Metropolis and a host of new releases...

Today's the day that we've all been waiting for... Metropolis finally opens at the IFI (watch the trailer). With 25 minutes of previously lost footage, this truly is the film find of the century.

We started the month with our two accompanying seasons (the early films of Fritz Lang and a season of science fiction classics that were influenced by Metropolis) and now we finally get to put the main attraction back on the big screen. Reviews in so far have garnered much praise, with the restored version boasting five star reviews from The Irish Times (read it here), Irish Independent and Evening Herald. And we're sure there are more to come. Not only have the critics been loving it, but advance sales have been so great that we've already had to swap some screenings into our larger cinemas to accommodate the demand.

If seeing Metropolis only whets your appetite for more Lang and sci-fi, this weekend will also see screenings of Lang's earlier film Woman in the Moon and the sci-fi classic Dark City.

Also opening today we have two other new releases. Tamara Drewe didn't show in competition at Cannes this year, but it was still one of the most talked-about films at the Festival and considered to be "by far the funniest" (watch the trailer).  Ciaran Carty had a great interview with director Stephen Frears (The Queen, Dangerous Liasions, The Grifters) in The Sunday Tribune which you can read here. In a similar fashion to Tamara Drewe, Cyrus (which also opens today) was a huge hit at Locarno but also shown out of competition. Another great comedy, its stars John C. Reilly, Jonah Hill, Catherine Keener and Marisa Tomei. You can watch the trailer here.

And if all that wasn't enough for you, this weekend we also have our Ireland on Sunday screening of Seaside Stories from writer/director Fergus Tighe which tells the tale of an 11-year-old boy whose life takes a turn for the worse when his mother takes to the drink again...

We hope you enjoy a busy weekend at the IFI! For more information, please visit http://www.ifi.ie/

Ross Keane

Head of Marketing & Communications