The Stand (1994)

On VHS tape, nonetheless. w00t!

Mother Abigail doubts her own believe in God. She knows what the answer will be: to die.

Many parts felt a bit "hastened", a feeling I can't recall from the previous (and first) time when I watched it, many many years ago.

The slow guy put mannequins into the street to feel less lonely. I wonder if I somehow still had this in mind when I wrote a similar part for "poste restante". It might just be a "logical" thing. Then it's a fairly strong (small) plot device.

"The old way is ending"... compare "The Dark Tower" series.

All characters are fairly straight-forward, but, not unusual, the bad character Nadine Cross sways between good and evil. When she's rejected by good guy Nick Andros, she cries because that pushes her over.

update

"I Am Legend" featured an identical mannequins-in-street scene. This was the film that, before I watched it, gave me an idea for "Poste Restante". Guess I wasn't original after all. Normality is restored.

White Lightnin' (2009)

The last mountain dancer is simply a crazy guy with "the devil in his blood" as he repeatedly tells us. This rejects any real responsibility in a way, even though he often tries (and fails) to stay on the good side.

Shot in a grimey over-exposed white, strange flat colours. The music built up slowly, taking minutes and minutes, finally dragging you along. 

I wasn't thrilled but it was definitely a film that can survive on its own.

7

9 (2009)

Beautifully crafted dolls, wonderful details. Knitted puppets, bestowed with (a part of) the soul of their creator, struggle to survive in a post-apocalyptic world from which humanity was wiped out by its own doing.

Moody with the occassional light note. Bit unbelievable coincedence / improbabiliy of events, "suddenly noticing" something, etc. 

Story parallel with the humans who once destroyed themselves.

Produced by Tim Burton. Created by the same team that did "Coraline", so I guess I really do have to see that one as well (its DVD got 5 out of 5 stars recently). Directed by Shane Acker, who did animation on LoTR. 

8.

Earlimart - "The World"

This refers to  a song, not an album. I heard it while watching s01e13 of Dollhouse (see somewhere below) and decided to search for some more music by this band.

It's evocative, slightly eerie. Q/Midnight at the Castle ish.

The rest of Earlimart failed to grab my attention as this song did. Most of them are very much alike. The indie-band with their not-too-serious songs. I'm reminded of Shivaree's "Goodbye Moon" which turned out to be completely different from her other songs.

Still, will listen to Earlimart's four albums again. The music isn't irritating, and who knows I find another gem.

Voorpagina Volkskrant

De hoofdartikelen op de voorkant van de Volkskrant lijken tegenwoordig steeds meer opinie-artikelen te worden. En al is het dan nog geen (hoofd)redactioneel commentaar, of een ingezonden stuk, er wordt geimpliceerd en een sfeer geschapen zonder dat de feiten die aandragen.

Neem het artikel "Lange vlucht Demjanjuk is ten einde" over de (laatste grote) oorlogsmisdadiger van WO II. Het begint met  "Zolang de rechtspraak bestaat, heeft de mensheid het tafereel gekend van de eenzame man die op de vlucht is voor de zwaarste beschuldiging die kan worden uitgesproken: moord." Hier wordt een verhaal verteld, geen feitelijk relaas gegeven. (Kom niet aanzetten met de bewering dat dit als feit kan worden aangenomen; het openen van een artikel met deze woorden creëert een specifieke sfeer.)

Later: "De man over wie wij het hebben, is bijna een leven lang op de vlucht geweest voor wat als een duistere schaduw boven zijn hoofd hangt: het proces. Zelfs als hij meende eraan ontsnapt te zijn, keerde het terug als een kwade droom." Geen aanhalingstekens, geen citaat.

Over wie "wij" het hebben? Sinds wanneer presenteert de journalist zich zo uitgesproken in een feitenrelaas? Er volgen metaforen en aannames. Nou kan een metafoor verduidelijkend werken, maar hier is de functie wederom een smeuïge omschrijving.

Is dit slecht? Ik weet nog niet goed wat ik ervan vind. Het valt opt. En voor kranten als het NRC en de Volkskrant is het naar mijn weten niet gebruikelijk. Zwichten zij voor de gratis dagbladen en worden ze sensationeler? Moet het nieuws mooier, aangrijpender gebracht worden?

update

Lezen is een kunst. "Reportage", staat er bij het stuk van Max Pam. Maar ik blijf het vreemd vinden dat dit pontificaal (direct onder de kop) op de voorpagina staat.

Nitin Sawhney - "Philtre" (album)

Dark, though not gloomy, slow triphop (sliphop?), interlaced with fragmented ambient sounds. Subdued.

The following list is not complete

• "Everything" got me immediatly interested
• female voice on "Spark" is slightly eerie
• "Dead Man", more hiphop, with oriental influences. Not particularly good
• "Mausam", even more Indian-sounding, not really my thing
• "Journey", starts jazzy, reminds a bit of Seal, but the close-harmony later on is a bit too boybandish
• "Koyal (Songbird)" start slow, melancholy. Oriental voice and words again. A gem.
• "Noches en Vela (pt1 & pt2)", starts slowing, builds up to a fast South American rhythm. 
• "Throw", standard
• "Swing set", bit too hyper

Moon (2009)

A moodpiece. Lonely man on the moon, fulfilling a 3 year contract, suddenly finds his own clone.. and realises he himself is a clone.

It can't be helped that there are strong reminders of "Do Androids Dream Of Electronic Sheep?" and the like. Is man more than the sum of his memories? This film does not provide an answer. One could argue that, since one of the clones manages to destroy the blocking antennae and escape in a pod to Earth, he is.

But he merely responds to new information, so one could argue that, still, man is nothing more, but.

Music: Clint Mansell. Obviously, it was perfect. Kevin Spacey as the robot. Good voice.

I realised you need reoccurring scenes to establish routine first, only to show something is different later.

To me, the film wasn't too much about existentialism, though there are definitely anchors and pointers to fire up a discussion, it was a classical moodpiece with unity of time, place and character.

A film to ponder about when you walk out of the cinema, to relish its feeling, its mood.

Roger Whittaker - "I don't believe in if anymore"

This song got stuck in my head more than a few days ago. In one of those lucky circumstances that never happens when one wished they did, the song played in a pub in which I was having too many beers after a 16km walk (without food).

Later, fuelled by Fry's fantastic "The Ode Less Travelled" I even imagined for a little while that it was an answer to Rudyard Kipling's poem "If". It isn't, of course. (I say this with the dedain of someone who just looked up the actual lyrics: I've always thought he said "fool" where it is actually "foe"). But a small part of my mind still wishes it was. 

But nevermind that. It was, is, and will ever be a wonderful song full of grasping, wishing, fearing. 

Dollhouse s01e13 / s02e01

Still an intriguing series. Am thoroughly happy that it seems to continue. After all, wasn't there some talk after s01e12 about this series "doing a Firefly"?

Fortunately, not.

s01e13 was described to me as "chaotic, not really having to do anything with the storyline". I completely disagree and would almost refer to Irving, who, in my opinion, is still master of "telling what will happen long before it does, yet keeping you glued to your seat" (think "A Prayer For Owen Meany"). This episode - is it really the unaired pilot? - draws you to the inevitable conclusion. Mankind will destroy itself with this knowledge. And you want to know how. And you want to know how the few are gonna escape. Because they are the good, so they must live, right?

I have enough faith in Joss Whedon to trust him to make the right decision. After all, his characters are merely imprints with which we love to identify.

s02e01 is a fairly common episode, but it continues the thread of psycho Echo, starting to remember.

All in all, Dollhouse keeps messing with facts you take for certain; the mind, the "me". A body is downgraded to a mere vessel, a mind is constructed from a harddrive. The horror in the eyes of creater Topher as he realised, it was me who unlocked the secret of how to turn millions into drones. How brilliant. How horrible.

Children with matches. Yet we are fireflies. Always drawn to the fire, no matter how destructive.

Clint Mansell - "The Quiet American OST"

There are two words scribbled in my notebook and I have no idea what they say.

The third, though, I can decipher: "ok".

I listened to this right after his "World Trade Center OST" and remember it was much better. More Mansellish?

Clint Mansell - "Word Trade Center OST"

not very interesting.

Sarah Waters - "Little Stranger"

Bought just because it's her latest book. It took me quite some time to get through it. Two months, it seemed.

She's very good at describing moods by describing physical buildings, details, people. Perhaps sometimes a bit too much.

The struggles of the main character are well-written, but all in all it all takes a bit too long. Not enough pace?

Her alternating use of the main character's POV and an all-knowing writer's eye was a bit strange when you look for it, but it didn't hurt the story. One could easily read through it without noticing it.

All in all, ok. But I probably won't reread it.

Razorlight - "Wire by wire"

Discovered the album "Slipway Fires" again, particularly this song. "Hostage of Love" might even be a bigger hit, but they're all catchy.

I'm usually not too fond of the suddenly high-pitched voices, but it suited Wire by Wire". A calling-out, a longing.

Catchy. Keep listening to it.

P.D. James - "Children of Men"

Was looking through lists of dystopic stories, this title sounded so familiar. Turned out that the film with similar title starring Clive Owen and Julianne Moore was loosely based on this story. When I found it in the library, it seemed to fit alongside "Poste Restante" and why shun some possible inspiration?

Can't help it, but yes the book was better, compared to what I remembered from the film. Less action, less clear answers. Those aren't the point.

In short: suddenly the whole world becomes infertile. No cure is found. Strange practices start, "mothers" with dolls as substitutes. The Quietus: killing of old people because they want it to end (an escape?). The nephew of England's "leading counsil man" Xan (basically, tyrant) becomes involved with an anti-government group, 4 people, not experienced in anything like warfare. After bombings they have to flee across England and one of the women turns out to be pregnant.

quote: "no one was more adept at demolishing a woman's self-confidence while treating her with meticulous, indeed almost insulting, consideration and courtesy."

I wonder whether "I got the blues. The black dog on my shoulder" is a common proverb.

The first sentence of a paragraph often seems factual. Afterwards, it continues with facts or introduces subversive viewpoints. Describe what people do - "spying" -, not just the facts - "has another country found the cure to global infertility" -, but add emotional reasons, - "adult buccaneering". Sometimes, start with this emotional POV.

Lots of Christan elements, without becoming a religious story. Certain things are not explained, the infertility or why the woman can become pregnant again. Moral grounds when there are no facts. Choices to make. Repentance for sins of the past. Xan == Herodes. Julian == Maria. Faron (main character) is ...? Humanity?

Some would call this an open ending. Xan dies, Faron takes his place. A child is born. I like the fact that the story doesn't provide certainties, there aren't always answers. Living is groping in the semi-darkness and trying to make the best of it, I guess.

Wonderful writing.

The Cat Piano

http://www.thepra.com.au/Content.aspx?p=117

A wonderful dark jazzy tale of cats and an evil man who snatches them away to create his devilish "cat piano". Narrated by Nick Cave, simple animation with only a few colourtones per scene, it is beautiful.

The animation seemed somewhere between old-fashioned and flash-web, probably produced with tools of the latter by people who really know what they are doing.

Ponyo on a cliff by the sea

The latest from Hayao Miyazaki, studio Ghibli

It's a nice piece, happy, bubbly (literally) but a whole lot more aimed towards children. Or rather, less aimed at adults. The dark undercurrents that were so typical of his other films, are almost completely gone here.

Still, reading through some trivia, one can't help but marvel at the beauty and craftmanship:

• The opening 12 seconds, involving vast schools of fish and undersea creatures, required 1613 pages of conceptual sketches to develop.

Millenium: mannen die vrouwen haten (Män som hatar kvinnor) (2009)

The books are said to (become) a big hit. They're huge. LoTR style.

I must admit I read some reviews, all of them positive, before watching the film, but those didn't spoil it.

Haven't read the books, some of my family have and they considered them ok, but one quote I remember well: the reviewer actually prefers the shortcut the film needs to take to the extensive description of literally every character offered by the book(s).

I wouldn't say I am as lyrical about it as some of the people I've met, but it is definitely a good film. Gripping at moments, a high pace. The style one could describe as typically Scandinavian; cold, winter, bleak colours, but this is also due to the setting of the story.

There is one plot instrumentum that I wasn't too happy with. It becomes obvious that while "sidekick" Lisbeth Salander (she's much more than that, a stronger personality than Mikael Blomkvist, which is part of the whole male vs female discussion that the book/film raise) discovers who the murderer is, he of course is just at the house of the killer. And is caught by him. And yes (no! you groan) she manages to save him at the very last moment.

Yes, go on, give me crap about timing and suspence, but it ruined the fairly realistic tone that was established. This single plot device suddenly turns you around and you see the Hollywood cardboards, the effects, ... 

But that sounds too harsh. I truly liked the film.

Mono - "Hymn to the Immortal Wind" (album)

Where did I get this album from? X-Rated suggestion?

Long, chaotic, running-wild soundscapes. Bit busy to the ears, but not bad.

The songs, for example "Burial At Sea", feel like a 5min bombastic song that has been stretched into 15-20min. It is slow, yet progressively overwhelming.

There are wonderful parts, but a bit too excessive and repeating. At least, while one is supposed to be working.

Muse - "The Resistance" (album)

1. Uprising
   still as good as ever
2. Resistance
   Good, same mood.
   
3. Undisclosed Desires
   boyband-beatish, though the low base-notes at the beginning are very Muse-ish. Not a favourite.
4. United States of Eurasia
   "ha! ha! ha!"
   In the latest Q, Matthew Bellamy tells they want an "over the top" part on every album. A bit that cracks them up when they hear it back. Guess this is the one.
5. Guiding Light
   Okay.
6. Unnatural Selection
   oh! organ! love the uptempo "ocean...ocean..." with the multivocals. Bit System-Of-A-Down-ish at times
7. MK Ultra
   uptempo (that's relative, I admit). good
8. I Belong To You
   wondered by the title whether this'd be a kind of "Unintended". It _is_ definitely more slowpaced with a hint of the "chinese harmonics" that featured in United Status of Eurasia. The slow piano and drawling voice make a good second "over the top" candidate. Crazy tempo-changes! Invites a near boogy at the end.
9. Exogenesis: Symphony Part 1 (overture)
   Violins, orchestra... piano, soft voice. Bellamy in NME: "I think on the next album I’d like to do at least one 15-minute space-rock solo."
   

Klaus Schulze - "Dark Side of the Moog"

Love its soundscapes. Flying over a dying world, watching an unborn planet.

Life is sizzling, but it is strange and not human. Reptilian. Hot. Fighting the cold of space.