"All who gain power are afraid to lose it" — Chancellor Palpatine, Star Wars - Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
// Just a blog among many others //
"Et comme dirait Grucho Marx : 'Si vous n'aimez pas mes opinions, j'en ai d'autres !'" (Jean-Jacques Jespers)
// This is a blog that is updated on a daily basis (if I have time, though…) and on which I feature things that I find funny. Enjoy and don't hesitate to post comments as well!
Indiana Jones hit the screen today in Belgium, and since I'm one of his biggest fans I had to go and see the movie today. So I decided to take a break in this rather long and tiresome period preceding the first exam and I went to the cinema. I was expecting a huge crowd of Indy freaks, but it appeared that only two dozens of people had come! Anyway, that's not a problem.
I really enjoyed Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, but I won't write a lot about it right now, because I'm running out of time and because I prefer not to disclose to much information about the plot and so on. I'd just like to say that this film won't appeal to people who have never seen the other episodes, for it's full of references and "Easter eggs". The plot was terrific, except that a couple of scenes were too unrealistic… Yet, this film was great and I'm looking forward to seeing it once more after the exams. If you liked the other Indiana Jones movies, go to the cinema asap!
I suppose most of you won't have the opportunity to go to the cinema before a month or so, and that's why I thought that listening to John William's great music would be fine meanwhile. I hope you'll notice the many hints to the other films.
More TV trailers are to be seen on the official website. I'm really looking forward to watching that movie. I'm so eager that I'll sacrifice an afternoon in my study period to go to the cinema on 21 May when it is released. (Some call this day "InD-Day"!)
Problem Child is a film I used to watch a lot when I was a little boy, because it's about an eight-year-old monster that always behaves badly… The film starred the late Jack Warden (as Big Ben Healy) and John Ritter (as Ben Healy). The devilish Junior is played by Michael Oliver. Today I'd like to show you the baseball scene. Enjoy.
I know I've already featured the following scene, but I like it very much:
Here's the trailer of Coneheads, a movie which I like very much but which I haven't had the opportunity to watch for several years. Fortunately, I've got the DVD and I'll watch it in July or August. Till then, I can enjoy the trailer. From the Wikipedia entry (slightly edited):
Coneheads has been said to have made an "accidental" or "unintentional" political statement or social commentary about the nature of the immigrant experience in America, the filmmakers' ostensible intent being merely to entertain.
The film's plot premise: the adventures of the Conehead family — whose ship, as part of an advance scouting mission for an invasion, is shot down by a F-16 fighter-interceptor of the New Jersey Air National Guard, and they try to assimilate into American society and pursue the immigrant's American dream.
The 80th Academy Awards Ceremony took place a week ago, and now it's time to watch a four-minute summary showing the 79 films that were awarded the Oscar® for the Best Picture before the 80th (No Country for Old Men):
Luckily I saw the first four movies, but the others have never been broadcast, probably because they were made for straight-to-video market. When I had time, I used to watch these movies quite a lot, especially Ernest Scared Stupid (French: Ernest à la chasse aux monstres; Ernest was dubbed by French comedian Jacques Balutin — the guy who, incidentally, was the French voice of Starsky and Cubitus). Here are the very kitschy opening credits:
I love the music, but also the silly, ridiculous "horror" movies of the 50s! (OK, Nosferatu was released in 1922.) In this film, Ernest accidentally unleashes an army of trolls in a small town. The trolls are led by Trantor, whose eyes still make me think of that of G.W. Bush…
I admit the picture doesn't show the eyes very clearly, but it's the only picture I found. For an overall survey of the movie, please read this webpage. And if you want to see the troll in motion, you may want to watch the end scene. Ernest always pulled a face, like in the following vid:
Please watch this fragment, from Ernest Goes to Jail, where Ernest is the member of a jury…
This is hilarious!
PS. Is there anyone out here who knew this character? Please comment.
[WebCampus - LANGB204] Request for expressions of interest: possible excursion to Leuven this Wednesday on laughing matters
Dear all,
This message is intended primarily (but not necessarily exclusively) for students in the Dutch-English section, and is in fact more connected to the course in general linguistics than to the proficiency course (but since fewer people have so far registered for the former on WebCampus, I'm going with the latter now).
Now that the 'souper de cours' has been postponed to a later date, it becomes possible for you to consider joining me for an evening of laughter and merriment in Leuven this coming Wednesday -- or at least for an evening composed of an academic lecture on the topic of laughter and merriment, followed by an excellent film allowing you to put the theory amply into practice.
As part of its 'Laughing matters' programme, Cinemazed is organizing a talk by Geert Brône from the University of Leuven, this Wednesday at 6 pm (in Dutch), on the topic of 'Humortheorieën en humoronderzoek' [http://www.cinemazed.be/FILMS/FEBRUARI%2008/lezingbrone.shtm]. The link with the general linguistics course is obvious, since the last text we will read for this course is an article by Geert Brône on hyper- and misunderstanding in interactional humour (specifically in the sitcom Blackadder). His talk will be illustrated with examples from sitcoms and films, so it will not be a dry, impenetrable, boring talk at all.
At such short notice this excursion (if it takes place at all) is of course not obligatory. However, if you're interested, it would involve taking the 4.21 train to Brussels, changing over at Ottignies for the 4.50 train to Leuven arriving at around 5.27. A brisk walk should get us to Cinemazed just in time. As for the return journey, the 10.33 train from Leuven would get you back to Namur by 11.39.
You would certainly have to pay for the train fare yourself (using your 'carte famille nombreuse' might just be cheaper than using up two gopass rides). As for the lecture and the film, depending on the interest I would try to get some free tickets for the talk and possibly see if the English Unit can sponsor tickets (which would cost 4 euros per activity for students).
Can I ask anyone who's interested to please let me know either by return of mail, by replying briefly to this e-mail, or at the latest on Monday, in real life.
Many thanks and best wishes, L. Vandelanotte
--
Lieven VANDELANOTTE Stylistique et maitrise de la langue anglaise II (Faculté de Philosophie et Lettres) WebCampus
Since I'm always interested in excursions and opportunities to go somewhere else than Namur, I immediately told Professor Vandelanotte to count me in. I thought it would definitely be great fun to go to Leuven and watch The Big Lebowski: I had previously heard a lot of good reviews about the film on YouTube. Moreover, it was also an opportunity to attend a lecture on a branch of linguistic studies that is relatively unknown.
Actually only seven of us were willing to go there: Guillaume (BA3), Nolan and Pitchou (who went there by car), but also Bruno, Magali, Martin and myself. We took the train with Professor Vandelanotte, as you can see in the two pictures below.
In the above picture, we were trying to put the "cheese!" strategy into practice, as you can see. Nice effort, though!
Just before we arrive in Leuven, I took this photograph, because Professor Vandelanotte lives in this row of houses. Will you be able to guess which one it is?
From the station, we headed for the conference room, walking fast to be sure to arrive on time. (That was the "brisk walk" mentioned in the e-mail.) The talk began at 6.05 pm. Researcher Geert Brône made a brilliant speech about the history of laugh studies, from the Greek philosophers to the modern cognitive linguists. He also explained the different kinds of humour techniques and showed some funny stuff (a.o. the silly walk sketch by the Monty Python) in order to illustrate his sayings.
At 7.20, the talk ended and we went to the Market Place to find a chippie (or frietkot, as we say) and get some chips. At 8 o'clock the film began. Here's the five second version of the movie made by thatguywiththeglasses:
If you like swearwords, this video is for you: the f*cking short version:
In this film, Clark Griswold is the head of a small family. He wants to celebrate Christmas with his whole family. First they have to go and cut a tree in the forest… That was quite an adventure, but it's nothing next to what happens after that…
Clark also attached 250 strands of lights to his roof…
… but it didn't work… But wait!
The attic scene:
The saucer sledge scene:
The dinner scene:
Towards the end of the film, Clark is really pissed off (due to the various disasters that happened in his house [including the burning of his Christmas tree and the electrocution of a cat]), but he was mostly frustrated because he hadn't received his bonus money, until…
I hope you enjoyed these fragments and that you might want to watch the whole film.
Here's the final version of my blog entry about Walt Disney, which I also posted on germ@namur. Maybe I'm just gonna change a few links, adding silly things (like the spoof on Honey I Shrunk the Kids).
Who has never heard of Walt Disney? This world-famous cartoon director and businessman was born on 5 December 1901 in Chicago, IL. He is an icon in American culture, as will be shown in this blog entry.
But Disney’s interest lay not only in cartoons, but also in live-action movies: he most notably produced Mary Poppins, starring Julie Andrews. Disney also invested his money and his time in the creation of an amusement park in California, Disleyland. This theme park was designed in such a way that all American families could walk in a fantasy world that would remind everybody of his cartoons, for instance by getting lost in Alice in Wonderland’s labyrinth. As a philanthropist, he decided to create a new university, CalArts (short for California Institute of Arts), in order to promote the creativity of talented people who would probably become prominent in the arts.
Walt Disney died of lung cancer on 15 December 1966 — he was a heavy smoker. An urban legend says that Walt Disney was cryonically frozen, but he was actually cremated. Despite his death, his work was carried on by others, through the Walt Disney Company, which is now owned by his offspring. For example, several other theme parks were built in Florida, Tokyo and Paris. Even a Disney Cruise Line was opened in the Caribbean.
As far as the movie legacy is concerned, the Walt Disney Company went on to make not only many other successful cartoons such as The Beauty and the Beast, but also live-action films among which Honey I Shrunk the Kids, and hybrid forms mixing traditional animation with live action, e.g. Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The latter is the only film featuring characters from Disney and from Warner Bros. in the same frame.
For almost a dozen years, the Walt Disney Company has invested more and more money in computer-animated films, which notably resulted in the two Toy Story films. These were made by the Pixar Animation Studios, which are now owned by Disney. Their most recent released film is Ratatouille.
In conclusion, Walt Disney is considered as an important character in the American, but also world culture, which makes him a legend. His future-oriented empire is one of the most powerful, and it still has many wonderful stories to tell, making us wander in the utmost fantastic universe.
This entry is the 300th I wrote for this blog. That's quite a number, don't you think. It obviously make me think of the movie, 300, which I haven't seen yet. Perhaps in another life. Meanwhile, we can enjoy thatguywiththeglasses' parody in 5 seconds:
And this one (which I've perhaps already displayed before):
Here are two videos I found a month ago but I was keeping just for the sake of this 300th blog entry. The first one is a video about the Top 100 quotes in the (English-speaking) movie history.
However, I'm surprised that "I am your father" wasn't in this Top 100…
The second is a marvellous montage of bits of films where a character says a number; here we have the complete count from 100 to 1.
I told you it was brilliant! Thumbs up!
"When this baby hits 88 miles an hour, you're gonna see some serious shit!"
"One Ring to rule them all. One Ring to find them. One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them." [By the way, here's the original version (in the so-called Black Speech of Mordor) of that quote in the book: "Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulûk, agh burzum-ishi krimpatul." I think it just sounds great.]
The other day, while wandering about on YouTube, I came across this commercial featuring one of my favourite comedians ever: Jerry Seinfeld.
Jerry Seinfeld cleverly made two references to a film he's playing in, namely Bee Movie. What was that? I had to check it out, and I found the trailers (see below). Seinfeld voices the bee character of Barry B(ee). Benson. The film also stars Renée Zellweger, Matthew Broderick and John Goodman (whom we hadn't seen in a while, had we?), among many others.
The first two trailers are about the "creation" of the movie:
Trailer 1
Trailer 2
Waw! Steven Spielberg himself promoting a movie in an ad? (Of course, he owns the production company, Dreamworks.)
Our friend TheNostalgiaCritic (aka thatguywiththeglasses) came up with a tremendous analysis of a movie called Super Mario Bros., based on the famous video game. Let's hear his message. Below, I listed a series of quotes which I absolutely LOVE! They're brilliant! So watch it to figure it out:
Here are my favourite quotes:
The two Italian plumbers are played by a Britishman and a Latino. (…) THIS IS GOING TO SUCK ASS!
This only way to get it back for Mario is to use his balding Italian charm to seduce her. What people would do for a role!
Most of the performances in this movie are down right terrible. I mean, I love Bob Hoskins, but after time it seems he's caughing up a hair ball. (Bob Hoskins uttering something hardly intelligible). And every time I hear that New York accent, I keep expecting Roger Rabbit to pop up. But by far the biggest award for killing your performance goes to the poopa-scoopa-gooba himself: Dennis Hopper. It's literally like he woke up every morning and just said to himself: "I'm not going to act today! I don't know what I'm going to do, but it's not going to be acting.". In fact, we haven't seen Dennis Hopper in a while, have we? But what do you expect when you're in movies where you're saying lines like:
BA-BOMB!
Let's hear that again:
BA-BOMB!
And this is why you don't see Dennis Hopper anymore. In fact, if you watch it in slow motion, you can actually pinpoint the moment where his career implodes in on himself. Watch:
Baaaaaaa-booooooooomb! (Atomic bomb exploding)
There's no other line in this movie that could destroy an actor's career, so quickly.
A monkey!
Ok, maybe one other line. In fact, let's see these two lines one back to back:
There it is. I hope you enjoyed this video and that, like me, you'd like to watch this movie just to see how it actually sucks taken on its whole. Two directors? Maybe because the first one gave up when he realized this would be worse than shit. Curious then that he didn't appear as Alan Smithee, then.
Our famous NostalgiaCritic posted a video about a film code-named "Cloverfield". Please watch the official trailer before watching his opinion on that trailer. He is, as usual, very convincing…
Good guy, I just pissed myself!
Maybe it's Jesus: maybe he just wanted the Bible to get a twisted ending and decided to rampage through the city! Maybe it's all four of them, maybe it's a giant robotic Donkey Kong Jesus riding a puff of smoke. Holy shit that'd be really cool… BUT HIGHLY IMPROBABLE!
Shaun of the Dead definitely kicks ass! It's a British zombie movie that's meant to be silly. As I didn't remember the plot quite well, here's the story in a nutshell (taken from the Wikipedia entry):
The plot focuses on Shaun, an unmotivated young man who is attempting to get some kind of focus in his life as he reconciles with his ex-girlfriend and settles his various issues with his mother and stepfather. At the same time he has to cope with an apocalyptic uprising of zombies that is causing society to collapse.
Here's a video containing some very good scenes of the film.
And a video featuring an appropriate song to fit the footage (and vice-versa):
The humour featured in this movie is typically British, and it is one of the reasons why I warmly recommend it, even if you don't like horror films. There are lots of references to George A. Romero's movie, too.
If you're interested in seeing more of that, check the many videos on YouTube.
Yesterday we went to Leuven in order to go to the movies: originally, we were to watch a British film called Control, but as it wasn't on anymore, we watched The Bourne Ultimatum, the third movie of the franchise around the character of Jason Bourne (Matt Damon), a brainwashed spy who desperately struggles to find out who he actually is. Of course, the FBI (or the CIA, or some obscure agency) wants to catch him first—because they think him of being dangerous.
Here's one of the trailers:
The screenplay was quite good (even if I didn't remember much of the two previous movies), but I was disappointed with the photography: there wasn't a single shot that wasn't shaky… I admit that such shots perfectly fit in action scenes, but I doubt of their usefulness in dialogue scenes. Of course, we were seated on the 5th and 6th rows, and it may affect our judgement.
But still, it was great fun to go to Leuven: after the cinema, we went for a swift walk in the city with Professor Vandelanotte as tourist guide. We saw a fountain (Fonske), the Town Hall and several famous buildings such as the University Library. And then back to Namur! I'm already looking forward to our next trip; it'll probably be on 2 November to Ghent.
Yesterday, we had the opportunity to go and see a Flemish film called Ben X, which has already got several awards and it will perhaps make it to the final 5 in the Foreign Language Film category of the 80th Academy Awards Ceremony in 2008. Wait and see. If you haven't seen the film yet, please watch the trailer:
Ben is kind of a modern Rain Man, but addicted to computer games. He's bullied at school and the film's all about it. This bullying is so harsh that he'll consider committing suicide.
I found this film very interesting in the way the action was filmed; photography was brilliant and innovating. I especially liked the opening credits.
I still wonder why we can't make such achieved movies as this one in Wallonia…
Some genius on YouTube edited Bean: The Movie so that it gives us another message… Enjoy "Brokeback Bean"!
By the way, I watched Brokeback Mountain this summer, but I didn't find it that much interesting. The film could have been half an hour shorter. And I hate open endings. But still, I had some fun with my family because we had a laugh about every single detail that could be made fun of.
I went to the cinema for the third time this year/summer. I watched "The Simpsons Movie", as I was planning since a year, when the first teaser came out. It was just a gag with the S of Superman's chest, but worn on Homer's T-shirt.
Then, other teasers and theatrical trailers were released in the cinemas and on the Internet, showing images of a film that looked great.
And great it was! Actually, it's like a regular episode, but longer (approx. 90 minutes). It allows for a broader storyline (obviously) and more visual easter eggs.
Talking about that, I got a little angry when I saw roughly 150 children entering the room, accompanied by their parents. But why? I mean, OK, that's a cartoon, and there are visual gags that would make them laugh, but The Simpsons isn't just about visual gags! There are dozens of cultural references in each episode, and that means that there were a lot more (hidden) references (or, as we call them, "Easter eggs") in a film.
That is the reason why I decided to enumerate the occurences of gags and references that little kids (say, under 12 years old) couldn't possibly understand, be they cultural, political, sociological, religious, sexual, or visual. (It means it doesn't count if I hear any childish laughter.)
For instance, do the children understand why it is funny to make of Arnold Scharzenegger the President of the United States? And first, do they know who he is???
Message to ignorants: The answer is that there's a widespread joke that Arnie, like the late Ronald Reagan did, would become President after a successful career as an actor. Of course, it's impossible for him to be elected president: the Constitution says that you have to be born on American ground—and Arnie was born in Austria. Nevertheless, in Demolition Man (a film with Sylvester Stalone), Arnold Schwarzenegger is just mentioned as the 44th President of the USA, because the Senate had changed an Amendment so that he could be elected…
I also spotted many references to Star Wars (by the way, the films are known to contain loads of Easter eggs, too): it is probably the most popular story in the USA, after the Bible though. It's normal that such references occur in the movie. However, I can't see how these kids could see the allusion… (But adults and fans like me would.) I mean: Star Wars is far less popular in Europe than in America, for few children know the films. When I was in 3rd grade at secondary school, I asked all my classmates who had seen the films. Only one had. Hopeless.
Well, at the end of the movie, I had counted 98 instances of such "non-understandable-things-for-under-12s". 98. And counting: I talked about it with my mother and brother (with whom I went and see the film) and they had spotted things that I hadn't. I guess I'll have to see it once more. But maybe not at the cinema. I'll wait till I get the DVD. So that I can watch it without any pop-corn or crisps-eating kid in my sight… (That's one of this millenium's scourges, in my opinion.)
That's why I'm saying that the film should get a PG-16 rating (or its various national equivalents): let's ban children from serious movies they won't understand. My mother saw and heard children getting bored: they obviously couldn't understand this movie.
Oh, and the hell with them! They piss me off!
(Sorry for looking so unkind and "callous", but I can't help it. Perhaps the reason is that I was a reasonable kid and I never shouted silly comments at the cinema, nor did I eat crisps all the time…)
A couple of days ago, I watched the film V for Vendetta, with Natalie Portman (who played Padmé in Star Wars), Hugo Weaving (who played Agent Smith in Matrix and Elrond in The Lord of the Rings, Stephen Fry (who played Gabriel in The Dead) and John Hurt (who played Ollivander in the first Harry Potter), among others. The film was great: a good plot (a rebellion against an insidious dictatorship in Britain) played by talented actors.
Something struck me: the resemblance between another leading actor, Stephen Rea, and the man that dubs him in the French version, Philippe Peythieu. I've already told you a little bit about Philippe Peythieu: he is, among other, "the" French voice of Dany DeVito (unfortunately not in all of his films; his best part was in Batman Returns as Penguin), of Voldemort in Harry Potter and the Philosopher Stone, and of Homer Simpson, Abraham Simpson and Otto Bus in The Simpsons. Recently, we could hear him as Cicero in Rome, the English series about the Old Rome. As you can see, sometimes, the "directeur artistique" (i.e. the person in charge of directing dubbing comedians) of a dubbing chooses the comedian because he looks like the original actor, and not because his/her voice resembles the actor's.
A funny anecdote, to conclude with: Philippe Peythieu is Véronique Augereau's husband. If you wonder who she is, I'd say that she's a dubbing comedian too. What's special about it, is that she actually dubs… Marge Simpson! It's not a joke! Check this out:
— I was born on 12 February 1988 in Rocourt (in the municipality of Liège). I grew up in Aubel, then I studied in Herve (Collège Royal Marie-Thérèse). I took a bachelor's degree in Germanic languages (Dutch and English) in Namur, then I went to the KU Leuven to do a MA in Linguistics and Literature (Dutch and English). My main research interests are the translation of humour, intertextual references and multilingualism/heterolingualism.
// — I'm an Internet freak and fond of cinema.
// — I enjoy making (silly) comments on anything, grumpily bickering and nitpicking just like Statler from the Muppets.
// Why did you google my name, you nosy person?
"Tu veux ma photo, banane ?" (Biff Tannen, Back to the Future)
This picture was taken on 21 June 2007 while we were resting in front of a café in Damme. That day, just after the last exam of the first year, we had the opportunity to make a small excursion on a bike from Brugge to Damme.
My nicknames
Statler (coined by Prof. Lieven Vandelanotte) because I often make silly comments and crack jokes that nobody understands except my fellow Martin aka Waldorf
Statistics: number of visitors (starting on 5 November 2007)
Famous people I saw or met at least once (of course, nearly all of them come from Belgium)
Amélie Nothomb
André Flahaut
Anne-Marie Lizin
Arno
Axel Merckx
Benoît Poelvoorde
Bernard Hinault
Bla-Bla (I admit I was a great fan of his shows…)
Bouli Lanners
Bruno Coppens
Christophe Brandt
Christopher Lloyd
Didier Reynders
Didier Van Cauwelaert
Dupa (Jean Dupanloup)
Eddy Merckx
Eric De Staerke
Fadilah Laanan
Frédéric Deborsu
Frédéric Jannin
Gilles Dal
Grand Duke
Gryzette
Guy Verhofstadt
Herman De Croo
Howard Shore
Isabelle Durant
Jacques Balutin
Jacques Mercier
Jean Piat
Jean-Claude Vancauwenberghe
Jean-Jacques Jespers
Jean-Luc Fonck
Jean-Marie Leblanc
Joëlle Milquet
Juan d'Oultremont
King Albert II
Kris Peeters
Lance Armstrong
Laurence Bibot
Les Gauff' (Au Suc')
Lorent Deutsch
Marc Moulin
Marie Arena
Miam Monster Miam
Nathalie Uffner
Nicolas Sarkozy
No that's a joke, I never saw him
Olivier Monsens
Paolo Bettini
Philippe Geluck
Philippe Lafontaine
Philippe Lambillon
Pierre Aucaigne
Pierre Kroll
Pierre Rapsat
Pino Cerami
Prince Laurent
Prince Philippe
Queen Fabiola
Queen Paola
Raoul Reyers (Philippe Gouders)
Rik Verbrugghe
Robbie McEwen
Robert Sabatier
Robert Wasseige
Rudy Demotte
Saint André (the singer!)
Sam Touzani
Sergio Honorez
Stefan Liberski
Thomas Gunzig
Tom Boonen
Virginie Hocq
Virginie Svensson
People I dislike or hate or that irritate me (a selection)
Benedict XVI (Religious Extremist)
Benoît Dreze (CDH) (He wants to promote the so-called "chèques-service" which encourage slavery — namely people doing the housework you should do on your own)
Condoleeza Rice (A Shame For Women)
Donald Rumsfeld (Republican Idiot)
Filip De Winter (VB)
George W. Bush (Supreme Moron)
H.M. Leopold III (traitor)
John-Paul II (fortunately he died)
José Happart (PS) (Complete nerd)
Justine Henin (Tennis Player)
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (Extremist)
Mgr Léonard (Intolerant, Religious Extremist, Mentally Deranged, Pillock)
Michael Schumacher (Dikke Nek)
Paul Wolfovitz (yeah, that guy who can't buy a new pair of socks but can help his girlfriend get a better job…)
