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Irish Eye on Hollywood Liam Cunningham is an Irish actor to look
out for as fall approaches. He has built up an impressive resume of Irish
and British movies, including Ken Loach’s provocative Irish Civil War Epic
The Wind that Shakes the Barley as well as Breakfast on Pluto,
in which Cunningham co-starred with fellow Irish actor Cillian Murphy.
Cunningham’s most recent appearance was in the summer horror movie The
Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor starring Brendan Fraser.
 Keep
an eye out for Cunningham in Hunger, director Steve McQueen’s
riveting depiction of the Northern Ireland hunger strikes which made a
global icon out of Bobby Sands (played by German-born, Irish-reared actor
Michael Fassbender). Cunningham plays a priest in Hunger, which has
been a smash hit on the cinema festival circuits – including Cannes, where
it picked up a top award for first time movie makers – but does not yet have
a U.S. release date.
In October, Cunningham is also slated to appear in Blood: The Last
Vampire, set at a U.S. military compound in Japan, which has been taken
over by vampires.
 Believe
it or not, Colin Farrell is currently shooting a film which also has a
military as well as vampire angle. Farrell will star in Triage, which
is shooting in Dublin. The film also stars Paz Vega, and it is about a war
photographer sent to Kurdistan, only to watch his best friend die. While
attempting to cope with this loss, he befriends his girlfriend’s
grandfather, who may have a dark war secret of his own in his past. Farrell
is also serving as a producer on Triage.
What could possibly be the vampire angle to Triage? Well, among the
film’s co-stars is horror veteran Christopher Lee, who played the most
famous vampire of them all, Count Dracula, in a 1950s version of the
bloodsucker story. A final Colin Farrell note: the much-anticipated New York
Irish cop epic Pride and Glory, featuring Farrell and Edward Norton and
directed by Gavin O’Connor, is slated for an October 24 release.
 Another
release to look out for which will surely get lots of promotion during the
summer season of silly cinema is The Race to Witch Mountain,
featuring sophisticated Northern Ireland stage and screen veteran Ciaran
Hinds alongside former wrestler Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. The film, about
magical kids trying to escape from dastardly villains, is a revival of the
1970s Witch Mountain franchise, which included Escape to Witch Mountain
and Return from Witch Mountain. No exact release date for this
Hinds-“Rock” collaboration has been set.
On to independent Irish film news, September 19 is an important date for
Kilkenny-based director Tomm Moore. On that date his animated feature The
Secret of Kells – already granted an award by the Screen Directors Guild
of Ireland – will be showcased at the Directors Guild of America Theatre in
Los Angeles. Movie bigwigs will be on hand, giving Moore a shot at an
American film deal. The Secret of Kells tells the story of the boy
behind the famed Book of Kells. According to the film’s producers: “Twelve
hundred years ago, an orphan named Brendan meets Brother Aidan, the keeper
of an extraordinary, but unfinished book of illuminations. Aidan sets
Brendan a great task, to complete the Book of Kells. With the threat of
invading Vikings all around and with the help of Aisling, a mysterious young
girl, Brendan faces his deepest fears to complete the task.”
 Another
independent film to look out for is The Greening of Southie. Produced
by Curt Ellis, the documentary explores efforts by environmentalists to
create the first completely “green” building in the famous Irish enclave in
Boston. Aside from its educational aspect, part of the film’s appeal is its
depiction of the efforts to win Irish-American laborers over to the
environmental cause, which is spearheaded by a wealthy (and quite young)
real estate heir. The film has been shown on the Sundance channel and
festival. (Go to greeningofsouthie.com to order a DVD.)
Finally, Marian Quinn’s 32A is building buzz on the festival circuit.
The coming-of-age drama was written and directed by Quinn and stars her
famous brother Aidan, as well as acclaimed Irish actress Orla Brady.
 Set
in 1979 Dublin, 32A revolves around 13-year-old Maeve (played by
newcomer Ailish McCarthy), who is having trouble entering womanhood. All her
friends seem at ease with boys, but not Maeve. So it is all the more
surprising when Maeve starts dating the local heartthrob.
Aidan Quinn, of course, has amassed a highly impressive body of Irish and
American film work. Most recently, he completed shooting a film called A
Shine of Rainbows in Ireland. Orla Brady, meanwhile, is probably best
known to U.S. audiences for her work in the TV shows Shark and Nip / Tuck.
The Quinns are not the only members of the 32A cast with good
connections. The film also features up-and-coming star Jared Harris (son of
Richard Harris) as well as Kate O’Toole (Peter O’Toole’s daughter).
In Irish-American documentary news, Thomas Maier’s excellent book, The
Kennedys: America’s Emerald Kings, is being made into a two-hour Warner
Brothers documentary. The film will be shown in select theaters and then
released on DVD. Screenings in New York will begin in November. The big news
when it comes to television is that it appears The Sopranos are going Irish.
One of the more anticipated TV shows of the fall season is Life on Mars,
which stars two Irish actors, Jason O’Mara and Colm Meaney.
O’Mara plays Sam Tyler, a modern-day detective transported back to 1972.
Meaney plays a detective who actually worked in the early 1970s. Life on
Mars is a remake of the acclaimed BBC detective series. Former Sopranos
star Michael Imperioli has joined the Life on Mars cast.
Another Sopranos star is hoping an Irish-American character will be good
show biz luck next year. Edie Falco – Tony Soprano’s long-suffering wife –
is slated to star in Nurse Jackie, in which she plays Jackie O’Hurley, a
brilliant nurse who has personal problems. Set in a bustling New York City
hospital, press reports about Nurse Jackie – which should air on Showtime
next year – also play up the fact that Nurse O’Hurley struggles with her
Catholicism. The series also stars Eve Best, Peter Facinelli and Paul
Schulze.
Finally on the TV front, Rhode Island native Michaela McManus, best know for
starring in One Tree Hill, has been added as a new assistant DA to the cast
of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
If today’s TV and movies are not your thing and you want to go back to
Hollywood’s golden age with an Irish-American star, 20th Century Fox has
just released a boxed DVD set titled The Tyrone Power Matinee Idol
Collection. A star through the 1930s and 1940s, Power was a great-grandson
to the acclaimed Irish actor of the same name. Power’s films include The
Luck of the Irish, in which he plays a newspaperman who becomes pals
with a leprechaun (played by Cecil Kellaway). The film was made with a green
tint to lend authenticity to scenes set in Ireland.
The Tyrone Power Matinee Idol Collection also includes early films such as
Love Is News, Café Metropole and Second Honeymoon (all with
Loretta Young) and later films such as Prince of Foxes and Nightmare Alley.
Sadly, Power died in 1958, following a heart attack, when he was just 44.
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