The reviews for BALLYWALTER are in! The Irish Independent says “Patrick Kielty is a revelation and Seána Kerslake exemplary in this moving drama. Together they created something wonderful, something unique, something that deserves to find an audience. Armed with a moving, meaningful screenplay by Stacey Gregg, BALLYWALTER speaks only when it needs to. It is, at its core, a refreshingly honest tale about depression, about what happens when the light begins to fade”.
The first trailer for ALL OF US STRANGERS, starring Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott, has been released. From director Andrew Haigh, and in theatres December 22nd, Adam (Scott) has a chance encounter with a mysterious neighbor Harry (Mescal), which punctures the rhythm of his everyday life. As a relationship develops between them, Adam is preoccupied with memories of the past and finds himself drawn back to the suburban town where he grew up, and the childhood home where his parents (Claire Foy and Jamie Bell), appear to be living, just as they were on the day they died, 30 years before.
Double Olivier Award winning actor Andrew Scott talks to Graham Norton ahead of returning to London’s glittering West End to star in a new adaption of VANYA. Co-created by Scott, along with Simon Stephens, Sam Yates and Rosanna Vize, the story follows Chekhov’s closely, although Stephen’s adaptation is in modern vernacular with anglicised names and not a samovar in sight.
In his latest interview, the Dublin actor talks about his new movie DANCE FIRST, in which he plays the Irish dramatist, the time he shared a drink with Richard Burton and why he had to leave Los Angeles. DANCE FIRST premieres at the San Sebastian film festival on 29 and 30 September, is in UK cinemas in November, on Sky Cinema in December and on Sky Arts in 2024.
DERRY GIRLS star Saoirse-Monica Jackson has been pictured in upcoming Paramount+ series THE DOLL FACTORY for the first time. Set in London in 1851, the series follows Iris, played by Esme Creed-Miles, who paints dolls for a living alongside her twin sister Rose. The series will be released in Ireland and the UK in the late autumn.
Christopher Nolan’s OPPENHEIMER has overtaken BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY as the highest ever grossing biopic. The film starring Cillian Murphy as the father of the atomic bomb, Robert J. Oppenheimer, has now grossed $912.7 million across the globe. It is also Nolan’s third highest grossing film, after THE DARK KNIGHT and THE DARK KNIGHT RISES.
Irish actor Daryl McCormack (GOOD LUCK TO YOU, LEO GRANDE) stars in the newly-released thriller THE LESSON. McCormack stars alongside Academy Award-nominated actor Richard E. Grant and French-American actress Julie Delpy in the new film. McCormack plays an aspiring writer named Liam who accepts a tutoring course at the family estate of renowned author JM Sinclair (Grant). The film is set to be released in Irish cinemas on Friday, September 22.
Dublin actress Seána Kerslake has revealed she kept a Belfast accent when filming her new film BALLYWALTER. The film will hit UK and Irish audiences on Friday, September 22 — the same day as Kielty’s second episode hosting THE LATE LATE SHOW. The comedy-drama follows Shane (Kielty) who has exiled himself to Ballywalter following the break-up of his marriage. He tries to get his life back on track by enrolling in a stand-up comedy course.
On the show’s 10-year anniversary, PEAKY BLINDERS creator, Steven Knight, has confirmed the story “is not yet over”. It hardly seems believable that it’s 10 years since Tommy Shelby first rode that black horse through the streets of Birmingham. The message was shared to the official Peaky Blinders Instagram page, which added: “Huge thanks to our incredible fans for the past ten years. Here’s to the next ten…” Following the show’s season six finale last year, Knight revealed plans to make a film that would serve as the seventh and final chapter.
The reviews are in for ONCE director, John Carney’s FLORA AND SON. Single mom, Flora (Eve Hewson), struggles to keep her son Max (Orén Kinlan) out of trouble in Dublin. She gets the idea to give her teenager a guitar, but he quickly refuses it in all his teenage angst. Hewson does an impeccable job as Flora, the movie’s heart and soul. The film will be available in theaters on September 22nd and on Apple TV+ on September 29th.
BELFAST star Jamie Dornan has opened up about his new role in Sir Kenneth Branagh’s A HAUNTING IN VENICE. Dornan plays Dr. Leslie Ferrier, a once successful doctor, but due to his time spent serving as a military doctor in World War II is now suffering from PTSD, which has had a devastating effect on his life and career. Dornan will re-unite with fellow BELFAST star, Jude Hill, in another father-son relationship.
Yorgos Lanthimos’s antic feminist comedy POOR THINGS, produced by the Irish company Element Pictures, has won the Golden Lion, top prize, at an unusual 80th Venice International Film Festival. This marks the fourth collaboration between Element Pictures and the Greek director (with a fifth already in the can) after THE LOBSTER, THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER and THE FAVOURITE. The film is scheduled to be theatrically released by Searchlight Pictures in the United States on December 8, 2023, and in the United Kingdom on January 12, 2024.
FLEABAG’s hot priest, Andrew Scott, is about to take on his most liberating role yet: a one-man show of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya in which he will play all nine roles, male and female. In the coming months, Scott will be everywhere: a trick of scheduling, rather than by design. VANYA will be followed in December by the release of ALL OF US STRANGERS, a film in which he stars with Paul Mescal and Claire Foy.
BRIDESMAIDS star Chris O’Dowd has written SMALL TOWN, BIG STORY a six part comedy drama about a village in Ireland hosting the filming of a Hollywood movie. Christina Hendricks (MAD MEN) and Paddy Considine (THE WORLD’S END) will star in the series, which is described by commissioning network Sky as “a witty, very dramatic comedy”. MOONE BOY creator and THE IT CROWD star Chris O’Dowd is also working as a director on the series, with filming now underway in Ireland.
Watch IN THE LAND OF SAINTS AND SINNERS trailer! The film, starring Liam Neeson, receives its premiere at the Venice Film Festival today, September 6. Neeson is joined by a powerhouse list of Irish stars including Kerry Condon (THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN), Jack Gleeson (GAME OF THRONES), Sarah Greene (ROSIE), Ciarán Hinds (BELFAST) and Colm Meaney (THE SNAPPER). Netflix has acquired the Irish and UK rights, however, a release date has yet to be announced.
Irish actress Niamh McCormack has landed a role in Netflix’s upcoming series EVERYTHING NOW. The 22-year-old, who attended Bow Street Academy after finishing school in 2019, previously starred in THE WITCHER. EVERYTHING NOW stars Sophie Wilde as a 16-year-old named Mia, who returns home after a lengthy recovery from an eating disorder. The series will premiere on Netflix on October 5th.
A new TV programme is set to chart the successful career of Belfast actor James Martin. The UTV programme BEING JAMES MARTIN looks into the life of the 33-year-including his acting career which has seen him go from a local drama group for young people with learning difficulties to winning Oscars. Rita Fitzgerald presents the programme and interviews James and his parents, Queen’s Professor Suzanne, and radio DJ Ivan, about his early life and the challenges and joys they faced with him as a child.
Straight from it’s World Premiere at Venice Film Festival, THE KILLER is earning highly positive reviews. David Fincher’s horribly addictive samurai procedural, adapted by Andrew Kevin Walker from the graphic novel by Alexis Nolent, stars Michael Fassbender as the un-named titular hitman: an ascetic who in the movie’s sensationally low-key opening sequence tells us about dealing with the job’s biggest challenge: boredom. THE KILLER will be released in October in US and UK cinemas and is released on 10 November on Netflix.
