Archive for the ‘news’ Category
Author: James
Now then – John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982), itself a remake of the Christian Nyby/Howard Hawks/Orson Welles (?) 1951 classic, The Thing From Another World (both of which are adaptations of John W.Campbell’s original short story, Who Goes There?) is perhaps the finest horror-science fiction film ever made. Carpenter’s movie, although it fared badly with critics and at the box office on its original release, has nevertheless gained an enormous cult following over the years, and is now rightly regarded as the classic that it so clearly is. Guess what? There is a ‘companion piece’ prequel on the way – how scared should we be?
Author: Colin
Two Gentlemen of Lebowski
I really could not let this go by. The entire script of The Big Lebowski (1998) transmogrified magic’ly into the very prose of the Bard himself. Why? More of that later. Is it any good? No – it’s much better than that.
Author: Colin
Bond Beauty
There is increasing speculation (probably generated by publicists) about the possibility of a 100-1 outsider taking up the reins of the 23rd James Bond outing. When will it be out? What will it be called? We don’t know, but we do know who many of the big names in the business are touting as the director – step forward, Mr Sam Mendes. Yes, the director of such movies as American Beauty (1999) and Road to Perdition (2002) is an obvious choice to handle a Bond film. Still, if he gets the gig, there’s likely to be a bit more work going Kevin Spacey’s way. Perhaps he could reprise his role as Lex Luthor in a Bond/Superman crossover. Remember folks – you heard it here first!
Author: Colin
Strike a light
OK, smoke ‘em if you got ‘em. Or rather don’t, because the kids might think you’re cool and hip and that would never do. Apart from grossing some eleventy billion dollars at the box office, James Cameron’s Avatar (2009) is busy corrupting our youth and tearing at the very fabric of society. Why? Because Sigourney Weaver does a bad, bad thing. Does she disembowel a chicken and drink the blood? No. Is she involved in a 9-way gangbang? No – worse, much worse. She – drum roll – lights a cigarette, and enjoys it! The brazen temptress!
Author: Colin
And you thought film fans were geeky?
‘What’ (I hear you cry) ‘is machinima?’ Well, for a start, it’s going to be one of those things you know about or don’t, simple as that. The actual word itself is a portmanteau of ‘machine animation’(badly spelled in the end, but the name stuck), and is pronounced mash-in-imma, approximately. For those of you who have been away from the computer gaming scene since Space Invaders and Frogger, I can tell you that things have really moved on from boxy graphics, beeping soundtracks and the ‘pew pew’ of lasers.
Author: James
In the end, it was Michael Haneke’s Das weiße Band – Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte (The White Ribbon) that dominated the 22nd edition of the European Film Awards, collecting three prizes.
Author: James
This reviewer, during the 13 years or so he has been watching films for a living, has gained something of a reputation for himself as a passionate (though not always particularly accurate) pundit, when it comes to predicting the winners of the big film awards – check out a couple of my earlier efforts here and here.
Author: James
‘Good News’ for Belgian cinema
An important cultural agreement between Egyptian media and entertainment company Good News Group and Brussels International Independent Film Festival was signed recently – Picturenose reports.
Egyptian film producer and director Adel Adeeb (pictured) has put €3 million in the coffers for an intriguing collaboration between Belgian and Egyptian cinema, to finance 50 per cent of two feature films.
Author: Colin
I’ll let you guess which is which…
OK, time for another roundup of all the news that’s fit to…er…all the news I feel like writing about. So, without further ado…
Colin (2009): Finally, films have started getting good titles. If it has to be a boy’s name, you can’t do a lot better, in my humble opinion. The film that took Cannes by storm, shot over 18 months on location in 2 countries (England and Wales) for a mind-blowing 45 pounds sterling, has now got a distributor and we be showing in cinemas proper all over the place (well, the UK, for a start). The premise of the movie is that the eponymous ‘hero’ has been attacked by a zombie, and is himself turning into one. We are let into his life before zombification, and follow his life while infected. A pretty nifty idea, I think, and pretty much the last place to go with the genre, following Shaun of the Dead (2004) and George A. Romero’s Diary of the Dead (2007). A cracking name for a film it is too. I wish it every success. The trailer can be seen here, along with more info on the movie.
Author: Colin
…no, really.
Well, it’s been a while since I posted a news update. The reason (other than my inherent laziness) is that nothing of any great moment has happened in the movie world, as far as I could tell. Until now, that is…
Yes, James got his pants in a knot about Swedish vampires and a new Transformers movie was released. Ooh. Apart from that, pretty much business as usual (disclaimer: my other major weakness is overuse of sarcasm, before you decide to point out how wrong I am). Luckily, I am the bearer of glad tidings, as word reaches me of two new white-hot movie projects guaranteed to increase the sales of popcorn and over-iced cola the world over. First up, I give you:
- 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.