Norman Invasion: Paranorman

Directed by Chris Butler and Sam Fell. Featuring the voices of Kodi Smit-McPhee, Anna Kendrick, Casey Affleck, Jeff Garlin, John Goodman, Bernard Hill.

Roe McDermott, 13 Sep 2012

Though stop-motion is losing favour faster than Aaron Sorkin, production studio Laika shows us some art forms are worth fighting for. The story of a little boy who can see dead people, ParaNorman – like its last feature Coraline – is utterly endearing. It does have creepy moments, though, and very young children may be frightened.

Voiced by Let Me In’s Kodi Smit-McPhee (no stranger to creep himself), young Norman, like all the best heroes, is an outsider. Bullied at school and on the receiving end of cutting comments from his acerbic sister (a brilliantly biting Anna Kendrick), he spends his time watching horror movies and hanging out with his grandmother. His dead grandmother. When the living have all failed him, what cares Norman for a pulse if he’s finally found a friend?

As Norman is recruited to stop a zombie invasion, ParaNorman reveals itself to be a rare beast: a film about genuine heroism.

Roe McDermott

Star of television’s Raw, Ripper Street and new film Jump, Charlene McKenna talks crazed fans, her run of creepy parts and the decision to quit her best-loved role...

2013-05-07 - Interview

It could have been another gloopy cancer drama. Instead, Death of a Superhero is a moving meditation on sickness and mortality – starring Gollum from Lord of the Rings!

2013-04-29 - Reports

Kerry native Gerard Barrett has received international acclaim for his tale of the loneliness and longing that plagues a bachelor farmer in rural Ireland. The IFTA’s Rising Star tells Roe McDermott about convincing country folk he could be a filmmaker, and how loneliness is understood everywhere...

2013-04-23 - Interview

Ang Lee’s movie adaptation of Life Of Pi is a thing of rare beauty...

2013-04-12 - Reports

Four decades after Terri Hooley founded a music store and record label in conflict-torn Belfast, his story has finally been brought to the big screen. Hooley tells Roe McDermott all about becoming Northern Ireland’s Godfather of Punk...

2013-04-08 - Interview

Compliance, the new film by director Craig Zobel - which examines a strip search scam that happened over seventy times across the US - has proved hugely controversial, with some accusing it of the exploitation it seeks to highlight. Roe McDermott meets Zobel to discuss one of the year’s most divisive movies...

2013-03-26 - Interview

Corkman Cillian Murphy is one of the most uncompromising talents in Irish acting. He’s won acclaim for his turns in a number of blockbuster movies, including Batman Begins – but his true love will always be independent cinema and the stage...

2013-03-13 - Interview

Having starred in Secret Diary Of A Call Girl, W.E. and Hitchcock, English actor James D’Arcy is now in one of the most star-studded epics of the decade, Cloud Atlas...

2013-03-12 - Interview

Making a thundering return to live-action features with the Oscar-nominated drama Flight, director Robert Zemeckis talks to Roe McDermott about growing up through his films, his leading men and how he never really left cinema, despite what the critics may say.

2013-02-28 - Interview

Shall We Gather At The River is Peter Murphy’s second novel. He explains to Roe McDermott how it was influenced by music, religion and a fresh awareness of the depth of local history.

2013-02-28 - Interview

After a decade as Chair of the Irish Film Board, James Morris has seen Irish cinema emerge from the doldrums, to produce consistently exciting and challenging work. But in a turbulent international climate, the future of the industry here is still far from certain...

2013-02-12 - Interview

Roe McDermott talks to the legendary Denzel Washington about his Oscar-nominated role as an out-of-control pilot in Flight...

2013-02-06 - Interview

Romantic historical drama demonstrates a gentle grace amidst the politics...

2013-01-28 - REVIEW

Warm and intelligent true story examines disability, sex, intimacy and the complex space in between...

2013-01-28 - REVIEW

Gorgeous and grandiose, this flawed but affective musical hits all the right emotional notes

2013-01-21 - REVIEW

Poorly scripted and unevenly toned ganster flick fails to live up to its potential

2013-01-21 - REVIEW

Tarantino's outrageous and entertaining revenge fantasy is thought-provoking, not thoughtful...

2013-01-18 - REVIEW

Ben Lewin, director of the critically acclaimed drama The Sessions, talks to Roe McDermott about sex, Hollywood, disability and why he doesn’t care about the Oscars.

2013-01-18 - Interview

Dark roadtrip comedy proves funny and absurdist but ultimately slight

2013-01-16 - REVIEW

Murderers, psychopaths, sociopaths, sin, guilt and some hallucinogenics – yup, Christmas is here! For the release of the delightfully absurd black comedy Seven Psychopaths, writer/director Martin McDonagh and leading man Colin Farrell sat down with Hot Press to talk about autobiographical characters, Catholic guilt, alcohol addiction, In Bruges – and how there’s a McDonagh clan war over Brendan Gleeson.

2013-01-16 - Interview

Having played Gollum and King Kong, Andy Serkis gets back to basics in the moving drama Death Of A Superhero.

2013-01-09 - Interview

With its visceral depictions of gangland crime and violence in Dublin, the third series of Love/Hate has gripped the nation, making it the most successful drama production in RTE history...

2013-01-09 - Interview

Initially fun ramshackle black comedy caper loses the plot

2012-12-18 - REVIEW

Tense, Emotive and thought-provoking drama delives into complexities of a challenging subject

2012-12-18 - REVIEW

Cancer tale defies cliché to become an emtional, life-affirming drama with visual flair...

2012-12-18 - REVIEW

Kirsten Sheridan’s latest film is an explosive examination of what it means to be a teenager in modern Dublin. She tells Roe McDermott why she’ll take a no-budget Irish film over a Hollywood production any day.

2012-12-18 - Reports

Having wowed audiences in the Irish dramas Dollhouse and What Richard Did, Jack Reynor has become a golden boy of both Irish film and Hollywood.

2012-12-18 - Interview

The end is nigh. Bill Condon’s highly anticipated final installment of The Twilight Saga hits cinemas this month, bringing the secrets, mysteries, clan wars, vampire relationships and werewolf crushes of this remarkable cultural phenomenon to a conclusion. Based on Stephenie Meyer’s bestselling novels, the hugely successful fantasy-romance films have captured the hearts and imaginations of obsessive teen fans worldwide, all desperate to learn what Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 has in store for star-crossed lovers Bella and Edward.

2012-12-04 - Frontlines

Irish filmmaker Graham Jones has made a name for himself with controversial and experimental films like How To Cheat In The Leaving Cert and Fudge 44. Never one to shy away dealing with challenging subject matter, his films have previously addressed topics such as suicide and schizophrenia. But his latest feature The Green Marker Scare borders on taboo, pushing the boundaries in all sorts of ways.

2012-11-07 - Frontlines

Though known as a surreal, silly and side-splittingly funny comic, Ross Noble has a serious side – and maybe even a dark one, as his scary new clown movie shows...

2012-10-24 - Interview

2012-10-18 - REVIEW

The Limelight 2, Belfast

2012-10-05 - REVIEW

En route to the Toronto Film Festival with Lenny Abrahamson’s film What Richard Did, a drama loosely based on the murder of Dublin teenager Brian Murphy outside Annabel’s nightclub, Irish actor Jack Reynor tells Roe McDermott about the personal, political and class-based themes of the film.

2012-09-13 - Interview

Highlights from one of the Picnic's best corners...

2012-09-10 - REVIEW

The star of Trainspotting, Rome and Grey’s Anatomy Kevin McKidd has come over all patriotic in the new Pixar film Brave. He tells Roe McDermott about voice-work, being a parent and honouring his Scottish roots through his music.

2012-08-29 - Interview

To mark World Refugee Day, members of the Karen Community, representatives from the UNHCR and Minister Alan Shatter gathered in the Lighthouse Cinema to watch Moving To Mars, a documentary on the plight of refugees.

2012-08-23 - Frontlines

Irish filmmaker Paul Duane is no stranger to extraordinary characters, but he was pushed to the limit filming Very Extremely Dangerous. He tells Roe McDermott about working with infamous musician and ex-con Jerry McGill – and the project that nearly killed them both.

2012-08-01 - Interview

We couldn’t have a Northern Ireland issue without honouring the incredible work in both film and television that’s being achieved up north. Roe McDermott has the low-down on the respected veterans and rising stars that hail from Belfast and beyond, as well as giving you the skinny on the biggest and best projects being produced in northern Ireland.

2012-07-26 - Reports

Tall, blonde, still stunning in her 40s and now a lauded filmmaker, ‘mumblecore’ maven Lynn Shelton explains how a difficult adolescence moulded her as an artist...

2012-07-10 - Interview

A work in progress

2012-07-02 - REVIEW

Currently starring in the wild cheese-fest musical Rock of Ages, critics’ darling Paul Giamatti talks to Roe McDermott about character acting, over-analysing and why he’d rather not be famous.

2012-06-22 - Interview

A professional dancer, singer, martial arts performer and now actress, California girl Caity Lotz can – and no doubt will – do it all. The star of new horror flick The Pact tells Roe McDermott about dancing with Lady Gaga, why she hated filming a Ouija board scene and how she’s literally and figuratively kicking ass on the way to the top.

2012-06-12 - Interview

Famous for his turn as the manipulative villain in Hollyoaks, Emmett Scanlan is no stranger to sinister roles – but his current project sees him really plunging into the darkest depths of the human spirit. He tells Roe McDermott about playing evil in the hugely controversial film, Charlie Casanova.

2012-05-29 - Interview

The most highly-anticipated superhero movie of the decade, Avengers Assemble has finally exploded onto our screens. Roe McDermott caught up with the incredible cast to talk about gun training, evil inspirations and group hugs – the big softies!

2012-05-23 - Interview

The world knows him as the pretty boy with the great hair from High School Musical. But Zac Efron has grown up and wants an adult movie career (aww, you know what we mean). He talks about his gritty new war movie and the all-chicken diet that helped him bulk up for the part.

2012-05-23 - Interview

Having received an Oscar nomination for her role as the label-eschewing cross-dresser Hubert in Albert Nobbs, Janet McTeer tells Roe McDermott about why she hates labels, loves Brendan Gleeson and is enjoying life after 40.

2012-05-16 - Interview

Pro-fashion, anti-ex-boyfriends and ready to become the next big thing, folk and soul singer Lianne La Havas just can’t stop sharing her innermost thoughts with the world. It’s a formula that has carried her to the brink of major league success. She tells Roe McDermott about her high-heeled journey towards the top.

2012-04-03 - Interview

Only 19, The Hunger Games star Josh Hutcherson is set for a very bright future, and he’s loving every minute of it. He tells Roe McDermott about crazy fan-girls, his crush on Jennifer Lawrence and why he’s still bitter he’s not Spiderman…

2012-03-26 - Interview

Long gone are the days of Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. Visiting Dublin to promote his new action thriller Contraband, Oscar-nominated actor and producer Mark Wahlberg tells Roe McDermott how his producing career has turned him into a control freak; how his faith keeps him grounded and why the Entourage movie will never suffer the fate of Sex And The City.

2012-03-12 - Interview

Having directed videos for Hot Chip, Lily Allen and more, Nima Nourizadeh has been making waves for a while. With his feature debut, Project X, about to hit the screens, he tells Roe McDermott about working with Todd Philips, how the crazy antics on set might have resulted in a Project X baby, and the odd background of one of the lead actors.

2012-03-05 - Interview

Once one of the acting elite, Nicolas Cage’s career has recently been marked by financial scandal and a string of critically lampooned movies. But his passion never wavers. He tells Roe McDermott about being fated to become an actor, how art and inner conflict drive his performances, and reprising his role as the world’s darkest hero in Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.

2012-02-20 - Interview

He achieved mega-fame as Aragorn in Lord Of The Rings. But Viggo Mortensen was never going to be a mere matinee idol. A poet, painter and deep thinker, his latest collaboration with director David Cronenberg sees Mortensen playing the father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud. We ask him to lie back on a couch and tell us all about it.

2012-02-15 - Interview

Jason Segel could have embarked on any project he wanted after the success of Forgetting Sarah Marshall. So he decided to revive his first comedy love, The Muppets. He talks to Roe McDermott about the enduring popularity of Kermit and co.

2012-02-01 - Interview

Best known for playing Stifler, the American Pie jock with the hot mom and unfortunate taste in beverages, Seann William Scott has finally grown up. In the best role of his career, he puts in a sweet and subtle performance as Doug Glatt in the brilliant ice-hockey comedy Goon. The self-deprecating actor talks to Roe McDermott about returning to the American Pie franchise, being snubbed by the Oscars (shocking) and how drinking semen became the defining moment in his career.

2012-01-20 - Interview

Roll up, roll up for the list of up-and-coming stars of Irish screen (and stage) you won’t be able to avoid in the 12 months ahead. They’re smart, they’re cute, they’re quirky – and it looks like they’re about to take over the world.

2012-01-17 - Reports

Smart, sassy and stunning, Daniella Moyles is a successful model who makes frequent appearances in the gossip columns, alongside friends Georgia Salpa and the cast of Fade Street. Latterly, however, the 23 year-old beauty has become RTE’s latest presenting whiz-kid, joining Aidan Power on the music and sports show Bulletin TV where she gets up close and personal with some of the world’s biggest stars.

2012-01-05 - Interview

A warning to those attempting to chart Jeremy Renner’s advancement: there’s a serious risk of whiplash ahead. Staying under the radar with a modest career for over a decade, the American actor has suddenly become the talk of Tinseltown, receiving two Oscar nominations in as many years.

2011-12-08 - Interview

Terry McMahon’s psychological thriller Charlie Casanova has had a troubled gestation. With a script that had been repeatedly rejected by the Irish Film Board, no outside support and a miniscule budget, the Irish director’s hugely controversial examination of class, language and violence has achieved international acclaim and this month was picked up by Studio Canal.

2011-11-21 - Interview

The Coronas are on the march. Having spent six weeks in LA working with studio guru Tony Hoffer on their third album Closer to You, they are about to embark on a campaign for world domination that will take them right through next year. So what is it that makes the band tick? In a remarklably revealing interview, Ireland’s most down-to-earth frontman Danny O’Reilly tells Roe McDermott about the making of The Coronas’ masterpiece, why he’d never go solo, working with his mammy – and how a certain blonde beauty has stolen his heart.

2011-11-15 - Interview

Between appearing in the Coen brothers’ western True Grit and the hugely successful Harry Potter films, it’s safe to say that the past year has been a good one for Domhnall Gleeson. Currently starring in Irish sex-based dramedy Sensation, he talks to Roe McDermott about Ireland’s relationship with sex, his directorial aspirations and why you should never google yourself.

2011-11-07 - Interview

With an already impressive array of films under his belt, including Billy Elliot, King Kong, Flags Of Our Fathers and Jane Eyre, Jamie Bell has now achieved his childhood dream of working with Steven Spielberg. Taking the lead role in Spielberg’s The Adventures Of Tintin: Secret Of The Unicorn, he talks to Roe McDermott about working with his hero, reimagining the controversial comic, and how he uses his work to exorcise his personal demons.

2011-10-28 - Interview

As the cast and crew of Bollywood film Ek Tha Tiger wrap on their final day of filming in Dublin, Roe McDermott finds out how two cultures combined, as henna was traded for hurleys.

2011-10-28 - Frontlines

With his award-winning debut Parked set for an American release, Darragh Byrne talks to Roe McDermott about the potential of Irish cinema, the social and economic resonances of his film and working with Irish acting stalwart Colm Meaney.

2011-10-11 - Interview

Annointed the critics’ golden boy with his low-budget debut Clerks, actor, director and writer Kevin Smith has since had as many misses as hits. So for his new politically tinged horror Red State, Smith turned his back on Hollywood and distributed the film himself.

2011-09-26 - Interview

Like Pinky and the Brain, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Anton Yelchin seem an unlikely pairing, but have quickly become inseparable. Not one to break up a beautiful bromance, Roe McDermott spoke to the up-and-coming stars about their friendship, the Mel Gibson controversy, the problem with women and how they’re well on their way to taking over the world.

2011-09-13 - Interview

Fresh from the set of Horrible Bosses, Colin Farrell’s role as a predatory vampire in the comedy horror Fright Night marks another wildly fun part. Here, he talks about getting older, fatherhood being easier the second time round – and why he’ll always return home to work with Irish filmmakers.

2011-08-29 - Interview

Having just played an assassin in Hanna, currently starring as a sweet but isolated Borrower in the Japanese animated film Arrietty, and with roles as vampires and hit-women in the future, Roe McDermott was pleased to find that the Oscar-nominated Saoirse Ronan wasn’t anywhere near as scary as her CV might suggest. She reveals how her assassin training, a ukulele and a hula-hoop are going to land her a headlining slot at Oxegen next year.

2011-08-23 - Interview

It had to end sometime. But how does it feel now for the actors who spent their teenage years growing up in public as stars of the extraordinarily successful fantasy saga, Harry Potter?

2011-07-26 - Interview

He’s the dean of Irish screen acting, with a CV that includes Hollywood blockbusters and low budget independent films. In his latest movie Brendan Gleeson plays a feckless Garda, riding shot-gun with an African-American FBI agent. But is there more to the character than meets the eye? Gleeson holds forth on the sticky issue of Irish people and race, Barack Obama’s recent visit and why he is determined to bring Flann O’Brien’s At Swim-Two-Birds to the big screen. Words: Roe McDermott

2011-07-25 - Interview

Currently starring in the funniest comedy of the year, the outrageous Bridesmaids, Sligo actor Chris O’Dowd tells Roe McDermott about how being a bit chubby set him on the path to comedy, the advantages of being Irish in Hollywood and what it’s like taking on the girl’s role for a change. Oh, and then he threw a chair at her!

2011-06-20 - Interview

Ian Power, director of the uplifting Cork-based film The Runway, talks to Roe McDermott about the community spirit of 1980s Ireland, how the Celtic Tiger made us lose our sense of welcome — and the Colombian pilot who became an Irish boy’s ET.

2011-06-07 - Interview

With the latest Pirates Of The Caribbean installment released this month, Roe McDermott somehow manages to keep her cool in the face of Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz and Ian McShane...

2011-05-31 - Interview

As Irish director Conor Horgan’s post-apocalyptic drama One Hundred Mornings is released, he talks to Roe McDermott about societal breakdowns, morality and why even at the end of the world we’ll be sleeping with the wrong people.

2011-05-10 - Interview

The creators of the most successful horror franchise ever, Saw, are back to terrify us all, this time with their old-school haunted house film Insidious. Roe McDermott spoke to director James Wan and writer Leigh Whannell about why they hate the term ‘torture porn’ and how they’re getting more subtle in their old age.

2011-05-03 - Interview

Carmel Winters, the award-winning director of the hard-hitting Irish drama Snap talks to Roe McDermott about kidnap, torture and abuse; working with the late Mick Lally on one of his last ever projects; and how in the past Irish film has sensationalised and simplified tales of abuse.

2011-04-11 - Interview

Ireland’s thriving neo-burlesque scene continues to push boundaries, provoke reactions — and make people think. But is it all just a glorified form of lap-dancing? Roe McDermott investigates...

2011-04-06 - Reports

Robert Sheehan, the hyperactive star of E4’s Misfits and Killing Bono, stops bouncing around for just long enough to tell Roe McDermott about shooting red-hot sex scenes with 76-year-olds, how he caused Nicolas Cage to burn his own hand in order to stop laughing on set, and working with Pete Postlethwaite in his last ever film role. Oh, and Killing Bono...

2011-03-30 - Interview

Neil McCormick’s quest for rock and roll fame has been chronicled in the comedy rock movie Killing Bono. He talks to Roe McDermott about the making of the movie, why Bono told McCormick to kill him – and how naked women and goats played a part in his job interview for Hot Press…

2011-03-30 - Interview

He’s starred in The IT Crowd, been in The Mighty Boosh, won awards for his music videos, counts Noel Fielding and Alex Turner among his close friends and has directed one of the most brilliant indie films of recent memory, the hilarious and quirky Submarine. And yet, Richard Ayoade assures Roe McDermott that he’s not cool. Eh, we may have to agree to disagree on that one…

2011-03-14 - Interview

David Michôd, director of critically acclaimed Australian crime drama Animal Kingdom, talks to Roe McDermott about the Melbourne crime scene, Jackie Weaver’s Oscar nominated performance and why not going to therapy has helped his art.

2011-03-02 - Interview

They’re the YouTube sensations who have parlayed a novelty hit into a proper pop career. The Rubberbandits talk about riding, rhyming and the fashionista potential of plastic bags.

2011-02-18 - Interview

DJ Caruso, director of Taking Lives, Disturbia and new sci-fi flick I Am Number Four talks to Roe McDermott about using his parenting skills with young actors, the genius of Alfred Hitchcock and whether or not he’s an alien believer…

2011-02-14 - Interview

The maverick record label that gave the world My Bloody Valentine, Primal Scream and Oasis is the subject of a eye-popping new documentary, which receives its Irish premiere as part of the Jameson Dublin Irish Film Festival. Danny O’Connor talks about getting inside the Creation story.

2011-01-28 - Interview

He’s that rarest of creatures: an Irish Oscar winner. But if Richard Baneham sat next to you on the bus you wouldn’t recognize him. That’s because he toils behind the scenes as a special effects ace. He talks about hooking up with James Cameron on Avatar and gives his thoughts on the debate raging around Hollywood – 3D or not 3D?

2011-01-25 - Interview

He’s the electric fiddle playing bad boy who claims Foals as an influence and found fame via-reality television. No, you haven’t seen anyone quite like Daithí Ó Drónaí before!

2011-01-25 - Interview

She’s the Irish chanteuse on everyone’s lips. Even if nobody is quite sure who she is. Here, The Danger Is breaks her silence for an exclusive interview

2011-01-24 - Interview

The controversy about the Corrib Gas Pipeline is the subject of an acclaimed new documentary The Pipe, masterminded by young Irish director Risteard O’Domhnaill

2010-12-08 - Interview

How does a man move from directing meisterworks like Being John Malkovich to prodcucing Jackass 3D? Easy. Or so says the extraordinary and unflappable Spike Jonze

2010-12-01 - Interview

Acclaimed director Mike Leigh talks to Roe McDermott about his new film Another Year, thick actors and his stand against the Israeli government.

2010-11-08 - Interview

Roe McDermott meets Johnny Knoxville and Jeff Tremaine as Jackass 3D hits cinemas

2010-11-05 - Interview

Never likely to be confused with Club M or Copperface Jack’s, new phenomena such as Midnight Burlectro, Torture Garden and the Sedition Industries are adding a touch of diversity to Dublin’s night-life

2010-11-03 - Frontlines

Jake West’s documentary on the Video Nasties panic of the early ‘80s proves all too timely, given that last month the Irish Film Classification Office banned the original 1978 version of the notorious rape-revenge saga I Spit On Your Grave.

2010-11-03 - Interview

The quality of Bublé’s voice is never in question, but he’s too smooth to be affecting...

2010-11-02 - REVIEW

Glorified muzak from much hyped 'chillwave' pioneer

2010-11-02 - REVIEW

No horns but plenty to love in scenester's new album

2010-11-02 - REVIEW

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