Dublin Sky

I took this photo from a phone camera midday looking out over the Dublin Bay.

Kind of reminds me of a Turner watercolor...

Secretariat

Based on the Triple Crown winning thoroughbred from 1973, this story is more about owner Penny Chenery and her struggle in battling the male-dominated world of competitive horse breeding and racing.

Don't let the Disney label keep you away from seeing this film because this is one of the most heartfelt films that I've seen in quite a while. As much as I enjoyed Seabiscuit, Secretariat is the horse film that brought tears to my eyes...

Directed by Randall Wallace (writer of Braveheart and We Were Soldiers) and written by Mike Rich (former Nicholl Fellowship winner), this is a well-crafted gem.

Highly recommended...

The American

This is photographer Anton Corbijn's directorial debut.

The film is set in the Abruzzo region of Italy and is based upon the book "A Very Private Gentleman" by Martin Booth.

Corbijn has stated that he wanted to make a modern western and in many respects that is exactly what he did.

Clooney plays a CIA operative ready for retirement who just wants to go away with the woman of his dreams (a local prostitute). He just has to finish one last job and then they're off...

But it doesn't quite work out with a "happily ever after" ending...

The film is beautiful to look at, however, it is lacking in the story department as many cliches seem to have been borrowed from films before.

After

This is what happens when you leave the cake on a coffee table...

... and one of your dogs helps themselves to a tasty treat.

I should note that this happened BEFORE I delivered the cake for the happy couple's matrimonial celebration.

Before

My wife made this beautiful cake for a friend of a friend's wedding on Thursday. The bottom tier is Red Velvet and the top two tiers are lemon cake.

Stunning, yes?

Nike's faux pas

Nike had already made this ad to celebrate England's impending Grand Slam Rugby Championship.

Oops, there's only one slight problem...

England was embarrassed and overmatched by a stubborn and resolute Irish team that denied England the Grand Slam.

See below.

Six Nations Rugby: Ireland 24...

- Brian O'Driscoll scores his record setting try

... England 8

On Saturday night Ireland put on their best 2011 Six Nations performance by far in their mauling of England that denied England the Grand Slam.

Perfect timing for the perfect game.

England was blown out from the start and had trouble keeping pace with the energy and continuous pressure of the Irish team.

For me, International Rugby is the next best thing to college football...

More signs

A few years ago I posted some unique (and slightly funny) Irish road signs. Those signs were for the passing automobiles on various roadways we'd ventured on at the time.

These are a few signs I've recently happened upon during my daily walks that have taken me past a newly constructed pedestrian crossing. Again, unique and slightly funny...

- not quite sure what this is pointing to except for the curb below

- not that anyone who reads this will care...

- this is Irish for "speed bumps" ahead

- one slight raise ahead (pedestrian crossing), looks like Newgrange

- certainly can't see anyone doing any work around this sign

God of Carnage

We saw this play at The Gate Theatre on Saturday.

Very funny and enjoyable piece of theater.

Two modern couples are brought together to discuss their sons, who got into a fight at school. By the end of the play it's clear that these modern "helicopter" adults, surrounded by the trappings of success, are no more mature or reasonable than their 11-year old kids...

This play by French playwright Yasmina Reza ("Art") in a translation by Christopher Hampton is a recipient of both the Olivier Award for Best New Comedy in London and the Tony Award for Best Play in New York.

This is a punchy, yet spare, piece of writing. Not a word or a movement is wasted.

Highly recommended...

Carlos the Jackal

Popularized by novelists such as Robert Ludlum and Frederick Forsyth in the 1970's, Carlos the Jackal was a Venezuelan born terrorist who allied himself with a variety of people and causes including Islamists, communists, and Arab nationalists.

Carlos was the mastermind behind the 1975 OPEC raid in Vienna.

This three hour film is a condensed version of a 5 1/2 hour television miniseries.

Carlos (real name Ilich Ramirez Samchez) is currently serving a life sentence in France for murdering two French police officers.

Disjointed in its flow due to the heavy editing to just under three hours, this film certainly feels much more suited for television. The primary problem is that the main character just isn't that interesting. Yes, he flies around the world and meets many interesting people, which may have been romantic and glamorous in the 70's, but he himself is just not that interesting and it's very hard to sustain almost three hours of this filmed version of the terrorist named Carlos with such a bland main character...

Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy

I recently saw the third installment in this trilogy (The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest) and was a bit disappointed with it.

The first (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) introduced us to a character (Lisbeth Salander) and a Swedish world that we had not seen before on film. This made it interesting.

Her story continued in the second part (The Girl Who Played with Fire) and this gave us a bit more background on her particular life story.

But this last part seemed only to justify the completion of the trilogy and didn't really add much as a film experience.

Based on the über-popular novels by the late Stieg Larsson, these Swedish films are set to be remade very soon in Hollywood.

I have not read the books but I can assume that the old adage holds true that the book was better than the movie...

Crazy Heart

I've been reluctant to see this since it came out over a year ago. I've always liked Jeff Bridges and believe he won the Oscar for this film due to his large body of work in the industry rather than for this one particular performance. He was very good but I'm not convinced that he would have been nominated if he weren't Jeff Bridges.

The reason for my reluctance is that this film is very much a remake of Tender Mercies from 1983 in which Robert Duvall won an Oscar as did Horton Foote, the screenwriter.

Tender Mercies is a great film. Crazy Heart is only a good film.

Bridges gives a very believable and human performance but the remainder of the story doesn't provide much support. For instance, his main love interest in this film is Maggie Gyllenhaal's character, Jean. Not only is she 28 years younger than Bridges but their supposed connection was never brought to life on screen.

So, yes, this is a nice film but if you're really interested in the country singer soul resurrection story, I would have to point you in the direction of Tender Mercies first and foremost...

Winter's Bone

Set in the Ozarks, this film follows a teenage girl (Jennifer Lawrence) trying to hold her family together and find her missing father.

With an ailing mother and an absent drug-running father, the girl also serves as caretaker for her younger brother and sister.

Based on a novel of the same name and winner of the Sundance Grand Jury Prize, this is an authentic journey into a certain way of life in the backwoods of Missouri.

Oscar-nominated newcomer Lawrence gives a realistic performance as the teenager, Ree. Ex-Deadwood regulars John Hawkes and Garret Dillahunt provide excellent supporting performances along with many non-professional actors from the local region.

This detective story is full of suspense and drama and is recommended viewing. However, you likely won't have an impulse to move to the Ozarks anytime soon...