24 DUN LAOGHAIRE GAZETTE 5 July 2012
GazetteENTERTAINMENT ENTERTAINMENT
GoingOUT THE PAVILION THEATRE 01 231 2929 The Love Hungry Farmer
DES Keogh, one of Ireland’s foremost actors and entertainers, returns with his hugely successful and award winning show The Love Hungry Farmer by John B Keane. It tells the story of John Bosco McLane, a bachelor of ‘indeterminate’ age and, according to his own assessment, ‘past his best’ and evidently still a virgin. McLane’s amorous adventures range from the hilarious to the pitiful. This excellent show runs from July 4-7 at 8pm. Tickets are priced at €18/16.
MILL THEATRE 01 296 9340 Somewhere under the Rainbow
THIS award-winning, one-woman, musical theatre extravaganza has captured audiences around the country. Now, in preparation for the prestigious Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Biscuits for Breakfast are delighted to bring “Liza” to the Mill Theatre for one more performance before she leaves these shores. Sharon Sexton’s Liza recounts stories, memories and secrets that make up a fascinating career and an even more intriguing personal life. As she belts her way through Minnelli’s infamous song book, the audience are invited beyond the footlights. July 14 at 8pm. Admission: €20.
CIVIC THEATRE 01 462 7477 Johnnies Britches
Spidey posing 101 starts with this crouching start.
BEEZNEEZ, the popular company that brought you Tuesdays with Morrie and Don’t Dress for Dinner return to the Civic with a lovely old Irish comedy, Johnnies Britches. A runaway, nationwide hit when first produced in the 1940s, Beezneez bring their distinctive production values to this gentle comedy of another time. Anxious to be rid of their accident prone servant girl, Ned and Bridget are willing to allow her to be married to almost anybody, including Johnnie. July 13 and 14 at 8pm. Admission: €20/16.
Just short of amazing
DRAIOCHT 01 885 2622 The Connect Club 2012
THIS July, Draíocht is delighted to be back, once again, working with the Daughters of Charity’s Summer Camp ‘The Connect Club’ in Laurel Lodge. The summer camp is filled with social and recreational activities catering for young people with varying degrees of intellectual disability, with the aim of providing an outlet that is fun and focused on the individual’s likes and interests.
Spidey swings back into action with a new star, new director, new love interest and, crucially, a new swagger I PAUL HOSFORD
THE new generation of Hollywood executives have a whole different set of problems to their predecessors. Just as us journalists are getting to grips with changing media, 24-hour news cycles and the rise of something called Tallafornia, the Hollywood big-wigs are no longer worrying about cold war overtones, whether we will believe a man can fly or a whole generation of stars in danger of snorting all of Colombia. They are, however, dealing with a new set of problems themselves, 3-D or not 3-D? How can we make a sequel out of this? And when can we remake this? With recent talk of a Twilight reboot a whole three years after it was released, The Amazing Spider-Man feels like it is late to the party, showing up some five
FILM OF THE WEEK: The Amazing Spider-Man #### (12A) 136 mins Director: Marc Webb Starring: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Denis Leary, Sally Field, Martin Sheen, Campbell Scott, Irrfan Khan
OUR VERDICT: IT occassionally feels like it is stretching, aware all too much of how it has to stay away from a previous incarnation still fresh in people’s minds. But, other than that and some loose ends left untied, this is solid comic-book fare that has a likeable protagonist in Garfield’s Peter Parker.
years after Sam Raimi had unleashed the awful, awful Spider-Man 3 on the world. This, however, is not a continuation of the Raimi universe, more a complete overhaul of the Spidey origin story. Taking its lead from The Amazing SpiderMan comic books, this version takes the highschool adventures of Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker and makes that a three-act stand. In Maguire’s place is Andrew Garfield, probably best known for The Social Network where he played Mark Zucker-
berg’s less geeky, but still geeky, best friend. It’s fitting that Garfield has made the transition from playing a geek to playing, well, a geek with superpowers. In this summer, and more increasingly this media market, the geeks have inherited the earth. Joss Whedon brought a geek smorgasboard to the screens and has grossed $600 million dollars, Facebook is the dream landing spot for graduates and The Big Bang Theory is the biggest TV show in the US. So, it is unsurprising that such a golden goose
as ol’ webhead is given another bite of a radioactive spider every couple of years. This time, at least, the focus is on people. Director Marc Webb, of (500) Days of Summer fame, hasn’t exactly brought about a fully realised universe in the way Christopher Nolan has with his Dark Knight trilogy, but his attempts to make it all about the humans under the spandex are admirable. Webb spends a lot more time on the origin story of Peter than Raimi did, but the constituent parts remain the same. Uncle Ben is attacked, radioactive spider, crimefighter clumsily getting to grips with his powers, etc. And, of course there’s the love of a good woman, though even that is different. Spidey enthusiasts argue long into the night about who the true love
of Peter’s life is. W here Raimi had Mary Jane Watson, Webb plumps for Gwen Stacy, played by Emma Stone. Her father just happens to be the chief of police, however, and he does not like the friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man. It is the relationship between Stacy and Peter, and the chemistry between Stone and Garfield, that are high points. Along with some good action beats, the film is able to hide its flaws with some excellently drawn characters. True, some strands get left behind. Rhys Ifans’ Curt Connors is never fully explored but a consistenly clever CGi reportoire, strong characters and some excellent performances from Stone and Garfield mark a return to form for Spiderman. Now time to plan the 2014 reboot.