Jeridoo Universe reviews one of the top films coming out of the TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) this week of September 12, 2022: The Banshees of Inisherin by Irish playwright/ scriptwriter/ director, Martin McDonagh.

• Dramedy
• A twisted breakup movie
• 1 hour, 44 minutes
• Release Date: Oct 21, 2022

In this "Cliff Notes" of films, so you do not have to, we summarize review notes of over thirty established film critics into a concise, consolidated briefing so you can see what makes this film special and worthy of watching.
 
Synopsis

Having premiered at the 79th Venice International Film Festival on September 5 and continuing its festival journey at TIFF, this film is a close-up examination of small-town dynamics and the bittersweet but inevitable end to a long friendship. As a rural character farce, the movie begins with a lighthearted humorous touch. However, as it progresses, it becomes darker and more macabre, with haunting echoes of contemporary Irish history lingering off-screen and clouds of Samuel Beckett-like gloom hanging overhead.

As he approaches the end of his life, Colm (Brendan Gleeson) unilaterally and coldly declares that he no longer wants to be friends with his best friend and drinking partner, Pádraic (Colin Farrell). Instead, he wants to create his legacy through a new piece of music that will be performed by others long after he has passed away.

But as a result of Pádraic's persistence in keeping their friendship alive, Colm is forced to issue a startling ultimatum to expose the intensity of his decision: every time Pádraic speaks to him he will cut off one of his own fiddle-playing fingers with a pair of shears. Of course, Pádraic thinks he is joking and gives it one last attempt using tough love, which he believes may have finally put a stop to their conflict. Then, one night, a tiny, bloodied object strikes Pádraic's front door. His journey begin s with him being the nicest guy in town and ends with a darker turn. As events escalate, they learn that the end of a relationship can create a complete disruption in everyone’s perception of life in this world.

The Location

This film is set in 1923 during the Irish Civil War between the Irish Free State and the Anti-Treaty IRA, on the fictional scantily populated island of Inisherin off the west coast of Ireland (the real shot locations were Inishmore and Achill Island including Inis Mor, the largest of the Aran islands).  As the main shot locations, we encounter the beach, rolling green hills, a lake, pastoral cottage-lined village atop the cliffs and a single local pub (where drinking and chatting are the main pastimes of this island). The framing and lighting of the Irish landscape follow the same emotional journey as the playful warmth, which gradually descends into fruitless pessimism.

The Main Protagonists

The lead Actors worked together in a former film with McDonagh, “In Bruges.”  Lifelong friends whose families were torn apart due to the Irish Civil War, Colin Farrell as the happy-go-lucky, childish, kind but not so bright Pádraic Súilleabháin, and Brandon Gleeson as Colm Doherty, the older and more intelligent of the two, a poetic type, a musician and his best friend (or at least drinking companion for life). Their Odd Couple relationship is both funny and complicated.

The most realistic work by Farrell shows emotions like wide-eyed optimism, self-assurance, fear, and bothersome, naively eager attempts to win his friend's love and favor. Pádraic’s feelings are depicted as perplexity, rage, grief, and desperate attempts. From his face to his posture to the way he walks and talks, provide a real anchor of humanity to the film.  This is balanced with by the less expressive Colm, who holds his secrets within.

We observe the two men attempting to communicate with one another but failing to truly "hear" one another, leading to troubling outcomes.

Side Characters
While there are no shrieking spirits in this film as the film title would allude, this town’s cast of characters include

• Dominic (Barry Keoghan), son of the local constable (police officer). Chip and sometimes pestering, this agent of chaos with fidgety mannerisms and hilariously erratic line deliveries, hides the tragic pain suffered by his beating father.
  
• Peadar Kearny (Gary Lydon), the menacing police officer.
  
• Siobhan (Kerry Dondon, known for Better Call Saul and also in a small part in McDonagh’s prior film “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”), the intelligent, attractive sophisticated sister of Pádraic who loves him dearly and stands by his side as he faces his tormentor but fears this feud will break her brother for good.
  
• Mrs. McCormick (Sheila Flitton), the elderly woman town oracle who ominously delivers portents of doom.
  
• Pub owner Jonjo (Pat Shortt).
  
• The F-bomb delivering priest (David Pearse)
• Last but not least, Jenny, a charismatic miniature donkey
  

Themes of the Film
The depths of friendship, the truths about aging and loneliness, what binds us together and what divides us; the things that enhance our lives and the things that destroy them are all themes of focus in this film. The film compels us to ask these questions:  Although we cannot make people like us or feel a connection with us,  can we attempt to be genuine so they can find something to join? Why Is a memory of having been a good person more valuable than a legacy of artistic creation? Does a man's grandeur diminish if he loses his decency? If a man loses his decency, does the greatness of his achievement mean anything?

The Writer / Director
Irish Playwright Martin McDonagh, known for his gift for dialogue, writes with comedic precision and a distinct Irish voice, drawing humor from the mundane. He was known for his theater plays (“The Beauty Queen of Leenane,” “The Lieutenant of Inishmore,” et. al.) and his third film “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” as well as cult classics, “In Bruges” and “Seven Psychopaths.” This is his fourth feature film with eloquent and dark, witty directorial work.

The Producers
The film was produced by McDonagh, Graham Broadbent and Peter Czernin (Blueprint Pictures) for Searchlight Pictures and Film4.

The Cinematography
This film is beautifully shot by Ben Davis, a regular collaborator with McDonagh, with exceptional cinematography, sweeping, breathtaking, textured and well-lit. His use of light spilling into interior space is truly mesmerizing.

The Music
Carter Burwell provides fanciful xylophone and harp-centric score adding to the atmosphere of the film.

Summary of The Film Critic Reviews
Critics have described this film as excellent story telling with a “profound message on the meaning of life.”  With deep empathy for both sides in a breakup, it is “accessible,” “relatable,” “admirable,” “loving” and “poignant.” At the same time, the actors and director masterfully create a film of existential despair that is “dangerous,” “acerbic,” “darkly amusing” and “heartbreaking.”  One critic summed it up as an “all-around enchanting ode to the Irish people.”  The director once again demonstrates his dramatist ability in turning a simple incident into a substantial work of art. He also maintains audience engagement at an elevated level with a combination of unexpected turns and pointedly serious moments.

Television landscape is changing. The allure of big gigs like the Oscars, the Super Bowl, and the White House Correspondents dinner are not attracting the major talent like they have in the past. Pundits in the industry might cry out in desperation but does the average person really care anymore? Star talent no longer want to be associated with the Oscars – and for good reason – which is a problem of the Academy, but how about the regular movie goer?

Kevin Hart was supposed to host this year but he recently quiet after an old homophobic tweet came to light. The fact is that nobody is around to replace him is telling how far show business has fallen. No longer are we captivated by Hollywood like we used to be. Streaming services show that you don’t necessarily need a big star to be successful.

Without a host, this will probably be the lowest-rated Oscars in their long history. It is the host that draws viewers, that keeps the whole oversized beast together and moving along.  Without a host it will be like a film without a main character. The last time this happened was in 1989 when the opening act was a strange amalgamation of Robe Lowe and Snow White – need we say more?
 
You can’t say the Oscars haven’t tried to stay relevant and edgy with hosts like Chris Rock and Seth Macfalane, choices you wouldn’t necessarily associate with the staunch Academy. Then there was the bizarre paring of James Franco with Anne Hathaway but none of these seem to work to increase viewership. The real question may not be about the Oscars but how can we expect them to compete when they are battling a general decline of television viewership as more people are cutting cable and making do with streaming services like Netflix and Amazon.

​In recent years, the subject of masculinity in film has drawn a significant amount of both interest and rebuke with modern audiences, especially now as Hollywood tries to reinvent itself admits the MeToo movement. 

Ever since the beginning of cinema, our films have been awash with powerful, heroic archetypal males. These men bed damsels in distress, fight bad guys, and save the world from impending doom. Their actions are excessively glorified setting examples for future generations.

There are endless forms of masculinity, some associated with healthy and productive behaviours, others with destructive and harmful traits. Although there has been some improvement in recent years, the popularity of superhero movies is just one example of how manhood is characterised by demonstrations of physical strength, domination, aggression and violence as a primary means of conflict resolution. The superheroes who, are stock characters who use mythical powers to kill and punish their enemies, paint a simplistic picture of masculinity.   
The other most obvious and well-sited example are the James Bond movies. A cold, unfeeling killer goes through life sleeping with lots of women and hunting down people who are worse than he is. Although these films may be classified as wildly entertaining, they are not very good role models for men.  

However, to say Hollywood hasn’t always been interested in men’s vulnerability and more feminine side would be untrue. There have been pictures that have gone against the grain and have shown men to be more than one-dimensional characters.  

Take, for instance, the recent Oscar contender, First Man, which doesn’t lionize Neil Armstrong’s dogged race to the moon so much as it suggests the quest itself is a distraction from the death of his two-year old daughter and the monotony of suburban American life. Director Damien Chazelle shows Armstrong’s heroic journey as one largely motivated by an American culture that once forbade masculine displays of emotion, fragility and bereavement.

Films have always offered a window through which audiences, sat there in the dark, can observe human nature at a distance. A movie theater is where many a boy learned how to make things right, the way John Wayne or Clint Eastward did in countless iconic films, with either their fists or a gun.

Film’s suggestive powers quickly became so influential — so overwhelming in fact — that they are often disguised as very effective propaganda tools. It’s so wonder that males today are finding it hard to express their emotions either by remaining quiet and reliant or by lashing out with violence.

We need films with more complex characters – both male and female. Films that holds a mirror up to our inner souls and casts a light there so we can address our inner fears and feelings. With better films we will have better relationships, life more productive, healthier lifestyles as we recognize being a men is not all about slaying bad guys and trying to save the world. 

The long wait for the newest Iron Sky film: The Coming Race is almost on us. Produced by Iron Sky and Jeridoo Universe, the film will have an exclusive release in Helsinki on January 16th 2019 before a wider release across Europe and the United States. The sequel has been heavily anticipated ever since it was announced in 2012, shortly after the first film was released –seven years ago.  

The Iron Sky and Jeridoo joint production has gone against the usual American studio system by being using non-traditional funding methods. More than 7,000 fans from 75 different countries have helped raise money to complete the project on Indigogo.  Part of the fundraising effort was giving fans roles in the film including extras or the chance to be eaten by a dinosaur. The fundraising alone raised over a million dollars while the rest of the $15 million budget came from more traditional sources.

Finish director Timo Vuorensola and again helms the reins this installment does an amazing job of combining action, humour, and dazzling special effects in the ultimate battle of good versus evil. Iron Sky 2, is set twenty years after the events of the first movie, and the former Nazi Moon Base has become the last refuge of mankind. Earth has been devastated by a nuclear war, but buried deep underground lies a power that could save the last of humanity or destroy it once and for all. The truth behind the creation of mankind will be revealed when an old enemy leads our heroes on an adventure into the Hollow Earth. To save humanity they must fight Nazi zombie Hitler and his dinosaur army. It doesn’t get much cooler than that for fans of the franchise.  

The only remaining opportunity for scientist Obi Washington is to escape to the Earth's interior. On their mission to a city hidden there, however, the occupants led by Renate Richter’s daughter and James Washington are by not so friendly to Obi and her gang. Instead, she encounters a prehuman dinosaur world and former rulers of the world who have been hiding under their human mask. Also, for centuries, the "Vril" who controls the earthly state governments with the aim of gaining the supremacy of their reptile race over the people. A race for the future begins as all these different factions fight for ultimate power. 

Iron Sky - The Ark, the third installment, is already ramping up and getting ready. The story of the third installment is about two Chinese school drop-outs who set about deciphering a mysterious message from the moon, but quickly find themselves fighting the mother of all conspiracy theories - the Illuminati. The Ark is directed by Vuorensola as well and stars Andy Garcia.
 
 

This month, a unique film and musical experience, inspired by the Hubble Space Telescope's iconic Deep Field image, premiered in Florida at the Kennedy Space Center and is now available online on Youtube for free.

​The film, titled Deep Field: The Impossible Magnitude of our Universe, a 30-minute documentary, features a variety of incredible Hubble imagery of far-away galaxies and includes computer-generated visualizations of star clusters developed by the Space Telescope Science Institute. (STSci) It is definitely worth watching for any amature space astronomers. Those visualizations not only depict the awesome beauty of the universe, but also express the three-dimensional nature of celestial objects in away never before experienced by the public.

The Hubble Space Telescope was launched into Earth’s orbit in 90s and is one of the largest and versatile telescopes in operation. It was built by NASA along with the European Space Agency. It was inception began in the 70s with a proposed launch in 83 but project was delayed by budget problems.

While there have been IMAX and Hubble 3D documentary films, The Deep Field experience, is a unique collaboration between Grammy award-winning composer Eric Whitacre, producers Music Productions, multi award-winning artists 59 Productions, and The Space Telescope Science Institute.

The film paints the incredible story of the Hubble telescope an extraordinary portrait of the universe revealed by Hubble when it was pointed at a tiny and completely dark patch of sky for a total exposure time of about six days. What it revealed was an image that contained over 3,000 galaxies scattered across space and time.

For Deep Field, the team worked with 59 Productions, which is based in London, England and id best known for its video graphics of the 2012 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony, to revise and adapt seven previously produced sequences to fit into the symphonic and astronomical narrative. The STScI team also developed four new astronomical sequences for the film.

There have been nothing like this one-of-kind collaboration, blending science and art together to create a new masterpiece. To create these animations, the STScI team had to invent new techniques that they hadn't used before. The complex calculations required to model the galaxies strained the limits of their computational capabilities. The struggle was to present something cinematic yet accurate. The result is something extremely breathtaking.

Hubble images of the galaxy group known as Stephan's Quintet, which is a group of five galaxies of which four form the first cluster of galaxies ever discovered, were transformed into intergalactic experiences that take viewers soaring through the cosmos. The team also worked with supercomputer simulations from astronomers at Caltech University to construct and fly through an extraordinarily detailed three-dimensional model of our galaxy.

Deep Field will be shared with the world through multiple film screenings and live orchestra performances in concert halls, planetariums, museums, and science centers across the world.

Lara Rossi is Obi Washington - a Human survivor on the Nazi moon base. She is also the daughter of Earthologist Renate Richter and astronaut James Washington.

​Her first ever appearance is in Iron Sky: The Coming Race.

Her big break came with the leading female role and main role in Iron Sky 2 - The Coming Race. The sequel to the successful crowdfunded movie Iron Sky. Her next appearance is in the all new Robin Hood (2018) movie staring alongside Taron Egerton (Robin of Loxley), Jamie Foxx (Yahya/John), Ben Mendelsohn (Sheriff of Nottingham).