Ed Guiney Movies

Oliver Hirschbiegel, director of Das Experiment and The Invasion, takes the helm for this film about a killer who dares not seek forgiveness, and another who feels incapable of granting it. The political divide in Ireland runs as far as it does deep. Alistair (Liam Neeson) and Joe (James Nesbitt) each stand on opposing sides of that gaping chasm. Alistair killed Joe's brother, and for than man who's lost family, absolution simply isn't an option. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The assassination of the most powerful leader in the free world is examined in this controversial mockumentary from British filmmaker Gabriel Range. On October 19, 2007, president George W. Bush is visiting Chicago when he impulsively stops to shake hands with supporters en route to a meeting, while a throng of protesters demonstrate nearby. Shots ring out, and Bush is fatally wounded. As America and its allies deal with the tragic loss of their leader, vice president Dick Cheney is sworn in as the new chief executive, and while he takes the reigns of the nation and pushes new and aggressive anti-terrorism legislation through Congress, the Federal Bureau of Investigation steps into action to track down the gunman. As Secret Service agents and law enforcement officers share their thoughts on how the murder of the president could have been avoided, and people around the globe discuss how Bush's death has tipped the delicate balance of relations between the United States and the Middle East, a Syrian Muslim activist living in Chicago, Jamal Abu Zikri (Malik Bader), is charged with the murder of the president. While no "smoking gun" connects Zikri to the crime, a wealth of circumstantial evidence points to him as the gunman, and he's tried, found guilty, and executed in short order. However, lingering questions persist as some wonder if the F.B.I. found the right man with the right motives. Created using a combination of newsreel footage, computer-generated images, and newly staged material, Death of a President (aka D.O.A.P.) received the International Critics Prize at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival, despite negative reaction from many American political commentators, many of whom were deeply offended by the film's depiction of the assassination of Bush, the sitting U.S. president at the time of the picture's production and release. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The emotional torment brought upon by the schoolyard bully or the desire to fit in can't hold a candle to the soul-shredding terror of realizing that your high school sweetheart has become a flesh-eating ghoul, and when a lovelorn teen develops a taste for his fellow classmates, the stage is set for a frightful good time in this horror comedy from director Ernie Barbarash. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Everyone's favorite collie returns to the screen -- and to her native home back in Britain -- in director Charles Sturridge's faithful adaptation of author Eric Knight's sentimental kid and canine novel Lassie Come Home. When Lassie saves a fox from the hunting hounds of the duke of Rudling (Peter O'Toole), the captivated nobleman becomes obsessed with the idea of purchasing the collie for his adoring granddaughter Cilla (Hester Odgers). Unfortunately for Rudling, the pooch already has a loving family in the form of kindly miner Sam Carraclough (John Lynch), his wife, Sarah (Samantha Morton), and their young son, Joe (Jonathan Mason). When Sam is laid off from his job, however, he is forced to sell the loyal dog to the duke in order to put food on the family table. Incensed at the dog's repeated attempts to escape and seek out her original loving family, the villainous duke charges kennel-keeper Eddie Hynes (Steve Pemberton) with the task of teaching Lassie how to stay as World War II looms ever more heavy on the horizon. When the dogs of war finally stop barking and start biting, Rudling beats a hasty retreat to the safety of northern Scotland with both the child and the canine. Realizing that her newfound companion is far from the people she cares about most, Cilla later helps her ever-loyal four-legged friend escape from the family's heavily fortified compound so that she may begin the 500-mile journey back home to Yorkshire. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A devastated father struggles to find answers after a bomb detonated in the peaceful Irish town of Omagh claims the life of his twenty-one year-old son in this topical docudrama from writer/producer Paul Greengrass and director Pete Travis. In 1988 a group who referred to themselves as the "Real IRA" set a bomb that took the lives of thirty-one people in the Northern Ireland town of Omaga. In the aftermath of the explosion, soft-spoken mechanic Michael Gallagher (Gerard McSorley) was forever changed by the loss of his twenty-one year-old son. Determined not to let the same grim fate befall his neighbors, Gallagher took it upon himself to become the official spokesperson for the victim's families, challenging the government's official stand on terrorism and providing a voice for the grief-stricken families of the innocent victims killed in the blast. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A friendship between two young people grows into a dangerous obsession in this drama based on the acclaimed stage play by Enda Walsh. Darren (Cillian Murphy) and Sinead (Elaine Cassidy) were born moments apart in the same hospital in a small Irish community. Nicknamed "Pig" and "Runt," Darren and Sinead grew up next door to each other and became inseparable friends while they were still toddlers; at the age of 16, their bond is even stronger than ever. However, Darren and Sinead also have a fondness for making trouble, and over the years Darren has developed a taste for violence; one of his favorite pranks is to have Sinead flirt with a man at the local disco, and then storm up, posing as her jealous boyfriend, and start a fight. Several people in town feel there's something not entirely healthy about Darren and Sinead's relationship, and Sinead's parents are persuaded to send her away to a school in the northern part of Ireland. Darren's attachment to Sinead grows only more intense in her absence, and in time he runs away to find Sinead and bring her back, only to discover she's made a new best friend, Mags (Tara Lynne O'Neill). Disco Pigs was the first feature from Kirsten Sheridan, whose father is veteran filmmaker Jim Sheridan. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This evocative, at times chilling, Irish drama offers a bruising glimpse into the psychological effects of a bad marriage in a country where divorce is still illegal, forcing both partners to endure their torment in silence. The story begins in the present and then flashes back to different points to explain the events leading up to the central conflict. Corporal Liam is first seen drunk, quietly angry and emotionally unstable. He starts a fight with his wife Tina. Earlier in the day he had been watching the sexy, maliciously flirtatious Michelle. Later he goes with some friends, including her brother Frank, to the pub to hoist a few. Tina is seen shopping and being forced into an electronics store by a girl friend. She meets and speaks to the cheerful Ronnie, Michelle's husband. Though Michelle is unkind to him, he tries hard to ignore her constant put-downs. Though Tina quietly conveys her interest in the steady seeming Ronnie. Liam takes his lust for Michelle to an entirely different, much darker level. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide