Split: every tale needs a good old-fashioned hero

I saw Split last week and thoroughly enjoyed it, but was one of those people left confused by the ending. I knew I was missing something, I just didn't know what, so I was forced to turn to Google for answers as, having followed the film well enough, I was at a complete loss as to the meaning of the final scene.

[serious spoilers for Split below; seriously, if you haven't seen it but want to see it, do not read this because you'll hate me for life]

Black Mirror: just go back there a second, will ye?

Imagine possessing the ability to rewind and re-watch your memories? To cycle through the best and worst moments of your life as seen through your own eyes, as well as having some nifty playback functions, like pausing, zooming and even a lip reading tool. It sounds handy, right?

[spoilers for the Black Mirror episode 'The Entire History of You' below]

Sherlock, let's leave it at The Final Problem

As the curtain came down on another Sherlock series, I had mixed feelings on how the season four finale came to its conclusion and switched the television off with one overriding feeling: I hope this is the last episode they make.

[a serious amount of Sherlock cross-season spoilers to follow, so if you haven't seen any of it but want to, do not read this post; you have been warned]

For Extratime.ie, book review: Gods Vs Mortals: Irish Clubs in Europe

In light of Dundalk's recent European adventure, a review of a book chronicling the greatest exploits of all League of Ireland clubs in continental competition seemed appropriate. Paul Keane does an excellent job documenting ten such memorable occasions in his book Gods Vs Mortals.

For Extratime.ie, book review: A Life Too Short - The Tragedy of Robert Enke

Most people read the autobiographies of sports people to gain a better understanding of their heroes, to find out what makes them tick – what drives them to be successful. The importance of Ronald Reng's biography of German goalkeeper Robert Enke is not in how it captures him on the field, but in how it chronicles his life and his battle with depression off it.

Review: Bribry 'Swings' Skyhigh - new solo project by Brian O'Reilly

Bribry is Sky High is the new solo pseudonym taken on by former Star Crossed Enemies front man Brian O’Reilly. O’Reilly has just finished recording debut EP Swings with former Guillotines and Star Crossed Enemies band mate Gary White. While White took part in the recording of Swings he will not form part of the live line-up of Bribry is Sky High full-time, with Redreck vocalist and guitarist Ian Campbell set to partner O’Reilly onstage.

Review: Apollos Thebe seize the music, and so should you

Prendo: definition - after an extensive look through the ‘Wiktionary’ (a wiki can answer anything these days), I finally discovered ‘prendo’ to mean something along the lines of ‘to seize’, ‘to take’, ‘to hold’, ‘to charm’, and ‘to keep’ in Galician, Spanish and/or French. If I’m wrong, correct me now and I shall forever hold my silence.

Review: Star Crossed Enemies - no longer Star Crossed, but it's with a Happy Ending

It is with enormous sadness that I write about the break up of Star Crossed Enemies. After the highs of being loved by the unlikely folk of Limerick; reaching second place in the download.ie charts; recording an EP; and making many a person smile with their onstage chemistry, Brian O’Reilly and Gary White decided to part ways with their final show together taking place in the Spirit Store in Dundalk supporting Michelle Anne Kelly.

Review: Apollos Thebe - The Voice of God that hopefully won't Stawp

“You can take the time to find out what has really kept you here.”

I’ll come back to this.

For the College View, album review: Wintersleep - Welcome to the Night Sky

Imagine a slightly less polished Editors. Imagine Snow Patrol’s first two albums, before Final Straw, the one’s nobody cared about. And, as HMV so aptly described it, imagine a Coldplay influenced by R.E.M., Neil Young and lumberjack shirts instead of Radiohead. Imagine these things and you can imagine Wintersleep.

Review: Swimming in a Red Sea

Following the split of Guillotines back in June of 2008, guitarist and vocalist Gavin White spent a lot of time recording solo pieces on his MacBook under two different aliases: Herodotus’ Dream and Insomnia.

Review: Joy Division, Heart and soul boxset

“With a few exceptions, everything Joy Division recorded and released is contained here. Joy Division: 1977 to 1980.” 

These are the final two lines of the summary written on the back of the Joy Division Heart and soul boxset. For those of you who do not know me personally, I am a massive Joy Division fan. I got into them after the movie Control came out on DVD back in March 2008.

Review: Stone Throwing Youths - leaving the Mannikin in the closet

Following the split of much loved West Corkian band Mannikin (634 MySpace friends isn't bad going), guitarist Brian Casey suddenly found he had a lot of time on his hands. He disappeared from the music scene for a while, writing songs in Spring 2008 to release "for the laugh".

Between the click of the light and the start of a dream

No Cars Go blares. Not the tidy studio version from Arcade Fire’s second album Neon Bible, but the demo version recorded for the band’s first EP. 

It has an unusual, we’ll say, effect on me. It is making me shiver, not a frightened or cold shiver, but a shiver of excitement. It is making my heart beat faster and my body shake.