%^SAME ACTRESS{_

I just foudn out the actress from L'Enfant who plays Bruno's girlfriend Sonia is the same girl in Unmade Beds who plays Vera, the film's female lead character. I had no idea, which is also because in Unmade Beds she, Déborah François is her name, has black hair, in L'Enfant she's blonde. Wow. I'm really surprised and she's so good in the film. Really had no idea.

?"ALMOST 2 HOURS(*

UIm happy to be home again after a long 2 hours in the train. A bit of delay and changing trains. I took one to Amsterdam Central but that one didn't stop in Haarlem. But it's okay. Also a woman was lying on the ground at one of the train platforms. Don't know what happened, but they had to call the ambulance. So that took another 15 extra minutes. It was my day off from the festival so I decided to watch at least 4 films. I saw That's It, a Brazillian film, April Showers, a Portugese one (though I didn't really see it due to me almost falling asleep a couple of times), Jerichow, German film from Christian Petzold who also did Yella, and the last one Unmade Beds, an Argentinian one, very very nice. I rated it a 5, which is highly personal, but it deserved it. That film is me, I can so relate to everything from the characters to the beautiful shots. My only complaint would be that it makes life seem so pretty and dreamy with lots of movie-moments if you know what I mean. So I had to remind myself that I was watching a film and in real life things don't look like this. But it's definitely a film I would like to own so when it arrives on DVD I'll probably buy it one day. I'm now even more excited to watch the first film by this director who's name is Alexis Dos Santos, which was Glue. Unmade Beds made me an instant fan. We share the same vision.
I'll be sad when the festival ends. How come they're so amazing...

_$FINALLY FOUND SOMEONE+_

YIPPIE! I just needed to say how glad I am that I found someone to cover up for me tomorrow morning at the IFFR, I can't be there 'cause I have a very important appointment at 1pm. I was asking everyone all day, then started making phone calls, and the first person who picked up immediately said she was able to trade shifts so I'll be working at night. She was already looking for someone too, so great. Happy!

)%I DIDN'T KNOW I WAS THIS GOOD%$

This is what Michael Wedel my teacher said about my essay for the course Media-Archaeology. I don't want to brag but I'm GOOD! :)

Dear Danilo,

Your final essay in Media Archaeology, ‘Transcending the Spectacle of Special Effects: Looking at the presence of the Kaleidoscope in the Science Fiction Film Genre Drawing Examples from THE FOUNTAIN’ is an extremely solid piece of work, meticulously researched and convincingly argued. The triangulation of the kaleidoscope as a 19th century entertainment form, special effect theory and contemporary representations of time travel in science fiction film is a project in the best sense of what media archaeological research should be about, and it yields a number of valuable insights, both in respect to what qualifies as a special effect and in respect to the aesthetics and discursive strategies of the film you take as your prime example. How you extrapolate the presence of kaleidoscopic effects in THE FOUNTAIN is nothing short of exemplary, the insights into the manifold and complex figurative connections yielded by your analysis are extremely original and entirely convincing. Taken altogether, you delivered an excellent essay of almost publishable quality, which has earned you a 8.5. Congratulations!

Best, Michael.

_*OSCAR OSCAR OSCAR^*

I'm home. Went back after my shift and after having picked up some of my tickets for several films. So here they are 2009 Academy Award Nominees:

81st Oscar Nominations

Performance by an actor in a leading role

* Richard Jenkins in “The Visitor” (Overture Films)
* Frank Langella in “Frost/Nixon” (Universal)
* Sean Penn in “Milk” (Focus Features)
* Brad Pitt in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.)
* Mickey Rourke in “The Wrestler” (Fox Searchlight)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

* Josh Brolin in “Milk” (Focus Features)
* Robert Downey Jr. in “Tropic Thunder” (DreamWorks, Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount)
* Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Doubt” (Miramax)
* Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.)
* Michael Shannon in “Revolutionary Road” (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage)

Performance by an actress in a leading role

* Anne Hathaway in “Rachel Getting Married” (Sony Pictures Classics)
* Angelina Jolie in “Changeling” (Universal)
* Melissa Leo in “Frozen River” (Sony Pictures Classics)
* Meryl Streep in “Doubt” (Miramax)
* Kate Winslet in “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

* Amy Adams in “Doubt” (Miramax)
* Penélope Cruz in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” (The Weinstein Company)
* Viola Davis in “Doubt” (Miramax)
* Taraji P. Henson in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.)
* Marisa Tomei in “The Wrestler” (Fox Searchlight)

Best animated feature film of the year

* “Bolt” (Walt Disney), Chris Williams and Byron Howard
* “Kung Fu Panda” (DreamWorks Animation, Distributed by Paramount), John Stevenson and Mark Osborne
* “WALL-E” (Walt Disney), Andrew Stanton

Achievement in art direction

* “Changeling” (Universal), Art Direction: James J. Murakami, Set Decoration: Gary Fettis
* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Art Direction: Donald Graham Burt, Set Decoration: Victor J. Zolfo
* “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Art Direction: Nathan Crowley, Set Decoration: Peter Lando
* “The Duchess” (Paramount Vantage, Pathé and BBC Films), Art Direction: Michael Carlin, Set Decoration: Rebecca Alleway
* “Revolutionary Road” (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage), Art Direction: Kristi Zea, Set Decoration: Debra Schutt

Achievement in cinematography

* “Changeling” (Universal), Tom Stern
* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Claudio Miranda
* “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Wally Pfister
* “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company), Chris Menges and Roger Deakins
* “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Anthony Dod Mantle

Achievement in costume design

* “Australia” (20th Century Fox), Catherine Martin
* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Jacqueline West
* “The Duchess” (Paramount Vantage, Pathé and BBC Films), Michael O’Connor
* “Milk” (Focus Features), Danny Glicker
* “Revolutionary Road” (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage), Albert Wolsky

Achievement in directing

* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), David Fincher
* “Frost/Nixon” (Universal), Ron Howard
* “Milk” (Focus Features), Gus Van Sant
* “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company), Stephen Daldry
* “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Danny Boyle

Best documentary feature

* “The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)” (Cinema Guild), A Pandinlao Films Production, Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath
* “Encounters at the End of the World” (THINKFilm and Image Entertainment), A Creative Differences Production, Werner Herzog and Henry Kaiser
* “The Garden” A Black Valley Films Production, Scott Hamilton Kennedy
* “Man on Wire” (Magnolia Pictures), A Wall to Wall Production, James Marsh and Simon Chinn
* “Trouble the Water” (Zeitgeist Films), An Elsewhere Films Production, Tia Lessin and Carl Deal

Best documentary short subject

* “The Conscience of Nhem En” A Farallon Films Production, Steven Okazaki
* “The Final Inch” A Vermilion Films Production, Irene Taylor Brodsky and Tom Grant
* “Smile Pinki” A Principe Production, Megan Mylan
* “The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306” A Rock Paper Scissors Production, Adam Pertofsky and Margaret Hyde

Achievement in film editing

* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
* “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Lee Smith
* “Frost/Nixon” (Universal), Mike Hill and Dan Hanley
* “Milk” (Focus Features), Elliot Graham
* “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Chris Dickens

Best foreign language film of the year

* “The Baader Meinhof Complex” A Constantin Film Production, Germany
* “The Class” (Sony Pictures Classics), A Haut et Court Production, France
* “Departures” (Regent Releasing), A Departures Film Partners Production, Japan
* “Revanche” (Janus Films), A Prisma Film/Fernseh Production, Austria
* “Waltz with Bashir” (Sony Pictures Classics), A Bridgit Folman Film Gang Production, Israel

Achievement in makeup

* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Greg Cannom
* “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), John Caglione, Jr. and Conor O’Sullivan
* “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” (Universal), Mike Elizalde and Thom Floutz

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.),Alexandre Desplat
* “Defiance” (Paramount Vantage), James Newton Howard
* “Milk” (Focus Features), Danny Elfman
* “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), A.R. Rahman
* “WALL-E” (Walt Disney), Thomas Newman

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

* “Down to Earth” from “WALL-E” (Walt Disney), Music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman, Lyric by Peter Gabriel
* “Jai Ho” from “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Music by A.R. Rahman, Lyric by Gulzar
* “O Saya” from “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Music and Lyric by A.R. Rahman andMaya Arulpragasam

Best motion picture of the year

* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), A Kennedy/Marshall Production, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Ceán Chaffin, Producers
* “Frost/Nixon” (Universal), A Universal Pictures, Imagine Entertainment and Working Title Production,Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Eric Fellner, Producers
* “Milk” (Focus Features), A Groundswell and Jinks/Cohen Company Production, Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen, Producers
* “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company), A Mirage Enterprises and Neunte Babelsberg Film GmbH Production, Nominees to be determined
* “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), A Celador Films Production,Christian Colson, Producer

Best animated short film

* “La Maison en Petits Cubes” A Robot Communications Production, Kunio Kato
* “Lavatory - Lovestory” A Melnitsa Animation Studio and CTB Film Company Production, Konstantin Bronzit
* “Oktapodi” (Talantis Films) A Gobelins, L’école de l’image Production, Emud Mokhberi and Thierry Marchand
* “Presto” (Walt Disney) A Pixar Animation Studios Production, Doug Sweetland
* “This Way Up”, A Nexus Production, Alan Smith and Adam Foulkes

Best live action short film

* “Auf der Strecke (On the Line)” (Hamburg Shortfilmagency), An Academy of Media Arts Cologne Production, Reto Caffi
* “Manon on the Asphalt” (La Luna Productions), A La Luna Production, Elizabeth Marre and Olivier Pont
* “New Boy” (Network Ireland Television), A Zanzibar Films Production, Steph Green and Tamara Anghie
* “The Pig” An M & M Production, Tivi Magnusson and Dorte Høgh
* “Spielzeugland (Toyland)” A Mephisto Film Production, Jochen Alexander Freydank

Achievement in sound editing

* “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Richard King
* “Iron Man” (Paramount and Marvel Entertainment), Frank Eulner and Christopher Boyes
* “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Tom Sayers
* “WALL-E” (Walt Disney), Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood
* “Wanted” (Universal),Wylie Stateman

Achievement in sound mixing

* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Mark Weingarten
* “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo and Ed Novick
* “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty
* “WALL-E” (Walt Disney),Tom Myers, Michael Semanick and Ben Burtt
* “Wanted” (Universal), Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño and Petr Forejt

Achievement in visual effects

* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron
* “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber and Paul Franklin
* “Iron Man” (Paramount and Marvel Entertainment), John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick and Shane Mahan

Adapted screenplay

* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Screenplay by Eric Roth, Screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord
* “Doubt” (Miramax), Written by John Patrick Shanley
* “Frost/Nixon” (Universal), Screenplay by Peter Morgan
* “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company), Screenplay by David Hare
* “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy

Original screenplay

* “Frozen River” (Sony Pictures Classics), Written by Courtney Hunt
* “Happy-Go-Lucky” (Miramax), Written by Mike Leigh
* “In Bruges” (Focus Features), Written by Martin McDonagh
* “Milk” (Focus Features), Written by Dustin Lance Black
* “WALL-E” (Walt Disney), Screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, Original story by Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter

#&AWARDS SEASON)_

Today Oscar nominees will be announced! I won't be able to watch live on CNN like I've done the previous years 'cause I'll be working at the IFFR. Last night had a blast. Met two girls who I knew from my lectures, though we never really talked, we didn't really know each other just recognized each others faces. So I wasn't planning ons eeing the volunteers opening film Bronson, which was going to start at 10 pm and this meeting I had before was at 7 and would finish around 8pm, meaning that i had to wait two hours before the start of the opening film. So I thought, no, I'm going home. But I ended up having dinner with these two girls and two other people who we just randomnly met. So I had a really fun start of the festival. Rotterdam I have to say, I don't udnerstand the traffic really, trams everywhere. By night the Pathé and De Doelen look very nice. I havent had the feeling yet I've really seen the city so I cant really tell yet whether I like it or not. But because I've heard from a lot of people they were a bit dissapointed with Rotterdam I'm a bit more sceptical. But so far I like it.

Plus, I found out I had a 7.8 for one of my courses and I already had a 8.5 for another one. So I'm doing really well. Passed everything so far. Now only have one more course left which will start February 2nd and my final MA thesis.

+)TICKETS IFFR#!

If everything goes as planned I will see at least the following films at the Film Festival Rotterdam!:

24 City
The Strength Of Water
Non-Ko
That's It
I Am From Titov Veles
Jerichow
Unmade Beds
Rachel Getting Married
33 Scenes From Life

I'm excited! These don't include the films playing during my shifts though.
It will start this Thursday and end February 2nd. On the last day they'll probably have some best of the festival programmes.

_&FIRST LOOK:^

I found out that the latest trailer for Lukas Moodysson's upcoming film Mammoth has already hit the net. I watched the beginning of it trying to watch it without focusing on the plot too much, 'cause I don't want to really find out what it's about. Main reasons I watched part of the trailer is just to see how the film is going to look like and it seems it will look pretty nice. The above picture is a still from the trailer. I like it a lot.

>-MISS COPPOLA FOR DIOR%@

Sofia Coppola has made this new and quite expensive looking commercial for Dior's latest fragrance 'Chérie'. It's very chipper and light. Makes you forget all about winter.



In other news, the band Phoenix, of which Miss Coppola happens to date the lead singer, apparently have already put the finishing touches on their latest effort, the brilliantly titled 'Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix'. I can't wait! Their last one It's Never Been Like That was the perfect summer record.

*(JAGDHUNDE{}

Of course my birthday isn't complete without going to the cinema, so that's what I did last night. The film I saw was Jagdhunde and really blew me away, what an amazing little film. There's tension moving every scene, even when there doesn't appear to be much going on. Full of envy I watched Constantin von Jascheroff who played the main character Lars perfectly well. So natural, so subtle. And envy for its director Ann-Kristin Reyels and all the other contributors to this film! The choices of shots during this crazy table tennis scene left me with a big grin on my face. I was in awe of the image. The person who edited this did an amazing job. And then there's this great sense of humour in this film. Overall it's a real drama, but at times it has this light comedy feel to it. So well timed. So well done. Lars I cared the most for, but the other characters really got to me as well. Both his father, his mother, as well as his aunt. And then there's Marie the girl he shares this great bond with. I was really surprised by all this and didn't expect it to be this good having seen the trailer which didn't reveal much at all. Even though the two are very different I felt this was Lake Tahoe all over again. For small inspirational films like this I go to the cinema.

"_22>|

A new year, a new age.

(}AS IT IS IN HEAVEN>?

Last night I watched Så Som I Himmelen (As It Is In Heaven) which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2005. It's good, very good. Really strong drama, very toucvhing, with wodnerful characters. I liked that so many characters were given prominence apart from the main character played by Michael Nyqvist. The premise of the film is very simple but is carried out with a lot of depth turning this film not into some sort of Sister Act or Les Choristes. Så Som I Himmelen clearly is a film for adults and not a family film. Main character Daniel Daréus is the spill of the film, his pain, his grudge towards what happened to him as a child is what gives this film its main substance. I loved Nyqvist portrayal of the character, his silences during which you see him struggling inside. His fear for affection. Slowly he moves into his own self again and is dragged out this black hole with the help of all these beautiful people he has come to surround himself with. The best performance comes from actress Ingela Olsson who plays the wife of the village's pastor. The constant discussions between she and her husband are great to watch. She really throws herself into this role. The biggest role apart from Daniel is Lena. Frida Hallgren portraying her kind of fools the audience, at first coming off as this young, chippy, naive girl, but in the end showing that there's much more to her character than you expected. She becomes the character for which she end up caring the most for and who becomes such a great support to Daniel. In the end seeing them together I just felt so happy for these actors and for Kay Pollak, the film's director, as they really have succeeded in making a really strong film. They can all be proud of themselves as it is a wodnerful achievement.

$~WE DUTCH CAN MAKE GOOD MOVIES AFTERALL"|

On Thursday Zwartboek (Black Book) came on TV and of course I watched as it is one of the biggest Dutch films ever. Seems it's also really one of the best. I really REALLY enjoyed it. It left me very impressed. How come we don't make more movies like this? Or maybe we do but I just don't watch them because on an early age I already gave up on Dutch films. But Zwartboek definitely brought back my faith in Dutch cinema and watching it I felt so proud. It's a great achievement. Of course it isn't perfect, there are some flaws, like Ellis (Carice van Houten) breaking open this door with this steel thingy very easily while this group of men had to use this fire thing to burn open the lock. But those unrealistic things aside, Zwartboek is a real thrill. It's highly entertaining, very well acted, and reminded me of those early Hollywood classics with great stars such as Ingrid Bergman. Carice van Houten shines as Ellis de Vries. She builds up her character very well. It's very layered. She's also good in expressing emotions just with her eyes and stuff. Very strong face. Also Sebastian Koch does a very good job. I liked that a lot of parts were in German. Made me get used to hearing Dutch more easily as at the beginning I felt the sound of the voices kind of floated above the images as if they were all re-recorded during post-production. Most surprised I was with Thom Hoffman. Apart from Carice he was the best thing of the film. Great performance. I just can't believe he didn't got any nomination for it. Not even for a Gouden Kalf (the Dutch version of the Oscar). Sometimes I get annoyed by a soundtrack where the musis rises everytime something big is about to happen, to make it all seem more exciting. Here however it didn't bother me at all and I actually found it very fitting. Zwartboek really has surprised me. Now if I watch Simon next (another Dutch film which was well received) my faith in Dutch film might be completely restored. Paul Verhoeven should make more films in The Netherlands!

(^SAVE THE POLAROID IN 2009_+

Happy new year! I just came across this really cool site where you can download this software that makes your digital pictures look like polaroids. It even comes with the polaroid-taking sound! The software is called Poladroid and it's lots of fun. Check it out here: http://www.poladroid.net
Below an example of a picture I took of myself with my Canon EOS 40D and which I turned into a polaroid using the software. It's random stuff really, but a new year has arrived. Let's celebrate.
+ Check out Gang Gang Dance!