Author Archives: rayhyland40

I decided on a change of pace this month. Something true, something Irish. A story to take me back to the rare old times, when men were perennially drunk and the local lawman was uncompromising and fearless. Lugs Branigan is an interesting character no matter what your perspective. Born in the south inner city ofContinue reading “Book of the month: The Legendary Lugs Branigan by Kevin C Kearns”

I am regularly disappointed by the output of Film Four’s TV channel. So often it just seems to be endless repeats of the X Men films and Vin Diesel led rubbish. So when something different comes along these days, it really is a pleasant surprise. Relatos Salvajes (aka Wild Tales, Argentina 2014) is just that.Continue reading “Film of the week: Wild Tales”

      One of the most notable events in the Irish film calendar has become the Dublin International Film Festival. It has been around in its current guise since around the turn of the millennium. I think my first one was about ’04 or ’05. It was a more innocent time. A world without Facebook,Continue reading “ADIFF 2017”

  There’s nothing I dislike more than the water cooler synopsis of a film or tv show. For one thing, it’s very hard to give a full and detailed opinion of something when you’re rushing off to do something else. The boss has his eye on you both and the doubts begin to creep in.Continue reading “It’s all so Absurdia!”

    Perverted, bizarre, grotesque, pointless, self indulgent. These are the kind of words you’ll be most likely find beside a review of this film. And with that, no doubt Nicolas Winding Refn will feel all the more validated. When you know the rules of cinema you either spend your career strictly adhering to themContinue reading “Film of the week: The Neon Demon”

  A few weeks ago I bought a return ticket to Manchester. Then I bought another one. Reason being I was supposed to go over and watch the Liverpool United game(not actually in Old Trafford itself you understand, that would be impossible) but Sky then rearranged the fixture to a Sunday when our return flightContinue reading “Manchester”

The great advantage of the Kindle is that it is essentially a very very good bookshop. Think about it. The like of Easons, Dubray, WH Smith, Waterstones et al will never have ‘every book’ you want. Some will be out of print or some out of fashion. Indeed Easons itself can have a limited rangeContinue reading “BOOK OF THE MONTH: CUT ME IN (aka The Proposition) by Ed McBain”

  This film by James Foley is a little gem. It is based on a Jim Thompson novel from the mid-50s. Thompson has a number of great books and many of them have been turned into more successful films. When it came out in 1990 it did not do well at the box office, itContinue reading “Film of the Week: After Dark, My Sweet”

  I decided to sign back up with Netflix in November. I think I was trying to find a link to the David Brent film(which is apparently terrible) and saw that it was on Netflix. I figured it was coming up to Christmas so I might have signed up again anyway. Turned out the BrentContinue reading “Chill, It’s only Netflix”