The last day of the year was filled with rearranging parts of the furniture in order to accomodate nine people in the living room for the evening : dinner, drinks and some X-box gaming after midnight. We'll see how it turns out.
Song of the week : -----
Oldie of the week : -----
Last seen movie : "Stuart Little II" : slightly duller, more fragmentaric follow-up to the succesful adaptation of a children's book about a family adopting a talking mouse (Michael J. Fox) from the orphanarium as their second son. Think bittersweet Disney entertainment from the sixties, a hint of british flegma and sillyness and you're about right. Great for the kids.
"White Christmas" : considered by many as the ultimate christmas-movie, featuring the all time top-selling christmas-song : "White Christmas" by Bing Crosby. Made only a few years after WWII it starts in that war when a group of soldiers salute their leaving general. Flashforward a few years and two of the soldiers are famous singers taking some time out during the christmas-season when they end up in a hotel run by their former general. When business is going slow they decide to help. Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye are such great actors and performers from the fourties and fifties that they lift this from the pool of "sappy and mushy chick-flick" (using a derogatory term if I may) to an endearing story about friends and goodness for all mankind. Hey, it's christmas ... go with it ....
"National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" : A strong second as far as christmas-movies go. The Griswold's are at home for once, planning a big christmas holiday with the kids and family. Needless to say Clark (hilarious role for Chevy Chase) messes up a whole lot of things - most of 'em beyond his control - turning the whole relaxing christmas-spirit into mayhem and mild-mannered chaos.
"Billy Elliot" : typical british comedy : take a social poor background (miningstrikes in the eighties), put a broken family into it (two sons and a father without the mother) and then create tension between them all (father is softening, oldest son is rebelling and the youngest is looking for himself). Quite typical until the youngest - namely Billy - discovers that he's a great dancer. So gradually he skips his boxing lessons and joins the balletgroup. After that it's just waiting for him to get busted by his dad, the other workmen reacting against the family, or not and whether he makes it into a famous balletschool or not. Any american director would bollocks it up, but the brits don't. So you get a fine, small and warm movie which delivers some great laughs.
Doing this week : Rounding off the old year, stepping into the new one, doing the family-visits thing and getting back to work in a few days.

Editorial - 28 December 2003

For those who may have missed it : the "Goed Luk Show" (typo's are intended) - which was just on Studio Brussel - featured an old friend of mine : Sarah. She was my best girlfriend (in the non-dating sense) through most of high school. She taught me how to play chords on a guitar when I was bumbling along the first few weeks and later sang and/or played drums in my band XP - which also included Worf on bass and Kermitt who also sang and/or drummed.
What was she doing on the radio ? Well, the "Goed Luk Show" is sort of a search for new talent. A guy and a girl are competing to become the best presenter of that week. Probably thanks to her wit and random craziness - like in the old days - she won.

Editorial - 25 December 2003

Merry Christmas everyone. It may not be a white one, but it'll be a nice one.

Editorial - 24 December 2003

Christmas-eve. A night with a lot of corny and cheesy christmas-movies to get into the right mindset. What else can be better than food, candles and movies for the uplifting of the mind for another round of family-visits, too much food and presents galore ?
Song of the week : -----
Oldie of the week : -----
Last seen movie : "Sweet Home Alabama" : there's never anything wrong with Reese Witherspoon in fancy dresses, sporting southern accents, a sweet smile and "innocent little girl" gazes. This time around she's a famous fashion designer, engaged to the son of NY's mayor. One small catch ... she's still married to her high school boyfriend in Alabama who she left several years ago. Time to get a quick divorce ...
"Miracle On 34th Street" : the first of no doubt many christmas movies in the next three weeks. Sir Richard Attenborough (and a Lord too) is Kris Kringle - the real name americans give to Santa Claus - a derivative of saint Nicolas of Myrna. Caught in the christmas-feeling he accepts to play an in-store santa claus for a toyshop and gets mixed up in a commercial fight between two big department-stores which eventually lead to him standing trail. Sappy, almost tear-jerking and overly back versus white. Perfect for the holidays ?
"Nói Albinói" : Nói is a 17-year old genius, bored with school (which he hardly ever attends), his small isolated village in Iceland and his family (grandmother and semi-drunk father). His days are filled dreaming of bigger and better times, landscapes, opportunities, encounters, friends ... Filled with glorious shots and darkly comical scenes this film thrusts an uneasy feeling of loneliness and desperation over you, right until the climactical ending, which ultimately results in even more questions. Wonderful.
Doing this week : Holiday due to closed offices. Yay !

Editorial - 17 December 2003

Metallica concert tonite. What else might be worth mentioning besides that ? Trying to revive the old days, they're looking back at the garage days, playing old stuff and dropping the broadened horizons of Load and Reload. Not bad if you ask me.
Song of the week : "Frantic" Metallica
Oldie of the week : "Seek And Destroy" Metallica
Last seen movie : Been viewing a lot of television - mainly series - lately, so no movies this week. Which series then you ask ? Well, the first season of 24 obviously. Great television : a thrilling plot, great acting, extremely tense and a nice new realtime angle - although that isn't as catchy as it sounds, after a few episodes you forget about it. What else ? Mainly Futurama (season 2), The Shield (season 1) and The Million Pound Property Experiment : a BBC series where two interior decorators buy a house, refurbish it and sell it with profit. Each time going for a bigger project, trying to reach the aforementioned amount by the seventh house. All profits from the 7 houses are meant for charity. It's a nice view at the hell that is buying and refitting a house sometimes, but how fulfulling the result can be. And the two obviously queer decorators are a "hoot" to watch sometimes - especially when they are blatantly disregarding well meant advice from contractors, architects and real-estate agents. Always couped up in their own little idea of the world. At least they all seem to learn something from the experience.
Doing this week : The start of a long holiday filled with shopping for presents, cleaning, a few parties, the concert tonight and the complete sanding and repainting of the bathroom - everything else can get stuffed (and I don't mean the turkey).

Editorial - 9 December 2003

"For he's a miserable failure ! For he's a miserable failure ! For he's a miserable failure ! And so say all of us !"

Editorial - 8 December 2003

I've been updating a lot of the movie-reviews from october and november which were getting terribly behind schedule. You might wanna go back and glance trought them for something interesting.
Song of the week : -----
Oldie of the week : "Monster" Rollins Band
Last seen movie : "Finding Nemo" : Excellent new computer-animation from Pixar. Again a notch better than the previous one (being Monster's Inc). Nemo is a small clownfish with an overprotective father. Trying to prove he's brave enough Nemo is caught by a diver and brought to Sydney. His father then starts a quest for his son - reluctantly teaming up with an amnesiac fish, encountering big sharks, surfing turtles and deep sea creatures. As usual warm, fluffy, goofy enough to entertain the parents and sweet enough to keep the kids interested.
"De Zaak Alzheimer" : In Antwerp a famous architect disappears and two police detectives are put on the case - quickly stumbling into a bigger web of deceit and political manoeuvres. Seems that some high ranking officials are trying to get rid of witnesses by hiring a professional hitman. Unfortunately he wanted to get out of the business due to his high age and Alzheimer's disease. When he's double-crossed, he turns the tables on his employers.
Based on the book by flemish writer Jef Geeraerts and starring the best of Belgium with Jan Decleir, Koen De Bouw and Jo De Meyere.
"Showtime" : Most of the times funny - but never laugh out loud - copmovie featuring Robert De Niro as a hard-nosed lone detective and Eddie Murphy as a street cop, put together in some sort of television cop-show. It has it's moments. Worth the rental if you like this sort of humour.
"Remember The Titans" : standard "americans have to feel good about themselves" movie about overcoming racial segregation in high school and college football. Never really gripping, overwhelming or interesting.
Doing this week : Cleaning up some messes.

darkman says sleep tight

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