Best Film of 2009 by Meinte

The question is ofcourse 'What is the best film of 2009'? Well I have seen a lot and there were quite a few good ones. Keira Knightley starred in 'The Duchess', she was present in every scene. Clint Eastwood did it again with Gran Torino, there probably is no one else who can play a grumpy old man as he does. There was Distict 9, the South-African film which was a science-fiction one but at the same time a interesting story about the Apartheid. The first half was a bit more interesting than the second part though, when it all exploded in action.

In the animation sector there was Japanese 'Ponyo by the living master Hiyao Miyazaki, a enchanting (bit childish) story about a fish who wanted to become human.

Second best was probably a French/South-Korean co-production 'A Brand new Life' which is about a girl who is being left at a catholic orphanage by her dad. This film is just fantastisc, the young girl acted wonderful, she seems to be capable of showing many emotions already.

Last but not least.... the best film of 2009 is 'Let the Right One In'! A Swedish film about the loneliness of a 12 year old boy. It all changes when he meets a interesting but Mysterious girl...she doesn't seem to be human. The cinematography is great, it all takes place in a snowy world were daily life and horror seems to be intertwined.

Brittany Murphy (1977-2009)

Actress Brittany Murphy passed away on december the 20th after having a cardiac arrest.

Brittany starred in 'Happy Feet', 'The Ramen Girl', 'Sin City', and 'Cherry Falls'.

Makioka Sisters

The film adaptation of Junichiro Tanizaki's brilliant novel 'The Makioka Sisters' of 1983 is very unknown, though it should be a rather good adaptation. I just wonder if they could catch the feeling of the firefly hunt and the magical feeling of the cherry blossoms...

Meinte's Daily Film Fact #10 - Roman Holiday

The Roman summer was stiflingly hot, with the temperatures in the high 90s. Crowds swarmed over all the locations, making huge impromptu audiences for the actors. Meanwhile, Italy itself was beset with clashes between political parties that resulted in strikes and unrest that threatened to disrupt production.

At the beginning of the movie, the elder gentleman dancing with princess Ann says to her, in Italian: "I want absolutely to die on the ship!"

Meinte's Daily Film Fact # 9 - District 9

All the shacks in District 9 were actual shacks that exists in a section of Johannesburg which were to be evacuated and the residents moved to better government housing, paralleling the events in the film. Also paralleling, the residents had not actually been moved out before filming began. The only shack that was created solely for filming was Christopher Johnson's shack.

Zhou Xun

Zhou Xun covers the january edition of Elle. She also talks about her favorite actresses Juliette Ninoche, Isabel Hupert and Cate Blanchett.

Zhou Xun stars in the new film 'The Message' which recently won prizes at the Horse Awards in Taiwan.

Amour à Tair / A Love to Hide (France, 2005)

‘A Love to Hide’ is a less known anti-war film, but nonetheless a very powerful one. It shows the fate which had the homosexual had to suffer, they also were transported to transition camps, work camps and concentration camps.
A French movie which was released back in 2005 and probably the first time this subject was getting attention in France. In WW2 there were laws against homosexuals, they were ill and had to be reformed. After the war ended the laws against them weren’t abandoned. It was 1981 when finally they were accepted in society.

Jean (Jérémie Renier) lives in Paris and wants to help his friend Sarah Morgenstern. He brings her to his friend Philippe’s place and for a while they live kind of happily together though Sarah has a hard time accepting the fact Jean loves Philippe more than herself. Jean’s brother Jacques has always been the black sheep of the family and when he discovers about Jean’s sexuality he makes a plan to regain the trust of especially his father. Jacques collaborates and makes a deal that will put Jena in a jail for one day. But, it horribly goes wrong and Jean is deported.

A strong and powerful film, by director Christian Faure, about love, hatred and the cruelty of war.

Bride Flight / Bruidsvlucht (The Netherlands, 2008)

'Bride Flight' (Bruidsvlucht) is a fantatsic Dutch film which focusses on romance and tragedy. While I sometimes still have to get used to Dutch acting, this film is rather suprisingly good. Especially the technically aspect of film is outstanding, with beautiful scenes (not only of the landscape but also of during the dialogues). The acting of Karina Smulders is just perfect (and ofcourse the minor role of Rutger Hauer is nice to watch).

This kind of film will slowly get to your heart and will leave its trace there.

The story? Check the film!

Thirteen women of Jinling, The

Zhang Yimou's new project 'The thirteen women of Jinling' will start soon. While his latest work 'a Simple Noodle Story (aka: Three Guns: An Amazing Tale) is about to be released, Zhang Yimou said his film about thirteen girls who scrifies there lifes in Nanking will be his highest budget production which will exceed over 100 million USD. A true epic is about to be made!

Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise showed there interest in this production and one of them maybe will get the role of a foreign pastor.

"The film focuses on human nature," commented Zhang Weiping, "we put the story in the background of World War II to display the Chinese struggle and distaste for war and to show our national spirit."

All we can do is wait for the release of another masterpiece from Zhang Yimou.

Zhang Ziyi on Mary Claire

Zhang Ziyi on te latest (Chinese) edition of Marie Claire!

Meinte's Daily Film Fact #8 - owls

Hitchkock always used the sounds of an tawny owl in his exciting nightly scenes. But this tawnly owl lives in Europe and Asia and not at all in North America. David Lynch copied Hitchock and also use this thrilling sound. Well a great sound it is, but based on reality? no...

MEinte's Daily Film Fact #7 - Sympathy for Lady Vengeance

In the really strange but addicting movie 'Sympathy for Lady Vengeance' teh snow at the end of the film is not real. Two trucks of salt were used, scattered it all over the street and finally adjusted the scene using computer graphics.

46th Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan

During the Golden Horse Awards 2009 in Taiwan a film about Nanjing (again) won some prizes! Though it is a bit strange: Wasn't Florian Gallenberger (John Rabe) told that he couldn't make a movie about the massacre because there could only be one film about this subject? First we had 'City of Life and Death' and now 'The Message'. Believe me, there are more to follow!

Fan Bingbing wins the award for leading actress in 'The Message'.

Meinte's Daily Film Fact # 6: Old Boy

The anthem of Oh Dae Su's and Lee Woo-Jin's school is that of Choi Min Sik's (acctor) school!

It is also funny dat Mr. han only speaks one sentence throughout the entire film. The line on the painting of Dae Su's cell reads "Laugh and the world laughs with you. Weep and you weep alone." These are the first lines ofElla Wheel Wilcox's famous poem, "Solitude".

Finally: Steven Spielberg will NOT make a remake of this film, a good decision because it just can't be better....but Spielberg wanted to make it, he just couldn't get the rights of the manga's company....

Shinobi (Japan, 2005)

I didn't expect anything from this movie but it suprised me in a good way. Well, it is no masterpiece and the story has been told before but the execution is rather good. though the film is about figthing, it is i na stylish way. When no swords are drawn, the director pleases us with rather beautiful scenery. Just look at the poster...magnificent!

Fan Bingbing

Some new fashion photo's of Chinese actress Fan Bingbing came out this morning.

Design your Universe - Epica

The latest album of Epica 'Design your Universe' gives you what you want.

Almost 80 minutes of metal, close to perfection. Most of the songs are filled with grunts and guitars but also the heavenly 'Tides of Time' is brillint. It was already known that Simone Simons has a very strong and beautiful voice but on this album she is just amazing, her voice reaches all the corners of your soul. The epic 'Kindom of Heaven' last for 14 minutes and is forceful one, you have to listen tot it again and again before it will really grip you but it always keeps interesting.

Don't let this album slip away, it will give you what you are looking for!

Meinte's Daily Film Fact #6 - Orphan

Esther has been adopted from an orphanage which goes by the name: Saint Mariana's Home for Girls. In Catholic faith, Saint Mariana of Quito is the saint for those that have been rejected by religious orders.

Meinte's Daily Film Fact #5 - Memoirs of a Geisha

One of ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’ most beautiful moments is of course the dance performed by Zhang Ziyi. But as you might know, this dance isn’t really described in the novel by Arthur Golden. The word ‘dance’ is mentioned but did the director create this scene using his own fantasy? The funny thing is that I just recently was reading Junichiro Tanizaki’s ‘The Makioka Sisters’ (Stille Sneeuwval). And what a coincidence it was, one of the characters in this novel, Taeko Makioka’ was dancing ‘snow’ completely with parasol (or sun umbrella)! It can be just a coincidence and maybe the director did some research about this ‘snow’ dance which is really an very old and popular dance, the resemblance between the film scene and the passage in the novel is intriguing.

H1N1 Fashion

In Beijing they do everything to stop the spread of the H1N1 virus. Luckily enough they found a way to combine this with fashion! The cute factor is extreme high!

Meinte's Daily Film Fact # 4 - Farewell My Concubine

Chen Kaige's 'Farewell My Concubine' (1993) was the first Chinese movie the win a palm d'or at the film festival of Cannes.
A rather funny fact is that Jackie Chan was offered the role of Duan Xiaolou (played by Fengyi Zhang) due to his own childhood experience of training in the Peking Opera. He turned the offer down because he was afraid the film would harm his image because it deals with themes of sexuality.

Tokyo Gore Police (Japan, 2006)

If you're looking for gore like 'Machine Girl', Tokyo Gore Police might be the perfect movie for you. Almost two hours of killing mutants (engineers), blood that cover the camera until it almost drowns and limbs that fly around your head all the time. Don't expect a great storyline, but in its genre it is a rather good film.

But there is also some beauty in this film, not only the intruiging beauty of actress Eihi Shiina. At one moment she holds up an umbrella to protect her face from the blood. So, gore can be beautiful as well.

Meinte's Daily Film Fact #4 - Eihi Shiina

Japanese actress Eihi shiina is famous for her rather 'special' choice of films to play in. Not only did she star in cult classic Audition (1999) as the girl who took acupuncture horror to a new level, she also starred in the absolute gore movies 'Tokyo Gore Police' and 'Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl'. It's one way to get known...... but she has something which makes her perfect for these kind of roles.

Meinte's Daily Film Fact #3

In John Carpenter's Halloween (1978) the kids watch the movie 'The Thing From Another World' (1951). John Carpenter made a remake of this film: The Thing (1982) which turned into a great classic.

Meinte's Daily Film Fact #2 (Nanking)

Chinese film ‘City of Life and Death’ won the award for best film at the filmfestival of San Sebastian. This will not the only film which tells about the massacre of Nanking this year. Florian Gallenberger’s ‘John Rabe’ deals about the good German of Nanking, though this movie almost wouldn’t have been made. The director was told by the Chinese Communist Party (mysterious phone call) he could not make a film about this (still) difficult/painful subject because there could only be one film about it. Gallenberger met an old Chinese man who lived for all his life in Nanking, talking to this man who expereinced the horror Gallenberger realized he had to make the movie.
Zhang Yimou also wants to make a movie about Nanking. ‘Thirteen Girls of Jinling City’ is about 13 prostitutes who sacrificed their lives to save a group of convent girls in Nanjing during the massacre of Nanjing in 1937. Rumor says he changed his mind and that because of the recession he wants to make a less dark production.

Meinte's Daily Film Fact #1

The Stockholm Syndrome (psychological response in abducted hostages in which the hostage shows signs of loyalty to the hostage taker) is often misused in movies as it would be the 'Helsinki Syndrome'. In 'Die Hard' it was probably misued for the first time and other movies have copied that. Latest example of this weird mistake is in the Japanese film 'Heaven's Door'.

Mulan (China, 2010)

Set for 2010, the live action film 'Mulan' will have its premiere. Mulan is famous for its Disney adaptation and is an epic story about a girl who figths to defend her father. But, it always be an old Chinese tale about brave and if I am not mistaken, in the '50's there already has been a Chinese film about the story.

For a long time there were rumours that Ziyi Zhang and Takeshi Kitato would star along eachother but reality seems different. Zhao Wei (A Time to Love, Red Cliff) will be Mulan, a very interesting idea.

Just have to wait for this adventurous and dramatic love story.

First snow on the Temple of Heaven

The first snow on the Temple of Heaven, makes you long for walking there. Guess there an be mde a great movie about the first snow on the forbidden city....

Zhang Yimou goes classic opera!

The olympic stadion of Beijing has been used again. This time Zhang Yimou wasn't responsible for an opening ceremony but he was the director of classic Chinese opera 'Turandot' in celebration of China's 60th anniversary. Zhang Yimou got a thundering applause for his last production with more than 1000 participants. It seems like he will never do something small (which is not true, think of Riding alone for thousands of miles) and is the perfect person for a huge spectacle of the most outstanding beauty!

Wings of the Dove, The (USA, 1997)

Wings of the Dove is a beautiful movie about love. Like so many movies love is most important part of it, everything we do in life is probably to love or being loved in return.
The story is simple in fact (two women, one man and a dying girl), but the costumes are great, the scenery is lovely and Venice is magical indeed. To be honest, I’ve never heard of this film before but the name of Helena Bonham Carter attracted me and she did not disappoint. Her acting is strong, maybe a bit cruel in its own way.

Tropical Day

Today it is horrible to be in the Netherlands.... the temperature will reach tropical heights today (35 degrees). 35 you say? 35 is not so warm? Try my country, where the humidity is killing. Sparrows crash down the roofs, elder people only just survive and the sky is blurry. Tonight it will all change because our climate can't take this heat, tonight we will have thunder, rain and hail. I can't wait for this storm to arrive! In the mean time there will be an attempt to study, maybe watch a movie and just complain about the weather.

It is almost the only thing to write about, the world seems to be holding his breath, there is no news these days. Just nothing happens. So what will come?
A horrible outbreak of viruses? Earthquakes, Tsunami's or the eruption of the Vesuvius? Maybe the Russians and the Americans will announce war this time? Nothing of it all, the worlds slides into the nothingness and as a result the Netherlands will be embraced by a tropical wall.

Where is the winter when you need it?

The Yu Bei Ballad (or the Ballad of the North Henan Province) is being played by famous Chinese Erhu player Yu Hongmei an pianist… This track got everything music needs to have. Filled with emotion you will experience a dream which lasts for 10 minutes. When you are able to close your eyes, put everything away for a moment and just listen to the music you will be swept away by its beauty. The Erhu sound will fill not only your head, but also your soul and before your eyes the beautiful Chinese landscape will appear. You will experience a journey of a person walking through this world filled with flowers and trees. In the beginning you just stare at this paradise for a while, some kind of warmth will fill your body and soul and drags you more in it. Between the many falling leaves you see a glimpse of this magical girl, wearing a beautiful dress in reddish colors which attract your attention.
Than when you take your first steps, you soon can’t stop running, you just have to run, jump, dance and praise the clear blue waterfall that suddenly appears. Running over hills, crossing lakes you are searching for her, the one who is like a bird flying through the woods and mysterious as a fairy she will always is one step ahead. What can you do than follow her, hoping to look her in the eyes. Suddenly you realize you are in an open field, filled with wild flowers and in the centre she is standing like a statue, a princess who is frozen in time. Slowly walking towards her, you feel your heart starts beating faster and faster. She looks at you, and starts to walk in circles around you looking longfully at the sky. Now it is you who becomes a statue, never you could ever had realized such beauty really exists, start to doubt yourself, what is happening to me Why can’t I move, how did she enchant me? She is leaving again, disappearing in the dense forest. Though you wanna run and chase her, you can’t and slowly you begin to realize she will never be yours. She is a spirit of the forest and belongs to a different kind of world. At last you realize, what I saw was all I ever hoped for and slowly a smile appears on your face. ‘I have seen the meaning of this world; I have seen the beauty that still lives in my hearts’. If you cherish it she will always stay there and maybe, maybe one day you will have the opportunity to meet her once more.

Yes, music can heal your soul, music gives you the chance to see your most desires. Yu Hongmei created a fairytale of most beautiful kind!

Scarlet Sails / Alye Parusa (Soviet Union, 1961)

Scarlet Sails is a production of the Soviet-Union from 1961. It is a charming film about romance, alomst like a fairytale. Though the acting is very theatrical and overdone, after watching this movie you will find your heart to be warm. The story of a gril who is waiting for her prince to rescue her is not really innovating, but we talk about 1961 here and it really accomplishes its mission. It is funny to see that the film contains many influences of the classical Russian ballet.

The scenery is sometimes beautiful, especially the thundering waves are superbly shot!

Nana (Japan, 2005)

The manga of Nana was so hugely famous in Japan, a complete hype, that it couldn't take long before a film would be made about it. And yes, in this film you can see its popularity. It is a bit too poppy in my opinion. But don't misunderstand me, by all means it is not a bad movie.
The story is pretty simple, but Asians have the ability to create a fantastic film out of a not too complex story. It is in the way how they present the movie and cleverly add some emotion on specific times.

But the absolute best of this movie is Aoi Miyazaki. When she appears on screen it is like everything else fades away. She truly possesses the power to overwhelm you with her presence. Yes, she is stunningly beautiful but don't forget her acting is to a very high level as well, she really is the character she plays and that is very rare, I think she is a great actress. The chemistry between Aoi Miyazaki and Mika Nakashima is beautiful, together they really add so much power to the scenes.



Maybe Nana is not the best movie, probably it could have become a real interesting film in the hands of director Shunji Iwai. Immediately I had to think of Hana to Arisu (Hana & Alice) when I saw Nana. But, 'Nana' has been made for a huge audience and they screem for this poppy-look.

Cherry Blossoms - Hanami (Germany, 2008)

In this period of the cherry blossoms which movie could better be watched than one about cherry blossoms?



Cherry blossoms reminds us of love and romance but it also remnds of decay and death, cause when they are there and fill the world with their beauty the next moment you realize they withered, they are gone again. It is a perfect symbol for life and cherish this short period while you are there, and experience the beauty of this world. Maybe sometimes beauty is hard to find but it always is there, just around the corner. When you can't seem to find it only means you have to look for it another day and another...until the time has come and the first flower bloom.s

Well this film is about an elderly man who tries to live with the death of his wife. He never really understood her, why did she like this weird Japanese butoh-dance? He travels to Japan to look for his wife, maybe he can find her in this shadow dance? This is a small German film, but a true masterpiece of emotion and remorse. Never stop believing in your dreams, it's never too late.

Dance with the film and understand a little bit more why we should cherish the fact we are humans in this world, but most of all to see the cherry blossoms.

Snow in Beijing? / Ambassador of 'Kawaii' / Time of the cherry blossom

Springtime arrived again, though it did everywhere in the world most fascinating news comes from Asia.



Does it snow in Beijing? No, these are the willow catkins. The government even warned about it and is advising to wear sunglasses or veils as they pose potential risks to the health of people's respiratory tract.



Ambassador of Kawaii? Yeah, it is possible in Japan. Because Japanese for a long time seem to adore everything that is cute (kawaii) they introduced the ambassador of kawaii. Just a thing that could only be made possible in Japan, but it is brilliant!



And ofcourse we are in the period of the cherry blossom, our mind is taking back to the period In our minds we see geisha's standing in front of such beauty, wearing their magnificent kimono's to enchant us and wish those times could re-appear.

La Haine / Hate (France, 2005)

La Haine is a powerful movie about the suburbs of Paris. It is a movie that all is about hate among the young people that have no future. This hatred sometimes escalates between policemen and youth like it did again only a few years ago.
La Haine succeeds brilliantly in showing these chaotic suburbs. It is completely shot in black and white, which also adds extra depth to the movie because most of all it is a story about the lower and dark life of a welfaring country. And ofcourse it only can escalate in the end, the first minute you watch this movie you already figure that out.

Maybe not too many things happen in this film, but the scenery is great and in fact the pace isn't slow at all! An outstanding French movie!

"How far you fall doesn't matter, it's how you land..."

Yu-Na Kim wins the word championships!

Yes!! Finally it happened, my favourite Korean skater Yu-Na Kim won the gold medal in the ladies program, and it makes world champion 2009!

Well almost the entire program was flawless (she only missed one jump) and with this stunning performance the other competitors had no chance of beating her. Not only her jumps are amzing, she also has a great expression and her skating itself is most delicate, just like Yu-Na Kim herself is.

She ended up with 16!! more points than second place Canadian Rochette, never seen such a huge gap like that before. Third place went to Japanese former world champion Miki Ando, Japan always has a very strong team with Mao Asada (2008 world champion) on fourth place. Yukari Nakano (4th in 2008) didn't even compete in Los Angeles!

Yu Na Kim is probably the most talented figure skater of the 21st century, towards Vancouver 2008 she will be chasing perfection to become the new Olympic champion.

Congratulations Yu-Na Kim, your tears during the national anthem were beautiful as well!

Figure Skating World Championships Los Angeles 2009: Pairs, short program

After the magnificent World Championships in Göteborg 2008 (the ladies long program still is before my eyes like it is happening today), the new championships have started in Los Angeles!

Most important of this first day was the short program for pairs. Immediately the tournament is exciting cause after the short program the gaps for and between the medal places are not too high. On third place we see the Chinese pair Peng/Tong, their skating was pretty good, it only sometimes just lacked a bit in presentation. Second placed is the Russian pair Smirnov/Kavaguti (though most people will know her as ‘Kawaguchi’) who surprised me in a very good way. They make their way to he top really fast! It was a beautiful dramatic performance from the beginning to the end, with a perfect choice of music, because they skated on ‘the swan’ and Kavaguti in her white costume really looked like one. First placed is the German pair Szolkowy/Savchenko, not really a surprise at all because their performance was almost flawless! I only didn’t like the ‘spiral of death’ too much, it didn’t look to elegant.

A perfect way to start a world championship, though I have to admit I can’t wait till Friday when my favorite Yu Na Kim will appear on the ice! But for now the long program of the pairs will be exciting enough!

The Cats are coming!!

After waking up this morning, having some bread and Buttermilch I was ready to leave for another day of studying at university. I opened the door and ..... such a sweet kitty was sitting in front of my door!! Ofcourse i couldn't resist to give it some attention and all the time it wanted to go into my room. After a little while i decided to walk down te stairs.....and yes another cat was waiting..so ofcourse this one i also had to give some attention or she would be jealous. Finally I decided to walk through a little alley to get my bicycle. Just above my head, on some wooden 'wall' another cat was staring at me! But this one looked angry like it would jump on my face. I decided to continue walking and don't give the kitten a chance to take the jump and act like the hair on my head with its claws in my skull.

I got my bicycle, walked back to the same alley and now one of the kittens of before chased the angry kitten away, like it should caus ethe sun was shining and spring is close.

Bye kittens, see you again!

Komissar / The Commissar (USSR, 1967)

Almost completely filmed back in 1967 this film was completed in 1988 and showed on the festival of Berlin where it would win the silver Bear. This film is magnificent in its scenery! Though it is almost completely shot in black and white, the starting scene is immediately breathtaking with showing a statue of the Holy Virgin Maria.
We will see a woman (Komissar) called Valilova, who almost gives birth to a child, who is placed at a normal Russian family. Not only we will see a movie about the daily routine of a Russian poor family and how they manage to keep going with the use of flashbacks we also see the past life of Valilova when she was still in the Red Army. The story is highly intriguing and at times even moving.

Though it is a rather olf film, it doesn’t lack in any power!!

And so everything cheerful ends

And now I'm losing you

And it's killing me

It's the strings that I tie

I would rather just die

Go to hell and crawl back

My mistake

To lose you

(From the bottom of my heart I cry for me being not perfect for the one I love)

The Hotel Venus / Hoteru binasu (Japan, 2004)

The Hotel Venus is a rather interesting film! The story deals about some persons who live in a kind of hotel. The stories of their life are being told in a very special way.
In the beginning of this film everything is very unclear and you don’t have any idea what kind of film this will turn out to be. During the film you will get more clues and the different characters will be understood a bit more.

The director makes an interesting choice in making this film. He works with a very slow story, almost nothing happens and the entire is almost completely in black and white. If this wouldn’t be executed very well the film could have turned into a disaster but luckily enough this s not what happened. The film turned out to be really interesting and intriguing.

The story is very emotional in a different kind of way, it is not an easy film at all! In the end this film has a very strong and intense emotional power which is difficult to describe but you will understand it when you see this film.

A film about the ‘other’ side of people.