Latest news with #DannyBoyle
Irish Examiner
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Irish Examiner view: It's not just sci-fi — the future may be all about being good with your hands
The new zombie-fest from film director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland, 28 Years Later, has a number of rib-tickling, if far-fetched, jokes at the expense of our next-door neighbour. Who could possibly believe that it would be a good idea to place Britain into perpetual quarantine? But amid the black humour and the gore — Cork's Cillian Murphy will feel right at home when he returns to his original franchise in the second and third parts of the trilogy — there are a number of discerning pointers about what the future might hold for humankind, notwithstanding rampaging legions of 'The Infected' carrying the 'rage virus'. We are given insight into some of the employment opportunities of the future. While many people in 2025 seem to dream of becoming influencers or top sports people, these prospects appear to be fairly thin on the ground in this new world, unless the ability to run away very fast can be considered an important new life skill. Much more prized and celebrated abilities, according to hand-drawn posters on the schoolroom walls in the movie, are talents which were once ubiquitous in our society until technology took over. Children are urged to consider a career as a herdsman, or a shepherd. Job opportunities exist for those who are capable in scavenging and foraging. People who can carry out a few running repairs are highly prized. There are even vacancies for a role which is little advertised these days — that of nightwatchman. The thought that what we need to carry ourselves through the next 30 years are old-fashioned techniques and experience presented itself this week when the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) fretted about the shortfall of the 40,000 construction workers we need to make a dent in the growing backlog of housing completions. This acknowledgement that we have been encouraging young people to look in the wrong place for the wrong jobs coincided with yesterday's news that a record 15,747 people — 4,844 of them children — were in emergency accommodation at the end of May. For more than a score of years, youngsters have been urged to master technology as a route to a more rewarding and secure future, but even that golden opportunity now looks more fragile with the speedy roll-out of AI which has begun by consuming the kind of starter jobs that many new entrants to industry needed to give them early experience and a chance to build networking skills. 'Tsunami of job cuts as AI empowers Big Tech,' said one trade magazine this week. Other report illustrates how video game developers — one of the high job satisfaction meal tickets across the past two decades — are struggling with the impact of generative AI upon their work and their career prospects. Two weeks ago, the Irish Examiner published a challenging insight on the influence of AI on our college campuses — and the grades of students — in the Diary of a Gen Z Student column provided by Jane Cowan. She wrote: 'The feeling that 'you'd be stupid not to use AI' is very real, particularly when you see people walking away with high grades that they didn't really work for.' If everyone has an unearned advantage, then no one has an advantage. And if thought processes can be so easily reproduced, we may indeed find that the key jobs go to those who can solve practical problems, and work with their hands. A real example of going back to the future. End of the free ride for cycling coverage There will be many among us this morning who rise to watch the British and Irish Lions begin their antipodean campaign at 11am in the Optus Stadium in Perth, Western Australia, under the guidance of Ireland's favourite Englishman, Andy Farrell. Ireland's Stephen Roche celebrates after winning the 1987 Tour de France. After this year's Tour, the event will no longer be free to air. File picture: Billy Stickland/Inpho And each and every one of us will be familiar with the proposition that our rugby is made available from behind a paywall. If we want to watch the nine-match tour, then fans must stump up for Sky Sports, or join friends in a bar or sports club. There are very few blue riband events which are free to air these days and it's sad to note another — the Tour de France which starts from Lille on July 5 — will be disappearing after this year's race. It's an event which has provided glorious moments over the past four decades of television coverage including the 1987 triumph of Dundrum's Stephen Roche and the green jerseys of Waterford's Stephen Kelly. In a competition which has always been visually exciting and which has taught us a host of new words — not least the meaning of peloton — it was inevitable that the growth of cycling would eventually command a large worldwide audience ready to be 'monetised". We will be sorry to see it roll off our screens on the final day in Paris on July 27, but many of us will become poursuivant, chasing our annual fix of a sport which can be rough, tough, and chic all at once. What's your view on this issue? You can tell us here Appetite for apocalyptic news is falling There used to be a marketing slogan favoured by some publishers which told readers that spending time with their newspaper was 'like a friend dropping in'. This conjured up a convivial picture of happy occasions spent around the family fire, perhaps with a cup of tea, exchanging and debating the news of the day or the week. Until, someone archly observed, the 'friend' became more prone to delivering tidings of a gloomily depressing nature: Crime reports, political scandals, economic shocks, accidents and disasters, a catalogue of human failures and failings. They, and their diet of despair, were not as welcome then. And increasingly less so, if we are to accept the conclusions of the always interesting Reuters digital report which maps the tastes, responses, and conclusions of readers and news consumers around the world. The findings of the 2025 Reuters digital report show that, while overall trust in news has remained stable at 40% globally, news avoidance is higher than ever. Across markets, four in 10 people say they sometimes or often avoid the news, up from 29% in 2017. The figure for Ireland — which recorded its biggest ever increase last year, up 10 points to 44% — drops back to 41%, comparable with the US and Canada, and behind Britain. The reasons for avoiding news may seem achingly familiar. Some 39% of respondents said the news has a negative effect on their mood, while 31% say the volume 'wears them out'. A similar number, 30%, say there is too much coverage of war and conflict and 29% feel the same about politics. One in five people say there is 'nothing they can do with the information', while 18% say that it leads to 'arguments they would rather avoid'. Of course it is easy to see, through even a cursory check of today's Irish Examiner and its related supplements, that there are many examples of happy and positive coverage. But it can seem that the devil, while not possessing the best tunes, certainly has some of the loudest. 'Humankind cannot bear very much reality,' wrote TS Eliot in Burnt Norton, one of his Four Quartets, an observation validated by the latest Reuters' findings. One of the striking features of the past 10 years has been the increasing role of influencers and podcasters in the news ecosystem, and several prominent examples are name-checked in the report: The Joe Rogan Experience, the Tucker Carlson Podcast, Candace Owens. On the weekend that RTÉ broadcaster Joe Duffy signed off Liveline after 27 years, we can acknowledge his place in a lineage of Irish anchors who have had significant impact, and built large followings, over the years. The ability to deliver the news with a helping of personal spice and perspective is a characteristic in demand, although not everyone believes it is the future. In a telling interview earlier this month Mathias Döpfner, CEO and co-proprietor of the expansionist Axel Springer empire — which includes Politico, BILD, and Die Welt — warned that one of the reasons people lose trust in the media is because many reporters confuse journalism for activism, telling us what the world should look like and ignoring inconvenient news. This is a dangerous dilemma for newspapers and digital news providers. Trust, and its vital partner, credibility, once lost, cannot be recovered. Read More Irish Examiner view: Ireland needs immigrants to help address our labour shortage
Geek Tyrant
18 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
Alex Garland Reveals The Original Very Different Story Idea For 28 YEARS LATER — GeekTyrant
Before 28 Days Later became the haunting, emotional, and feverishly intense and wild film that we got, it was something else entirely, something much different. According to screenwriter Alex Garland, that original idea probably would've tanked the franchise. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Garland opened up about a very early concept for the long-awaited third film in the rage-virus saga. Let's just say, if things had gone that route, we wouldn't be talking about 28 Years Later like we are right now. 'I had a version of this story that was basically a big, dumb action movie,' Garland admitted. The story would've followed a group of Chinese Special Forces soldiers who break quarantine and sneak into the U.K. to find the lab where the virus started hoping to find a cure. But when they arrive, another group is already there... trying to weaponize it. 'It was completely and utterly f***ing generic,' Garland said. 'Shootouts and mass attacks and big, action-adventure-style set pieces.' Oh, and it would've been entirely in Mandarin with English subtitles. Danny Boyle, his longtime creative partner, didn't exactly embrace the idea. 'He just laughed,' Garland recalled, adding that they both eventually tried to rework it, but 'finally, we both gave up on it.' Still, the process wasn't a total loss. Garland said: 'Writing something so generic was the freeing element to all of our problems. It gave us permission to have a totally blank slate.' That 'blank slate' gave way to the film we eventually got, which is a movie that builds on the legacy of the original without trying to imitate it. It centers on a father and son (played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Alfie Williams) who leave their isolated island and reenter a U.K. that has mutated with the virus—both biologically and psychologically. The infected have evolved. The recation has been divisive, but I loved it! I liked the big swings that it took and enjoyed what it ultimtely delivered. It also got me super excited about The Bone Temple . It's kind of a small miracle we got this version instead of the Mandarin-language military shoot-'em-up. Sure, Garland's scrapped idea could've made for something interesting, but it's clear the soul of the 28 Days universe lies in something more grounded, personal, disturbing, and bonkers. It's certinaly not a generic film!
Digital Trends
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Digital Trends
3 great free movies to stream this weekend (June 27-29)
Make a terrifying zombie movie, and people will come. Danny Boyle's 28 Years Later managed to scare its way to the top of the domestic box office last weekend. This weekend belongs to race cars, as F1 speeds into theaters. Early reviews have praised the Brad Pitt-led action flick, which should be one of the biggest movies of the summer. After navigating the treacherous races in F1, slow down, grab a seat on the couch, and stream a free movie on a FAST service. That is not a typo. FAST services like Pluto and Tubi are free. Once you sign up, fire up one of our recommendations below. Recommended Videos We also have guides to the best new movies to stream, the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on Max, and the best movies on Disney+. The Purge (2013) 12 years ago this month, James DeMonaco introduced a dystopian United States in The Purge. After an economic collapse, the New Founding Fathers of America bring order to the U.S. and implement the Purge. For 12 hours, all crime, including murder, is legal. While the poor have nowhere to hide, the wealthy have impenetrable security systems to protect themselves from anarchy. When the son of James Sandin (Ethan Hawke) disarms his house's security system, they become the targets of a radical group looking to commit murder. The Purge has obvious political undertones, but when it shifts to a home-invasion thriller, the movie finds its groove. Stream The Purge on Tubi. Days of Thunder (1990) Tom Cruise is a master of generating headlines. While attending the F1 premiere, talks of a Days of Thunder sequel began to permeate. Director Joseph Kosinski even suggested a crossover between Days of Thunder and F1. Cruise is not even in F1, and he somehow inserted himself into the story. He's a true one-of-one. With a sequel in development, there's no better time like the present to watch Days of Thunder. Cruise plays Cole Trickle, a cocky NASCAR driver who suffers a devastating injury. With the help of a doctor (Nicole Kidman) and his rival (Michael Rooker), Cole gets back on track to race in the Daytona 500. Days of Thunder isn't perfect, but Tony Scott's fast-paced and boisterous action movie is ideal popcorn entertainment. Stream Days of Thunder on Pluto TV. Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) If the Terminator himself said it, then it must be true. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently said that Terminator Salvation is the worst movie in the franchise. The most underrated of the bunch is Terminator: Dark Fate. 25 years after T2, a state-of-the-art Terminator (Gabriel Luna) is sent to 2020 to kill Dani Ramos (Natalia Reyes), a young girl who will affect the future. To counter the Terminator, the Resistance sends an augmented soldier named Grace (Mackenzie Davis) to protect Dani. Director Tim Miller stages gritty action sequences in this vastly underappreciated thriller. Having Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, and James Cameron doesn't hurt either. Stream Terminator: Dark Fate on Pluto TV.
Wall Street Journal
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Wall Street Journal
Hollywood Is Having a Boy-Mom Moment
In '28 Years Later,' the new zombie movie from director Danny Boyle, the undead all but disappear for a pivotal stretch toward the end of the film. That's when it becomes a five-hankie movie about a boy grappling with his mom's mortality. 'It sets out as everybody wants it to, with lots of male action and bonding, and then it begins to shift,' said Boyle. 'There's a spiritual thing that his mother teaches him.'
CNET
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- CNET
'28 Weeks Later' Is in Netflix's Top 10 but Not in the US. Here's Where You Can Stream It
Every week, Netflix unveils its Top 10 lists for the week before, ranking TV shows and movies by viewership. It seems like the whole world had been preparing for the release of the zombie horror, 28 Years Later, by watching its predecessor, 28 Weeks Later, on Netflix. Actually, when I say "the whole world," I mean places that are not the US. That's because while 28 Weeks Later ranked No. 8 in Netflix's Top 10 films for the week of June 16, its thanks to viewers in 36 other countries. The film is not actually available to stream on the platform in the States. Don't worry, though. If you're itching to watch raging zombies terrorize a bunch of British people, you can catch 28 Weeks Later on Hulu and Disney Plus. (And after years of not being able to stream the 2002 film that started it all, 28 Days Later, you can now watch it free on Pluto TV.) 28 Weeks Later, which came out in 2007, is the follow-up to 28 Days Later. While Boyle, Murphy and the rest of the original cast didn't return for the film, Alex Garland was a producer. The sequel picks up six months after the events of the first movie, 28 Days Later. Directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland, it stars Cillian Murphy as Jim, a bike messenger who awakens from a coma to discover that London has been decimated by a rage virus that has wiped out much of the population and threatens the remaining survivors. Each film in the series depicts the aftermath of the viral outbreak that's turning people into homicidal rage monsters known as "the infected" (a.k.a. killer zombies). 28 Years Later has earned a lot of hype thanks to the reunion of its collaborators, director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland, and the fact that it's been in development for over a decade. While Boyle wasn't involved with 28 Weeks Later (Garland produced it but it was directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, who co-wrote the script with Rowan Joffé, Enrique López Lavigne and Jesus Olmo), the film has an impressive cast that includes Jeremy Renner, Rose Byrne, Robert Carlyle and Idris Elba, all fighting for their lives as a new batch of zombies assails them in the English countryside. I'll let you debate which film is superior; it's a hot topic online and with the third film out now, everyone has their own rankings. If you haven't caught 28 Years Later in the theater yet, now you can make a whole week of it and catch the entire trilogy in order. You might as well, considering there's at least one more film in the series on its way -- 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is slated for theatrical release next January.
