Picturenose

Cinema Movie Review: The Great Gatsby (2013) 3

May

2013

Gatsby the not-so ‘magnifique’ Picturenose is simply delighted to welcome Catherine Feore to our hallowed reviewers’ ranks, with her thoughts on Baz Luhrmann‘s take on F. Scott Fitzgerald‘s classic novel. Take it away, Ms Feore. When I heard that Leonardo DiCaprio had signed up to play Gatsby in a new production of the famous novel ...

Cinema Movie Review: The Place Beyond the Pines (2013) 3

May

2013

Compelling In The Place Beyond the Pines (2013), Derek Cianfrance finds himself re-teaming with Ryan Gosling from his first film, Blue Valentine (2010). The film tells three separate, but connected stories based in Schenectady, New York. In Mohican, Schenectady means ‘place beyond the pine plains’. Just as the Mohicans depicted the pines separating two different ...

DVD Movie Review: Rabid (1977)

May

2013

Blood lust We are back in my (rather corrupted, it must be said) childhood here, with David Cronenberg‘s continuing (at the time) exploration of ‘body horror’. This time around, he drew a bravura performance from perhaps the greatest porn queen of her generation, Marilyn Chambers. Sadly, despite the fact that she obviously had what it ...

Cinema Movie Review: Quartet (2012) 2

May

2013

‘Growing old is not for cissies’ And so Dustin Hoffman (amazingly enough, for the first time) takes to the director’s chair for this gentle, sweet but overly sentimental tale of life after the curtain calls have ended, Quartet (2012). In a home for retired musicians, the annual gala concert to celebrate Verdi’s birthday is facing ...

Cinema Movie Review: The Broken Circle Breakdown (2012)

May

2013

Circle of life Felix Van Groeningen’s film, The Broken Circle Breakdown (2012), is a well-crafted story about a Flanders bluegrass singer Didier (Johan Heldenbergh) and his tattoo-covered lover Elise (Veerle Baetens) and how their relationship is challenged by the direst of circumstances. Expertly edited between differing times in the couple’s relationship, Van Groeningen has created ...

DVD Movie Review: The Dead Zone (1983)

May

2013

What would you do? Slowly but surely, I am getting around to the Stephen King films that are worth reviewing for Picturenose – and this marvellous adaptation by David Cronenberg is still very much one of the best films to be made from King’s work, 30 years on.

DVD Movie Review: Witchfinder General (1968)

May

2013

Price’s finest hour This one really takes me back – Witchfinder General (1968) was directed by Michael Reeves, a director who was cited at the time as the great white hope of the British film industry, having made only two films before Witchfinder…, namely The She Beast (1966) starring Barbara Steele and Ian Ogilvy, and ...

European Film Academy News

May

2013

EFA Board: Neglecting the importance of culture will put an end to the European Dream The Board of the European Film Academy and EFA President Wim Wenders have declared their support for the petition launched by the French Association of Film Directors and Producers (ARP) to preserve Europe’s cultural exception in the EU/US trade and ...

Cinema Movie Review: Iron Man 3 (2013)

May

2013

On his metal The concluding (for now) installment of the Iron Man franchise switches directors from Jon Favreau to Shane Black with the intent of amplifying the action. Fitting, since Black has a long history with blow-out action films, having written Lethal Weapon (1987), The Last Boy Scout (1991), and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005), ...

Cinema Movie Review: The Brass Teapot (2012)

May

2013

Strange brew Ramaa Mosley’s first feature film The Brass Teapot (2012) is a genius idea, but does not seem able find its own identity. The basic concept of the film is that a young married couple, Alice and John (Juno Temple and Michael Angaraino) are down on their luck – Alice is unable to find ...

Cinema Movie Review: Room 237 (2012)

May

2013

Room with a view Conspiracy theories and opinions run amok in Rodney Ascher’s documentary, Room 237 (2012). In great detail, Ascher interviews nine contributors who have spent years analyzing and deciphering Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece The Shining (1980). From people who simply try to piece together the illusionary hotel’s surroundings to messages Kubrick may have been ...