Going Out Films The devils in the metro Arts & Entertainment life Jack L In Town This Weekend On last weeks Late Late Show, the Kildare crooner reminded us how well he can cut it live. Tonights in-store performance coincides with the release of his double-album The Story So Far: The Essential Collection Tonight, HMV, 65 Grafton Street D2, 5.30pm, free. Tel: (01) 679 5334. www.jack-lukeman.com Dublin Viking Festival Dig out that scabbard, the annual Dublin Viking Festival is back with a bevy of battle re-enactments, markets, weaponry exhibits, costumes, Viking House tours and Beowulf film screenings Today until Sun, Amphitheatre, Wood Quay D8, noon until 8pm, free. Tel: (01) 222 2242. www.dublinvikingfestival.ie Jack Peate Accused of glorified busking on debut album Matine, Peate earned his stripes on its follow-up, Everything Is New, a more-ish raft of dance-pop underpinned by mariarchi brass, samba rhythms and clattering percussion Tomorrow, The Village, 26 Wexford St D2, 8pm, 18.95. Tel: 1890 200 078. www.myspace.com/jackpenate Book Now Frederica Von Stade The American mezzo-soprano waves bye-bye to a 40-year career on her Farewell Tour. Having made more than 70 recordings, appeared in every leading American opera and been nominated for six Grammys, New Jersey-born Von Stade is heading towards retirement. Best-known for her roles in Rossinis The Barber Of Seville and La Cenerentola but for this Celebrity Series Concert, shell sing a programme that includes Sondheims Send In The Clowns, Guglielmis La Vie En Rose and Molly Malone Nov 12, National Concert Hall, Earlsfort Terrace D2, 8pm, 30 to 70. Tel: (01) 417 0000. www.nch.ie The Imaginarium Of Dr Parnassus (12A) Running time: 123min Now that this is unofficially retitled Heath Ledgers last movie, its impossible for viewers not to dwell on the gaunt-looking stars tragic demise particularly when his arrival (15minutes in) sees him spookily hanging by a noose from London Bridge. Brr. Luckily, there are oodles of other orgasms for your eyes in visionary writer/director Terry Gilliams latest magical rag bag of tricks. Set both in 2009 London and, as ever with Gilliam (Twelve Monkeys, The Fisher King), somewhere on the borders between fantasy and reality, its essentially a modern morality fable. Dr Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) is an immortal, Prospero-like seer, grizzled slosho and (largely ignored) travelling fairground attraction who loses a bet to The Devil (Tom Waits). His forfeit is to surrender his daughter (Lily Cole) on her 16th birthday. Her only hope is her dads cunning and the love of his loyal sideshow troupe, consisting of Andrew Garfield, Verne Troyer (aka Mini Me) and a slippery-tongued, amnesiac stranger called Tony Liar (inspired by one T. Blair). A three-star rating doesnt do justice to an imagination-expanding fairytale that lurches from one star to five. Its not just that Tony, due to Heaths unscheduled departure, is distractingly played by pals Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell, or that his accent swerves into the East End via Perth, that makes this a bumpy ride. Its the plots lack of horsepower. For a movie that champions the importance of story-telling, that is, ironically, its limpest department. Larushka Ivan-Zadeh 14 metrolife Friday, October 16, 2009 Couples Retreat (15A) Running time: 113min Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau were a hoot as a pair of single guys in indie comedy Swingers. Thirteen years on, theyve co- written a comedy about pals who have grown up and married off but it feels like a less honest, more commercially motivated endeavour. Four chummy couples fly off to an exotic Pacific island. Only divorce- bound Jason (Jason Bateman) and Cynthia (Kristen Bell) are signed up for the couples skill-building sessions that then turn out to be compulsory for all. Theres enjoyable observational humour: parents will recognise stressful scenarios such as children peeing in showroom toilets. But when the eight-strong group (also including Kristin Davis and Malin Akerman) hit the beach, the script becomes more interested in strung-out set-pieces and laddish (or rather, mannish) humour. Individually many of these actors have charm but crammed together they barely have room to breathe. Men and women are reduced to stereotypes, and Peter Serafinowicz and Jean Reno are wasted in one-note roles. Vaughn manages to grab more screen time to showcase his charisma but do we really need to watch his mid-life crisis unfold over the course of nearly two hours? Anna Smith Triangle (16) Running time: 99min Troubled single mom Jess (Melissa George) takes a break from caring for her autistic son by going on a boat trip with pals. Big mistake: when a freak electrical storm inconveniently capsizes their yacht into the Bermuda Triangle, theyre rescued by a spookily deserted 1930s liner (think The Shining on a ship). Here theyre bumped off one by one by a (not so) mysterious hooded killer. Ive seen this before, says Jess. Shes not kidding. The dj-vu plot loop-the-loops back on itself till it sends you right round the twist. Self- conscious atmosphere shots of scuttling crabs show director Christopher Smith (Creep, Severance) has arty pretensions for his US debut but what should be Memento with gore quickly leaves you adrift on a suspenseless sea, chewing your face in frustration. LI-Z Thirst (18) Running time: 134min After a brief, frankly baffling flirtation with romcom, Oldboy director Park Chan-Wook returns to his trademark bloody melodrama with a vengeance. A Korean priest gets infected by a vampire virus, covets a mans wife and so kills him and drinks her blood. Seething with ethical debate, this inspired retelling of Emile Zolas classic Thrse Raquin (now with added vampires) is as intelligent as it is blackly humorous, visually elegant, full-bloodedly erotic and a good half hour too long. Indeed, as current bestseller Pride And Prejudice And Zombies verily proves, 19th-century literature can only be improved by a judiciously placed dash of the undead. LI-Z Ong-Bak The Beginning (18) Running time: 108min Martial arts superstar Tony Jaa is globally exalted for his jaw-dropping no wires fighting style. Unfortunately The hoTTesT TickeTs in Town We have three pairs of tickets to see JACK PEATE tomorrow at The Village, 8pm For a chance to win, e-mail your answer to the question below to life@ metroireland.ie by noon today with Hot Tickets in the subject line. With your answer please include your name, address and a number where you can be contacted between 1pm and 3pm. Strictly one entry per person; entrants must be age 18+. Q. Jack Peate is the grandson of which writer? A. Mervyn Peake B. Isaac Asimov The winners of yesterdays tickets to see Julie Feeney are: Jerome Corby & Paddy Cahill FIVE QUESTIONS FOR... Dearbhla Glynn, filmmaker and organiser of charity concert Dublin To Gaza: Two Cities, which features performances from Liam Maonla, Lumire, Kla, Naisrin and Zahara El Safty, Shadia Mansour and MC Lowkey How did Dublin To Gaza come about? I went to Gaza in May and I dont think I fully understood how bads things were until I saw people living in tents, their houses destroyed. Now that winters fast approaching, I wanted to raise awareness for the siege. Its families who are in no way politically connected that are suffering. The infrastructure is devastated and theres no food or medicine getting in. The tunnels the lungs of Gaza as theyve been dubbed are literally keeping the area alive. As well as music therell be a live link-up with Gaza on the night. Yes, we really want to let them know that theyre not isolated and in return theyre going to speak to the Dublin audience during the evening. Will there be a big turn-out in Gaza? Well the posters advertising the event in Dublin are the same ones were using in Gaza. At night- time, the streets there are dead and the citizens are frightened but hopefully a few hundred will make it. The electricity situation is pretty shaky but were hoping it comes together. Kla and Liam Maonla are pretty well known but MC Lowkey might be new to many. What can we expect? Lowkey is big index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html