[Chesty]

In two days the green beer will flow in the streets here and I just wanna get in the mood.

So I'm on the Guinness Train and cranking up some DVDs
These are some my favorite Irish-oriented films - What are yours?



-The Quiet Man - The classic tale of Sean "Trooper" Thornton. Sean returns to the Motherland to buy plot of land and snag a wife. The Wife is a firey redhead named Mary Kate Danaher, sister to "Red" the town bully, who also has his eyes on Sean's plot. There's plenty of fun in this bit of eyre.


--Dear Frankie - Young Frankie's mom has been sending him letters since he was tiny. They've all been fake, addressed from his "dad". His real dad is a piece of work and his mom has made up a seafaring wanderer who sends Frankie letters from a ficticious freighter that frequents distant ports. When the ficticous ship turns out to be real and headed to Frankies home town things go desperately wrong, then maybe perfectly right. But it could be a real disaster!

--A Little Bit of Irish - Bing Crosby selections from the past. Songs include: Molly Malone, The Rose of Tralee, Bold Fenian Men, Send me my Desire, Irish Jig, Ignatius John, Across the Irish Sea,Isle of Innisfree, Off to Philidelphia, Gaelic Lament, The Fool and the Mother, The Boys of Wexford/Captain Kelly's Kitchen, Off to Dublin in the Green, Macnamara's Band, and of course WHEN IRISH EYES ARE SMILING.

--Leprechaun Pot of Gore Collection - Yay! All five Leprechaun movies in the proverbial pot of gore! Dan O'Grady starts it all off by trying to steal the little guys pot of gold. From there we learn more and more truth about the vicious little critter who ain't about to share any lucky charms.

--The Brothers McMullen - Is a chick flick where three Irish Catholic brothers share emotions and deal with relationships and all that "manly" emotional blarney. Nothing reallly happens except you cry a lot.


--The Devil's Own - Frankie McGuire (cute little Brad Pitt) is an IRA killer who's visiting America to buy weapons. He's posing as a young immigrant in search of work. McGuire is sponsored by Tom O'Meara (tough guy Harrison Ford), a New York cop who knows nothing about Frankie's real identity. Things go wrong with the arms deal, putting both Frankie and the O'Meara family in a real tough spot.

--Angela's Ashes - Frank McCourt made great with Irish wit when dealing with misery. This tale in particular is his very own - told from his perspective as a lad in Limerick whose drunken dad and overworked mom trudge on through the endless poverty and cruelty that marked the 1930's in much of the Emerald Isle. Malachy McCourt's heirloom to his son was all he had, a way of weaving a story that you just had to hear. Luckily the younger McCourt found a typewriter and a publisher and made good for the whole family. This goes a long way to stereotype that Irish were nothing but shiftless drunks, Thanks.

--In the Name of The Father - Based somewhat on the story of Gerry Conlon and the Guildford four, It gives a good look into the relationship between a man and his slacker son. It also shows that a boy without purpose can become a man with a mission. Nicely acted and lots of Irish-Anglo conflict, this gritty crime drama tops the list of Daniel Day Lewis films.

-The Commitments - One of the greatest movies about music and musicians ever. Jimmy Rabbitte wants to form the "World's Hardest Working Band". Jimmy's experience in music so far is selling bootleg tapes from a duffel bag in Dublin's street markets. Somehow he manages to bring together a group of the "blackest blacks in Europe" and they actually begin to make beautiful music. They just need a big break. The big break is on it's way when The Commitments encounter the things that have brought down many a musician - Family, friends and the fame they have worked for.

-The Magdelene Sisters - The only thing worse than a flirty Catholic girl is being a pregnant Catholic girl, even if it was because your cousin raped you. The Magdelene Sisters were good enough to take these troublesome creatures out of circulation until 1996. This is the tale of three such young women in the 1960's who faced the brutality of the pious nuns. Unrelenting drudgery of laundry (the nuns were paid, the girls got gruel), constant prayer and complete seclusion (even from their own families) were to get the women to heaven.

-Waking Ned Devine - O what a tangled web! The luck o' the Irish hits Ned Devine Smack between the eyes. He wins the Lottery bigtime - but the shock of it all gives his ticker a fit. When the townsfolk find him dead they conspire to have a ringer collect the winnings so they can split it.


-Borstal Boy - When Brendan Behan was sent to a reform school for attempting to set a bomb in Liverpool, His life took a series of turns that changed him. This is his story.


--IN SEARCH OF ANCIENT IRELAND - traces the history and legends of ancient Ireland. Beginning in 2000 B.C. -- when Stone Age farmers built some of the largest and most spectacular Neolithic monuments in Europe -- the series explores events and stories from millennia of history, to 1167 A.D., when the Norman invasion placed Ireland under control of England's king.


--St. Patrick: The Irish Legend - Movie version of the Story of St. Patrick.

--Rudy - EVERYONE SHOULD SEE THIS MOVIE! Rudy's hopes, dreams, ambitions - really his whole life revolves around him playing football for Notre Dame. He has worked, studied, practiced, done everything possible to make his dream come true. Unfortunately Rudy is just a little too small and a little to slow to play at that level. But that doesn't stop him. It may not have gotten an oscar but it is one of the top movies of all time.



--Celtic Woman - Hot chicks sing and play the music of the Emerald Isle.


--The Celtic Tiger Starring Michael Flatley - Michael Flatley, the fastest feet on earth returns to the stage to spearhead his powerful new dance spectacular, Celtic Tiger.

[Tucker]

Or you could post them without the blatant amazon.com commision links?

If you're just joining to try and make a quick buck, don't bother.

[//Nathan]

Yeah, you could fault him for that... but hey, he did make an attempt to tell us a little about each film, and I for one appreciate this post, being Irish myself. (Well, I'm Irish, English, and German.)

Rudy is a great movie, and I dislike sports movies. My fiancée has a crush on Sean Astin, who plays Rudy (and would go on to play Samwise Gamgee in the Lord of the Rings saga - yep, that's Rudy as a hobbit) and I've liked it since I saw it.

I have one of my own (sans Amazon partnership/commission linkage)...

The Boondock Saints (1999) - Two Irish brothers are out celebrating St. Patrick's Day when the Russian mob crashes the party. They get their asses kicked, but in a fit of rage and emotion, end up killing the two guys. They then go out killing gangsters and criminals, anyone who breaks the law, really. Willem Dafoe is brilliant as the cop assigned to their case who comes to admire them. I *LOVE* the ending!

oh, and...
Patriot Games (1992) pits Harrison Ford against Irish terrorists (the IRA) when he interrupts an assasination attempt on British royalty. The IRA targets his wife and daughter, and the actor formerly known as Han Solo and Indiana Jones goes hunting. It doesn't exactly portray the Irish in a glamorous light, but I appreciate that it reminds us that all terrorists are not Muslims. Some are Catholic Irish. I don't know what the IRA's all about, but they can't be said to represent Irish people any more than al-Qaeda represent Muslims. But, they are an aspect of Irish history/culture. (Clear and Present Danger, the sequel, is a little better, but has nothing to do with the IRA or Irish, except Harrison Ford's character's family is supposed to be Irish as well.)

[Stephen]

Chesty, on Mar 16 2006, 03:34 AM, said:

-The Commitments - One of the greatest movies about music and musicians ever. Jimmy Rabbitte wants to form the "World's Hardest Working Band". Jimmy's experience in music so far is selling bootleg tapes from a duffel bag in Dublin's street markets. Somehow he manages to bring together a group of the "blackest blacks in Europe" and they actually begin to make beautiful music. They just need a big break. The big break is on it's way when The Commitments encounter the things that have brought down many a musician - Family, friends and the fame they have worked for.

You had to mention that didn't you, now John is going to start bugging me to get it again

Rebel Heart - A drama series the BBC ran set during the struggle for Irish independence; and partly how I got my nickname

[John]

The Commitments!

The Snapper and The Van are also excellent Irish films!

Get The Commitments Stephen!

[CTerry]

I've always wanted to see Bloody Sunday meself.

[William]

//Nathan, on Mar 16 2006, 07:21 AM, said:

The Boondock Saints (1999) - Two Irish brothers are out celebrating St. Patrick's Day when the Russian mob crashes the party. They get their asses kicked, but in a fit of rage and emotion, end up killing the two guys. They then go out killing gangsters and criminals, anyone who breaks the law, really. Willem Dafoe is brilliant as the cop assigned to their case who comes to admire them. I *LOVE* the ending!

Beat me too it. Love that movie, and will probably try to find a copy to watch tomorrow. St Patrick's Day happenst o be one of my favorite days of the year, not just because it's a chance to get drunk without comment!

It's also my birthday, huzzah. And I've got a very generous amount of Irish in my heritage, just look at my last name.

Anywho, off to see if Blockbuster/etc. has the movie for my weekend watching.

[Mesmer]

The Field

[Scott B]

Screw Irish films. Spend the day getting wasted on Guinness

[Stephen]

Makes a change from Whiskey I suppose

[CTerry]

Stephen, on Mar 16 2006, 04:44 PM, said:

Makes a change from Whiskey I suppose

He'll just end up drinking Irish Whiskey.

[Chesty]

Mesmer, on Mar 16 2006, 10:57 AM, said:

The Field

Oh yes! That was a great one - , so was The Snapper!

I also left out Darby O'Gill and the little people !

[blush]

I was going to mention Boondock Saints meself Other than that the only one I can think of is Billy Elliot.

[lawfulhippo]

Err, Billy Elliot is set in County Durham, which unless I've been lied to everytime I've been to my gran's, is not in Ireland

[blush]

On this side of the pond, I think the proper answer to that is, "It's close enough."

[lawfulhippo]

Oooh, you'll earn yesen a beating if you say that to an Irish person Or a Durhamish person for that matter. (I have a feeling "durhamish" *quite* the word I'm looking for, but you catch my drift)

[blush]

My apologies to any persons of Irish heritage, then.

[Stephen]

blush, on Mar 17 2006, 12:02 AM, said:

On this side of the pond, I think the proper answer to that is, "It's close enough."

Apart from the fact its in a completely different country you mean?

[Barn]

That's Americans for you.

[Dªn]

lawfulhippo, on Mar 17 2006, 12:52 AM, said:

Oooh, you'll earn yesen a beating if you say that to an Irish person Or a Durhamish person for that matter. (I have a feeling "durhamish" *quite* the word I'm looking for, but you catch my drift)

We just call ourselves Northerners