#dir jim carroll

[possession]

Leonardo DiCaprio as Jim Carroll THE BASKETBALL DIARIES (1995) dir. Scott Kalvert

[melancholia-of-departure]

Black Easter (2021, Dir. Jim Carroll)

This movie is basically Primer meets Passion of the Christ--with disastrous results. It makes "D-Railed" look like "The Great Train Robbery."

It's offensive, incomprehensible, pretentious, and overly long. Any interesting ideas about the intersection of time travel and theology are thrown out the window in favor of logic copied from other, better movies (that execute the logic better) for apparently intended comedic effect.

It's not even amusing as a bad movie. It just sort of goes on and on and on without making any meaningful points about anything. I guess it's supposed to have heart and a message, but whatever that message is, it gets lost in the mess that is the "Jesus assassination via time travel" plot.

Go watch The Last Temptation of Christ or Slave Girls From Beyond Infinity if you don't want your time wasted.

[aridante]

we don’t have the heart to tell him, rachel hall // the infinite blacktop, sara gran // a ghost story, dir. david lowery (2017) // life after death, damien echols // untitled, valentin gallet // metaphor & memory, cynthia ozick // untitled, ph. jim carroll.

[jingle-bones]

THE LITTLE MERMAID II: RETURN TO THE SEA (Dir: Jim Kammerud, 2000).

Released 11 years after the original, The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea is the first of two sequels to Walt Disney Pictures The Little Mermaid (Ron Clements & John Musker, 1989).

Flipping the events of the first movie, The Little Mermaid II is the story of Melody, the tweenage human daughter of Ariel and Prince Eric. Knowing nothing of her mother’s past and longing to explore the forbidden ocean, Melody strikes a deal with Morgana, the equally villainous sister of sea witch Ursula. With the safety of Melody and the merfolk kingdom of Atlantica at risk, Ariel must ‘return to the Sea’ in a bid to save them.

What drives me to watch a movie like The Little Mermaid II? Let’s say morbid curiosity. Plus the fact that Disney is no longer churning out these straight-to-video cash-ins means I am not supporting their production.

Is it any good? Well, considering its made for the home market origins, this is not a bad looking movie. Produced by Walt Disney Television Animation (latterly DisneyToon Studios), it’s not up to the high standards of a Walt Disney Animation Studios production but it is a step up from usual television fare. Also in its favour is the return of much of the original vocal cast including Jodi Benson as Ariel and Pat Carroll as Morgana.

The returning cast members and the above average visuals suggest that Disney was wary of damaging a popular franchise. However, whatever qualities the movie has are scuppered by some doggedly pedestrian storytelling.

To be fair, I found The Little Mermaid II to be passable entertainment and better than many Disney sequels. Very young viewers, especially those with a penchant for mermaids, should enjoy it. Older children and adults, meanwhile, would do better to stick with the superior original.

Visit my blog JINGLE BONES MOVIE TIME for more reviews of Disney classics and their sequels! Link below.

[facesofcinema]

Assassin 33 A.D. (2020)

[leonardc-dicaprio]

Leonardo DiCaprio as Jim Carroll in The Basketball Diaries, dir. Scott Kalvert

[paulrfrank]

Office of National Drug Control Policy Director Jim Carroll explains what the White House is doing to combat the opioid crisis.

[scannain]

Back for their 7th year, the Irish Film Festival London presents Ireland’s latest mainstream and independent films over 5 days across London with exclusive previews, panel discussions and director’s Q&As.

IFFL 2017 opens with The Drummer and the Keeper, directed by Nick Kelly, telling the touching story of an unlikely friendship that develops between the bipolar drummer of a rock band and an institutionalised teen suffering from Asperger’s syndrome.

The closing film is The Farthest, a stunning, award-winning documentary from Emer Reynolds, about the men and women who built the Voyager spaceships – one of humankind’s greatest achievements.

The Irish Film London Awards returns to the beautiful setting of the Irish Embassy Ballroom, to officially launch the festival, and to honour world-class Irish feature films, shorts and documentaries alongside Irish acting and filmmaking talent.

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IFFL 2017 celebrates women filmmakers, with four of Ireland’s finest female directors engaged in screenings and discussions. The Breadwinner (directed by Nora Twomey and executive produced by Angelina Jolie) and The Farthest (directed by Emer Reynolds) are both being screened at the festival with Q&As (Sunday 3rd December). Regent Street’s private screening on Friday 1st December of a stunning upcoming feature is directed by one of Ireland’s rising female directors. Aisling Walsh (Maudie) joins the line-up of the festival’s Female Focus Forum along with Celine Haddad (Irish Film Board), Roisin Geraghty (GAZE), Aoife McCardle (Kissing Candice) and Anne Marie Naughton (Women in Film and Television Ireland / WFT.i) (Thursday 30th November).

There will also be a panel discussion on Irish Screen Industries, the UK and Brexit, featuring speakers from the Irish Film Board, the BFI, Ateliers du Cinéma Européen (ACE), and Northern Ireland Screen discussing how Brexit could affect the Irish Film and TV industries (Thursday 30th November).

Further feature film screenings include Maze by Stephen Burke, inspired by the true events of the infamous 1983 prison breakout of 38 IRA prisoners from HMP, which was to become the biggest prison escape in Europe since World War II (Friday 1st December); Song of Granite from acclaimed director Pat Collins, who brings the dramatic life story of legendary sean-nós singer Joe Heaney to the screen with in audacious exploration of the man and his music (Saturday 2nd December); The Secret Scripture, Jim Sheridan’s heart-wrenching tale of a woman who resides in a psychiatric hospital recounting her youth of romance, obsession and chaos, starring Rooney Mara, Jack Reynor, Aidan Turner, Vanessa Redgrave and Pauline McLynn (Saturday 2nd December); and In The Name Of Peace: John Hume in America, Maurice Fitzpatrick’s documentary about John Hume who won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1998 as well as the Martin Luther King Award and the Gandhi Peace Prize, the only person to have been awarded all three. Narrated by Liam Neeson and featuring interviews with presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, as well as Irish leaders, U2’s Bono and Prime Ministers John Major and Tony Blair (Sunday 3rd December).

Irish Film London’s mission is to support the work of Irish filmmakers and this year presents two afternoons of screenings of Irish Short Films (Friday 1st and Sunday 3rd December), jam packed with up and coming Irish filmmaking talent. GAZE International LGBT Film Festival Dublin celebrated its 25-year legacy of LGBT inclusivity, visibility, celebration, activism and progress this year. Here the IFFL joins them in marking this Silver Anniversary with a collection of LGBT Irish shorts screenings (Saturday 2nd December).

The next generation can enjoy a festive screening of The Star, in which the lovable donkey Bo and his friends become the unsung heroes of the first Christmas. This is accompanied by a Shadow Animation Workshop for creating fantastical characters and bringing them to life on-screen.

We are delighted to be bringing another monster batch of Irish films to London for the festival. We had a lot of fun selecting the line-up this year. There was a marvellously rich source to draw from and we were spoilt for choice.

I’m particularly looking forward to having a festival hub, at Regent Street Cinema this year, where we will spend 3 of our 5 day’s and screen the majority of our programme. London is a big city, so it’s great to be able to offer our guests and audience somewhere where there will always be a friendly Irish welcome, and plenty of film chat!

I’m also very proud to have such a strong line up of women on our female focus panel, because of whom it is sure to be inspirational and insightful. These women are at the forefront of the industry and their successes are a testament to the ambition and exceptional talent among Irish female filmmakers. Kelly O’Connor, Director – Irish Film Festival London

  LISTINGS

The Drummer and the Keeper

Wednesday 29th November

Picturehouse Central, 18:45

Ireland 2017. Dir. Nick Kelly. With Dermot Murphy, Jacob McCarthy, Niamh Algar, Andrew Carroll, Peter Coonan. 92 min. Cert 12.

An unlikely friendship develops between the bipolar drummer of a rock band and an institutionalized teen suffering from Asperger’s syndrome. This uplifting and comedic feature début deservedly bagged the Best Irish First Feature Award at this year’s Galway Film Fleadh.

  Panel discussion: Irish Screen Industries, the UK and Brexit

Thursday 30th November

Central London venue

How will Brexit affect the Irish Film and TV industries? Will there be more obstacles to companies based in Northern Ireland and those trying to shoot films on location there? How will Irish co-production with UK companies and exhibition funding through EU schemes be affected? Will actors, writers and other creatives find it more difficult to work in the UK post-March 2019? What would happen if the UK departed the European Convention for Co-Production? Will there be fewer Irish and other European films on our screens after 2019 or will it herald a new era of creative exchange?

Panelists will include speakers from the Irish Film Board, the BFI, Ateliers du Cinéma Européen (ACE), and Northern Ireland Screen.

  Panel discussion: Female Focus Forum

Thursday 30th November

Grange Langham Court Hotel, 18:30 – 20:30

A discussion around female Irish talent in the screen industries, touching upon a number of topics, including: the rise of female talent, the new IFB funding schemes for women, ambition, collaborations and female networks. The event will be followed by a drinks reception.

Panelists will include Celine Haddad (Irish Film Board); Aisling Walsh (Dir. Maudie); Aoife McrCardle (Dir: Kissing Candice), Anne Marie Naughton (WFT.I); Roisin Geraghty (GAZE).

  Irish Short Films – Programme 1

Friday 1st December

Regent Street Cinema, 17:00

Cert 15. A celebration of this year’s finest Irish Short Films from well-known and new Irish filmmakers. Including ACORN, directed by Kevin de la Isla O’Neill, in which busy-body mother Maureen battles Principal Finan during a parent-teacher meeting concerning her son Greg and his unusual behaviour during the school’s nativity play rehearsals. Plus; Late Afternoon, The Widows Last, Gustav and LISTEN.

  Preview Screening (invite only)

Plus a Q&A with director

Friday 1st December

Regent Street Cinema, 18:30

Ireland 2017. 100 min. Cert 15.

This year the festival will be holding a preview screening of an upcoming feature film from one of Ireland’s hottest female directors. This screening is by invite only.

  Maze

Plus a Q&A with director Stephen Burke and members of the cast

Friday 1st December

Regent Street Cinema, 20:30

Ireland 2017. Dir Stephen Burke. With Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, Barry Ward, Martin McCann, Eileen Walsh, Aaron Monaghan, Niamh McGrady. 92 min. Cert 15.

This gripping suspense-filled drama is inspired by the true events of the infamous 1983 prison breakout of 38 IRA prisoners from HMP, which was to become the biggest prison escape in Europe since World War II.

  The Star & Shadow Animation Workshop

Saturday 2nd December

Regent Street Cinema, 11.30am

USA 2017, Dir. Tomothy Reckart. PG.

In association with Kino Kids, we present The Star.

A small but brave donkey and his animal friends become the unsung heroes of the first Christmas.

A Shadow Animation Workshop will follow the screening. Join the Irish Film Festival London artists in creating your own fantastical characters and bringing them to life on-screen!

Limited places available – please book in advance.

  Gaze @25yrs – Irish LGBT Short Films

Saturday 2nd December

Regent Street Cinema, 15:00 – 16:30

Cert 15. This year GAZE International LGBT Film Festival Dublin celebrated its 25-year legacy of LGBT inclusivity, visibility, celebration, activism and progress. Here IFFL joins them in marking this Silver Anniversary!

This collection of Irish shorts includes 3 Friends, based on a Colm Tóibín short story, which follows Fergus, a pensive, young man, who is propelled on a powerful journey that begins at his mother’s funeral. The grief becomes a catalyst to reflect upon his life and relationships. Ultimately it is through death, joy, and sex that Fergus looks inside to define himself. Dir: Michael Moody Culpepper.

  Song of Granite

Plus a Q&A with director Pat Collins

Saturday 2nd December

Regent Street Cinema, 16:45

Ireland 2017. Dir Pat Collins. With Michael O’Chonfhlaola, Macdara Ó Fátharta, Leni Parker, Alain Goulem. 118 min. Cert 12A. Language: Irish & English

Acclaimed filmmaker Pat Collins brings the dramatic life story of legendary sean-nós singer Joe Heaney to the screen with in audacious exploration of the man and his music. With an approach that marries traditional narrative episodes with documentary footage, the film celebrates the music Joe Heaney created while painting an unflinching portrait of Heaney, the man. Song of Granite is Ireland’s entry for the 90th Oscars, in the Best Foreign-language Film category.

  The Secret Scripture

Plus a Q&A with director Jim Sheridan

Saturday 2nd December

Regent Street Cinema, 19:30

Ireland 2016. Dir. Jim Sheridan. With Rooney Mara, Aidan Turner, Theo James, Jack Reynor, Eric Bana, Vanessa Redgrave, Pauline McLynn, Charlie Kelly, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor. 118 min. Cert 12A.

Residing in a psychiatric hospital, a woman receives visits from a young psychologist whose interest in her diary triggers flashbacks of her youth, which was filled with romance, obsession and chaos.

  Irish Short Films – Programme 2

Sunday 3rd December

Regent Street Cinema, 12:45

Cert 15. A second celebration of this year’s finest Irish Short Films from well-known and new Irish filmmakers. A celebration of this year’s finest Irish Short Films from well-known and new Irish filmmakers. Including INBOX, directed by B. Welby-Delimere, in which an agoraphobic and a post woman have a strange date through a letterbox. Starring Rory Fleck Byrne (Harlots) and Charlie Murphy (Peaky Blinders). Plus; Tit for Tat, FERN, A Brake in the Clouds, PEEL, Inhale and Throwline.

  The Breadwinner

Plus a Q&A with director Nora Twomey

Sunday 3rd December

Regent Street Cinema, 15:00

Ireland, Canada, Luxembourg 2017. Dir. Nora Twomey. With Saara Chaudry, Laara Sadiq, Shaista Latif, Ali Badshah, Noorin Gulamgaus, Kawa Ada. 94 min. Cert PG-13.

Angelina Jolie exec produced this long anticipated Cartoon Saloon feature animation from director Nora Twomey (The Secret of Kells). After her father Nurullah is unjustly arrested, Parvana, a girl in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, bravely dresses as a boy so she can work to support her mother Fattema and her sister Soraya.

  In the Name of Peace: John Hume in America

Plus a Q&A with director Maurice Fitzpatrick hosted by Maxine Mawhinney

Sunday 3rd December

Regent Street Cinema, 17:00

Ireland 2017. Dir. Maurice Fitzpatrick. With Liam Neeson (narrator), Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, U2’s Bono, John Major, Tony Blair. 90 min. Cert PG.

This is the story John Hume who won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1998 as well as the Martin Luther King Award and the Gandhi Peace Prize, the only person to have been awarded all three. The documentary includes wide-ranging and insightful interviews with President Bill Clinton, President Jimmy Carter, as well as Irish leaders, U2’s Bono and Prime Ministers John Major and Tony Blair who helped to secure peace in Ireland. Liam Neeson is the Voice-Over narrator of the film and Bill Whelan (composer of Riverdance) is the film’s musical composer.

  The Farthest

Plus a Q&A with director Emer Reynolds hosted by Dara O’Briain

Sunday 3rd December

Regent Street Cinema, 19:00

Ireland 2017. Dir. Emer Reynolds. With Frank Drake, Carolyn Porco, John Casani, Lawrence Krauss, Edward Stone. 120 min. Cert PG.

Join the Irish Film Festival in officially closing its 2017 celebration of Irish film with this stunning, award-winning documentary from Emer Reynolds.

More than 12 billion miles away a tiny spaceship is leaving our Solar System and entering the void of deep space – the first human-made object ever to do so. The Farthest gets to the hearts of the men and women who built the Voyager spaceships, one of humankind’s greatest achievements.

  PRE-FESTIVAL EVENT

An Audience with Ros Hubbard, Casting Director

Friday 17th November

Grange Langham Court Hotel, 09.30-11.30

A unique opportunity to hear about the role of this world-renowned casting director, and to pose your questions on the best ways to prepare for casting calls. As half of the celebrated wife-and-husband team behind Hubbard Casting, Ros Hubbard has helped decide who we see in blockbusters from The Lord of the Rings to the Bourne series. She is also responsible for discovering major talents such as Colin Farrell, Kate Winslet and Jonathan Rhys Meyers.

  About Irish Film London

Irish Film London, now in its seventh year, presents the latest and greatest of Irish Film & Animation to a London audience. The organisation runs events through the year, including UK Premieres, workshops, the film arm of the St. Patrick’s Day Festival with the Mayor of London, the annual Irish Film London Awards. Its activities then culminate in the 5 day Irish Film Festival London in November/December each year.

Through Premiere screenings, Director Q&A sessions, related workshops, exhibitions and performances, the organisation aims to bring together industry professionals, film fans and fans of Irish Arts & Culture alike. Focusing on Irish productions, scripts and casts, they strive to provide a significant platform for Irish Film in London, and to ensure that the best of Irish creative talent is continually promoted here in the UK.

The Irish Film Festival London is made possible with the support of the Irish Film Board, Culture Ireland, the Arts Council of Ireland, IFI International, the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade of Ireland, the Irish Youth Foundation and Film London. 2017 Sponsors include Tourism Ireland, Grange Hotels, A&L Goodbody, Cara Personnel, Wyse Transport and Corrigan’s of Mayfair. Further sponsorship opportunities are available, and interested parties are welcomed to get in touch for more information.

#IrishAbroad: Irish Film Festival London announces 2017 line-up - November 29 December 3 Back for their 7th year, the Irish Film Festival London presents Ireland’s latest mainstream and independent films over 5 days across London with exclusive previews, panel discussions and director’s Q&As.