Tag: Bill Nighy

Painting by numbers : Bill Nighy

thegirlinthecafe 3 Comments

Bill Nighy - click for the large version
Bill Nighy

After concert 5 out of 8, very late at home (03.00), waking up with a fresh layer of snow in ?rhus, I woke up late. I watched the news, I was shocked by what’s going on in the world at the moment (without commenting on it any further). I sold my dinnertable, which means that my passport has to move. And I sold my tv which is going to be picked up next sunday, just before my week to London. I have to survive 8 days without a tv, well I think it will be great.

And after all the violence on tv, I switched it off, turned some music on, and started working on a friendly face.

What do you think ?

The Girl In The Cafe Movie – soundtrack

thegirlinthecafe 37 Comments

The Girl In The CafeThis post is mainly for all the people who come here looking for information about the soundtrack from The Girl In The Cafe.

The bad news is, there isn’t any official soundtrack available. But the good news is that you can find the 2 songs that make up 90% of the soundtrack of this film.

2 songs from the soundtrack of the Girl of the Cafe that made an everlasting impression:

Sigur Ros – Starálfur (islandic for Staring Elf) from the album ágætis byrjun (”an alright start”). (Download Starálfur free and legal from Sigur Ros’ website : click here).

Damien Rice – Cold Water from his album O. You can watch a videoclip of a live version of this song here.

The song that’s playing as they walk down the corridor to the hotel room on their first night in Reykjavik is ‘Somewhere there’s an Island’ by Seaman Dan. You can hear a sample of it here.

The beautiful movie soundtrack is composed by Nicholas Hooper, who also will compose music for the upcoming Harry Potter movie : Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Nicholas Hooper has also composed music for other Nighy delights like State of Play and The Young Visiters.

Nicholas Hooper won a BAFTA Award in 2006 for Best Original Music for The Girl In The Cafe.

Hope this helps.

If you want to get the DVD, you can find it here on Amazon.

TGITC – on tour

thegirlinthecafe 34 Comments

Say what ?

The Girl In The CafeThe Short Version:
I think this is a wonderful and important film that needs to be seen by as many people as possible. That’s why I decided to send my The Girl In The Cafe DVD on a tour. The Girl has been on tour for more than a year now, she has visited more than 60 people already, and is planning to visit people in 20 (and counting) different countries. If you want to participate all you have to do is send an email to be put on the list. And when the film gets to you, you watch it, write a review on your blog (or send it to me if you don’t have a blog) and send it to the next person on the list.

The mighty Bill Nighy has called this project “very cool” and “very admirable”. And writer Richard Curtis is “thrilled” about this project.

Have a look at where the girl has been and will go on the world map here.

I was amazed by the number of people who either don’t know this film at all or have heard of it but have not seen it. And since this film made a big impression on me, I thought it was a nice idea to share it, and have other people to see it too. It is not only a great romantic comedy, it’s also a film with an important message.

And apart from people not knowing the film (which is forgivable to a certain extent), there seem to be people around on this planet, believe it or not, who do not know who Bill Nighy is! Now that is what I would call an emergency situation, a situation I had to do something about.

The script for the film is written by award-winning screenwriter Richard Curtis. You probably know him from Notting Hill, Love Actually (!), Bridget Jones, Four Weddings and a funeral. He doesn’t need any further introduction does he. So you get Bill Nighy, Kelly McDonald in a film with a very important message, by Richard Curtis, it can’t get any better than that! You can watch it as a very amusing and well-played rom-com, and you can learn a bit about G8 and what’s going wrong in the world too.

So – The Girl In The Cafe promotion campaign was born, my The Girl In The Cafe DVD went travelling.

Is this a sleazy way to promote your blog?
No. You don’t even have to link to my blog if you don’t want to, you can still participate. I just want to promote an in my opinion important and also fantastic film, and also support and promote the makepovertyhistory.org campaign. Maybe you already know everything about G8, the millennium goals, and aid, debt and trade, good, you can still enjoy the film. Maybe you didn’t, great, I didn’t really know that much before I saw this film either, so maybe it will clear up some things about all this for you too. It did for me.

So now you want to see don’t you? (Of course you do!)
Easy, just send me a nice mail telling me that you want to be put on the list, and write your postal address. All it will cost you is a stamp to send it to the next person.

The film is in English, and does only have English subtitles.

The Rules
If you want to participate in this project, you accept the following simple rules:

  • You watch the film (wowee – this really is the best part of it all)
  • You write a review about this film on your weblog and send me a link to it. (In English would be very nice, but if that’s a problem, use your own language) If you don’t have a weblog, you can send your review to me by email, then I’ll post it here.
  • After you have seen the DVD you promise to pack the Girl nicely, give her a kiss on the cheek and send the DVD to the next person about a week after receiving it; I will supply you with the name and address. And please send me a mail after you have done so. (This just to keep track on where The Girl is hanging around)
  • You may not make a copy of the DVD. You may lend, but not keep.

Any questions, remarks, comments, complaints? Send me an e-mail.
That’s it! Anyone can join in ! And go spread the word !

More info

Where is The Girl now ? (check the map)

The Girl In The Cafe – the official site (You can see the trailer there)
Bill Nighy Filmography (For those wanting to know what else he has been in)
Make Poverty History

(Credits to RobtheBlob.nl for pushing me (gently) to do this.)

Love can’t change
what’s wrong in the world.
But it’s a start.

The Girl In The Cafe

thegirlinthecafe 2 Comments

Bill Nighy - The Girl In The Cafe
Bill Nighy en Kelly MacDonald – The Girl In The Cafe

Dit is macrogeluk : Én Bill Nighy én Kelly MacDonald genomineerd voor een Golden Globe award voor beste acteur / actrice in dé beste film van 2005 : The Girl In The Cafe.
Als ie hem wint geef ik een feestje. Als ie hem niet wint (de concurrenten zijn tough : Donald Sutherland, Ed Harris, Kenneth Branagh en Jonathan Rhys Meyers) – klaag ik ze aan, de Globes.

De Awards show wordt 16 januari 2006 uitgezonden.

Als u hem nog steeds niet gezien hebt, tja dan heeft u wat gemist.

Have a happy one

thegirlinthecafe 7 Comments

The man in the rain (the Girl in the Cafe)
The man in the rain (the Girl in the Cafe)

En dus kocht ik een kaartje voor het Sigur Ros concert. Thanks to Bill, want had ik de film niet gezien, had ik ze waarschijnlijk nooit ondekt. En laten we eerlijk zijn Takk is wel de beste plaat van 2005, en Staralfur, het allermooiste liedje ooit gemaakt.

Waar ze spelen ?

Carling Apollo, Hammersmith
Queen Caroline Street, London, London W6 9QH
op 29 maart 2006.

Ja dan woon ik er al (zei zij overtuigend).

En omdat Bill Nighy jarig is vandaag, heb ik voor u een kadootje, als u ook van Sigur Ros houdt tenminste:

2 uur en 11 minuten Sigur Ros homecoming concert, Reykjavik (video en audio – opgenomen 27. november 2005 – danish radio rocks!) (Klik op de bovenste link onder “Se Koncerten”).
(Nog te zien tot 21 december)

And a very happy birthday to the coolest man in the Galaxy.

Davy Jones …

thegirlinthecafe 2 Comments

Bill Nighy as Davy Jones in Pirates of the Carribean : Dead Mans Chest

5 reasons for a Bill post:

  • Because it was at least 10 posts ago !
  • Because he looks so billicious on this picture.
  • Because the new trailer of Pirates of the Caribbean : Dead Man’s Chest is online ! (Go for it, you get Johnny and Orlando for free!)
  • Because his voice in the trailer makes you swoon.
  • Because Pirates are cool, and he is the coolest – and because his ship is called The Flying Dutchman. Can’t get any better than that now can it.

Now go see that trailer, go go go !

Kicks voor niks

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Pop Art B.Fantastisch, mijn kaart lag er nog toen S. vorige week in London het Theatre Museum bezocht. Netjes onder de stapel boeken in het winkeltje. En bedenk hoeveel honderden, duizenden (?) mensen daar intussen langs gelopen waren, nietsvermoedend en zonder hem te hebben gevonden.

Na de trip Århus-London is de kaart met het vliegtuig inmiddels overgebracht van London naar Massachusetts, USA. Gisteren sprak ik S. op messenger, en ze vond het fantastisch dat de kaart er nog lag. Kicks voor niks.

Mission Accomplished en closed. Wat zal ik nu weer eens bedenken.

Voor de nieuwsgierigen onder u – de kaart (S. is zoals gezegd ook een B. fan)- het was een van de 4 van mijn in een verloren uurtje gefotosjopte mini Pop Art Bill Warhol Tribute.

Wat ik me overigens nog het meest herinner van die dag van de kaart, is dat ik op Covent Garden market stond, geleund tegen een van de grote pilaren, gezellig druk met mensen, vlak bij de opera, en de zon in mijn gezicht. En precies daar op dat moment wist ik dat het wel goed zat.

Swoon

thegirlinthecafe 7 Comments

Male readers can go out for a walk in the park now. Female readers: isn’t he just a little cool with this one day beard and beautifully light blue eyes ? I’d say he is.

Pfew. (it just arrived in my inbox – it’s from the upcoming Underworld Evolution, which probably is just as bad as Underworld I, but that doesn’t matter at all when they have heroes like this walking around in it.)

Swoon
intr.v., swooned, swoon ing, swoons.
To faint.
To be overwhelmed by ecstatic joy.
n.
A fainting spell; syncope. See synonyms at blackout.
A state of ecstasy or rapture.

We don’t have to be serious all the time, do we?

Blue Orange

thegirlinthecafe 2 Comments

Blue Orange - Bill NighyI send them a mail about a month ago, with the request to get access. I didn’t actually expect them to give tourists access. But a few days later I got an email back from them, with an official invitation, they had made a reservation for me on Friday the 4th of November at 10.15. I had to meet up at their reception with my passport and the invitation. And so I took the tube.

At the gate I pushed a button, and the loudspeaker asked me for my name. I answered and cringled myself through the turning fence. I followed the arrows to “reception”. I went up the stairs and presented myself with the man behind the glass window. I gave him my passport and invitation, and wrote my name on the visitor list. I got a visitor pass which I clipped on to my jeans. A man walked with me showing me the way. We walked through a long corridor, and I had to use my visitor pass to open the first door. We walked on and ended in front of door number 2, which I again opened with my magical pass. The man was leaving me now, telling me I should walk to the end of the corridor where someone would be waiting for me.

I walked through the long corridor and ended in a space where a man behind a pc welcomed me.
I gave him my magical pass, and got a form I had to fill out. I did just that, and I now got a daypass. Pfew, so far so good.

The man behind the pc walked to the cupboard and came back with the materials I had reserved. I was guided to a small seperate room, I got a set of headphones, and was seated behind a tv and a video machine. It did feel like entering Ford Knox, but after all the checks, double checks and forms I was now ready for the thing I came for.

I enjoyed 1 hour and 50 minutes of Blue / Orange, I laughed quite a lot, and it was all for free.

This was also English bureaucracy in a nutshell, but it was completely worth it. Bill was fantastic.

Meerkat Manor

thegirlinthecafe 20 Comments






De afgelopen 13 dagen keek ik elke dag Meerkat Manor. En ik moet zeggen dat dat genieten was. Wat een interessante serie, en wat een grappige en wijze (als in intelligent) beesten.

Ik was onder de indruk van de taakverdeling en de sterke familieband in de The Whiskers family, die tijdens de serie groeide naar 44 familieleden, groot en klein. De baby oppas door de ouderen (en niet perse de ouders) terwijl de rest van de familie gaat eten. Het vlooien van elkaar, de luuuvvv scenes. De gevechten met de rivaliserende Meerkat buren the Lazuli’s. De wachtposten terwijl de rest van de familie veilig kan eten. De ontdekkingsreis van baby meerkat Columbus. De slangebeet van Shakespeare wat hij ternauwernood overleeft, de uitstoting uit de familie van Tosca, die zwanger raakte, en dus door alfavrouwtje Flower (de enige die mag paren – en dat met Zaphod notabene) uit de familie werd gezet. Tosca vond aan het einde toch haar geluk en een nieuwe partner, Carlos, een Lazuli.
De geflipte akties van half gestoorde Yousarian (wat tot de dood van een kleintje leidde), en ga zo maar door.

Het enige frustrerende was het verdwijnen van Shakespeare (de absolute held van de serie) aan het einde. Terwijl hij op de 4 kleintjes van Tosca past en de rest van de familie aan het eten is, wordt de manor aangevallen door een grote groep rivaliserende meerkats, de Lazuli’s. Shakespeare weet de 4 kleintjes in veiligheid te brengen, maar wordt daarna zelf nooit meer terug gezien. Missing in action, of gewoon gestorven in het heftige gevecht met Lazuli leider Big Cy, of krijgsgevangen genomen door de sneaky Lazuli’s ? Niemand die het weet. Misschien een cliffhanger voor een deel II ?

Animal Planet is de serie nu al weer aan het herhalen, kijken dus ! (De verteller is Bill by the way, een ekstra reden om het te gaan zien, want samen met Stephen Fry (The Guide in Hitchhikers) heeft ie een van de meest behagelijke engelse vertel stemmen).

If you are a fan of the series, you might want to join the rave over at Bill’s.

Meer Meerkats ?
Animal Planet : Meet a Meerkat
Meerkats unmasked

Notes On A Scandal

thegirlinthecafe 2 Comments

Notes On A ScandalSome books you just don’t want to finish, because you weren’t finished with the story and it’s character. One of those books (just read) is Notes On A Scandal bij Zoe Heller.

It’s a story about obsession, loneliness and moral. It’s deliciously written, and you’ve got the feeling that you are minding other people’s businesses where you don’t have any right doing so. Very recommended this book. (Check what others think about it on Amazon)

And oh the book is currently being made into a film , with Cate Blanchett, Judi Dench and oh, look at that, Bill Nighy …

The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy (42/5)

thegirlinthecafe 15 Comments

The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy

I know you are waiting for my opinion about The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy, the movie. So here it is.

Since this was a preview, there were people in bathing gowns, and on ever chair in the cinema there was a towel.

A towel… is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitch hiker can have.
Douglas Adams

OK, you can see that this isn’t a mega million science fiction film, but despite that, it has a lot of beautiful special effects, especially throughout the end. But this film doesn’t really need the funky effect, because the story is so crazy, original and funny, and is filled with hilarious moments, that you don’t have the time to realize that the special effects aren’t there.

Marvin and the voice of Alan Rickman is very funny, and so are the sighing doors in the spaceship, the whale, the Vogons are fantastic (Jim Henson), and Ford and Slartibartfast are extremely cool in this film. Arthur Dent is British enough in this one, and , well you better go and see it for yourself.

The film has this typical British touch, but that only makes it better. It is rather close to the book if you ask me, and I recommend you to read the book up front (it is only 150 pages). It is good to be prepared, because a lot of the somewhat weirdish names and places are all over the place in the film.

The stars : Slartibartfast (6), Marvin (5), Ford Prefect (4), Arthur Dent(4), Zaphod Beeblebrox(3), Trillian (3), The Vogons (5), Deep Thought (4), The Mice (4), The Dolpins (4).

Which adds up to a total of : 42 – Oh my god …

Bill Nighy – king of coolness

thegirlinthecafe 16 Comments

In relation to The Girl in The Cafe, and the sudden (re)discovery of Bill Nighy, I found audio files of a masterclass he once held for upcoming actors.

Very much fun to hear, he is a great storyteller, very funny and still crazy. You get a lot of background information about films, acting, auditioning and answers :
“What do you do with your hands on stage is a world-class, groovy question about acting”
Theatre voice- archives (search on Bill Nighy)

Much much more information about Bill Nighy, including an extensive filmography on the Bill Nighy site.

The Girl In The Cafe (10/10)

thegirlinthecafe 4 Comments

Bill Nighy in The Girl In The CafeThe Girl In The Cafe is part og the Makepovertyhistory.org project.
And you can’t get away from it, this film has a political message too. Quite an important one.

If you don’t like that in a film, don’t worry, focus on the fantastic acting performance of Bill Nighy. In Love Actually I found him slightly odd, but funny, but after The Girl in The Cafe he has been rocketing into my “The coolest guys on earth” top 10. What a fantastic actor.

The Girl in the Cafe did remind me a bit of the atmosphere in Lost in Translation.
And it is a tv film, it hasn’t been out in the cinemas.

No doubt in my mind, this is the best film of 2005 for me.

Do you want to see this film ? Then you might consider joining my The Girl In The Cafe on tour project.