Saturday, February 28, 2009

Irish flicks to help get you in the spirit!


Last March, our local newspaper printed a list of what they consider standout Irish themed films. Even if you're only Irish for a day, why not expand your celebration beyond the parades, green beer, corned beef and cabbage and check some of these out. All of the films have an overall rating of 4 stars or better at Amazon. You can click on the titles to read the user reviews.

FYI - if you're in the CNY area and want to save some $, check out the Onondaga County Public Library before heading to the video store. All the titles I've seen so far came from there.

OK, time to reveal their list....
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Films that I've seen -

"Michael Collins" (1996)
"The Wind that Shakes the Barley" (2006)
"In the Name of the Father" (1993)
"The Boxer" (1997)
"My Left Foot" (1989)

"Michael Collins" is my favorite of the bunch - very powerful and moving. The accents are pretty thick in "The Wind that Shakes the Barley" so I would recommend seeing this one on DVD where you can turn on the English subtitles. The last 3 films all feature the very talented Daniel Day-Lewis as the lead actor. I found "My Left Foot" to be a little tougher to get into compared to the others, but well worth checking out nonetheless. It is based on the real life story of the writer Christy Brown.
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The remaining 8 that I have yet to see -

"The Informer" (1935)
"Odd Man Out (1947)
"Bloody Sunday" (2002)
"Some Mother's Son" (1996) - I have reserved a copy of this one - hope to get it in the next few days!
"Into the West" (1993)
"In America" (2003)
"The Secret of Roan Irish" (1994)
"Dancing at Lughnasa" (1998)
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A couple other Irish related movies not on their list, but ones that I found entertaining are -

"Patriot Games" (1992) with Harrison Ford and
"Darby O'Gill and the Little People" (1959) a Walt Disney classic

If anyone else has any recommendations, please feel free to leave a comment.

Cheers,
Linda


PS - In case you're wondering, those are magnetic salt and pepper shakers in the pic. Aren't they just adorable? You can find them here http://www.funtocollect.com/mwahleprachaunandpotgoldsaltandpepperset.html


Small Crochet Shamrock


I've tried my hand at crochet several times over the years and could never quite get the hang of it... that is until a few weeks back. For whatever reason, I'm finally getting it. That's not to say that I'm proficient at it by any means as I still haven't got the tension thing nailed down. Hopefully in time, it'll click and then I'll be able to go a bit faster. Anywho, I've been tinkering with a few beginner projects and came across these super simple shamrocks. They take about 5 minutes to whip up and make cute little pins or fridge magnets. Thank you to Teresa Richardson for posting a You Tube tutorial on how to make them!! Check it out here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGzh-wVHB1w