Picturenose

Blood money

It’s always a difficult call, making movies about the greatest atrocity in the history of mankind, namely the Shoah (Holocaust). After all, it can be argued, what right do we have, as mere spectators, to be ‘entertained’ by the recounting of events that, quite simply, cast doubt on the very existence of the God worshipped by the Jewish community, including the six million who were slaughtered in the Final Solution?

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Vive Mesrine!

Let’s face it – no one does Real McCoy, well-’ard gangster flicks like we Europeans. Of course, Stateside, you can cite Scorsese’s Goodfellas (1990) or Casino (1995) and, at a pinch, Coppolla’s The Godfather (1972) but sorry, when it comes to what violence, fear of violence and callous characterizations are really all about, we have (among many others) Get Carter (1971). We’ve got The Long Good Friday (1980). Frankly, you’ve never really had a glass smashed into your face unless you’ve had it this side of the Atlantic, and there is a gritty, seamy, downright dirty side to the 70s gangster look and feel that only European pubs, bars, clubs and strip-joints can effectively convey.

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Store men
In an effort to be absolutely bang up-to-date here on Picturenose, I thought it would be a good idea to review a movie I managed to miss for a good 14 years. I don’t think it necessarily matters, though. You could see it for the first time tomorrow and it would be certain to entertain you in some way. While certain topics are hardly current (the quite delicious discussion of The Return of the Jedi (1983) for example), the dialogue really is the selling point for this ultra-low budget affair, which cost only around $54,000 to produce.

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Center does not hold
Former enfant terrible Oliver Stone would appear to have re-embraced the American Way but World Trade Center (2006), while graced with powerful performances and a life-affirming core narrative, suffers from biased perspectives and a sluggish middle section.

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Striking back against the Empire

Ken Loach’s controversial, Palme d’Or-winning study of Republicans v the Brits in 1920s Ireland raised the hackles of several well-known UK critics (who, customarily, didn’t feel the need to actually see the film) as well as Irish commentators. It’s normally a sign that an artist has got something right when he angers both sides of a debate and claims of bias seem moot when a film comprises such lyrical beauty, steadfast portrayals and a marvellous, articulate script.

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Hell sent
Yep, well - the film title kind of gives away what the story’s about, doesn’t it? Well, I’d say yes and no, in fact. Perfume (2006) (to give its short title) was a film I came away from thinking: “I enjoyed that, but I’m just not sure why.”

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Towering triumph

Superb. Just out-and-out superb. If you came for a scene-by-scene deconstruction and to hear how utterly pretentious it is, look away now. Regular readers will know that I have the attention span of a not-too-bright goldfish when it comes to films over ninety minutes long, but this one is two and a half hours or thereabouts and I don’t believe there was a single foot of film wasted. I am in serious danger of sounding like a union representative for the Spanish Film Council, having recently given The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005) such a blinding review, but the writing and direction are so tight and fresh that I believe we should hand the film industry to Spain for a few years.

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Lust for strife

Fast making a name for himself as one of the greatest living directors, Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain (2005), The Ice Storm (1997)) has once again set the screen on fire with his latest, a beautifully shot, savagely sexual look at the hunter and prey, betrayer and betrayed, and how easily such roles can switch.

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Mysterious ways

Flemish shorts director and writer Dimitri Karakatsanis takes his first stint at the helm of a feature with this elegaic study of coping with loss.

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What dreams may come…

Woody Allen completes his ‘London trilogy’ with this surprisingly dark, moody effort. The title refers to the name that close-knit brothers Ian (Ewan McGregor) and Terry (Colin Farrell) Blaine give to their newly acquired pleasure boat, paying some £6,000 for which only adds to the pair’s financial difficulties - Terry’s a gambler whose habit is spiralling out of control, while Ian is looking to invest in a Californian hotel chain, to get away from the struggling restaurant of his father (John Benfield). A surprise visit from their generous millionaire uncle Howard (Tom Wilkinson) could be their way out of a hole, but the potential benefactor has a surprise request - Howard’s looking to make a real killing of his own, and he wants his nephews’ help…

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