films

The circumstances were thus that we watched “Dexter” four nights in a row, it were the first eight episodes of the second series. “Dexter” started in 2006 and is still running (season 6). Read More »Four days of Dexter

Remember “Horizonica” (2007)? The team of “Schat Ik Ga Fietsen” is working on a new full-length “Nederhorror” (“Netherhorror” after the Netherlands) zombie slasher with a plethora of volunteers. Make-up is done by Suzy Terror (who else), Ramon Etman (director of “Horizonica”) has his influence because of the cooperation of “Broet. The title is in Italian “Il Campeggio dei Morti Viventi” and on the Facebook page you can find more information. Also ‘Googling’ the title will bring up Youtube ‘trailers’ and the like. It looks like there will be some zombies in the film that I know, just as in “Horizonica”, hopefully “Il Campeggio…” will be a bit better 🙂

As a new series we got ourselves “Dexter“. These series actually have a 9.3 on IMdB (just as Twin Peaks) and a friend of mine says that it is getter better with every episode, even upto the fifth series. I am no fond of still running series, neither of series with too many seasons, but last week we saw the pilot and first (or second) episode. As in “American Psycho” we get the viewpoint of a serial killer. We hear him thinking, the story is with him as focal point. Dexter is an adopted child and has had urges to kill since his youth. His adoptive father, a policeman, knew all about these urges and taught Dexter to use them ‘for good’, hense, kill the people the police cannot catch. In his normal life Dexter is a forensic expert with “blood splatter patterns” as his speciality. The police is not his employer, but he works for them. His (step?)sister followed her father’s footsteps. Dexters jog inspires his other work.
The first two episodes were amusing, but not brilliant. The series have a grim sense of humour and it is funny that a serial killer is the hero of a popular series. I know that I gave all the information already, but I myself wonder how a series of five seasons with 12 episodes each remain interesting when the pilot already gives everything away. I suppose it does not (and so neither did I) or the writers manage to keep coming up with new ideas. Time will tell.

As you probably know, we are watching “Danger Man” (“or “Secret Agent”), the series that came before “The Prisoner”. Suddenly I wondered what McGoohan would have looked like when he was older. I ran into this page informing us that McGoohan died at the age of 80 on 15 January 2009. The link contains two photos. Also I ran into a very nice interview from 1977 which is mostly about “The Prisoner”, also with photo.

Yesterday we watched “Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind” again. What a great film! A story with filmographic jokes as only a Kaufman can come up with, empathizable characters (the shy Jim Carrey who falls in love with the extravagant sweetheart Kate Winslet), a great atmosphere. I see that my review gives everything away, but even watching it again (and thus knowing exactly what will happen) makes this film a great one.

However the Danger Man box that I got are the third and forth series, it took a while before the series started to get more interesting. Most of the episodes still are a bit ‘normal’ but not boring, but a few episodes back was the great “The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove” in which John Drake is knocked out and the episode is a very surrealistic dream reminding of the end of “The Prisoner”. Yesterday we watched “Colony Three” in which Drake investigates the disappearance of many people. During the investigation he is kidnapped and kept prisoner in a remote village that is used to train secret agents. The episodes has more than one thing incommon with “The Prisoner”, Drake even calls the man who runs the village “number one”. By the way, the greeting “be seeing you” is also used frequently in the series.

Yesterday we started to watch “Danger Man”, the series that supposedly preceeded “Prisoner” and whose main character John Drake would be the nameless (but numbered) prisoner of that series. “Danger Man” started in 1960, is (of course) shot in black and white and appears to be that kind of James Bond or Avengers kind of series with secret agents and dangerous plots. The atmosphere, humour and acting reminds a lot of “Prisoner”, but “Danger Man” is more ‘normal’. All to be expected of course and the first two episodes where surely not disappointing.

What is disappointing is that I did not know that there were actually two series of “Danger Man” and I got myself the second…!! Starting in 1960 with three series and 39 half hour episodes, after three years of silence another four series started in 1964 with 50 minute episodes and these are the series that I got. Moreover, the series are in a different order on my DVDs than the broadcast list of IMdb…

Yesterday we started with the second series of “Carnivale”. Three years ago we watched the first series and judging my review of the time implies that I found the series alright. That changed in a positive way, since I loved these first series that we rewatched before starting with the second. The first two episodes of the second series are even better! The opening episode (“Los Moscos”) answers quite a few answers that were raised in the first series, so much even that I almost wonder what the rest of the series will bring. Very promising!

I just read that the filmfestival of Venice will open with “Black Swan”, a new film of Darren Aronofsky. Aronofsky is growing into one of my favourite directors, so I cannot wait to see his latest film.

Last weekend we watched The Matrix trilogy, that has been a while. I still love part one. Most of the special effects, etc. still look amazing, but it is especially the story and atmosphere that make this film a classic. Part 2 and 3 are less and less ‘Matrix’, especially the last part mostly plays in the real world. Also I am not too fond of the spectacle shoot-out scenes and the Wachowski’s have some way too long philosopical monologues in their script. Actually the trilogy follows a descending line, but part one gave enough credit to make a more than average result. Besides, the other two parts have some great scenes and I love agent Smith!