The Hot 100
MOVIES
Joe Wright’s adaptation of the Tolstoy
classic stars Keira Knightley as the Russian aristocrat who betrays her husband, played by Jude Law, for the affluent Count Vronsky (Aaron Johnson). Sept 7
Set in Depression-era Virginia, Tom Hardy and Shia LaBeouf play bootlegging brothers who go up against corrupt lawman Guy Pearce. Sept 7
Woody Allen continues his love affair with the capitals of Europe with a trip to the Eternal City. Penelope Cruz, Roberto Benigni, and Alec Baldwin star in a love letter to Rome’s celluloid history. Sept 14
Hardboiled Flying Squad cop Regan (Ray Winstone) shows Carter (Ben Drew) the ropes on the mean streets of London in a remake of the 1970’s London-based TV cop show. Nick Love directs. Sept 12
Desperate to save her marriage, Meryl Streep enrolls herself and husband Tommy Lee Jones on a week’s marriage counselling course run by Steve Carrell. Sept 14
Marijuana dealers (Taylor Kitsch, Aaron Johnson) have their idyllic existence rudely interrupted when a Mexican cartel muscles in on their territory. Oliver Stone directs. Blake Lively, John Travolta, and Benicio Del Toro co-star. Sept 28
Congressman Cam Brady (Will Ferrell) is challenged by naïve Marty Huggins (Zach Galifianakis). Jay Roach’s satire on the American election co-stars Dan Akroyd,
Brian Cox, and John Lithgow. Sept 28
Adapted from Kevin Power’s novel, this stars Jack Reynor as Richard Karlsen, a young man from the affluent Dublin
suburbs accused of a terrible crime.
Oct 5
This tale of the rise and fall of a Motown girl-group is given a poignant twist with the casting of Whitney Houston as one of the naïve young singers driven astray by the pressures of fame. Oct 5
Liam Neeson returns as the ruthless retired CIA operative prepared to sacrifice all for this family — although here it’s Neeson’s character who is kidnapped in Istanbul. Famke Janssen co-stars. Oct 5
A CIA specialist plots to rescue American hostages from the Canadian ambassador’s residence in Iran. Ben Affleck directs and stars, John Goodman co-stars. Oct 12
The animal quartet of Alex (Ben Stiller), Marty (Chris Rock), Gloria (Jada Pinkett Smith), and Melman (David Schwimmer) find themselves on the run in Europe as they try to get back to New York. Oct 19
It may not feature a parachuting Queen Elizabeth II, but the latest James Bond flick, starring Daniel Craig, finds M’s (Dame Judi Dench) past coming back to haunt her. Can Bond snuff out the threat? Sam Mendes directs; Ralph Fiennes co-stars. Oct 26
1968. Music impresario Chris O’Dowd takes an all-girl aboriginal singing group to Vietnam to entertain the troops. Nov 2
Paul Thomas Anderson’s follow up to There Will Be Blood is a tale of a WWII veteran who sets up his own “faith-based organisation”. Stars Philip Seymour Hoffman. Nov 9
The LAPD’s bruisers fight to keep the East Coast mafia out of LA in the 1950s. Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Nick Nolte and Emma Stone star. Nov 9
The concluding film in the Twilight saga finds the Cullens gathering other vampire clans to protect their infant child. Nov 16
An art curator seeks revenge on his boss by persuading him to buy a fake Monet. Colin Firth, Cameron Diaz, Alan Rickman star. Michael Hoffman directs. Nov 23
Mike Newell directs the latest adaptation of the Dickens classic, which stars Jeremy Irvine, Helena Bonham Carter, Ralph
Fiennes, and Robbie Coltrane. Nov 30
Washington DC detective Alex Cross (Tyler Perry) seeks vengeance on the man who killed a family member. Based on the James Patterson novel. Nov 30
Written and directed by Martin The Guard McDonagh, this follows a screenwriter who gets tangled up with LA’s gangland. Colin Farrell, Christopher Walken, and Woody
Harrelson star. Dec 7
The first in a trilogy, this prequel to the Lord of the Rings epic stars Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins. Cate Blanchett and Elijah Wood co-star. Peter Jackson directs. Dec 14
Ang Lee adapts Yann Martel’s high-concept novel, in which a man finds himself adrift in a boat with a menagerie. Irrfan Khan and Gerard Depardieu co-star. Dec 21
Judd Apatow’s sequel to Knocked Up, a few years after Debbie and Pete got pregnant. Jason Segel and Leslie Mann star. Dec 21
Lee Child’s Jack Reacher is played by Tom Cruise in this thriller. Rosamund Pike and Robert Duvall co-star. Dec 26.
MUSIC
Album number three from the London-based Dubliners is a familiar mix of their self-styled ‘Celtic soul’ and arena rock theatrics. Sept 7
The minimalist Londoners release the follow up to their astonishing 2009 debut, which is less dance-floor inclined. Sept 7
For her sixth Alecia Beth Moore album will break her ‘no collaborations’ house-rule and duet with Lily Allen. Sept 14
Enough time has passed for us to agree that Gaga’s second record Born This Way was an overcooked mess. Can she still cut it as a live artist? We shall see. Sept 15
Brandon Flowers’ 2010 solo record suggested he had a future as a 80s style pop crooner. But he’s gone back to the day job as Las Vegas’s answer to U2/Springsteen in release album number four. Sept17
Marcus Mumford and company stick to the formula, with lashings of heartfelt crooning and duelling mandolins. Sept 21
Uno is the first of three albums to be released within six months. Sept 21
Richie’s Tuskegee record sees the cheesy 80s icon giving some of his best loved songs a country makeover, with contributions from Shania Twain, Willie Nelson and others. He brings the project to Dublin for his first Irish show in three years. Sept 24
Muse roar back into action with their sixth album, with forays into dubstep and synth pop. Sept 28
Scissor Sisters have staged a genuinely triumphant comeback with last summer’s Magic Hour. Single Only The Horses might be the best four and a half minutes they’ve committed to tape. Oct 1
Cheryl Cole kicks off her biggest ever tour, supporting new album A Million Lights.
Oct 4
Her debut Lights was a big crossover hit. Two years on and the London based singer is, improbably, dating American ‘electric dance music’ posterboy Skrillex and about to unleash her second record, produced by Kylie collaborator Kish Mauve. Oct 5
We Are Young was one of the outstanding radio hits of the summer. On their first major tour, the New York trio will attempt to show they are more than one-hit novelties. Oct 6
Winner of the original American Idol, Clarkson has proved a singular talent. Her biggest Irish show yet is in support of new album Stronger. Oct 10
The Londoner started off playing Dublin’s cosy Sugar Club. Nine months later, she’s sufficiently popular to headline The Olympia. Oct 15
J-Lo’s first ever Irish date. Her latest album Love? was a moderate hit, shifting 1 million units. Oct 19
Jack Black’s comedy hard rock side project tour new album Rize of the Fenix. Will their stage show incorporate the blow-up phoenix shaped like a male member which they debuted in London over the summer? Oct 20
The zillion selling teenage icon is at it again on her latest single. Belt up for further tales of adolescent/20-nothing heart-ache on her fourth album. Oct 22
The king of the whumping techno ‘drop’, Harris has assembled an a-list lineup for his third LP. Guests include Florence Welch, Tinie Tempah, Dizzee Rascal, Ne-Yo and Rihanna. Oct 26
Good looking country cross-over duo tour their debut Barton Hollow. Oct 29
White’s solo debut, Blunderbuss, was his finest moment since the dying days of the White Stripes. On his first arena tour as a stand-alone artist, he performs material from across his career. Oct 31
The big-lipped rapper pulled out of her Olympia show twice. Fingers crossed she makes it to the O2. Nov 5
Ware is a sophisticated warbler. Debut album Devotion is custom crafted for the better sort of dinner party. Nov 5
After a triumphant Iveagh Gardens show he’s back for a performance at his traditional stomping ground of Vicar Street. Nov 13
Marina’s second record was sweet and accessible. You can sample the results for yourself as she performs in Ireland for the first time in two years. Nov 20
TELEVISION
Possibly the best import of last year, this thriller had more twists and turns than a back road in Kerry. Series two premieres in the US on Sept 30, so expect RTÉ and Channel 4 to follow soon after. Oct.
This series’ improvement last time around ensures that season three is a must-watch. Nidge has risen to the top of the pile in the gang, but still isn’t happy with his lot. And hopefully the summer recess will have given Robert Sheehan a chance to work on his Dublin accent. TBC.
Similar to the BBC show which was set in Coleraine last year, this fly-on-the-wall documentary series looks at life in the Ballybeg estate near the former Waterford Crystal factory on the outskirts of Waterford city. It follows the lives of six families as they try to find a path through the recession. TBC.
For this three-parter, clinical psychologist David Coleman helps a number of teens who have been affected by bullying. Oct.
Homegrown documentary on one of the legacies of the Celtic Tiger. Lax planning laws and politicians who leaned towards the construction industry have left us with thousands of apartment blocks. Many are unsuitable for children. Unfortunately, we see in this film how many families are now stuck in these small spaces for the foreseeable future. Sept.
Gillian Anderson is back in detective mode as she hunts for a serial killer in Belfast. TBC.
Just like cramped apartments, another remnant of the Tiger years are the flocks of foodies which populate the nation. Not all can afford to eat out any more, so the return of Nick Munier and Dylan McGrath should really suit their curtailed tastes. Sixteen competitors will be selected from the initial batch of 50. Oct
Chris O’Dowd is one of the fast-rising stars of the comedy world. This series is a semi-autobiographical tale set in his hometown of Boyle, Co Roscommon, and has our hero acting as an imaginary friend to 11-year-old Martin Moone. Also features Steve Coogan and Johnny Vegas, as well as a number of animation sequences. Sept.
The third series of the flagship period drama takes us into the 1920s and creator Julian Fellowes has promised plenty of Irish angles as the War of Independence rages. Shirley MacLaine has joined the cast as Martha Levinson, Cora’s mother. Sept.
Gabriel Byrne makes a rare working sojourn to this side of the Atlantic to star in a four-part adaptation of Chris Mullin’s novel, A Very British Coup. He plays a politician in the north east of England who rails against the establishment as he tries to get justice for constituents affected by a suspicious industrial accident. Oct.
BOOKS
The big autumn publishing sensation will be JK Rowling’s first foray into adult fiction, since Harry Potter. Her publishers will be keen to see if she can replicate the same kind of mania. Let’s see.
As the title suggests, Zadie Smith’s fourth novel is set in the northwest of London where she runs her fingers over the lives of four thirtysomethings.
Peter Hook turns his attention to life as the bass player of one of Britain’s greatest bands.
After a bruising presidential election campaign last year, Senator David Norris is keen to set the record straight in this memoir. As well as tackling the conspirators who, he alleges, derailed his bid for the Áras, Norris looks back over a life campaigning for gay rights, human rights and conservation.
Pulitzer-Prize winner Anne Applebaum examines how a dozen diverse countries were converted into the deadening, monolithic ways of communism.
In Man Booker Prize winner Howard Jacobson’s new novel, Guy Ableman, a novelist, struggles with able-mindedness. He can’t write. His life is being overrun by his wife and her equally spirited and attractive mother, Poppy. Could an affair with Poppy unblock his creative juices?
Joseph O’Connor’s collection of short stories range from New York’s lower east side in the 19th century to contemporary London and “the Broke-bank Mountain that is Ireland after the Celtic Tiger”.
UCD history don Diarmaid Ferriter looks at a momentous 10 years, unpicking some of the political and socio-economic upheavals that swept through Ireland, including entry into the EEC.
Harry Bosch is back working another case. It’s 20 years since four LAPD officers were acquitted for the brutal beating of Rodney King. The past comes back to haunt Bosch in the most unimagined ways.
Albert Espinosa’s memoir has been a publishing sensation. Cancer radically changed his perspective on life. His exhilarating journey as industrial engineer, a novelist, an actor, a film director, is borne through the idea that “losses are positive“.
FASHION
It’s Bollinger Bond Day at The Curragh to promote the release of the new James Bond movie Skyfall.
A celebrity panel of will be on hand to judge the most stylish ladies and men on the day, not to mention ‘Bolly Best Hat’. Prizes include a luxury overnight stay in Dublin, two tickets to the premiere of Skyfall and a bottle of Bollinger champagne. www.curragh.ie Sept 15
This year sees a schedule of stylish events from Fashion Afternoon Tea at Hayfield Manor to the CFW Designer of the Year Award show at Triskel Christchurch. Proceeds will go to The Hope Foundation charity. www.corkfashionweek.com; 021-4217492 Sept 28 — Oct 6
West Coast Cooler FASHIONWEEK is back in Belfast for its 14th season. Expect an exciting roster of runway shows, style events and parties taking place across the city with the hotly-tipped NI Designer Catwalk Show and Diet Coke Design Award on Oct 21. www.belfastfashionweek.com; +44(0)28-90421066 Oct 13-21
Back again for a sophomore year, the Vintage Kilo Sale, developed by Shutterbug Vintage and Folkster.com owner Blanaid Hennessy, is an innovative way to shop. Customers are provided with bags to fill and scales to measure before checking out at the till for just 20 a kilo. www.shutterbug.com; 056-7703312 Oct 27
Fashion writer and stylist Annmarie O’Connor will be showcasing the new season’s Michael Michael Kors (MMK) collections at Brown Thomas Dublin & Galway. Receive expert advice on this season’s hottest trends with top tips on how on ‘Living the Kors Life’. www.brownthomas.com; 01-6056666 Nov 10 & 17
ARTS
Includes dozens of new theatre productions, including Thisispopbaby’s Elevator, Croi Glan’s An Outsie Understanding, and With an F Productions’ Solpadeine is My Boyfriend. Sep 8-23
Will feature a reading by Nathan Englander, winner of the 2012 Frank O’Connor Short Story Award for his collection, What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank. Other guests include John Banville, Kevin Barry and Zsuzsi Gartner. Sep 19-23
Includes Corn Exchange’s new adaptation of James Joyce’s Dubliners, the DruidMurphy trilogy of Tom Murphy’s plays (Conversations on a Homecoming, A Whistle in the Dark and Famine), and Room author Emma Donoghue’s new play on Dublin writer, Maeve Brennan, The Talk of the Town. Sep 27 — Oct 14
Neil Bartlett directs the world premiere of his stage adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s notorious novel of 1891. The cast includes Tom Canton as Dorian Gray. Sep 27 — Nov 17
Promises performances by Paul Brady, Declan O’Rourke, Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick, Guidewires and the Kilfenora Ceilí Band, among others. Oct 3-7
At the Irish Museum of Modern Art’s temporary exhibition space at Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin (Oct 6, 2012 — Feb 9, 2013). This mid-career retrospective by one of Ireland’s most distinguished artists will feature work in paint, sculpture, photography and animation.
After the success of their production of William Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale last year, Corcadorca present Romeo and Juliet at Cork Opera House. Corcadorca are best known for their site-specific theatre productions, and their burgeoning relationship with the Opera House stage marks a new departure for the company. Oct 10-20
Includes productions of Francesco Oleo’s L’Arlesiana, Emmanuel Chabrier’s Le Roi Malgre Lui and Frederick Delius’s A Village Romeo and Juliet. The programme will also include workshops, talks and many other performances by some of the top names in international opera.
The line-up announced includes Beach House at Cork Opera House, and Natalie Williams, Phronesis and Rudresh Mahanthappa at Triskel Arts Centre. Oct 26-29
Will open with the only Irish performance by legendary jazz guitarist Bill Frisell of his sound-track to New York film-maker Bill Morrison’s The Great Flood. The festival will also showcase the usual slew of international features and documentaries, and hundreds of shorts.
FOOD
Foodies are pretty wild about West Cork’s autumn food festival (Sept 10-16), which features a mix of food demos, markets, cookery competitions, special menus, talks and tastings. Other autumn festivals to watch include Savour Kilkenny (Oct 25-29) and the Waterford Harvest Festival (Sept 10-15). See atasteofwestcork.com.
Gill & Macmillan is cooking up a storm with no less than five new cookbooks on their autumn list. New titles include Catherine Fulvio’s ‘Eat like an Italian’ (Sept 7), Domini Kemp’s ‘How I like to Cook’ (Oct 5) and The Irish Country Women’s Association Cookbook (Oct 19). Not to be outdone, Harper Collins has the new title from Rachel Allen (’Cake’, Aug 30). See gillandmacmillan.ie; harpercollins.com.
September is oyster season, and Dublin’s Cliff Townhouse is celebrating with a brand new boutique festival. Its Oyster Festival (Sept 5-9; theclifftownhouse.ie) features masterclasses, special menus and a set dinner on Sunday evening. There’s nothing new about Galway’s annual Oyster & Seafood Festival (Sept 28-30; galwayoysterfestival.com), in its 58th year.
Going to press, Cork’s newest eatery, Orso, was scheduled to open last Wednesday. Backed by the good folk at Market Lane, the Pembroke Street cafe plans to specialise in Mediterranean and North African dishes, and opens six days a week from 8am. Dinner will be served on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, and they’ve even commissioned their own roast of coffee.
Restaurant closures have been big news lately — but spare a thought for those that have stayed open, not just during this recession, but during others too. Dublin’s La Cave is celebrating 25 years in November with a 25 three-course menu. MacNean’s in Blacklion, Co Cavan is celebrating 30 years. It’s where Neven Maguire learned to cook and where he continues to produce one of Ireland’s top destination dining experiences today.
TRAVEL
The Irish National Heritage Park in Wexford has just begun allowing guests to overnight in a replica 1,500-year-old ringfort. It sleeps up to eight people in a thatched house with a central hearth. You can cook over an open fire, wear medieval costumes, enjoy free use of a Slaney salmon cot (a traditional boat) and enjoy the park to yourself after 6.30pm. There’s a flat rate of 200 for up to six people. See inhp.com. (September)
Thomas Cook’s 12-night wine cruise departs Southampton on Sept 7, taking in some of the leading wine regions in France, Spain and Portugal. Onboard tastings, food and wine pairing dinners and expert talks are all included in the Celebrity Constellation cruise, which costs from 999pp, excluding flights. Sept 7-19.
Ryanair is starting five new services from Cork Airport next November — to Gdansk, Krakow, Warsaw, Wroclaw and the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius. Also in November, the budget airline starts daily flights from Kerry Airport to London Stanstead.
Dozens of new hotels have opened in LOndon. The Wellesley, set in a 1920s Knightsbridge townhouse, looks like one of the swankiest. Set to open before Christmas, the 36-room suite hotel is stoking chatter for its cigar lounge, which boasts one of the world’s largest collections of individually-sold cigars. See thewellesley.co.uk. December
You can nab great savings by travelling late in autumn. At the time of going to press, Flexibletrips.ie had three nights at the Pria Apartments in Albufeira, including flights, from just 89pp. If you fancy bumping the accommodation up a notch (or five), check out the new Conrad Algarve Resort, opening Oct 1 in Quinta do Lago near Faro. Themed gardens, pools, lakes and a 1,500m2 spa and health club are promised. See Conradhotels3.hilton.com. Oct 1
Munich Beer Festival is now 179 years old but if you can’t make it to Germany, don’t worry — you can get the beer goggles and lederhosen on during Dublin’s copycat festival in George’s Dock (Sept 20-Oct 7). See Oktoberfest.de and Oktoberfest-dublin.de. Sept 22 — Oct 7
The Irish Landmark Trust has just opened a new property at Donaghmore, Co Down. The 19th-century country house overlooks the Mourne Mountains. Five bedrooms sleep up to eight. Prices start from £500/635 for a three-night weekend or four-night midweek stay. See irishlandmark.com.
Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios’ are already legendary affairs. This year, they’ll be joined by The Walking Dead, a new attraction based on the hit AMC TV show. Visitors will make your way through post-apocalyptic zombie mazes trying to avoid the ‘walkers’ played by actors lurking within. See halloweenhorrornights.com.
It bills itself as “a festival unlike any other, in a place like no other”. And given that Festival No6 includes bands like New Order, Primal Screen and Spiritualized, comedians like Andrew Maxwell and Phil Jupitus and authors like Caitlin Moran, and that the location is Portmeirion — the fantasy town built by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis in the style of an Italian village — who are we to argue? Lastminute.ie has camping tickets from 163pp. See festivalnumber6.com.
West Australia is coming to East Cork this autumn, when the Blue Book Ballymaloe House hosts a unique wine event connecting the two regions. Taking place on September 27, the event includes cricket and kite-surfing demonstrations followed by a wine-tasting hosted by iconic Margaret River winemaker, David Hohnen, in The Grain Store. The evening wraps up with Ted Berner’s ‘fire-cooking’ harvest supper. Tickets 35; Ballymaloe.ie. (Sept. 27)
Pól Ó Conghaile
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