The results from the Irish movie poll were less than enthusiastic so I will just give you some favorites of the people that wrote in. Millis pointed out something that I like to see in films. When a movie is not really about the Irish but we put ourselves into it. Braveheart is the best example, would this movie been as good without David O'Hara as Stephen the Irishman, no, it would have just been Rob Roy. How can you forget those famous lines from the movie,

Hamish: "Is your father a ghost, or do you converse with the Almighty? "

Stephen: "In order to find his equal, an Irishman is forced to talk to God."

or the disgusted line from Longshanks "Irish"

In the john Ford western Rio Grande, as the children are rescued from the indians Sgt. Quincannon and little Margaret Mary genuflect as they leave the Church under attack. The post singers serinade the Cornels wife ( Maureen O'Hara) with I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen and The Bold Finnian Men.

Of course Ford used the same cast for this film as he did for The Quiet Man.

So, just what are some good movies about the Irish, here's my list.

The Quiet Man Sean Thornton has returned from America to reclaim his homestead and escape his past. Sean's eye is caught by Mary Kate Danaher, a beautiful but poor maiden, and younger sister of ill-tempered "Red" Will Danaher. The riotous relationship that forms between Sean and Mary Kate, punctuated by Will's pugnacious attempts to keep them apart, form the main plot, with Sean's past as the dark undercurrent.





Waking Ned Devine When word reaches two elderly best friends that someone in their tiny Irish village has won the national lottery, they go to great lengths to find the winner so they can share the wealth. When they discover the "lucky" winner, Ned Devine, they find he has died of shock upon discovering his win. Not wanting the money to go to waste, the village enters a pact to pretend Ned is still alive by having another man pose as him, and then to divide the money between them.


The Commitments Jimmy Rabbitte, just a tick out of school, gets a brilliant idea: to put a soul band together in Barrytown, his slum home in north Dublin. First he needs musicians and singers: things slowly start to click when he finds three fine-voiced females virtually in his back yard, a lead singer (Deco) at a wedding, and, responding to his ad, an aging trumpet player, Joey "The Lips" Fagan. Song by song, gig by gig, the Commitments start their climb to the top: Dublin gets soul. But internal strife also builds: Deco is insufferable, Joey's a Casanova, and Jimmy may lack the seasoning to hold things together. Will the Commitments slip away?



The Crying Game An unlikely kind of friendship develops between Fergus, an Irish Republican Army volunteer, and Jody, a kidnapped British soldier lured into an IRA trap by Jude, another IRA member. When the hostage-taking ends up going horribly wrong, Fergus escapes and heads to London, where he seeks out Jody's lover, a hairdresser named Dil. Fergus adopts the name "Jimmy" and gets a job as a day laborer. He also starts seeing Dil, who knows nothing about Fergus' IRA background. But there are some things about Dil that Fergus doesn't know, either.



Michael Collins Neil Jordan's depiction of the controversial life and death of Michael Collins, the 'Lion of Ireland', who led the IRA against British rule and founded the Irish Free State (Eire) in 1921. It would have been a much better film without Julia Roberts.





In America An aspiring Irish actor and his family illegally immigrate in the United States with the dreams of the father breaking into the New York City theatrical scene. Once they arrive in the big city, they move into a flop house and try to make it truly their home. While they struggle to fit in their new country, the family finds new friends like the reclusive neighbor, Mateo, who provide help in the most unexpected ways in America.

Now there you have six films to start with. The Field garnered an Academy Award nomination for Richard Harris, and Victor McLaughlin won the Best Actor Oscar for The Informer. If you watch these two films back to back have someone put you on suicide watch they are so depressing. If you like Colin Farrell, check out Intermission, have an interpreter available so you will know what Farrell is saying. I like The Matchmaker, I know it's cheesy and hokey but I laugh. The Devils Own is an interesting look at Irish Americans and their support of the IRA.

Enjoy the films and get ready for Saturday.

Family Feis Friday from 5-11 at the VFW in Saratoga cost $5

Saturday is Parade Day in Albany