Gangleri – filmreviews

Yesterday we watched the magnificent “Memento” again, I love that film. I saw it in the cinema when it came out and I have seen it several times since, but it had been a while. The superb script keeps making my jaw drop. Brilliant how in a backwards story the characters develop in a linear way. Also it seems that I never consciously noticed that the opening scene shows the idea of the film. Should you have seen it some time back: just rewatch it some time.

With weekends with three reviews, you must surely think that I am a big filmfreak. When I add to that that on one evening me and my girlfriend also watch X-Files (I got the 9 seasons box long ago, we usually watch two episodes a week), the conclusion that I am of the TV generation is not completely unfounded. The thing is, I do not really watch film because I really want to watch films. Last Friday night my girlfriend had another agenda and instead of watching a film, I read a book. With, after sleeping, as biggest hobby: lying on the couch and watching a film, I merely try to see to it that they are descent ones. This does not always succeed, but I do my best.
But of course I do enjoy to watch a good film, but rather watch it because I want to see it, than get a film because we want to see a film. Oh well, with me watching as many films as I do, this section at least grows a bit each week.

Yes it is silent in this section. There are more important things to do than watching films! But what does not really help either is that my girlfriend sometimes comes home with films that I do not feel like reviewing here. Two 007’s for example (funny that in The Man With The Golden Gun two actors from The Wicker Man have significant parts) and yesterday we watched the magnificent La Cite des Enfents Perdus (City Of Lost Children), because we did not feel like getting a new film from the videostore. The good news is that there are new book- and musicreviews.

Yesterday we re(rerere)watched one of my favourite films: “Pi” by Darren Aronovsky. “Pi” is about a mathematician and combines ancient (number) theories with Kabbalistic ideas, “glitch” music, great camera-work with epileptic scenes. There are but a few directors who are really able to use the power of music to set an atmosphere. However the music in “Pi” is almost always the same, Aronovsky has really incorporated that track into his film. I think that when I think about it, my favourite films are all films in which music is used well. Filming style works too, an atmosphere has to be set somehow. Film and music can amplify eachother when used well. A film gets better with a good choice and use of music and music that is used in a good film, gets an extra layer. “Pi” is one of those films that perfectly mixes different elements to a film that does not appeal for the larger audience, but is brilliant for a viewer like myself.

By accident I heard about a film festival in my own town: “Duistere Openbaringen“. It apparently was the fourth time this festival was held, but the first time (?) in the new film-makers home Broet that has only opened its doors in October 2008. “Duistere Openbaringen” focuses on horror and fantasy and on the day that we went, there were three blocks of an hour and a half with short films of Dutch and Flemish filmmakers. Horror seems to be almost synonymous with zombie, since there were too many amateuristic zombie film with the typical blood-spitting closeups and flying intestines. But inspite of such amateuristic films like “Vleesdag” (not a zombie film btw.), “The Zombie Commandments” or “Zombeer”, there were also much better produced (almost slick) films such as “Harry Doright’s Prelude To Hell” (well done, but the story could have been better) or “Brother’s Keeper”. Somewhere in between there were films that were either interesting in story (“Morgana”), camera work (“Bockereyers”) or setting (“Het Verraderlijke Hart”). Towards the end there was also humour with “Schat, Ik Ga Fietsen” (very gory) and the highlight of the evening “Popo de Clown”. A special mention should be made for the shortest film of the evening “I’m Gonna Eat Your Innards” which gave an amusing minute.
The organisation also gave away prices (“oscars” so to say), but we did not wait to see and they are not yet on the website. In any case, film-makers in the Eindhoven region might want to have a look at Broet, since there you can get advice, rent things, etc. and they have a small cinema to watch independant film and a café where visitors and film-makers can meet.

My girlfriend and me both have birthdays around this time. This resulted in quite a couple of films that people chose for us to watch. Of course I will all give you my findings when I saw them. Two films my girlfriend bought, an Israelian film that I will review in a few minutes and a psychological thriller (her favorite genre). From friends and family I got two early Cronenbergs, Doberman and an ancient Bergman film. As for our own choosing, this week we will go and see “Waltz with Bashir”, a film that I have wanted to see for some time and which now plays in the local filmhouse.

As you may have read, I bought the 9 series (165 hours) X-Files box and we are rewatching The Prisoner. With these long-running series we do not really need to watch everything else, so there may not be too many filmreviews here on short notice.

Last Sunday Hellboy was on TV. It was the second time that I saw it. Undoubtely is it shown now, since Hellboy II will be in the cinemas the day after tomorror in the Netherlands. Hellboy is a strange film with a great sense of humour and great stages and costumes. In a way it is a rather cheasy fantasy action, which, I suppose, is the reason that it seems to do well with the larger audience, but the director knows how to make an impressive film. I saw a trailer for Hellboy II in the cinema and in the first minute I thought it was a trailer for The Mummy 26, but when the magnificent images and stages and eventually Hellboy himself came in, things became clear. On TV I saw another and much less interesting trailer. I think I will go and see Hellboy II in the cinema, if it were only because of the visuals.
We continue rewatching The Prisoner at a slow pace. It remains a great series. I have to reread the Tyr article, but I keep forgetting about that.
Yesterday I got an email that the X-Files 9 series box is on its way. Yes, the latest film is not very good, the previous was just alright, but I want to see the old series again and not from the crappy TV-tapes VHS tapes that I have. I am curious if I still enjoy the old shows like I did 15 years ago.
Also on its way: Eraserhead. I had always thought that I would buy this classic for a few euros some time, but even after the 2000 cleaned-up rerelease, the film remained hard to get, expensive and without a European release with subtitles. Tired of waiting I ordered a copy from the USA.
There are a few things on my wishlist. Tips from friends, things that I ran into on the internet, hopefully I will be able to track down the films to see them some time.

So yesterday we watched the remake that I just bought on cheap DVD. The film is pretty awfull if you know the original. Sometimes the texts are direct quotes from the script of the original, but at other times things are completely changed. For some reason the director added a ‘bee element’ and the matriarchal society of his American Summerisle seems to be a copy of the bee population. This is all new in the story. Trying to pay no heed to the original, this is still not a very good film. The credibility of the story is low, the film is not really exciting and the little information about ‘the old religion’ is extremely thin as if the director wanted to keep some elements that he didn’t understand. My review of the film of some time ago, could have been written today as well.

Recently I bought a “Riget” (“The Kingdom”) 2 series DVD box and yesterday we started to watch it. Ah, the weird hospital soap with Lars von Trier after every episode and Dutch subtitles. What a wonderfull box.