no 1 fave movie of all time!

To avoid having Tiago jump off of a cliff here's finally my number 1 all time favorite movie!

1. Once upon a time in the West

















The memories are somewhat blurry concerning the question whether I first saw the movie or whether I first heard Harmonica's theme. Fact is that Harmonica's theme was used every year for the school's Easter play of the Last Supper and the following events right up to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. So, going to a religious school did have some benefit after all :-)

The use of Harmonica's theme during the epic crucifixion scene in the church made a big impression on me as a youngster and I fell in love with the music. My primary school performed this Easter play every year of the 6 years I went there and eventually in my final year I also had a role in the play. I ended up playing Judas Iscariot but that's another story...

Quite possibly I saw the movie some time after the first time I heard the music. Yet the combination of the western genre, the immense epic feel, the enigmatic role of Charles Bronson, and Ennio Morricone's dazzling score left me speachless. The story was so enticing, raw and one couldn't help but feel drawn in right away and root for Harmonica. There isn't that much dialogue but the characters speak volumes in their gestures, facial expressions and postures. Additionally, a strong sense of finality is present in this movie which resonated in me even back then. Not only as intented by Leone in the sense that the days of the wild west was over when the railroad started to make its way through the US, but also in the genre of the Western movie. This really is THE definite and ultimate Western.

I finally saw this brilliant movie on the big screen in the summer of 2007 and I had goosebumps pretty much the whole way through. Even thinking of Harmonica's theme at this very moment invokes goosebumps all over my body.
Honestly, how could I chose any other movie as my number one?

post surgery day 6

Finally a sign of life huh.
I'm still recovering big time but figured it is about time to write a little here about the whole shebang. The surgery apparently fine but since they completely knocked me out I obviously don't remember anything.
I do remember waking up feeling disoriented, thirsty as hell. Since I just got out of the OR I was still on IV which means no drinking just yet. I kept bugging them and they wetted my mouth a few times but that didn't help all that much.
Once I got to the 2nd recovery room I was given a drink and soon after finished it, and bleeding all over it hehe, I needed to take a pee. Nobody around so I asked some visitors to other patients in the recovery room but still no nurse popping out. So I just belted out that I had to pee. That worked :-)
Trying to walk while still under IV is like doing the moonwalk on a beach ball.
Another nasty effect from the IV is that you feel the constant need to pee but you only trickle, if you're lucky. I seriously spent most of the night on the toilet trying to pee. Fortunately during the night the IV effect wore off and I started being able to take a decent piss.

Paul showed up while I was in the 2nd recovery room, I think while I was trying to get dressed. That took a while and although I could walk slightly better than that first walk to the restroom the nurse turned up with a wheelchair. I was rolled to Paul's car and got in, all the while bleeding. Had to throw the used tissues onto the car's floor cause the bleeding was endless.

We picked up Silvia who would babysit me since Paul had a work meeting to attend to which turned out to last till after 11 pm or so. Was I glad to have someone around me phew. I really underestimated the aftermath I encountering and which is still giving me fun times.

During the first 2.5 days I had internal packaging up my nose so my head was congested. Breathing, swallowing, talking, eating, drinking all were extremely hard. With every swallow I could feel the internal packaging go up and down. While changing the external bandage on Thursday I noticed that the packaging in my right nostril was slowly being pushed out due to the swallowing. Eventually I ended up pulling this one out on Friday morning, several hours before the next doctor's appointment was and when he would remove both packaging. But when one of the packaging is already hanging out of your nose covering your mouth you simply can't avoid removing it to be able to put on a new bandage.

Back to the first night. Silvia ordered some Chinese online while I just tried drinking as much water as I could bear to swallow. Since I wasn't allowed to use straws I rarely finished any of the glasses. I put on "La vie en rose" for Silvia while I was spending most of the night on the toilet trying to overcome the IV peeing effect.
Somewhere around 11:30pm Brad showed up and fairly soon after Paul showed up to pick up Silvia. Both Silvia and Brad helped me changing the bandage and witnessed all the bloody stuff so kudos to them for being true warriors.
I believe Brad and I watched some more DVDs before we finally decided to go to sleep. I think I got like 30 minutes of sleep that night.

From Thursday on I started getting fevers and headaches which the Tylenol didn't do jack shit about so I asked Brad to get me some decent painkillers. I forgot which night it was but one night I was feverish and half hallucinating and it felt like my nose was actually detached from my face. Scary shit!

Brad went to visit his parents on Thursday afternoon but returned around 9pm or so to watch the Steelers game with snowy reception on my TV. I slept through most of the game being exhausted from everything that happened since Wednesday morning on and the serious lack of sleep.

On Friday Steffi picked me up to drive me to my doctor's appointment where the internal packaging in my left nostril was removed. That was extremely uncomfortable feeling and very very bloody. But it was also a huge relief to finally have all the internal stuff removed from my nose. As the doctor put it: this was the moment from which on I would start to actually feel better. That was true with the difference of eating. Although I couldn't eat much I would get fever and headache everything I ate something. Which took hours to wear off.
So when Saturday arrived, which was also my birthday, I decided to only eat once during the entire day. However, I turned out not to eat anything until after the party.
Also had a webcam session with my parents and sister which lasted for a good 2.5 hours. Just before it started my nose exploded and started oozing pus and blood a lot. Since I was afraid I'd run out of bandages I decided to just dip my nose constantly during the webcam session.
Once we finished the session I changed the bandage but soon felt it getting soaked again. Once the party started I was back into dipping and being silent mode while my guests chatted and enjoyed some drinks/bites.

I don't remember much of Sunday, I just watched more He-Man episodes from the Season 2: Volume 1 boxset and also saw some movies. Additionally, I prepared some dinner (spaghetti) which was the first warm supper since Tuesday December 18.

I ran out of movies to watch yesterday so I decided to drive to Dreaming Ant to quickly grab some new ones. The draining seemed to have stopped so I was in dubio whether I should put on a new bandage. In hindsight, I'm glad I did 'cause halfway through on my way to Dreaming Ant the waters broke again and flooded big time. I couldn't even speak while at Dreaming Ant, that's how bad the flooding was.
So I just got the DVDs, got the hell out of there and changed the bandage once I got home.
No further drainage happened so when I couldn't fall asleep this last night I just removed it around 4:35am. Interestingly I did catch some sleep after that.

Right now I'm having some breakfast and as a consequence am dripping a bit but no way in hell am I going to put on a new bandage.

So you see, the fun is not over just yet.

a nervous septum

Yikes, tomorrow is surgery day and the nerves have finally found me big time.
To think how much effort it costed on my part to actually have them do it tomorrow. While we set the date 2 weeks ago they told me I'd receive some paperwork. Never did. I called them almost every day and on Monday they finally admitted that the paperwork was lost.
Fortunately they did recover it and told me I needed to get some blood work done before the surgery date. Since I didn't feel like taking even more days off from work I told them they should do it on the surgery date. They had to get this authorized last minute.

I guess things finally worked out 'cause I have to be at the hospital at 10am to get the blood work done while the actual surgery is scheduled at 12:30pm. The procedure takes about 1.5 to 2 hours followed by 2 recovery hours.
Will prolly be kicked out around 5pm.

It's silly how nervous one gets over something stupid like this. And I want this operation done so I really am doing it to myself. Could easily have said no but I'd like to be able to actually breathe through my left nostril for a change.

Major thanks to Paul for picking me up after the hospital kicks me out and Brad for coming over to my house after band practice and spend the night. The hospital said I need someone with me the first 24 hours just in case something happens. That increased my nerves by tenfold haha.
I guess everything will be fine but never having had surgery it's all just a big unknown. I've already accepted the fact that they'll be cutting my nose to shreds and break it to straighten to septum. But that doesn't mean I look forward to it.

Hell, it's just a nose right???
Michael Jackson's nose can prolly use some company har har.
Oh, if shit goes terribly wrong then the few folks who read this blog will never know my favorite movie of all time.
Tough luck :-)

close but not yet: no. 2

2. 2001: A space odyssey

I remember vividly seeing this movie at a very young age on the German TV. Back in those days there weren't that many indie or classic movies broadcasted on the Dutch TV channels so I caught a fair amount of flicks dubbed in German. When it comes to "2001" it doesn't matter that much since there isn't a whole lot of dialogue anyway.
I was truly hypnotized. From the cavemen scene and the introduction of the black monolith it was apparent that this movie would have a world to say in imagery. The minutes long space trip after Dave has left the space station is dazzling to say the least. The effect of all those colors and shapes being thrown at you must feel similar to tripping out on acid or something. This scene was imprinted into my memory, sparked my imagination and led me to read some obscure science fiction books whose authors or titles I can't remember anymore.
Kubrick has only made a fairly small amount of movies and although I really love all of them, it is "2001: A space odyssey" that introduced me to this film maker and which changed my entire way of experiencing movies.

tension mounts as we hit the top 3

3. Naked


















For years I felt like I was screaming in a desert like some lunatic. Ever since I first saw this gritty and utterly bleak representation of post-Thatcher English I have been telling everyone to see this movie asap. Mostly I just get confused and slightly scared looks in return. Some chuckled and asked whether it was a porn movie.
Mike Leigh has always had a knack for realistic characters that have a hidden layer beneath that the conversation surface.

"Naked" features David Thewlis in the role of his life as Johnny who feels utterly unable to communicate in an environment which leaves a lot of people disconnected. Additionally, his complex and sarcastic personality don't make things easy for him. The movie features another male character which could be seen as a sort of alter ego to Johnny. While both men don't treat women all that well it is the alter ego which mistreats women for his own sadistic pleasures. It seems Johnny partly acts out of self defense trying not to get hurt and partly out of the immense frustration of not being able to really communicate and connect with people.

At the end the characters are pretty much left off the same when we first encountered them, for better or for worse. For Johnny there's no peace of mind and he continues fleeing from everyone including himself.

countdown continues with no 4

4. The breakfast club


















The first time I saw this film I did not like it. It was too dull, taking place in just a high school and pretty much no action whatsoever. I was very young and at that time I was more into action driven westerns and martial arts movies. When I saw it again one or two years later I was blown away. The dialogues are witty and spot on and even when the characters are joking around one can detract a rich layer of traits that makes them tick. Obviously, after watching this movie everyone was trying to figure out which one of the characters they were. Guys were breaking their head over being the athlete, the criminal or the brain while girls tried to figure out whether they were the princess or the basket case.
Yet the movie does not simply hammer on stereotypes. The further the story unravels the more we learn why these kids are what they are and act the way they do. As the movie concludes with the essay written by Brian, each one us is a criminal, athlete, brain, princess, and basket case. There might be differences in the prevalent trait but we're all human. Furthermore, the David Bowie quote at the very beginning of the movie ensures that this is not just some teen movie, it deals with genuine problems that people have to deal with while growing up. And everyone can relate to these timeless issues.
I even taped the entire audio of this movie at one point in time to listen to on my walkman (if anyone remembers those). That's how much I love this movie.

numero 5

5. Before sunrise

Spell binding. On screen chemistry between two young actors who stroll through Vienna. A romantic movie pur sang. Some might say the ideas and opinions which these characters have are naive and/or generation X emo crap. I say they are a rather accurate depiction of two young persons at an important point in their lives. Anyone who has ever travelled alone will have to admit that they have secretly hoped to come across a similar chance meeting. Ah, but who truly had gathered enough courage to ask that person to join you?

number 6(66)

6. Jacob's ladder

Another splendid movie with a less than straightforward story structure. Add the enticing symbolism, creepy atmosphere and a spectacular Tim Robbins as the epitome of confusion, to find a true gem of a film. Just thinking about it sparks several scenes to be replayed in my head. Have you ever encountered a movie with more realistic nightmares? I sure as hell haven't.

lucky number 7

7. Before the rain

I saw this movie on TV shortly after it was released. The critical acclaim made me curious and I'm very happy that it has been shown on TV at least two times. The way the director plays with time and ingeniously combines three stories into one circle, which is not round, is simply breathtaking. There is an abundance of scenes that have printed themselves onto my retina and even just thinking of the movie's finale drops my jaw to the floor.

Although this movie is extremely hard to come by I crave to see it again. Let's hope Criterion will one day grant my wish.

number 8...

8. L.A. confidential

Quite possibly the best film noir in the last 25 years. A bold statement perhaps but its place in the IMDB 250 ensures me that I'm not alone in admiring this movie. I was blown away by the amazing acting perfomances and the very intelligent plot development. Even after seeing it again I can't help but be awed by the spot on acting and sublime quality of film making showcased throughout this flick.

countdown continues

9. The wedding singer

















This one will reap some raised eye brows for sure. Let me explain: yes it is a 'typical' romantic comedy with a rather predictable plot. BUT, what makes this romcom so amazingly good is the setting in the 1980s, the heart warming chemistry between Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore, and the superb jokes!
I grew up in the 1980s so seeing a movie in the late 1990s which depicts those good old times so accurately and in a stellar humorous fashion simply won me over in less than the blink of an eye.
It remains THE ultimate feel good movie!

Fave movies of all time! DEFINITE list! :-)

As soon as people find out that I'm addicted to movies they'll ask me what my favorite movies are so I decided to make a top 10 favorite movies of all time. I don't think the list is subject to change but perhaps the ranking of the movies is.

Some of these movies are in the IMDB top 250 but a very important factor is when I first saw the movie. As with everything in life the younger you are the more impact the experience will have on you. An honorable mention needs to go to the first "Shaka Zulu" TV series which is only not qualified because it is not a movie. I have watched this serie several times and when I bought it on DVD a few years ago it definitely had retained its original power.
This is actually another important criterium: being able to retain its original impact and intensity after repeatedly seeing the movie. I can honestly say that I've seen these 10 movies several times and can watch them again any time, any place.

In order to create some suspense and to avoid creating a huge post I'll add one movie per day. Without further ado:

10. Lawrence of Arabia

















They truly don't make epic movies like this anymore. I never did mind slow pacing and elaborate character development, not even as a young boy. I was fascinated by this character from the get go. The story still resonates immensely and Peter O'Toole's performance is incredibly captivating.

So my DVD player finally died on me last night. I had been expecting this to happen since I got back from my Europe trip. The damn thing started having serious problems loading DVDs and froze during playback and skipped parts of the movies.
So last night it ate a DVD and I had to remove the top cover to be able to free the Netflix DVD.

Ran out to Best Buy to get the cheapest DVD player they had to offer which turned out to be an Insignia for 40 bucks including a 2 year warranty.
Already tried it out last night and it seems to be working fine. So I'm back in movie watching business!

All that's left to do is make it region free. Found the way to make this happen on the Web so that'll happen tonight.

Of septum or what thou willt

So as of now it is official: I'm finally getting my deviated septum fixed.
Yes I'm talking about my nose septum which has been deviated since I was born. After having spent 30 years of being able to breathe through mostly one nostril I want to be able to fully breathe in air through both nostrils.
Like the doctor said, it's a quality of life issue. And I want a higher quality damn-it!

So what do they do to fix your septum? Well basically they put you under full narcosis, slice your nose open, break the cartilege and straighten it. Then put a splint on each side of the nose which I'll wear for about 2 weeks. After that they'll be removed and my nose will be as good as new. Or, worst case scenario, like Michael Jackson.

Also need to get some "blood work" done before surgery is done. Which means they wanna stick some needles in me. I can't even remember the last time they drew my blood.

I must admit I'm nervous about the whole thing though. Sweaty hand palms etc.
Thing is I've never had surgery before aside from the tonsils being removed when I was still in primary school. My mom gave me a small stuffed panda bear to comfort me. But I remember wanting it before having my tonsils taken out haha.
I do remember giving my mom quite a hard time over this panda bear and I know for a fact that my nerves will be just as shot when I head to the hospital on December 19 to get my septum fixed.

But no mom around this time.

Anyone wanna volunteer?

winter in town

Since yesterday a big pile of snow has covered Pittsburgh.
Perhaps this is a Sinterklaas gift?














Obviously it's cold as hell too. Right now it's -11 Celsius/ 12 Fahrenheit.
Lovely.