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The Guardian
15 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
The Unholy Trinity review – Samuel L Jackson and Pierce Brosnan shine in bubbling potboiler of a western
From the moment he flashes a shit-eating grin at a man on the gallows, Samuel L Jackson makes a fine western antagonist here, if not quite rising to the heights of his blanket-blackmail sex act in The Hateful Eight. The fellow about to swing is Isaac Broadway (Tim Daly), who manages to communicate to his onlooking son Henry (Brandon Lessard) that he should seek revenge on one Sheriff Butler, who framed him for murder. But when Henry corners a different lawman, Gabriel Dove (Pierce Brosnan), in a church in the Montana town of Trinity, he learns that someone got to the previous sheriff first. It turns out that papa Broadway, a maligned patriarch who built most of Trinity, was embroiled in a stolen Confederate gold racket – ripping off his gallows tormentor, the ex-slave St Christopher (Jackson), in the process. Add to that a Blackfoot seeking revenge (The New World's Q'orianka Kilcher), a fake priest (David Arquette), a smattering of local thugs, and before you can say 'sins of the father' (luckily, someone does), we have a bubbling potboiler on the go. While The Unholy Trinity is always robustly enjoyable, director Richard Gray and writer Lee Zachariah aren't the best at laying out their convoluted screed. Not only does it feel as if Henry and Gabriel are always skulking around the peripheries of their own story without clear agendas, it never settles down for long enough to hit on the emotional core of this homecoming. Forced into cahoots as they try to locate the gold and fend off the loitering St Christopher, it is only near the end that the childless sheriff and prodigal son start to bond – and the theme of surrogate family belatedly flares up. The muddy psychology shows in some diffident directing from Gray when handling quieter scenes; he is more at ease in brothel shootouts and the gallops across ravishing Montana prairies. The impressively arrayed cast also help to keep this enterprise buoyant, even if a silver-haired and affable Brosnan and Jackson, effortlessly mesmerising a saloon full of punters, are doing exactly what you would expect. If following The Unholy Trinity's various tracks is sometimes frustrating, it's still rare enough: a red-blooded and essentially satisfying western. The Unholy Trinity is on digital platforms now and available on DVD from 21 July.
The Guardian
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
The Unholy Trinity review – Samuel L Jackson and Pierce Brosnan shine in bubbling potboiler of a western
From the moment he flashes a shit-eating grin at a man on the gallows, Samuel L Jackson makes a fine western antagonist here, if not quite rising to the heights of his blanket-blackmail sex act in The Hateful Eight. The fellow about to swing is Isaac Broadway (Tim Daly), who manages to communicate to his onlooking son Henry (Brandon Lessard) that he should seek revenge on one Sheriff Butler, who framed him for murder. But when Henry corners a different lawman, Gabriel Dove (Pierce Brosnan), in a church in the Montana town of Trinity, he learns that someone got to the previous sheriff first. It turns out that papa Broadway, a maligned patriarch who built most of Trinity, was embroiled in a stolen Confederate gold racket – ripping off his gallows tormentor, the ex-slave St Christopher (Jackson), in the process. Add to that a Blackfoot seeking revenge (The New World's Q'orianka Kilcher), a fake priest (David Arquette), a smattering of local thugs, and before you can say 'sins of the father' (luckily, someone does), we have a bubbling potboiler on the go. While The Unholy Trinity is always robustly enjoyable, director Richard Gray and writer Lee Zachariah aren't the best at laying out their convoluted screed. Not only does it feel as if Henry and Gabriel are always skulking around the peripheries of their own story without clear agendas, it never settles down for long enough to hit on the emotional core of this homecoming. Forced into cahoots as they try to locate the gold and fend off the loitering St Christopher, it is only near the end that the childless sheriff and prodigal son start to bond – and the theme of surrogate family belatedly flares up. The muddy psychology shows in some diffident directing from Gray when handling quieter scenes; he is more at ease in brothel shootouts and the gallops across ravishing Montana prairies. The impressively arrayed cast also help to keep this enterprise buoyant, even if a silver-haired and affable Brosnan and Jackson, effortlessly mesmerising a saloon full of punters, are doing exactly what you would expect. If following The Unholy Trinity's various tracks is sometimes frustrating, it's still rare enough: a red-blooded and essentially satisfying western. The Unholy Trinity is on digital platforms now and available on DVD from 21 July.
BBC News
a day ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Four Letters of Love: Helena Bonham Carter and Pierce Brosnan's film shows off NI scenery
Four Letters of Love may have a star-studded cast but the scenery in Northern Ireland proved to be one of the film's main characters, its director has movie was adapted for the big screen by Dublin-born author Niall Williams from his internationally-acclaimed 1997 debut novel of the same last weekend, Pierce Brosnan, Gabriel Byrne and Helena Bonham Carter feature in the romantic drama set in the early 1970s."In Northern Ireland, the landscapes speak for themselves - they are a massive character in the film," filmmaker Polly Steele told BBC News NI. Four Letters of Love was filmed in locations including the Ulster Folk Museum in County Down, Murlough Bay in County Antrim and Dunfanaghy in County Donegal, in the Republic of in the west of Ireland, it is a story of love, faith and destiny centred around two troubled young people, Nicholas Coughlan and Isabel Gore, and their families. For Williams, it is the first of his books to be turned into a film, and his first screenplay."I think the geography of it was important," he said."I was very protective of that and happy that we could shoot it in Ireland and Northern Ireland." For Steele, it was the north coast of County Antrim which stood out."I think the one that is most dear to my heart is Murlough Bay," she said."I remember coming down through this magical valley and arriving at this cottage right on the ocean edge and just going, 'wow, this is it'."There was something classical about it. It felt like it held the magic." Williams was most impressed by a beach in Dunfanaghy."It's an extraordinary, just empty, vast, beautiful place - magnificent on screen," he said."And when Pierce (Brosnan) is painting in the dunes, I could watch that forever."A movie star, there's something beyond just performance, some kind of mesmerism, which is tremendous." Brosnan stars as an William Coughlan who, following an epiphany, abandons his family and civil service job to become an told BBC News NI that "Pierce was so supportive and extremely loyal to us"."I think he understood the artistic journey that his character was going on," she said."He was a silent strength in this film coming together." Bonham Carter plays Margaret Gore, the wife of poet and schoolteacher Muiris, played by Gabriel well as adopting the accent for the role, she also speaks Irish in one said it brought back memories of Queen Elizabeth II's historic state visit to Ireland in 2011."Helena speaks Irish at the end of the film, that sort of felt to me like when the Queen came to Dublin and spoke her two lines of Irish, it was extraordinary," he said. 'Filmmaking is a difficult pursuit' As well as the beauty of its scenery, the filmmakers had praise for those that worked on the production."The crew are extremely professional, lovely and kind and skilled at what they do," said Steele."And Northern Ireland Screen were very supportive early on, backing us financially."But adapting a literary novel to the big screen was never going to be production was seven years in the making."Filmmaking is a difficult pursuit," added Steele."You must land many balls all in one go for a film to get off the ground - and sometimes it takes a long time."However the lengthy development process became strangely poetic for its writer."It would have been impossible to make this film quickly," said Williams."The novel itself is about artistic struggle and our faith was tested many times."
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
The 'Dante's Peak' Chevy Suburban Is Getting The Restoration It Deserves
The 1997 disaster movie "Dante's Peak" had three main characters: USGS volcanologist Harry Dalton, played by Pierce Brosnan; Mayor Rachel Wando, played by Linda Hamilton; and Harry's decked-out 1987 Chevy Suburban, played by itself. After the movie, the human actors continued their successful careers, while the big red Suburban movie car faded into obscurity -- until now. After rusting away in a Massachusetts barn for ten years, Greg Ward of Greg's Restorations has found the Suburban, bought it, and will be giving it the restoration it deserves. If you don't remember, "Dante's Peak" was a disaster movie set in a fictional town in Washington. Loosely based on the events of the 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens, the film follows volcano expert Harry Dalton, who tries his best to warn the residents of a charming Pacific Northwest town that a local volcano is about to blow. Of course, nobody listens to Dalton, because otherwise there wouldn't have been a disaster movie. He drives a bright red Chevy Suburban with a lot of custom off-road equipment that the United States Geological Survey would never have paid for in real life, but looks really cool in the movie. About four or five Suburbans were used in the filming, depending on who you ask. One was destroyed while filming a river crossing scene, and others went their separate ways. The Suburban being restored somehow became a daily driver in Massachusetts. It then sat in a barn for ten years until Greg Ward recently acquired it, intending to return it to its former glory. Read more: These Are The Worst American Cars Ever Made In Rust We Trust To say Harry's Suburban is in rough shape would be an understatement. As a literal barn find, it doesn't run, despite the help of a jump box. The real issue, though, is the rust. Any daily driver in Massachusetts suffers from the dreaded winter road salt cancer. Having spent much of my life there, I learned to devote 80 to 90% of my time for any repair to busting those old rusted parts loose, or breaking them and dealing with the aftermath. This Suburban shows all the classic signs of this type of rust in the rocker panels, rear quarter panels, and pretty much anywhere that salty, slushy snow gets sprayed on the body while driving in it. Fortunately, the underside looks quite good for a New England car. The frame and floor have only minor surface rust, which is easy to remove. It's easy to find replacement body panels from LMC Truck and the original wheels and other parts were included, which should make this an easy restoration. This isn't Greg Ward's first rodeo; he's already restored a "Back to the Future" DeLorean as well as Marty McFly's Toyota Tacoma, so he ought to do well. But first, he wants to get it running, take it off-roading, and get the full Harry Dalton experience, hopefully without the volcano eruption. Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox... Read the original article on Jalopnik.
Irish Times
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Four Letters of Love review: Every interior in this preposterous film suggests an Irish theme pub in 1990s Basingstoke
Four Letters of Love Director : Polly Steele Cert : 12A Starring : Helena Bonham Carter, Pierce Brosnan, Gabriel Byrne, Ann Skelly, Fionn O'Shea, Imelda May, Ferdia Walsh Peelo Running Time : 1 hr 49 mins Are we still bleeding doing this? Really? Are we still modelling our entertainment on a best bet of how Americans like to imagine us? Every interior in this preposterous adaptation of an admired Niall Williams novel suggests an Irish theme pub in 1990s Basingstoke. Oh, to have been in the antique spinning-wheel business or the rusty bike trade when the production came to town. The script believes we are never more than a syllable away from semi-spiritual claptrap. We will get to the accents later. If asked what the film was about – or to what the title referred – one would need to reveal Shakespearean shenanigans in the closing 15 minutes. So, for fear of spoilers, we will assume you are not asking that. To that point, Four Letters of Love has concerned two largely parallel stories. In Dublin of the early 1970s, young Nicholas Coughlan (Fionn O'Shea) is living in uneasy suburban comfort with mum Bette (Imelda May) and dad William ( Pierce Brosnan ) when the latter has a sort of secular revelation. Sitting at his desk, William spots a rectangle of light and decides he will move from a role for which Pierce Brosnan is mildly miscast to a role in which he is grossly miscast: he will cease being a civil servant and take up life as a hairy, staff-wielding painter in the west of Ireland. You know? The sort of vaguely Druidical figure you move away from when he sidles beside you in the bus queue. Meanwhile, on an island in that very part of the world, Muiris ( Gabriel Byrne ), poet-teacher, and Margaret (no really, it's Helena Bonham Carter), his wise wife, are going through their own school of picturesque trauma. One sad day, their son Sean (Dónal Finn) has a mysterious fit while playing the penny whistle as his sister Issy (Ann Skelly) dances merrily upon a cliff. He ends up in a wheelchair. Issy is sent off to board with nuns who, though stern, are benign enough to satisfy those people constantly whining online about how films are, these days, too mean to the sisters. READ MORE Indeed, Four Letters seems intent on offering us an idealised portrait of Ireland in an often-miserable period. The closest thing to an avatar of modernity is Peadar (Ferdia Walsh Peelo), the low-level hell-raiser who lures Issy away from school with his motorcar and his interest in ersatz pop music. Four Letters is far too good-natured to make a monster of Peadar – he is more Cliff Richard than James Dean – but, early on, we realise Issy would be better off with someone like … oh, I don't know, maybe the thoughtful, intense, furrowed Nicholas. But how will that happen? He is in a whole other story. [ Pierce Brosnan: 'I had no qualifications. I was really behind the eight ball – without a mother, without a father' Opens in new window ] Williams's novel has a huge following and, in print, I don't doubt the messages stand out uncompromised. Overseas viewers may be more open to a hyperglycaemic depiction of Ireland that would give the makers of Netflix Micksploitation pause for thought. As in The Banshees of Inisherin, the visuals mirror the aesthetic of John Hinde postcards, but are here unseasoned with the cruel irony that Martin McDonagh provides (whatever you think of that writer). Little blame attaches to the cast. Brosnan, as ever in such situations, touches vowels from all 32 counties in his effort to master an Irish accent not his own. Skelly and O'Shea are stars. The admirable Olwen Fouéré, playing a near silent bystander, satisfies an apparent contractual obligation that she appear in every rural drama. Only a monster could object to the delightful pairing of Byrne and HBC (whose accent isn't too bad). Get them back together in a better film as soon as possible. In cinemas from July 18th
