Eoin Corbett.

Adam O' Dwyer.

Game of Thrones, partially filmed in Northern Ireland.

"Boogaloo and Graham" Northern Irish film (2014).

"A Nightingale Falling" an Irish film (2014)

Glassland. Irish film. 2015.

It seems only fitting that I discuss a musician for my fourth post. So far, this blog has been personal, review and personal in terms of blog posts. For my second blog post I talked about "The Water Diviner". So now I want to talk about one of my favourite musicians, Ben Howard. I found out about Ben Howard by accident, four years ago when I heard his single "The Wolves" on the radio back home. So I decided to research this artist further. He's from a beautiful part of England, a coastal area called Devon.



I can't quite put into words what his lyrics mean to me. He's got a way with words, whether it's just a natural gift or something he learned while studying journalism, I don't know but they're so personal. I find it really easy to relate.To define his style of music, I would say, folk music. The main instruments you will hear in his music are the guitar first and foremost, strings and drums. He's an absolute genius when it comes to, (I've struggled to define it) guitar tapping technique which is best demonstrated in this video clip of "Under The Same Sun"




I think his music is suitable for all moods. I can listen to him when I'm sad, happy, sleepy or angry. For some reason, it works.



My favourite song of all time is by Ben Howard. It's called Soldiers. For some reason this song resonated with me far more than any other song of his and any song I've listened to so far in my life. At first this song just made me feel sad, happy and soothed. But as I've changed in the past seven months or so, it has resonated with me even stronger. This song has made me cry both sad and happy tears. I listened to this song while I wrote this post and I'll admit I got a bit emotional.




I remember one morning I was lying in bed, and I was worried about something I had done on a night out. The person I was with was reassuring me that I hadn't completely embarrassed myself. I wouldn't believe them. Then they said nothing and just played this song. It may seem like a minor thing to some of you, but not to me. The song was a reaffirmation, another reassurance and it meant a lot that the song was played. Sadly, I've yet to see this amazing man live. But a girl can dream. Soon, SOON! Please watch the music video for "Old Pine". One of my top favourite of Ben's. The music video was filmed in a beautiful part of the world: Co Clare here in Ireland.

I've been noticing this for a while, but only today I got the idea to blog about it.
On this blog I wrote a blog post about youth, how their minds are different to children's and adults. How I feel young people (my age) have this magical quality to way they love, have adventures and express themselves.

Yesterday I went to see Russell Crowe’s directorial debut “The Water Diviner” in the Odeon, Castletroy here in Limerick.

I am very fussy when it comes to picking films to see in the cinema, or buy on DVD. Usually I know by watching a clip or trailer of a film whether I'll like it or not. I take note of a lot of things in the trailer, the score, the cinematography, the actors, the sounds and locations. To capture my attention, all of these aspects have to work together.

Having watched the trailer last year, I had high expectations. The film looked beautiful and the story being told was emotional and the fact that the film was based on true events piqued my interest.

First of all, for a directorial debut, I was pleasantly surprised. Russell Crowe did an amazing job as a first time director.



The plot is as follows, without spoilers.                                                                            
A father travels to Gallipoli, Turkey, after the Battle of Gallipoli, to find and bring home the bodies of his three sons who were killed in the war.

Russell Crowe's voice is iconic in itself. I'd know his distinct Australian voice anywhere. To be honest, he was the only actor I knew beforehand in this film. But this fact did not lessen my interest in the film by any means.

The film has stunning locations, shot in Australia and Turkey. There are no complicated shots really. I feel as though the beauty of the natural landscape is dominant in many of the shots. The architectural beauty of Turkey is particularly striking.  I also liked that genuine Turkish actors were in the film.



As well as telling an emotional story, one that everyone can relate to, there is also a historical aspect to the film. There are many touching moments throughout the film, particularly with the use of a windmill.

The harsh reality of the horror that occurred on the battlefield is shown in the film. The garish wounds of the soldiers aren’t shied away from. On more than one occasion I had to look away, cover my ears or close my eyes to hide from the images. It awoke me to the fact that such injuries did occur. I prefer reality, despite my aversion to blood.

While in my opinion slow to get into the action, the film is striking.  I know a film has impacted me in a good way when my mind is racing with thoughts at the end of it. I left the cinema with burning questions on the history of the war, the weapons used. It made me want to research the true story and to educate myself on the Battle of Gallipoli.

All in all, I really liked the film.

8/10.