Something for the Weekend 23-25 July

Welcome to the weekend, courtesy of JOE.ie. Whether you’re staying in or going out, we’ve got it covered. It’s time to leave the working week behind.

GOING OUT

Gigs

Festival season 2010 continues unabated and our bi-polar weather is threatening to get its head together just in time for the latest installment this weekend.

If you’re still in festival mood but have had as much Muse as you can stomach, then this weekend’s Carlsberg Comedy Festival might be just the ticket. The four-day event takes place in Dublin’s Iveagh Gardens, close to St Stephen’s Green and although it actually kicked off on Thursday, it continues right through the weekend before winding up on Sunday 26 of July.

You’re looking at street entertainers, sideshow attractions, a gourmet barbeque, jugglers, acrotbats and other freaks as well as a range of top comedy acts. They’ve even thrown in a spot of live music.

Among those set to take to the stage are Des Bishop, Tommy Tiernan, Jarlath Regan, PJ Gallagher, Phil Jupitus, the stars of Who’s Line is it Anyway? and Après Match.

Click here to get your tickets from ticketmaster.ie.

The Galway Arts Festival is also up-and-running and will continue into this weekend with a range of top events.

You’re talking theatre events, art exhibitions comedy shows and gigs from the likes of electro-pop icons The Human League. Like the stars in the sky, the events on show are just too many to list, so click here for more information. Just make sure you don’t overdo it – the Galway Races are on the way.

Chicago House and electroclash ledge-bag Felix da Housecat is playing a double-header of Irish sets this weekend. This Friday he’s in Limerick’s Trinity Rooms with the show kicking off at 9pm before heading north to play a show in The Stiff Kitten in Belfast. This one spins into action a bit later, at 10pm.

This man has been doing the business since the early 90s and has very much mastered his art. If dance music is your thing, you don’t want to miss this one. Click here to grab yourself a ticket.

Film

Toy Story III hits cinemas this weekend and some have dared say it’s better than the previous two installments. Members of the JOE.ie team who have seen the film have went as far as to say that it’s so good, that it earned the Toy Story series the title of best trilogy ever – better than the Godfather movies. High praise indeed. Pop along to your local cinema this weekend to see if he’s full of it. Also, keep an eye on our Entertainment section for our upcoming review.

Events

Cage Contender action from previous shows:

Local and international fighters will be locking horns inside the octagon in Dublin’s National Basketball Arena tomorrow night (Saturday 23 July) as the Cage Contender promotion bids to demonstrate that the UFC isn’t the only show in town when it comes to quality MMA.

Headline bout is fight with Irish favourate Paul McVeigh going up against Sitenkov for a bantamweight title. McVeigh has promised to make short work of Sitenkov and in a pre-fight interview said, “I’m going to hit him with a tyre iron backstage Tonya Harding style and then celebrate with some basket weaving.”

Paul is known for being a funny chap but is all business in the cage. A ton of other fights are on the under card so fight fans, miss this one at your peril. Click here for more information.

Getaway

God evidently thinks it’s funny to urinate all over his servants on this his greenest isle during summer time, but you don’t have to stand for it. You could convert to Buddhism or alternatively make a break for it – check out the hottest late, late travel deals featured in the newest edition of the Last Minute JOE.

STAYING IN

Sport on TV

The aforementioned GAA schedule brings some big encounters this weekend, with Senior Football qualifiers on Saturday and a double-header of Hurling quarter finals Sunday. If GAA isn’t your cup of tea, the F1 calender moves to Hockenheim for the German Grand Prix Sunday afternoon, though you may have to wrestle the remote from any housemates looking to catch the final day of the Tour de France.

Can Contador capture his third Tour de France Victory?

Saturday 17 July

SFC Qualifiers 4th Round: Monaghan v Kildare (RTE 2 from 14:35pm)

SFC Qualifiers 4th Round: Dublin v Louth (TV3 from 4:30pm)

SFC Qualifiers 4th Round: Limerick v Cork (Part of RTE2’s coverage from 14:35pm)

Sunday 18 July

Stage 20 – Tour de France (Eurosport from 12:45pm)

German F1 Grand Prix (BBC1 from 12:10am, Setanta Ireland from 12:45pm)

SHC Quarter Finals: Cork v Antrim (RTE 2 from 13:30pm)

SHC Quarter Finals: Galway v Tipperary (Part of RTE 2’s coverage from 13:30pm)

On the Box

The stand-out highlight on the box this weekend is TV3’s showing of the original Karate Kid (Saturday, TV3, 7:00pm), timed to coincide with this weekend’s preview showings of the Jackie Chan remake. Although the latest Kid installment looks promising, surely it can’t hold a candle to the ‘wax-on, wax-off’ iconic brilliance of its 1984 predecessor? Pat Morita’s (below) portrayal of the sage instructor Mr. Miyagi is the undoubted highlights of the sports drama, a performance that earned an Oscar nomination for the actor after the film’s release.

Look – he’s doing the the chopsticks bit! Remember… with the fly?

Alternatively, if you too were wowed with Brit actor Tom Hardy’s performance in Inception, catch up with the British actor in his breakthrough role in the prison-set biopic Bronson (Saturday, Sky Movies Premiere, 11:00pm). Hardy is unrecognisable in the titular role, having shaved his head, grown a moustahe and bulked up considerably to star as notorious British prisoner and bareknuckle boxer Michael Gordon Peterson, renamed Charles Bronson by his fight promoter. Bronson is a must for any fans of true-life crime dramas or anyone that appreciates transformative acting.

DVD

Sam Worthington’s ascent towards the upper echelons of Hollywood continued this spring, with his first post-Avatar starring role in the fantasy epic Clash of the Titans. With a heavyweight cast (Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes), welcome eye candy (Gemma Arterton) and eye-popping CGI, Titans revolves around the epic quest of the mortal son of Zeus (Worthington). It’s not big, it’s not clever – but it is a lot of fun.

Plus

Don’t forget to join JOE this weekend for our GAA live match-trackers, as we begin Saturday at 5pm with our coverage of the Dublin v Louth Senior Football Qualifier. Then you can return Sunday at 4pm for live JOE coverage of the Senior Hurling Quater Final between Galway and Tipperary. Feel free to send your comments mid-game to shout@joe.ie.