JDIFF Day 2 – What to watch

It’s 8 days till the 9th Jameson Dublin International Film Festival and with that in mind I’ve decided to do a series of posts from now until the launch, and then some more during the festival itself. The festival launches with the sublime looking Submarine (which I featured yesterday), so today’s post takes a look at the movies available on Day 2 of the festival Friday February 18th.

The big boys:

Fair Game, directed by Doug Liman and starring Naomi Watts and Sean Penn, the movie tells the real-life story of Valerie Plume, a real-life CIA undercover operative, who is outed by the Agency when her husband writes an op-ed piece reporting that the Bush administration lied about the WMDs in Iraq in order to justify the invasion.

The trio of talent at the movies core make this an interesting film, and the added ingredient of real-life espionage and intrigue only spices the pot.

Cineworld – 18:00 Tickets

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Route Irish, directed by Ken Loach and starring Mark Womack and Andrea Lowe, the movie tells the story of a British soldier-turned-security contractor in Iraq who rejects the official explanation of his friend’s death and sets out to discover the truth.

Loach’s track record is exemplary with his last movie The Wind That Shakes the Barley winning the Palme d’Or. A harrowing and passionate looking film Route Irish should be one that sticks in the conciousness long after the final credits roll.

IFI – 18:30 Tickets

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The hidden gem

Norwegian Wood, directed by Tran Anh Hung and starring Tenichi Matsuyama and Rinko Kikuchi, is an adaptation of Haruki Murakami’s acclaimed novel, which sees a business reminisce about his youthful romances in university in Tokyo, set against the turbulent student riots of the late 1960s.

The book is fantastic, and the producers managed to nab the rights to the Beatles song that gives the property it’s title so that bodes well. If Vietnamese director Hung can capture the tragic beauty of the book this could be something very special indeed.

Cineworld – 20:30 Tickets

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Check out the rest of Day 2’s great lineup on the JDIFF website and come back again soon for another look at what’s on offer on Day’s 3 to 10.