Občan Havel (Citizen Havel) (2008)
Written by James on October 10, 2008 – 12:38 pm -
It’s a hard life in the European Parliament, Brussels, enjoying the very reasonably priced bar and canteen, free access to internet/printer/phone/fax and, most important, the chance to watch the three contenders for the European Parliament Lux Cinema Prize 2008 in an auditorium specially constructed for that very purpose. Our man thinks he’s found the winner…
Tags: Citizen Havel (2008), Czech Republic, Miroslav Janek, Občan Havel (2008), Pavel Koutecky, Vaclav Havel
Posted in czech, documentary | No Comments »
Le silence de Lorna (2008)
Written by James on October 9, 2008 – 4:13 pm -
As promised in our recent article on the European Parliament Lux Cinema Prize, we begin our assessment of the three films up for the gong. A review of Občan Havel (2008) will follow on Picturenose presently, and you can check out Delta (2008) on our sister site, European Film Awards Reviews…
Tags: Arta Dobroshi, Fabrizio Rongione, Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Jérémie Renier, Le silence de Lorna (2008), Luc Dardenne, Morgan Marinne, Olivier Gourmet
Posted in belgian, drama, french, italian | No Comments »
Wolf Creek (2005)
Written by James on October 6, 2008 – 10:20 am -
Grim scary tale
In this age of carbon-copy horror, of excreble sequels and ‘three-quels’, such as with the Saw franchise, it is refreshing to see that there are still directors out there who are capable of putting the audience through it - the most recent genre example, before Greg McLean’s Wolf Creek (2005), was Fabrice Du Welz’s Calvaire (2004) but, such is the intensity of McLean’s vision, Calvaire seems like a picnic in the woods by comparison…
Tags: Calvaire, Calvaire (2004), Cassandra Magrath, Fabrice du Welz, Greg McLean, John Jarratt, Kestie Morassi, Nathan Philips, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), Wolf Creek (2005)
Posted in US, horror | 4 Comments »
V for Vendetta (2005)
Written by Colin on October 2, 2008 – 10:49 am -
Vengeance is mine!
Of the many adaptations of legendary graphic novel author Alan Moore, James McTeigue’s V for Vendetta (2005) is one that I think he would approve of. I say ‘think’, because he famously eschews the advances of the movie industry, and neither licenses nor watches any of the Hollywood adaptations of his art, preferring to let the graphic artists take the credit and the cash. He certainly wouldn’t like how the scriptwriters have changed the mission of the central character, V (Hugo Weaving), from anarchy to a much more screen-friendly freedom, but he’d probably enjoy how the style of the film captures the essence and feel of the original graphic novel series. Of course, I can’t and won’t speak for him, as he has already publicly denounced the screenplay, by Andy and Larry Wachowski, as ‘crap’ - I think he’s probably wrong.
Tags: Adam Sutler, Alan Moore, Evey, Hugo Weaving, John Hurt, Natalie Portman, Stephen Fry, The Benny Hill Show, V for Vendetta (2005)
Posted in action, british, graphic novel, thriller | 3 Comments »
Vikaren (The Substitute) (2007)
Written by Colin on September 29, 2008 – 11:40 am -
That’ll learn ‘em…
It would be a mistake to attempt to categorize Ole Bornedal’s Vikaren as ‘horror’. It’s certainly a fantasy film, and a very good one at that. I would venture that it is probably the first real family horror film. The kids have a handle on what’s going down from very early on, and the adults – none-too surprisingly - don’t believe them…
Tags: Copenhagen, fantasy, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), Jonas Wandschneider, Ole Bornedal, Paprika Steen, Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure (1985), Tim Burton, Ulrich Thomsen, Vikaren (2007)
Posted in Danish, comedy, fantasy, sci-fi | No Comments »
Ober (Waiter) (2006)
Written by James on September 29, 2008 – 10:45 am -
Prepare to meet your maker…
Reality’s not what it used to be - ‘meta’ reality, namely the displacement of characters/director/author/viewers in cinematic narrative, has been done before - John Carpenter’s In The Mouth Of Madness (1995) played the game for scares, with its central character slowly realizing that he is the doomed hero in a Lovecraftian nightmare that is being written by someone else, and then there was Philippe de Broca’s Le Magnifique (1973) starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jacqueline Bisset, which played the concept squarely (and succesfully) for laughs.
Tags: Alex van Warmerdam, Ariane Schluter, Jaap Spijkers, Lyne Renee, Mark Rietman, Ober (2006), Waiter (2006)
Posted in Dutch, comedy, surreal | No Comments »
Sleuth (1972)
Written by James on September 26, 2008 – 3:51 pm -
All just a bloody game…
I’ve been a film lover since I was first terrified by the wicked witch in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (1937) and a film professional for around 12 years, so, like choosing your football team late (which I also did - West Ham Utd, for those who care), it’s a relief to know that I can finally answer the ‘What’s Your Favourite Film?’ question that normally follows whenever I tell people about what I do.
Tags: Alec Cawthorne, Andrew Wyke, Anthony Shaffer, Detective Sergeant Tarrant, Eve Channing, Inspector Doppler, John Mathhews, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Marguerite Wyke, Michael Caine, Milo Tindle, Sir Laurence Olivier, Sleuth (1972), Sleuth (2007), Teddy Martin
Posted in british, mystery, suspense, thriller | No Comments »
European Parliament Lux Cinema Prize
Written by James on September 25, 2008 – 12:48 pm -
We highlight the European Parliament’s LUX Cinema Prize, as MEPs begin casting their votes on films selected for their illustration of the European integration process, topical EU issues and cultural diversity.
Tags: Auf der anderen Seite, Auf der anderen seite (2007), Delta (2008), European Parliament, Fatih Akin, Hans-Gert Pöttering, Le silence de Lorna (2008), LUX Cinema Prize, Občan Havel (2008), On the Edge of Heaven (2007)
Posted in film awards, news | No Comments »
Gong Tau: An Oriental Black Magic (2007)
Written by Colin on September 22, 2008 – 11:16 am -
Going, going, Gong Tau!
James and I were lucky enough to be able to attend the Brussels International Fantasy Film Festival (BIFFF) earlier this year. We also gave away lots of tickets for their premieres and first European showings, so if you want in next year, keep it here.
Tags: BIFFF, Flying Head Gong Tau, Gong Tau, Gong Tau (2007), Herman Yau, Kenny Wong, Maggie Shiu, Mark Cheng, Suet Lam
Posted in Hong Kong, horror | No Comments »
Le dîner de cons (The Dinner Game) (1998)
Written by James on September 19, 2008 – 12:57 pm -
Fools gold
Another one that I’ve been meaning to immortalize on Picturenose for some time - no word of a lie, this is among the funniest films ever made and its hilarity is in large part due to the fact that it is in French, rather than in spite of it. Not interested? Allow me to convince you otherwise…