Archive for the ‘psycho-drama’ Category

‘The great whatsit’

Definitely a film we should have reviewed a while ago – Robert Aldrich, who was one of the most subversive directors ever to come out of Hollywood, takes a run-of-the-mill Mickey Spillane-Mike Hammer yarn, and turns it into one of the most revered, referenced cult movies of all time. What’s in the box? Wouldn’t you like to know…

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Suffer the children

Directors before Michael Haneke have asked the same fundamental question that permeates his elegiac, trenchant study of darkness and light, Das weiße Band (2009) – namely, with specific reference to Germany, from whence did the affiliation with fascism rise, and how did a people turn a blind eye to the atrocities in their midst during the 20th century?

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Heart of darkness

Can’t you just feel the excitement? Picturenose is approaching its 300th post (this would be number 294), so a good time to talk about Vinyan (2008), the most recent film by Belgian horror master, Fabrice Du Welz.

Regular PN readers will be only too aware how well Du Welz’s first film, Calvaire (The Ordeal) (2004) went down with yours truly – as a lifelong horror fan (but only the good stuff, mind), it numbers among the most frightening films I have ever seen and, as I confessed with my initial review, actually gave me a nightmare.

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Party time?

A real surprise this one – a family get-together that goes horribly wrong but at the same time provides redemption, Thomas Vinterberg’s film (he went uncredited as director, as per Lars Von Trier’s ‘Dogma’ rules), with an electrifying screenplay by Winterburg and Mogens Rukov, has more than a few nods to Harold Pinter’s play The Homecoming, with its sense of impending doom and menace that grips early and holds until very near the end.

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The nature of evil

It’s rare, for me, to find a film that very nearly defies my capacity to describe it – and that’s not meant to be a self-aggrandising statement on my skills as a film reviewer, even if it sounds like it.

I have loved film since I was very small, and feel very lucky to have the opportunity to write about it for a living, which is why I hope you will believe me when I say that, should you take the risk (and believe me, that’s what it is) of seeing Lars von Trier’s Antichrist (2009) for yourself, as opposed to merely reading hyperbolic reviews such as this one, you will leave safe in the knowledge that you will NEVER see its like again.

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Don’t look down

How did it get so late so early? Picturenose is delighted to announce its 200th posting and offer heartfelt thanks to our readers, who make it all worthwhile. To celebrate our double century, we once again give the floor to Young Turk Cillian Donnelly, who here presents a trenchant and at times controversial analysis of Hitch’s magnum opus, which in turn marks the 50th anniversary of its European release this year. Take it away, CD… WARNING: SPOILERS THROUGHOUT!

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