Category Archives: movies{&}motion

trámite

“Trámite” is the spanish (or mexican-spanish) word for all sorts of paperwork. And i start shaking just hearing the word! This country and its people have many MANY wonderful qualities, but - and i am sorry to say - handling “paperwork” is certainly not one of them. It takes too many forms, documents, testimonies, copies, signatures and time - of all things - to get anything done here (for my taste at least).

As you probably have guessed already, i have some paperwork to take care of. Due to a misunderstanding and vagueness about the expiry date of a certain document, i am - just a little, i’m not going to jail or anything - in trouble. I’m being fined for accidentally having two migratory documents. Plus and plus makes plus i thought, but the (to me unknown) expiry date made a minus of one of those plusses. And therefore a mathematical exercise just made me illegal in this country, YAY!

I am now applying for a prolongation of my existing FM3, which will take some time of course. The big problem of this entire story is that i’m going on a holiday (leaving in 2 days) and we are flying to Belgium with a stop in New York. The United States of America … another country with shortcomings. Going to Belgium won’t be a problem, it’s the coming back i am worried about. If you don’t have a valid migratory document for the country you are traveling to, the americans just won’t let you fly! They are very strict you know, i’ve been through a situation like that before.

Well, i guess that if they won’t let me come home, plan B would be that i enter New York as a tourist and do some sightseeing and shopping until my better half has taken care of my “trámites” in Mexico. That would be fine by me :-), i just hope i don’t end up like Viktor Navorski.

terminal.jpg

que linda manito

Qué linda manito que tengo yo,
qué linda y blanquita que Dios me dio.
Qué lindos ojitos que tengo yo,
qué lindos y negritos que Dios me dio.
Qué linda boquita que tengo yo,
qué linda y rojita que Dios me dio.
Qué lindas paticas que tengo yo,
qué lindas y gorditas que Dios me dio.

Eric Vervroegen

Watch Eric Vervroegen’s very impressive showreel here.
Don’t close your browser-window after the first commercial, you really have to watch them all … i promise you it’s absolutely worth it!

vervroegen.jpg

Thank you Tinne for the tip!

la science des rêves

This looks like another masterpiece by Michel Gondry.
> website
> trailer

lasciencedesreves.jpg

SartorialTies

Something you probably don’t know about me is, that i am interested in clothes. Not (only) in the obvious girly way, but in a sartorial way (sartorial, i even like the word). I can hardly call myself a tailor, but i recognize qualitative fabrics, well cut patterns, modest but important details and sartorial finishing. And until half an hour ago i didn’t realize what shape this habit was taking. I was watching a movie and couldn’t help but notice the suit Ewan McGregor (or his character Catcher Block) was wearing in the final scene. So i find myself late at night, playing and pausing this movie to take pictures of the well cut suit, the shirt and tie he was wearing with that and the cuff links showing underneath his sleeve, because i couldn’t find any stills of this particular scene on the internet … thinking this suit might be a great source of inspiration one day (when i’m reunited with my sewing machine).

Too bad photos of a TV screen don’t really show a lot of details. I think i’ll run this dvd on my computer again and take screencaps, that’ll probably deliver better shots!

O, and if you were wondering … Down with love is a wonderful movie !!!

dsc00877.jpg

dsc00884.jpg

dsc00894.jpg

dsc00897.jpg

dsc00904.jpg

Reign over me.

One of the most touching films i’ve seen lately. It’s a beautiful story about friendship, told in a very simple way.

Plot summary: Alan Johnson has everything he needs to get through life: a good job, a beautiful and loving wife, and their wonderful children. Yet he feels isolated because he finds having a hard-working job and managing a family too much to handle and has no one to talk to about it. Charlie Fineman, on the other hand, doesn’t have a job or a family. He used to have both until a terrible loss, and the grief caused him to quit his job and isolate himself from everyone around him. He has lost himself in a world of denial powered by music, video-games and a scooter.
Alan and Charlie were roommates in college, and a chance encounter one night rekindles the friendship they shared once. But when Charlie’s emotional problems become too much to deal with, Alan is determined to help Charlie come out of his emotional abyss, even though that’s hardly what Charlie was looking for…

reignoverme_01.jpg

reignoverme_02.jpg

reignoverme_03.jpg

reignoverme_04.jpg

Tim Burton - Golden Lion lifetime achievement award

Tim Burton was honoured with a career award at this year’s Venice film festival!

The organisers of the festival called Burton “one of America’s bravest, most visionary and innovative film-makers”, and therefore he was handed the Golden Lion lifetime achievement award. Johnny Depp, the main star of many of his films, had the honour to do this.

“He is a rare breed in today’s cinema,” said Depp, “And beyond that he is a true original, a true artist and a true auteur. He’s my favorite director and friend.”

Tim Burton said that the award was even better than an Oscar, because “It’s actually a lot more beautiful-looking thing than a bald, naked man”.

burton-depp
© AFP Alberto Pizzoli - © WireImage.com

Charlie Kaufman

We’ve been watching a lot of movies lately. That has always been my favourite waste of time (i really could watch movies forever and ever!) but mostly our evenings are too short to watch a complete one and i’d feel guilty if i’d do so during the day (work has to be done)!

Sometimes i yearn for my days in the projection cabine where i had to preview new mounted film before their launch and refine other people’s movie experience. But then i’d rather forget about the long working hours and the complicated relationships between the colleages over there. ‘The bold and the beautiful’ was really nothing compared to that!

Now .. Blockbusters is throwing with 2 for 1 coupons for already 3 weeks now, so it’s the perfect time to catch up on some movie magic. Yesterday we saw ‘Being John Malkovich’. I had already seen the movie once, but i’d like to support seeing a film twice or more. You’re never as blown away as you were at the first time, and you take the risk liking it less, but if it’s a good movie, there’s a big chance you’ll like it even better.
Seeing ‘Being John Malkovich’ again made me realize i like all movies Charlie Kaufman had anything to do with … at least the ones i saw. Which are: Being John Malkovich, Human Nature, Adaptation, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. (I guess i have to mention Michel Gondry here as well, cause while looking these movies up on imdb.com i saw his name appearing on a couple of them too.)

Being John Malkovich Human Nature Adaptation Confessions of a dangerous mind Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind

So, why do i like these movies so much? Well, that’s a difficult one to explain. Maybe because the stories are very absurd. But not that absurd so you’ll loose every link with reality. I think they provide some valuable food for thought in a way. Like, what if there really was someone watching everything you’re doing? Or, what if you were controlled by some power and you could not be yourself (that power doesn’t have to be surreal if you think about it, how many people still can’t be themselves today because of society’s expectations?)? And … if you could really erase any memory you like, would you do that? Doesn’t memories make you who you are? There are more questions where that came from. Just go see these movies and you’ll be pleasantly surprised …

I kind of planned on writing something about Charlie Kaufman only, but it seems i got myself really started on movies with this post. So if you don’t mind, I’m gonna keep on going for a while … but of course, please feel free to stop reading at any time!

I’ll make it quick:
Another one i saw recently: ‘The 40-year-old virgin’. A comedy with a twitch, really funny, and i liked the cast very much too … Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, Seth Rogen, … These three were also great in ‘Anchor man, The Legend of Ron Burgundy’. Speaking of which, Will Ferell (Ron Burgundy) also did great as Harold Crick in ‘Stranger Than Fiction’. Another movie that makes you think some things through! Will Ferell also brings us to Woody Allen… Opinions are divided on his work, you like him, or you don’t, but I must admit I am a big fan.

Alright, I’ll stop now, cause I can go on forever jumping from one movie to the other … maybe next time i’ll let you in on some more favourites! And if you made it to the end of this post: congratulations!

* You can look these movies up on imdb.com and watch their trailers through the link in the sidebar!

Tim Burton’s “Sweeney Todd”

I can’t wait for this one! Now that i’ve seen this still, i’m sure it can’t possibly be a bad movie!

Sweeney Todd

Isn’t Tim Burton the best?
(Actually that isn’t a question, disagreeing is not allowed!)

Lars and the real girl

Looks like a great movie!

Lars and the real girl