#{I FINALLY WATCHED BLINDNESS(_

I just watched Blindness after having read the book by José Saramago. I enjoyed the film I really did. The cinematography was amazing, I loved some of the shot choices and how everything related to the idea of not being able to see but also giving you as a spectator the feeling of what it is to see, how much you gain by it and how an advantage sight can be. It really made you aware of your ability to see. So overall me, personally, I thought the film was good. However, I've read some opinions from people on the message board of the film on Imdb.com and a lot of people who had not read the book first didn't like the movie and didn't understand why the main character decided not to act more strongly in some of the situations she and the others are put in. This is where the book really provides you with a lot of background. It seems that the makers of the film didn't really think a lot about how an audience who has not read the book would react to certain events in the story. The book explains a lot, gives insight on characters' intentions where the film does not. It might be the makers didn't really worry about some of the aspects and thought the information they provide would be enough and acceptable for spectators. But apparently, for most people it was not. So maybe I have had a major advantage of reading the book first, it could be. So my perception of the film is completely different as I'm able to fill up those little holes immediately myself 'cause I already happen to know the characters and am able to understand how they feel and what made them respond to certain events the way they did. Though, I think if I would not have read the book I would have still be able to udnerstand the characters' decisions, though I can't be sure 'cause I did indeed read the book first. But maybe that's what the movie wanted to do. Maybe the makers deliberately gave not too much info just so you as a spectator could go into the situation 'blind' like the characters do. Not giving away too much of the intentions of the characters. Perhaps they wanted to force the spectator to really experience the situation like the characters did and have them create their own opinions or to see if the spectators would be able to fully understand the circumstances themselves. When you havent'read the book first I guess you are really able to explore all of that yourself, figure things out on your own like the characters in the movie. You don't know what's going on or what is going to happen. I who had read the book, I did know what was going on as well as what was going to happen so I guess I saw things differently. I feel the movie and the book work very well together and perhaps people should take them as such. Sometimes people wonder if a book can get translated well onto the screen and most of the time they feel the movie still lacks something which I guess is because the two are very different things and are handled differently. I think you should just take them together and have both add their own things to the story. There are things the movie might do better, things the book does better. Just watch the movie, read the book, let both add their own things to the story. I loved the book and I enjoyed the movie which might be because I read the book first. But just read the book and watch the movie too, experience both.

&*SUNSET RUBDOWN+}

I didn't plan to go see Sunset Rubdown, so I basically went on a whim. Just got home from seeing them perform in the Patronaat, which is like 2 minutes away from my place on bike. I thought the price to see them was 20 euros, don't know how I got that thought burned into my mind, 'cause it turned out to be 12,50, that's what I found out when arriving home around 8pm. Because recently I kept feeling bad for not going to see a band which I like, even if just a little, when I was more than able to go and when it wasnt that expensive. So finding out it was only 12,50 I gathered around all the coins that I could find 'cause I figured you might had to pay in cash which is the case at the Paradiso in Amsterdam. Luckily for me I had 12,50 euros in coins :) So I jumped on my bike and got to watch them perform live. It was soooo good. Much better than I expected. I mean, I expected it to be good, but they're not one of my favourite bands, I have to say I have hardly listened to their albums and for some reason so far their songs havent really stuck. I'm still waiting for that one song to hit me and which will make me an instant fan. Maybe it's because most of their songs are pretty long and at times one song seems to contain multiple songs, that's how layered their songs are. Sunset Rubdown, if you didn't know, is a band formed by Spencer Krug who is one of the two lead singers of Wolf Parade(!). Dan Boeckner, the other singer also has his own band together with his wife called Handsome Furs and I have to say of the two I always preferred Handsome Furs over Sunset Rubdown. But having seen Sunset Rubdown I have to say Sunset comes closest to Wolf Parade, more than Handsome Furs does. The energy is the same and Spencer's vocals are so strong. It doesn't matter what he sings or whatever sound he makes it all sounds amazing. So I had a really good time. However, I do get annoyed still by people around me who just dont move. With a band like Wolf Parade or Foals I don't need any help, 'cause I know their songs inside out and I can go completely wild on my own. When the first chords start I immediately recognize the song and I'll explode. But with a band like Sunset Rubdown of whom I don't know all the songs, I could use a little help now and then just to get me a bit more in the mood. There was only this one guy in front of me who moved, but apart from him I was surrounded by people who just stood watching. On the other side I saw some people moving a bit more. Maybe it would have been better to stand there. But anyway, I was surprised and I had a good time. I'm glad I went 'cause when I arrived home this evening around 8 I already started to feel bad for not going. So I'm more than happy I went. So now there's nothing to regret and I don't have to wonder what it would have been like if I went, 'cause I know. Still, Foals, Bloc Party, Wolf Parade again, Late Of The Pier, would love to see those bands live!

_)CRAZY LITTLE GIRL:{

Very well edited. I wish I had made it :)

+#GOT SHOT"/

I got shot through the ears. Now have to wait for 6 weeks.

*#CHAPEAU!)_

Dear Danilo,
Im am impressed by this paper. The quality of reasoning is high (as is the level of English) even though I do not always agree.
I think you're 'broad/specific' distinction makes good sense. Indeed only 'specifics' are depictable, and can thus be used in film. Although I appreciate your attempt to distinguish between oxymoron X paradox, in language the difference is considered in terms of grammar: 'black snow' (oxymoron) versus 'the snow is black' (paradox). Thus the limitation may simply be un-applicable to the visual realm.
Your analyses of the themes X scenes in Gondry's film are pertinent and good.
Just one thing: why didn't you use Teng and Sun's paper on pictorial oxymoron?
But on the whole, chapeau!

Yep yep. An 8.5! Happiness all around. To answer that question about not using the Teng and Sun paper Mr. Forceville, I was just too f_cking lazy to have to re-read that bloody text again. There you have it. Glad he doesn't know :p

*&NEW MUSIC_+

Two Door Cinema Club and We Are Band, they're gonna make it BIG! Right now I'm toally hooked to Two Door Cinema Club's Something Good Can Work which is their first single. First I preferred their track Undercover Martyn, but Something Good Can Work has completely taken over. You can listen to Something Good Can Work in the music player, here I'll give you a video for Undercover Martyn.


Undercover Martyn from Brian Philip Davis on Vimeo.

And then there is We Have Band, a bit Bloc Party-ish, but still different and with a sound of their own. Yum yum yum.


We Have Band - Oh! (Music Video) from We Have Band on Vimeo.

And if there's one place I would like to be this summer it would be at the Benicàssim Festival. It's in Spain and it must be the best thing in the world. Performances by Foals, Late Of The Pier, The Killers, Franz Ferdinand, just to name a few. Going there would be AMAZING! Expensive, but AMAZING! I would kill to be there.

By the way Vimeo is pretty cool, better than YouTube ;)

&^It's here!!!!!!()

Lisztomania video has arrived, super fresh. Wake up to this song and your day will be grand!


Phoenix - Lisztomania

+}ANTICHRIST#~

Lars Von Trier + horror = Interesting. Let's see how this one turns out. I love Charlotte Gainsbourg and her whispery voice :p


Lars von Trier's Antichrist - Official Trailer

*^HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS SONG RIGHT NOW+_

Sometimes you re-discover a song, 'cause you think what song to play next when you are busy playing songs which you could play at a party. Charmer by Kings Of Leon is one of those songs I re-discovered after I had to download their album Because Of The Times again. I downloaded it after finally giving their new album a chance. So far though, I still prefer their earlier work, but I have to say that Caleb Followill's voice, or Anthony Caleb as they like to go by their middle names, does sound extremely good on a song like Use Somebody. Here's the video for Charmer. Also very nice. ;)

*&THE FACE HUNTER SHOW_+

For those not familiar with The Face Hunter phenomenon I will explain it to you. The Face Hunter is this French guy who lives in London and takes pictures of random people he sees while walking down the street and of whom he thinks they look cool. So when seeing a cool and hip looking person with great fashion sense he follows that person and asks if he or she minds having his/her picture taken. These pictures he puts on his website for all to see which over the months has led to a nice collection of random people wearing the coolest combination of clothes. His site, but also other sites like Street Peeper, The Sartorialist, Lookbook, and Melbourne Street Fashion, has inspired many designers of today as these sites happen to capture street fashion and fashion culture happening on the street right now. But this guy, The Face Hunter, who's real name is Yvan Rodic by the way, I today found out, also happens to make these videos which he has named The Face Hunter Show. In these videos he meets and mingles with all kinds of interesting, fashionable, and arty types of people which he interviews, these interviews being very fun and loose. Rodic has proofed himself to be a really charismatic presenter and his show is really fun to watch. He has so far been to Mexico City, Stockholm and Moscow to talk to some up-and-coming young minds and to provide a sense of what is happening right now in those cities. In Stockholm, for example, he visited the mind behind the brand Cheap Monday which can be said to have re-invented the skinny jeans and from which I right now happen to wear one. Yay! Here's episode two from Mr. Rodic in Stockholm. I like this a lot. :)

The Facehunter Show Stockholm - Part 2

)(BEST VIDEO EVER%$

I was supposed to go to bed but then read the name Bishop Allen somewhere on my screen which wasn't the first time so I thought maybe they did a Takeaway Show which then could be my first real introduction to this band. I haven't found any yet, but I did find two by Final Fantasy which is Owen Pallett who plays the violin and his band, but in the Takeaway Show it's just him. I watched the two videos and then saw something on the right that caught my eye. In the middle of some French words I noticed the word Beirut. So I started to read the text and it said something about Owen singing on a song from The Flying Club Cup. This song is Cliquot. Thinking that every song on the album was sung by Zach Condon, Mr. Beirut himself, this caught me by surprise. So I started listening to the song and indeed, yes, this song is sung by Owen! Oh my. Never knew, never had a clue. But on the Last.fm page of the song there was this YouTube video of a girl doing a cover version of the song. So I went to check it out. Then I decided to watch a cover version of Nantes, another song by Beirut. And then another cover. This eventually led to a Daft Hands version of the song Nantes which is some guys writing lyrics on their fingers and then moving them whenever the words from the lyrics are heard in the song. Reading the comments this was not the original idea. The original idea came from someone else who did a Daft Hands version of Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger by Daft Punk, hence the name Daft Hands. I will post the video here and after posting it I will finally go to bed and sleep. But I just had to share this video 'cause it's f*cking amazing! Simple, yet brilliant. The end is just wow, so fast, I love the movements and the combinations of words making another word! Fun fun fun.




So this is the effect the internet most of the time has on me. One click leads to another and before I know it I find myself hours in front of the computer screen when I was supposed to be doing something else. It's a major distraction.

%&SUN IS SHINING..."{

I don't know what exactly happened today, but when I woke up I noticed the sun shining and it turned out that, in contrast to yesterday, it was really really warm out, and not just a bit warm, but REALLY warm, like I can go out naked without getting cold kind of warm. Personally, I was hoping for rain 'cause I need to work on my MA thesis, and working on my MA thesis is no fun when the sun's out and everyone is having fun enjoying the nice weather except me. So that's why I didn't work on my thesis at all today. Apparently the weather will be similar tomorrow, but this time I'll stay in 'cause I really need to work. Maybe cinema at night, but nothing before that. Now I'm gonna watch In Bruges or In Brugge as it actually should be called. I've only been hearing positive things about it so far so I can't wait to find out where all the excitement came from...

^"PHOENIX LIVE[}

Live on SNL It's Phoenix!

Lisztomania:


1901:


Too Young:

^$WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING>;

#@WE♥IT&*

Can't get enough: www.weheartit.com

($THERE'S ONLY ONE ELVIS~+

Last night I saw Elvis Perkins perform with his band Dearland in Paradiso, so much fun! It was very intimate 'cause it was in their small concert hall upstairs so it really felt like being at this special party. Lots of older people, some really old guys to my right who didn't dance, but they occassionally yelled the funniest things and one man kept saying, wow, another highlight of the evening! Apparently one of our most famous actresses, or actually, she is our most famous actress, Carice van Houten is a major Elvis Perkins fan! Yup, she was there standing at the front with two girlfriends of her who happened to be very enthusiastic, so they jumped and danced which was cool 'cause they kind of happened to be the only one. Some people just don't dance. But it was a very good show, the sound was perfect and the band played well and they played so many different instruments, so fun. Everyone loved it when the drummer went to play on this big marching band drum thing or one of the other guys started to play the trumpet. They played a lot of new songs from the new album which apparently was released in stores yesterday so I suddenly felt I had to pretend just a little I did not yet know all of the songs, 'cause you know, how could I? :) He also played, of course, While You Were Sleeping, can't perform without doing that one. Wished they also played All The Night Without Love, but they didn't. Knowing that not too long ago Women had played in this place as well I couldn't help feeling just a little bit of regret for not going and they even performed twice. So from now on, if I'm able to go and it's not at all expensive, I should just go. Next I want to see a band like Wolf Parade, 'cause I need a gig like that. If only Foals would come to here, that would be amazingly cool.

Yet again, these pictures aren't taken by me:

?"RED HEADED$>

~$DER HIMMEL ÜBER BERLIN#%

It took me a bit of time to truly get into it and I even started to wonder why so many people think so highly of this film, but after some minutes I too was completely won over. And how much I love Peter Falk, he's even playing himself here. So charismatic. This film is filled with beautiful shots. True art! And black-white, colour, black-white. Love. And that scene where Marion is in the circus performing, I was so afraid she was going to fall. Almost couldn't breathe.

{_CANDLES\]

So last night it was earth hour so I spent one hour reading Blindness by José Saramago, love the book, and of course I took these pictures :) + My webcam works again, FUN Today has been rather boring though, the weather seemed nice but I kept myself stuck in this box I call home. I vacuum cleaned and worked on my MA thesis, will work on it a bit more after writing this. Then probably end this day with a movie, same way I started it.


Seems I could use a better cam...

&$TURN OFF THE LIGHTS~!

Tonight earth hour. Participate!



Earth is in your hands!

(@WILD THING+}

Not sure if it will be good, but at least the lighting seems to be exquisite. For that alone I will go and watch it at the cinema! Plus, can't go wrong with Arcade Fire in the trailer, purrrfect!



Everything looks so much fun and uber cute! From the poster to Max's suit. I want one just like him, I would walk around in it all day :)) And look the kid wears Chucks, YES!

Here's a preview of a test scene they did featuring a different kid. Notice how Max's suit looks different. It still gives a good preview of how the wild things will end up looking. Better get used to seeing those wild things talk!

^~UNDER CONSTRUCTION)_

<#MR. WOLF HAS A NEW VIDEO|}

And as always it's very interesting :)

Patrick Wolf - Vulture


Vulture is his new single from his upcoming album The Bachelor. Later on this year follows his other new album the Conqueror. Together the two make up a double album entitled Battle.

&WHENEVER YOU LOOK FOR INSPIRATION_)

Go here: http://weheartit.com

&$DE ANDEREN@!

Was watching a play almost two hours ago. Loved it. Loved the subdued acting. The decor consisting of just some rows of chairs. Theatre is all about dialogue, which I love. Writing. Need to see more of this director Olivier Provily. Have to wait until his next play. Not like with those film directors of whom you just put a DVD in your laptop and start watching all of his/her work. Nomatter what year. Doesn't even matter if you weren't born yet. But theatre you need to watch in the here and now.

^&TWO INSTEAD OF ONE_?

Yesterday I ended up watching two movies Gran Torino at Pathé and then Broken English at SMART where I work :) Loved both. Loved Eastwood. Played his part so well and boy does he start to look old, but at the same time he still looks so much the same. The same but just older. ^_^ He has such a powerful on screen presence. Loved his moaning sounds, his grrrrs :) Enjoyed the film, although you should not take things too seriously. You just have to take it as some kind of lesson, a story he felt like telling and this is just the way he did it. Just watch, don't ask.

Broken English started a bit weak. Wasn't convinced. Felt like a TV show rather than a film. But then things changed. If it wasn't for Parker Posey and the other actors who supported her I might have lost complete interest. A long time ago since I felt so much for a character. I could connect with her so well. She developed in front of me. Evolved. True, these last days I've been a bit weak. That's why I could find myself so lost in a character. I did still look at aesthetics, performances etc. But Posey's character just got hold of me. I didn't care it was so blatantly romantic. I didn't mind it has this cliché ending which i would have detested in any other movie. But Posey's character she got under my skin. And she deserved that cliché ending. I was with her right there. I went through it all with her. Maybe the film took advantage of me, of how I felt, perhaps I was easily won over. But without a doubt Posey nailed her character. And she actually irritated me a bit in the beginning. And that best friend of hers played by Drea De Matteo, she made acting look so easy. She was perfect for the part. Loved her from the beginning. And the French guy played by Melvil Poupaud of whom Posey's character thought he was saying 'angry' when he meant 'hungry' - sounded very familair ;) - was so subtle and charming. So even though it took a while before it got going, I ended up really enjoying it. Probably wouldn't buy it, not sure too if I would watch it again. But it was nice for last night. I needed it.

_"WHAT'S GOING ON???!!!^#

Haven't seen a movie in days(!) so tomorrow lets watch Gran Torino...

*%AFTER ALL THIS TIME!~

Oh my...I learned to whistle


True, still need some more practice, but I'm definitely getting there! :))

&$THIS SONG IS KILLERRRRRRR@!

Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix already is one of my favourite albums of 2009, it's all I could ever ask for and more way more. They outdid themselves. It's Never Been Like That their last album was the perfect soundtrack for the summer, it just screamed youth, sunshine, endless nights, and watching sunsets. It was all there. And now there's this new perfect album even better than their previous ones! It's the truth. I got mad love for this one. Lisztomania you can hear it in the music player, it's bliss! Probably their best song yet. Also catchy as hell is Girlfriend, song has a great opening. It's in stores May 25th, but leaked already. Sad for the boys but great for me and all those other Phoenix lovers. And with a high quality record like this there's a big chance I might buy it when it comes out. Summer came early this year ♥♥♥♥

+$I WANT ONE!@#

It's called a Tenori-On and I want one!