We bid a warm welcome to our latest collaborators, Colin Moors and James Drew, the Brussels-based expat team behind film-review website www.picturenose.com, who will provide Expatica with weekly brickbats and bouquets on the latest flicks released across Europe.

Picturenose (and both James and Colin would take this opportunity to apologise for the puerile pun) arrived on the scene in late 2007 and came about from two friends who decided to turn their very frequent barroom cinema chats into something a little more substantial.

As James explains: “Once we’d hit on the title and both giggled about it like naughty schoolboys for a while, the site quickly took shape in our imaginations and subsequently online. We knew that we didn’t want it to be just about the latest US release, week in week out, so opted for a broader perspective, with reviews, personal perspectives on films old and new, as well as cinema news and other fun stuff which we hoped would interest the general (and the more specific) film-goer.”

A bit of background – James, a Brussels journalist of some seven years standing is the editor of Together Magazine, the latest glossy leisure guide to hit Europe’s capital, and has previously worked as a sub-editor for European Voice, sub-editor and film reviewer for The Bulletin, and sub-editor for Expatica and Euractiv during his time in Belgium. His knowledge of film has been described as “worryingly encyclopaedic” and has had film-related articles published in The Independent and Variety.

Colin, without whose technical skills Picturenose could not have come into being (James would have simply smashed his computer if it had been left up to him), is also a huge fan of cinema. By his own admission, his approach to criticism of the visual arts tends to involve a sofa, a stack of DVDs and any number of beers and snacks, so Expatica readers may find his reviewing tone to be somewhat more relaxed than James’. And he’s expanding his published repertoire rapidly – as well as Picturenose and now Expatica, he is also working freelance for Together Magazine.

So, here’s how it will work – Colin and James, with stalwart assistance from Picturenose's latest recruit, expat film and music journalist (and published author) Paul Stump, will, from week to week, be providing Expatica readers with a full review plus round-up chosen with care from the latest releases hitting the big screen. Then, on a monthly basis, Picturenose.com will provide a film-related feature devoted to an area of particular interest – be it Oscar predictions, Citizen Kane, or a reassessment of Carry On movies' contribution to sexual equality, you’ll find it here. And check out Picturenose.com on a regular basis – new articles are regularly added. Happy viewing!

(Expatica 2008)