Stuff about movies.
So I was browsing the web, and I came across the first trailer to “Master of None”, the Netflix comedy by Aziz Ansari.
But then THIS MOTHERFUCKER happened:
Jessica Jones.
Shameless.
Master of None.
The amount of good TV streaming into my life is crazy.
P.S.: Sorry Aziz. No hard feelings, k?
Good news everyone!
Panta Rhei, an animated short I’ve been writing together with director Wouter Bongaerts and producer/studio Creative Conspiracy, has been granted development funding by the Flemish Audiovisual Fund (VAF). This means we’ll be able to continue our hard work on the screenplay for what will hopefully be another kick-ass story.
Here’s the story’s logline, courtesy of Wouter:
Stefaan is tormented by water that keeps seeping into his life. A flooded basement, leaking faucets, endless rain. He tries to flee the water – just like the stranded whales he studies.
And here’s a piece of breathtaking art:
Of course, the road ahead is long, but just for a moment, we get to take a tiny breather and enjoy a tiny piece of reassurance. Someone out there supports our work – and we’ll work our butts off to make them happy.
It’s been a bit quiet on the Mia front – which is normal, seeing how a) we’ve been hard at work at our next project and b) it’s been two years since the short was released.
(Jesus? Has it really been that long?)
(You’re growing old, man.)
Mia, however, is not dead and buried. A while ago, we were surprised to see the short pop up on Belgian on-demand television. And now, I’m proud to announce that Mia will be screening on actually, non-demand TV next Sunday!
So check your TV guides, get a tiny bag of potato chips and enjoy those nine minutes.
In the meantime, here’s the trailer:
Hi kids!
Today I wanna talk to you about the Disney classic The Lion King (or, as the Germans call it, Der König der Löwen).
Now, Lion King and I, we go way back. It was one of the first movies I watched in the cinema, and the first time a movie was an event rather than a timewaster on a rainy day. I remember getting up early, putting on some nice clothes, and then driving all the way to Brussels (the capital of Belgium, and, as far as my seven year-old mind knew, THE WORLD!) to attend the film’s premiere.
I was stoked. I had gotten a Donald Duck magazine subscription a few months prior, my sister had gotten me a Goofy hat from Euro Disney, I had a Dale plushie and an Aladdin poster… I was a Disney fanboy, hardcore to the bone.
Needless to say: I loved the shit out of the Lion King. And for years to come, I loudly proclaimed it one of the great Disney classics. The music! The art direction! The story!
What a masterpiece!
21 years passed – a little something like this:
2015. Saddam Hussein was dead, Facebook had taken over the world, and I found myself in Hamburg, on a boat across the Elbe, on my way to watch the stage musical version of, you guessed it, The Lion King. I was excited. This was going to be epic.
Only it wasn’t.
Now, the musical was great! Brilliant performances. Great costumes. Incredibly creative design.
But what the fuck, Disney?
This isn’t a story about heroism, or growing up, or taking up responsibility and finding your place in the philosophical Circle of Life.
This is the story about asshole lions who rule the land – “everything the sun touches”, so pretty much everywhere liveable – by preying on their powerless citizens and rationalize their debauchery by saying “it was meant to be”.
The Lion King is 18th Century France.
And Simba is the Sun King.
Alt. title: No, I don’t know any shame. Why do you ask?
So yes, I went to the movies and watched Jurassic World. And yes! I did so out of my own free will. Nobody forced me, nobody kidnapped me, and nobody threatened my family via webcam. I just went to the movies with a couple of friends, sat my fat butt down in a comfy chair, put on those terrible, terrible 3D glasses and checked out a movie about dinosaurs like I was a seven year-old.
Jurassic World takes place 20 years after Jurassic Park. The Park has reopened its door and is now a thriving amusement park complete with rides and
Let there be no mistake: Jurassic World is a dumb movie. You really have to check your brain at the gate. If you manage, though, the reward is tremendous: While Jurassic World might start sluggish and boring, it quickly turns into a wild ride. The action scenes are nice (which some good editing between dino action and response at the park’s HQ), Chris Pratt is dreamy and hilarious, the screenplay goes from the bad kind of terrible to the best kind of terrible.
Seriously. Look at this screengrab:
That is an actual line from this hilariously dumb and incredibly expensive Hollywood movie. And if you turn off your inner cynic you might actually think it’s pretty rad.
If life hands you lemons, ignore the lemons for two hours and go watch this instead.
And that’s really all there is to say.
Hey dudes and dudettes,
you know how people will endlessly hype a movie and you will avoid seeing it because there’s no way in hell that it’ll live up to the hype?
Don’t do it to Mad Max: Fury Road.
It’s seriously awesome.
That is all.
Hey dudes and dudettes,
I know none of you will ever go see a documentary. But if you do, go watch “the special need”. It’s launching the 11th of December in Germany and having seen it, I can wholeheartedly say it’s brilliant!
Info!
Hey everyone!
Or everyone from L.A. who wants to see Mia, some other Belgian shorts, hear directors talk, and drink a Belgian beer.
Your wish has just been granted.
You lucky dog you.
Picked up this delightful vampire mockumentary by New Zealand legends Peter Jackson the T-Rex from Jurassic Park Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi last Saturday. Laughed a lot. Then proceeded to write something about it on my blog. Then felt everything I written superfluous. Then decided to just post a YouTube link instead.
Ever wonder why bad movies are made? This link might help you out a bit. The bottom line of the fascinating article? People will freak out.
As a screenwriter, I can tell you these things don’t just happen in Hollywood – they happen in Europe, too. Movies are big investments, so it’s obvious people get scared and, trying to make the best movie ever, screw up.
So the next time you read something about how Weinstein wants to mutilate an awesome Korean movie, know he’s not Hitler. Well, not the only Hitler in moviemaking, anyway.