St. Patrick’s Day: 5 Irish Gems

Ah, Ireland. A country of underdogs, drinking, potatoes, and leprechauns – or so the stereotypes teach us. A country that forces actors to attempt accents which they never should have attempted. (Have you ever heard Tom Cruise pretend to be Irish in Far and Away? I think his speech coach was an inebriated leprechaun.) But Ireland is also a country of fervent patriots stern fighters, and hard workers. It gave us Colin Farrell, Kenneth Branagh, and Pierce Brosnan (could you survive without his Mamma Mia performance?) Ireland bestowed upon us the music of U2, Celtic Woman, Dropkick Murphys, and the Cranberries. Without Ireland we wouldn’t even have Shamrock Shakes! So as everyone celebrates dear St. Patrick by drinking beer at noon on a Sunday, we decided to put together our list of favorite Irish movies for your reading pleasure. Please read responsibly.

Daniel Day-Lewis: The Method Man

Last week, I took a long, critical look at the career path of Denzel Washington, whose most recent film, Robert Zemeckis’ Flight,garnered high marks and an impressive first weekend box office take. Washington frequently commits to projects and it is not unusual to find the talented actor in at least one film per year. He doesn’t overwork, like Samuel L. Jackson or Nicolas Cage, and he’s prevalent enough each year to a degree that is never agitating or overbearing. Denzel Washington chooses his roles carefully but regularly; his presence on screen is welcomed and never deemed an ‘event’ or a criticism of ‘he’s only doing this film for the money.’ Then you take a look at an actor who falls onto the end of the spectrum labeled ‘event,’ meaning that his appearance on the big screen is a notable rarity. An actor like this is a foil to the aforementioned Samuel L. Jackson and is even less routinely around than Washington, and the ratio between films starring Samuel L. Jackson and films starring this particular actor calculates to about 7:1. This actor is Daniel Day-Lewis.