Hot 100: All the best movies, books and food to kick the September blues
From movies to music, fashion to food, our critics bring you the big tickets over the coming monhts.
MOVIES
Revenge thriller set during the Irish Famine. Hugo Weaving, Barry Keoghan and Stephen Rea star.
Quirky heist movie about college students stealing valuable books. Barry Keoghan and Evan Peters star.
Lenny Abrahamson adapts Sarah Waters’ tale of psychological suspense, starring Domhnall Gleeson and Ruth Wilson.
Cate Blanchett and Jack Black star in an offbeat tale of fantasy and magic, directed by Eli Roth.
Glenn Close stars as the long-suffering wife of a womanising literary author (Jonathan Pryce). Adapted from Meg Wolitzer’s novel.
Yet another remake of the old Hollywood chestnut, with Bradley Cooper directing Lady Gaga.
Rowan Atkinson returns as the hapless spy Johnny English. Emma Thompson co-stars.
Thriller set in a motel where strangers gather to bury their secrets. Chris Hemsworth, Dakota Johnson and Jon Hamm star.
Jamie Lee Curtis returns to confront the masked Michael Myers for the final time.
WWII supernatural drama about US paratroopers operating behind enemy lines on the eve of D-Day. Wyatt Russell stars.
Bryan Singer directs a biopic of rock group Queen, with Rami Malek starring as Freddie Mercury.
Ryan Gosling stars as astronaut Neil Armstrong as he takes part in the moon landing of 1969. Damien Chazelle directs.
Romantic comedy starring Rose Byrne, Ethan Hawke and Chris O’Dowd.
Animated account of the Grinch’s (Benedict Cumberbatch) attempt to ruin Christmas.
Thriller about four wives of dead criminals who take their fate into their own hands. Viola Davis, Elizabeth Debicki and Liam Neeson star.
Fantasy adventure set in JK Rowling’s wizarding world, starring Eddie Redmayne and Johnny Depp.
Sherwood Forest’s finest rides again, starring Taron Egerton, Jamie Dornan and Eve Hewson.
Sequel to the animated tale of an arcade-game character who doesn’t know his own strength. John C. Reilly voices Ralph.
Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) defends his world championship boxing title, coached by Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone).
True story of a teenager who became an FBI informant in the 1980s. Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Jason Leigh star.
Dystopian sci-fi thriller adapted from Philip Reeve’s novel. Hugo Weaving stars.
Underwater superhero Aquaman (Arthur Curry) discovers he is heir to the kingdom of Atlantis.
Animated tale in which Spider-Man (Jake Johnson) teams up with Spider-Men from different dimensions. Nic Cage co-stars.
Emily Blunt stars as the beloved magical nanny. Meryl Streep and Colin Firth co-star.
Hailee Steinfeld discovers that Bumblebee – a VW ‘bug’ – is no ordinary car. John Cena and Angela Bassett co-star.
MUSIC
A new celebration of alternative folk, with Lisa O’Neill, Ye Vagabonds and Katie Kim and Radie Peat.
Glen Hansard, Mama Kin Spender and Pillow Queens are the names to watch as the much-respected festival returns.
The r’n b crooner racked up his fourth number one album this year with 2Sides and now brings his music to the masses.
The rabble-rousing Brit rockers have gone concept pop with their new album – but who will fans respond to their jazzy meanderings?
Heart-wrenching confessionals from critically-acclaimed Memphis singer.
The biggest selling artist of the Nineties sets out on the comeback trail.
Catchy indie pop from Manchester, led by Siouxsie Sioux lookalike Heather Baron-Gracie.
Kate Rusby headlines as the venerable festival marks its 40th anniversary.
Pop princess Kylie tours her Dolly Parton-inspired latest LP.
Brit-pop greats return with another fantastic comeback record, The Blue Hour.
Laura Mvula, Brian Deady, Donny McCaslin Group British soul singer Mvula, Cork doo-wop revivalist Deady and David Bowie’s final collaborators are among the highlights.
Swaggering pop lothario – “man jewellery” in human form.
Inspired by the iconic concert movie by his band, Talking Heads, Byrne’s new show is a work of many moving pieces, building from a minimalist opening to a triumphant climax.
Seventies soft rock doyen Lynne continues his open-ended lap of honour.
The Brothers are gonna work it out as the Nineties “Big Beat” exponents play their first non-festival Irish show in forever.
The Glanmire Co Cork singer builds on the success of YouTube-conquering weepie, Please Don’t Go.
Obscure Dublin rock band try to broaden their meagre fanbase.
Norwegian pop sensation, best known for hits Strangers and Don’t Kill My Vibe.
Country super-star in waiting plays her largest Irish show yet.
Confessional Los Angeles singer whose hazy indie pop has one foot in the Nineties.
New York gloomsters are back with one of their finest albums yet, The Marauder.
Dublin November 19 Flamed haired pop star touring post-hangover long-player High As Hope.
French pop star Héloïse Letissier brings louche beats and an enigmatic stage persona.
The Do It Like A Dude singer has seen her profile diminish worryingly. But she’s bouncing back and her “intimate” new tour follows her win on China’s answer to X Factor.
Their gigs at the venue are part of the Christmas calendar at this stage.
FASHION
The Cork City Centre Fashion Festival celebrates the esteemed Leeside style scene. Weekend events include a free fashion show hosted by TV presenter and designer Brendan Courtney at The Atrium, City Hall and a showcase of local retail hotspots on the Cork City Centre Fashion Trail. www.lockdown.ie.
After 25 successful seasons, Belfast Fashion Week has become Ireland’s longest-running fashion event. Expect runway edits and masterclasses plus fashion afternoon teas and stylish brunches and lunches from £20.
www.belfastfashionweek.com.
Actress and presenter Aoibhín Garrihy and stylist Marietta Doran judge the style at the styles of the Listowel Races with a €6000 prize fund including a Honda Civic for a year and €3,000 for the McElligotts Honda Best Dressed Lady. www.listowelraces.ie.
H&M teams up with Moschino for its latest designer-high street collaboration.
The full range of women and men’s fashion cites pop, street culture, logo and glamour references thanks to the label’s colouful creative director – Jeremy Scott. Available in select stores worldwide and online. www.hm.com.
Top model Pippa O’Connor brings her sell-out fashion tour to Cork, Belfast and Portlaoise. Enjoy fashion shows, make-up masterclasses and insider style tips; plus afternoon tea, bellinis, spot prizes and luxury goodie bags. Price: €100. www.pippa.ie.
FOOD
Midleton and its hinterland, one of Ireland’s original food destinations, kicked off with food, entertainment and whiskey at the Jameson Experience Opening Night followed by a week of events, demos and myriad fine local dining opportunities. (www.feastcork.ie)
Always a varied and family-friendly programme, this year includes some excellent guest chef collaborations, including Kevin O’Toole (Chameleon, Dublin) coming to La Boheme and Eddie Atwell (Garnish Restaurant at Eccles Hotel, Glengarrif) at Bay Tree Bistro. (www.waterfordharvestfestival.ie)
Taking in all the towns, villages and eight islands of West Cork, this humongous hoard of epicurean events quite literally has something for anyone with an appetite, including a roster of visiting guest chefs that grows more impressive by the year, Enda McEvoy (Loam, Galway) at Ballydehob’s Chestnut Tree, the pick of an especially appealing programme. www.atasteofwestcork.com
With the Metropole Hotel acting as HQ, tentacles stretch throughout town for a programme of seafood, including a gourmet trail, and live entertainment throughout the weekend.
The inaugural Cork Cheese Festival celebrates the very best of Irish Farmhouse Cheese with international additions, all leading up to the weekend-long Cork Cheese Fair at Cork International Airport Hotel. www.corkcheeseweek.com
The world’s oldest oyster festival amounts to the mother of all parties with the magical mollusk at the heart of it all. www.galwayoysterfestival.com
One of the very best on the circuit, Dingle on a sunny, autumnal day when the streets are heaving and the belly is blissfully full, pretty much sums up what is so wonderful about Irish food. Also incorporates Blás na hÉireann awards. www.dinglefood.com
At 42, this old trouper can party like a young ‘un, a perfect blend of fine food and frisky frolicking in beautiful Kinsale. www.kinsalerestaurants.com
Two-day food symposium featuring national and international chefs and food enthusiasts parsing the modern food world, addressing all, from the micro to the macro. (www.foodontheedge.ie)
Great food in a gorgeous location is always superbly augmented by a fun and family-friendly programme of events. www.savourkilkenny.com
TRAVEL
Irish hotels continue to top the Best Of lists this year, with Adare Manor (above right) named Virtuoso’s best hotel of 2018 less than a year after reopening following extensive refurbishment. Ballyfin House continues to impress, with a number two spot on Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best list.
Ryanair are starting a new London Luton route from Cork this September and to celebrate, have released seats from €14.99, that can be used travel from September to January. ww.corkairport.com
With less than a year until Centre Parcs opens its doors at the Longford Forest Resort, it has released a list of over 100 family-friendly activities that will be on offer. From aerial tree trekking to pottery painting to willow weaving to den building, there promises to be something for every whim and persuasion.
www.centerparcs.ie/longford-forest/
The Marker Hotel in Dublin is making the most of its panoramic position with a new menu at its rooftop bar and terrace. Expect souped-up hot dogs and smoked short ribs alongside a selection of Tiki-inspired cocktails.
www.themarkerhoteldublin.com
If picnics give you the heebie jeebies then consider an altogether more luxurious version, like the one being offered at Killarney Park Hotel. For just over €2000, you can enjoy two nights at the luxury hotel, with a helicopter ride to the top of Mangerton Mountain for a gourmet picnic. www.killarneyparkhotel.ie
BOOKS
The widely anticipated follow up to OMGWACA promises another hilarious and heartbreaking instalment of the life of Aisling, everyone’s favourite Irish woman. Expect to laugh and cry, in equal measures.
Drawing on his own formative years as a backpacker travelling through South America, Coelho has crafted another story that will make us consider life from a different angle; this way, through a love story that sets the course of his life on a new trajectory.
We have been waiting a long time for Michelle Obama’s side of the story, and in Becoming she invites her readers into her world, from her childhood in Chicago to what it was really like to live in the White House.
Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, Rooney’s second novel is as thought provoking and addictive as Conversation With Friends. Her portrait of first love and all of its complexities is dynamite.
Senator Lynn Ruane shares an intimate portrait of her early life, when crime and drug use and a teenage pregnancy led her to re-evaluate her life and start a journey that would lead her to become a senator in the chamber of the Seanad.
From one of the best fiction writers of the moment, Kate Atkinson brings us a spy novel with typical texture and depth. Transcription is moving and disturbing and unputdownable.
It seems Graham Norton can do no wrong, and if the noise is to be believed about A Keeper then this foray into the dark underbelly of Irish society is not to be missed.
In his first novel in 12 years, Markus Zusak tells the story of five orphaned boys living in a house with no rules and is hailed as one of the most nuanced reads of the autumn. Not to be missed.
A must-have for all young Irish girls, this is the first in a series of books by John and Fatti Burke, where they will unpack some of Ireland’s greatest historical figures, especially for kids. First up, our original rebel girl, pirate queen Granuaile.
Nicole Kidman has bought the television rights to Cecilia Ahern’s widely anticipated collection of thirty stories, which illustrate the might and power of women.
Television
This co-production with the BBC is based on the true story of a young Romanian woman snatched in London and trafficked to Ireland to be used in ‘pop up’ brothels. Gwyneth Hughes, the writer of the 90-minute one-off, developed the story from long conversations she had with the actual victim.
Emma Stone and Jonah Hill team up for the first time since Superbad for this new black comedy 10-parter. Their characters get caught up in a pharmaceutical trial that goes wrong.
From his work on albums by the likes of Michael Jackson to his work with Dizzy Gillespie and countless others, Quincy Jones is one of the most influential people in modern music. This documentary by his daughter Rashida (Ann in Parks and Recreation) delves into the 85-year-old’s incredible life.
After moving on from House of Cards, Beau Willimon penned this near-future tale of the first humans to colonise Mars. Sean Penn is the big star of a show that in the US next week.
Carrying a rather weighty reputation as the ‘makers of Love/Hate’ ensures this new series from Stuart Carolan and co is probably the most anticipated show on the pre-Christmas schedule. Lynn Rafferty plays the detective investigating the death of a young Nigerian migrant near a Direct Provision Centre.
The absence of a Line of Duty this year meant Adrian Dunbar had time on his hands, so it’s great the Irish network snapped him up for this new psychological drama. He plays a doctor in a small town who has to deal with some fairly dark family issues.
Another co-production with the Beeb, this adaptation of Eugene McCabe’s novel stars Jamie Dornan and Ann Skelly as the 19th-centry tale of a young woman who tries to escape her limited life.
While some would say this political drama was well past its sell-by date, the final nail in the coffin came from the publicity around alleged bad behaviour by star Kevin Spacey. He’s gone, and his character’s wife Claire Underwood (Robin Wright) is now president. Surely she’s built up enough bad karma to get some serious come-uppance at some stage over the eight episodes.
We’ve seen plenty of Amy Huberman in recent years but this new comedy series is totally her own creation, and she both stars in and directs the show. Joining her on screen for this tale of a woman navigating a painful breakup will be Aisling Bea and Laura Whitmore.
Another adaptation of a John le Carré novel from the team who gave us The Night Manager. An impressive cast includes Charles Dance, Florence Pugh and Alexander Skarsgård.
ARTS & ENTS
The ongoing tour of the Abbey’s musical adaptation of Ken Loach’s true film about the Irish man who fell foul of Church and State.
The annual arts extravaganza reaches its 13th year, with an ever-expanding range of events all over the country.
The UK-based presenter is coming to Dublin (The Helix, October 13) and his native Cork (Opera House, Oct 14) to promote his second novel, A Keeper. As well as reading from the book, he’ll be interviewed by Rick O’Shea, and will field some audience questions.
After a concert performance back in 2013, John O’Brien’s operatic adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s story gets a full production in what is its world premiere.
Russian ballerina Ekaterina Bortyakov returns for Cork City Ballet’s production of a perennial favourite.
There’s now plenty competition on the festival circuit in Ireland, but the Cork event still manages to produce an impressive event for industry participants and punters alike.
Ruth Negga returns to her hometown to play Hamlet, while Elevator Repair Service bring a feminist play from the US that will chime with the dominant mood in Irish theatre at the moment. As ever, a host of other domestic and international productions.
American duo William Bolcom and Mark Campbell will be in Wexford for what is the European premiere of their Dinner at Eight. Elsewhere, the event will provide the usual mix of impressive productions that are rarely seen anywhere else.
The major production of the mega-musical is on the road again, complete with a lead role for Killian Donnelly, the brightest Irish star in the West End at the moment.
A collection of work on loan from the UK’s Royal Collection features some of the Italian city’s great artists of the 18th century.
