Sue Murphy joined Ger Gilroy and Eoin Sheahan on Thursday's OTB AM to pick apart the latest film and TV offerings available to occupy your long evenings at home.
The Dig – Available on Netflix from Friday 29th January
Before launching into her review, Sue was quick to point out that while the trailer and premise for this film – an archaeological dig - may not sell it straight away, the actual storyline provides so much more than this.
The Dig tells the true story of Basil Brown (Ralph Fiennes), an excavator who made a huge Anglo-Saxon find just before the beginning of World War 2. However, the film really centers around his relationship with Mrs. Pretty (Carrie Mulligan), the woman who owns the estate on which the excavation was carried out.
Admitting it does sound like it belongs on the Discovery Channel or National Geographic, Sue was quick to dismiss its boring-looking exterior, “It’s just a very heartfelt, sad film. There’s a lot of stuff going on in their lives.”
We Are Brooklyn Saints - Available on Netflix from Friday 29th January
This four-part series is a classic underdog sports documentary.
It centers around a Brooklyn American football team of 7-13-year-old who are coached solely by the community around them, embodying the idea of ‘it takes a village to raise a child’.
The local investment is huge, as for some, football is really the only way out. Without a football scholarship, many would simply not be able to afford college and so a lot rides on its success for these young people.
However, Sue does admit it plays to the crowd in parts. Thanks to the success of other documentaries such as Last Chance U, participants have become more aware of the camera’s presence and the opportunity for fame it can provide, lessening some of the fly-on-the-wall capabilities that make documentaries like this so outstanding.
Ultimately though for Sue, its inspiring nature wins out despite this.
The Looming Tower - Amazon Prime
Initially released in the states in 2018, all eight episodes are now available on Amazon Prime.
Starring Jeff Daniels as the head of the FBI and Peter Sarsgaard as the chief of the CIA, The Looming Tower focuses on the relationship between these two characters and the utter hatred shared, one that ultimately bleeds down into their respective organizations.
“It’s basically the story behind what happened in the FBI and the CIA in the lead up to the 9/11 attacks and how these two counter-terrorism departments tried to out-do each other all the time,” explained Sue. “It is intricate, lots of complicated stuff in it, but very, very good!”
It’s a Sin - ALL 4
Ger’s choice this week was the Channel 4 period drama It’s a Sin.
The series centers around how HIV and the AIDS crisis ripped through the gay community in England and ultimately the dismission they received from both the government and English society as a whole.
As a vocal critic of period drama’s Ger was happy to give pardon to this particular one; “If you’re going to do period stuff it should mean something, it shouldn’t just be for amusement and this I am absolutely happy to say is an astonishingly well-realized period piece”.
While focusing on a serious topic, it also has many comedic moments too. “[It’s] absolutely phenomenal, the music is great, the writing is tight, there’s almost no-nonsense in it” he was happy to report.
With the series concluding in the mid ’90s, it also brings back to the fore the significance of what exactly HIV and the AIDS crisis was and meant for the people it affected. Something that may have slipped from public consciousness in recent times, but through shows like this can be continually re-discussed.
Eoin’s Sopranos Update!
As of this morning’s OTB AM, Eoin Sheahan is officially mid-way through the sixth and final season of The Sopranos.
Currently engrossed in the Vito storyline, he is watching with bated breath.
Initially, he assumed it would be covered in classic Sopranos style; arcing over a couple episodes and then being wrapped up “as they tend to wrap things up in The Sopranos, A.K.A. killing off a character in brutal fashion!”
However, this has not been the case and he is still being held in suspense!
Unfortunately, the pressure to provide such enthralling content for OTB AM has come at a cost for Eoin. “My ratio of actually throwing in an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm or Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, that ratio is has diminished completely where I’m just on a diet of Sopranos and Sopranos only!”
Alas, we’re already waiting patiently for next week’s update!
Written by Catherine Murphy
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