More please

I watched Parasite on the big screen again today. It was as good the 2nd time as it was the first. It was an afternoon showing and the place was hopping, packed full of students and older cinema goers. Usually the place is dead as a dodo around 4pm but not today. It seems Limerick does have a taste for subtitled films. You'd think we were all terrified of those little words on the screen from the way we're constantly denied access of foreign movies on their cinema release. The last foreign film that got a proper run (not a one off screening) down here was Takashi Miike's Blade Of The Immortal which came out in December 2017 and before that was Toni Erdmann in 2016. That's just dreadful really.

Too many people think of foreign films as arty, pretentious & impenetrable but they really aren't. They're the films we watch all the time except in a different language and about a different culture. They're as funny and action packed as you want while giving you an insight into lifestyles you don't lead. Parasite is a perfect example. It's a resolute crowdpleaser. Never dull or confusing, just darkly funny and eventually bonkers. It's a Korean take on all those home invasion thrillers we adored in the 90's. I hope it does big business in the regional cinemas it's been released too and I really hope those cinemas take note of that business and finally cop on to the fact that there are big appetites out there for movies other than American blockbusters. If they show them we will watch them. We shouldn't have to travel to Galway or Dublin for a look around the world. At least give them a chance.

Fingers crossed. And toes.