The breathing in my neck and music from the movies

“So …” Davy begins.
“So” I say, knowing that something is coming.
“How many pages have you written of your 90 page feature film script?”
“Ehrm, well ….”
“Ahrr, I thought so.”
“Yeah, but you know, Dan and June … They hold my head hostage at the moment.”
“You will be in trouble if you don’t start soon. November remember.”
“I … *deep sigh* know”. And I do, I really do. And it worries and stresses me a bit.
“Which is why I made a plan.”

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The Girl Southparkified

The Girl - Southparkified

Because we don’t have to be serious all the time now do we.

I admit a bit of post processing in Photoshop. But it really is The Girl: shy, floating around in space, (RED) iPod, tragic romantic and check her t-shirt.

Southparkify yourself.

If she can do it, I can too.

(And as we were not being serious anyway: I finally recovered my Girl postcards and added them as e-cards. Eat your red heart out and send some.)

I have no words

New Piccadilly Cafe, London

BBC London picked up on the closure of the beautiful New Piccadilly Cafe, you can watch the video clip here.

Meet Lorenzo, watch the waiters in their white uniforms, hear the bells of the cash register, enjoy the gargling pink coffee machine, check out the funky 50’s menu card and recognize scenes of The Girl in the Cafe.

And feel sad, angry, frustrated and heart broken about the fact that this is happening. That’s what I do.

Casting: Finding Dan and June

The Girl Is Making A FilmIt wasn’t the first time I attended a casting, only this time I was there with a directors hat on to see if I could spot potential Dan and Junes (the two main characters) for my short film. This was not a casting session specially organized for my short, this was a casting for workshops on a film school, but I got the offer to join in, and so I did.

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Lady Chatterley – review (9/10)

Lady Chatterley

I don’t know if I love this version of Lady Chatterley this much because it is about true love but it might have something to do with it. The music alone made me cry several times, and the nature shots were very nicely integrated into the story. Yep there are several scenes of a sexual nature but nothing shocking, I found them tender and true. And there is full nakedness too, which I thought beautiful as the story is about finding yourself and about discovering love. I particularly loved the scene where the two main characters (Lady Chatterley and her lover) are running around naked in the pouring rain, it is beautifully liberating.

I didn’t know the book before I saw this film, and I know the story is set in England (the book is written by D.H. Lawrence), but the fact that this film is a French version of the story didn’t really bother me. I had no problems with the game keeper (Jean-Louis Coullo’ch) either, I could understand why she fell for him. (some reviewers have said that he wasn’t hunky enough, well he was for me).

I was very happy that this version of the film, although being French, chose to end the story in such a way that tragic romantics like myself did not have to leave the cinema completely heart broken.

Recommended? I certainly think so!

It’s all too beautiful

The Bridge

A view from my train window on my way home from Carlisle through a country I have seen way too little of I found out.

Over bridge of sighs
To rest my eyes in shades of green
Under dreamin’ spires
To Itchycoo Park, that’s where I’ve been

What did you do there?
I got high
What did you feel there?
Well I cried
But why the tears there?
I’ll tell you why
It’s all too beautiful
It’s all too beautiful
It’s all too beautiful
It’s all too beautiful

The Bore Ultimatum

What is going on? Why do both the Times and the Guardian rate this (hopefully) last film in the trilogy that well? I was utterly bored! I gave it a fair chance, but I admit, having read nearly all Ludlum books, that these three were not among my favourite ones. Neither is the film.

What’s the film about? It’s about Matt Damon running around being chased by baddies. That’s about it, and that for about 2 hours long.

What annoys me the most about the whole Bourne franchise is Matt Damon himself. Here is what he has to say about Bond, James, Bond:

“Bond is an imperialist and a misogynist who kills people and laughs about it and drinks Martinis and cracks jokes.” By contrast, he added, “Bourne is a serial monogamist whose girlfriend is dead and he does nothing but think about her … he doesn’t have the support of gadgets and feels guilty about what he’s done.” (Guardian). Here is more on Bond vs. Bourne.

I only have one thing to say: it was probably a desperate attempt from Matt Damon. I mean who can compete with Daniel Craig in a Bond movie that has a lot more character development than the Bore Ultimatum, and Casino Royale was also a hell of a lot more interesting to watch. Not to say that Daniel Craig has more charisma in his left small toe nail than Matt Damon as a whole, Matt Damon has no charisma at all on screen. Sorry for the rant. The Bourne Ultimatum (6/10)

I am currently preparing for a 4 hour train trip to Carlisle somewhere in a more northern part of the UK. My iPod is charged, my silksounding Bill books are waiting for a re-read, and it is also stuffed with music that is going to make my train journey great. My script is in my bag as well, you never know when inspiration strikes you.

We are going to shoot some film on a depot where they transport nuclear waste. That will light up my day. It might light up me as well. In several ways. Not that my day needed lighting up more, it was turned into a very bright one already very very early in the morning. I haven’t slept much because of it, and maybe I will tell you why at some point. Or not. It all depends. On if dire chance and fateful cockup will have it.

Diary of a first time director: Pre production

The Girl Is Making A FilmOne of my friends:
“So it has really started now, you are doing it”
Me: Well not really, I can still run away you know.
She: No you can’t, I have 15 extras who can’t wait to be in the “love is in the air in the park” scene. It is happening, you are doing it.
Me: Right.

I guess that means that we are now officially in pre-production.
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Bugger doesn’t cover it

Here is my day:

  • I stood up rather early to make some last changes to my script when my pc crashed. It died.
  • My Windows XP installation/repair CD is somewhere in a box in Denmark
  • I didn’t have any backups of scripts, and postcards. YES I KNOW THAT IS STUPID!
  • To not go completely mad I decided to take the bus to cinema. The bus driver turns out to be the jerk of the month.
  • The film I wanted to see was sold out.
  • I saw The Simpsons movie in stead and didn’t find it funny at at all.
  • I spilled coke on my shirt.
  • It’s cold in London, I have been freezing my butt off two evenings in a row waiting in the rain for the bus!

So what’s the good news?
I don’t know, you tell me!

(Sunday morning update: Pfew. I picked up an Windows XP cd at the office reinstalled it. Even though it gave me loads of error messages, I was able to get some kind of Windows installed, and saved scripts and postcards. I think the hard disk is rotten, but today is a good day!)

Elling, Trafalgar Studios – London, review

John Simm shines as EllingHere are a 100 reasons why you have to go and see Elling:

John Simm

That’s it, that’s a 100 reasons.

Here is the story:

Mummy’s boy Elling (Simm) and his roommate, the uncouth reluctant virgin Kjell Bjarne (Bower) are the Odd Couple of Oslo: a pair of confused souls taking their first steps in the outside world after years of an isolated and institutional life. Given a flat in the city by social services, their mission is to re-assimilate themselves into society – it’s either that or a return to the asylum. All they have to do is convince their social worker that they really are ‘normal’, even if it does feel safer sleeping in a wardrobe…

It is an incredibly funny but also very touching story, and John Simm’s performance is stunning, he is one of the best actors I have ever seen on stage. It’s all in the details, the way he speaks, the way he moves, the movement of his eyebrows, he becomes Elling. It was striking to see him leave the stage after the last scene, and come back as John Simm as we know him, in order to get the audiences applause. The audience was roaring for him.

I can only very highly recommend you to see this play, it will make you laugh, it will make you nearly cry, and it will make you think about how “normal” we all are these days.

Elling runs in the Trafalgar Studios until the 6th of October 2007.

Go see it. GO SEE IT!

[rating:5/5]

Pies, animals and Sparkle

Films I have seen recently:

Evan Almighty
[rating:1/5]
Yes it is as bad as you think it is. Morgan Freeman deserves so much better than this. And another example of the fact that stupid scripts do in fact get made into block busters. It’s a ripoff from Bruce Almighty with Jim Carrey which I thought was quite funny.

Waitress
[rating:3.5/5]
Lots of pies, and one of the better recent rom-com’s, but just not as good as I hoped. The sad story here is that the first time writer/director of this film, Adrienne Shelly got murdered while working on this film. She was only 40 years old.

The Hoax
[rating:3/5]
A casting error? Richard Gere, I like him, but he doesn’t fit in this film. I was not engaged in the character at all. The story was kind of interesting, but not the best film I have seen.

Transformers
[rating:3/5]

The sound effects are awesome and so are the cars turning into big robots scenes. The story is far out, but it’s entertaining, for the most of it.

Films I really look forward to:

Sparkle
by Neil Hunter and Tom Hunsinger and
They made Lawless Heart – do I need say more? If you can write a line line “I once faked a broken heart but I ran out of energy” and have that performed by a farmer (played by Bill Nighy) – that’s when my heart starts jumping. That farmer was called Dan by the way. Ring any bells?

It hurts a bit to know that they had casted Bill Nighy for the role now played by Bob Hoskins (I think – and not bad either) or Anthony Head who is in it as well, and another reason to go and watch it. But problems with funding messed up the production plans, and Bill had to move on to other projects. Still a film I really look forward to and I am going to a Q&A session with the makers of this film next weekend.

Lady Chatterley
Wow, the music in the trailer makes me feel like falling in love. Very powerful, I hope the story is as good.

Eagle Vs. Shark
Love the poster.Saw the trailer – looking fantastically quirky! I love quirky.

Hallam Foe
I saw Billy Elliot again yesterday and I cried like a baby again. I love to see Jamie Bell in this new film.