Having family come over in the afternoon. Been cleaning everything for almost two full days now : kitchen, bathroom, my "office", the livingroom ... Spring's almost over, but you can consider this our spring-cleaning.

Editorial - 24 May 2004

Can you actually believe it ? It was 24 degrees last week, then it dropped to around 20 in the weekend and now - when we're all back at work - temps are up again. Less wind and zero clouds blocking the sunrays from falling down ... such a sick joke.
Song of the week : -----
Oldie of the week : "My United States Of Whatever" - Liam Lynch
Last seen movie : "Vertical Limit" : Family loves climbing. Something goes wrong, family devided. Brother doesn't climb anymore but when sister gets lost near the Himalayan top and needs to be rescued, he's off. What's he doing near the basecamp on the Himalaya if he doesn't climb anymore ? Talk about a weird plotdevice ... This said you get a predictable, heroic, slightly over the top, yet engaging movie. Not remarkable (except maybe for showing off your home-cinema), but great viewing at night. Maybe even twice.
"Meet The Feebles" : Peter Jackson's attempt at making fun of the Muppets quickly becomes boring - it surely shouldn't drag on for an hour and a half. No story, needlessly disgusting extra's and just never any funny. trying too hard without getting anywhere.
"Mulan" : You can leave it up to the guys at Disney to make a funny picture about the invasion of China by the Huns. Murdering villages, going for the emperor ... it's all there, tucked deep away between the coming of age story and the jokes with the dragon. Anyone who liked Eddie Murphy as the silly donkey in Shrek, should check him out here as the dragon - years before Shrek.
Doing this week : I can't believe the amount of work that piled up due to lack of support from our UK branch and the long weekend. I remade my list and my week suddenly seemed booked solid. Don't bother mailing me this week, because <mr creosote>I'm full</mr creosote>.

Editorial - 17 May 2004

Wanna know why having a freezer is useful ? Besides the obvious storage of nice and yummy ice-cream ? When someone has a nosebleed, you can stuff something in it (a towel for instance), let it become really cold and hold it against that nose so it will stop. If you don't, you have to sit it out - sometimes for hours when you really should go to bed for work ...
Song of the week : -----
Oldie of the week : -----
Last seen movie : "American Pie III" : This stuff keeps amazing me. I never thought I'd like the fisrt one, but it was funny. I didn't think they'd be able to repeat it with the same results and yet they did. And now even the third one is funny and as fresh as they first two. Sure, it can be gross at times, but it's also sweet, never too politically incorrect (not that I'd mind), well put together and superbly acted by a bunch of talented comedians. Now leave me alone, watch this and go laugh your ass of.
Doing this week : Have an extended weekend starting wednesday-evening. You jealous ?

Editorial - 10 May 2004

It's almost midnight, I'm home alone and trying to get throught the huge mess of movie reviews I left laying around the last few weeks. I've been busy with my new job off course, but I feel like I'm letting other things slide lately. With that idea in the back of my mind I'm looking forward to taking a few days of next week. Take a step back like I did last week. Made me realise I need a little bit more of that. Felt good.
Song of the week : -----
Oldie of the week : "Things We Say" Concrete Cell
Last seen movie : "Firefox" : bleak, paranoid, typical eighties cold war movie directed and acted by Clint Eastwood. He's about the only thing good in the movie as the majority of russian actors are just hamming it up. Dangerously close to annoying levels. The setup is good (russians have invisible superplane flown by thoughtcontrol, american needs to steal it), the first half dark enough, but it becomes overlong and the final flightscenes are not only bad CGI, but also repetitive and simply impossible (jet flying without engines, landing on an icy rock in the seas above russia near the northpole, being refilled in a few minutes and then taking off again) ... Only for the Clint fans.
"Starsky & Hutch" : Two seventies icons must've met somehow and become partners in their fight against crime. One of the greatest seventies cop shows (quite gritty in it's day) came to the big screen as a comedy. At first I had my doubts, but as it shows enough respect for the original (even giving Paul Michael Glaser and David Soul a cameo) I set my worries aside and had a ball. Especially with Snoop Dogg's comments ("I know some people that know some people that robbed some people"). And I like the seventies kitsch and wahwah guitares music. Too bad it's a bit too long due to the adding of some funny scenes that don't amount that much to the story. A shame 'cause this could've been a very funny movie. Now it's still above average as far as comedies go, but not worth buying.
"Pirates Of The Caribbean" : Funny and family-friendly pirates-movie starring Johnny Depp as a hammed up pirate in search for his stolen ship. Looks like a stylish hommage to the fifties, with a very modern feel to it. Never becomes stale and too scary. Didn't think it'd be this enjoyable.
Doing this week : Testdriving the new DSG gearsystem from Audi in the new A3. An incredibly cool car and I'm not just saying that 'cause I drive one. The DSG is a new automatic transitionsystem working with two simultaneous transmissions reducing the time between changing gears to nothing, making it even faster than switching gears yourself at topspeed.

Editorial - 4 May 2004

The sea was cool. Saved a litle seastar from dehydrating. Felt the air and sand, walked in the dunes a bit and had a huge wafel with icecream, chocolatesauce and whipped cream. You should try it. Really clears the head.
Song of the week : -----
Oldie of the week : -----
Last seen movie : "The Postman Always Rings Twice" : One of the biggest film noirs in existence. Drifter falls for women in diner. Together they decide to run away from her husband (owner of the diner), until the woman decides she doesn't want to live on the run and therefor they decide to kill the husband, inherit everything and live long and happily after. As is usual in the film noir genre, nothing turns out the way it was planned, everyone trusts no one and nothing ends they way it was expected to.
As this is a movie dated back to the 1940's it's somewhat dated and sometimes unbelievable, but it's great to see that the story itself hasn't aged, some jabs at society are more current than ever (the trial) and that not only Bogey used to star in these kind of movies.
"What Women Want" : Seen it in the cinema and I didn't give it a good review back then. Now, a few years later, the movie still feels the same, but does stand the test of another viewing. Still silly, funny but hardly remarkable, but I've seen and skipped a whole lot worse movies since.
"The Horse Whisperer" : Romantic drama narrowly steering clear of the overly dramatic - at least most of the time. Luckily never going for the jugular in order to jerk some tears out of you. Tells the story of a girl (a young Scarlett Johansen) who loses a leg when her horse is grabbed by a truck (the accident is worth a reviewing because it's quite complex in it's simplicity). Both survive but the horse doesn't trust anyone anymore. Enter Robert Redford and his mythical horse-healing powers. Sounds silly ? It is, but at least it only takes two hours of your life when reading the book would've taken a few days.
Doing this week : A new month. A fresh start. Always closer to the summer, sun and a long vacation.

darkman says sleep tight

Next month
Editorials