Boards of Canada - Everything You Do is a Balloon / nonameno5 video

Video sampled from “One Got Fat” (1963) bicycle safety movie

linked from CPluv

 

Charlie Wilson’s War (2007) Mike Nichols

This is an enjoyable movie about congressman Charlie Wilson, the man behind the US covert backing of the Mujahedeen in their war against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The story in itself is very surprising; how come that a many-flawed congressman from Texas takes up the cause of the Afghan fugitives in Pakistan, when before this his main accomplishment, besides his hobbies of womanising and coke-using, was (quote from movie) to get re-elected five times.

 

Dan in Real Life (2007) Peter Hedges

Rom-com that stays on the good side of sentimentality thanks to its understated and recognizable humour. Like Peter Hedges’ earlier ‘About a boy’, you know what’s coming, but you fall for it’s charm anyway.

 

For the good of the cause by Aleksander Solzjenitsyn [NL]

Collected stories, published in 1970.

 

I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With (2006) Jeff Garlin

Sweet little comedy about an actor in Chicago, struggling with work, weight and relationships. For the lovers of ‘Curb your Enthusiasm’; same tone, so nothing wrong with that. Jeff Garlin rules, no matter what context.

 

Lars and the Real Girl (2007) Craig Gillespie

A small fragile movie about the warped coming-of-age of Lars, who, through his life-size doll girlfriend, deals with some major issues concerning his personal life. Set in the land of a thousand horrible sweaters, this quirky flick warms your heart. Nice understated absurdity.

 

Blast-Door Art: Cave Paintings of the Nuclear Era by Tom Vanderbilt

via design observer

 

Redacted (2007) Brian De Palma

This one didn’t work for me; the movie is so clearly politically motivated that it hurts. De Palma has forgotten to make a good movie here; first I thought that it was me, that I was numb to these war stories from Iraq, but this story is just too one-dimensional and the characters are flat. The showing of the real photo’s at the end made a hundred times more impact than the whole 90 minutes of film. So, this one is no where near examples like Platoon, which has the same theme, but does a much better job showing the complexities of war.

 

MAGNUM Photos 60 years @ SMCS

Thomas Hoepker

Great retrospective showing 60 years of MAGNUM, the agency founded by Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger and David Seymour in 1947 to give the photographer more say about his own images. Viewing the images throughout the exhibition, you see many of the iconic images of recent history that made this agency so ground braking. A must for all fans of photography.

 

Eyes Wide Open @ SMCS

Tjebbe Beekman, Bonus-Malus (2006)

Overview of recently acquired work. Highlights (for me): Lisa Yuskavage, Aernout Mik, Luc Tuymans, Tjebbe Beekman. Raw Footage (2006) by Aernout Mik especially, a video projection on two screens showing surplus material from news footage about the Balkan conflict. It shows the strange normality of war, men goofing to the camera while firing mortars, or men mechanically unpacking shells and arming them. All this with a mostly serene landscape as background. Super.

Aernout Mik, Raw Footage (2006)

Luc Tuymans, Rome (2007)Lisa Yuskavage, Dutch Girl (2006)