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The Slate

All About Movies

Amanda's Movie Minute - Paranormal Activity

 

This week's big movie release that everyone is talking about is Paranormal Activity.

 

Click play below to listen to my review on The Colm & Jim Jim Breakfast Show.

 

 

 

 

Also, if you want to check out the trailer you can do so here, but you're much better off going into this movie cold. The less of it you see before you go to the cinema, the more you will enjoy it and get something out of it. The best bits are ruined in my opinion in this trailer and by viewing it you may take away some of the anticipation that should build up naturally if you watch the movie with little idea of what's going to happen. So it's up to you, but you have been warned.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Last week I headed over to London's very swish Dorchester hotel to participate in round table interviews with Kristen Stewart (Bella), Robert Pattinson (Edward) and Taylor Lautner (Jacob).

 

Unfortunately our interview with Robert was the last of the day and he was running very much behind schedule for a red carpet so it was reduced to just 3 minutes but we got plenty of time with everyone else.

 

 

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And several months ago, I had a one to one interview with Peter Facinelli who plays the Daddy vampire Dr Carlisle Cullen in the Twilight series, when he was over in Dublin for a brief visit. You can also check that out below.

 

 

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Kristen Stewart

 

 

 

 

Robert Pattinson

 

 

 

Taylor Lautner

 

 

 

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With just 10 days to go until the worldwide release of New Moon, the sequel to Twilight, anticipation is reaching fever pitch all over the globe.

 

However, if you're looking for your Twilight fix as you count down to the opening day on Friday November 20th, then look no further than here, RTE 2fm's movie blog The Slate.

 

 

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Tomorrow morning I'm jetting off to London to watch a screening and to do interviews with several cast members including Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, plus director Chris Weitz.

 

Over the next few days we'll be putting up those interviews in podcast form here on The Slate and you'll also catch snippets across RTE 2fm over the next week.

 

I'll also post a review of the movie as soon as I'm allowed to!

 

Amanda Fennelly

Interview with Terry Gilliam

 

 

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Terry Gilliam, famous for being part of the Monty Python group and more recently for directing film classics like Time Bandits, Fisher King, Brazil and 12 Monkeys now finds himself in the spotlight more than ever with his latest movie, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, because it was the movie actor Heath Ledger was working on when he tragically died in January 2008.

 

Despite the loss of its leading man, Gilliam found a way to complete the project without Heath, using Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell to take over the roll Heath played and it is testement to the man and his passion for movie making that it works, and this movie, featuring the final performance of Ledger, has made it to the big screen.

 

Last week I had the chance to speak with the Gilliam for a few minutes and we chatted in great length about the death of Heath, its effect on the movie, the difficulties he faced in caryring on plus his thoughts on the other stars of the film.

 

You can hear that interview by clicking below

 

Movie of the Week - Away We Go

 

This week on the Colm & Jim Jim Breakfast Show I reviewed Away We Go, the new movie from director Sam Mendes (aka Mr Kate Winslet). After some brilliant but depressing movies like American Beauty, Jarhead and Revoluntionary Road it would seem Mr Mendes has decided to do something a little more upbeat, tender and sweet with the story of Burt and Verona (played by John Krasinski of The US Office fame and Maya Rudolph from Saturday Night Live), expecting their first child but not sure where they want to bring it up. So they head off on a road trip, visiting various relatives and friends in the hope of finding somewhere worth setting up home in.

 

 

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This is my personal favourite movie of 2009. It's so rare to see a romantic movie where the couple are already very much in love and it's hard not to fall in love a little bit yourself with Burt and Verona who are so brilliantly portrayed by Krasinski and Rudolph. It's a movie where the relationship that's at its heart seems so real, brave and very modern. The kooky characters that pop up throughout only serve to illustrate even further the intimacy of Burt and Verona's relationship and how they are imperfectly perfect as a couple.

 

To sum it up you could almost say it's Little Miss Sunshine meets Juno. It's charming, very funny in parts and deeply touching and even has the power to make any self-confessed happy singleton long for a taste of that kind of family life. If Revolutionary Road made you swear off marriage and kids for life well Away We Go will reaffirm the joy of falling in love and creating a home and family with someone. I defy you to walk out of this movie and not have a smile on your face and a warm fuzzy feeling inside.

 

Check out the trailer below. Away We Go is on general release in cinemas nationwide from today.

 

 

 

Colin Firth talks to The Slate

As any woman would tell you, there's just something about Colin Firth. It doesn't matter that the English actor is now 48 years of age, he'll always be remembered very "fondly" for THAT scene, when he emerged from the lake, dripping wet in his white shirt and breeches, as Mr Darcy in the BBC adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice well over a decade ago. And it seems like George Clooney, he gains more fans with age rather than loses them.

 

 

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But Firth is a fine actor, and has a range he rarely gets credit for, particularly in more recent years where his choice of roles have not always been predictable and certainly at times a bit risky for someone movie producers see as a prime selling point for their production.

 

It seems he's made another such choice with his latest role as Lord Henry Wooton in the new big screen adaptation of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray. The movie has a shortened title of just Dorian Gray and despite the fact it's another period piece for Firth, his character is extremely unlikeable, something that he clearly relished, which you can hear in the interview below.

 

 

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He also talks about his thoughts on his co-star Ben Barnes, his sex symbol status, his delight at being told he's getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and his love for The Beatles, as the interview took place the day before 09.09.09, so make sure you check it out below.

 

 

Win (500) Days of Summer Soundtracks

The Slate has been given four copies of the soundtrack for the new and brilliant romantic comedy (500) Days of Summer to give away to 2fm listeners.

 

 

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This movie, starring the wonderful Joseph Gordon Levitt and Zooey Deschanel, is a bittersweet and atypical romance and part of the reason it's so good is its fantastic soundrack, featuring the likes of The Smiths, Doves, Regina Spektor and Simon & Garfunkel.

 

To win a copy all you have to do is answer the following question and email it to us along with your full name and address to theslate@rte.ie

 

Which tv sitcom did Joseph Gordon Levitt appear in alongside John Lithgow?

 

And in case you've missed all the fuss over this excellent film, you can still see it in selected cinemas around the country so check out the trailer below.

 

 

 

 

 

As fans continue to count down the days to the July 15th release of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, we continue with the second part of our Harry Potter special.

 

As well as chatting to Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint I also got to meet Emma Watson who plays Harry and Ron's best friend, the studious and righteous Hermione. Emma is even more stunning in the flesh than she looks on screen or in the many magazine spreads she's done for fashion titles lately.

 

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We spoke about the new aspects to her character in this film, her decision to go to college in the US in the autumn and her passion for fashion.

 

You can hear it all by clicking below.

 

 

No Harry Potter movie is complete without Draco Malofy, Harry's nemesis at Hogwarts. Draco is played by the rather cute Tom Felton, who seems to have shot up in the last few years and is now over six feet tall. And he couldn't be unlike his character if he tried. He's one of the friendliest and chattiest of all the cast.

 

We talked abou the bleach blonde hairdo he CHOSE to put up with in playing Draco, his love for music and his new Twitter addiction (btw, if you are on Twitter yourself and want to follow him you can get him at twitter.com/tomFelton)

 

Listen to the interview below.

 

 

 

And finally, my last interview of the day was a double-hander with two of the Half Blood Prince's female cast. Bonnie Wright and Jessie Cave play Ginny Weasley and Lavendar Brown. While Bonnie has been in the movie series since the beginning, this is Lavendar's first Harry Potter experience.

 

We chatted about the growing relationship between Harry and Ginny, how Jessie's family feel about her being in Harry Potter and about which other character in the movies they'd love to play if they had the chance.

 

Check it out below.

 

 

 

And if all that wasn't enough, a week later I got the chance to talk to Evanna Lynch who plays Luna and Matthew Lewis who plays Neville when they came to Dublin for the Irish premiere of the movie.

 

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The pair were a joy to interview and like their fellow cast members, look so grown up. Matt is much better looking himself than the Neville character he has to portray and the pair had plenty to say about the costumes and make up they have to endure (but very much enjoy) as part and parcel of their work on Harry Potter.

 

Listen to the interview below.

 

 
 

 

The eagerly awaited Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince opens nationwide on Wednesday July 15th. Last Monday I headed off to the plush Claridges hotel in London's city centre to speak to a number of stars of the sixth Harry Potter movie. As a complete Potter fanatic it was a thrill to meet the main cast for the first time and I found them to be a pleasant, polite, level-headed and incredibly mature bunch of young adults.

 

First up is the boy wizard himself Daniel Radcliffe. My first meeting with him was when he almost knocked me down as he raced down the corridor of Claridges as I left another interview. With one of his trademark shy smiles and a quick "Sorry!",  he was gone but when I went in to interview him later in the afternoon we had a bit of a joke about our brief introduction.

 

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Now almost 20 years of age (it's his birthday later this month), he's spent half his life playing JK Rowling's creation but like any guy his age he's mad about music, equally fascinated and perplexed by girls and insists he's not very grown up despite appearances.

 

You can hear what he had to say by clicking below.

 

 

 

Next up was Harry's best friend Ron, played by the unassuming and slightly shy Rupert Grint. Rupert of course has just recovered from a bout of swine flu and he seemed a bit less animated and somewhat more tired than the others but he was happy to talk about his kissing scene, filming Quidditch, and his now famous ice-cream truck.

 

You can hear that interview by clicking below.

 

 

 
 
 

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Director David Yates has been on board since the start of the fifth movie, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and he's remaining at the helm for the final two-part adaptation of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. He's a soft-spoken gentleman but showed a clear passion for all things Potter and is well-respected by his young cast.

 

You can hear what he had to say here (including how Ireland's Cliffs of Moher ended up in the movie)

 

 

 

 

Click here for Part Two of our Harry Potter special, including interviews with Emma Watson (Hermione) and Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy).

 

 

The Hangover hits Dublin Part 2

 

The Hangover looks like it's going to be THE sleeper hit of the summer blockbuster season. At the start of the year, few probably expected that a comedy about a bunch of guys who head to Vegas for a bachelor party would be number one at the US box office in the same month that movies like Up and Terminator: Salvation have been released.

 

But one of the main reasons for its success is the relatively unknown cast who make up the bachelor party - Bradley Cooper (who starred in tv show Alias and has had supporting roles in the likes of Wedding Crashers, Failure to Launch and He's Just Not That Into You), Justin Bartha (also starred with Cooper in Failure to Launch and in National Treasure), Ed Helms (The Office: US version and The Daily Show) and Zach Galifianakis (a stand-up comedian who once played the Cats Laugh Festival, also starred in Into the Wild after Sean Penn watched his little-known movie Out Cold 15 times and just gave him the part with no audition).

 

All four guys were in Dublin on Monday for the Irish premiere of their movie. While doing their press junket at the Merrion Hotel that afternoon, they discovered they were number one at the US box office after a tough fight with animated hit Up and there was much jumping about and whooping. Not surprisingly, they were in fine form for the rest of their interviews and a bit hyper during their chat with me, thanks to the jellybeans I brought them as a little gift.

 

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So click below to take a listen to what they had to say about working with tigers and possibly making The Hangover sequel in Ireland...

 

WARNING! The following interview contains some bad language and explicit material.