Donald Clarke

• Hell
• November 28, 2010, 22:58

First a confession. A few years back, I was asked to interview Marianne Faithfull after a screening of Irina Palm, the old trooper’s latest film, at the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival. I was happy to oblige. Ms Faithfull, though …

• Uncategorized
• November 26, 2010, 13:44

My apologies to the public — and to the good people at Eclipse Pictures and Picturehouse — for neglecting to include a review of My Afternoons With Marguerite in today’s paper. It was my snafu. (I should also have mentioned …

• Deaths
• November 25, 2010, 20:53

I offer apologies for so often turning this “blog” into a class of obituary page, but mention should be made of the great Ingrid Pitt. The lively Polish-born actor, who has died at the age of 73, was best known …

• Hell Politics Way off topic
• November 23, 2010, 22:23

Well, the worst thing about the economic landslide is the fact that thousands of people will lose their jobs, fail to make their house payments, feel the need to emigrate and generally experience all kinds of ordinary and extraordinary misery. …

• Avatar Box Office Figures
• November 21, 2010, 21:02

We are progressing into the last lap of the race for 2010 box-office champ. At time of writing, three days after the most Potterific candidate opened, Toy Story 3 still sits at the top. The latest Pixar film just squeezed …

• Film of the Week Harry Potter Star Ratings
• November 19, 2010, 01:06

Well, actually, round these parts, we tend to think of it as Uncle Boonmee Day. On the same date that the 124th Harry Potter film is unveiled in every cinema across the country (and every screen therein), Uncle Boonmee who …

• Hell Television
• November 16, 2010, 17:55

The November chill dissipated a little with the news that Prince William of England, balding son to the FA Cup-eared Windsor dauphin, and Kate Middleton, heiress to a liquid manure dynasty (I think), have finally announced that they are to …

• Deaths
• November 15, 2010, 21:05

We forgot to mention that Jill Clayburgh died last week. Who? Well, exactly. Clayburgh’s career arc demonstrates how insecure movie fame can be. For a very brief period — 1978 to 1980 or so — the New Yorker was one …

• Hell Trailerspotting
• November 13, 2010, 17:39

A fracas has grown up around Uwe Boll‘s decision to make a movie concerning the Holocaust. It’s a tricky one this. On first hearing the news, one has some sympathy for the director. After all, many respectable film-makers have tackled …

• Television Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
• November 11, 2010, 11:06

You may not care, but a sad cadre of maniacs — let’s call ourselves The Lamplighters — are faintly obsessed with Tomas Alfredson’s upcoming adaptation of John Le Carré’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. I’m not altogether sure the film version …

• Trailerspotting
• November 10, 2010, 19:38

A few months ago, when putting together our Autumn movie preview, I wondered if the upcoming version of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels would — like virtually every other adaptation — focus exclusively on Lilliput and ignore saliter satirical adventures in Glubbdubdrib …

• Classics Michael Powell
• November 8, 2010, 22:38

Dum dee dum dee dum dee dum. Dum dee dum dee dum dum. “Oi  Shula. Eddie Grundy’s only gone and left the back gate open again. Them ewes is halfway to Lower Loxley.” No, we’re not talking about the 450-year-old …

• Film Festivals
• November 5, 2010, 12:08

A few weeks ago, we were pondering the purpose and prominence of film festivals. If you’ve never attended such an event, you might reasonably wonder what the heck they are for. Well, the Cork Film Festival, by virtue of its …

• Censorship
• November 3, 2010, 20:57

(Parental alert: this post contains images which, according to certain watchdogs, may cause frail, scaredy-cat children to run screaming from the computer and back to the 19th century where they belong.) It has emerged that the British Advertising Standards Authority …

• Television
• November 2, 2010, 19:09

Hang on a moment! I completely forgot to say anything about A History of Horror with Mark Gatiss on the BBC. If you’re reading this immediately after it was posted, you will still be able to catch the last episode on …

• Oscars
• November 1, 2010, 14:45

Regular readers will get the reference immediately. Billy the Fish was, the publishers of Viz claimed, the least popular character in that amusing comic. Every time he returned, a subheading would announce “it’s the strip all readers hate” or something. …