Next Monday marks three years of le cool Dublin, three years of highlighting the can-do attitude of so many in this city. Yes, we'd all love to live in London, Berlin or New York but for whatever reason we've chosen, or circumstances have forced us, to stay put and stick it out.

The one thing we know is that Dublin has transformed into a far more exciting and rewarding city to live in. Gone, or fading fast, is the money-grabbing mentality of bigger, stronger, faster, at all costs. Profit and success are not bad words but hard-earned now. They come at a new cost, one enshrined by quality, loyalty and the smarts to raise the game.

It's a glass half-full/half-empty dilemma and we choose to keep wanting to tilt it towards the half-full perspective. It's a fine balance. Who knows what it'll all be like in 2015 but one thing we wish for is that the good people, the motivators, those who attempt, succeed and fail, stick with us and emerge.

Who is convinced 3 is the magic number this week? Michael, Ciaran, Conor or Camille?

They say the best things in life are free - not always the case (there's always second hand smoke, advice, anything 'fat free'...) but in this instance it is true. The Sunday Times Outdoor Film Festival is running from today and every Thursday until June 14th in Meeting House Square. The festival features some all-time classics from The Wizard of Oz (sold out) to Aliens - spanning around 50 years of film. The square's new facelift means that you will be able to enjoy your evening whatever the weather but get booking now as tickets going like hot cakes. My advice - check the dates seats go up for grabs here and stick a reminder on your phone. Tickets also available to be won at The ST Sunday Club. Great opportunity to enjoy your favourites on the big screen or see a classic you haven't got round to before... Win Tickets / Rachel Ray

Giddy would be an understatement. Hearing that Beauty and the Beast is back on the big screen had me bursting into unabashed renditions of "Be Our Guest". Scarily, it's 21 years since a French accented candlestick originally won us over with a fantastically over the top dining extravaganza. The lavish animation, belting tunes and the best princess dress ever are further enhanced by this new edition. We are once again, almost literally, immersed in the magical tale of Belle and her piliferous companion as they overcome their differences, challenges, and finally the belt snapping brute and delicious villain Gaston in a splendorous battle at the castle. The moral of the story; don't be a shallow prick, is still as relevant now as then but this time you get to watch it wearing a fetching pair of specs. / Sarah Maguire

Open mics need open minds. And where better to become receptive to new sounds than the quirky bicycle-themed cafe Rothar. Not content with offering crossaints while they fix your brakes, Rothar have been hosting singer-songwriter nights in the cosy and bike oily surround of their Fade Street haunt. Among those on the high stool tonight is Sarah Red. With her big loose bass lines and smidgeons of Jeff Buckley's spectre in her voice, Sarah will soothe you with songs about love, lust and break-ups and with her raw folk. A nice contrast to the power drinking and people watching that happens across the road in the secret bar. Joining Sarah tonight is busker Jane Willow who is also part of the band Lighthouse Parade. / Vernon Steel

A German Black Swan, they say about Cracks in the Shell (Die Unsichtbare), and they are mostly right. While both can be categorised as psychosexual thrillers, it's wrong to assume that this Christian Schwochow movie is a copy of Aronofsky's taut tutu talkie. In fact, production on Cracks predates Swan and while the starlets in each are achingly mentally straining under the pressure of performance, there is enough differentials to enjoy both. Returning to Germany from a childhood in Denmark, sky Fine (Stine Fischer Christensen) enrolls in drama school to escape her life with a mother and mentally challenged sister. Improbably selected by the notoriously demanding director Kaspar Friedmann (Ulrich Noethen)for an extroverted role, the actress begins to grow into her character with gripping results. A story of ambition and abuse. / Vernon Steel

Seen the internet meme doing the rounds promoting gay marriage in which a man after his long-term partner dies is cut off by his loved one's family and left with no say over the funeral arrangements? A similar scenario is among those outlined in a musical theatre piece showing as part of the International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival but relating stories of people with Aids who die. Among the lengthy cast of characters are a grandmother and haemophiliac both infected from blood transfusions, while a stock camp queen bemoans the mundanity of dying and wishes it were more like a terminal illness storyline in a soap opera. It's a sophisticated blend of big, brash, finely belted out numbers, believable characters and all-round fine acting with a true Broadway quality that balances out any schmaltz quotient. Win Tickets / Maisie

James Blackshaw and Alexander Tucker share common ground as well as a billing: true innovation. Blackshaw has harnessed the fingerstyle playing of guitar over more than ten records, including O True Believers (2006), All is Falling (2010) and this year’s Love is the Plan, the Plan is  Death; at different turns recalling musicians like the late, great Bert Jansch. Tucker on the other hand, is a little more tricky, moving from early work with hardcore band Suction, he has gone on to work closely with Sunn O)))’s Stephen O’Malley, folding in mandolin, banjo, piano and his distinctly deep vocal to create a world that relies as much on folk tradition as it does electronica, with 2008’s Portal, and 2011’s Dorwytch as cases in point. With John Fahey as their spiritual guide, the two will beautifully navigate all present into the good night. Win Tickets / Siobhán Kane

It's been seven years since Edan's last album, 2005's sublime throwback party platter Beauty And The Beat. Seven years. Ok he hasn't yet reached the lateness levels of fellow sample obsessives The Avalanches (whose follow-up to Since I Left You is due this year apparently. And if you believe that...) but it's still been a long wait for old school rap geeks worldwide. The man they call The Humble Magnificent might not be the most productive in the studio, but he's still a heck of a live performer and the only rapper I've seen who can expertly man the decks and spit a rhyme at the same time. He's joined on this tour by former Def Jux mainstay Mr. Lif, Willie Evans Jr. and Paten Locke AKA Dj Therapy. Should be a great show...ask him how that album's coming along won't you? Win Tickets / Marcel Hall

Worshipped by women the world over, hunky movie star Rock Hudson was a closeted gay man and one of the first high profile names to die from AIDS. While this may not seem a big issue these days, back in 1985, when he was slowly wasting away, it was a huge deal – especially when he took a part on top rated soap Dynasty and the script called for him to kiss one of its stars Linda Evans. This play tells the touching story of his final days as he bonds with the last person he has left in his life – his personal trainer Toby. Patrick Joseph Byrnes is simply stunning as Rock – the fallen idol who has spent his entire life hiding behind a persona and in facing death resolves to be himself. Poignant, funny, and thought provoking in equal measure only the hardest heart could fail to be moved by this. / Frances Winston

After fifteen years in London, the Camden Crawl is spreading the love a little with their first edition outside the countercultutral corner of London that gives the festival its name. The Irish version of the Crawl isn't quite as packed with star power as its older counterpart across the water but it's still got a healthy mixture of rising buzz bands and relatively seasoned veterans. It's not really about big names anyway, and the indigenous contingent is ably represented at the top of the lineup by hardest working band in show business And So I Watch You From Afar, plastic bag enthusiasts The Rubber Bandits and hometown hero Jape. Further down the bill, the crepuscular electronica of Angkorwat and euphoric post-trance of D/R/U/G/S are about as far from bar bands as it gets. / Stuart Tynan

This is one of the more personal exhibitions I’ve seen of late. For anyone who has dealt with the lingering memory of love, Niamh Davis’ project will make you question the nature of that memory. How much of it is truth, and how much is the handiwork of our own haunted interpretations? Expressed through etchings on acetate, crystallised memorabilia, text messages and selected passages of literature, the interactive project intimately recalls the experience of a love affair, and reveals it’s inspiration from Julian Barnes’ words: “our life is not our life, merely the story we have told about our life. Told to others, but – mainly – to ourselves.” It’s a remarkable concept, one that makes more sense when you’re there. So go. And spare a few moments for Graham Chorlton’s superb scenery works in the upstairs gallery. / Jerath Head

Newmarket Square is a weird outpost. A non-descript space  like the set from the dullest inner city TV soap ever known to man. But there is one stalwart of hope and flicker of faith - the Co-Op. Whether it's organic food, the amazing Flea or world of Brocante, this democratised space has kick-started some hope into an area where saplings abound. Sunday sees the launch of a Fusion fair promising "a mix of hand craft, clothes, art and traditional ware from around the world". Yes, there will be ponchos best kept on trek in Peru but Jorge (from Peru) promises only jewelery as does Cotte from Argentina. Caryna Camerino will be recreating traditional Jewish food and Elmhurst Organic Bakery bringing a selection of Japanese pastries. The Muslim Sisters of Eire will even perform henna hand tattoo. It's totes Kofi Annan like. / Zach Joyce

It’s not surprising that in 1796 a story penned by Matthew Gregory Lewis, depicting a villainous, fornicating priest as it’s main character, caused a great deal of controversy. This cinematic reworking, while leaving out some of the more disturbing imagery (you don’t want to know), addresses with heavy theatricality the same provocative questions of sexuality and religion. Impeccably set, The Monk creates a tense Gothic world in which even the most fervent of believers is plagued by the temptation of sin. Using a contrasting play of light and shadow, the exceptional cinematography emphasises the struggle between the forces of good and evil. The adapted screenplay may not be quite as shocking as you expect, however combined with raw and dramatic sound design it will definitely leave your nerves feeling exposed. / Jerath Head

To celebrate the opening of his cult classic in the making The Raid, director Gareth Evans has put together a season of his cinematic inspirations. The selection includes Peckinpah's blood and bullets classic The Wild Bunch, anime epic Akira, and a double dose of Jackie Chan, but the pick of the lot is John Woo's superlative HK shoot-em up, Hard Boiled. Starring Chow Yun Fat as a tough as nails cop with a weakness for tequila slammers and jazz clarinet, and Tony Leung as the undercover with whom he strikes up an uneasy alliance (It's a love story really, albeit between two men who spend most of their time shooting things in slow motion) the film is the peak of the director's influential early period. If you want to see how an action sequence should be filmed, observe the masterful hospital-set climax. Not a shakey camera in sight. Win a pair of passes to each screening / Conor McDevitt

The Raid is the best film release of 2012 so far. Simple as. It’s Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon gone beserk in a tower block with a potentially higher body count than masseurs lining up against John Travolta. Written and directed by Gareth Evans and set in Indonesia, it's a headrush from start to finish. We follow a SWAT team including rookie Rama (Iko Uwais) as they plan to storm the stronghold of crime lord Tama. Surprises await the team on every floor mostly in the form of somersaulting batshit crazies deployed on behalf of Tama. All well versed in Pencak Silat, a traditional martial art, it’s a limb flailing, bone crunching, head twisting bonanza. Propelled by a brilliant soundtrack by Mike Shinoda (Linkin Park), deft script and scintillating pacing, The Raid is one to whoop, holler, scream and squeal at. Win Tickets / Michael McDermott

There's an air of what I suppose you could call transience about this exhibition. Adrian Duncan creates art that seem like moments captured in time, realised in objects that could collapse and disappear at any moment. I'm thinking particularly of the piece entitled That was here when I got there, an assemblage of orange shards (that turn out to be fragments of a clay pigeon) poised on the surface of the mirror. It's feels solid but temporary, a brief coalescence of broken pieces into something new and different. The artist refers to some of his work as being "barely perceptible", and I was in the room for some minutes before I noticed the delicate wire traceries of Fleeting Geometries suspended in the air over the room, coalescing into patterns that seem like they could be gone the next time you look. Subtle and beautiful. / Jay Daumier

Gothic cult drama Dark Shadows gets the Burton once-over with his trademark collision of kitsch and creepy. As to be expected, the Burton/Depp bromance is kept alive with Depp taking centre stage as cinema’s favourite character actor. Oldschool fans may be subject to nostalgia attacks seeing Pfeiffer in a Burton film without her catsuit. However Eva Green manages to balance effortlessly between camp and vamp, displaying all the dysfunction of a spurned woman turned superbitch while matching Depp’s on- screen energy. The film is laden with all the familiar motifs fused with a retro wash only Burton can get away with. As always with a drama - to - movie venture, there is a lot to squeeze into a two hour story, and with Burton’s penchants for intriguing backstory flashbacks, a sequel is most likely sleeping bat-like in a Hollywood vault. / Aoife Herrity

The Wall & Keogh’s organic tea display is an irresistible olfactory playground to any passer-by. But there’s more. Apart from the apothecary-like array of wholesome potions, the witty interior design and cool backyard lounge, you could also fumble around in its basement as it plays host to The Portobello Picturehouse. This freshly brewed bijou film club starts with 3 episodes of David Shaw’s legendary Irish crafts documentary: Hands. Semi monthly installments will follow every Tuesday with screened documentaries and film content ranging from classic to current, Irish or foreign. Hard to resist the inaugural one though, because it’s free and accompanied by fresh Sushi, gourmet sambos and cakes, all to be washed down with a choice of 150 varieties of tea. Be sure to signup though as they will be via email only. / Elish Bul-Godley

A sleuth of Panda bears jostle for positions, a whale offers his belly to a wetsuited diver while two zebras nuzzle up together. PARKed Life by Lucy Sheridan easily gives off a sense of enormous well being. But that's the effect cute animals have on me normally. I think Lucy's intention with these depictions is probably something more than cutsey anthropomorphism but that doesn't and should affect the ease to which they can be appreciated. The show is definitely more Park Life than Wild Life, there is little sense of danger here, more playful, huggable creatures that sit well in the not-often-enough-visited Talbot Gallery. Lucy completed a BA in Fine Art in 2006 and is also a co-founder of the artist collective Scissors|Cuts|Paper. It's got nothing to do with your vorsprung durch technik, you know. / Vernon Steel

Recently remade featuring Kate Winslet in an award winning performance, this is the original and (in my humble opinion) best version of this tale. Starring the oft imitated but never equaled Joan Crawford as the eponymous single mother this is a tour de force that shows just why she was one of the most formidable actresses of her day. Crawford won the Oscar for her portrayal of the world weary Mildred who goes out of her way to provide for her spoilt, selfish daughter only to have her efforts blow up in her face. One of the greatest film noirs of the 40s, it is not surprising that the film Club at Draíocht has chosen to screen this. For those who’ve never seen it before it will be an absolute revelation and for those who have it’s a fantastic opportunity to view it with like minded film fans. An absolute classic that everyone should see. / Frances Winston