The Swimmer, a seemingly realist tale of a man who decided to swim in each of his neighbours backyard pools as he makes his journey home. The film swiftly reveals itself to be a complex allegory, with the true nature of Lancaster’s character revealed in stages through his interactions with the owners of each pool. Directors Frank Perry and Sydney Pollack’s strange, complex film still confuses and disturbs to this day.
SPECIAL PRESENTATION: TRACKS (Feb 16th, 11.00am, The Savoy, E11.00)
Mia Wasikowska stars in a film that is as much a love-letter to the wilds of Australia and its people as it is a celebration of self-reliance and the inexplicable desire for isolation and self-fulfilment. Wasikowska’s character sets off on an odyssey to cross Australia, provoked for the most part simply by a desire to retreat from the struggles of everyday life and escape to a more immediate, personal existence.
GALA: DAWN OF THE DEAD (Feb 21st, 11.00pm, Lighthouse Cinema, E18.00)
Saving the best for last we have Dawn of the Dead. Little needs to be said of George A. Romero’s seminal 1978 zombie horror, save that it continues to be a violent, disturbing, darkly hilarious work of cinematic genius. If you’ve never seen it now is your chance. If you’ve only ever seen the recent remake, see it as it was meant to be seen. Even if you share this critic’s personal love of this film already, you all owe it to yourselves to be at this screening. Not only will Romero’s definitive cut be screened, but the entire soundtrack will be performed live in sync with the film by Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin orchestra. If you go to only one screening on this list make it this one. The definition of essential viewing.
