Posts Tagged ‘Ciarán Hinds’

7
Mar

There Will Be Blood

   Posted by: Fence   in Moving Pictures

Dir & Writ: Paul Thomas Anderson
Based on book by Upton Sinclair

  • Daniel Day-Lewis … Daniel Plainview
  • Ciarán Hinds … Fletcher Hamilton
  • Dillon Freasier … H.W. Plainview
  • Paul Dano … Paul Sunday / Eli Sunday
  • Sydney McCallister … Mary Sunday

There Will Be Blood

It is hard to know how to describe this film. It is more of a character study than a story. Of course there is some plot, an oilman and his desire to suceed, but the story isn’t too important. What is important is the character of Daniel Plainview, as played by Oscar winning Daniel Day-Lewis.

The opening scenes show just how driven Daniel is. We watch him, working on his own, in a mine. No dialogue at all for around 15 minutes, just this man in a hole, digging, dynamiting up the earth, falling down the hole, injured and yet still having the drive to pull himself out of that hole and struggle back into town to get his bit of dirt evaluated.

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Tags: 9 Stars, based on book, character study, Ciarán Hinds, cinematography, Daniel Day-Lewis, dialogue, Dillon Freasier, Oscar winner, Paul Dano, Paul Thomas Anderson, R15A, Sydney McCallister, There Will Be Blood, Upton Sinclair, weird

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19
Sep

Rome - Season 1

   Posted by: Fence   in TV

Dir: Michael Apted, Julian Farino, Allen Coulter, Alan Poul, Timothy Van Patten, Steve Shill, Jeremy Podeswa, Alan Taylor, Mikael Salomon.
Writ: Bruno Heller, John Milius, David Frankel, William J. MacDonald, Alexandra Cunningham, Adrian Hodges.

  • Kevin McKidd - Lucius Vorenus
  • Ray Stevenson - Titus Pullo
  • Polly Walker - Attia of the Julii
  • Ciarán Hinds - Julius Caesar
  • James Purefoy - Mark Anthony

it has been four hundred years since the founding of the Republic, and in that time Rome has grown into a mighty power. But military might, and subjugated lands don’t mean everything is happy at home. While Gaius Julius Caesar has been off subduing Gaul, the senators back home have been growing more discontented. And while at first his co-ruler of Rome, Pompey, isn’t willing to oppose him, slowly he comes around until conflict is inevitable.

But Rome is much more than a history lesson, though all attempts have been made to ensure that this show is as historically accurate as possible, because the writers and creators have made the central story revolve around two ordinary men, soldiers Titus Pullo and Lucius Vorenus.

The show itself is fantastic. It looks fantastic, set design, costumes, weapons. All look authentic. And the actors are even better, each and everyone seems so suited to their characters, I’ve reviewed most of the episodes already, so I won’t repeat myself.

The DVD has a number of special features. One flashes up historical facts as you watch the episode, giving you wonderful information, such as the name of some sexual positions. There are also a number of commentaries. These were interesting, but not spectacular, and in certain cases it would have probably been a lot better had they had two people do the commentary, rather than having just the one person.

There is also a bonus disc of documentaries, and again, they are all entertaining and informative. But nothing I’d really be bothered to watch twice. Still, the actual episodes themselves are great, and even without any extras at all, it would still be worth buying.

Tags: 10 Stars, Adrian Hodges, Alan Poul, Alan Taylor, Alexandra Cunningham, Allen Coulter, blood, Bruno Heller, Chicken and Lamb, Ciarán Hinds, David Frankel, historical fiction, James Purefoy, Jeremy Podeswa, John Milius, Julian Farino, Julius Caesar, Kevin McKidd, Lucius Vorenus, Michael Apted, Mikael Salomon, Polly Walker, Ray Stevenson, Roman Empire, Rome, Rome season 1, Steve Shill, Timothy Van Patten, Titus Pullo, violence, William J. MacDonald

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10
Aug

Miami Vice

   Posted by: Fence   in Moving Pictures

Dir: Michael Mann
Writ: Michael Mann & TV show by Anthony Yerkovich

  • Colin Farrell - ‘Sonny’ Crockett
  • Jamie Foxx - Ricardo Tubbs
  • Li Gong - Isabella
  • Naomie Harris - Trudy Joplin
  • Ciarán Hinds - FBI Agent Fujima

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If I’m honest there isn’t much to say about this film. Overall it is a huge amount of meh. Nothing more, nothing less.

Maybe I should at the very least try?
Basic blot outline, Sonny and Ricardo are undercover agents, and after one an interagency force gets discovered, they go undercover in order to find out what agency is responsible for the leak, and how the drug dealers discovered this. So off they travel, to some poor drug-ridden, crime-infested South American country. And get the gig, now they are in with the baddies. But not quite trusted.

And then Sonny starts to fall for the main badguys’ girl, who is also a very efficent “business woman”

But I just didn’t care. Scenes and scenes of talk, talk, and wait for it, yes, a little more talk. Interspersed there are some very pretty shots. But scenery and talking doesn’t make for an entertaining film… actually I was entertained by Cave of the Yellow Dog which was very much scenery and dialogue, so I guess you can. But not here. It is all just so pointless. There’s no tension or drama. And while the action scenes do look great, they don’t feel great.

My final verdict? I’ll paraphrase the woman who left the cinema just after me “In all fairness now, that was fucking woeful.”

IMDb | The House Next Door | The Sobering Conclusion | Darm Matters

Tags: 5 Stars, action, Anthony Yerkovich, based on a TV show, Ciarán Hinds, Colin Farrell, crime, drugs, explosions, Jamie Foxx, Li Gong, meh, Miami Vice, Michael Mann, Naomie Harris, police, undercover cops

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12
Feb

Munich

   Posted by: Fence   in Moving Pictures

  • Eric Bana - Avner
  • Daniel Craig - Steve
  • Ciarán Hinds - Carl
  • Mathieu Kassovitz - Robert
  • Hanns Zischler - Hans

Based on the events that followed the terrorist attack on the Munich Olympic Games in 1972, this film has a lot of political baggage. There are those who see it as an example of anti-semitism. There are those who think it shows too much favour to the zionist cause. Whatever. Should it be examined based on topic, or on the quality of the film?

The film itself did keep my attention the whole way through. At just over 160 minutes it is a little long, but never overly so. Leaving aside the political discussions I thought the film did a good job of capturing Avner as a character. The rest of the team as less well-defined, but their roles re mosr of supporting and assisting Avner rather then as characters in their own right. That is not to say that they are uninteresting, or that they are 2D, just that their motivations and feelings are not given as much weight as Avners.

I thought that the story itself was well told; the tension surrounding the bombings/shhoting builds nicely. There is the mysterious French group to wonder about, and to help create a sense of paranoia and doubt.

As I said, their are those, on both sides, who will claim that this film is biased. But I don’t think it is. We are clearly shown the violence and random deaths portrayed by the Palestinian terrorists, we are shown the Israeli’s need to fight back and protect their home. It isn’t as though one side or the other is painted evil, though perhaps that is what some of the critics wanted?

The most telling scene in the film, for me, was the one between Avner and the PLO terrorist, where they discuss Israel. Avner, pretending to be a German socialist extremist of some description defends Israel, and its right to exist. And in the course of their discussion we see what it is that people really want. A home to call their own.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0408306/”>IMDb | Galactic Jack | Random Burblings | Screamer in the Matrix |

Tags: 1970s, 1972, 8 Stars, assassin, based on true story, Ciarán Hinds, Daniel Craig, drama, Eric Bana, Hanns Zischler, Mathieu Kassovitz, Munich, murder, terrorism

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4
Nov

Rome - The Stolen Eagle

   Posted by: Fence   in Moving Pictures, TV

    Ep # 1.01

  • Kevin McKidd - Lucius Vorenus
  • Ray Stevenson - Titus Pullo
  • Ciarán Hinds - Gaius Julius Caesar
  • James Purefoy - Mark Antony

Publicity for this has certainly been building up the sex and the violence, and this first episode did live up to that. Then again, opening with Julius Caesar in Gaul there was bound to be more than a little death and bloodshed. The opening battle shows the disciplined manner of Roman fighting, all the legion fighting as one, effeciently and in concert. But there is always one, isn’t there, and in this case it is Titus Pullo. Drunk, he fights his way through the line and into the midst of the Gauls, forcing his commander Lucius Vorenus to mount a rescue. Don’t think that Pullo is grateful, instead he is insulted when Vorenus orders his “drunken soldier” back into line and decks him. Thereby earning himself a whipping and some time in prison, only being released when Mark Antony sends Vorenus to find Caeser’s stolen eagle, the symbol of the glory of Rome.

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Tags: Ciarán Hinds, death, fights, James Purefoy, Kevin McKidd, Ray Stevenson, Rome, Rome season 1, soldier, The Stolen Eagle, violence

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18
Jul

Veronica Guerin

   Posted by: Fence   in Moving Pictures

Dir: Joel Schumaker
Writ: Carol Doyle & Mary Agnes Donoghue
Cate Blanchett …. Veronica Guerin
Gerard McSorley …. John Gilligan
Ciarán Hinds …. John Traynor
Brenda Fricker …. Bernie Guerin

Went to see Veronica Guerin last week. It a film based on the true story of Veronica Guerin, a journalist with the Irish Independent who was murdered in 1996 because of her investigations into organised crime in Dublin.

In the film Cate Blanchett plays Veronica and from what I could see the rest of the cast as played by Irish actors (including a wonderful cameo from Colin Farrell). Its a good film, but watching it I couldn’t help but try and compare it to what I would see as real, and obviously as a film it isn’t/wasn’t real. Still overall it was a good film, that doesn’t really take too many liberties with the truth (or at least what I think of as the truth).

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Tags: 1996, 7 Stars, based on true story, Brenda Fricker, Carol Doyle, Cate Blanchett, Ciarán Hinds, crime in Ireland, Gerard McSorley, Joel Schumaker, Mary Agnes Donoghue, murder, Veronica Guerin

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