July 6, 2016

This morning we had one of our classes to discuss the opening film we watched the previous night. We talked about our experiences and how we felt now that we are passing the halfway point (already?? I know!!) Finally, we talked about our final projects. We’ll be meeting individually with our professors this week to discuss them in more detail, but so far we only went over a summary of it. A group of us ran back to the apartments to grab a quick lunch and run to our first movie of the day, Way Out West. It was actually a series of short movies that are from the west. Each short film was very different than the first. Some were better than others. It’s cool though because some of the cast are local so they were all there. One (with the loudest crowd) was called the Gallway Street Club. They’re a group of buskers who got tired of performing alone and decided to join together as one band and play together. It is so cool because people come and go and they let people in when they’re there. We have even seen them performing, so that was awesome to watch, especially after hearing their background story.

After that we had some time to kill before we had to go to our next movie, so we went to a café for tea or coffee to wake us up a bit. The next film was in the Cinemobile (a cinema in an eighteen wheeler), which I was very excited to see. We got there early because it was general admission and wanted to get good seats. We waited first in line until they opened up the doors. Our group sat there talking, excited to see what a movie about knights on skates would be like. The movies don’t start right on time which is normal, but this wait felt longer than usual. Finally a worker got up and announced that there were a few technical difficulties and they will start soon. We waited, talking in our perfect seats for another hour. The same worker came up again thanking us for our patience and said they were almost done. We started getting worried at this point because we had another movie starting just 2 hours later and we had wanted to grab food in between. We decided to wait a few more minutes, then we’d leave. The head of the festival came to the front next, announcing there would be no showing because of these problems, but we would get a refund and there would possibly be a rescheduled time. At this point, we were all a little relieved because 1. Now we had plenty of time until our next movie and 2. We were conveniently already getting hungry and probably couldn’t make it through 2 movies without eating something. We wanted to stay close and eat something fairly quickly so we had limited options, but we found this kebab place that looked good enough. We all either ordered kebabs or burgers! I got the chicken kebab and it was probably the best one I’ve had. It came in huge portions, but the food was so good I wanted to finish it all. Ryan has asked if we could be back multiple times since that day.

We did not know much about this next movie we were seeing. All we heard was that it was about a triple murder in Ireland in the 90s and it was supposed to be really good. We went in thinking that it was going to be an action movie or maybe something like the crime shows. We, however, were very, very wrong. Property of the State told the true story of Brendan O’Donnell from his older sister, Margaret’s perspective. In her diary, she explains the circumstances her brother faced starting when he was 4. It was a tragic story and the film did not spare the audience any details. What I mean by that is instead of implying certain events that happened to him, they showed it all. It was a terrible story that had to be told, but the film was very well done. Many of the actors, the director, and the producer were all there. They went on stage to answer questions after, but were very understanding when no one wanted to ask a question. Instead, they had a discussion of their own, asking each other questions and explaining some things. We left the theatre in silence, not even feeling up for the reception afterwards. This is the complete opposite reaction from the other night. We all stood in silence for a bit before deciding to pick up some cookies to help cheer us up on the way back home. Once we got back we decided to play a fun, feel good movie, have a nice, short talk, and went to bed.

July 7, 2016

This morning we had class at a café to write on our own using prompts. We even got a free breakfast, which I was not expecting! It was actually very helpful and forced us to write. After writing for a little over an hour we were free to go. We walked into some shops before stopping by our apartment to regroup and figure out what we’re doing for the day. We decided to check out Salthill and see what’s going on there. We walked over, which was a surprisingly short 15 minute walk. We explored the beach for a little before heading to the main strip. We went to the amusement park to ride the Ferris wheel (all by ourselves) and we got a beautiful view of the county from overhead. After we went on the worst ghost train ride ever. The ride was pitch black and had random whistles going off with the occasional figure pop out with a light shining on it. We ate at a quick restaurant for lunch. It was an absolutely beautiful day with just some wind, so we sat outside.  To take full advantage of the weather, we went to play a round of mini golf. The first hole included a double decker, which made it interesting right from the start. Rachel and I tied for first so not a big deal or anything but we chose to celebrate with ice cream. As we were walking home, we looked up the aquarium hours and hope to go back later this week when we have the time. Once back in the apartments, we took some time to write.

July 8, 2016

This morning I woke up for a quick meeting with Tom to discuss my final project. It was a quick meeting, but it helped me organize my thoughts a lot. We had a series of short Irish films to get to later, so I came back grabbed some lunch and got everyone ready to go. The lady announcing the films told us there was a general theme throughout this series. The only underlining theme I saw was tragedy. Each film had something go wrong. Sometimes it ended happily, other times not so much. I liked every one of these movies, except one was a little strange even for Irish films. Once it was over, we ran across the city to make it to the tattoo shop in time. The tattoo turned out absolutely amazing and it’s perfect! Before you freak out, not for me Mom, it’s uh for a friend. (But actually, it was for a friend) We grabbed a quick lunch and made our way to the next movie. This one was Bobby Sands: 66 Days. The documentary went through Bobby Sands and his 66 day long hunger strike. It also showed his election as a member of parliament while in jail and in the middle of his strike. It was a good movie, but I wish I had more backstory on the times and his life. The film didn’t really go over any of that because the majority of the people here already know the story. Two of our friends absolutely loved the movie, but they had seen a film on his life and had taken a class on it the previous semester. Stuart and I, on the other hand, thought the movie was well done, but got a little lost in the story. Regardless, I’m glad I went. It only sparked my interest on the topic more, wishing I did the research beforehand. We stocked up on some groceries and picked up Chinese on the way home and hung out for a bit before going to the last movie. This one called, A Dark Song, was a horror movie so some people who are not the biggest fans on scary movies especially in theaters (aka me) were a little iffy about this one. This movie was different than most scary movies I have seen. I wouldn’t necessarily call it a horror movie at all though. They had a good idea with the plot using an old ritual thing and all, but the execution and the ending seemed a little off. I do give them props though. They did this very low budget film in a short matter of time. The lead actress was really good! I think even just adding more backstory would have helped this movie tons. But that’s just my own personal critique *sips tea*. Each premiered movie I have seen has had me walking out of the theatre with completely different reactions. It’s interesting to see and compare all these diverse films because of the festival, especially in such a short amount of time. Because this movie was so late we all got back to the apartments and went to bed. We had another new adventure to get ready for and needed the sleep!