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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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 a British investigator (Brian Cox) and an international amnesty group activist (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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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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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. Hidden Agenda (1990)
4. The Playboys (1992)
5. This Is the Sea (1998)
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