From your next cinema trip to what album you're putting on your mp3, we've got everything sorted
Grand Budapest Hotel
If you are a Wes Anderson fan, then you will love Grand Budapest Hotel more than a delicious pastry from the fair hands of Saoirse Ronan’s character. But we can understand that many of you don’t really appreciate it when Anderson cranks up the whimsy and forgets about things like plot, and pacing. However, in The Grand Budapest Hotel the film rollicks along, the story – though convoluted – is gripping and the acting, especially by Ralph Fiennes, is sensational.
Fiennes plays M. Gustave, a hotel concierge in the 1930s, and the arrival of a new lobby boy, Zero Moustafa, and the death of a very close guest, sets off a crazy chain of events set across the backdrop of an ever darkening Europe in that era.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Fg5iWmQjwk
The film is told in a three-tiered flashback, all shot in different ratios and the set, costumes and look of the film is simply first-class, among the best the super-stylised Anderson has ever done. All the performances, from F. Murray Abraham as the older Zero, to Saoirse Ronan as the young Zero’s friend, are excellent but Fiennes is brilliant, showing a side to him we’ve never seen before.
We defy you to watch the movie without leaving with a smile on your face but unlike many other Anderson flicks, it will stay with you for far longer than the walk out the lobby too.
20 Things to do in Dublin Before You Go For a Feckin' Pint
The capital city has plenty to do that's not based around alcohol, yet for some reason we can't wait to get people into the pubs as soon as they come to visit. This handy guide sees co-authors Colin Murphy and Donal O'Dea decide that they've had enough of that and have come up with a load of stuff for us to do, even if you're a hardened city-dweller that's convinced they know all there is to know about the Fair City. If we're honest, how many of us have actually been to the Jeanie Johnston and famine museum? It's well worth a look.
There's plenty of information, some great maps, sites to see and, of course, a list of pubs where you can get a pint if you really, really want. However, there's information about which ones have the best music, the best comedy and the best food, so that you still don't have to have a drink if you don't fancy it. That's your weekend sorted, without boozing.
St. Vincent - St. Vincent
You've probably heard hit track 'Birth in Reverse' on ads or the radio since it was released in December, but the album it's from just hit shops a few weeks back, and we're really enjoying it. Some heavy, crunchy guitar mixed with electronic beats, some dance rhythms and great lyrics from the musical genius that is Annie Clark make this album a little bit different to what's out there at the minute.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0c5BhXdVBqw
She manages to take ideas which have their roots in 1980s electropop like Kate Bush and give them a new and fresh twist. Not only that, but she's got great feet for a multi-instrumentalist.
http://vimeo.com/85067428
