Why we did not write for Stockholm Film Festival this year

If you are lucky, you read my text about Oslo, 31 August in Stockholm Film Festival 2011 catalogue. Or perhaps Gunnar's text about Of Gods and Men in the 2010 catalogue. Or even our other texts about Film Socialism, Another Year, Le Havre or Tyrannosaur.
Let's face it : Gunnar and I wrote among the best texts of these catalogues two years in a row.

What for ?

In 2010, we got 2 "volunteer passports". Coming from France, it felt a bit awkward since we couldn't see half the films we had planned. Not even Sound of Noise in which we were credited.
In 2011, it got even worse. We didn't go to Stockholm and gave our 3 - THREE - vouchers to friends living in Sweden.

This year, the whole thing became a huge joke.

Stockholm Film Festival contacted us. We demanded to be granted to get seats during the day - i.e before 6pm - for the screenings we wanted to attend in exchange for our gorgeous texts. After some lousy negotiation, the deal looked this way : each of us would write about 10 films - TEN - and would get in exchange...

(dramatic pause)

5 vouchers - FIVE ! - as a reward/wage/joke.

5X110 sek = 550 sek for 10 excellent texts.

Yeah you counted right. It means we should spend less than 30 minutes for a minimum wage to make a research and write a text about films.

We thought they were joking. We were wrong. And so we decided that we wouldn't work for this rich international film festival that doesn't even grant seats for its editorializers.

September 2012

Yeah, we are still alive

If you wondered why we were so mute, here are three explanations:

1) Gunnar stills works in "his" museum and has a vernissage every fortnight.
2) I work for some clients and can't update this blog as often as I should.
3) I am writing a book about Norwegian Film.

Which means we don't manage doing much more than visiting exhibitions and watch movies made up north.

Once upon a time in Norway...

Une nuit

English:
 
This is a police thriller building its story aruond the theme, corrupt polices, friendship between the 'law enforcing units' and the criminal world, the very seldom straight line between what the law says and what one should or can do. 
One can always ask oneself if it's the best thing to follow the law and if the people representing the law are morally better than the criminals.
The answer to this last question is often no.

Français:

Simon Weiss est un policier de la brigade mondaine, qui entreprend chaque soir une visite nocturne dans les établissements de nuit, mais se retrouvant dans le collimateur de l'IGS suite à une dénonciation, il tente de découvrir qui l'a piégé.
C'est l'histoire des policiers corruptibles et l'amitié entre les gendarmes/policiers et le monde criminel ou il y a jamais des frontières fixes entre ce que dit la loi et ce qu'il faut faire.
Qui sont les plus honnêtes, les gendarmes et juristes ou les 'truands'? Pas facile à dire. 

Lord Shades @ Wacken!

We are proud to announce you that our Berry special friends from Lord Shades will represent France at Wacken Open Air between the 2nd and 4th august 2012.

Extreme music for extreme people ♥

Who's going?

Knocked Up

Well, what can one say about this film? It's another turn around the theme, 'A Bachelor's life turns into something Serious' and at the same time of course a 'Bachelorette's life....' etc. 

Other examples of similar stories are of course: 'The 40 Year Old Virgin'; 'I Love You Man' and so forth.

This is Ben Stone (Seth Rogen) (more stoned sometimes), living his 'I don't want to grow up'-life (somewhat resembling Swedes) with his friends, drinking, smoking (everything) and playing around. On a club he meets Alison Scott (Katherine Heigl). She is a pretty and a (rather) sensible person, not at all likely to fall for Ben but they both fall - into bed.

After this Ben's 'status' rises among his friends but eight weeks later his spirit dips when Alison calls him to tell him - surprise, surprise!!! - that she is pregnant.

As usual the man in this kind of situation always wonders how this could happen!!!??? Well, they've all missed the biology classes, that's for sure.

What happens now is that they both try to form a couple, trying to go along with what has happened and making the best (worst?) of it.

Will they succeed? 

There are some funny moments in the film and the comedy acting is not bad but as the film is a déja vu-story with to many forseeable moments, it tends to become somewhat less interesting along the way.