Take a look at some of our movie picks from this years JDIFF Festival
It’s that time of year again, the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival is back to brighten up the dullest time of year with a wealth of classic cinema, international guests and special events.
Tickets are on sale right now for over 100 movies from many different genres, picking the right one might be difficult so below we’ve highlighted 15 must-see’s from the international strand.Of course, this is just a small selection, for a full list visit http://www.Jdiff.com
Next week we’ll look at movies of an Irish interest showing at the festival, including ‘The Secret Of Kells’, ‘Cherrybomb’, ‘Five Minutes of Heaven’ and John Crowley’s ‘Is There Anybody There’.
1/ Doubt
Nominated for 5 Oscars, including best Actress (Meryl Streep) and best Actor (Philip Seymour Hoffman), Doubt is the perfect opener for the festival. Writer/director John Patrick Shanley (Moonstruck) adapts his Pulitzer Prize and Tony-winning play Doubt for the big screen, keeping all the themes that made the original work such a hit on stage.
Set in 1964, A vibrant, charismatic priest, Father Flynn, is trying to upend the school’s strict customs, which have long been fiercely guarded by Sister Aloysius Beauvier, the iron-gloved Principal who believes in the power of fear and discipline. The winds of political change are sweeping through the country, and, indeed, the school has just accepted its first black student, Donald Miller. But, when Sister James, a hopeful innocent, shares with Sister Aloysius her suspicion that Father Flynn is paying too much personal attention to Donald, Sister Aloysius is galvanized to begin a crusade to both unearth the truth and expunge Flynn from the school.
When is ‘Doubt’ showing?
Feb 12th – Savoy Opening Gala
2/ Genova
Joe (Colin Firth) is an Englishman raising his family in the United States. One day as his wife (Hope Davis) is driving their daughters home, she becomes momentarily distracted. Disaster strikes. Left in a fog of grief, Joe decides to accept a position teaching in Italy. He hopes the change of setting will help to pull both him and his daughters from the limbo of their bereavement.
Special Guests : Colin Firth will be attending this screening
When is ‘Genova’ showing?
Feb 20th – Cineworld, Parnell Street
3/ The Class
Winner of the Palme D’Or at the Cannes Film Festival 2008, “The Class” is based on an autobiographical novel by Francois Begaudeau, a drama that follows the year in the life of a French schoolteacher working at a high-school in a tough neighbourhood of Paris. Ethnicities, cultures and attitudes often clash in the classroom. As amusing and inspiring as the teenage students can be, their difficult behavior can still jeopardize any teacher’s enthusiasm for the low-paying job. Francois insists on an atmosphere of respect and diligence. Neither stuffy nor severe, his extravagant frankness often takes the students by surprise. But his classroom ethics are put to the test when his students begin to challenge his methods.
Special Guests : Director Laurent Cantet will be attending this screening.
When is it showing?
Feb 14th – Cineworld, Parnell Street
4/ Coraline 3D
The first ever high definition, stop-motion animated feature to be shot in 3-D, Coraline is based on Neil Gaiman’s international best-selling book and is helmed by ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ director Henry Selick.
In the film, a young girl (voiced by Dakota Fanning) walks through a secret door in her new home and discovers an alternate version of her life. On the surface, this parallel reality is eerily similar to her real life – only much better. But when this wondrously off-kilter, fantastical adventure turns dangerous and her counterfeit other mother (voiced by Teri Hatcher) tries to keep her forever, Coraline must count on her stubborn determination, bravery, and the aid of her neighbours and a talking black cat to save her real parents and some ghost children and get back home.
Special Guests : Writer Neil Gaiman will be attending this screening.
When is ‘Coraline 3D’ showing?
Feb 15th – Movies @ Dundrum
5/ Last Chance Harvey
Last Chance Harvey is writer-director Joel Hopkins’ meditation on loneliness and love coming at a time in life when you might think those chances have all played out. Everything works in this upllifting and hopeful film, with beautifully attenuated performances by Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson, who slip into the characters Hopkins has sewn for them like an old sweater.
Harvey (Hoffman) finds his poorly paid job as a jingle-writer in jeopardy as he heads to London for his daughter’s marriage – his having fractured and died years ago. His relationship with daughter Susan hasn’t turned out as he’d planned either.
When is ‘Last Chance Harvey’ showing? Feb 22nd – Savoy
6/ Marley & Me
Based on newspaper columnist John Grogan’s best-selling book about his life, Marley & Me is a study of a married couple, who happen to own one of the more destructive Labradors known to the canine species. From the minute newlyweds John (Owen Wilson) and Jenny Grogan (Jennifer Aniston) pick out Marley from a pen of cute Lab puppies, they realize something’s up when the seller says they can have him for a discounted price. Soon, it becomes very apparent Marley is un-trainable, as he proceeds to jump and climb and chow down on anything he can. This isn’t just about a dog. Marley & Me is a heartwarming tale of a family with dog DRAMA. Be prepared to laugh and cry, equally as hard.
When is it showing? Feb 22nd – Savoy
7/ Il Divo
Paolo Sorrentino’s magisterial Il Divo reaches into the tumultuous political history of post-war Italy to craft a dazzling portrait of one of the period’s most complex and ambiguous figures, Giulio Andreotti (Toni Servillo). Arguably the most important Italian politician of the last fifty years, Andreotti entered politics in 1946 and led seven governments, turning his Christian Democratic party into a force that ran Italy in what was essentially a one-party system. To do so clearly required a man of singular abilities – but Andreotti was, and remains, an enigma to his fellow countrymen.
The film eschews the traditional biopic format in favour of a far more claustrophobic, focused look at the man. This concentration of energy and force pays high dividends, especially as Sorrentino has found a perfect vessel in Servillo, an actor who loses himself in the role and effectively “becomes” Andreotti before our eyes. From the film’s opening moments when we are confronted with Andreotti – in intense close-up, with acupuncture needles covering his face – we are unmistakably in the hands of a master.
Special Guests : Director Paolo Sorrentino will be in attendance at this screening.
When is ‘Il Divo’ showing?
Feb 17th – Cineworld, Parnell Street
8/ The Burning Plain
Academy Award-nominee Guillermo Arriaga is best known as the screenwriter for director Alejandro Gonzàlez Iñàrritu’s critically acclaimed films Amores Perros, 21 Grams and Babel, as well as Tommy Lee Jones’s The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada. In his directorial debut, Arriaga assumes full control of The Burning Plain, as beautifully constructed and emotionally moving as anything he has ever crafted. Stars Kim Basinger and Charlize Theron.
When is ‘The Burning Plain’ showing? Feb 21st – Savoy
Click Here For Part 2 of our Jameson Dublin International Film Festival Highlights