Picturenose

Stolen chances

A slick, well-made effort from Spanish director Jaime Marques (El Paraíso perdido (1999)) - writers Juan Ibáñez and Enrique López Lavigne offer an insight into the life and mind of Álex (Juan José Ballesta), a child abandoned by his kleptomaniac mother after she’d taught him how to ‘lift’ from passers-by, and the relationship he forms, now as a young man (with an uncanny resemblance to Matt Damon), with attractive middle-class student Sara (María Valverde), whom he promises to teach all that he knows about the fine art of street theft.

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Angst Lee
There’s always one, isn’t there? Well, this ever-so ‘umble critic is putting his reputation on the line - Brokeback Mountain really isn’t quite as good as everyone else seems to believe. There, I’ve said it. Accusations of hard-heartedness may follow, but that doesn’t change the fact that Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) director Ang Lee’s simplistic, overindulgent work is little more than a competently made ode to nature and male-bonding.

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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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Hard on Baz’s Bard
It is with great interest that I learned the Australian soap actor-turned director Baz Luhrmann has a new film coming up this year. It’s called Australia, and the early reports indicate it might be good. That’s a relief, because since Strictly Ballroom (1992), his movies have been - how can I put this - nauseating, over-produced crap.

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