The Perfect Host

Every year the Imagine Fantasy Film Festival takes place in Amsterdam. I visited the festival for the first time ever last year to see Malice In Wonderland. I had no idea that I would be visiting the festival again a year later. I saw a trailer for the movie The Perfect Host on the internet and I was interested in the film. But the film was not to be released in the Netherlands. It would come out on DVD straight away. I thought that was to bad, as I always prefer to see movies in the cinema. But browsing through the Festival programme for 2011, I noticed that The Perfect Host was amongst the movies that were going to be shown at the festival. The Thursday and Tuesday showings were out of order for me, due to work. But I was able to see the movie on a Saturday. I went to Amsterdam early in the afternoon, and spent a sunny and relaxed day in Hollands capitol. In the evening it was time to visit the Kriterion cinema to see The Perfect Host.

The Kriterion is a cinema/pub, run by students. They host the Imagine Festival every year, and with lots of succes. I know some people there and I asked them how the audience liked the first screening of the movie. I was told that the audience really loved the film and the response was great. The film was also in the race for the Spits Scream Awards. Every time they show a movie at the festival, the audience gets a small note where they can tell how they like a movie. The Perfect Host was 4th at the time. Not bad, considering that Malice In Wonderland was somewhere in the 20s.



John Taylor robbed a bank and is on the run for the police. Warwick Wilson is prepariing a dinner for friends, and it is there, where John looks for shelter. Warwick hesitates, but John can convince him to let him stay. But things are not what they look like. Clayne Crawford does a great job as John. He is very convincing in his role. Nathaniel Parker was very surprising. I am a huge fan of this actor, but I hardly saw him in American films. His accent however was the best. I am sure that people who don't know about him, will be surprised that he is British. The star of the film is David Hyde Pierce. He plays Warwick, and starts as a very vulnerable man, but then he changes into maniac. There are some parts of the movie that made me close my eyes, but most parts made me, and the whole audience laugh. The movie was filmed in 17 days and I have nothing more than respect for the cast and crew of this film. Everybody did a great job on this movie. The Perfect Host is a must see for people who like mindgames and humor. It is a sort of cat/mouse game that is played between Warwick, John and even Detective Morton (Nathaniel Parker) and Detective Valdez (Joseph Will).

When the endcredits roled, I heard an enormous applaus and people were even cheering. The only times I saw that was when I was at the European Stardust premiere and first screening of the last Lord Of The Rings film. The audience was buzzing, and they loved the film. The Perfect Host is currently second in the Spits Scream Awards. The movie can't win the award no more, as the last screening was Tuesday afternoon, and another film (Super, another comedy) got better rates from the audience. But The Perfect Host is a number 1 for me for sure. It is the first feature film by Nick Tomnay, and I hope that Nick continue to make more movies like this. I like movies with humor and mind games, so this is the Perfect Movie for me. People in the US can view it on demand from 27 May or see it in the cinemas from 1 July. After that the movie comes out on DVD. I hope that the movie will get a European release. The Perfect Host deserves to be seen by the audience. It might not draw huge audiences, but it can do very well in the Art Movie cinemas, as they call it here in Holland.

Love Never Dies

I am a huge fan of The Phantom Of The Opera. For me it is the best musical ever. It made a big impression on me, an impression that no musical I saw after that ever made. A few months ago I found out that there was a follow-up to the musical. ofcourse I had to see it. Last week I finally had a chance to see it for the first time. The story is (ofcourse) about the Phantom, who disappeared from the Paris Opera. While everyone in Paris thought he was dead, he flee to America, with Madame Giry and her daughter Meg. In this musical he is the big man behind Phantasma on Coney Island. He still misses Christine Daae, and he tricks her and her husband Raoul into a trip to America. They arrive with their son Gustave, and after a detour, through New York, they end up in Phantasma. He wrote an aria for Christine and she has to sing it. ofcourse there are still others around who wants a part of it all. Madame Giry and Meg, and there is also Raoul. Not everything appears what it is to be.



The show started with the song "Till I Hear You Sing", which surprised me. I was a bit disappointed to hear it this early in the show. For me this song is the highlight of the musical, but Ramin Karimloo sang it beautifully. I was lucky to see the whole original cast, as it was another pressnight. Andrew Lloyd Webber made changes to the musical, and the press was invited to see the musical again. I never saw it before so for me it was new. And what a treat it was. Sierra Bogges was a wonderful Christine, and the "freaks" did a great job aswell. But most of all I was very impressed with Summer Strallen. She played Meg Giry and did the best job of all. She was really shining in her song "Bathing Beauty". The whole cast got a standing ovation, and they deserved it.




It wasn't finished after that. I met a friend of mine outside the Adelphi Theatre, and we went to the stage door. We weren't disappointed. First of all Summer Strallen came out and made some time to chat with us and to pose for a picture. What struck me was that she was so lovely and nice. For me she is not only a beautiful, talented woman, but also a very nice one. Sierra Bogges was the next one I met. She was also very lovely and posed for a picture. Niamh Perry appeared not much later. She played Miss Fleck in the musical and I loved her costumes. A bit gothic, but lovely. A bit my style. In the meantime it started to snow and we had to wait untill Ramin Karimloo came out. It took him some time, but we were in for a little treat. Ramin is such a lovely guy. He posed for a picture and signed my program. After meeting him it was time to go back to the hotel. I was almost singing all the way there. If you want to book tickets or know more about the musical you can visit the site: www.loveneverdies.com I know that I want to see the musical again when ever I am in London again. I know that I won't be able to see this cast again as some of the actors leave after March 5 next year. Leave for another adventure in their lives.

On the Jack Falls filmset

With many thanks to Facebook, I have met some wonderful people. One of them is Johnny Lynch. He has a casting agency in England and started one here in the Netherlands too. He was the one that asked me to come to Amsterdam last week to be an extra on the set of Jack Falls. I had to be there at 8AM, but I couldn't make it that early. Many thanks to the trains in the Netherlands I must say, but it didn't matter. When I arrived on the set, people were already busy and the other extra's were standing close by and waited for something to happen. I met Johnny and it was a very nice and warm welcome. He took me to the actual set and I met some other people. I had to get my picture taken with the other extra's for the wardrobe department. The make up lady powdered our faces and then the wait began. To my surprise I was picked out with some others to appear in a scene. They gave us instructions and off we went. After a few rehearsals we were ready for a take. It took a few takes before the director was happy with it. And we had to do more takes as they wanted to have some other camera angles aswell. I had a ball and being so close to the crew was great.



Ofcourse we also had to wait a long time between takes or scene's. But I didn't mind at all. The sun was out, and food and drinks were nearby. Some of the extra's gave up and left, some others had other things to do later in the day and left aswell, but I stayed and I was rewarded as I was asked with all the other extra's to appear in another scene. This was done in a few takes and then it was a wrap for the extra's. It was great to get an applause from the crew for what I did that day. I decided to stay a bit longer and have something to eat in a cafe nearby. hen it was time to say goodbye to the crew and go home. I felt a bit sad to leave, but it was great to be a part of a film crew for a day. I hope to do it more often.

It was a great experience and I learned a lot from just watching people act or do their job. I had a lot of fun on the set and one of the audience members gave me a big laugh and a surprised look from the crew. The man was in the shot and kindly asked to move. As the man didn't speak English, one of the Dutch crew members asked again to move. Then the man started to swear and curse and made a show of himself while moving. "Welcome to Amsterdam" were the words me and the 2 other extra's gave the crew. Every city in the Netherlands has its madman, and it seems that we have met the Amsterdam madman that day. The crew was very nice and welcome and I felt at home on the set. I always thought that it would be boring, but it turned out to be big fun. Maybe the sun helped out a bit, but it was great hanging around on set watching the crew and the people pass by. We drew a lot of attention from people passing by. Even pushing a pram into the water drew a big audience. First of all I want to thank Johnny for the invitation and the warm welcome on set. It was marvelous. And ofcourse I want to thank the crew and other extra's for a fun day. They were all very welcome and kind. The crew really looked after us and were very kind. It is an experience of a life time and I hope to be on a filmset some day again soon.

Malice In Wonderland

I am well known for my strange taste when it comes to films. While everybody runs to cinemas all over the world to see Avatar, I run away from it. I don't like many of the blockbusters, as, in my opinion, they are just made to make as much money as possible. Ofcourse every film maker wants to make money out of a film, but what is important for me is that the film makers put love and care in their films. That is what I miss when I watch the blockbuster films, but I see it when I watch the smaller films that hit smaller screens or none at all. Malice In Wonderland is one of those films. I had one chance to see it in a cinema in London, and for the rest of the weekend I didn't see it advertised in any London cinema. Too bad, because Malice In Wonderland really is a nice film.



It is based on the Alice In Wonderland story, but it is a story on its own. Alice is an American student that is in London at the moment the film starts. She is on the run for some people, and got hit by a taxi. She looses her memory and the people who witnessed the hit threat to call the police, so Whitey, the cabdriver, has to take her with him on his ride. He takes Alice to a land she have never seen before and nothing is what it seems. She meets the most amazing people there and she has to find out who she can trust. But the most important thing is to remember who she is. Will she get her memory back and will she make it back to London? These are questions that will be answered in this film. Malice In Wonderland might be based on the Alice stories, but I see a totally different story in it. You see the most amazing characters in the films and some of them are way over the top. But that is what I like. When I was in London, I did read a lot of bad critics on the film, and that is a thing this film doesn't deserve. One of the strangest critics I read was that the film was bad, because Danny Dyer is in it. If that is the case, then I dislike a lot of films because Hugh Grant, Steve Martin or Leslie Nielsen are in it. Malice deserves an honest chance and that is not what it got. The film came straight out on DVD and it is worth a watch.



Danny Dyer plays Whitey the cabdriver. I had never heard of him before, and he did a great job in this film. Maggie Grace is another new name for me in the leading role of Alice. She does a great job aswell. My favorite actor Nathaniel Parker played a way over the top character and he does a wonderful job playing Harry Hunt, the gay gangster, who celibrate that he is out of prison. Matt King is a 3rd new name for me, but a promise for the future. He played Gonzo. Anthony Higgins made a wonderful Rex. I saw him before in the Inspector Lynley Mysteries and some other crime dramas and he is a good actor. Other actors who are worth mentioning are: Bronagh Gallagher, Gary Beadle, Steve Haze, Paul Kaye, David Frost, but the absolute star for me was Dave Lynn as Jack (Jaqueline for posh). His storylines were very few, but he stole my heart as this character.



The nightclub scenes in the film really stood out for me. I have never before seen so many strange characters in a club before. The trucker cafe scene's were filled with strange characters aswell. The people who worked on the film did a great job and despite the bad critics the film deserved more than a straight to DVD release.



The film is dark and fast and full of nice twists and surprises. As I mentioned before, nothing is what it's like. There are some very funny lines and mix ups in the film. I am not going to give anything away, as I don't want to spoil the watch for others. But I can tell that the mix up between Whitey and Gonzo about a tie were very funny and even I fell for it. Sometimes I didn't understand what was said, but that is only because I am not that good with Cockney or other British slng/dialect. Malice is a wonderful film, not for huge audiences. But people who like an arty film that is made with love and care will have a good time watching this film. Malice will be in my top 10 for sure. The journalists that gave Malice a bad review didn't do their jobs properly. It seems to me that they didn't like the film from the start. I know that journalists are intitled to their opinion, but many of the bad reviews were very unfair. I would love to change places with them, so they can give their good critics to the "blockbusters", and I can give good critics to films like Malice In Wonderland. I hope to see many more of films like this. I am looking forward to new films by the producers of this film (and Flawless, another great film, with Demi Moore, Micheal Cane, Nathaniel Parker and many more wonderful actors). 6Sales is a company that really care for films in my opinion and I rate them as high as I rate the Ealing Studio's for their projects. I am very happy that companies like these excists, they give me the jewels that I want to see in the cinemas.

This is how a thriller should be written

I love to read crime novels, especially English ones. For some reason I like them much better than others. When I was in London last May I took home Deadly Intent by Lynda La Plante. I had never heard of this author before, I only knew that she wrote She's Out, that is also a TV series, with Anna Patrick in one of the roles. Last October I went to London again and I thought it was time to take Deadly Intent with me for a good read. And a good read it was. I didn't even notice we were passing the Channel Tunnel. The book is about DI Anna Travis who has to solve yet another case. I didn't know there were more books about this DI, but this really was a great start. There is a shooting in a notorious drugs dealers squat in norht London and Anna is determined to find answers. I read a little about her private life and all about the case. I love to read a little about the DI's private lifes, but the real thing I want to read is that the murder(s) is/are getting solved. Elizabeth George has the habbit to describe all the side characters aswell that makes her books a bit boring to read for me, as I don't want to know about anybody but Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers. Lynda La Plante did the perfect job with this book for me. I bought the other books in the series of Anna Travis aswell and I was lucky enough to find the new book Silent Scream in the stores. I am really looking forward to read the books and to learn more about DI Anna Travis.

The Lady Elizabeth by Alison Weir

I have a keen interest in history and when I was in London last May I found some very interesting books. I did read a book about Henry III by Alison Weir, and now I have read the Lady Elizabeth by the same author. The book was a thriller/romace novel with some true things in it, but also some things that are not that true or can not be confirmed. The book follows Elizabeth, the youngest daughter of Henry III, untill she becomes Queen. There is a book about that period aswell, but I still have to read it. This book was great to read and hard to put away. It was well written and full of intrigues and suspence. But there is also time for romance and fun in the novel. It shows us how the people lived in that time. It was a very hard time if you ask me. Especially women had a hard time as I see it. All they were good for is to marry and to bring offspring to the world. A lot of women died in childbirth or had dead born babies. I am glad that women these days show it can be the other way around too. I am very happy not to have lived in that time, there was also a lot of sickness around and lots of people suffered from the plague. Alison Weir is a great writer. Usually books about history can be quite dull, in my experience that is, but this and the Henry VIII book were not boring at all. They were great to read and give people a great insight on England as it was at the time.

The Whole Day Through by Patrick Gale

After hearing the Book at Bedtime version by Samantha Bond and Nathaniel Parker I got very curious about this book. To my surprise I was able to order it at a Dutch webshop. So 2 days after I ordered the book it arrived and I started to read straight away. The thing is that I couldn't stop reading. I love to read, but this book really is one of the best I read so far. I want to get more books by Patrick Gale for sure. I never heard of the author before and this was a very welcome introduction.

The story is about Laura who moved from Paris to a small English village to take care of her mother. In that little village she meets Ben, a former lover from school. They haven't seen eachother in 20 odd years, and she doesn't recognise him at first. They have dinner together and he tells her that he moved to this village to take care of his brother, who has down syndrome. They take on a passionate affair and Ben wants to ends his marriage. Do they end up together or not?

This book is very well written. You can picture the characters in the book and I love the style of the author. I think that this book is a great read. It is funny, sad and witty. I am really looking forward to read more by this Patrick Gale. The Book At Bedtime Story was very well abridged, but I was very happy to read the book and discover more about Laura, Ben and the other characters in the book.