Director Roland Emmerich could almost be named Hollywood’s disaster man. A categorization not based on the quality of his productions (if we forgive his accident called Godzilla), but on the subjects of his films. Alien invasions (Independence Day), the American revolutionary war (The Patriot), mutated lizard threatening New York City (Godzilla), Emmerich’s last three movies were all about possible and impossible earth-shaking disasters. And so is the latest addition to the resume of the originally German director. This time it’s a new ice age. ‘Don’t say we didn’t warn you’, seems to be the message dripping off The Day After Tomorrow. Okay, he might be right (albeit in a slightly exaggerated way) but this is just pure entertainment. And entertained I was.

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The 5678s, the Japanese 60s punk all-girl trio who appeared as the house band in the House of Blue Leaves in Kill Bill: Vol 1 are appearing at the Ekko in Utrecht on Wednesday 2 June 2004. For more info visit www.ekko.nl

The heat is most certainly on as Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 wins the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival ‘ the first documentary to receive the prestigious award for best film in almost 50 years. The name of the film is taken from the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury which refers to the temperature needed to burn books in an anti-Utopian society. Moore called it Fahrenheit 9/11 because it’s the ‘temperature at which freedom burns’.

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Reviewing a concert DVD might be pushing the boundaries of Choking on Popcorn a little, but on second thoughts it would be a perfect subject. Although it may not be possible to discuss musical taste, it is possible to discuss the way a concert DVD is shot and mixed. Being a huge fan of Tori Amos, I was very pleased to see the very first official DVD release in her 12-year-old career ‘ especially as she is a delight to watch and hear live (an encounter I have experienced five times already).

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As one of the several sword and sandal-movies to hit the screen the coming period, Wolfgang Petersen’s Troy is one of true epic scale. This story from Greek mythology is famous for it’s universal themes of love, war, heroism and tragedy. What is most remarkable, is that Petersen chose to disregard the divine elements of polytheistic Greece, to solely focus on the human story. The Greek gods, however, play an essential part in the original story, manipulating the lives of the mortals by putting them through all kinds of ordeals. Although it makes the story less fantastic and more historical, it’s a missed opportunity.

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As an animation fan one should be familiar with the work of the great Japanese guru of anime, Hayao Miyazaki. I, personally, am beginning to discover more and more of his amazing genius by seeing his old movies. The great thing about Miyazaki is that he is a director who still personally checks and redraws (if necessary) almost every frame of his movies. His old titles are still a bit hard to find in good (and legal) copies, but Buena Vista, Disney’s distributor, has been releasing old Miyazaki titles and more are planned for the future (including Nausica’ of the Valley of the Winds and My Neighbor Totoro). It is amazing to see the development of the Tokyo-based Ghibli studio throughout the years and, after I had watched Laputa: Castle in the Sky, I had to pick up my lower jaw because this is unlike anything Disney has achieved in the past ten years or more.

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List of most important Miyazaki productions

1979 – Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro (Rupan Sansei: Kariosutoro no Shiro)

A charmer chief and his companion try to save a princess, taken captive by an evil count. On his quest he discovers the secrets housing in the castle of Cagliostro, a small European country. Complete with ’70s jazzy soundtrack. Very European in style, but with an anime touch. Miyazaki’s first job as a director and produced in an amazing four months time.

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Apparently this movie was a ‘tough delivery’ as it went through a lot of post-production and re-working. Still, the biggest mistake was to name it after the not-so-successful Van Damme flick that sports the same title. Partly because of this, the title was converted into The Sin Eater for the DVD release. All this work didn’t really save the movie, which is a shame, since it has potential and a lot of atmosphere.

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A new program on Dutch television, Mores TV (translation: Morals TV) is the brain child of CoP’s own, Suzanna Noort (a.k.a. Suzero), together with, Susanne Helmer and Hester van der Hoeven. This gleesome threesome presents items of both human and social interest. Driven by their curiosity to look at the world around them from a slightly less obvious angle, Mores TV combines a quirky sense of humor with a genuine desire to seek out the new moral values in Dutch society and question them. The next broadcast is this coming Wednesday at 20.00 hrs. on channel NED3, as part of the programming of the Humanistic Broadcasting Station.

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After witnessing the landslide LOTR caused at the last Academy Awards, one would think that this movie was either robbed or otherwise used as a sacrificial lamb to a movie that had to finally get its proper dues. I tend to go with the latter, but I do not think this movie was robbed; it just wasn’t good enough. Not good enough to steal the most important Oscars away from LOTR, but also not a dead give-away if LOTR wouldn’t have been part of the list.

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