Lift not the painted veil

Advantages: Stirring emotional historical drama. Breathtaking scenery.
Disadvantages: A little predictable.

...Somerset Maugham led an enviable life of travel and story-telling with many of his novels notorious for their foundation on real people and events. He wrote The Painted Veil in 1925, a novel which had to be revised at least twice to eliminate references to people that were still living. Such was the popularity of this book that it inspired three films; The Painted Veil (1934), The Seventh Veil (1957) and The Painted Veil (2006). I have seen the first two films many times and loved them both. So whilst browsing the DVDs in Tesco for something interesting to watch, I couldn't resist this the third adaptation. I was not disappointed. Set in the 1920s London, Shanghai and China with filming taking place on location in China itself, the scenery is breathtaking; the costumes wonderful and what struck me in particular was the historical...

MAFARRIMOND 16.09.2007 · Read review
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Review of The Painted Veil

Peeling Back the Paint

Advantages: Good supporting performances, great costume design and cinematography.
Disadvantages: Simplistic characterisation.

...is accompanied by tolling tubular bells. It is an effective score that suits the mood and tone of the film. "The Painted Veil" is a solid example of the heritage picture that features strong performances, confident direction and capable writing. It is a trifle overlong and is sometimes weighed down by its sense of self-importance. It plays as though everyone knows that what they are making is art and not entertainment. But there are moments when it combines the intimate and the epic to great effect. If you like the work of W Somerset Maugham and/or you like a good period movie, this could be right up your street. But bear in mind that to get the most out of the cinematography, you should watch it on a wide-screen TV....

afy9mab 14.04.2008 · Read review
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Review of The Painted Veil

The Painted Veil - Beautifully Crafted

Advantages: Beautiful scenes, excellent acting.
Disadvantages: None.

...Directed by: John Curran Screenplay by: Ron Nyswaner Novel by: W. Somerset Maugham Genre: Drama - Romance Country: USA/China Certification: 12+ Language: English Released: 20th August, 2007 (DVD) MAIN CAST: Naomi Watts (Kitty Fane) Edward Norton (Walter Fane) Liev Schreiber (Charlie Townsend) Toby Jones (Waddington) Diana Rigg (Mother Superior) In 1925, in an attempt to escape her overbearing mother, spoiled and superficial Kitty accepts Dr. Walter Fane's marriage proposal, and follows him to China where he is working as a bacteriologist. When Walter discovers that his wife is cheating on him, he punishes her by accepting a position in a remote area of China where a cholera epidemic is raging. Forcing Kitty to accompany him, their difficult journey will be one of self-discovery and respect. 'The Painted...

GoFigure 22.10.2007 · Read review
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Review of The Painted Veil

Aluminium paint is chic .

Advantages: Cheap, easy to use, no need to thin
Disadvantages: Can rub off onto clothes etc.

...Made by good old ICI. Dulux was founded in 1931. The paint was originally developed to give the impression of polished stainless steel. 1 litre will cover up to 18 square meters, depending on the surface. This paint is thin, so will soak in easily. It does not dry to a hard wearing finish, so allow for it to be touched up - ooooh err Missus! Solvent based, so brush cleaning has to be done with turpentine substitute. This paint actually does contain slivers of aluminium. The only colour is of course aluminium. Apply by brush, although small areas can be done with a rag. Either way, I would recommend surgical gloves, Tins are metal, none of those useless plastic ones. Sizes of tins are 5 litre, 2.5 litre. and one litre. Other manufacturers make smaller tins. Will go over bitumen paint, not a lot else will. Apparently this...

smudgeybabes 02.03.2007 (06.03.2009) · Read review
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Review of Dulux Aluminium Paint

I can paint a Rainbow..

Advantages: An amazing selection of colours, one for every Girl (or boy!)
Disadvantages: You'll find yourself wanting every single shade.

...There's just something completely lovely about seeing a row of chunky little pots standing in a row on your dresser. Each holding a different, amazing colour. I'll review a few different shades I have, even though I love Barry M I find each pot is completely different in one way or another. Red Glitter - This is my favourite out of my little collection. Two coats and you've got fingernails to the likes of Dorothy's ruby slippers. When I bought it I thought it would be a basic red paint with some glitter thrown in, but this is full on glitter magic. Not really for the understated - I wouldn't reccomend it to a French Manicure queen - it's nice on a friday night after work to strip back my basic colours and put this one on. Downside to the red glitter nail varnish is that's it's a pain to get off. It takes a good half minute to do...

Cinny91 21.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of Barry M Nail Paint

Painting Revolution..?

Advantages: It is quick.
Disadvantages: It is messy. Limited paint colours available.

...At the end of last month I moved into my new house in Hertfordshire. As I am taking a few months out of the workforce, I am overseeing the ginormous amount of work that needs to be done and am personally handling the painting of just about every room in the house. With this in mind, my thoughtful husband suggested that a Dulux PaintPod roller system would make lighter of these tasks for me. The TV advertisements certainly made it seem this way and so we set off intent on making our purchase. We bought our system in Homebase for £69.99, although I think it is possible to get them a little bit cheaper elsewhere. The paint that needs to be used with the pod comes in a specially shaped plastic container. I understand from the internet that there are about 35 colours to choose from, but a far smaller number were stocked in my local...

Cat199 21.08.2008 · Read review
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Review of Dulux PaintPod Roller System

The Painted Veil

Advantages: Cinematography/ Acting
Disadvantages: Sad love story

......

WormThatTurned 08.02.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Painted Veil

Rediscover your inner child with Paint Pots!

Advantages: Works really well as a base, increases colour vibrancy and staying power
Disadvantages: Rediscover your inner child with Paint Pots!

...For a long time I've loved MAC's vast range of eyeshadows - any colour under the sun is pretty much guaranteed to be included in their collection and in variety of finishes to boot! My only real gripe with them is that I find that they tend to crease on my eyelids halfway through the day which is a real problem if you tend to be drawn towards the brighter colours. I was interested in purchasing a primer to help tackle this problem, and before heading into the MAC store I was all prepared to buy MAC's standard primer for eyes - Prep & Prime. But when I got chatting to one of the makeup girls she convinced me that their Paint Pots actually make a wonderful primer, as well as a cream based shadow so essentially you get two for the price of one! According to MAC the Paint Pots are 'highly pigmented eye colour that goes on creamy but dries to...

bubblegum_princess 21.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of MAC Painterly Paint Pots

Paint and Go

Advantages: Easy to Apply
Disadvantages: Not very durable

...Floor paint is supposed to be for floors. I recently bought B&Q's floor paint for may garage. I live in a New Build house with a bare concrete floor in the garage. Dust was being blown about through the gaps in the garage door so I thought the paint would seal it up and ultimately keep the car clean. I went to B&Q and had a look at the ranges. Something in my mind said that £30 a tin for a named brand was to expensive so I chose the B&Q version which I think was £19.99 a 2.5 litre tin. Also purchased a gloss mini roller for speed. The paint comes in various colours, red, green, blue and battleship grey, grey being my choice. On reading the tin it says it applies easily to concrete and stone floors with no previous treatment. So I cleared out the garage and brushed off the dirt and began to paint. It probably took about 2...

skrg28 24.10.2005 · Read review
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Review of B&Q Floor Paint

As easy as painting by numbers

Advantages: Almost makes painting the walls a pleasure
Disadvantages: can get a little heavy if fully filled

...The other week the wife informed me that she wanted to redecorate the house... translated in real terms, she wanted me to re -paint every room... either that or she would hire a painter to come in and do the job for a remarkably large amount of readies... As I can be quite handy with a brush I decided to save hundred of pounds an do the job myself... especially as I knew of a quick method which would get the results required and keep the wife happy...and save me lots of money in the process... This method being the brilliant paint runner system... ** WHAT IS IT..? It is a painting tool, which looks a little like a fat paint roller, that you simply fill up with paint and then use as you would a normal roller...only without the hassle. Its apparent unique design allows it to paint evenly without the drips and the mess, thus...

blissman70 19.02.2009 · Read review
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Review of Paint Runner System