Ahead of the upcoming release of a restored version of The Graduate, the Irish Film Institute plays host to a season of films starring the great Dustin Hoffman. On Saturday you can catch the conspiracy thriller Marathon Man, on Sunday prison drama Papillon and on Thursday the excellent Watergate drama All the President’s Men.
Over at the Lighthouse they continue their Hepburn Forever season, a retrospective of the films of Audrey and Katherine. You can see the former in the musical of manners My Fair Lady on Sunday and Tuesday, and the latter alongside Humphrey Bogart in John Huston’s classic adventure yarn The African Queen on Saturday and Wednesday.
The Lighthouse also pays tribute to Jeff Goldblum today (Friday) with a triple bill of films starring one of Hollywood’s quirkiest talents – dinosaur rampage Jurassic Park, alien invasion extravaganza Independence Day and Wes Anderson’s family drama The Life Aquatic.
It’s another dull week for new releases I’m afraid. The pick is Churchill, which stars Brian Cox as the iconic leader. Refusing to indulge in a simple impersonation, Cox delivers a compelling performance, but the film struggles to mine drama from a scenario (the days leading up to D-Day) that should be ripe for it. Enough for history buffs to enjoy though.
Nails is an Irish horror movie with a novel premise, confining its protagonist to a bed in a hospital haunted by the spirit of a killer. Sadly it fails to exploit its concept, and it’s about as much fun as a hospital visit.
By Eric Hillis of themoviewaffler.com