Amateur of films, books and music willingly risks public mockery
Joined July 2012
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The Housekeeper, 8: starting from the inspiration for Daphne du Maurier's classic gothic novel 'Rebecca', Rose Tremain invents the forbidden and fatal female love story between the writer and a Polish housekeeper in a 1930s Cornwall castle. Passion, power, class and betrayal.
Lord M., 8.5: meester v.d. historische roman & Nederlands grootste estheet & stilist Arthur Japin over de band tussen de jonge Queen Victoria & haar raadsman William Lamb, Lord Melbourne in zijn dagboek & relaas van zijn huwelijk met Lady Caroline Ponsonby, hem ontrouw met Byron.
Coward, 6: D'Hondt's focus on a queer love story in a vaudeville setting on the Belgian battlefields of WW I may be rare & based on historical sources, it is seriously lacking in verisimilitude. The only asset is his continuing talent in casting newcomers. Don't believe the hype!
Hollywood, Ending (John Green, 7): an aspiring young actor & actress meet on the set of a movie about Warhol, both carrying a childhood trauma. The behind the scenes portrayal is very realistic, with the varying size of the trailers, junkets, the socials & the Uber moonlighting.
Digger, 8: too confrontational for US audience & holding up a mirror to all of us, Inarritu's savage satire on climate disaster & capitalist greed lets Tom Cruise & John Goodman go over the top. Teasing score, claustrophobic camera angles & theatre framing. Perception is reality!
De kroon met twee pieken (Guido Van Heulendonk, 8): een aanvankelijk kleinvlaamse familietragedie ontvouwt zich tot haast kosmische dimensies via wisselende perspectieven, tijdlijnen & teksttypes met motieven als Peter Greens song 'Albatross', de vogel & een Indiaanse bergmythe.
Hagstone (Sinéad Gleeson, 8): an independent female installation artist on an Irish island haunted by a strange noise is hired by the head of a group of women to create a book & art work for their commemoration. She is intrigued by them & torn between 2 men. Poetic & mysterious.
The Passenger Seat (Vijay Khusama, 8.5): Two American boys/men leaving homes & broken families for a road trip of 'fun and games'. One has a car, the other a gun. Friendship, masculine power games and solitude in our desolate days. Waiting for a filming of this very visual novel.
La Gradiva (Marine Atlan, 9): laatstejaarsreis van een Franse klas naar Napels en Pompeï, eenzame lerares Latijn, leerling met een mysterieus Italiaans verleden en myriade aan emoties, sluimerend als een vulkaan. Zeer authentiek door sterk spel van een niet-professionele cast.
Heart Lamp, 8: 12 stories from 3 decades, originally written in 'Kannada' by lawyer, journalist and activist Banu Mushtaq supporting women's rights in Southern India's Muslim patriarchy. Well-characterised situations on caste, class and community. Girls wed, dominated, abandoned.
The Heart of a dog (Mikhail Bulgakov, 7.5): written in 1925 and only published posthumously in 1968 due to censorship, this novella at first sight is the nonsensical story of a wealthy professor turning a dog into a man. Underneath however lies a fable of the Russian Revolution.
Zaal Lux, 8.5: hilarische en ontroerende ode aan vrijwilligers als Gust 'Stoofvlees' Spruyt, Sis en Schueremans die Herenthout op de kaart zetten met concerten van o.m. The Cure, Herman Brood en U2. Na de renovatie een nieuw élan met o.m. Daan, Portishead & Fischer-Z revisited.
Di Anno: Iron Maiden's lost singer (Wes Orshoski, 7.5): painful picture of the band's first vocalist, foul-mouthed 'punk' turned invalid due to a bad leg & via crowdfunding operated on in a Croatian hospital. Addiction, health, money & voice troubles leading to the sad downfall.
Broken English (Forsyth & Pollard, 10): perfect and passionate portrait of Marianne Faithfull by 'The Ministry of Not Forgetting (Tilda Swinton & George Mackay) restoring the icon's image and showing her their labour of love in her true nature. Great covers, footage & originals.
Hoe lees ik korte verhalen? (Lidewijde Paris, 7): niet wezenlijk verschillend v. haar boek over romans. Duidelijk begrippenapparaat & complete verhalen v. Bercovici, Capote, Carver, Dybek, Holmqvist, Keret, Leavitt, Maupassant, Saki, Teffi, Tschjechov, Verbeke, Vonnegut & Woolf.
The song remains the same (Peter Clifton & Joe Massot, 7): the scenes in historic dress are a bit outdatedly prog-rocky or Pythonesque, but the concert in Madison Square Garden, New York is still electrifying. Page, Plant, Bonham & Jones are Led Zeppelin on a stairway to heaven.
Miles Ahead, 7.5: biopic directed & led by Don Cheadle of Miles Davis' 'comeback' after a 5 year-silence. He catches the man's musical genius, dope addiction, dominant attitude towards his wife & hoarse, whispering voice. As portrayed by a Rolling Stone reporter (Ewan Mc Gregor).
Miles (Patrick Savey, 8): the trumpet master of bebop, cool and fusion through the eyes of fellow musicians like Parker, Hancock, Corea, Shorter, Santana...Beautiful photographs, gigs, interviews. His musical curiosity, dominance, need for improvisation 'to be in the moment'.
Let's get lost, 10: brilliant & honest documentary by Bruce Weber ('88) on genius jazz trumpet player & singer Chet Baker through the eyes of his wives & mother. A charmer & unreliable junkie. Superb version of 'Every time we say goodbye'. Jazz as rock 'n roll & nouvelle vague.
