Bram Stoker Festival & Macnas Parade stalking the Dublin Streets 28-31st October 2016

It’s almost that ghoulin’ time of the year again and as has now become customary, Bram Stoker Festival is descending upon the streets of Dublin. As part of the Bram Stoker Festival, there will be lots of different festivities taking place across the city. Some of the events will be fun for all the family, even those who are only kids at heart. But, some of the events are only for those 18 and above. will you be brave enough to step beyond the threshold and into the darkness?

For the kids there are lots of spooky, but fiendishly fun options throughout the festival:

Stokerland is a 2 day victorian themed pop-up fun park that will take over the entirety of St Patrick’s Park with the ominous but beautiful silhouette of Patrick’s Cathedral looming over the festivities. There will be a vintage photo booth, face painting (no age restrictions), street performers, food stands and much, much more across the weekend. Entry is completely free, but some activities may require a fee. Oct 29-30th 11:00-16:30

Monsters @ Light House will introduce you and your kids to the monsters that kept the youth of the ’30s and 50’s jumping at shadows. The Light House as part of the Bram Stoker Festival will be showing a number of classic horror movies across the weekend. These classics include 1954’s “Creature from the Black Lagoon” in 3D and “The Wolfman” from 1941. Tickets start at 6.50. Schedule available at www.lighthousecinema.ie

For the grown ups among you, there are plenty to make you go bump in the night:

Bleedin’ Deadly will be infesting the Pillar Rooms at the Rotunda for the 4 nights of the festival. Bleedin’ Deadly is a victorian themed freak show that will entertain you and disgust you in equal measures. The show will present talents from home & abroad. ‘The Space Cowboy‘ hails from Australia, he holds 44 world records, including the most swords swallowed at once. Kitty Le Roux lives in Greystones and combines her snake charming with her burlesque talents to wow & amaze you. Tickets from €25. 2 shows Friday to Sunday, 1 Show Monday.

Dracula Live: Screening with Live Score will be taking place in the Nation Concert hall. The 1931 cinematic version of ‘Dracula’ will be screened in the NCH with the world premiere of the brand new score written and performed live by Seán Mac Erlaine, Sharon Phelan, Matthew Nolan and Eivind Aarset. See Bela Lugosi in one of his most iconic roles live on the silver screen.

Now for one of the biggest events to come to the Bram Stoker Festival, and back for another successful year.

Macnas Parade – Sleep no More

This year, Macnas are returning to the streets of Dublin, but this time they have created a wholly original piece just for Halloween and the Bram Stoker Festival 2016. “Sleep No More is a restless ballad, a deliriously dark and delicious waltz between love and loss. Hundreds of colourful Macnas volunteer performers will transform and transfix, bringing a birth, a wedding, a funeral and everything in between, to the streets of Dublin.” The parade will take to the streets as the sun begins to set on Monday 31st October, this year it starts on Moore street, heading down Henry & Moore street, turns onto Wolfe Tone street, then onto Little Britain street finishing in a small park off Halston street. If you want to get the best view in the house, take up position along the route, so you can experience the parade in all it’s glory. Check out the map below, to plot your viewing experience. Parade starts at 5:30pm and will last approximately 1hr 15mins.

Star Trek/ Star Trek: Into Darkness Double Bill.

Hey there guys, about 3 days ago I had the pleasure to get to see Star Trek (2009) in IMAX and Star Trek: Into Darkness 3D IMAX at a special late night screening in Cineworld Dublin.

I was really excited that I was able to get a ticket, as I tried to go to the Avengers/Iron Man 3 in 3D IMAX about a month ago, as the tickets sold out very quickly.

My Ticket 🙂

The first movie started at 21:15, so naturally I was there at 20:45 so I could relax before Star Trek.  I also received a free poster of the Enterprise flying past a Sun (too large for the scanner).  After a quick introduction the movie began.

I was really excited to see Star Trek in the cinema, as I never got to see it first time around.

Star Trek

Here’s a trailer for Star Trek (2009)

So Star Trek (2009) is an origin story for the original Enterprise crew, showing how they all ended up on board.  However, JJ Abrams decided not to go up against the beloved stories that people have come to live, and put a twist on the story (explain later).

The Film starts with the USS Kelvin being attacked by a Romulan ship, George Kirk (James T’s father) takes control of the ship after the captain’s brutal demise at the hands of the Romulans, and saves the majority of the crew, including George’s wife and recently born son.

We then briefly get to see Spock & Kirk as young teenagers, before we see them as their final incarnation.  Using the memory of his father, Kirk is convinced to join Star Fleet, and after being insulted about his half human lineage Spock also desides to join Star Fleet.

After 3 years, Vulcan is attacked which means that all the cadets must man the vessels to lend assistance.  Nero ( Romulan Villain) destroys Vulcan .  Spock kicks Kirk off the ship where he runs into the original Spock who travelled back in time with Nero.  This time Travel creates an alternate timeline, so that nothing will be as it would have been. Kirk then finds Scotty and gets back on board before becoming Captain, by pissing off Spock, before they both beam on board Neros ship, which is now targeting Earth, and save Admiral Pike and destroying the ship.

It looked incredible in IMAX, and I was so happy I got t see it in the cinema 😀

Star Trek: Into Darkness

Warning: Spoilers after this Point!

Star Trek: Into Darkness was a really enjoyable film, more enjoyable than the first, with more humour but also a darker overall story than the first one.

Heres’s the trailer:

The film starts with the crew of the Enterprise breaking the prime directive to save a planet and rescue spock’s life.  After that Kirk is demoted and Spock reassigned.  Around this time, a man in London agrees to blow up  a building,for a mysterious man,in exchange for his daughter’s life to be saved.

A meeting is called of all the captains, first officers and admirals currently on Earth to discuss the threat of the mysterious man, now identified as John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch), an Agent of Star Fleet intelligence. The meeting is attacked by Harrison, during which Captain Pike and many others are killed, before Harrison teleports to an uninhabited region of Kronos.

Kirk is made Captain once again and Spock put back on the Enterprise, to head to Kronos and destroy Harrison with an advanced photon torpedo, after a change of heart Kirk takes a small band down to Kronos to capture Harrison alive, they are attacked by a Klingon patrol before Harrison singlehandedly takes down 30 Klingons and 1 ship. After hearing of the Torpedos, Harrison gives himself up. (I personally hat the new design of the Klingons, less warrior and more pierced plastic surgery junkie)

After questioninging Harrison, they find out he is really an ancient super soldier (from the eugenics war) called KHAN NOONIEN SINGH, he was brought out of deep sleep following the attack by Nero, in order to create bigger and better weapons and to help turn Star Fleet into a more militaristic institution, and that the torpedoes are actualy filled with Khan’s frozen comrades.

After Star Fleet hears of Khan’s capture, Admiral Marcus (who has gone mad with the thought of war) in a Dreadknought class battleship to destroy Kirk, Khan and all the evidence.

The Ship becomes disabledand Kirk & Khan manage to get aboard and take out Marcus and his men. Inevitably, Khan turns on Kirk, crushes  Marcus’s skull and takes control of the ship.  Thanks to quick thinking by Spock ( removing the cryotubes and setting the torpedoesto explode, before teleporting them to Khan’s ship as a prisoner exchange) the Dreadknought is disabled but has enough power to fly to Earth, to destroy Star Fleet, thankfully it misses.  The Enterprise gets knocked into earths gravity and due to the previous battle has no engines.  Kirk sacrifices himself to restart the engines in a scene reminiscent but reversed of the ending to ‘Wrath of Khan’. Now enraged Spock (:-)) heads to Earth to kill Khan for Kirks death.  Bones discovers that Khan’s blood can bring back Kirk, with Uhura stopping Spock before he beats the life out of Khan.

The film ends 1 year on at a memorial of the disaster, and the Enterprise being sent on a 5 year exploratory mission, with Kirk reciting the Captain’s Oath, a very memorable quote:

It was an immensely enjoyable night, IMAX is the best way to watch a movie, it makes the other screens seem inadequate, the movies wer great, and Into Darkness exceeded my expectations!

If you’re a fan of Star Trek, or science Fiction in general, you will have a great time watching Into Darkness, especially Benedict Cumberbatch who excels as Khan, and I can’t wait for Season 3 of Sherlock.

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