Chat Roulette Piano Improvisations

On ChatRoulette you can talk to strangers, which get randomly connected to you. Most of the times this is too boring to make this your hobby, but some people really do know how to entertain somebody as you can see in the next vid.
Enjoy! (Or watch it here on YouTube)

The Kingdom, Percy Jackson, War/Rogue Assassin, The Number 23, Closer, The Lovely Bones and Shutter Island

Let's talk about movies again. Did you know an enthouiast of films and the cinema is called a cinephile? I've just discovered this recently.

The Kingdom (2007)
Terrorism is an interesting, but dangerous theme to make a movie about. This movie is definitly interesting as dangerous, since the scenes are all filmed in Saudi Arabia.
It's a well done thriller, nice acting done by most actors (Jamie Foxx), but be careful by applying the story to the real world.
Watch the trailer here.

Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightening Thief (2010)
It's a mix of modern superheroes and ancient greek mythology, which is very well done in this movie, especially by Logan Lerman.
Some moments may look childish, but that's acceptable considering the fact the stories were aimed at the son of the writer.
Watch the trailer here.

War (a.k.a. Rogue Assassin) (2007)
So here we have two of the best known marital art fighters of this moment, Jet Li (my favourite!) and Jason Statham, in one movie.
But to be honest: the story and actings are terrible and I'm sorry to say the action scenes didn't impress me that much.
Jet Li looks good in a suit, though.
Watch the trailer here.

The Number 23 (2007)
Gosh, a suspense thriller starring Jim Carrey. The suspense thriller part is great, Jim Carrey maybe hasn't been the best choice for this movie.
Still, this movie is special because of some stilistic features and these great plots. Therefore, I don't think you will be really bothered by Jim Carrey's acting.
Watch the trailer here.

Closer (2004)
This is a really good movie dealing with power and betrayal in romantic relationships. Funny moments! Great acting! Great story! What more can I say?
Watch the trailer here.

The Lovely Bones (2009)

Saoirse Ronan plays this convincing little adorable girl from heaven waiting for the justice for the crime that has been done to her.

The special effects are great, which is not a surprise if you know it's directed by Peter Jackson (or that guy that directed Lord Of The Rings trilogy and the 2005 remake of King Kong).

But the story is simply not convincing enough and left me with this unsatisfied feeling. The movie could have been so much more. I don't believe many people have found this a really good movie.

Watch the trailer here.

Shutter Island (2010)

Directed by Martin Scorcese, starring Leonardo DiCaprio. These two facts which gave me high expectations and oh boy: the movie still impressed me. The emotions are there, the story is suprising, the dialogs are interesting enough to follow and the ending made me think.

Watch the trailer here.

De Daumier-Smith's Blue Period (1952)

After reading a lot of messages surrounding the death of J.D. Salinger, I felt compelled reading something of him. I've asked for the collection Nine Stories for my birthday, have read it and even though all those stories are exceptionally well written, I wanted to blog about the one that impressed me the most: De Daumier-Smith's Blue Period*.

The impressive thing for me was this main character, who is so committed and ambitious about everything for art, but so lonesome in an institute that is run by these two Japanese clerks with whom he doesn't seem to connect at all on a personal level, suddenly gets his most inspired moments by this piece of art of a student (who is nun) has sent him. He tries to make her explore her talents and pursuit a career with her art by writing her a long letter.

All those differences and (inner) conflicts make this a real jewel of a story. I couldn't be happier with such a birthday present. I love my girlfriend.

* The word "blue" was translated to the dutch translation of "grey", probably because the translator felt this was more apropriate assuming it was meant like "feeling blue". However, since the main character is telling stories about Picasso all the time, you can find reason to believe the title refers to Picasso's Blue Period.

Translations suck. I should read more books in their original language.