Post by avalon on Oct 2, 2007 1:01:17 GMT 9.5
HOPE ALL OF YOU MAY HAVE A BRILLIANT WEEK.
LET'S START WITH MORE REVIEWS ABOUT "PUFFBALL".
I think Miranda will be amazing in "Mabs" role, she is beyond good and evil!!
peace all
NESSA aka AVALON
Source:
exclaim.ca
October 07 issue
Puffball
(Nicholas Roeg)
By Travis Mackenzie Hoover
I can’t for the life of me figure out what this UK/Irish/Canadian co-production is driving at. The first film in 11 years by fallen idol Nicolas Roeg, it’s a bizarre mishmash of attractive people, weird acting out, supernatural shenanigans and metaphorical sleight of hand that could mean so much if it wasn’t so completely impenetrable.
There’s a sexy couple (Kelly Reilly and Oscar Pearce) renovating a country house when they’re not engaging in ridiculous lovemaking, resulting in not one but two intrauterine cum shots for reasons too gratuitous to enumerate here.
There are witches, or some such mystical women (represented by Miranda Richardson and Rita Tushingham), who are strangely interested in the unborn child. It gets kind of fuzzy after that but there’s a raft of wholly unbelievable acting delivered with great gusto, a lot of gleefully pretentious symbolism surrounding sex and a camera style that never falters even as the plot blows your head clean off.
Donald Sutherland shows up for a minute as something or other (as a possible favour to his Don’t Look Now director) but his gravitas is all for naught — this is one silly movie, make no bones about it. Depending on your mood and your level of inebriation, this could either be a glorious camp extravaganza or just about the worst movie you’ve ever seen but either way, you’ve got to give Roeg credit for going so far out on a limb, and so far off the deep end.
Though one gets the impression that there’s a feminist subtext in the script (which is based on a Fay Weldon novel), the director is completely oblivious and simply lets his freak flag fly. Tragic that his comeback isn’t even close to being a genuinely good movie, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t an entirely watchable piece of embarrassment.(TVA)
SOURCE:National Post - Canada
"Blackmagic, baby"
Mark Medley, National Post
Published: Friday, September 28, 2007
FILM REVIEW
PUFFBALL
A psychiatrist would diagnose Puffball with multiple personality disorder: On the surface it's a thriller, until you realize it's devoid of tension. It sometimes fancies itself as erotica, but the sex scenes are bland. It's part rural drama, though the characters are too one-dimensional for our sympathies. Puffball is significant only in that it's director Nicolas Roeg's first film in over a decade. Hopefully no one held their breath.
Liffey and Richard, a young couple, retreat to the English countryside to restore a farmhouse. Their neighbours -- Mabs and Tucker; their daughters; and Mabs' mother Molly -- appear normal, but ominous music cues tell you otherwise. Richard goes to New York on business, leaving Liffey on her own. Mabs and Molly, desperate for a baby boy, learn Liffey is pregnant, and turn to black magic to get the baby.
The role of Liffey was intended for Samantha Morton, who has the good fortune not to appear in the film. Instead, Kelly Reilly acts hysterical for two hours, while veteran Rita Tushingham looks malevolent as grandmother Molly. ;)Two-time Oscar nominee Miranda Richardson's presence as Mabs is puzzling, though she has fun with the script's absurdities. Also found in this mess is poor Donald Sutherland, as Liffey's former co-worker, Lars. He's in just a few brief scenes, mumbling through his lines as if he's embarrassed to read the script aloud.
Poor Nicolas Roeg. He has quite the distinguished CV, having directed The Man Who Fell to Earth, starring David Bowie. Now he's cursed to have this on his resume, and no amount of black magic can change that.
Rating 1½
© National Post 2007
LET'S START WITH MORE REVIEWS ABOUT "PUFFBALL".
I think Miranda will be amazing in "Mabs" role, she is beyond good and evil!!
peace all
NESSA aka AVALON
Source:
exclaim.ca
October 07 issue
Puffball
(Nicholas Roeg)
By Travis Mackenzie Hoover
I can’t for the life of me figure out what this UK/Irish/Canadian co-production is driving at. The first film in 11 years by fallen idol Nicolas Roeg, it’s a bizarre mishmash of attractive people, weird acting out, supernatural shenanigans and metaphorical sleight of hand that could mean so much if it wasn’t so completely impenetrable.
There’s a sexy couple (Kelly Reilly and Oscar Pearce) renovating a country house when they’re not engaging in ridiculous lovemaking, resulting in not one but two intrauterine cum shots for reasons too gratuitous to enumerate here.
There are witches, or some such mystical women (represented by Miranda Richardson and Rita Tushingham), who are strangely interested in the unborn child. It gets kind of fuzzy after that but there’s a raft of wholly unbelievable acting delivered with great gusto, a lot of gleefully pretentious symbolism surrounding sex and a camera style that never falters even as the plot blows your head clean off. Donald Sutherland shows up for a minute as something or other (as a possible favour to his Don’t Look Now director) but his gravitas is all for naught — this is one silly movie, make no bones about it. Depending on your mood and your level of inebriation, this could either be a glorious camp extravaganza or just about the worst movie you’ve ever seen but either way, you’ve got to give Roeg credit for going so far out on a limb, and so far off the deep end.
Though one gets the impression that there’s a feminist subtext in the script (which is based on a Fay Weldon novel), the director is completely oblivious and simply lets his freak flag fly. Tragic that his comeback isn’t even close to being a genuinely good movie, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t an entirely watchable piece of embarrassment.(TVA)
SOURCE:National Post - Canada
"Blackmagic, baby"
Mark Medley, National Post
Published: Friday, September 28, 2007
FILM REVIEW
PUFFBALL
A psychiatrist would diagnose Puffball with multiple personality disorder: On the surface it's a thriller, until you realize it's devoid of tension. It sometimes fancies itself as erotica, but the sex scenes are bland. It's part rural drama, though the characters are too one-dimensional for our sympathies. Puffball is significant only in that it's director Nicolas Roeg's first film in over a decade. Hopefully no one held their breath.
Liffey and Richard, a young couple, retreat to the English countryside to restore a farmhouse. Their neighbours -- Mabs and Tucker; their daughters; and Mabs' mother Molly -- appear normal, but ominous music cues tell you otherwise. Richard goes to New York on business, leaving Liffey on her own. Mabs and Molly, desperate for a baby boy, learn Liffey is pregnant, and turn to black magic to get the baby.
The role of Liffey was intended for Samantha Morton, who has the good fortune not to appear in the film. Instead, Kelly Reilly acts hysterical for two hours, while veteran Rita Tushingham looks malevolent as grandmother Molly. ;)Two-time Oscar nominee Miranda Richardson's presence as Mabs is puzzling, though she has fun with the script's absurdities.
Also found in this mess is poor Donald Sutherland, as Liffey's former co-worker, Lars. He's in just a few brief scenes, mumbling through his lines as if he's embarrassed to read the script aloud.Poor Nicolas Roeg. He has quite the distinguished CV, having directed The Man Who Fell to Earth, starring David Bowie. Now he's cursed to have this on his resume, and no amount of black magic can change that.
Rating 1½
© National Post 2007
