The Boxer 1997  R, 112 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Jim Sheridan
Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Emily Watson, Brian Cox, Ken Stott, Gerard McSorley, Eleanor Methven, Ciaran Fitzgerald, Kenneth Cranham, Daragh Donnelly, Frank Coughlan, Michael James Ford, Ian McElhinney, Maria McDermottroe, Kirsten Sheridan, Veronica Duffy
Upon his release after a 14-year imprisonment for IRA activities, Danny Flynn (Daniel Day-Lewis) enters a changed community–including that of Protestant vs. Catholic AND his former love, Maggie (Emily Watson), who is now a married woman. Danny seeks to revive a local boxing club through which he works with both Catholic and Protestant youth while the town gossips about Danny and Maggie.
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City of Ember 2008 PG, 95 min.
Genre: Family / Adventure / Fantasy
Director: Gil Kenan
Cast: Bill Murray, Saoirse Ronan, Tim Robbins, Harry Treadway, Liz Smith, Martin Landau, David Ryall, Ian McElhinney, B.J. Hogg, Mary Kay Place, Toby Jones, Lucinda Dryzek, Matt Jessup, Lara McIvor, Myles Thompson
Ember is a dark place covered with dirt–an underground world that began a number of generations ago. Mayor Cole (Bill Murray) appears to be in charge, but he follows the orders of bureaucrat Sul (Martin Landau) in a world where power outages are common and food supplies are getting low. Although Loris Harrow (Tim Robbins) and his teenage son Doon (Harry Treadway) run their house on steam and rust, the outlook is not good. Doon and classmate Lina (Saoirse Ronan) want to escape, but they know that if they fail, BIG problems will result. Nevertheless, they piece together a plot that involves a metal box that just may provide the answers to their problems.
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Closing the Ring 2007  R, 118 min.
Genre: Drama / Romance
Director: Richard Attenborough
Cast: Shirley MacLaine, Christopher Plummer, Mischa Barton, Stephen Amell, Neve Campbell, Pete Postlethwaite, Dylan Roberts, Chris Benson, John Travers, Anthony Finigan, John Kavanagh, Gregory Smith, Alex Palmer, David Alpay, Ian McElhinney
World War II fighter pilot Teddy Gordon (Stephen Amell) is shot down, and, just before dying, he gives his wedding band to a young boy who says he will return it to Teddy's widow, Ethel Ann (Mischa Barton). Fifty years later, Ethel (now played by Shirley MacLaine) had married a World War II hero, her husband has just died, and she is grieving. Ethel's daughter Marie (Neve Campbell) receives a call from a boy in Northern Ireland telling her that he has the ring. The ring is returned, and Ethel finds some closure to her life when the history of the ring is revealed.
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 Hidden Agenda 1990 R, 108 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Ken Loach
Cast: Frances McDormand, Brian Cox, Brad Dourif, Mai Zetterling, Bernard Bloch, Des McAleer, Jim Norton, Patrick Kavanagh, Bernard Archard, Maurice Roeves, Maureen Bell, Michelle Fairley, Kim Dyson, Oliver Maguire, Ian McElhinney
Set in the war-like environment of Northern Ireland in the early 1980s, this thriller follows British investigator Kerrigan (Brian Cox) and international amnesty group activist Ingrid Jessner (Frances McDormand). They investigate possible cover-ups at Britain's highest level that have also resulted in murder. Good performances make this worth a look.
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Leap Year 2010   PG, 97 min.
Genre: Comedy / Romance
Director: Anand Tucker
Cast: Amy Adams, Matthew Goode, Adam Scott, John Lithgow, Noel O'Donovan, Tony Rohr, Pat Laffan, Alan Devlin, Ian McElhinney, Dominique McElligott, Mark O'Regan, Maggie McCarthy, Peter O'Meara, Macdara O Fatharta, Kaitlin Olson
In Ireland, it is the tradition for women to propose marriage to their boyfriends on February 29th, Leap Year. Anna (Amy Adams) has been waiting four years for a proposal from her cardiologist boyfriend Jeremy (Adam Scott) who is attending a conference in Dublin and decides to follow Jeremy to Dublin and propose to him. The trip does not prove easy when bad weather sets in, and Anna is rerouted to Wales where she convinces innkeeper Declan (Matthew Goode) to drive her to Dublin. Along the way, Anna and Declan bicker as they get to know each other, and Anna's plans for her future just might change.
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The Playboys 1992 PG-13, 110 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Gillies MacKinnon
Cast: Albert Finney, Aidan Quinn, Robin Wright Penn, Milo O'Shea, Alan Devlin, Niamh Cusack, Ian McElhinney, Stella McCusker, Niall Buggy, Anna Livia Ryan
Set in a small Irish town in the 1950s, this is the story of Tara (Robin Wright) who has a child out of wedlock. This doesn't go over well, and she will not even identify the father. Meanwhile, the constable (Albert Finney), a recovering alcoholic, has his sights set on her, but she will not have anything to do with him. He is also under pressure to stop the smuggling from the North, not knowing that Tara is part of the smuggling. When a Shakespearian troupe comes to town, one of the players (Aidan Quinn) falls for Tara, and she feels the same about him.
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Small Faces 1996 R, 109 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Gillies MacKinnon
Cast: Iain Robertson, Joe McFadden, Steven Duffy, Laura Fraser, Garry Sweeney, Clare Higgins, Kevin McKidd, Mark McConnochie, Steven Singleton, David Walker, Ian McElhinney, Paul Doonan, Colin Semple, Colin McCredie, Debbie Welsh
Lex Maclean (Iain Robertson), a 13-year-old Glasgow youth, is the youngest of three brothers. His older siblings have opted for diverse lifestyles. Alan (Joseph McFadden) wants to be an artist, and Bobby Steven Duffy) is a gang member. Lex struggles to find his own place in the world.
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This Is the Sea 1998 R, 90 min.
Genre: Drama / Romance
Director: Mary McGuckian
Cast: Samantha Morton, Ross McDade, Richard Harris, Gabriel Byrne, John Lynch, Dearbhla Molloy, Ian McElhinney, Marc O'Shea, Des McAleer, Mary McGuckian
In this straight-to-tape drama set in 1994, a Protestant farm girl, Hazel Stokes (Samantha Morton), falls in love with Catholic Malachy McAliskey amidst the unsettled Northern Ireland cease fire that has forced Northern Island's religious battle to go underground.
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| 1. The Boxer (1997)
2. City of Ember (2008)
3. Closing the Ring (2007)
4. Hidden Agenda (1990)
5. Leap Year (2010)
6. The Playboys (1992)
7. Small Faces (1996)
8. This Is the Sea (1998)
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