Dan McGinn
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danmc2.bsky.social
Dan McGinn
@danmc2.bsky.social
97 followers 220 following 110 posts
Dad, Husband, dog owner, Comms geezer, film critic, Blogger, Facebooker, Instagramer, less frequent Tweeter & West Ham dreamer.
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Really sorry to learn of Brendan's passing. He was a great photographer and a wonderful colleague.. www.irishnews.com/news/norther...
Tributes to former Irish News picture editor Brendan Murphy
Tributes to former Irish News picture editor, Brendan Murphy
www.irishnews.com
November 12, 2025 at 3:05 PM
danmc2.bsky.social
THE APPLIANCE OF SCIENCE: There have been 423 known #movies with some version of #MaryShelley's #Frankenstein. Now we have #GuillermodelToro's. So how does it fare? Pomona gives its thoughts on this and the #LiamNeson sequel #IceRoadVengeance.. loveitinpomona.blogspot.com/2025/11/the-...
Oscar Isaac plays Victor Frankenstein in Guillermo del Toro's sumptuous movie version of Mary Shelley's 1818 novel but how does this take on the horror classic distinguish itself from all the others? Jacob Elordi delivers a sensitive portrayal of The Creature in Guillermo del Toro's Netflix movie version of Frankenstein but does the adaptation match expectations? Mia Goth plays Elizabeth Harlander in Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein but do sparks fly onscreen with her co-stars Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi? Liam Neeson is back thumping and shooting at bad guys, this time in Nepal, in the action thriller sequel Ice Road Vengeance but does he finally hit his target, avoiding another substandard thriller?
November 12, 2025 at 4:44 AM
danmc2.bsky.social
AMERICAN TROUBADOUR: #JeremyAllenWhite takes on the role of a real rock icon in #ScottCooper's #SpringsteenDeliverMeFromNowhere. But how convincing is he as #TheBoss? And what does Pomona also make of the British indie comedy #TheBalladofWallisIsland? loveitinpomona.blogspot.com/2025/11/amer...
Jeremy Allen White takes on the role of US rock icon Bruce Springsteen in the movie 'Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere' but does his performance transcend mere impersonation? Stephen Graham turns in another memorable performance as Bruce Springsteen's father in Scott Cooper's movie 'Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere'. Jeremy Allen White's Bruce Springsteen struggles with balancing a relationship with Odessa Young's single mother Faye Romano and the artistic pressures of making the classic album Nebraska in 'Springsteen Deliver Me From Nowhere'. Tom Basden and Carey Mulligan's indie folk duo McGwyer Mortimer find themselves forced back together by Tim Key's rather enthusiastic fan in the British comedy movie The Ballad of Wallis Island.
November 10, 2025 at 7:56 PM
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HONEY TRAP: As Pomona catches up with Series 5 of #SlowHorses on #AppleTV, do we think the #London #spy series lives up to the high standard of previous series?.. loveitinpomona.blogspot.com/2025/11/the-... #GaryOldman #JackLowden #KristinScottThomas #jonathanpryce #saskiareeves #christopherchung
Gary Oldman's Jackson Lamb will always be a fan favourite in Apple TV's Slow Horses but is Series 5 too reliant on him? In Series 5, Christopher Chung's obnoxious Slough House IT nerd Roddy Ho has a glamourous girlfriend, Hiba Bennani's Tara but are the other Slow Horses right to be suspicious? Kristin Scott Thomas' Diana Taverner bides her time as James Challis' incompetent MI5 boss Claude Whelan ducks and weaves but will she finally ascend to the top job in Series 5 of Slow Horses? Jack Lowden's River Cartwright seems out of sorts in Series 5 of Slow Horses but how does he get out of the scrapes he gets into with Tom Brooke's hoodie wearing loner JK Coe?
November 9, 2025 at 10:32 AM
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THE YEAR OF THE FRENCH: Family trouble brews for #JackLowden's #RiverCartwright in Series 4 of #AppleTV's #SlowHorses. But how does it compare to the previous three series?.. pomonarewind.blogspot.com/2025/11/the-... #GaryOldman #JacjsonLamb #KristinScottThomas #HugoWeaving #jonathanpryce
Gary Oldman's Jackson Lamb continues to run rings around his MI5 bosses while sticking two fingers up to them in Series 4 of Apple TV's espionage series Slow Horses. Family spells trouble in more ways than one for Jack Lowden's MI5 reject River Cartwright in Series 4 of Apple TV's Slow Horses. Hugo Weaving's former CIA operative Frank Harkness proves a formidable enemy for MI5 and the agents of Slough House in the fourth series of Apple TV's Slow Horses. The declining memory of Jonathan Pryce's MI5 legend David Cartwright poses real difficulties for his grandson and former colleagues in the fourth series of Slow Horses on Apple TV.
November 8, 2025 at 10:58 AM
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TURKISH DELIGHT: It takes a certain kind of genius to use a fart aggressively in an #espionage drama but somehow Series 3 of #SlowHorses pulls that off on #AppleTV. Pomona's catch up continues.. pomonarewind.blogspot.com/2025/11/turk... #GaryOldman #JackLowden #KristinScottThomas #jonathanpryce
Gary Oldman is back as MI5 rogue Jackson Lamb in Series 3 of Apple TV's Slow Horses and as gloriously disrespectful as ever. Jack Lowden and Rosalind Elizear's Slough House agents River and Louisa grow closer in Series 3 of Slow Horses but can they put up with the machinations of former colleague Spider? ope Dirisu's UK Embassy Head of Security in Istanbul suspects a colleague of passing on sensitive information in Series 3 of Slow Horses but what happens when his attempt to stop her fails? Kadiff Kirwan's Marcus and Aimee Ffion Edwards' Shirley find themselves in Jackson Lamb's bad books but can they win him back in Series 3 of Slow Horses?
November 7, 2025 at 8:54 AM
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THE OLD ENEMY: The death of a disgraced former comrade brings #JacksonLamb back into facing old enemies. But what does Pomona make of Series Two of #SlowHorses on #AppleTV?.. pomonarewind.blogspot.com/2025/11/the-... #GaryOldman #JackLowden #KristinScottThomas #jonathanpryce #saskiareeves #london
Gary Oldman's Jackson Lamb is back in Apple TV's spy show Slow Horses but how does the second series measure up against TVs first? Kristin Scott Thomas's MI5 Deputy Director Diana Taverner and Freddie Fox's Spider Webb have a back channel to a Russian Opposition leader in Series 2 of Slow Horses but can it be trusted? Dustin Demri-Burns' Min Harper and Rosalind Eleazar's Louisa Guy are coaxed away from Slough House to provide security for a Russian back channel meeting but have concerns in Series 2 of Slow Horses. Gary Oldman's Jackson Lamb and Jack Lowden's River Cartwright continue to barely tolerate each other as the Slow Horses team of MI5 rejects investigate sleeper agents in Series Two of the Apple TV show.
November 6, 2025 at 8:13 AM
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THE STREETS OF LONDON: Pomona is in catch up mode as we review the #AppleTV #spy show #SlowHorses with #GaryOldman #JackLowden & #KristinScottThomas. So how do we rate Series One? pomonarewind.blogspot.com/2025/11/the-... #jonathanpryce #saskiareeves #RosalindEleazar #christopherchung #oliviacooke
Apple TV's Slow Horses with Gary Oldman is a tongue and cheek spy show about a group of intelligence service screw ups who still manage to run rings around their MI5 colleagues. We review Series One. Kristin Scott Thomas' MI5 Deputy Director Diana Taverner funds herself pitted against the screw ups of Slough House in Series One of Slow Horses. Brian Vernel is a fanatical English nationalist who kidnaps an aspiring comedian in the Apple TV series Slow Horses. Gary Oldman turns in a stellar performance as the slovenly but smartest Slow Horse, Jackson Lamb.
November 5, 2025 at 8:13 AM
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DANA INTERNATIONAL: Back for a 3rd series with a #BAFTA in the bag, can the popular #BBC1 #Belfast cop drama #BlueLights continue to build its complex picture of policing in the city and find a level of consistency to rival #Liverpool's #TheResponder?.. loveitinpomona.blogspot.com/2025/11/dana...
Frank Blake returns as Shane Bradley in Series Three of the Belfast cop show Blue Lights but will his tendency to cut corners as a constable come back to bite him? Sian Brooke's Grace Ellis and Martin McCann's Stevie Neil are now officially a couple in the BBC1 cop drama Blue Lights but changes are afoot that alter the way they work and live. Michael Smiley joins the cast in Series Three of Adam Patterson and Declan Lawn's BBC police show Blue Lights but how does he fare as an intelligence officer in the Police Service of Northern Ireland? Mona Lisa actress Cathy Tyson plays a businesswoman behind a new exclusive members club in Belfast in the BBC police show Blue Lights but she is much more menacing than she seems.
November 4, 2025 at 6:48 AM
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TALKING ABOUT A REVOLUTION: With a #film exploring left wing rebels fighting right wing radicals in the US, #PaulThomasAnderson has sparked a lot of debate with #OneBattleAfterAnother. But what does Pomona make of it and the #Olympics story #September5?.. loveitinpomona.blogspot.com/2025/11/talk...
Leonardo DiCaprio finally gets to work with director Paul Thomas Anderson in One Battle After Another but do they pull off one of his best ever screen performances? There have been many great movies about great journalism but where does Tim Fehlbaum's Munich Olympics tale September 5 sit? Teyana Taylor plays a left wing rebel Perfidia Beverly Hills who becomes the obsession of Sean Penn's Colonel Lockjaw in Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another. Peter Sarsgaard is ABC Sports chief Roone Arledge whose team finds itself unexpectedly at the centre of a major news story in the 1972 Olympics drama September 5.
November 3, 2025 at 8:50 AM
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SCREEN TEST: #Oscar winning director #KathrynBigelow puts the prospect of a #nuclear apocalypse back on the agenda in #AHouseofDynamite. But how does it measure up against #RichLee's s21st Century take on #HGWells' #TheWaroftheWorlds on #AmazonPrime?.. loveitinpomona.blogspot.com/2025/10/scre...
Rebecca Ferguson leads an all star cast in Oscar winning director Kathryn Bigelow's nuclear apocalypse drama A House of Dynamite. Ice Cube plays a Homeland Security analyst watching an alien invasion unfold in Rich Lee's 21st Century take on HG Wells' sci-fi classic The War of The Worlds. Gabriel Basso's Deputy National Security Adviser has the weight of the world on his shoulders as a North Korean missile heads to Chicago in the Netflix nuclear apocalypse movie A House of Dynamite. Eva Longoria plays a NASA employee in Amazon Prime's contemporary take on HG Wells' The War of the Worlds.
October 31, 2025 at 8:22 AM
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THE MORAL MAZE: #BradInglesby's #HBO drama #Task with #MarkRuffalo is a taut thriller about people making serious, deadly mistakes. Find out what Pomona made of it and of #Series3 of the #AustralianTV #newsroom drama #TheNewsroom with #AnnaTorv. loveitinpomona.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-...
Mark Ruffalo, Alison Oliver, Thuso Mbedu and Fabien Frankel star in Brad Inglesby's taut Pennsylvanian HBO thriller Task about revenge, biker gangs and wrong choices. Anna Torv returns as Helen Noville in Series 3 of The Newsreader which finds the Australian TV journalist locked in a bitter ratings battle with former colleagues on the News at Six. Tom Pelphrey's garbage collector Robbie Prendergrast gets in way over his head in a series of revenge crimes that go awry in HBO's excellent seven part thriller Task. Sam Reid's News at Six anchor Dale Jennings is riding the crest of a wave at the start of Series 3 of The Newsreader but it doesn't take long to knock him off his perch.
October 27, 2025 at 8:31 AM
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TO HELL AND BACK: #TheLostBus, the #AppleTV+ #movie by director #PaulGreengrass, plunges #MatthewMcConaghey & #AmericaFerrera into a recreation of the 2018 #wildfire that engulfed the town of #Paradise in #California. But does it do the story justice?.. loveitinpomona.blogspot.com/2025/10/to-h...
America Ferrera and Matthew McConaghey navigate Californian wildfires in Paul Greengrass's tale of real life heroism, The Lost Bus on AppleTV+. Matthew McConaghey's school bus driver Kevin McKay navigates a messy family life and a raging inferno in northern California in the Apple TV+ movie The Lost Bus. Two strangers, Matthew McConaghey's bus driver and America Ferrera's elementary schoolteacher are left relying on each other during a perilous road journey in Paul Greengrass's northern Californian wildfire story The Lost Bus. English director Paul Greengrass brings his trademark neorealist cinema style to The Lost Bus, an Apple TV+ true story that is part disaster film and part thrill ride.
October 26, 2025 at 10:05 AM
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ENJOY THE SILENCE: After all the bombast of #HouseofGuinness, is it time for the more muted #comedy of #LeonardandHungryPaul on #BBC2 whicu has #JuliaRoberts as narrator? Or should we stick with the din of #TheDonaldTrumpShow on #Channel4?.. loveitinpomona.blogspot.com/2025/10/enjo... #alexlawther
Alex Lawther and Jamie O'Donnell make the case for the sensitive, nerdy man in BBC2 and RTE's six part comedy Leonard and Hungry Paul. Sometimes the captions just write themselves - First Lady Melania Trump and US President Donald Trump's encounter with the Easter Bunny features in Channel 4's The Donald Trump Show. Lorcan Cranitch and Helen Behan are loving parents in BBC2 and RTE's gentle sitcom Leonard and Hungry Paul but could this be the right time for a more understated brand of sitcom? If you fancy rewatching Elon Musk looking really gauche in the Oval Office, then Channel 4's The Donald Trump Show might be the show for you. But can you be bothered?
October 25, 2025 at 9:55 AM
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BLACK AND WHITE BOYS: Critics outside #Ireland have fawned over it. Critics inside Ireland have lambasted it. So who is right about the recent #Netflix #StevenKnight show #HouseofGuinness?.. loveitinpomona.blogspot.com/2025/10/blac... #Guinness #entertainment #Dublin #AnthonyBoyle #JamesNorton
Gloriously over the top or hideously stereotypical? What does Pomona make of Steven Knight's Netflix Irish period drama House of Guinness?. James Norton's putting on his top hat and polishing his Dublin accent in Netflix's House of Guinness but is it one of his best screen performances? Niamh McCormack is a feisty young Irish rebel in House of Guinness but how convincing is writer Steven Knight's crafting of her character Ellen Cochrane and the other female characters? Jack Gleason plays a twinkly eyed, silver tongued fixer in House of Guinness but is his performance a bit too much Kellogg's Lucky Charms?
October 23, 2025 at 10:30 AM
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NEVER MIND THE BOLL**KS: The inspirational story of #Scotsman #JohnDavidson and his role in raising awareness of #Tourettes syndrome is told in #KirkJones #ISwear. But does the film laugh at or laugh with sufferers?.. loveitinpomona.blogspot.com/2025/10/neve... #richardaramayo #film #maxinepeake
Richard Aramayo portrays John Davidson in Kirk Jones' movie I Swear about the Scotsman's pivotal role in raising awareness of Tourette's Syndrome. Maxine Peake plays a mental health nurse with a big heart on Kirk Jones' I Swear. Peter Mullan's caretaker Tommy Trotter takes Richard Aramayo's Tourettes sufferer John Davidson under his wing in I Swear - a film that celebrates empathy and kindness. John Davidson received an MBE from Queen Elizabeth II in Edinburgh but, as the movie I Swear depicts, his struggle with Tourettes Syndrome was also to the fore.
October 17, 2025 at 8:04 AM
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Did you watch Episode 3 of Series 3 of #BlueLights last night? What did you think? Check out the Slugger O'Toole review of the Episode. sluggerotoole.com/2025/10/13/t...
October 14, 2025 at 7:47 AM
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LA DEE DA, LA DEE DA: As the world of #cinema adjusts to the passing of #DianeKeaton at the age of 79, Pomona remembers a versatile actress whose iconic screen collaborations with #WoodyAllen #AlPacino #GoldieHawn and others in #films will be treasured.. pomonarewind.blogspot.com/2025/10/la-d...
Diane Keaton captured a Best Actress Oscar with her kooky performance in Woody Allen's Annie Hall. Diane Keaton starred in The Little Drummer Girl, a big screen adaptation of a John Lewis Carre tale about the Israeli Palestinian conflict. Diane Keaton's CV included many Hollywood comedy hits like The Father of The Bride with Steve Martin and Martin Short. As Kay in The Godfather trilogy, Diane Keaton provided a moral touchstone that exposed the depths plumbed by Al Pacino's Michael Corleone.
October 13, 2025 at 7:58 AM
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Did you watch Episode 2 of Series 3 of #BlueLights last night? See if you agree with the @sluggerotoolepols.bsky.social review.. sluggerotoole.com/2025/10/06/f...
Four Dimensional Chess
After last week’s riproaring start to the third season of ‘Blue Lights,’ how did Episode Two fare? Before we find out, a quick reminder that as with reviews of episodes of previous series of ‘Blue Lig...
sluggerotoole.com
October 7, 2025 at 6:41 PM
Reposted by Dan McGinn
danmc2.bsky.social
DROWNING MEN: With #director #TimMielants and #CillianMurphy teaming up again on the #Netflix #movie #Steve, see why Pomona is enchanted by the English reform school #drama and also by the #StevenSoderbergh #spy #thriller #BlackBag.. loveitinpomona.blogspot.com/2025/09/drow...
Cillian Murphy teams up with the director Tim Mielants again for the blistering English reform school movie Steve. Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender are a British spy couple at the centre of efforts to unmask a traitor in Steven Soderbergh's espionage thriller Black Bag. Tracey Ullman rises to the occasion with a supporting performance of real substance opposite Gillian Murphy in Netflix's Steve. Naomie Harris and Rege Jean Page are just two of the famous faces that pop up in Steven Soderbergh's star studded, twisty British spy tale Black Bag.
September 28, 2025 at 9:19 AM
Reposted by Dan McGinn
danmc2.bsky.social
SHOWBIZ BABY!: #SpikeLee & #DenzelWashington are back together again for a #music industry #thriller #Highest2Lowest. But what does Pomona make of this & another #showbiz tale #JasonReitman's #SNL movie #SaturdayNight?.. loveitinpomona.blogspot.com/2025/09/show... #cinema #newyork #comedy #rap
Denzel Washington plays a music industry legend caught in a ransom situation in Spike Lee's thriller Highest 2 Lowest. Jason Reitman's Saturday Night focuses on the behind the scenes chaos before the airing of the first episode of NBC's comic institution Saturday Night Live. ASAP Rocky goes toe to toe with Denzel Washington when it comes to verbally sparring in Spike Lee's New York music industry action thriller Highest 2 Lowest on Apple TV+. Nicholas Braun's Andy Kaufman chats to Finn Wolfhard's NBC studio tour guide in the SNL movie Saturday Night.
September 21, 2025 at 10:35 PM
Reposted by Dan McGinn
danmc2.bsky.social
MAKING THE CUT: Two #films from either side of the Irish Sea, #BrendanCanty's #Cork coming of age #drama #Christy and #MikeLeigh's #London tale #HardTruths explore the harsh realities of life. Why are they must sees?.. loveitinpomona.blogspot.com/2025/09/maki... #realism #cinema #movies
Brendan Canty's touching Cork coming of age movie Christy sees Danny Power's eponymous hero struggling to keep on the straight and narrow. Marianne Jean Baptiste teams up again with veteran English director Mike Leigh as an angry middle aged mum in the London drama Hard Truths, now on Netflix in the UK. Diarmuid Noyes is Shane, the brother of the eponymous hero of the Irish movie Christy - a realist drama that bucks expectations. Tuwaine Barrett and David Webber are the son and father Moses and Curtley dealing with a mother and wife's rage in Mike Leigh's appropriately titled Hard Truths.
September 7, 2025 at 5:59 AM
Reposted by Dan McGinn
danmc2.bsky.social
HOME TRUTHS: #RichardOsman's popular sleuth book #thethursdaymuderclub has hit the screen with #HelenMirren #PierceBrosnan #BenKingsley & #CeliaImrie. But is a host of famous #British & #Irish acting faces in the #Netflix film enough to win us over?.. loveitinpomona.blogspot.com/2025/08/home...
Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley & Celia Imrie put their heads together to solve crimes in Chris Columbus' sleuth movie for Netflix, The Thursday Murder Club. Naomi Ackie and Daniel Mays plays cops on the case of a murdered retirement home owner but can they stay two steps ahead of the senior citizen sleuths in Netflix's The Thursday Murder Club? David Tennant's greedy retirement home owner tries to recruit Henry Lloyd-Hughes' Polish labourer to his cause in Chris Columbus' Netflix murder mystery The Thursday Murder Club. Jonathan Pryce's chess fanatic Stephen Best wrestles with dementia in Netflix's adaptation of Richard Osman's popular murder mystery novel The Thursday Murder Club.
August 30, 2025 at 9:20 AM
Reposted by Dan McGinn
danmc2.bsky.social
RUNNING DOWN THE CLOCK: Season Four of #TheBear finds the show back on top form. But could it be the best season yet of the #Disney+ #Hulu #Chicago #comedy #drama?.. loveitinpomona.blogspot.com/2025/07/runn... #jeremyallenwhite #ayoedebiri #ebonmossbachrach #abbyelliott #LizaColonZayas #LionelBoyce
Jeremy Allen White's Carmy Berzatto and Ayo Edebiri's Sydney Adamu are back in the kitchen in Season Four of The Bear but can they stand the heat? Ebon Moss-Bachrach's Richie Jerimovich always seems five seconds away from a breakdown even when he's on top in The Bear but does he crack in Season Four? Abby Elliott's Natalie Berzatto has a new mouth to feed in Season Four of The Bear but can she also help keep her brother's Chicago fine dining restaurant afloat? Danielle Deadwyler is just one of the guest stars who shine in Season Four of the Chicago culinary comedy drama The Bear.
July 14, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Reposted by Dan McGinn
danmc2.bsky.social
STRAIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE: #AppleTV has banked on a #golf sitcom starring #OwenWilson but does #Stick make the cut?.. loveitinpomona.blogspot.com/2025/07/stra... #petedager #pga #mariatrevino #lillikay #marcmaron #keeganbradley #collinmorikawa #wyndhamclark #maxhoma #timothyolyphant
Owen Wilson and Peter Dager share a moment of glory in the golf sitcom Stick. Lilli Kay, Marina Trevino, Judy Greer and Marc Maron round out the supporting cast in Apple TV Plus's Stick. After years in the doldrums, Owen Wilson's former PGA Tour pro Pryce Cahill gets a new lease of life in the Apple TV plus comedy drama Stick. Collin Morikawa is one of the famous golfing faces that appear in the first season of the Apple TV Plus comedy drama Stick.
July 27, 2025 at 1:10 PM