Deutschland, Deutschland

Off to see a foreign film at our local -- literally, just 5 minutes away -- cinema. We can now take advantage of having French, Korean, and even Dutch films subtitled in English. Hurrah! I was a little nervous, as our chosen film was German and therefore didn't have the giant time-traveling robots that PJ usually deems essential for a successful cinema outing. The Lives of Others instead is set in a 1980s GDR and portrays a sympathetic Stasi agent who spies and falls in love with a potentially dissident playwright and his actress girlfriend. Very gripping, very moving, and with lots of rather appealing 1970s vintage Commie furniture and wallpaper. And, you can now take beer and wine into the cinema -- a civilized progression since my days as an usher at Cinema City in Norwich, where I had to ask people to down the remains of their (real ale) pint before entering the movie theater.

So, a successful outing and one we will repeat to see Paul Verhoeven's Black Book in May. Yes, it turns out you have to leave the Netherlands in order to see a decent film about the Netherlands.

Oh my God! There are TWO of them!

We've been promised our first house-warming present -- a framed poster for Twins of Evil, courtesy of Clive. We were of course delighted and touched (in a non-literal sense) by this demonstration of his happiness at having us back in the same country until he pointed out that we were getting it because his wife Pippa wouldn't let him put it up in the house. She doesn't approve of it.



Pippa! Twins of Evil is a very real commentary on the problem of religious fundamentalism and the evil that can result from the best of intentions. As such, it has a widespread applicability to the turbulent, divided world we find ourselves in today. In addition, by using the motif of twins, it explores the Madonna/whore dichotomy oppressing so many women in a pre-feminist society. As the poster says: "One uses here beauty for love, one uses her lure for blood. Which is the virgin? Which is the vampire?" It's not easy to tell!

Plus, big-boobied women in skimpy nightgowns AND Peter Cushing! What's not to love?

Crusty jugglars!

Hot Fuzz was fantastic. Very funny, great action sequences, and the damnation of crusty jugglars and living statues. I laughed till I cried! Two thumbs up, fine weekend fun!

The return of airplane movies

Another excellent choice of films on the Boston-London flight. Amusingly, they had to announce that Flags of our Fathers had been replaced by Jackass II -- it would have been far more entertaining if they hadn't announced this and allowed the cries of horror from those expecting serious WW2 drama but getting Johnny Knoxville's testicles to resonate around the cabin. (I take a moment to ponder whether those who fought for the Allies in WW2 now watch the antics of Steve O and Knoxville and believe it was all worth it?)

Despite the high recommendations that Jackass II received from two of my colleagues, I opted for Clerks II and Marie Antoinette. The former was funny (but not as funny as Clerks), surprisingly sweet, and did nothing to upset my love for Jeff Anderson as Randall. Marie Antoinette was the perfect movie to watch on a plane when you're starting to get tired but recognizing that you only have 3 hours to go before you land, so there's no point in trying to get any sleep. It's all about atmosphere, emotion, gorgeous cinematography, and very little dialogue. Kirsten Dunst, an under-appreciated movie actress, was excellent and provided a hugely sympathetic portrayal of one of France's most-loathed historical figures -- no wonder it got booed at Cannes. Worth a second viewing in a quieter environment and on a larger screen.

Product placement to the nth degree

Our inner geekiness was revealed -- yet again -- during last night's screening of Casino Royale. At one point, Bond checks out some surveillance footage at a hotel, and during the scene, PJ turned to me and whispered: "Look! It's on Blu-ray disks!" It took a few seconds for me to figure out the significance of this seemingly random comment: Casino Royale was produced by MGM, which is owned by Sony, which also supports Blu-ray. After that, though, it was impossible not to notice that every single piece of consumer electronics in the film was Sony-branded: Bond's Vaio laptop, several SonyEricsson phones, a Cybershot camera . . . and we were somewhat surprised that Bond did not sit out in the grounds of his hotel with a PSP or entertain a Bond girl with a PS3 (not yet available in Europe!), a clear oversight on the part of the product placement team at Sony. This will no doubt make for a fun geek drinking game when we get the DVD. "Knock back a dry martini every time you see a Sony logo!"

I did, however, fail to spot the many Virgin Atlantic planes in the Miami Airport scenes; PJ, as a Virgin frequent flyer gold-card holder, did not. How sad.