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‘The Hallow’ Movie Review – is hollow horror

Irish legends are rich with horrifying monsters, painful realities and a genuine sense of despair. Perhaps rooted in the Irish struggle, many of the lessons from their myths evoke inequality and injustice – it does not matter who you are, what you believe or what you do, you are not above nature’s law. What is nature’s law? It is a perverse combination of God’s will and an amoral natural world. Set in the mostly undisturbed forests of Ireland, The Hallow is about a conservationist (Joseph Mawle) and his young family. Despite many warnings from the locals, he persists in investigating the forests, eventually inspiring its wrath.

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AFI Fest 2014: ‘Song of the Sea’ has frustrating beauty

Song of the Sea is a beautiful film. Its vivid art style easily separates it from the prosaic sameness that currently grips much of mainstream animation. That’s the big advantage that animated films made by smaller outfits, such as Cartoon Saloon, have over the Disneys and Dreamworks of the world. But there’s a weakness to them as well, one that Song of the Sea stumbles on: a frustratingly muddled story approach.

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Gender Roles in John Ford’s ‘The Quiet Man’

John Ford’s The Quiet Man is unquestionably one of Ireland’s most well-known films. It remains, to this day, a popular Hollywood love story as well as one of the most dominant representations of Ireland in film. A worldwide success, it won audiences over with its majestic landscapes, lighthearted dialogue, and beautiful cast. Despite its enduring …

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Unsung Gems – ‘The Wind That Shakes the Barley’

The Wind That Shakes the Barley Directed by Ken Loach Screenplay by Paul Laverty Ireland, 2006 More commonly associated with hard hitting, often brutal kitchen sink drama and gritty small scale drama, Ken Loach’s film repertoire has earned him a critically acclaimed niche in cinema’s fickle hall of fame. Ever since Kes, his name has …

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