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Those who know me, might be aware of the fact I’m a film enthusiast. I am not, however, a connoisseur. I have never studied anything film-related, nor do I know most of the terms used in the professional field. Why I consider myself an enthusiast is this: I’d rather buy a movie, so that I can watch it anytime I like, than rent it. Furthermore I prefer small, independent arthouse movies over the major Hollywood productions.
I like some historic awareness in a movie, I like it to be more than a made-up story. The basic storyline of many movies is quite similar and I even often fail to tell one movie from the other. When a movie is on tv, I often revert to my girlfriend to find out if I’ve seen a movie before, or not. I tend to mix up names and think I’ve seen that particular movie, or at least part of it.
Sadly though, it’s hard to come by a good, well-equipped ‘arthouse’ movie theatre. They often have just one ’screen’, which limits them to one or two films a night, and in effect limiting the possibilities for beverages and snacks. In Sittard, I once had to satisfy myself with coffee, tea or soda in a way the local bingo night serves coffee, tea and soda. Even that will not keep me away from a movie theatre, though, as it’s the film what it’s all about, but being able to get that something extra certainly helps my desire to go back to a particular film theatre to grow.
When Hecubah and I went to Aachen last week, we decided we wanted to see a movie as well. Two months earlier, we wanted to see ‘Das Weiße Band’, but opted for ‘Berlin 36′ instead due to more convenient screening times. The Apollo theater we went to wasn’t bad, at all, but screens mostly mainstream movies. ‘Das Weiße Band’ was, sadly, already cancelled so we decided to opt for a movie in Maastricht instead, which we have to pass through on our way from Aachen anyway, as we both refuse to watch a non-German movie in German cinemas. They’re more often than not dubbed.
Lumiere, Maastricht
Looking up show times for Maastricht, I found out that ‘Das Weiße Band’ might be cancelled in Germany, it was screening in Maastricht’s Lumière arthouse cinema, one of the country’s few A-class arthouse cinemas, according to Hecubah. Once we got there, I was stunned by the building. Located in an old factory building right in the city centre of Maastricht, Lumière looks like it does not cater to the mass, but to those who embrace what’s left when the masses abandon things, like the building itself. It screens films that might not be popular by the masses, but are worthy of showing anyway.
When we entered the hall our film would be screened in, I was stunned, again. Only four rows of seats with eight seats each. Neither does this feel like mass entertainment, as the large cinemas do, nor does it have the massive amounts of empty seats making you feel like it doesn’t matter if you pay or not: the film will be screened for a lot of empty seats regardless. With 27 of the 28 seats occupied, ‘Das Weiße Band’ wasn’t hugely popular, but that didn’t matter. This room was designed for such small groups of people.
The film itself was stunning. Set in the 1940s, it’s shot entirely in black and white whereas the full-color-era actors manage to get their part across, even in black and white. The takes you along n the story, and actually adds to the storyline. All in all a great work by . After the film, it struck me how many people were going back to the bar to enjoy a beer or coffee. Whereas most cinemas are large enterprises, trying to program movies in a way they will attract as many customers as possible, regardless of who they are, Lumière seemed more of a group of people, getting together to have a good time, and watch a film together, every now and then. Next time I visit Maastricht, I’ll be sure to look up Lumières program again.
Tonight, I will be seeing something of a totally different league, though. I’ve got tickets to see Avatar together with Hecubah in Amsterdam’s largest cinema. On Amsterdam’s largest (IMAX) screen. And in 3D. This, however, will not be a matter of watching a movie. I am just curious about what modern technology can do for a film. What it can add to old filming techniques. As the most expensive movie ever made, I’ve certainly got my expectations set high for the special effects and 3D technology.
Posted February 9th, 2010. Add a comment
A while ago, I had to leave what had been my home for over five years more or less overnight. Left with no choice, I decided to accept the offer of both my parents and my girlfriend, to stay at their place. Neither was enjoyable, though. Whereas my parents have a house with a sufficient amount of space for me, it’s a 1.5 hour ride to university. My work place was only a 15-minute bus ride or 30-minute bike ride away, but with buses not running after 7 pm, while shifts last until 10 pm and the summer making way for fall, neither was an alternative. My girlfriend, although living in a place with better public transport connections lives in a student room of approximately fourteen square meter. That’s okay if you’re a student living alone. With the two of us, the room seemed to become smaller by the day. Still, I spent five out of seven days with her and we still didn’t get into any fights, at all!
The best part of my time was then spent finding a place of my own. Desperate to find a room as soon as possible, I didn’t limit my search to Amsterdam, where I study, but broadened my search to include places nearby, up to an hour away by public transport: Utrecht, Amstelveen, Zaandam, Hilversum. Luckily the company where I work has branches throughout the country, and getting transferred to a different branch shouldn’t be a problem; in fact, they’ve expressed a wish to transfer me elsewhere before. When I still hadn’t find something after a month, I decided to look into housing in Almere as well. Not known as a welcoming city, I had never thought my search in Almere to be either serious or successful.
As irony had its way, it was Almere which offered me a serious chance on a place of my own. At 460 euros all inclusive, I’d have 25 square meters of my own, a huge shared living room and all facilities shared. At just 5 minutes walking of the main train station. To call it mine I’d just have to be the first to let the landlord know. As I was the first person to look, and the only one that day, I seized the opportunity and confirmed the deal the next morning. Within a few weeks, I would be able to put an end to weeks of ’staying over’ and ‘visiting my parents’ and go home again. Although I was still not looking forward to living in Almere, the thought I could be in Amsterdam’s city centre in under half an hour, including the walk to the train station, convinced me Almere wasn’t that bad, to live for a few years. Journey time was even less than from Amsterdam’s outer boroughs to the city centre.
With the move I was set back from living on my own for five years to sharing all facilities with a phenomenon that’s new to me: housemates. I’ve lived with my parents, on my own and together with my (now ex-) girlfriend, but this was a first. Although I was a little afraid it would be disastrous, it turned out not to be so bad at all. Sure, I get along better with some of the housemates than some of the others, but as I’m able to retreat to my own room, I still did not have any issues with any of them.
There’s Q and R*. I feel I connect best with the two of them. Listening to metal they’re the most alternative of the lot. And regardless of whether one’s a result of the other, they’re crazy, outgoing. Not pretentious. The only thing they do truly care about, is showing others they love each other. Besides, love and joy is the only thing they seem to need in their lives. Q’s working in a game shop and, although the pay’s bad, finds joy from his job, everyday.
W and D* are a completely different story. Instead of metal, it’s hardcore, or perhaps other sorts of similar music that rocks their boat. In sheer contrast to my expectations of most of the people listening to such music, W works at an opera house, working on all kinds of decorations. D* is still a student, while working a few hours a day at a local supermarket. Perhaps the fact W works at the opera house shows these two are more aware of the world beyond their music, as I generally tend to expect from hardcore-fans. Although I find myself struggling to get on with what I was doing when I get involved in a conversation with W, they are friendly people.
Due to his harsh Amsterdam accent, I found it hard to talk to J at first, but a few weeks later, he doesn’t seem so bad either. Listening to largely the same music as do W and D*, his oddity is his love for fish. With a large quarantine aquarium to grow new fish in the shared living room and an even larger display aquarium in his own room, fish truly are his ‘thing’. What certainly improved my thoughts on him was him asking if he could try one of my coffees, after hearing me getting on with grinding beans, frothing milk and such. I still haven’t gotten around to making him one, though.
Lastly, there’s P, whom only recently moved in to the house. As far as I know, he hasn’t yet spent the night here, but has been working on getting his furniture in and set up over the past weekend. He’s moved to Almere from the east of the country so seeing his girlfriend whom lives in Almere is easier.
All in all, I’m not living in an ordinary student house. Not only do people actually clean – more or less. Most of my housemates aren’t students anymore, but instead are working. The reason they’re renting a small room in a house differs, but we all, myself included, seem to be there until something better comes along, as affordable living space is hard to come by, waiting time for social housing starts at five years and money is hard to come by.
Posted February 2nd, 2010. Add a comment
For a few weeks now, Europe has been covered in snow, both disrupting the life of many and bringing joy to as many others. For me, the snow has for the most part brought joy. The world just seems to be a more peaceful place when it’s covered in a layer of white. There have, however, been a few times where my plans had to be changed due to the weather conditions.
On Thursday, December 17, snow put a hold to the entire country within a few hours. As around 10 centimeters of snow fell within a few hours, traffic came to a halt. Trains stopped running due to points becoming inoperable by snow jamming moving parts. Road traffic experienced delays as the roads became slippery. My colleagues started worrying whether I’d make it to work, but my train was one of the last still running, albeit a few minutes delayed. Soon a lot of people trying to get home got stuck at Utrecht’s train station. And everyone got hungry or thirsty eventually, which meant that, on one of my first shifts, conditions were far from normal. The store and the rest of the station was full of people, whilst queues at the register were as long as queues could be. In a way, this made my shift fairly easy: put everyone behind their register and be as fast as you can. To avoid getting stuck along the way myself, I slept at my girlfriend’s that night, who lives in Utrecht. With city buses running normally, I didn’t experience any delays.
The week after, I was forced to cancel two appointments. The first, dinner with a friend, was cancelled out of fear of not getting home afterwards. With snow still falling, the railway company advised people not to travel if possible, as they were unable to guarantee arrival at your destination. I had to cancel the other appointment, my little nephew’s birthday party, as I had hardly slept the night before when I couldn’t get home after work. With an emergency timetable in effect, the last connection from Utrecht to Almere got cancelled without an alternative. To avoid getting stuck somewhere along the route, I decided to walk to my girlfriend’s house and sleep there, even though she was staying at my place. After three hours of sleep I walked back, carefully making my way through deep snow and over icey roads, to the train station and got home with two additional changes and 30 minutes additional journey time on a direct, 40 minute train ride. I didn’t think I’d live through another twice 2-hour train journey and a screaming 5-year-old nephew that day.
Instead of going to the dinner I decided to go outside and enjoy the snow while it lasted. As trains were running according to an emergency timetable, with just two all-stations services on every line, and many additional changes necessary, I opted for the bus which would take me directly to Hilversum as I noticed all buses to be running. After forty minutes of waiting on a bus that should run every 30 minutes, it seemed my bus line was the only one not running due to snowy conditions, which then forced me to hop on a train after all. Instead of the woods near Hilversum, I got out of the train at Baarn, thereby avoiding an additional change of trains. After I had called Hecubah to meet me at Baarn rather than Hilversum, I walked into the snow-covered woods, something that’s rarely to be seen in the Netherlands in recent years. I was glad I was wearing army-style boots, as sneakers would have resulted in wet and cold feet within minutes. After walking around for half an hour, Hecubah called she had arrived at the train station. We met up at restaurant De Generaal for a hot drink, as we would have missed our twice hourly train by a few minutes anyway.
After nearly a week of heavy snowfall, it seemed that people had gotten used to the chaos that resulted of it. Less people were passing through Utrecht’s main station and those who did were calm, even though only one in four trains was running. After a week of very limited train service and an advice not to travel whenever possible, most of the trains were finally reinstated, but still, a month on, not all trains are running. Although I’m sure the past month has not been economically good for the country, I can say I absolutely loved the snow, the change of scenery and wouldn’t mind some more snow in the months to come!
Posted January 18th, 2010. Add a comment
In the years past, it has become a ritual time after time again. The night before we leave for a trip abroad, we sleep in late to get things cleaned up, and get up early to catch one of the first trains of the day, thereby ensuring an early arrival at our destination.
Yesterday should’ve been an exception to that. The house already was reasonably clean, I didn’t have to go to work the week before, and on top of that, the trip only lasts three days. But I suppose a ritual cannot be easily broken. The final packing and the last bits of cleaning were postponed, and postponed again. We had our minds set at getting into bed at 10 pm, allowing a massive seven hours of sleep.
Instead, I was really busy cleaning at 10 pm, and still had to clean the bathroom, get some loose stuff off the floor to avoid kitty puke on it upon our return. Still, we managed to tear our ritual apart a little further. Although we were about an hour and half behind on our desired schedule, we managed to get in bed before midnight. And that, actually, was a first. A welcome change from falling asleep at two, and being woken by an alarm at four.
