It's been another strange year for cinema but there's gems out there if you're willing to look. Some turds too. Here's my best and worst of 2021 at the half way point. Reviews are in the links. All were released in Ireland this year.
The Good
Abe Applebaum. Kid Detective. A hero as a child. A disaster as an adult. A darkly funny mystery about the failures that haunt us and keep us in a state of arrested development. A genuine surprise. Adam Brody will blow you away.
A very solid survival horror with a final shot that would haunt your dreams for days after. Those dreams we've all had of leaving everything behind and going to live off the grid. Yeah... they'll dissipate fast after this.
Pissed on in America for some bizarre reason but this supernatural horror about a ghoulish mountain find was just excellent. A beautifully shot film too with a mega lead turn by James Badge Dale, an actor who should be massive.
My favourite film of the year so far. An exceedingly dark Danish family/comedy/gangster thriller about the aftermath of a disaster that's filled with moments that would appall you while making you snort laughing. Mads Mikkelsen is perfect in it.
The dark side of growing old in America is turned into a thriller that would enrage you and engiggle (yes i made this word up, deal with it) you in equal measure. Rosamund Pike is fantastically septic in this film that goes ways you'd never imagine..
A look at the 1995 Srebrenica massacre from the POV of a UN translator trying to save her family. A haunting, brilliantly acted look at a horrifying time, that thankfully leaves all the brutality to your imagination. Which somehow makes it even worse. Jasna Đuričić's performance is a stunner.
Bags of cans. Bulls. Impalement. Immigration. Bleeding eyeballs. That one head the ball we all grew up with. Oh and vampires. An Irish comedy horror that's both hilarious and absolutely terrifying. One I'd have loved to have seen in a packed cinema.
Ben Wheatley is back in horror mode and his tale of a trip into the woods is both nightmarish and very very topical. DON'T FUCK WITH NATURE. And definitely stay away from quietly spoken men you meet deep in the forest.
The story of a broken Korean hitman and the quiet connection he makes with a kindred spirit when they meet on the island he's hiding on. Brutally brutally violent but so soulful. A mad concoction that really works.
The most stressful family comedy you'll see. A women goes to a Jewish wake and .....oh man it gets intense. It might be based in a community alien to most of us but so much of it will hit home. Rachel Sennott is one to watch.
The Bad
You'd assume a war film starring Anthony Mackay as a cyborg would be fun right? You'd be wrong. Oh so wrong.
A terrorist incident in the channel tunnel somehow turns into the dullest film of the year. Led by a turn from Sam Heughan that should ensure he never gets to play Bond. Hopefully anyway.
Yet another film starring Melissa McCarthy, directed by her husband that once again wastes every bit of talent she has. Painful. A real wasted opportunity for a different take on the superhero genre.
The Ugly
A hatefully bad Irish film. Adam And Paul without an ounce of that film's heart. Mean spirited, nasty, flat out putrid.
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