Brian Bowe
@brian-bowe.bsky.social
professional word wrangler •Words: Sight & Sound | LWLies | RTÉ •Editor: HeadStuff •Portfolio: http://bquinn.contently.com
Thanks to everyone who came to the Dublin launch of my new #poetry collection over the weekend 📚 A shout-out as well to Louisa & Maurice at @booksupstairs.bsky.social; to Tom Walker of TCD English for his generous introduction; and to Chris & the crew at @irishpages.bsky.social for all their work 📚
I'm firmly in the nae camp on DIGGER, a two-hour shouting match that subverts its own attempts at satire with obnoxious hollering and pretentious filmmaking. Cruise tries to make it work while Iñárritu tries his audience's patience. My @headstuff.bsky.social review: headstuff.org/entertainmen...
Digger Movie Review | Cruise Chews The Scenery In Iñárritu’s Insufferable Farce - HeadStuff
Philip Bagnall reviews Alejandro Iñárritu’s chaotic farce Digger, starring Tom Cruise and satire which struggles to find its footing
headstuff.org
Today we’re Crying at the Movies with Box Office Supervisor Emma Flynn. Last Cinema Cry? BLUE HERON @ Light House Cinema “I saw it on my own, and there wasn’t a dry eye among the 30 or so other people at that screening” 👉 Read Emma’s full piece here: reelfeels.substack.com/p/crying-at-...
Ciarán always delivers the goods! Delighted to be publishing his work.
Ciarán O'Rourke@corourke91.bsky.social · 2mo agoReviewed some movies recently (with thanks as always to @brian-bowe.bsky.social & Sarah Cullen) 🎬 'Manhunter' headstuff.org/entertainmen... 'The Invite' headstuff.org/entertainmen... 'The Death of Robin Hood' headstuff.org/entertainmen... 'The Devil Wears Prada' headstuff.org/entertainmen...
Today we're Crying at the Movies with Charlie Kendellen. ✍️ Charlie is a writer and film journalist, with bylines including The University Observer and HeadStuff. Last Cinema Cry? THE SHEEP DETECTIVES Read her full piece here 👉 open.substack.com/pub/reelfeel...
Today we're Crying at the Movies with Charlie Kendellen. ✍️ Charlie is a writer and film journalist, with bylines including The University Observer and HeadStuff. Last Cinema Cry? THE SHEEP DETECTIVES Read her full piece here 👉 open.substack.com/pub/reelfeel...
I’m back in print @sightsoundmag.bsky.social So glad to be featured in such a jam-packed issue. Available on newsstands now. Quick, huff up that new print smell while it’s still fresh!!
Laurie Anderson with Sex Mob at Dublin’s National Concert Hall last night. Part concert, part sermon, with an encore consisting of a Tai Chi workshop. Very fun.
For RTÉ, I wrote about the dying art of human curation and the legacy of NO DISCO, the late-night music show that threw a lifeline to a generation of Irish indie heads back in the 90s. Blessed are the tastemakers!! www.rte.ie/culture/2026...
RTÉ Cult Classics: How No Disco reshaped Irish music TV
Watching clips of No Disco (1993-2003) today, at a time when our music choices are at the mercy of almighty streaming algorithms, I'm reminded of the dying art of curation.
rte.ie
For RTÉ, I wrote about the dying art of human curation and the legacy of NO DISCO, the late-night music show that threw a lifeline to a generation of Irish indie heads back in the 90s. Blessed are the tastemakers!! www.rte.ie/culture/2026...
RTÉ Cult Classics: How No Disco reshaped Irish music TV
Watching clips of No Disco (1993-2003) today, at a time when our music choices are at the mercy of almighty streaming algorithms, I'm reminded of the dying art of curation.
rte.ie
RIP Tony Rayns. One of my favourite cinema experiences was spending an afternoon @irishfilminstitute.bsky.social in front of Rayns and Tsai Ming-liang for EAFFI 2019 (@eastasiaffirl.bsky.social), as seen in this blurry photo below. Rayns was full of wisdom and warmth, passion and curiosity.
RIP Tony Rayns, superlative scholar of southeast asian cinema (and so much more) and an expert, lucid communicator of his passions. A TR bluray extra always worth the price of the disc. Seek out his Visions series where he was doing his trademark deepdives on Asian cinema for C4 in the early 80s.
Today we're Crying at the Movies with photographer and writer Alex Sinclair. Last Cinema Cry? SOUND OF METAL @irishfilminstitute.bsky.social Read Alex's full piece 👉 reelfeels.substack.com/p/crying-at-...
Had a good time with NIRVANNA THE BAND THE SHOW THE MOVIE. Consistently hilarious, even if it works a bit too hard to play down its smarts. I can laugh at dumb and smart; we don't have to choose! My review: headstuff.org/entertainmen...
Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie movie review | Comfortably Dumb - HeadStuff
Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie could be cleverer but is as funny as required, according to Philip Bagnall.
headstuff.org
“Wilde’s method may be to lob one hurricane of hilarity after another … but tilt your head slightly, and The Invite comes to resemble a meditation on how and why different sorts of sadness manifest themselves” THE INVITE review ✍️ Ciarán O’Rourke 🍿 Out Friday headstuff.org/entertainmen...
The Invite movie review | Olivia Wilde brings heart and hilarity to fizzy sex comedy - HeadStuff
Ciaran O'Rourke reviews The Invite, Olivia Wilde's raucous sex comedy starring Ed Norton, Seth Rogen and Penélope Cruz
headstuff.org
I’m back in print @sightsoundmag.bsky.social So glad to be featured in such a jam-packed issue. Available on newsstands now. Quick, huff up that new print smell while it’s still fresh!!
Hi friends! I'm back on RTÉ saluting one of the most cherished TV shows in all of Irish television: HANDS, a series that “conjured an hypnotic spectacle out of the minutiae of clean country living. Slow but never dull, at once earthy and ethereal.” www.rte.ie/culture/2026...
RTÉ Cult TV Classics: Hands celebrated Ireland's crafts & customs
Think you know a blackberry stitch from a herringbone weave, the four Bs of beekeeping, or how to trap an eel using a handful of twigs? No worries if not – with this show, you'll be an old hand in no ...
rte.ie
Hi friends! I'm back on RTÉ saluting one of the most cherished TV shows in all of Irish television: HANDS, a series that “conjured an hypnotic spectacle out of the minutiae of clean country living. Slow but never dull, at once earthy and ethereal.” www.rte.ie/culture/2026...
RTÉ Cult TV Classics: Hands celebrated Ireland's crafts & customs
Think you know a blackberry stitch from a herringbone weave, the four Bs of beekeeping, or how to trap an eel using a handful of twigs? No worries if not – with this show, you'll be an old hand in no ...
rte.ie
A look at my painting for the official Pee-wee Herman group art show :) Opening tonight at Preacher Gallery in Austin!
Today we’re Crying at the Movies with writer-director David Prendeville! Last Cinema Cry? CRIES AND WHISPERS @irishfilminstitute.bsky.social "This is a film that feels wrought from the most anguished corners of the soul” Read David’s full piece 👉 reelfeels.substack.com/p/crying-at-...
New work alert ✍️ Pick up the new Sight & Sound issue and you’ll find my scribbles on Seán Dunn’s feature debut,The Fall of Sir Douglas Weatherford (spoiler alert: it’s pretty good!) + my Welsh-language cinema highlights.
Sight and Sound magazine@sightsoundmag.bsky.social · 4mo agoNEW ISSUE! 🤖 21st century sci-fi special 🚀 Featuring new writing by Michael Atkinson, Jeff VanderMeer, Emily Inkpen, Sophie Mackintosh and more 🖋 Cover artwork by Butcher Billy 🎨 Get your copy now from the BFI Shop shop.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-so... See what's inside www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-so...
New work alert ✍️ Pick up the new Sight & Sound issue and you’ll find my scribbles on Seán Dunn’s feature debut,The Fall of Sir Douglas Weatherford (spoiler alert: it’s pretty good!) + my Welsh-language cinema highlights.
Sight and Sound magazine@sightsoundmag.bsky.social · 4mo agoNEW ISSUE! 🤖 21st century sci-fi special 🚀 Featuring new writing by Michael Atkinson, Jeff VanderMeer, Emily Inkpen, Sophie Mackintosh and more 🖋 Cover artwork by Butcher Billy 🎨 Get your copy now from the BFI Shop shop.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-so... See what's inside www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-so...
DISCLOURE DAY sees Spielberg reaching to the skies again to show the best of us here on Earth. The sincerity of A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, with the anxiety of MINORITY REPORT. Kinda baffling, but brilliant. TENET meets THE EXORCIST; what’s not to love? My review: headstuff.org/entertainmen...
Disclosure Day movie review | Spielberg’s Sci-Fi Return Is A Religious Experience - HeadStuff
Philip Bagnall reviews Disclosure Day, a new sci-fi conspiracy thriller from Steven Spielberg, starring Emily Blunt and Josh O'Connor
headstuff.org
“Some of my friends spend five years trying to get a film made and getting the green light, but I just think, ‘Fuck it; go on red!’” Philip has brought back many gems from Cannes, the shiniest of which can be found in his marvellous chat with film-maker/-historian/-crusader Mark Cousins. Enjoy!
Philip Bagnall@cynicalfilm.bsky.social · 5mo agoHad a wonderful chat with Mark Cousins, he of the mellifluous voice and boundless knowledge of cinema. We met at #Cannes, where he presented his latest documentary, which is ironically about the history of documentary film. If only more cinephiles were this assured: headstuff.org/entertainmen...
Favourite first-time watches of May 2026: • Night of the Juggler (1980) • The Wyrm of Bwlch Pen Barras (2023) • Maîtresse (1975) • Jean de Florette (1986)
“Some of my friends spend five years trying to get a film made and getting the green light, but I just think, ‘Fuck it; go on red!’” Philip has brought back many gems from Cannes, the shiniest of which can be found in his marvellous chat with film-maker/-historian/-crusader Mark Cousins. Enjoy!
Philip Bagnall@cynicalfilm.bsky.social · 5mo agoHad a wonderful chat with Mark Cousins, he of the mellifluous voice and boundless knowledge of cinema. We met at #Cannes, where he presented his latest documentary, which is ironically about the history of documentary film. If only more cinephiles were this assured: headstuff.org/entertainmen...
LWLies 16: The Persepolis issue RIP to the great Marjane Satrapi
