‘Christmas on the Square’ takes place this year in Meeting House Square, Temple Bar from December 17th – 21st. 11 festive screenings over 5 days will play Old Hollywood gems such as Some Like it Hot and Holiday Inn alongside more recent classics like Annie Hall and Die Hard and perennial family favourites such as Elf and The Muppet Christmas Carol.
Online booking is now open at www.entertainment.ie/meetinghousesquare. Free blankets will be handed out to keep warm and a selection of hot drinks (including traditional mulled wine, hot chocolate, tea, and coffee) and festive food will all be available for purchase.
Tuesday, December 17th
How the Grinch Stole Christmas, 5pm
Ron Howard’s remake of the classic cartoon about a creature intent on stealing Christmas throws a ton of CGI and crazy sets at the screen and elides a good deal of the absurdity of Dr Seuss’ original rhymes, but Carrey’s improvisations impress.
Cast: Jim Carrey and Taylor Momsen
Running time: 104 mins
Cert: PG
Holiday Inn, 8pm
At an Inn which is only open on holidays, a crooner and a hoofer vie for the affections of a beautiful up-and-coming performer. Based on a story idea by Broadway song-writing legend Irving Berlin this flick also includes an animated sequence mocking FDR.
Cast: Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire and Marjorie Reynolds
Running Time: 100 mins
Cert: G
Wednesday, December 18th
Elf, 5pm
After inadvertently wreaking havoc on the elf community due to his ungainly size, a man raised at the North Pole is sent by Santa Claus to the U.S. in search of his true identity. Can he romance a cute colleague (Zooey Deschanel) and reconnect with his father?
Cast: Will Ferrell and James Caan
Running Time: 97mins
Cert: PG
Some Like it Hot, 8pm
When two musicians witness the St Valentine’s Day Massacre, they flee 1920s Chicago in an all female band disguised as women, but complications set in when they meet singer Sugar Kane… Think of it as Billy Wilder doing Shakespeare’s cross-dressing rom-coms.
Cast: Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis
Running Time: 120 mins
Cert: PG
Thursday, December 19th
Polar Express, 5pm
On Christmas Eve, a doubting boy boards a magical train that’s headed to the North Pole and Santa Claus’ home. Director Robert Zemeckis uses motion capture to allow Tom Hanks play multiple roles but the uncanny valley phenomenon sinks scenes that aren’t spectacular musical numbers.
Cast: Tom Hanks and Chris Coppola
Running Time: 100 mins
Cert: PG
Bridget Jones, 8pm
A British woman is determined to improve herself while she looks for love in a year in which she keeps a personal diary. King of the British rom-com Richard Curtis pens the screenplay for this incredibly commercially successful contemporary riff on Jane Austen scenarios.
Cast: Renee Zellweger, Colin Firth and Hugh Grant
Running Time: 97mins
Cert: 15
Friday, December 20th
The Muppet Christmas Carol, 5pm
The Muppet characters tell their idiosyncratic version of Charles Dickens’ classic tale of an old and bitter miser’s redemption on Christmas Eve. Michael Caine is rather good as Scrooge, but this is all about Kermit, the Great Gonzo and Miss Piggy as Dickensian characters.
Cast: Michael Caine and Dave Goelz
Running Time: 85
Cert: G
Trading Places, 8pm
A snobbish investor and a wily street con artist find their positions reversed as part of a bet by two callous millionaires. Writer/director John Landis came to this off a streak of classic comedies that included Animal House and The Blues Brothers.
Cast: Eddie Murphy, Dan Aykroyd and Jamie Lee Curtis
Running Time: 116 mins
Cert: 15
Annie Hall, 11pm
Neurotic New York comedian Alvy Singer falls in love with ditzy singer Annie Hall in Woody Allen’s classic 1977 breakthrough. The many highlights include the Marshall MacLuhan cameo, Christopher Walken’s crazed monologue, and Alvy’s flashbacks to his Brooklyn childhood; depressed by the universe’s finite expansion.
Cast: Diane Keaton and Woody Allen
Running Time: 93 mins
Cert: PG
Saturday, December 21st
Monty Python’s Life of Brian, 8pm
Brian (Graham Chapman) is born on the original Christmas, in the stable next door to Jesus. He spends his life being mistaken for the messiah, but along the way gets lessons in Latin from a centurion, and ponders Roman’s rule’s good points.
Cast: Graham Chapman, John Cleese and Michael Palin
Running Time:
Cert: 15
Die Hard, 11pm
Vacationing NYPD cop John McClane tries to save estranged wife Holly Gennaro when her office party is taken hostage by German terrorist Hans Gruber during a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles. Director John McTiernan spectacularly orchestrates arguably the ultimate action film.
Cast: Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman
Running Time: 131 mins
Cert: 15
Ticket prices:
Adults: 5 euro
OAP/Student: 4 euro
Child: 3 euro
Family (2&2): 15 euro
Group of 10 people: 45 euro
Meeting House Square (MHS) is a unique outdoor space and venue in the heart of Temple Bar, Dublin’s Cultural Quarter. You can simply turn off the rain at the flick of a switch as the new bespoke retractable canopy blooms on Meeting House Square.
‘Christmas on the Square’ is presented by Temple Bar Cultural Trust and Dublin City Council.
Talking Movies 