Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
WILLY’S WONDERLAND
Cert 15 ★★★
Shine are set to announce details of a very special weekend takeover in Amsterdam in September. The weekend of September 3-6 will see the iconic Belfast club descend on Amsterdam’s gleaming party culture for an unforgettable few days in a new party destination. We’ll bring you the full details, including the first details of the huge acts that will be playing, in next week’s column!
Creators of those ‘crazy Nicolas Cage’ montages on Youtube may feel a little short-changed by his latest B-movie. Willy’s Wonderland is as unhinged as anything Cage has done since that well-publicised battle with the taxman.
But this time, he’s been ordered to keep a tight lid on his trademark animal noises and blood-splattered gurning. Here, the Best Actor Oscar winner of 1996 (it feels a lot longer ago) remains frustratingly silent as an ice-cool and seemingly mute drifter who lands a job as a janitor in an abandoned, haunted, animal-themed family restaurant and arcade.
However, as Cage’s unnamed character sweeps up, chugs cans of a fictional soft drink called Punch and tries to beat his high score on pinball, the restaurant’s human-sized animatronic creatures whirr into life.
As he wages war on them, watching Cage batter a giant mechanical ostrich to death is just as entertaining as it sounds.
Beth Grant’s local sheriff gets some funny lines, Cage’s unflappable swagger is darkly amusing and the camp violence is energetically staged. But, by the time we get to the big baddie, the titular demonic weasel Willy, the novelty has begun to wear off.
THE LGFA has announced the TG4 Player of the Year nominees from the 2020 Championships.
Having starred as Dublin completed the four-ina-row, Blues pair Sinead Goldrick and Carla Rowe have been nominated for the senior award along with Armagh’s Aimee Mackin.
The shortlist for the intermediate award comprises Westmeath’s Fiona Claffey along with Meath duo Emma Duggan and Vikki Wall.
Junior champions Fermanagh have earned two of the three nominations at that grade through Joanne Doonan and Eimear Smyth, who are joined by Meadhbh Deeney.
It has also been confirmed a special TV show will be aired on TG4 on Saturday, February 27 to honour the Teams of the Year from the 2020
Armagh’s Aimee Mackin Championships and the Player of the Year winners, while the Goal of the Year will also be revealed on the night.
Commenting on the upcoming show, LGFA president Marie Hickey said: “We are very much looking forward to ‘Peil na mban – Foirne na Bliana – le AIG Insurance’ – and to celebrate the very best of the 2020 TG4 All-ireland Championships.
“Considering the extraordinary year it was, and the condensed nature of our Championships, we were nevertheless treated to some wonderful football and memorable Championships.
“Thankfully, we managed to complete our Championships, and when you consider the lengths players went to, to represent their counties, we believe it is right to acknowledge the efforts of our inter-county stars in all three grades.”