 The Tip O'Neill Irish Diaspora Awards are back for 2023, presented by Donegal County Council. The event will take place on Saturday, September 16th, at the Unichone Gateway Hotel in Bongkranagh. This year's awards will recognize the contribution of Professor William C. Campbell, Caroline McLaughlin, and John T. Fries in their chosen fields. Secure your tickets now through Eventbrite and join us for a fantastic night of Crack August Call. The time is 11.32 and it's Saturday morning, which means, and it's the first Saturday of the month as well, which means only one thing, it is time to talk all things movies, and I'm glad to say, delighted to say, in fact, I'm joined in studio by Colleen McFadging. Good morning, sir. Thank you, Rory. It's always great to be here. And, you know, it feels really special today because I love when it seems like we've planned things that I would be here for National Cinema Day. It's almost serendipitous, isn't it? Yeah, but when I was driving in and I was listening, obviously I was listening to the show, and I heard them mention National Cinema Day on the headlines and I was thinking to myself, I've never been in to talk about something in the headlines before. Like, I feel like it's Paul Reynolds, you know, those crime cart, you know, Machu Picchu, we're getting these people in to talk about real issues. I felt all important. I wouldn't have worn one of my better, more formal Hawaiian shirts if I knew. This is your moment, so make a count. Well, that's what I think, and surely that's the whole point of National Cinema Day. Now, I'm always wax and lyrical about the joys of the cinema, even when sometimes, you know, we don't absolutely love the movies. I'm always telling you that I think there's just something magic that when you're seeing something in the big screen, not least that, you know, you put away your phone, nobody comes in and interrupts you, nobody asks you to... I'm not... Well, well... Yeah, most of the time, but nobody asks you to rewind the show or anything like that to you. I like that. Bit of product closeness, yeah. But all of those things, yeah, who's he? Well, which fella's in? Okay, you can be unlucky, but most of the time that... But you see, I think I'm preaching to the converted. You like the cinema. You like the arts anyway. So, you know, you're somebody who's open to those things, but there's a lot of people who are falling out of the habit of the cinema or, you know, they're on a budget and, you know, all the cinemas in the Northwest all have good value and budget days, but that doesn't always suit everyone. Maybe people aren't all from the Tuesday or the Wednesday when those things are happening. So this gives a chance on a Saturday for anyone to go to the cinema. Even if you're going, look, the kids love the cinema, I find it probably... But we go today because it's only four years for ticket, or you're going, oh, you know, I haven't been to the cinema in ages. Maybe this is the day to go, or I think more likely, and we kind of mentioned this all fair. The movies we talked about last month, when I was really surprised that you'd seen both Oppenheimer and Barbie, because they weren't out that long when we were talking last month, and you were really up to date, but people were going, I kind of fancy it, but I don't know. I don't know what I do three hours of it. Or I don't know, it's all the fuss about Barbie, and I know it's not my cup of tea, but you know, I would like to see what it's all about for four euros. Can't be bad. It can't be bad. Well, it could be bad. Well, it could be bad, but you would feel value, you know, you'd barely get a breakfast, you probably wouldn't get most breakfast loans for that. And that's the thing, you just go and experience, and not, look, it's all about value, right? So for me, cinema day, you know, okay, I get into cinema for quite a lot, but even if I didn't, I would be kind of going, oh, I might go in the quieter day and happy to pay the money because I love the cinema so much, but that's not the same for everyone. And it just gives you a chance to try, taste it and try, and go and see something you wouldn't maybe experience. One of the ones I'd like to mention as well is there's a movie called Bally Walter, which is just out only today in most cinemas, and then it's coming back in three weeks. And it's a new movie starring Patrick Kealty, who is going to be in the news quite a lot. There may have timed it for the actual Lake Lake show. What were the chances I won? Yeah, they might interview themselves, but I actually didn't know he was doing this movie, and I'm really taken by the trailer in that he's kind of a guy who maybe life hasn't been great on, but he always wanted to be a stand-up comedian, and he meets this woman played by the Irish actress, Cianna Curslake, who's really good. She's been in a lot of low-budget Irish movies. It was a taxi driver who also's life's not going well, and it's one of those sort of bittersweet comedies that actually the UK tend to do very well of two people who maybe meet some people. I don't even know if it is romantic as much as two people who just help each other in a way that you wouldn't expect. Unlikely friendships. I, this looks lovely, and I'm so pleased, because I always go on about Irish movies when I'm here, Rory, and that, you know, we've big movies, and we mentioned later, The Equalizer and all that, that are out at the moment, but there's an Irish movie spearheading this, and all the people go, I don't know if I don't see an Irish movie. Again, it's four Euros today. You know, you can't go wrong. It's only there today, and then you'll be able to be the big know-it-all in the office. When people start talking about it three weeks, and you go, oh, you're only talking about that movie there? I saw it on National Cinema Day on. Yeah, you're so far behind at times, because let's face it, that's part of the fun, too. National Cinema Day, I mean, is this a fairly new thing? You know, I'm only hearing about it these last two years or so, or there's always been a thing, but it's only been promoted. No, this is only the second year, and last year it was very much an experiment, and they just wanted to see if it would work, and there ought to be a great time to give a boost in the arm to the cinema business, which obviously is basically somewhere here in the Northwest, where it is much more... Let's face it, it needed us after recent years. Yeah, after Covid, and after... But our cinema is much more tourist-based than maybe if you're a city centre cinema in Dublin or in Cork or Galway. So, you know, kids are back to school, the hours change and so on, and give them a chance to go, but also to open it up, and last year I think the idea was maybe we could get people who were frightened, frightened as maybe the wrong word, but nervous about coming back after Covid, being back in crowded cinemas, saying, look, maybe just come back and see if you still like it. And loads of people, because we all got, you know, all the devices and stuff at home, especially over lockdown, and we got used to watching stuff at home and to give people and go, ah, it is slightly different. Sometimes better, maybe sometimes not, but even one of my favourite movies of the last couple of years is the movie Doon. I have to pronounce that way, because my Dublin accent comes out and then everyone mocks me, because I say, Doon! And I loved it, and it was brilliant. I was recommended by a sister, and she never got around to watching it. It was a couple of years, and she was off on holidays. She watched it recently on her laptop. Now, maybe she wouldn't have liked it anyway. But on her laptop, she was kind of going, I was a bit slow, and I kept on stopping it and going for a walk with the dogs, and I understand why. Whereas in the cinema with the sound, it knew be somebody who appreciates the difference in the sound quality. We always think about the big screen, but the sound makes such a difference. I genuinely believe the sound is much more important. I've been at, you know, blockbuster movies, huge releases, and, you know, huge screens. The sound has been awful, and it lets it down, because it doesn't immerse you, you know, in the experience. And I've been on tiny screens, you know, 30-seaters, 40-seaters, and the sound is just completely different. It is just completely immersive and perfect, and that, you know, that really adds to the experience and makes it what it's supposed to be. Yeah, and especially one of the big movies we talked about last month, I think the one you enjoyed more, which was Oppenheimer, I think we all expected, like, it looks beautiful, but it's all big close-ups of faces. The actual nuclear bomb effects aren't that stunning, but the sound of the bombs and the sound of the stamping feet that is kind of a running thing was really what impressed me. Christopher Nolan knows about that. The sound in that movie is an important gem. If you think about it more often, you know, if you think of the classic horrors, the classic sci-fi, it's not about what you can see, it's about what you can't see, you know, you can hear it, but you have to imagine, you know, what this thing looks like, or whatever thing it is, whatever, you know, whatever the movie is, let's say alien food or something, it's about what you can't see as opposed to what you can. The scariest thing part of Jaws in many ways, I know there's jump-out shocks, but it is the music. It is the music. When we mentioned Jaws there, the first thing everyone thought of, and that's why it's brilliant. You know, and there's lots of interest and stuff, and as I said, I suppose we should talk about some new movies at some stage. Of the ones that people want to see, I would also say Mission Impossible, and one of the cinemas I'm most connected with, right? The Posh Lounge, because it's only four years, sold out of Mission Impossible first, which kind of surprised me, because that's the one that's been out for three months, but obviously people went, that's the one, you want the comfy chair, and to sit back and relax. And probably because it's, you know, it's nearly three hours long as well. Yeah. That was the one that they went for. Maybe it was because everyone had already seen Barbie. But so some of the summer hits, but we do have new movies, so... Yeah, so let's talk new movies and some of the wider releases. Tell us the first one you have on the list. Equalizer. Equalizer. It's the Equalizer. Denzel. Three. Now, Roy, you're a fan of the 80s, but you're not old enough really to remember the TV show The Equalizer, are you? No, no. But I'll tell you what, I went to see The Equalizer. Purely, you know, I'm at a loose end here. I'll go to the cinema. What's on? Not much. Equalizer. Denzel Washington. Ah, yeah, I'll have a look at that. I loved it. And that was my first introduction through The Equalizer. Equalizer. I had no clue that it used to be a TV show. And when the relaunch came out, you know, the rebooted TV show, I didn't bother with it. No, no, I never watched that either. Yeah. And I'm sure it's very good, but it's not for me. The movie is enough. Yeah. It's one of those movies. John Wick has a bit of it. There's a couple of other movies that, I suppose even taken to an element of the quite cheesy B-movies with proper actors in it. Yeah. Who kind of lend a gravitas to it. For anyone who hasn't seen The Equalizer and doesn't know a thing about it, basically a vigilante. A vigilante. It's death wishes. All those, you know, these movies have been done before. And it doesn't matter, by the way, if you haven't seen the first two. Okay. I haven't watched the third one the other day. It really makes no difference because you know this story. He's a good guy who with a bad past who's retired and he just wants a peaceful life. And people keep on annoying him. Or more importantly, they annoy people he likes or loves. And he goes and helps them. And Denzel's way of going and helping them is beating the tar out of all the bad guys. And boy, does he do it. And I have to say in this one, I haven't looked at the ratings for the other ones, but they amped it up a bit. Obviously they're being influenced by John Wick and stuff like that. Okay. Now, Denzel has all the guns that he needs, but he will still stop and find a garden implement to beat somebody up when it's right because it's a bit more spectacular. And in this one, he's in Italy. He's down in Sicily. So it's all beautiful scenery. And everyone that he meets are very friendly Italian stereotypes. You know, they're just going, ah, mama mia, the pizza, da, da, da, da, da, da, da. I like that. Well done. Oh, thank you. No, no, no actual training, Rory. It's hard to believe. But he meets these, and they're all his friends, but suddenly evil mafia guys with clearly I am evil tattoos on them turn up and start hassling the local fish shop who are friends of Denzel's. And he's going to sort them out. And he does in spectacular fashion. And as I said, if it wasn't Denzel, if it wasn't made by Anton Fuqua, who's the training day in proper directors, this could be back in the day, direct to DVD rubbish. But they bring a new level to what is basically a gory, he's going to get everyone. At the same time, you know, not reinventing the wheel. No, absolutely not. And nor should you, because sometimes you just want candy for the eyes. And as I said, it is 16s, it's fairly full on, but even that it's kind of cartoony full on. And it's so entertaining. And you should just watch Denzel. Like, you know, the old, watch them read the phone book. There are no phone books anymore. I don't think. But you can watch them, scroll through his phone, and you'd still find them entertaining. Because the camera loves them. He's magnetic, flashes a smile, or when he says, you have nine seconds to make the right decision, or I'm going to come and get you. You go, he means it. Nice microphone technique. Thank you very much. He really means it. You go, I would not mess with Denzel. So I would definitely recommend seeing it, it's four euros or over the next couple of weeks. But whatever you do, don't mess with Denzel. OK, so that is the equaliser three. That is in theaters right now. Right now, OK. We're going to talk Disney's 100th anniversary after this. Yep. OK, and we're going to talk some of the classic re-releases that are available to view over the next month. Back after this commercial break. If you're really thinking about us, go do us because you'll feel much better about yourself. People are there to help you and you will get on. 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There's also free next day delivery on orders over 85 euro at MichaelMurphySports.ie Hi folks, Paul McDevitt here. Inviting you to join myself and Jimmy Stafford this Monday night for another edition of the Monday Night Sessions. On the show this week we welcome our drass singer-songwriter Gary Mangan, local singer Keelan Barrett Ross. We're dropping in for a chat and a few songs. And with the Glentys Harvest Fair just around the corner we'll be chatting to some of the organisers and artists about this amazing event. So that's the Monday Night Sessions. This Monday Night between 8pm and 10pm. Right here on Highland Radio. 1146 it is Saturday morning. Colleen McFadgeen is in studio. We are talking all things movies. And it's Disney's 100th year this year, 100th anniversary. And they are re-releasing classic after classic after classic. What is it this month? Yeah, just when you think it can't get any better. So last month we were talking with Snow White, with Pambi, which was great because it was a whole new generation of people traumatised. Traumatised? Again, not so much the children. Children who can deal with that stuff. It was more the parents going, I've forgotten. Exactly, just completely triggered. And what's really good is there's loads of people, grandparents and old parents who remember this when Disney stuff wasn't even on VHS. Disney were really tight about what they would release in the past before Disney Plus. It used to be, you know, a summer in Donegal. They would re-release one of these movies made in the 50s. Back in the cinemas I remember going to see Robin Hood in the Aster Gridor. Yeah. And it was years after it came out but that summer's release. So the next couple, this week we've got Peter Pan which weirdly, I have seen so many thousands of versions of Peter Pan. I haven't seen the classic Disney animation. Really? For whatever reason. Wow. But what's funny, almost all of what we really think with Peter Pan, even when they read made, you know, Hook and so on, is much more influenced by the Disney animation. In the same way Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in the original story, the Dwarfs weren't named. The Dwarfs we think of are from the cartoon. And in the same way, a lot of the Peter Pan stuff, all the imagery of Captain Hook and the Crocodile. While it's in the book, what we really think of is from this classic cartoon. So that one's open this weekend and they're very strict. They're for one week and one week only. There is no extent. When they're gone. When they're gone. But the one maybe even more people are excited about. I have a lot of colleagues. A hundred and one Dalmatians is next week. And there's an awful lot of people. That seems to be a particular favourite of all generations. And then the following week it's my favourite, which is the Jungle Book. Because it has to be the best soundtrack to any of these. I know Let It Go and Frozen. And we're getting that at the end of October. But we'll talk about that the next month. And we're getting Toy Story and all those. But Jungle Book, like come on. Where else would you, you know, whether it's a kids thing. You play it in any of the pubs around Letter County. If somebody lashes that on about a quarter to 12 tonight. Even the 19 year olds are going to get up and dance to, you know. I'm the king of the swiggers or I want to be like the bird necessities are just great. And do you think there'll be the inevitable comparisons between, you know, because some of the classics that have been re-released, they have been re-done, re-booted, re-made, whatever you want to call it as live action, semi-live action, whatever you want to call it. Do you think there'll be the inevitable comparisons? Well, I think so. But I think when they've worked well, like Beauty and the Beast did quite well. And I think the Jungle Book version was actually very good. They are companion pieces. It's not either or. It's both maybe at a different stage of a child's life because the live action one, say, of the Jungle Book is a bit tougher. I think some of the other ones they just haven't worked for. But again, you know, it's like people seeing them now in the cinema. It's their one first time around. I think the Little Mermaid, for example, which I liked the thing. It wasn't the same as the cartoon. But here's the thing. I saw the cartoon with my niece who was like seven years old at the time. So that'll always be magical to me. I watched the new one as a cinema reviewer. But there's loads of mums and dads who watched that was their first time. And of course, because she looks different and some of the new movies, people look different and they get, like, Ariel gets to do a lot more in the new movie. And I think maybe for this generation of girls are going, that's my Ariel. But there's no doubt about it. There was some sort of magic dust in certain one of these. And 101 Dalmatians, the Glenn Close movie is really good. But the cartoon is just special. And again, it's not just the visual thing. It's the soundtrack. We're going back to it. It's the music. It's the songs. They were all original. That was just that little bit of magic. And people who were showbiz Broadway, they knew how to rise a tune. But also, I think there's something about that sort of hand-drawn animation. And I think so one of the worst adaptations I thought was The Lion King, because I didn't see the point of having, because they're both cartoons. One's just computer. It's not live action. No, it's not. Yeah. It's not live action. There is something to be saying, to see Emma Watson as Belle and Beauty and the Beast, I get it. To see Halle, her name escapes me at the moment, as Ariel. I get that. And she's a lovely singer herself. And you can see her belting out live. But those ones didn't really work. And I think, to be honest with you, for some of them, if they remake them, Disney's A Hundred Years, which means they're copyrighting some of these things is up. And by making them again, you get to make new versions of it. And you keep the copyright. Right. So there's a business there. There's a business there. But some of them have been good. I actually thought Aladdin was pretty good, just because it wasn't Robin Williams. And the great thing about it, the Will Smith one, they didn't try, Will Smith didn't try and be Robin Williams. He was Will Smith as the TV. He did his own thing. He did his own thing. And I think there's the ones that work, that you go, oh, I like both of them. They're different flavors. One's vanilla ice cream, one's chocolate ice cream, that sort of thing. But I think these ones, they know the ones they've picked, though. They know the ones they've picked. They've picked special magic ones. And that's why even some of the ones people go, oh, why not this one? Because that's not the real magic. And the fact that it's Toy Story, Frozen, Beauty and the Beast, Jungle Book, they know what they're, there's the ones they've skipped over. They're not playing song with the sound, because that's banned, because that has to be very castle. But I think it's a really nice idea. And as I said, people are bringing back, kids are bringing their granny to see their favorite movie, which is lovely. And granny is going, this was my favorite movie, too. And that's the magic the new ones will never have, I suppose, because there will never be granny's favorite movie. But they both share a love of Hundred and One Dalmatians. So we've got, we've got 100 and One Dalmatians. We've got Beauty and the Beast coming as well. Jungle Book. And Peter Pan this week, and Jungle Book. Jungle Book. And then next month, well, we'll get on to next month, next month. Very quickly, I want to talk to you about what's going to happen between now and over the next six months. The Raider Strike in the US. I don't know if I'm throwing this curveball at you, right? But, you know, I like that. We've got the Raider Strike in the US. It is causing mayhem. Mayhem. It is causing havoc. So what does that mean for, you know, we've got the Christmas blockbuster scene. Yes. That's the next big blockbuster scene. We're already seeing release has been pushed back and moved around. What do you see happening? Well, it's funny that my cinema side and my boss, hello Daniel, who will be listening at the moment, will, you know, will be working, because they're going, the blockbuster has been moved because they're afraid. The films are done but because the difference it makes when people appear on Graham Norton and on TikTok and all that sort of pushing the movie, look at how, Barbie would have been hit anyway, but look how much you saw Margot Robbie and the stars appearing everywhere. It makes a huge difference to the box office. So they're pushing these movies away and it will be a problem. There are little gaps appearing already. I was talking about doing earlier, doing two, I was looking forward to so much has been pushed back. There's a couple other movies, Ghostbusters, yeah, I'll be pushed back. So there's gaps there. Now, the cinema lover in me and the Irish cinema lover in me suddenly thinks, but surely there's gaps that we could show some of these other movies because the independent movies aren't affected by this, the small Irish movies and even some of the English movies with big stars but because they're independently financed the stars are allowed to come and promote those movies. And I was kind of going, maybe, maybe people will go and see a couple of these independent movies. Maybe stuff like Ballywalter, maybe stuff like Floor and Sun starring Eve Euston which I really like the look of. So there might be a chance. There's an opportunity here. There's an opportunity there and maybe there'll be still enough big blockbusters to pad it out and maybe we will see it again. Now, obviously for cinemas they would love blockbuster after blockbuster after blockbuster like this summer and there's still going to be some new Marvel movies and so on. I think for whatever reason they're outside that loop of the strike but hopefully, maybe, you know, that's my very much silver lining on it but maybe we can see a few more apocalypse plans. Exactly. We'll talk about that. Right, Collie, listen. We're out of time. Listen, thanks so much for coming in to see us. We'll talk to you next month again and we're heading into October and we'll be heading towards the end of the year. It's hard to believe that, you know, it seems like a couple of shows ago we were talking about yeah, we're in January. I know. It's a quiet time for us. Now the summer blockbuster season is behind us. Next one is Christmas. Next one is Christmas. Although I have a Paw Patrol movie. My enemy's the Paw Patrol that I'll have to watch and watch them for you. I'm going to stop you there, Collie. That's all right. Collie, thanks for coming in. We'll talk to you next month. All right. Bye. Take care of her by Collie McFadging. We'll be back with us next four weeks time at the start of October to talk all things movies.