}{UN PETIT PEU DE PARIS(%

%^BATHROOM GURGLE#@

There's this remix of the song Bathroom Gurgle by Late Of The Pier which is exquisite! I think this is the one I heard in Melkweg on Monday and I can't get enough of it. The remix is made by Breakbot and it consists completely of my favourite part of the song. Late Of The Pier's album is really nice as well, but still this song is the best one and it's very rare to see the best song on the album which truly stands out at the end of the tracklist. If I'm not mistaken not too long ago they were in Paradiso. So right now I kind of regret not having been there just a little...

&%MELKWEG = ♥_+

First time in Melkweg last night and I absolutely enjoyed it. In between Heartbreaker (supporting act) and Friendly Fires the music was playing so loud and it sounded so good. This remix of Late Of the Pier's Bathroom Gurgle came on and I thought I was about to die. So GOOD!!! They also played Foals, twice even! Seems like Melkweg is the place to be for me and would definitely liek to go back just for a party. Heartbreak was nice by the way, really nice. I think they're from Italy 'cause the singer had this very strong Italian accent (first I thought he was French, but no) and they make this very fun disco music bringing back the Italo disco genre. A lot of people danced. It was very warm so I took of my hat very quickly which at first I'd kept on. The place was crowded. Lots of beer drinking. Great atmosphere. The singer from Heartbreak is a real crazy guy, very expressive during his performance, he went wild and the crowd loved it. So funny to watch. I'm goign to listen to their album very soon, 'cause I instantly liked them. Then came Friendly Fires and I'll be honest in saying that it was okay. Unfortunately Ed MacFarlane the singer of the band didn't sound as great as on the album or as some of the performances I watched from them. The music seemed to overshadow his voice a bit. Of course he danced like a crazy person shaking his hips. So fun. I'm a big supporter of just letting go and be yourself and go crazy not thinking about what people might think. He goes for it all the way and it's fun. The concert was pretty short which is udnerstandable 'cause the guys only have one record out so far. But it reminded me how great this record is 'cause every song on it is worth performing live 'cause they're all so damn catchy. Favourites of mine were Photobooth and of course On Board. During their hit Paris everyone started to jump of course and I couldn't help thinking about those 6 days i had just spent there with the most amazing bunch of people. Next time I would like to for once go together with people who enjoys the music as much as I do. I need to start finding some music friends here in NL or just wait until some international friends join me 'cause moments like these are there to be shared...

Pictures not taken by me ;)

Heartbreak:




Friendly Fires:

@!TONIGHT(*

Friendly Fires in about two hours... Gonna be fun!

(%BY REQUEST#~

So yes I went to Paris for 6 days to meet up with some of the nicest and sweetest people this world has to offer to just spend time together and discover a bit of the city (yall know whom I'm talkin 'bout ;)). Miss you guys like I always do, but it's true, we need to look further, not back. Good to have seen all of those lovely faces. Now I'll go m back to my boring life :) Of course that's a bit of an overstatement, but it's true that it's much and much better having all of you around. I'm not there right now to see the Eiffel tower by night or to go and ice skate with you if that was still a plan. Monday it's time to go back to uni, have to finish this take-home exam tomorrow. Probably go and lock myself up in a cinema in the morning, still have catching up to do, so many films still to see. Will be busy with my MA thesis, meeting my supervisor this week and this Saturday I'll go to Arnhem for an audition for this drama school thing, the third and last one I'm trying this year. Had a good and safe trip back home. Next time Berlin?

^_^

-(WHO STOLE MY TIC TACS?#@

I should go back downstairs to the supermarket! You know those mints called Tic Tacs, I just bought some and on the plastic package thingy it says: 100 Tic Tacs. So to see if they're right I counted them and guess what?! I'm missing three of them!!!! UNFAIR! :(((

&#REALLY?|]

The list of winners for the 2009 Academy Awards has been leaked, or so they say.
This list below apparently is the list of winners. To know if this is correct you have to watch and find out tomorrow though. This list, however, could be the definite one, but then again anyone could have predicted this. Only real standout is Amy Adams' win for best supporting actress for her role in Doubt. She has been nominated before so a win could be the case. However, so far Penélope Cruz as well as Viola Davis have been the favourites, not miss Adams. Departures win for foreign language film over big names such as Entre Les Murs and Waltz With Bashir seems unlikely though...

Actor in a leading role: Mickey Rourke
Actor in a supporting role: Heath Ledger
Actress in a leading role: Kate Winslet
Actress in a supporting role: Amy Adams
Animated Feature Film: Wall-E
Art Direction: The Dark Knight
Cinematography: Slumdog Millionaire
Costume Design: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Directing: Slumdog Millionaire
Documentary feature: Man on Wire
Documentary short: The Conscience of Nhem En
Film editing: Milk
Foreign language film: Departures
Makeup: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Music (Score): Defiance
Music (Song): Down to Earth (Wall-E)
Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
Short film (animated): Presto
Short film (live action): Auf Der Strecke (On The Line)
Sound editing: Wall-E
Sound mixing: The Dark Knight
Visual effects: Iron Man
Writing (Adapted screenplay): The Reader
Writing (Original screenplay): In Bruges

_$JUMP IN THE POOL:"

I had fun last night.

&!IF I EVER+_

If I ever were to publish a magazine it would probably look something like this and be called THIS.IS.NOT.A.REVIEW. magazine, 'cause I'm tired of reviews...

!%LEON MARK + JOLIJN SNIJDERS#~

More pictures, gone with the text! Photos from one guy Leon Mark and from this Dutch girl Jolijn Snijders whom I've been checking out for quite a while and who also has her own online magazine called I ♥ FAKE. These two show why fashion photography looks real cool + that a good model is key to get a great image. And for those who smoke don't ever quit just make sure you do your best to look cool doing it else it's no use...

Leon Mark






Jolijn Snijders

_#THE SELBY I LIKE|}

Too much text on this blog so here some pictures and a link to one of my favourite websites which is The Selby (http://www.theselby.com) It's a website showing photographs from the houses of all kinds of creative people to see how they live as a home can say a lot about a person. Also every person who's featured is asked to fill in several questions on a sheet of paper sometimes even having to draw funny stuff. It's very inspiring especially when you consider a home makeover. Have a look. Here are some pictures I really like.

*$I'VE SEEN GOMORRA~!

Last night Milk now Gomorra. I had some catching up to do. The Wrestler arrives this Thursday as well as Slumdog Millionaire which will most likely win the Academy Award for Best Picture of the year as it already has won so many other awards. But Gomorra. Lots of buzz. I can see why. However, I felt it didn't flow that well and never really got into it completely. Perhaps too many characters whom you never really get to know. It just presents bits and pieces, never really takes you in completely. It's okay, but not as amazing as I've felt a lot of people find it to be. An aspect I liked is how the camera stays real close to the characters their faces. But overall it's quite predictable and I was really missing some good character involvement, you don't get to really know any of them so you don't really feel for them and I felt that to be really able to get immersed in all the stories, getting to know these characters is essential. I expected a bit more and at the same time I didn't as I never felt it would be that great, or at least I never expected it to really overwhelm me. So in a way I got exactly what I expected.
Wouldn't be suprised to see a Martin Scorsese version of this in some years, faster paced and with big name actors.

*&I'VE SEEN MILK()

Finally I saw it. I thought it was great, I loved the way it looked especially the beginning. Kind of felt that started as a showing of where Van Sant had been the last couple of years, his last couple of works, with very intersting camera angles and beautiful close-ups during James Franco and Sean Penn's intimate moments. Oh and the coloured intertitles were so My Own Private Idaho-ish! Nice to have spotted Van Sant, he always seems to make cameos like Hitchcock used to do. Diego Luna and Emile Hirsch were real fun, Josh Brolin was good too. His role slowly develops.

But where were the aliens?!

Edit: there were none. Never have been any. A while ago I took at a look at InContention.com a site which follows all the awards chatter and something they happen to do is choose the top 10 best shots of the year from films. There was a shot from Milk and I quickly looked at it. I had mistaken it for something with aliens I guess, seeing some kind of UFO i thought. But no. :)

^%WHY HAVE MAGAZINES BECOME SO EXPENSIVE?"}

Or were they always...

&$FOUR@!

The best four I've taken so far. I bought a new film a while ago, still have 8 more left, will spend them wisely...






I'll go see Friendly Fires March 2nd, Beirut May 5th! + Maybe Women February 24th

Train to Rotterdam...

(*DEAR ROTTERDAM...|'

...thank you for the most wonderful 11 days. I'll miss you! We watched lots of movies and partied together until early morning. Next year again perhaps.
These are all the films I've been able to watch during the IFFR:

Bronson (Very funny, great powerhouse performance by the guy playing Charlie Bronson, never heard of the guy but apparently he makes the UK jails unsafe, much better than I expected, glad I saw it as it would not have been a choice of my own when I would have read its description, I assume especially the youth will enjoy this)

Tiro En La Cabeza (No dialogue at all except for one sentence, interesting premise, but soon becomes boring, too experimental-ish)

Identification Marks: None (Great cinematography, didn't pay much attention to the story)

Walkover (same director as film above, again, cinematography is pretty awesome)

Nulle Part Terre Promise (started watching it without much interest, but it pulled me in near the end making that I quite liked it, in the end I did feel a connection with the main female character)

Awaydays (has that typical British coolness, a bit Control-like, not perfect, but definitely worth seeing, soundtrack is brill, acting by the two leads is great to watch)

Je Ne Suis Pas Morte (over three hours long, very fresh and original feel to it, feels also very French meaning lot of conversating, philosophy, questioning love, life, death, has a great close-up at the end of a girl which last for quite a while, made me ask a question during the Q&A to which the director answered a simple: no)

The Strength Of Water (will remind you of Whale Rider for multiple reasons, it's good not great, very sweet, liked the openness of its ending)

La Frontière De L'Aube (Features a none smoking Louis Garrel which is such a shame as I find him the number one person who makes smoking look tremendously cool so please Mr. Garrel never ever quit, takes a while to really get going but once it does it really wins you over, great performances especially from Laura Smet)

Breathless (mix of brute violence and comedy working surprisingly well, best film I've seen at the IFFR, fresh, funny, daring, great acting, especially from the actress playing the female lead, perfect from beginning to end, a triumph!)

Pomegranates And Myrrh (at first too much of a reminder of films such as The Syrian Bride, but gradually wins you over, has too much of a heart which can't be ignored, not fantastically great but still really good)

The Coffin (horror, I didn't see all of it, but what I saw was okay, am not a big fan of the genre, did't scare me at all, seemed to have a big budget because it looked very expensive but images to me looked too stylish)

I Am From Titov Veles (watch if you want to see a film with great composition and great use of colour, a little bit like Amélie, but a bit too vague, it's a good film but with flaws)

Blind Pig Who Wants To Fly (just very strange and different, which isn't at all a bad thing, one of those films that are hard to compare to anything else out there)

That's It (film student made film, low-budget a la In Search Of A Midnight Kiss also reminiscent of 2 Days In Paris as well as Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, a talking walking type of film, very funny, very charming, sweet, nice performances as well)

April Showers (although I fell asleep a bit so can't really say I've seen it, but from what I've seen it's confusing, pretty boring, too serious)

Jerichow (second film I've seen by director Christian Petzold, first one was Yella, expected to be a bit of the same so started to wait for a big surprising film which would throw me into surrealism, but none of this at all, it's a very straightforward drama, still very good though, but not as fresh as I thought it would be, but still really very good, just solid and done well like it should, kept looking for underlying meanings but couldnt find them)

Unmade Beds (My personal favoutire, has some flaws 'cause it doesn't work completely, but Alexis Dos Santos has won my heart, love his vision which is like mine and thought his style was great, very nice performance from girl from L'Enfant which I mentioned before)

Rachel Getting Married (very solid film, great camerawork which gives you the feeling you're real part of the diegetic world making that at times you want to clap when people are giving speeches on screen, you really feel like you're there, Anne Hathaway's Oscar nomination is very well deserved, a great meaty role to show off your acting skills, it's funny and very recognizable, very well written)

Exhausted (the most horrible film I've probably seen so far in my entire life, shot completely in super 8 which is the only cool thing about it but makes watching it pretty exhausting hence the title??, the rest seems useless, strange strange strange, no clue why we had to endure this, nipples are being cut off and a fetus pops out from a vagina)

Wrong Rosary (exquisite lighting in this film, so dreamy, and that the entire film long, great close-ups and angles, sweet story though doesn't feel to work completely, still very enjoyable and great, but mostly the cinematography is amazing, what a great looking film)

Native Dancer (okay film, ends up being a bit too Hollywood-ish with kidnapping and stuff, expected something more intelligent)

Still Walking (very different from Nobody Knows, but still good, like Nobody Knows this one also ends up feeling to be a little bit too long, funny, charming grandma character, presenting a Japanese family, differences between new and old generation)

Pranzo Di Ferragosto (very charming film with very funny characters, very solid and enjoyable, simple premise done well and turned into much more than it could have ended up being, shows you don't need much to capture an audience's attention for 70 minutes)

That makes 24 films.
Here are the ones I liked the most and/or thought were the best:

Breathless
Unmade Beds
Wrong Rosary
Awaydays
Rachel Getting Married

%^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.