Stephen Rea

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Out Of The Dark Review


Good

An unusual setting gives this low-key horror some added interest, stirring a whiff of issue-based drama into the otherwise under-developed plot. It's also photographed with considerable skill, generating its scary moments with careful filmmaking rather than cheap gimmicks, although there isn't a moment that doesn't feel familiar. Yes, Spanish director Lluis Quilez never saw a scary-movie cliche that he didn't like.

It's set in rural Colombia, where Sarah and Paul (Julia Stiles and Scott Speedman) have just arrived in Santa Clara, on the edge of the jungle, with their young daughter Hannah (Pixie Davies). Sarah has a new job at the paper factory owned by her father (Stephen Rea), while Paul works from home as an illustrator. And as they settle into their gorgeous new house in a lush neighbourhood, the community is preparing for its annual Saint Children Festival, commemorating a tragic event from the conquistador era. But it's something much more recent that seems to have sparked a malevolent force in the town, as everyone catches glimpses of swarms of face-covered children emerging from the rainforest. And it seems to be Hannah that they want.

Quilez indulges in all the usual atmospherics, including sudden thunderstorms and power cuts, a sinister dumbwaiter and even a ball bouncing ominously down the stairs. Even so, he resists ramping up the horror too much, making the film feel more like a mystery as Sarah and Paul investigate the strange goings on, learning dark secrets about the town's past. When someone mentions the "old paper mill" it's clearly going to feature later on. And this gives the movie an intriguing sense that perhaps not everything that's happening is supernatural. That said, the plot is so thin that it barely exists, held together by a hint of subtext and the grounded performances.

Continue reading: Out Of The Dark Review

A Foodie Delight: 'Tasting Menu' Serves Up Spanish Style, Foot Fetishism, And An International Cast [Trailer + Pictures]


Stephen Rea Jan Cornet Togo Igawa Fionnula Flanagan

Tasting Menu is preparing to open in America after having premiered in Spain last year to acclaim. The Spanish-set, bilingual movie pushes the boundaries of international cinema with a unique premise and sumptuous shots of the coast and of course, food.

Tasting Menu Vicenta N'Dongo Andrew Tarb
Vicenta N'Dongo Plays A Chef Preparing To Close The Doors Of The World's Best Restaurant.

Food-lovers won't fail to be entranced by the romance of the restaurant scenes - and we're not just talking about the many couples who dine each night in the best restaurant in the world. We mean the lovingly shot scenes of kitchen commotion, pain-staking food perfection and the gorgeous Costa Brava setting. Vicenta N'Dongo plays head chef Mar, who tells her team that the restaurant will soon close its doors and that they should make preparations for the last day of service.

Continue reading: A Foodie Delight: 'Tasting Menu' Serves Up Spanish Style, Foot Fetishism, And An International Cast [Trailer + Pictures]

Tasting Menu Trailer


Marc and Rachel haven't seen each other for a whole year since their relationship ended, but they are now forced to re-unite once again to fulfil a date they have been waiting for for a very long time. Whilst still happily together, they had been lucky enough to reserve a table at what is widely known as the best restaurant in the world in Costa Brava. In usual circumstances, they would cancel the booking and make separate reservations for themselves in the future to enjoy the globe's finest culinary experience. However, their date happens to be the last night of opening for the restaurant which has made a regrettable decision to finally close its doors. There's no chance this former couple are going to miss this once in a lifetime opportunity; will they find themselves re-connecting, or will their differences ruin it for both of them?

Continue: Tasting Menu Trailer

Blackthorn Review


Excellent
Plaintive and perhaps too slow-moving for mainstream audiences, this finely made Western cycles through a rather long, complex narrative. But it's thoroughly involving, with terrific characters and an engaging emotional punch.

It turns out that Butch Cassidy didn't die in a hail of gunfire in 1908 Bolivia after all. Now calling himself James Blackthorn (Shepard), he's still living there 20 years later with his girlfriend Yana (Solier). But after he decides to return home, he's waylaid by Eduardo (Noriega), a city-slicker who has embezzled thousands from a brutal businessman. Their ensuing adventures spark memories of Blackthorn's days as a young outlaw (Coster-Waldau in flashbacks) with the Sundance Kid (Delaney) and Etta Place (McElligott), chased to South America by the dogged lawman McKinley (Rea).

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Tom Hickey, Martin Sheen, Stephen Rea and Dublin International Film Festival - Tom Hickey, Martin Sheen, Derbhle Crotty and Stephen Rea Thursday 23rd February 2012 Jameson Dublin International Film Festival - 'Stella Days' premiere at Cineworld Dublin - Arrivals

Tom Hickey, Martin Sheen, Stephen Rea and Dublin International Film Festival

Moya Brennan and Stephen Rea - Moya Brennan, Stephen Rea, Maighread Ni Dhomhniall Dublin, Ireland - Launching of the Temple Bar Tradfest 2009 in Oliver St. John Gogarty's Pub Tuesday 13th January 2009

Moya Brennan and Stephen Rea

The Reaping Review


Terrible
Trouble sleeping? Try The Reaping. As Stephen Hopkins' sinfully boring devil dance continues creeping, at your watch you'll be peeping. By the time you reach the preposterous conclusion, where a sequel-establishing twist looms like a Biblical plague, for humanity you'll be weeping.

You'll need more than faith to accept the film's ridiculous premise, cooked up by sibling screenwriters Carey and Chad Hayes. These two can't distinguish between horrifying and horrible. They last collaborated on the dreadful House of Wax remake starring Paris Hilton. Enough said.

Continue reading: The Reaping Review

The Confessor Review


Weak
I take no price in having sat through the entirety of The Confessor, but Stephen Rea's third billing convinced me that it might be worth my trouble. (Molly Parker isn't bad either, and even headliner Christian Slater has done some solid work -- just none of it in recent years.)

This film by aspiring assistant director/producer Lewin Webb is straight out of episodic TV. Think your lesser episode of, oh, Law & Order. A priest (Von Flores) is discovered red-handed with one of his flock, dead and covered with blood. The priest says he was just giving him the last rites, and that he knows what happened, but he can't divulge this due to confession's rules of confidentiality. Immediately on the case is Daniel Clemens (Slater), who's better known for his fundraising abilities and PR schmoozing. What he uncovers is a sort-of half-baked counterculture of gay Catholics (of which Flores may or may not have been a member)... and a murder plot that has absolutely nothing to do with any of that.

Continue reading: The Confessor Review

In Dreams Review


Weak
Neil Jordan (The Crying Game) just keeps going down down down. This time, it's a "thriller" about a loony who controls the dreams of Bening, making her loony as well. The loony (I'll kill the "suspense"--it's Downey) also kills her daughter and husband, you know, just for kicks. And there's apples apples apples galore! You know, for symbolism. I think.

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Feardotcom Review


Terrible
After the first hour of the celluloid atrocity so cleverly named FearDotCom, I awoke from a dreadful nightmare: a nightmare chock full of bad acting, goofy makeup, a ridiculous story, and blatant plot thievery from David Cronenberg flicks. In a cold sweat, I shuddered and realized that I couldn't wake up from my nightmare. It wasn't a dream at all; it was playing out right in front of my face on a movie screen.

FearDotCom is easily in the running for worst film of the year. The whole mess is a painfully dull ripoff of much better films - namely Poltergeist, Videodrome, and 8MM (okay, so that one's not much better). Full of grotesque imagery of sadistic tortures and killings and a plethora of asinine characters and pathetic attempts at acting, FearDotCom is a prime example of just how bad a bad movie can be.

Continue reading: Feardotcom Review

Evelyn Review


Extraordinary
I chuckled when I noticed that my preview screening for Evelyn was shown in a theater next to another theater featuring Die Another Day. At first I thought the theater was doing a tribute to Pierce Brosnan, but then I realized it was just a coincidence that he was starring in two movies at the same time in the same theater. I feared my view of Brosnan in Evelyn would be tainted because of his typecasting as the suave British spy. Much to my delight however, Brosnan effectively sheds his powerful alter-ego and turns in a warm and touching performance as an average, Irish working-class bloke in Evelyn.

Based on a true story that took place in the 1950s, Brosnan plays Desmond Doyle, a father of three young children who is left to care for the kids when his wife leaves him for another man the day after Christmas. This happens to coincide with another unsettling loss for Doyle - he's recently lost his job. Since he is unable to find work, the courts have taken his two sons and only daughter Evelyn (Sophie Vavasseur) and placed them in church run orphanages. When he finds suitable employment and tries to re-unite with his children, he finds his troubles have only just begun.

Continue reading: Evelyn Review

The End Of The Affair Review


Weak

Even if "The End of the Affair" didn't invite comparisons to "The English Patient" with Ralph Fiennes' auto-pilot performance as another reflective World War II-era Englishman immersed heart and soul in an adulterous love affair, this Neil Jordan adaptation of Graham Greene's novel would still be an ambitious misfire.

Beset by the oversimplification of abstract and heavy concepts of heart, mind and religion, the film looks beautiful with its foggy and well-heeled London society appointments, and it's nothing if not emotional, what with the likes of Fiennes and Julianne Moore as the (naturally!) doomed lovers and Jordan staple Stephen Rea as the betrayed, milquetoast husband/best friend.

But while Jordan's talent for screenwriting and direction are evidenced in dialogue ("I'm jealous of these shoes because they take you away from me. I'm jealous of this stocking because it kisses your entire leg...") and structure (Fiennes' point of view transitions into Moore's as he reads her stolen diary), the director's use of other stale and banal plot devices betray the pedestrian underpinnings of this seemingly complex film.

Continue reading: The End Of The Affair Review

Stephen Rea

Stephen Rea Quick Links

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Occupation

Actor


Stephen Rea Movies

Out of the Dark Movie Review

Out of the Dark Movie Review

An unusual setting gives this low-key horror some added interest, stirring a whiff of issue-based...

Tasting Menu Trailer

Tasting Menu Trailer

Marc and Rachel haven't seen each other for a whole year since their relationship ended,...

Blackthorn Movie Review

Blackthorn Movie Review

Plaintive and perhaps too slow-moving for mainstream audiences, this finely made Western cycles through a...

Blackthorn Trailer

Blackthorn Trailer

Butch Cassidy is infamous for being a bank and train robber and the leader of...

The Heavy Trailer

The Heavy Trailer

Boots Mason is an enforcer, a problem solver for those who can afford his services,...

Ondine Trailer

Ondine Trailer

Watch the trailer for OndineSyracuse is an Irish fisherman, he works long days and his...

The Reaping Movie Review

The Reaping Movie Review

Trouble sleeping? Try The Reaping. As Stephen Hopkins' sinfully boring devil dance continues creeping, at...

V For Vendetta Trailer

V For Vendetta Trailer

V For Vendetta Trailer Set against the futuristic landscape of totalitarian Britain, V For Vendetta...

Feardotcom Movie Review

Feardotcom Movie Review

After the first hour of the celluloid atrocity so cleverly named FearDotCom, I awoke from...

Evelyn Movie Review

Evelyn Movie Review

I chuckled when I noticed that my preview screening for Evelyn was shown in a...

The End Of The Affair Movie Review

The End Of The Affair Movie Review

Even if "The End of the Affair" didn't invite comparisons to "The English Patient" with...

The Musketeer Movie Review

The Musketeer Movie Review

After all its TV commercial posturing about "re-envisioning" a classic as a post-Hong Kong actioner,...

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