Tagline: “His face unforgettable. His desires unthinkable. His curse unimaginable.â€
Translation: And by “unimaginableâ€, the filmmakers really mean “CGI’d to within an inch of its life.â€
The Verdict: At its core, The Picture of Dorian Gray is one of the great horror stories of its time (and some would say all time). So why do we feel our stomach churning ever so slightly that this classic gothic tale has been turned into what appears to be a by-the-numbers horror movie, complete with icky CGI? The film stars Ben Barnes (Prince Caspian) as the title character, and a slightly sinister-looking Colin Firth as Basil Hallward, the man who paints the infamous portrait of the hedonistic Gray. It’s tough to get a bead from this trailer on whether this film will touch on some of the homosexual undertones that made Oscar Wilde’s novel such a shockingly controversial piece of literature when it was first published back in 1890, but we did notice a few quick cuts of the bearded Firth looking Barnes up and down with bedroom eyes. Hmmm, maybe there’s a hint of promise here, after all.
Worth Watching - Aug 15: Oliver Parker’s Dorian Gray Teaser [First Showing]