Posts Tagged ‘Naomi Watts’
Author: Otilia
More than blood ties
Three intersecting stories brought together under the themes of love, adoption and motherhood are at the core of Mother and Child (2009), the latest film from Rodrigo García (Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her (1999)).
Author: James
Playing the games
More than ten years ago, German director Michael Haneke gave the world Funny Games (1997), a gruelling and relentless journey into nightmare that, along with greats such as Peeping Tom (1960) and Rear Window (1954) asks direct questions of the viewer concerning the voyeurism that is at the heart of cinema as an art form.
Author: James
A remake to go ape over
Some films should be left alone. Cinematic history is littered with masterpieces whose reputations are unfairly tarnished by the clunkers repackaged for a later generation, remade with little or no regard for the original’s integrity, vision and soul.
The 1976 John Guillermin-updated remake of Merian C. Cooper’s 1933 classic King Kong was a perfect example of such misguided monkey business, proving that colour, big stars, bigger bangs and Dino De Laurentiis as producer can add up to something you’d rather not step in.
Author: James
Classic Cronenberg
He can seemingly do no wrong; Canadian David Cronenberg, responsible for some of the finest examples of films that really do hit you where you live, has crossed the Atlantic to the UK for his first effort ever to be filmed completely outside his home country.
And his adoption of Viggo Mortenson, as Scorsese did with De Niro in the 1970s/80s, is proving to be perhaps the finest modern director/actor partnership – you only have to go as far back as the superlative A History of Violence (2005) to see the potential that David Cronenberg so obviously saw in the Lord of the Rings star.
Author: James
Stay
Staying power
Marc Forster’s Vanilla Sky-esque vision of what dreams may come, Stay, is worth coming back to. Forster is very much the man of the moment – the German-born director has given the world critically acclaimed hits such as Monster’s Ball (2001) (Halle Berry’s gong-grabber, oo-er missus), Finding Neverland (2004), Stranger Than Fiction (2006) and, best of all, he’s at the helm of the next Bond, Quantum of Solace, due for release in November 2008. Much as I’d like to discuss (at length) the life-affirming joy that is the prospect of a new 007 flick, we were talking about Stay, weren’t we? Oh well, duty calls…
- 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.