Archive for February, 2010

Invictus (2010)

Invictus

Director: Clint Eastwood

Starring: Matt Damon, Morgan Freeman

To say that the best thing about this film is Matt Damon’s South African accent is not to belittle Eastwood’s homage to Nelson Mandela.

Damon, playing Francois Pienarr, nails one of the hardest accents to get right (possibly with the Irish one the toughest out there). His performance as the Springbok rugby captain is flawless and is the shining light in this film.

The film, which tells the story of Mandela’s early days in the president’s office following his release from Robin Island, drifts into the marshy ground of sentimentality on several occasions but in the end has a powerful message which it gets across.

Morgan Freeman was apparently chosen by the great man himself to portray the ANC leader and does an admirable job as the elder statesman, who is portray as so humble and forgiving he makes Gandhi look like Donald Trump.

The film details how Mandela saw rugby as the unlikely saviour of his beloved country and a way of uniting the blacks and whites. As in all stories of racism there are stock characters on both sides who typify the attitudes of the masses but have their opinions changed in the end.

Mandela’s security men don’t want to share an office with the secret service men who only months previously had tried to jail them. Damon’s father laughs at the new president and says nothing good will ever come of having a black president.

While the eventual schmoltsey ending is as clear as the nose on your face from the outset, Eastwood creates a very good-looking film with some powerful moments, such as when Pienarr stands in the prison cell occupied by Mandela for over 10 years.

The actions scenes on the pitch are passable but some of the slow motion passages in the final are cringe-worthy and unnecessary.

Overall the film delivers the message it set out to deliver but it is possibly Eastwood’s worst directorial effort since Space Cowboys in 2000. This isn’t such a bad thing however when you consider his films since then have included Gran Torino, Letters from Iwo Jima, Million Dollar Baby and Changeling.

2010
02/18
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Council descends into farce

Last week’s meeting of Gorey Town Council descended in a farce as two opposing councillors began taking personal swipes at each other.

Chairman of the town council, Cllr. Colin Webb and long-serving Cllr. Lorcan Allen constantly sniped at and interrupted each other during the two-hour long meeting. Meetings since the new council was established after the June 2009 elections have seen constant tension between the Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil sides of the chamber, with the mayor being the centre of the tension.

Last week Cllr. Allen was shushed by Cllr. Webb with the former interrupting the chair on several occasions.

When contacted about the matter this week, Cllr. Webb said he believed the infighting was not affecting how the council operated: “I think it is having absolutely no effect on the running of the town council.”

When asked about suggestions made by Fianna Fáil at the meeting that he was not running the meeting in a proper manner, Cllr. Webb said: “I think there should be a casual approach, which Fianna Fáil avail of when it suits them.”

Cllr. Lorcan Allen

Cllr. Lorcan Allen said the problem stems from the rules not being implemented properly: “The standing orders are not being implemented properly and this kind of situation has never happened before.”

While Cllr. Allen believes the situation will be resolved after Town Clerk, Ger Mackey finishes reviewing the standing orders, Cllr. Webb believes the current impasse is likely to continue for the next five years.

“Fianna Fáil has brought nothing constructive to any meeting and they have a lack of interest in the role of the town council. This problem will continue indefinitely for the full term of this council.”

At the meeting last Tuesday night, Cllr. Allen pointed out that Cllr. Webb spoke first on the issue of public lighting in Gorey whereas it should have been opened to the councillors first before the Mayor summed things up. “It is totally out of order to chair a meeting like this and you need to learn how to do it properly.”

A long running point on contention in the meetings since June is the Chairman’s Report which Cllr. Webb introduced. The report outlines the chairman’s duties since the last meeting.

The Fianna Fáil members of the council have been taking the item less than seriously and have called on Cllr. Webb to circulate the report in writing to the councillors so they can look at it prior to the meeting.

2010
02/16
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Wexford
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Shocking cruelty to animals in Wexford

One of the carcases found in a shed in Craanford, North Wexford

A court heard this week the carcases of three young horses were found in a shed with five malnourished who were barely alive.

The man charged with animal cruelty in the case has pleaded not guilty saying the horse did not belong to him, even though they were housed in a shed he owned.

John Kennedy of Island Craanford denied the charges against him at Gorey District Court last Thursday, stating he sold the horses to a man from Bunclody five months before the gardaí were called in to investigate the mistreatment of the animals in April 2008.

The following day, when the gardaí returned the carcases had been removed by Kennedy, but the five surviving animals had disappeared and the defendant told the court this week to this day he has no idea where they went.

Garda James Whelan was on duty at Gorey Garda Station on the date in question when he received a call at 3.10p.m. to report cruelty to horses at Island, Craanford. When the gardaí arrived at the shed, they found five horses in very poor condition with no bedding on the ground or no food in the shed for the horses.

Gda. Whelan said the horses looked malnourished and you could see their ribs through their skin. The shed in question was on land owned by Kennedy and the gardaí called to his house, which was close to the shed.

One of the carcases found in a shed in Craanford, North Wexford

Kennedy was not home, but the gardaí spoke to his wife and told her to inform her husband that he should removed the carcases from the shed. When the gardaí finally spoke to Kennedy, he denied ownership of the horses, saying he had sold them in either October or November of the previous year saying: “There is no way in the world I would let the horses get like that. I as absolutely devastated.”

Giving evidence, Kennedy said he had been in the horse business for some years and had been in business with Billy Sheehan, who was now deceased. The pair would have bought horses together and then sold them on.

However Mr. Sheehan died and Kennedy was left with the five horses, who he told the court, had ligament damage. Kennedy claimed he sold the horses for €1,000 to a traveller named Jim Connors from Bunclody.

Kennedy couldn’t produce a bill of sale for the deal, but said he had passed on the horses passports to Mr. Connors. The defendant also said he had tried to get in touch with this Mr. Connors since the animal cruelty came to light but had been unable to find him in Bunclody.

The shed where the horses were found is owned by Kennedy but he had let it out to Jim Kinsella. When Connors bought the horses he asked Kennedy if he could use the shed and land attacked to it.

Kennedy said it would be ok as long as he had the animals out of there by August as Mr. Kinsella would have been ploughing the land at that stage.

Under cross-examination, Kennedy said he was completely unaware of what was happening at the shed, even though it is only 800metres from the dwelling house.

The Judge said that he wanted Kennedy to produce some evidence to show proof of the sale of the horses: “I am saying to you right now that your evidence is totally unacceptable.”

The case was adjourned until March 3.

2010
02/10
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High Sierra (1941)

Director: Raoul Walsh

Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Ida Lupino, Alan Curtis, Arthur Kennedy

It was the role he was waiting all his life for. After years of playing second fiddle to the likes of James Cagney, Edward G. Robinson and George Muni and acting in ‘fluff’ movies, Bogart landed the role of aging gangster, Roy Earle.

It must have been a bit of a blow to his ego however when Bogart was only second on the billing behind Ida Lupino, an actress who had recent success with “They Drive by Night”.

However Bogart’s road to this career-changing role was not easy as firstly George Muni was offered the role, which he turned down twice, even after author of the original book WR Burnett had helped John Huston with the rewrite.

The studio then planned to offer the role to George Raft, but he was looking to get away from playing gangsters, so Bogart, knowing this, tipped him off as to what the studio was planning. Raft marched into their offices and flatly refused to take the role.

And so we get Bogart playing the tough guy for the first time in his career and he sets the bar for the rest of his film life with his portrayal of a toughened gangster looking for the last big score to allow him retire and head back to the ‘old country’ and work the land.

The film starts with Earle receiving a pardon from a life sentence for some unknown dastardly deeds in the past. Earle is ordered to head to California where a job has already been set up.

We see a strange melancholy gangster in Earle as he takes a minute to make sure the grass is green on his release from prison and stops off on his cross country journey to visit his old family farm.

This sets the tone for the whole film as director Raoul Walsh juxtaposes the tough gangster with the aging man looking for a way out.

The toughness is there. When he meets the men he is working with he is quick to lay down the law and tell them what’s what. The hardness of the man oozes from every pour of Bogart. He is always in control; always in charge.

While Willie Best does his best to portray the most ludicrously stereotypical black-man in the guise of Algernon, but it cannot be viewed with today’s eyes and has to be looked at in the context of the time.

High Sierra set up Bogart as the archetypal tough guy with a sharp wit and macho charisma. His next two films, Maltese Falcon and Casablanca, would cement his place in cinematic history – and he would forever more occupy top billing in his films.

2010
02/04
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Domino effect of over reaching propety developers

This week it is reported in the Enniscorthy Echo that Redmond Civil Engineering (RCE) from Kildavin in Bunclody went into liquidation.

Nothing new in that you may saw – especially since it happened last November. True, but what is new is the impact this company’s implosion will have on a number of other companies in the South East of Ireland and beyond.

RCE was a very profitable company run by Ciaran Redmond which posted profits of €1.5million in 2006. In 2007 that had fallen dramatically and a loss of €80,000 was reported. However the company still has tangible assets of €8million but over €5million of this was tied up in investment property.

This is where it gets interesting. RCE, along with Donwood Properties and Quaywood Development both registered in Enniscorthy and Milltown Engineering from Bagnelstown, Carlow joined forces and formed the company KRM Construction Partnership.

It is this company which is driving the Newgate Shopping Centre Development in the centre of Waterford and according to their company documents they have ownership of a large amount of property in New Street, Michael Street, and Stephen Street area of the city.

The development got planning permission in February 2009. In addition to 50-plus retail outlets, the development would include a 107-bedroom four-star hotel with a substantial conference centre and leisure facilities; arts, cultural and community facilities; and underground parking for over 600 vehicles.

28 city centre homes are also included, as is a rooftop viewing area that will offer unrivalled panoramic views of Waterford City – a monument to the Celtic Tiger if ever there was one.

Since KRM was incorporated in March 30, 2005 Milltown have been removed from the company. It was reported in the Waterford News and Star two months ago that CEO Paul Miskella said RCE’s collapse wouldn’t impact on the development because Ciaran Redmond had entered into KRM on an individual basis.

However the Echo revealed this week that this was not the case. RCE was a partner in KRM and not Ciaran Redmond.

This is a worrying revelation when the CEO of a €280million development didn’t know who the investors were.

So RCE is gone. It’s assets including two helicopters, have been auctioned off. It creditors held a meeting last November with the liquidator, Billy Sweetman.

While the BMW 4x4s and the rest of RCE stock is auctioned off, the 5.1acre site in Waterford City lies idle. Dan Kickham, the Enniscorthy businessman involved in both Donwood and Quaywood, has maintained the liquidation of a quarter-partner in KRM will not derail the development. How is this possible?

What needs to be looked at is why a company with €1.5million profit in 2006 could fall so dramatically in such a short period of time. Was it greed? Was it bad timing? Was it a combination of elements?

Whatever it was, a lot of people in Waterford now face an uncertain future. The jobs created in the construction phase would have given the city an instant boost. That’s not even considering the jobs created in the shopping centre and the hotel once completed.

The prospect of the shopping centre ever going ahead in the short term is slim. A superb-looking new shopping centre lies idle on Ferrybank because they cannot get enough tenants to fill it.

In Enniscorthy Dan Kickham is buoyant about the KRM project but he has to be. He cannot contemplate the prospect of the development dying as he has other major businesses in Enniscorthy such as Donohoe Motors and Datapac which no doubt would be affected by the collapse of the project in Waterford.

Whatever the outcome, it is one more tale of Celtic Tiger excess with a trail of devastation that could scar our country for many years to come.

2010
02/03
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Wexford
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Mesrine – Killer Instinct (2008)

Vincent Cassel as Jacques Mesrine

Director: Jean-François Richet

Starring: Vincent Cassel, Cécile De France, Gérard Depardieu, Roy Dupuis

This first of two films filmed as one in reverse chronological order, Mesrine – Killer Instinct tells the early life of real-life criminal Jacques Mesrine.

Played with style, intensity and violence by Vincent Cassel, Mesrine comes across as psychopath intent on destroying himself as well as everyone else around him with reckless abandon.

However, the film is more like a group of set pieces designed to show off the 1950s and 1960s era and the various locations visited during the film. From Algeria in the 1950s to Quebec in the 1960s, the film jumps and jolts its way through Mesrine’s like.

The director Jean-François Richet plumps for style over substance in his retelling of one of France’s most notorious criminal lives. He fails to take the time to develop the characters.

What is it that is behind Mesrine lack of pride in his father? Why is it such a shock when Cassel explodes violently and forces a gun into the mouth of his wife while his child looks on?

None of these issues are explored and instead the director crams in as many locations and incidents as he can.

The performances throughout are superb with Cassel engaging and charismatic in the lead role. Gerard Depardieu is sinister as Guido the archetypical gangster boss who issues the warning to Cassel early in the film that “you never win in this game.”

Both Elena Anaya as Sofia and Cécile De France as Jeanne fall for the charms of Mesrine but both learn that no matter how hard he tries he cannot escape his true nature.

As a film on its own, Mesrine – Killer Instinct is a very enjoyable 113 minutes but I will have to report back tomorrow having viewed Mesrine – Public Enemy No.1 to see if the narrative arc of the story holds up throughout the entire Jacques Mesrine story.

2010
02/02
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