Thanks for the memories!

Best movie ever!

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Michael Farr (Ciarán Hinds) is a widower with two kids in an Irish seaside town. He experiences strange visions. His father-in-law is dying in a nursing home. He volunteers at the annual literary festival. The arrogant famous writer Nicholas Holden (Aidan Quinn) is a married womanizer who is trying to rekindle an affair with fellow writer Lena Morelle (Iben Hjejle). Lena and Michael develop chemistry as the two men struggle for Lena.As a horror movie, it's not a scary one. This is something much more an old slow quiet moody ghost story romance with some jump scares. Aidan Quinn's character is really off-putting and I wish his scenes with Iben Hjejle can be cut back. I also wish the kids are bigger parts of the movie. The saving grace is Ciarán Hinds and the power of his performance. He's quite compelling in every scene he's in. I do wish it ends with more drama.

I'm always up for a ghost film, especially if it involves a gloomy, Gothic atmosphere and a remote, isolated location. The Eclipse doesn't disappoint. It's a hybrid film, a bit of romance, a good dose of loss-of- loved one melancholy, and a handful of jumpy ghost scenes. The characters are brought together through a literary festival, which also gives a generous dose of snark, mostly through Aidan Quinn's performance as a strangle- worthy author (a good role for this fine actor). The performances are all solid, but I especially enjoyed Ciarán Hinds as the lonely widower. The performance is so convincing--Hinds brings such genuine expression to this role, and it's a must-see for his fans. The film isn't going to satisfy hardcore ghost film or horror fans, but if you're into this type of contemporary Gothic film, it's certainly worth the time.

"The Eclipse", is a quiet, gentle masterpiece, an original blend of seemingly incompatible genre. Bit of a horror, tad of a romance and a dash of comedy, but it all stays together and enhances the remarkable flavor. Lonely widower hosts a literary conference, while drowning in the overwhelming current of grief. Hence, he meets two writers and that is pretty much the plot. Simple and unforgettable, directed with an assured hand by the writer Conor McPherson and played beautifully by all three protagonists. Ciaran Hinds stands out among three with strong, but subtle presence. His deep sadness just breaks your heart. Lovely surprise.

"Then she knew. She knew that she was seeing a ghost, and she realized for perhaps the first time in her life, that she too would die. That her husband would die. And that her children would die. She knew in that moment, that she was looking at reality."The Eclipse is a tough movie to describe. It's an odd Irish mixture of a supernatural thriller and a family drama, that is very slow-paced. The entire movie occurs in a relatively short time frame, and not much appears to "happen", though it really does.Ciaran Hinds stars as a father of two who's recently lost his wife, and is charged with attending to a supernatural fiction writer (Iben Hjejle) who has come to Ireland for a literary festival. He begins to have either dreams or visions of his dead father (who's actually still alive), as he slowly draws closer to the female writer.That's hardly a serviceable summary, but this movie is difficult to summarize. As I said, it's slow-paced; but that suits the movie. I never found it dull or boring. I can't really think of anything to compare it to. It's a very adult drama, that deals with death and loneliness without being depressing or sappy. Don't watch it expecting a horror movie, or a typical romance, or...well, the best thing to do would be to not expect anything specific, at all. Watch The Eclipse with a completely open mind. Be assured, though, that it has a lot to offer. It's one of the more "genuine" movies that I've seen in quite a while. Maybe once you've watched it, you can describe it better than I can.