Archive for the ‘fantasy’ Category
Author: Otilia
A spiritual journey
Argentinian-born French director Gaspar Noé – I Stand Alone (1998), Irreversible (2002) – challenges the impossible once again with Enter the Void (2009).
Author: James
Soul searching
There’s much to enjoy and ponder in this meta-take on what it means to be a person.
Seriously, they couldn’t have found a better actor (in much the same way as was the case with Spike Jonze’s Being John Malkovich (1999)) than Paul Giamatti to play himself to near perfection in Sophie Barthes’s sharp and ever-so-slightly twisted take on ‘soul storage’.
Author: James
Paradise lost
An initially inventive but ultimately disappointing ‘end-of-the-world’ fable. Picture the scene – it’s the run-up to Christmas on the outskirts of Las Vegas, and a motley crew is gathered in the Paradise Falls desert diner, owned by Bob Hanson (Dennis Quaid). First of all, there’s his son Jeep (Lucas Black), who has, against his dad’s wishes, devoted himself to eight-month pregnant Charlie (Adrianne Palicki). The kid’s not his, but he’s in love, and Hanson Senior doesn’t want to see his son get trapped into a dead-end existence, as he was.
Author: Eleanor
Super-heroic stuff
Another day, another Picturenose recruit. We are delighted to welcome talented young author Eleanor Salter to the fold, with her take on the latest comic-book adaptation.
By now, nearly everyone must have seen or heard of Kick-Ass (2010) via its clever advertising and the famous actors in the cast, and the hype leading up to the release of one of the biggest films of the year was well worth it. The actors include Aaron Johnson (Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (2008)), Nicolas Cage (Ghost Rider (2007), World Trade Center (2006)), Mark Strong (Stardust (2007), Sherlock Holmes (2009)) and 13-year-old Chloë Grace Moretz ((500) Days of Summer (2009), Bolt (2008)).
Author: James
No trouble with Harry
When the chance for a chat with one of Belgium’s finest directors, Harry Kümel, presented itself during the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFFF) 2010, you can be sure that Picturenose’s James Drew (JD) didn’t miss his opportunity to meet the man behind two of the most acclaimed cult horror/sci-fi/fantasy features ever made, Les lèvres rouges (Daughters of Darkness) (1971) and Malpertuis (The Legend of Doom House) (1971).
Author: James
Gods and monsters
Picturenose had the pleasure of meeting renowned Antwerp-born director Harry Kümel during BIFFF 2010 - a little background then on Malpertuis (The Legend of Doom House) (1971), a film which, along with Kümel’s Les lèvres rouges (Daughters of Darkness) (1971), resulted in the director quickly being labelled a master of fantasy and horror.
Author: Colin
sed quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
I grew up a fan of the graphic novel, having cut my teeth on Marvel and DC comics. I appreciated that it was possible to tell an engaging and adult story in comic format and the pinnacle of this renaissance for me was when a friend bought me the graphic novel Watchmen for my birthday. Alan Moore’s story and Dave Gibbons’s art made the story by turns dramatic, amusing and pithy. Then Zack Snyder came along and turned the whole thing into an introspective and smug piece of shit.
Author: James
Mythic
Things have certainly come some way since the last time your reviewer donned an extra pair of glasses to complement his own for a movie – writer Stephen King, who is very short-sighted, once declared that if 3D ever came back to cinemas in a big way, he was going to invest in a pair of prescription lenses, one red, one blue.
Author: James
Alice? Alice?
There are some novels that cannot, or should not, be filmed – Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World springs to mind, and Tim Burton’s archetypally dark, visually stirring but emotionally hollow adaptation of Lewis Caroll’s journey down the rabbit hole seems to prove that Alice in Wonderland belongs in the same category.
Author: James
Time to get slimy
Like its South-Korean predecessor, Joon-Hwan Jang’s Save the Green Planet (2003), Gwoemul (The Host) (2006) scooped the Golden Raven, top prize at the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival.
It’s not difficult to see why – from the creature’s first attack, on food-stand slacker Park Kang-du (Kang-ho Song) and his ravishing head-strong daughter Park Hyun-seo (Ko A-sung), who is snatched by the rampaging beast after her father accidentally lets go of her hand, the film is nothing less than simple, crackingly enjoyable, old-fashioned fun.
- Colin: Mike: the Matrix was utter toss. Don’t go there. Anyhow, I’m right with you on Aliens –...
- Colin: James: Why not do ten more and see if you can avoid putting the god-awful travesty that is Independence Day in...
- CD: The Day the Earth Stood Still (it’s about an alien who is Jesus…but better than ET) Soylent Green...
- James: Hello Chris, and welcome to Picturenose!
Many thanks for your comment – I thought, in fact, that... - James: Colin, good points, both on Westworld (which should really have been included, I know, I know) and otters.