Amsterdam Weekly: Vol 5 Issue 36, 18-24 Sept 2008

Volume 5, Issue 36

18 - 24 SEPTEMBER 2008 Style over substance or substance over style?

FREE

A designed issue

www.amsterdamweekly.nl

Design minded page 8

FEATURE

PREVIEW

FILM

AGENDA

Metropolis Amsterdam considers her future. The answer? Think big!

War! If there’s one thing it’s good for, it’s a peace party this week.

Theo van Gogh’s Blind Date get’s remade. It’s still no date movie.

Theremins, Volkswagen buses and a night of the mink. A weird week lies ahead.

Pages 5

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Page 10 and onward...

Amsterdam Weekly_18-24 September 2008

In this issue and...

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Attachments

A design for life. That would be nice.

Amsterdam’s designmania is already in full swing. Last weekend it was Elle Wonen’s Inside Design. This week the design offensive is notched up with the kick-off of ExperimentaDesign, the design biennale formerly based solely in Portugal, but which intends to make a dual home here. Still, design isn’t all about conferences, lectures and exhibitions. It plays a part in all our lives, be it that Ikea lamp in your living room with a dodgy switch, that you never took back to the store because it was more hassle than the value of the lamp, or that glowing apple on the back of your notebook, which used to set you apart, but which is now more likely to mark you as part of the hip crowd—unless you’re one of the few who picked up a shiny iPhone and have had a rotten time with it. But there’s one design element that’s truly jaw dropping this week. It’s been announced that Uitburo is due to receive a subsidy of €250,000 to create a new cultural events database. That’s a fair chunk of change, considering that funding is being pulled from those who make and host events. Well, there’s always at least one thing that needs to be redesigned.

Features Inbox Trees & hate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Nature Calling Crabs & lobsters . . . 4 Feature Metropolis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Amstergraph Creative talents . . . . . 5 A Quick Bike Fix Nuns . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Ramadan Round-up Pride . . . . . . . . 6 Report The Vincent Award . . . . . . . . 6 The People Versus Crapple . . . . . . . 6 Event profile Peace & love. . . . . . . . 7 Main feature Design dissected . . . . 8 3 Questions Hospital Bombers . . . 13 Lekker Bezig Nalden . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Film Review Blind Date . . . . . . . . . 17

Agenda Short List 11 / Music 12 / Clubs 13 / Gay & Lesbian 14 / Stage 14 / Events 14 / Art 15 / Addresses 16 / Film 17 / Film Times 20

Plus The Mouth Pannekoeken . . . . . . . . 21 Night in the Life de Tuin. . . . . . . . . . 21 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Eefje Wentelteefje . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

On the cover Illustration by Yvo Sprey www.xelor.nl/sprey

Next week Film, glorious film!

12 visions of the future

Contact Amsterdam Weekly Publisher Yuval Sigler Director Todd Savage Editor Steve Korver Assistant Editor Steven McCarron Copy Editors Mark Wedin, Corbin Collins Film Editor Massimo Benvegnù Editorial Assistant Sarah Gehrke Art Director Bas Morsch Artistic Advisor Simon Wald-Lasowski Production Designers Mattijs Arts, Russell Joyce Sales & Marketing Consultant Allison Cody Account Managers Randy Abels, Marc Devèze, Kate Hutchinson, Simone Klomp Distribution Manager Patrick van der Klugt Distribution Intern Coby Babani Finance Eugene Moriarty Printer Corelio Printing

Amsterdam Weekly is published every week on Wednesday and is available free at locations all over Amsterdam. Subscriptions are available for €60 per six months within the Netherlands and €90 per six months within Europe. Agenda submissions are welcome, at least two weeks in advance. New contributors are invited to visit Amsterdam Weekly’s website for contributor guidelines. Contents of Amsterdam Weekly (ISSN 1872-3268) are copyright 2008 Amsterdam Weekly BV. All rights reserved.

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Amsterdam Weekly_18-24 September 2008

AROUND TOWN

Nature calling

By Mark Wedin

Illustration by Ruth van Beek

The underwater regime change Up until about ten years ago, our canals were littered with small European lobsters. Local biologists couldn’t say exactly what they were doing down there. When they weren’t eating or fighting, they were mostly hiding. They are, after all, rather smallish. Which made it that much easier for them to be pushed out. By big Americans.

The spotted North American freshwater lobsters are regularly brought over here for our consumption (they can be quite tasty). But being the feisty crustaceans they are, some occasionally escaped and made their way into our canals. This never had much of an effect until temperatures slowly rose over the past decade, and canals stopped freezing in the winter. The

American species fare better in warmer waters and, being larger, they’ve been fairly successful at taking over the canals. But they weren’t the first to invade.

Back in the ’30s, blue crabs (blauwe zwemkrabben), also from the American east coast, were already planting their flag in Amsterdam waters. They got here by climbing aboard ships en route to Europe and Japan (usually stowing away in the ballast water below). Once here, they also took up residence in the canals. Unlike their lobster countrymen, they haven’t evicted whole species. But they’ve got their own unique behaviour.

Blue crabs like to climb out of the water and cross the road. Not only to get to the other side, but also to find saltwater in the IJ or down in Amstelveen. They

need it for mating. And, for the next several weeks, that’s just what they’ll be doing. Of course, being terribly aggressive, they’ll also be waving their claws around, trying to look intimidating, and lunging at anything they consider a threat. That includes cars. So if you’re in the right spot at the right time, you’ll not only see crabs crossing the road, but also lots of flat ones that didn’t quite make it.

severely affected and another, right next to it, can show less or no symptoms in spite of being genetically identical.

The disease has spread over the European continent from Poland and Lithuania, to Sweden, Finland (Aland) and also Denmark. Even though it seems the Netherlands have been spared so far, it might be that it eventually comes here too.

Sweden has been hit by the ‘Dutch’ elm disease like many other countries. Where the elms have died, ash have been planted as replacement, which are now at risk too.

The ash is maybe most famous as revered by the Vikings in the Norse mythology as Yggdrasil, the World Tree linking together the different worlds of the Norse cosmos. (More here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yggdrasil).

[An intrigued editor: Mmm. Brain food.]

Who writes this s....te? How embarrassing. How ridiculous. Must we be exposed to illiterate, uneducated stupidity when looking for something to do in Amsterdam? Come on, people, hire writers that have a modicum of education, that actually read, that know the BASICS OF CULTURAL HISTORY, so they too can pause in disbelief when reading imbecilic comments about cultural matters.

German+Romanticism=Goethe, Hegel, Schubert, Beethoven, Wagner, to name but a few.

In future, spare us these little twat-writers of nonsense.

[A concerned editor: While we never like to have readers so enraged that they censor their own swearing, our agenda is peppered with silliness and sarcasm for pleasure, not for pain. So come on over and we’ll share some bratwurst at tea time. We even keep a token German on staff for such diplomatic incidents.

Besides, this week we’re picking on the Canadians and Finnish—no Krauts were harmed or insulted during the making of this paper.]

Special thanks to Martin Melchers, stadsecoloog.

Got nature tips? naturecalls@amsterdamweekly.nl

Inbox

A nightmare on ‘ash’ trees, too!

Submitted by: Nils Morner By: email Date: 11 September I just read your article on the ‘Dutch’ Elm Disease in the Amsterdam Weekly. Before, I was totally under the impression that the Elm Disease had started here in the Netherlands and have been thinking that it is bizarre how many elms one can see here nevertheless. Well, thanks to your article I now know better!

It also reminded me that I recently saw an article about a new and similar, but nevertheless different, disease called the Ash dieback, spreading over the continent and affecting the European Ash (Fraxinus excelsior). The symptoms are that the shoots of the tree die like they were killed off by frost. Research shows it is caused by a fungus (Chalara fraxinea), but unlike the elm disease it is not spread by a host but through fungal spores in the air. To date there are no effective remedies known. Tests have however shown differences in resistance on clones (genetically identical specimens), where one plant is

Absurdity in your paper Submitted by: Name withheld By: email Date: 11 September [In reply to the following text from a music listing in Issue 35: ‘Romance? German? These two things don’t typically show up in the same sentence...’]

Got an opinion? We want to hear it. inbox@amsterdamweekly.nl

Amsterdam Weekly_18-24 September 2008

Urban design

AROUND TOWN

By Marlous Veldt

THINKING OUTSIDE THE CITY BOX Even a small city like Amsterdam realises that thinking big is necessary.

You would think that Amsterdam has had enough metropolitan thinking this week, with the new Noord/Zuidlijn collapses and all. But given that the city’s visionaries are not likely to relinquish their metropolis on the Amstel that easily, the Universiteit van Amsterdam was probably wise to fly in real experts to talk about metropolitan areas and what Amsterdam can learn from them, during a debate in De Balie last Friday.

Less ambitious than some of our city’s marketeers, the organisers invited academics and urban planners from Portland, Milan, Liverpool, Stuttgart and Vancouver. Cities without the world recognition of Amsterdam, but ones that do understand the concerns of a relatively small town with a global economic footprint. Towns which are, according to those working on the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area, fragile when it comes to bringing home their share of capitalism’s profits. Apparently, they are at a constant risk of becoming backwater towns.

Take Liverpool. A hundred years ago, 50 per cent of the world’s trade passed through its ports. Today, it’s known for its music and football, but it’s stuck knee-deep in problems of unemployment and social angst. A city running on debt, said Greg Lloyd of the University of Liverpool, where citizens are pushed into keeping the economy going through consumerism they can’t afford.

To steer clear of a Liverpudlian disaster scenario, metropolis advocates claim that Amsterdam needs to expand its economic tentacles and public transport infrastructure to cities like Everything looks perfect from far away.

Haarlem and Almere. It needs to attract highly educated, internationally oriented and creative people and step up to a metropolitan scale. And that’s what Stuttgart did in the 1990s.

After the reunification of Germany, investment and government funding shifted eastwards. A possible nightmare for the city’s politicians and firms like Porsche and Daimler, which have their base in the Stuttgart region. In response, they set up a regional government that coordinates urban and economic development and built a light-rail network that connects the neighbouring cities.

The city now markets itself as the creative city of Germany and is the country’s third economic force, after Berlin and the Ruhr area.

But, as wethouder Maarten van Poelgeest likes to prophesy—and he did so again during this debate—cities can fall victim to their own success. He also brought up research that severely critiques the ideas of Richard Florida— the inventor of the concept of the creative class, one of the gurus of current metropolitan thinking—for the metropolis makers of Amsterdam.

Florida postulates that to stay on top in today’s post-industrial economy, cities need creative thinkers and doers that keep them agile and flexible. They are the highly educated, internationally oriented and creative people Amsterdam and Stuttgart are competing for.

But, said Van Poelgeest, in cities that are graced by their interest, the economic gap between different social groups tends to widen. Since the creative class has been arriving in

Amsterdam, he said, differences in income and economic opportunities are growing, in many cases along ethnic lines.

This puts pressure on tolerance, another quality that Richard Florida pinpoints as important for today’s cutting-edge town. Tom Hutton of the University of British Colombia in Vancouver complimented Amsterdam on its culture of tolerance and diversity, which he still sees as a beacon to the rest of the world, ‘despite a few incidents.’ But Van Poelgeest and the audience did not seem so convinced about this.

Plus there is the cost to the environment. Ludger Basten of the Institut fur Geographie in Wurzburg warned the audience that Stuttgart is bringing in more money, but that its success as a livable city is contested.

What a metropolis of the future should be striving for, the speakers agreed, is sustainability. Andy Cotugno from Portland advised focussing on redevelopment inside urban centres, instead of new developments in the nature between them, and full democratic control by the citizens. Ludger Basten emphasised the importance of keeping the interests of an overbearing central city in check. And George Lloyd cautioned big-thinkers that they should be prepared to continue nurturing their town if it does end up near the global economy’s backwater.

A creative mind from the audience suggested that Almere could be asked to fill the hole in the Noord/Zuidlijn’s budget, as a first gesture of metropolitan practice. Wethouder Van Poelgeest answered with a slightly sour expression that financial support should come from the national government. It is unfair, he said, to let Amsterdam pay for a project that is important to the economy of the whole country. We will have to see about the economy part, but at least we can all agree on the unfair part.

More info at: www.metropoolregioamsterdam.nl thetyee.ca/Views/2008/08/05/CreativeClass

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Google this...

‘iBrain’ Amstergraph % breakdown of

creative talents in the Dutch cultural sector: 2004-2006 Dance & theatre - 5% / Artists - 7% / Music - 13% Language & other - 18% / Design & architecture - 57 % Source: Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek

Graph by Nicole Martens

A quick bike fix

By Pete Jordan

Nuns My extensive collection of testimonials from foreigners expressing amazement at the vast number of cyclists in Amsterdam spans a hundred years. An interesting subgenre within this collection are quotes that specifically name priests and/or nuns among the city’s cyclists to illustrate the broad makeup of Amsterdam’s biking community.

For example, in my copy of the 1973 book A Bachelor’s Guide to Amsterdam: Uncensored and Unashamed (hey, some reference books always remain handy!), the author states that in Amsterdam, ‘Young and old, priests and nuns, pretty girls in short skirts and high heels all drive a bicycle.’

Reading such quotes always make me jealous since I never see any clergymen or nuns on bikes here.

But last week, while riding along the Overtoom, I saw two women in nun habits pedalling ahead of me. Were these a pair of eerstejaars dressed up for some sort of hazing ritual? Or members of a Brit hen party? I raced to catch them. At Nassaukade, they stopped at the red light. There, I saw they weren’t students or revellers playing dress up. Middleaged and looking quite serious, they appeared to be actual nuns. Nuns on bikes! Check!

Then I tried to pass them on their left.

And they moved left. So I tried to go right. And they moved right. Finally, no longer excited about nuns, I rode up onto the sidewalk to get away from them.

React: bikes@amsterdamweekly.nl

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Amsterdam Weekly_18-24 September 2008

AROUND TOWN

The people versus...

Ramadan Round-up

By Sharida Mohamedjoesoef

By Floris Dogterom Today Sunrise 7:19 am

Today Sunset 7:48 pm

Illustration by Tomas Schats Illustration by Harry Bloch

The iPhone. By Crapple.

To buy something better, faster, beefier than what he already had. That was Foppe Talman’s intention when he purchased Apple’s much-discussed iPhone, the multifunctional mobile that has grabbed so many headlines over the past year. But pretty quickly it turned out to be a frustrating experience and a waste of money.

For his work as a musical electronics engineer, Foppe always used his old phone to store his PDFs of electrical diagrams for old-fashioned tube amps. From the Apple documentation, he understood it would be possible to transfer his complete PDF document collection to his iPhone. Wrong.

Foppe: ‘The thing is, the only way the iPhone “talks” with the world outside is through iTunes. But iTunes can only handle mp3s and videos. Now there is a work around, but it’s a laborious one. You can access your PDFs online, using your iPhone, or email them to yourself and open them on your iPhone. But that’s when the second drawback of the iPhone kicks in, which is the fact that the internet service provider Apple signed exclusively with, in the Netherlands, is T-Mobile. And their servers suck. The other day I needed a Revox B77 diagram. You can find it easily on the internet. But the iPhone couldn’t make a connection.’ Of course, Foppe tried to get help from Apple: ‘If you choose the iPhone option in the automated menu, you hear a voice saying that you should call T-Mobile. But if you call TMobile, they tell you it’s a software problem and refer you back to Apple.’

In a reaction, Apple spokeswoman Stephanie Schollaert says, ‘You can view PDFs on your iPhone and send them by mail.’ Also, she wants to know if Foppe had downloaded the last version of the firmware. He had. She doesn’t go into the fact that you cannot transfer PDFs to the iPhone. Nor does she comment on the poor, dare I say crap, ‘support strategy’.

Sending emails and leaving further voicemails doesn’t help. When I try to call Foppe to share the Apple answers with him, we get disconnected. Of course... TMobile. The message is clear: if you want a multifunctional mobile phone, don’t get fooled by Apple’s babble. Or, as the Dutch saying goes: laat je niet foppe.

Something to report? thepeopleversus@amsterdamweekly.nl

Mocro Pride Parade

Once upon a time, way back in the ’50s and ’60s, Islam was regarded as something exotic, something exciting. The first Muslim immigrants from the former Dutch colonies Indonesia and Suriname were treated with a great deal of respect. This was still the case when Moroccan and Turkish immigrants arrived. They worked in factories, were usually poorly, housed in B&Bs, and every once in a while they would roll out their prayer rugs in the factory cafeterias.

Contrary to expectations, these Muslim newcomers did not return to their countries of origin. They stayed. Islam stayed. And suddenly words like Ramadan, Hajj and Koran made their way into the Dutch language. The country began to see a gradual increase of mosques. Still, everything was very much A-okay. Or so we thought.

Somewhere along the way things took a dramatic turn for the worse. ‘Now the word “Moroccan” has become practically synonymous with crime or Islamic radicalisation,’ says Abdou Menebhi, while sipping his hot iftar soup at the Moroccan youth centre Argan in Amsterdam, where some 60 Dutch Moroccans gathered for a special Ramadan dinner party. The intention was to spur ideas on how to properly commemorate the fact that next year it will be exactly 40 years ago that Morocco and the Netherlands signed a treaty, enabling the Dutch to recruit Moroccan labourers.

The spirited Menebhi himself came to the Netherlands in

1974. He lashes out at Amsterdam mayor Job Cohen, who, in his opinion, made matters even worse by telling the Moroccan community to take responsibility and reign in Moroccan troublemakers. ‘In case Cohen didn’t notice, we have been doing that for ages.’

While most of the guests are enjoying their food, listening to traditional Moroccan music and engaging in small talk, Menebhi gets even more worked up about the seeming ignorance ‘regarding the role we played in Dutch trade unions, how we battled against far-right wing politicians like Jan Maat, how we took to the streets in the ’80s to mourn the racial killing of Kerwin Duijnmeyer. This, too, is part of Dutch social history, yet people don’t know or don’t care.’

Menebhi’s views are shared by many dinner guests, including well-known Labour MP Khadija Arib and Mohamed Rabbae, a highly respected figure in the Dutch Moroccan community. The big question, however, is how to turn table talk into practice?

‘True’, says Nadia Bouras, a migrations expert from Leiden Universiteit, ‘but this evening has brought on some very interesting ideas that need further exploration. We need to create a better awareness of our own Dutch-Moroccan history. A book or a museum perhaps. We need to have something that will make second and third generation migrants proud of who they are. Something that will rub off on the entire Dutch society forever.’

Report

By Isabel Serval

CREDIBILITY WHERE CREDIT’S DUE? Last Friday, Lithuanian artist Deimantas Narkevicˇius won the prestigious Vincent van Gogh Biennial Award for Contemporary Art 2008—AKA, The Vincent Award.

The ceremony was held in the Stedelijk Museum, where Polish Ambassador Janusz Stanczyk handed over the prize: a €50,000 cheque. Not a bad reward to receive, although there are certainly bigger art prizes going. That said, one artist backed out in June at the last minute because the pressure was apparently too much.

Narkevicˇius, at least, admits he is more than happy to have won. Although he would rather have avoided the stress and the pressure of the competition. His winning works, still on display in the exhibition at Stedelijk CS, included ‘The Head’, a film-like portrait of the realisation of a seven-metre tall statue of Karl Marx’s head in the former Karl Marx Stadt (Germany) in 1971, and ‘The Dud Effect’, in which he rewrites Cold War history with found footage.

In June, it was Austrian artist Peter

Friedl, one of five artists on the short list for The Vincent Award, who quit the race.

In German magazine Art he claimed to have issues with the ethics of the procedure, calling it ‘a curious mixture of interests and preferences’. Winner Narkevicˇius’s take on events is that Friedl simply couldn’t handle the pressure of the race, although he was sad about the decision because he considers Friedl’s work to be a worthy contribution to the exhibition as a whole. ‘It’s hard to deal with all the public exposure and critique,’ he says, ‘but I think this is part of being an artist.’

Organiser of the Amsterdam Photo Biennale Hans-Peter Schoonenberg and artist Sybil Heijnen think what Friedl went through is typical. ‘These awards are always very subjective in their choices and I understand his frustration. On the other hand, what Friedl did could be a very clever publicity stunt. He voices the fear that too many people might push the success of one artist and in this way probably amplifies his own lack of professional balance,’ says Schoonenberg.

Meet the jury.

Photo by Gert Jan van Rooij

Narkevicˇius, who was ever agreeable, admitted that he accepts the subjective character of the procedure. ‘Art is elitist by definition, and elitism is what creates professionals.’

And if you’re wondering about the ceremony itself, well, it was pretty boring.

Aren’t they all? Plenty of important people showed their faces, including Princess Laurentien. In fact, her and her security entourage enjoyed direct access to the exhibition while the rest of us trailed safely behind. As unnecessarily formal as things were, everyone went along with it.

After all, there was €50,000 at stake.

More info: The Vincent Award exhibition continues at Stedelijk CS until 30 September.

Amsterdam Weekly_18-24 September 2008

E V E N T : N A C H T VA N D E V R E D E

World peace. It’s not only beauty pageant contestants who wish for it. They’re just voicing what we’d all like to achieve, if we only knew how. Some people, like the ones at IKV Pax Christi, are at least trying, and have devoted their working lives to furthering peace. This Saturday 20 September, on the eve of the UN’s International Day of Peace, they’re staging an event that will help us try harder too: Nacht van de Vrede, (Night of Peace).

The building in Wibautstraat that used to house the broadsheet de Volkskrant and is now home to several artists and creative initiatives, will be invaded by partying peacekeepers. At a special network cafe you can speed date 30 peace professionals of great variety, from war correspondent Joeri Boom to green television network LLiNK’s president Tanja Lubbers. Also available for a chat is former minister and UN envoy Jan Pronk, currently the chairman of IKV, which is part of IKV Pax Christi, the largest peace movement in the Netherlands. Later in the evening, Pronk also takes part in a debate about the American elections and the geopolitical influence of the US with America expert Jessica Serraris.

If pure entertainment is your priority, there’s also comedy by cabaret duo Peper & Zout, a peace poetry slam, and music by local indie heroes, the belligerently named Hospital Bombers, and the nation’s funky dance saviours C-mon & Kypski.

Coordinating this event is Juul Muller, who has been working for IKV Pax Christi some ten years. This non-governmental organisation (NGO) works hard at creating peace, reconciliation and justice in the many conflict areas of the world, together with other local NGOs. The knowledge and information about the situation on the ground, which its employees gather during their assignments, IKV Pax Christi then passes on to journalists and politicians. When the Dutch ministry of defence needs to decide on a mission, IKV Pax Christi is one of the advisory parties. Then there are the many projects designed to help the general public contribute to peace, including its website urging anyone to debate, lobby, study, work, party or even run for peace.

Although, as a 41-year-old mother of two, Muller has opted to stay based in the Netherlands in recent years, as the time she spent working for IKV in the Balkans has made an indelible impression. ‘It is deeply moving to work in a conflict area. People are the same everywhere. They too have family, they too just want to have love and friendship and a good life. You can really connect. To witness their lives is a bizarre and beautiful thing.’

Muller worked with veterans in Bosnia, whose interest groups were organised along ethnic lines and

Creating awareness is one of Muller’s goals for the Night of Peace. Another: to get young people to actually do something that raises awareness. ‘IKV facilitates international youth projects,’ she explains. ‘These provide concrete results. One exchange programme successfully lobbied in Brussels for a fairer visa policy for Balkan people, who previously could hardly get out of their country.’

IKV Pax Christi itself could also do with some raised awareness. With a name that reveals little more than its Christian background, the organisation has a somewhat stuffy image. The Night of Peace is supposed to change that, says Erik Rouw, 26, who has studied ‘management in the creative industries’ and is one of a number of interns organising the night with Muller. He is responsible for the music and the poetry slam. ‘My friends wouldn’t expect me to be the kind of person who works at IKV Pax Christi,’ he says. But it turns out he certainly is. He is loving this internship, which has enabled him to start doing what he wants to do: combine politics and culture. The NGO could definitely use more people like himself to get its message across, thinks Rouw, but he is impressed with its expertise.

Fellow intern Evelien Haenen, 23, is a fan, too. ‘It’s well organised and there’s lots of room for discussion.’ Haenen learned of the organisation in a class on human security for her course in organisational anthropology at the Vrije Universiteit.

Now she’s organising the network cafe and rounding up professionals to speed date. ‘I really like the opportunity it offers people to look beyond their own little world,’ she says.

During the cafe, you can play a conflict simulation game, take workshops and get your resume checked. Though she expects this programme to attract people actually interested in working in the field, that is not her main goal. ‘I want people to be amazed,’ she says. ‘If they can just absorb some of what’s going on in the world, that will be enough.’

Rouw also hopes to keep the people interested beyond the party as well. He hopes they’ll take the next step and, yes, he does believe a world without violence is attainable. ‘Since I’ve worked here I’ve learned that it’s a little more complicated than two people sitting at a table, shaking hands, and then everything is alright again. But I still believe in the strength of mankind.’

PROGRAMMING PEACE

War! What is it good for?

Well, without it, we wouldn’t have peace parties.

By Rebecca Wilson Illustratiob by Wayne Lacrosse

‘It is deeply moving to work in a conflict area.

People are the same everywhere. They too have family, they too just want to have love and friendship and a good life.’

misused for nationalistic purposes by their respective leaders. ‘This is the way conflicts develop. Nationalist leaders manipulate their people, separate members of different ethnic groups so they become faceless and dehumanised.’ Those veterans eventually started their own group, transcending ethnic boundaries. ‘It cuts you to the core to see what immense trauma that war can bring. It takes generations and extremely hard work to get over it. That realisation, that you have to keep fighting hard for peace, has to spread like an oil stain.’

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De Nacht van de Vrede Saturday 20 September, 20.00. €6 www.nachtvandevrede.nl www.ikvpaxchristi.nl

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Amsterdam Weekly_18-24 September 2008

F E AT U R E

EXPLORING THE DESIGN MIND Under the umbrella of FreeDesigndom, ‘designmania’ has taken over the nation this month. With the big boys from Lisbon flying in to collaborate in the first Amsterdam edition of ExperimentaDesign, well, the results are intended to be that bit more... experimental. Maybe even cerebral.

By Clare Lowther Illustration by Yvo Sprey

This week sees the launch of ExperimentaDesign, which promises to bring Amsterdam’s creative types out in droves for an expansive series of conferences, exhibitions and special events—some only occurring this week, while the bigger exhibitions run till 2 November.

With the Netherlands already housing one of the most formidable design schools in the world (Design Academy Eindhoven) and seemingly ever more eager to retain its iconic status in the international design field, ExperimentaDesign is the latest in a succession of events

geared towards promoting the country as a platform for cultural experimentation. But it’s not the first of its kind.

The festival is an offshoot from the successful Lisbon Biennale, which also operates under the ExperimentaDesign title and has already enjoyed four editions since its inception in 1999. With this new collaboration in place, the event is set to alternate between the two cities each year, comprising a six-week schedule housed in key, but not always obvious, design locations throughout these capitals.

Dedicated to design, architecture and contemporary culture, this first edition in Amsterdam is bound by a common theme: Space and Place. This theme offers a selection of international architects and designers the opportunity to highlight how the urban cityscape can be used as a playground for social interaction.

Despite all the attention for The London Design Festival, also taking place this week, media sponsor and editor-in-chief of Amsterdam’s Frame Magazine, Robert Thiemann, is confident that the biennale will make its

Amsterdam Weekly_18-24 September 2008

mark on the industry. ‘I think ExperimentaDesign has a great track record. The Lisbon events have always stood out from other design events because of their critical approach to design, their desire to talk about issues rather than objects, and their interaction with the surrounding city. This new Amsterdam event promises to deliver the same mix. Instead of merely glorifying design, the organisers hope to stimulate debate in the design community.’ Councillor for Culture Carolien Gehrels, perhaps naturally, shares Thiemann’s enthusiasm. She believes this city is the perfect location for the biennale’s expansion: ‘Both cities encourage opportunities to experiment, express creativity and invite interaction with the surroundings.’

Inside the brain of ExperimentaDesign: More often than not, maps devised to navigate us around design festivals are more complex than the programmes themselves. So for this biennale’s Amsterdam debut, we’re looking at a design festival in a new light: a physiological one. Processed, as consumers, by different parts of our brain, the events can be divided into three sections: those for our visual consumption, absorbed by our occipital lobe; those which run the six-week festival schedule, and as a result become stored in our long term memory in the frontal lobe; and finally, giving our eyes a rest and opening our ears to the opinions of the industry’s professionals, audio events, decoded, hopefully, into tangible words by our temporal lobe.

Occipital lobe In 2006, Marcel Wanders, one of the Netherlands’ most prominent design figures in recent years, advertised for permanent tenants to fill his new ‘cultural flagship’ centre—Westerhuis on Westerstraat. Now, nearly two years later, he is offering ‘cells’ in the same space for the coming six weeks. In addition to transforming the five-storey, 5500 square metre, former school house into a building where both emerging and established designers and cultural organisations can work under one roof, Wanders also created a gallery. It is here, in the Westerhuis Gallery, that eight international designers have been asked to make a home out of an empty, anonymous space.

One of three events running for the full duration of the biennale, Come to My Place has been devised specifically by Experimenta as part of the ‘Space and Place’ theme. Viewing the home as a three-dimensional self portrait—the contents of which are arranged and decorated to reflect the inhabitant’s individual personality—the exhibition explores how the global design culture, with its inexhaustible stock of ‘designed’ objects, has affected the role of local traditions and cultures. In order to examine the interaction between local and global objects in our homes, the designers were asked to use both design pieces and items from local hardware stores to create their temporary habitat.

It might not seem the most logical of ideas to spend weeks carefully putting together your installation, only to turn the lights off as the visitors turn up. But for Austrian collective POLKA, one of the teams that participate in Come to My Place, their project ‘The Dark Room’ symbolises a protest against our fast-paced consumer culture. By using only subtle lighting, the designers hope to encourage people to slow down and really appreciate the objects in their simplest form. As their eyes adjust to the lighting (or lack of it), familiar outlines emerge and the scene begins to unfold, explains Monica Singer, one half of POLKA’s design duo. ‘The darkness allows us to see and understand the objects very slowly.’ A mystery story that will remain, to a certain degree, forever unsolved. Singer concludes that the selection and presentation of objects refers to the observation that many products, old and new, possess a degree of ambiguity: ‘Some have an unexpected function, others a hidden meaning. Their enigmatic nature is constantly shifting to reveal new possibilities, stretching our perception of what something is or what it could be, of what we see and what we don’t.’

F E AT U R E

In the belief that the home is not just about the objects you fill it with, but also about our behaviour towards those objects—even with the lights turned on— Turkish designer Meric Kara is unsure whether everyone will see the full picture of her ‘Short Stories from a Turkish House’. An assortment of typical furniture, arranged into bespoke solutions and adorned with unique decorations, it will probably only be Turkish people, thinks Kara, and more specifically, those who have lived in Turkey, that will notice all the finer, quintessential details of her space. ‘A couch is a couch anywhere,’ she explains, ‘but the way we put things is different. I see my culture as a place with weird solutions and ideas.’

Frontal lobe On 19 September, seven international jewellery designers will tout their wares and unveil their new workspaces in the middle of Amsterdam’s Red Light District. Part of the city’s ongoing strategy to rid the infamous Oude Kerk area of criminal activity, Red Light Design follows Red Light Fashion—an event initiated in the same area last January.

Organised by Dutch design collective Droog, The City of Amsterdam and Ymere housing cooperation, the project provides a creative outlet for spaces that await conversion into residential properties. Approached last spring with the concept, co-founder of Droog and practicing jewellery-maker Gijs Bakker describes his initial reaction: ‘I was very surprised. Pleasantly surprised, to

‘Because the pimps try to make as much money as possible per square metre, the rooms are very small and perfect for jewellery workshops.’

be asked to organise a jewellery-based project. But, I thought why for jewellery, why not young designers?’

As it turns out, the nature of the discipline is actually ideal for the size of the windows. ‘Because the pimps try to make as much money as possible per square metre, the rooms are very small and perfect for jewellery workshops,’ reflects Bakker.

Occupying a total of 13 windows, the layout of the studios is inspired by Florence’s historical Ponte Vecchio bridge: a medieval construction famed for the shops built along it, many of which were originally occupied by gold and silversmith tradesmen. Each of the seven designers has been allotted two to three windows—one or two for display and one as a workshop. This formula allows visitors to observe the designers like traditional craftsmen.

Bakker sought the advice of Amsterdam’s three international jewellery galleries—Galeries RA, Louise Smit and Rob Koudijs—when selecting Red Light Design’s participants. The final selection boasts participation from: Ted Noten (NL), Gesine Hackenberg (DE), Frédéric Braham (FR), Iris Nieuwenburg (DE), Sebastian Buescher (DE), Jantje Fleischhut (DE) and Susanne Klemm (SE). All keen to commit, the designers will relocate to the capital for the next year, with their studios, assistants and for French designer Braham, their families, housed in the vacant buildings.

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The project aims to propel the discipline out of small galleries and into the midst of the public realm, and Bakker sees it as, above all else, a unique promotional opportunity for those involved. ‘It’s great for the designers to come together in such a crazy and new environment.’

To commemorate the opening of ExperimentaDesign the designers will embrace this new audience and launch their windows dressed around the ‘Space and Place’ theme. For Dutch designer Ted Noten, this signalled an opportunity to get the tourist trap regulars actively involved in his work. Installed in the front of his window, in exchange for a few euros, an old automat will dispense individual rings. ‘The idea,’ explains a clearly amused Bakker, ‘is that they give the ring to the prostitute they visit and it identifies the most popular girl.’

Temporal lobe To underpin the festival’s dynamic visual programme, eight creative professionals have been invited to hold a 45-minute conference which is hosted at Paradiso. Since this is a crucial fixture during the biennale’s four-day opening weekend, let’s just hope that whilst occupying centre stage at the popular music venue, the world’s leading creative protagonists resist the urge to break into air guitar solos and stick to what they know: design.

That said, and musical ability aside, the guest list includes individuals who, in their industries, enjoy the same iconic status as the world’s greatest pop stars.

Speaking on the last day is one such individual: Rem Koolhaas, founder of OMA (Office for Metropolitan Architecture)—an international practice established in 1975 that deals in contemporary architecture, urbanism and cultural analysis—and its subsidiary the AMO, a think tank exploring the boundaries of architecture and urbanism—Koolhaas has won several international awards including the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2000, the Praemium Imperiale (Japan) in 2003, the RIBA Gold Medal (UK) in 2004 and the Mies van der Rohe—European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture (2005).

If that wasn’t enough to bolster his creative work, the Dutchman plays mentor to the world’s future generations of architects at Harvard University. A professor in practice in the prestigious architecture department, Koolhaas heads the Project on the City research programme. Investigating changing urban conditions across the globe, their acceleration and how design professionals are ill-prepared to cope and influence them, the architect’s musings should provide an interesting and suitable talking point for a biennale based around forging working relationships with our city.

Department heads at the Royal College of Art Ron Arad and Anthony Dunne will also offer their views during the opening weekend. A furniture designer by trade and leader of the London school’s Products course since 1997, Arad is sure to deliver a talk with his usual unabated confidence and revolving predominantly around his latest creations. Guests should expect a more philosophical lecture from Dunne—co-founder of London design practice Dunne and Rabby and chair of the MA Design Interactions course—who is likely to reflect on his research into the social, cultural and ethical implications of existing and emerging technologies.

Sandwiched in the middle of the educational godfathers and practicing designers—and for those who admire a more unconventional method to traditional practices—are those rebels with a global cause, the Graffiti Research Lab. They will discuss how they empower individual artists and protesters with open source tools to create their own public interventions.

Their work will be included in Droog Event 2: Urban Play, an urban intervention conceived and curated by Scott Burnham.

More info: For full ExperimentaDesign event listings refer to the online programme at www.experimentadesign.nl.

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AGENDA

Amsterdam Weekly_18-24 September 2008

Amsterdam Weekly_18-24 September 2008

AGENDA: MUSIC

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SHORT LIST

Wire, Friday, Melkweg Oude Zaal.

THURSDAY18 SEPTEMBER

SATURDAY 20 SEPTEMBER

Event: Festival Confronting Cultures

World: Septeto Santiaguero

The state of Israel exists 60 years this year. Without doubt, the question then arises whether this is a reason to celebrate. However, Festival Confronting Cultures is less of a birthday party and more of an insight into Israeli culture—for better or for worse. Over three days you can enjoy theatre (in English and Hebrew), dance and music (Idan Raichel will perform at Westerunie on Saturday), from both Israeli guests and Dutch artists taking inspiration from the situation in Israel. You can even learn to cook Israeli food during a workshop. The festival aims to reflect an occurrence of monumental global importance, which is the reason the region has barely been skipped from news broadcasts ever since.

Try to set aside your personal opinion and look at the issue from the artists’ and each other’s point of view. Let yourself be educated, but most of all entertained. (Miriam Landman) NDSM-werf, various times and prices. Also Friday and Saturday.

Son is the father of contemporary Cuban music, cradle for the churning rhythms, warm-butter vocal harmonies and unshakeable spirit that mark mambo, salsa and all that followed. Since 1995, Septeto Santiaguero have been leaders in the Cuban revival movement, championing and reinventing not only son—that funky form with its funkier three-string guitar—but also bolero, guajira and others. The eight-man group hails from a hotbed of island music, Santiago de Cuba, and offers evenings that are more celebrations and exultations than mere concerts. Especially so tonight, when the gig will be followed by a Latin Dance Party spurred on by the brilliant, musically-omniscient DJ Jairzhino. Bet it gets your cowbells clucking. (Steve Schneider) KIT Tropentheater, 20.30, €23.

FRIDAY19 SEPTEMBER Rock: Wire Too arty for punk, too punk for new wave and too cool to care, Wire have always remained one of those groups who continue to thrive artistically outside of the mainstream. The driving-yet-angular debut Pink Flag was an incendiary burst of two-minute yelps and screams, and it defined the post punk genre two years before the world knew it existed. With the subsequent releases of Chairs Missing and 154, Wire showed their creative restlessness and borderless artistic intent, stepping firmly away from their punk rock peers. Twenty years later they continue to fuse art and performance with the perfect two-minute pop song. Daring, unyielding and still able to rock any room, this is a must see. Oh yeah, to the skinny-jeans brigade: bring your notepads and pens. To the older crew: don’t forget the earplugs. (Monte Bergamont) Melkweg, Oude Zaal, 20.00, €16 + membership.

Art: Miyako Ishiuchi—Photographs 1976-2005 Human beings grow old. So do objects and the houses we live in. Japanese photographer Miyako Ishiuchi (1947) focuses on the traces time leaves on our bodies and products.

But if you think this will result in a collection full of wrinkles and grey hairs, you’re wrong. Ishiuchi’s images range from obscure empty houses to the worn sole of one’s foot. She discovers beauty in spots where most would never expect it. Detailed photographs hide a sometimes painful and strained life story. Each image leaves you with thoughts, feeling a growing psychological tension. In this first European retrospective, Foam shows a wide selection of images from six of Ishiuchi’s previous series. (Miriam Landman) Foam, Thur, Fri 10.00-21.00, Sun-Wed 10.00-18.00, Until 16 November.

SUNDAY 21 SEPTEMBER Pop: Gotye, Claire Bowditch A double bill from Down Under sees two of Australia’s finest artists, Gotye (pronounced Gaultier) and Clare Bowditch, take the Paradiso stage in this early session.

Gotye, the Belgian-born, Melbourne-raised Australian Record Industry Awards (ARIA) winner for Best Male Artist (2007) delves diversely through dark pop, sampled soul, funk and world on breakthrough second album Like Drawing Blood. Live it translates to a one-man-band full of samples, triggers and percussion. His ‘Learnalilgivinanlovin’—a Curtis Mayfield-esque soul tune—is scoring play on local music channels, so hopefully Europe is now taking notice. Bowditch, ARIA’s Best Female Artist for 2006, offers support with her stripped–back, intelligent yet delicate indiefolk charm. (Colin Delaney) Paradiso, Kleine Zaal, 18.45, €8 + membership.

TUESDAY 23 SEPTEMBER Books: David Sedaris Rarely do you find yourself giggling, chuckling and then bursting out in laughter on an intercontinental flight. But as always, with David Sedaris you just can’t help yourself. His brilliance lies in his quintessential self-depreciation and quirky familial tales. From going cold turkey in Tokyo to back scratching in North Carolina, Sedaris once again treats us all to his truth, absurdity, and wit. Guaranteed to make tears stream down your cheeks, When You Are Engulfed in Flames may be his best novel yet, and he’s reading from it tonight. If you’re a super-fan, Sedaris can also be found at the American Book Center 25hours earlier, signing copies. (Kate Hutchinson) De Rode Hoed, 20.00, €18.50.

Send details and images for listing consideration at least two weeks in advance to agenda@amsterdamweekly.nl.

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Amsterdam Weekly_18-24 September 2008

AGENDA: MUSIC

Must see: Rock

Must see: Experimental

Bon Iver

Thereminia

Paradiso, Grote Zaal, Friday 19 September

OT301, Friday 19 September

Justin Vernon, singer for Bon Iver, took the isolated musician thing to the extreme when a year and a half ago, he spent a winter in a Wisconsin log cabin with no one and nothing around him but the snow (well, and presumably some guitars and decent recording equipment). New album For Emma, Forever Ago was the result, and folks have been lapping it up since its release. 19.30, €14 + membership

Dorit Chrysler’s also playing a brief concert in the Van Gogh tonight, but this is the real theremin deal. Chrysler sees the theremin as the perfect formulation of her artistic expression, actively including her body in the whole performance, with her concerts featuring both popular and experimental compositions. For this show she’ll also collaborate with Russian DJ Goldfinger. 19.30, €7

MUSIC Thursday 18 September Country: The Language Local boys from Amsterdam.

With support from (also local) singer-songwriter Wotienke, whose music has strong ties to the Moravian countryside in the Czech Republic. Cafe Pakhuis Wilhelmina, 19,00, free

Experimental: PitchWhiteStorm A blend of jazz and jazz rock with electronic, world and avant-garde styles, as heard through a flute, drums, bass, keyboards and a bit of poetry read amongst the cacophony. Badcuyp, Noordpool, 21.30, €8

Rock: Wire English art punks, back on the road to destroy a new generation’s hearing. Formed in 1976, they’re playing tonight in support of recent critically acclaimed album Object 47. See Short List.

Melkweg, Oude Zaal, 20.00, €16 + membership

Pop/Rock: 3voor12 Live radio and TV session featuring sets from The Madd (Sixties style for today’s ears) and Kid Carpet (electronic, experimental pop).

Desmet Studios, 22.00, free, tickets: www.3voor12.nl

Classical: Aanstormend Jong Talent That’s right, three string quartets—Ragazze Kwartet, Tiberius Kwartet and Allegra Kwartet—in one night. All young, yes, but the sounds they pull with their bows defy questions of age. Expect vigorous renditions of quartets by Boccherini, Brahms and Ravel. Concertgebouw, Kleine Zaal, 20.15, €25

Rock: Rock Jam We normally don’t mention open jam sessions, but this one features Herman Brood’s ex-drummer Gus Genser. Shame it’s not scheduled on a Saturday night... The Waterhole, 22.45, free

Jazz: 10 Years Try Tone Jubileum Festival Taking part in celebrations for the local label are Agog, a guitar-bass-drums trio that combine jazz, avantgarde and world music; Celano/Baggiani Group, Argentinians that combine their homeland´s folk music with modern jazz; and Tetzepi, a 15-man outfit that lay down hard grooves, set up serious solos and let loose raucous collective improvisations.

Bimhuis, 20,30, €15

Friday 19 September

Country: JK Knijft Western twang from Rotterdam.

Skek, 20.00, free

Experimental: Friday Night A unique performance by New York singer, composer and theremin player Dorit Chrysler, based on the art of Kazimir Malevich. Van Gogh Museum, 19.30, museum entry cost

Rock: Subbacultcha! Featuring young indie pranksters Ponytail from the US. Noisy, energetic and just so bloody joyous, it’s difficult not to get caught up in their enthusiasm. This is one hot rock with completely bonkers vocals. Support from Ponypack.

Bitterzoet, 20.00, €6 Classical: Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Pianist Krystian Zimerman performs Lutoslawski’s Piano Concerto with the orchestra led by Mariss Jansons. Also on the bill: Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony in E-flat major, dubbed the ‘Romantic’ one. Concertgebouw, Grote Zaal, 20.15, €20/€60 Big band: Bucket Casablanca Muziek, 20.30, free

Folk: Tom Brosseau American singer-songwriter from North Dakota who effortlessly combines the slippery glissandos of old-timey country with acoustic rock. You’ll hear a bit of each of his influences—including Dylan, Woodie Guthrie and Nick Drake—but not too much of either. Paradiso, 19.00, €6 + membership

Classical: Calefax Reed Quintet Having trouble switching back from holiday mode? Relive the feeling of being away and relaxed in an exotic (or at least different) environment with this woodwind quintet´s chosen programme. All of the pieces—by Debussy, Bartók, Liszt, Van Onna and Strayhorn— were written by composers freshly inspired by their travels. Muziekgebouw, 20.00, €20.50 Singer-songwriter: Subbacultcha! Indie folk from Jeremy Jay. Support from lo-fi duo Les Singes. De Nieuwe Anita, 20.00, €7

Classical: Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra See Thursday. Concertgebouw, Grote Zaal, 20.15, €20/€60 Classical: Violini Capricciosi Violinist Igor Ruhadze performs Mozart and Schubert sonatas with the ten-fingered help of pianist Baart van Oort.

English Reformed Church, 20.15, €12.50 Jazz: 10 Years Try Tone Jubileum Festival Third night of the party, with hard grooving Dutch fiddlers Zapp String Quartet; sax and drumming duo Jorrit Dijkstra/John Hollenbeck; and jazz/punk/rock bands Man Bites Dog and Ninsk. Bimhuis, 20.30, €15

Saturday 20 September Jazz: Sponge Bop Weekly live jazz, today featuring drummer Joost Kesselaar. Cotton Club, 16.30, free Pop/Rock: Excused CD presentation for the local fivepiece. Cafe Pakhuis Wilhelmina, 20.00, free Folk: Turner Cody and the Wowz Sure, the Dylan comparison is easy to make, but it’s not like this New Yorker just stepped off MySpace and into Paradiso—he´s been touring and recording long enough to make his own sound, heard on nine albums, and still going strong. Paradiso, Kleine Zaal, 20.00, €8 + membership Classical: Marlon Titre The guitarist from Aruba sets his virtuosic fingers to work on music from the film Orfeo Negro, alongside works by Bach, Lauro, Berio, Sor and Titre’s own compositions. With special guest percussionist Yuchi Cordoba. Concertgebouw, Kleine Zaal, 20.15, €22.50, €25 World: Septeto Santiaguero Guaracha and son from Santiago de Cuba. This is the real thing. And these seven guys are the real deal. See Short List. KIT Tropentheater, 20.30, €23

Experimental: Crisisavondje A whole lotta music for very little cash. With GNOT (psychedelic jazz funk noise), raaskalBOMfukkerz (duo that combine poetry, rap and human beatbox with drumpads, keyboards, guitar pedals and various beats) and one-man rock ’n’ roll mouth harp master Antenna Tony Monorail.

Followed by the unpredictable pleasures of VJ Obscura and DJ Krautpleaser. Zaal 100, 21.00, €5

Heavy: Finntroll A traditional twin guitar/synth black metal assault. Throw in Finnish polka folk and goblins and you have the bizarreness of trollish folk metal. Their latest album is titled Ur Jordens Djup, which we hoped translated as something funny. It didn’t. So stick to their MySpace page rather than Wikipedia, as there’s even some big band swing metal to be heard. Melkweg, The Max, 21.00, €15 + membership

Rock: Prepare 2 Unload With Leotards opening the show. The Waterhole, 21.00, free

Pop/Rock: The National Bank Norwegian indie pop featuring the usually restrained Thomas Dybdahl. In fact, the ‘supergroup’ tag sometimes get thrown at this bunch, as the band also features members of Jaga Jazzist and Bigbang. Melkweg, Oude Zaal, 21.00, €13 + membership

Singer-songwriter: Alina Orlova The eastern face of folk. This Lithuanian singer writes highly infectious numbers, sung in her own language, Russian and English, and often with an accordion and violin adding to her piano, drum and guitar backup. Paradiso, Kleine Zaal, 22.00, €8 + membership

Noise of the week: Ponytail ain’t no dodgy classic rock hairstyle, so watch them wail their exuberant young heads off.

Rock: The Wendies With opening act Watever. The Waterhole, 21.00, free

Amsterdam Weekly_18-24 September 2008

Singer-songwriter: Zingzong Festival Merel Moistra hosts a slew of singer-songwriters. KHL Koffiehuis, 21.00, €6 Pop/Rock: Nuff Said Infectious harmonies from this Dutch group known for their solid, energetic live shows. Cafe Pakhuis Wilhelmina, 22.00, €5 Rock: Subbacultcha! Featuring the London no wave art punk noise of PRE. If you thought there wasn’t enough indie madness already this week, this hotly tipped bunch are in town to take the biscuit. Support from Amsterdammers Eva Braun and Israeli garage rock duo TV Buddhas. Studio K, 22.00, €6 World: The Idan Raichel Project Part of the Festival Confronting Cultures, celebrated Israeli keyboardist Raichel grooves with a percussionist, three singers and a reed master (who will handle a sax, clarinet, ney and zorn). Westerunie, 22.00, €35

Sunday 21 September Classical: La Rondine Quintet (with oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn and piano) sharing melodies of Mozart and Beethoven. Oosterkerk, 12.00, free Classical: Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra See Thursday. Concertgebouw, Grote Zaal, 14.15, €20/€60 Classical: New Masters on Tour Two master pianists (Amandine Savary and Sander Sittig) and one master violinist (Timothy Braun) masterfully play through master works by such masters as: Debussy, Franck, Britten, Corigliano, Prokofiev and Ginastera. A guaranteed masterfabulous evening. Amateurs are welcome if they sit quietly and clap at the right times. Concertgebouw, Kleine Zaal, 14.30, €15/€30 World: Adama Dramé & Foliba and Ami Sacko & Bassekou Kouyaté Original and traditional rhythms by djembé virtuoso Dramé and his percussion ensemble.

Show includes double bill with vocalist Ami Sacko, singing her own songs with accompaniment from husband Bassekou Kouyaté on the ngoni. All artists are Malinkés, a group of Africans spread throughout the continent. KIT Tropentheater, 15.00, €23 Jazz: Blurt Billed as the last show of the band’s last tour, this may be, yep, your last chance to hear the sax/singer-led outfit’s brand of pogo jazz noir. iLLUSEUM, 15.00, €10 Classical: El Chic A mostly vocal recital with instrumental accompaniment, sharing various romantic interludes, such as bass solos from operas Eugene Onegin and Don Carlo, works by Chopin and a medley from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. English Reformed Church, 15.15, €10 Classical: Willeke de Hertog Smits Organ recital with a prelude and fugue by Duruflé, among other pieces.

De Duif, 16.00, donations Pop: Gotye, Claire Bowditch Attack of the killer Aussies. See Short List. Paradiso, Kleine Zaal, 18.45, €8 + membership World: Emilio Solla & Afines This Argentinian pianist and his group have created their own blend of tango and jazz that has critics swooning. With support from Institut Ramon Llull. Bimhuis, 20,30, €15 Singer-songwriter: My Brightest Diamond Sublime American singer-songwriter. A bit like an operatically trained PJ Harvey, this multi-instrumentalist is more than a one-trick pony. Her most recent album, A Thousand Shark’s Teeth, has made a bit of a splash in the indie world with its thick atmosphere and intimate acoustics. Melkweg, Oude Zaal, 20.30, €12.50 + membership Jazz: Margo Klerx Jazz singer-songwriter with an instrumental quartet as backing. Badcuyp, Noordpool, 21.00, €5 Rock: Modey Lemon Noisy but melodic rockers from Pittsburgh. Paradiso, Kleine Zaal, 22.30, €6 + membership

AGENDA: MUSIC / CLUBS 3 questions:

Hospital Bombers Nacht van de Vrede, Volkskrantgebouw, Saturday 20 September, 20.00 They describe themselves as stadium folk, but who needs a stadium full of folks when Hospital Bombers fill our hearts with their warm, melodic guitar pop and bursts of fuzzy noise? If you’ve had experience with the Amsterdam indie scene over the past couple of years, it’s likely you’ve had some dealings with this hard-working outfit—even when it isn’t their gig, there’s usually one of them around working. You should at least have bought their album Footnotes. This week they play for peace and provide some musical insight as a bonus.

Music for rocking? ‘At the moment that’s Silver Jews’ ‘Time Will Break the World’ from the album Bright Flight. It goes: “The snow falls down so beautiful and stupid / For the black silhouette of Abraham Lincoln trees / The sky is low and grey like a Japanese table / And the horse’s legs look like four brown shotguns”. Each sentence is followed by a guitar going “ta da da taa da da dam”. My guess is that time will not break this one.’

Music for mellowing? ‘As long as I play it, it’s a fave, so: same album. I’ve been listening to it for an hour now, and yes, it mellows me out, too. It must be David Berman’s voice that does that. It’s warm and real.’

Music for loving? ‘Right now, I am not loving. But I imagine this is a nice record for loving too.’

Photo by Nick Helderman

Website: www.hospitalbombers.com

the band unleashing an album of covers of the likes of GG Allin, Wire, Leonard Cohen and Christina Aguilera, innovation simply ain’t on the bill. Melkweg, Oude Zaal, 20.30, €16 + membership

who’s charmed the pants off the music bloggers and indie brigade this year. One to watch, she’ll undoubtedly be back to headline the Grote Zaal in the near future.

Paradiso, Kleine Zaal, 19.00, sold out

Pop/Rock: The Wombats They’re cute, they’re cuddly and in their musical form, they’re amazingly popular.

This Liverpool trio have enjoyed enormous success since the release of their album The Wombats Proudly Present: A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation last year.

The recipe is simple enough: oodles of energy wrapped up in quick-fire guitar riffs and pop melodies. Paradiso, Grote Zaal, 20.30, €15 + membership

Rock: Beth Hart This American singer-songwriter has been putting out meaty tunes since the ’90s, offering a refreshing break from the likes of Norah Jones while garnering comparisons to Janis Joplin. But it wasn’t until 2004 that she become well-known round here, with album Leave The Light On. Now she’s pretty much adored in Amsterdam. Carré, 20.00, €15-€39

Rock: Ladyhawk Yet more Canadian indie rock, but don’t hold that against them. It’s good stuff. Paradiso, Kleine Zaal, 22.00, €7.50 + membership

Tuesday 23 September World: Eleftheria Arvanitaki Loved in her homeland for over 20 years, this Greek singer arrives in our lowlands for the first time, performing pop/rock, traditional Greek and things in between. Carré, 20.00, €15-€39 Pop/Rock: Portugal the Man Alaskan indie trio who were expected to be the state’s biggest international export in 2008 until that woman with the glasses came along. Paradiso, Kleine Zaal, 20.00, €6 + membership

World: Clejani Express The Romanian gypsy musicians from the village of Clejani, who have previously been enlisted by the likes of Peter Gabriel and Kronos Quartet, are now brought together in this current group, led by husband and wife Ionitsa (accordion) and Viorica Manola (vocals), mixing their own native sounds with contemporary dance music. Bimhuis, 20.30, €15 Jazz: Groove Night A Jazz Impuls special, providing a platform for turntablists, DJs and jazz cats. Guests tonight: Sensuàl, with their Brazilian jazz, pop and dance grooves. Pakhuis de Zwijger, 21.00, €7.50

CLUBS

Classical: Hanno Müller-Brachmann The German bass-baritone sings lieder by Mahler, Schönberg and Busoni, with piano accompaniment by Burkhard Kehring. Concertgebouw, Kleine Zaal, 20.15, €41.50 Jazz: Sandro Fazio Eight-piece outfit with saxophonist Tineke Postma. Badcuyp, Noordpool, 20.30, €5 Jazz: Jazzcafé Improvisation with Eric Boeren. Zaal 100, 21.00, €4

Monday 22 September

Jazz: Pigalle 44 Quintet that flies through gypsy jazz in the style of Django Reinhardt. Casablanca Muziek, 21.00, free

Pop/Rock: Eva de Roovere Popular Flemish singersongwriter starts her Dutch tour tonight. Expect radio hits like ‘Fantastig Toch’ and ‘Anoniem’ alongside new material. Carré, 20.00, €15-€29

Pop/Rock: Spinto Band Melodic young things from Delaware. Their guitar pop never threatens too much originality but it is damn catchy. Paradiso, Kleine Zaal, 22.00, €10 + membership

Pop/Rock: The Constantines Indie rockers from Ontario, now signed to the hip Arts & Crafts label. Paradiso, Kleine Zaal, 20.00, €8 + membership

Wednesday 24 September

Pop/Rock: The Lemonheads It’s a shame about Evan.

Try as he might, this grunge pretty-boy never managed to escape his Nineties exploits—not that they were musically poor. Between alternative rock nostalgia and

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Thursday 18 September Bon Bon Amer With Wannabeastar and Lamme Tonnie. Bitterzoet, 22.00-late, €5

Etnisch Hysterisch Globalisation proves to be a success formula for this party, which has the dancefloor stomping to sounds from all over the world. Sugar Factory, 23.00-05.00, €10 klinch: Crackhouse Oh yeah, there’s always so much fun to be had in crack houses. Especially if they organise DJ sets by Chicago house legends such as Derrick L Carter—which happens to be the case tonight. Melkweg, Oude Zaal, 23.00-05.00, €15 + membership Boss Bossing about in the Grote Zaal: Manga, Turne, DJ Lil Vic, MC Fit & VJ Nintando. The smaller department in the Kleine Zaal brings on Gomes, Melly Mel, Steve Boomselecter and MO MC. Paradiso, 23.5905.00, €12.50

Saturday 20 September Club Rascal Indie disco will never die. Club 8, 22.0004.00, €5 Earth Part three of this year’s Earth trilogy sees the return of Audiofly (UK), plus DJ sets by ONNO & Per, MC P-Pholl and VJ Schwung. The upstairs room is hosted by threesixty (of Club 11 fame) with a five-hour set by Nuno Dos Santos & Patrice Bäumel, AKA 360 Soundsystem and a live set by Applescal. And if you need a little break, you can always go downstairs for cushions and films. Paradiso, 23.00-05.00, €17.50 Labyrint Dance night providing a mix of funky house, hiphop, deep soul, minimal and eclectic sounds.

Tonight, resident DJ Yakuza is joined by DJ Domu.

Sugar Factory, 23.00-05.00, €12.50

3 Jaar Wildvreemd Yup, they’re still celebrating—this time with Ray Okpara, Lupe, Lauhaus and a performance by Les Afant Nu. Sugar Factory, 23.00-05.00, €10

Gemengd Zwemmen Two rooms of swimmingly diverse noise. In The Max, shake your hips, do the Latino and salsa up with the ¿Que Pasa? crew; in the Oude Zaal, there’s alternative dance, pop, rock and indie hits. Melkweg, 23.59-late, €9

Blue Note Trip Weekly jazz and dance fusion featuring DJ Maestro and special guests. Melkweg, Oude Zaal, 23.30-late, €8

Sunday 21 September

Friday 19 September

Wicked Jazz Sounds Jazz, hiphop, broken beats, nujazz, funk and Afro sounds, as classic vinyl collides with live musicians. Sugar Factory, 23.00-05.00, €9.50

Classical: Lunch Concert Weekly freebie, this time featuring violinist Marlene Hemmer and pianist Paul Komen. Concertgebouw, Kleine Zaal, 12.30, free

Burlesque Freak-Out Living up to everything the name promises, with rock ’n’ roll cabaret, freaky film clips, snappy music and last but certainly not least, a line-up of international burlesque stars and starlets.

Club 8, 22.00-04.00, €10

Electronica: Lykke Li Saucy Swedish electro pop diva

Switch Booming technofest on the booming tech-

Fun Dutch talent: Nuff Said never let anyone down.

noship, with Secret Cinema, Drumcomplex, Oliver Ton, Kammy, Bas Mooy, Dave Miller and many more. Stubnitz, 22.00-04.00, €18.50

Monday 22 September Club Hell De Diepte revisited, with live sets (Spookey and The Buckle Ups) and DJs (Memme Zlammer and Mappe). Hell yeah! Paradiso, Kelder, 22.30-late, €5

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A G E N D A : G AY & L E S B I A N / S T A G E / E V E N T S

GAY&LESBIAN Edited by Willem de Blaauw.

Thursday 18 September Party: Lezzie Chill Out The name says it all. Chat, chill, dance and/or flirt. And sip sexy cocktails. Cafe Sappho, 21.00, free

Friday 19 September Party: D & C Dance & Cruise Party at this new cool cruise club. Shirts are optional, and so is the rest of your wardrobe. Dance, flirt and do all kinds of other un-holy stuff. Admission includes one drink and there’s even a tiny smoking lounge for those desperate to suck on something else. Church, 20.00-00.00, €10 Party: Exotic New gay club night at this once über-hip (straight) venue. Beats include commercial and progressive house sounds, plus performances by international porn stars (yawn).

Hosted by Miss Nickie Nicole (double yawn).

More, 23.00-05.00, €12.50

Saturday 20 September Twisted Crispy Tunes Fun and popular night at this funky bar with super friendly staff, great cocktails and gorgeous punters. DJ RAF spins tunes by Miss Kittin, Hot Chip, Duffy, Kylie, Hercules and Love Affair, Morrissey (bliss), Madonna (miss), Roisin, Amy, Adele and more. PRIK, 22.00-03.00, free Party: Spellbound Party Wicked non-scene underground queer party with great tunes, fun performances, laid-back atmosphere and an up-forit crowd. This edition includes DJs Kaseta, Martijn, Trashling and Vission, plus performances by Mister F (Amsterdam) and KornreinigeR (Berlin). OCCII, 23.00-05.00, €7

Sunday 21 September Sex club: Horsemen & Knights Popular Sunday afternoon sex party for big men and their admirers.

And sorry guys, we don’t mean body size. Dresscode: naked or underwear. Free entrance for those who fit the category and pass the ultimate measure test... Cockring, 15.00-19.00, €8 Party: Asian Disco Night East meets West at this friendly dance party. DJs RW and Eko spin the decks, plus performances and tasty Asian snacks (erm, that’s food!). Cockring, 20.00-00.00, €5 Party: Zonde Paradiso’s gay/mixed Sunday nighter to finish off the weekend. Attracts a younger student crowd. Paradiso, 23.30-05.00, €7.50

Monday 22 September Party: Blue Monday Alternative, non-scene party, sometimes with live bands, for gays, lezzies, bisexuals and transgenders at this well-known squat. Vrankrijk, 22.00-02.00, free

STAGE

Amsterdam Weekly_18-24 September 2008

fall in love. As is the way of the operatic world, a tragic ending is inevitable. Stadsschouwburg, (Thur 20.00), €20-€50 Performance: Hartstocht In an open-topped Volkswagen bus with darkened windows, spectators have mirrors attached at lap height and sounds on headphones. Amsterdam ‘slides away underneath the passenger’ and an associative performance about letting go of control is created.

It’s theatre but not as we know it. The bus departs from outside Frascati, not from within. Frascati, (Thur, Fri, Tues, Wed 11.00, 12.00, 13.00, 14.00, 15.00, 19.00, 20.00) Theatre: Zij die sterven groeten U The new production by Vrienden van de Dansmuziek presents a nice overview of famous deaths in a truly morbid revue. From Caesar’s last words to Elvis’s final moment on a toilet, they’re all there. Plus the entire list of Shakespeare’s characters deaths. In Dutch. Rozentheater, (Thur-Sat 20.00), €12.50 Dance: Lost is my Quiet Forever In her new production, Nicole Beutler of the Lisa collective uses elements of a baroque opera—histrionics, abundance, festivity, melancholy, instability—and consciously misinterprets them. With music by Henry Purcell. De Brakke Grond, (Thur-Sat 21.00), €8 Theatre: A Streetcar Named Desire All-time fave by old Tennessee—jazzy, smokey, laden with drama. In Dutch. Frascati, (Thur-Sat, Tues, Wed 20.00), €8 Dance: Gewoon Anders! In Dans Performances by Dansgroep Krisztina de Châtel to close the successful museum exhibition. CoBrA Museum, (Fri 20.00, Sun 16.00), reserve at info@cobra-museum.nl Theatre: Knielen op een bed violen Theatre adaptation of Jan Siebelink’s bestseller about a horticulturist who converts to orthodox Christianity, to the utter dismay of his family. Directed by Madeleine Matzer and starring Cees Geel and Wendell Jaspers. Stadsschouwburg, (Mon 20.30), €10-€ 22.50 Theatre: Laura en Lars ‘Stand-up therapy’ with Laura van Dolron, plus an imaginary Lars van Trier.

Frascati, (Tues, Wed 21.00), €7 Theatre: Onomatopee Four theatre companies— Stan, De Koe, Dood Paard and Maatschappij Discordia—and one phenomenon: The onomatopoeia (words that are formed by the imitation of sounds). Expect lots of fun screaming and hushing and whispering. Theater Bellevue, (Wed 20.30), €17.50

Ongoing Theatre: Trouw! Jelle Kuiper with a performance about life-changing events and how they sometimes occur more suddenly than one might think. To prove the point, Kuiper got himself a special license and offers to wed any willing couples in the second half of the night. Theater Bellevue, (Thur-Sat 20.30), €13 Theatre: Vallende Ster After a novella by Bernlef, this play is about the former varieté artist Wim Witteman, looking back on his life. Watch out for some tragedy, some comedy, some Beckett, some autism and for a heartbreaking performance by René van t’Hof—one of the most accomplished mime actors in this country.

Theater Bellevue, (Thur-Sun 20.30), €17.50 Music/Theatre: Hallo, hallo, wie stinkt daar zo? An old-fashioned radio revue, taking us back to the Fifties.

Production by Firma Rieks Swarte. Stadsschouwburg, (Tues 20.30), €10-€27.50

EVENTS Opening Theatre: Zilke—Dood en Ontwaken Musical performance about a beautiful girl suffering from a fairytale-like illness, which involves dying out of empathy for other people, then being awoken again.

Because this is a bit of a flashy illness, her mum sends her to the circus, where she meets seven goats and other interesting creatures. In Dutch.

Stadsschouwburg, (Fri 20.30), €10-€27.50 Music/Theatre: Madama Butterfly The Nationale Reisopera performs the hugely popular Puccini opera, about an American officer and a geisha who

Festival: ExperimentaDesign After four successful editions in its native Lisbon, ExperimentaDesign, the international biennale dedicated to design, architecture and contemporary culture has been invited to Amsterdam. As a result of this, ExperimentaDesign will now take place in alternating years in Lisbon and Amsterdam, each with different programmes. So make the most of the conferences, exhibitions and special events—some last the full six weeks; others are oneoffs happening only this week. See feature on p.XX and www.experimentadesign.nl. Various locations, (daily), various prices

Take the bus: Hartstocht heads out into Amsterdam.

Amsterdam Weekly_18-24 September 2008

Film: Meezing Sound of Music ‘Oh no! Oh dear! I’m struck down by fear’ should really be the lyric in ‘Do Re Mi’, but what the hell, some people apparently enjoy The Sound of Music. So break out the lederhosen, head to the finest film hall in town and sing your heart out one last time, because this sing-a-long concept is going into hibernation—phew! Pathé Tuschinski, (Thur 19.30), €TBC

AGENDA: EVENTS/ART Art:

Rogier Verkade: Recht in Beeld Triptych photo sets; two of the photos are Creative Commons licensed images from sites like Flickr, with Verkade creating a third image to complete the trio. Centrale Bibliotheek (Daily), until 28 September Hacking IKEA Tired of having the same decor and furniture as everyone else on the street? This exhibition serves to remind that IKEA products are far from holy, and are actually easy to modify. While some designers seek to improve upon the originals, others thrive on distorting usage. Take inspiration from the ideas displayed and rebuild your furniture. Platform 21 (Wed-Sun 14.00-21.00), until 28 September

Festival Confronting Cultures New fest that focuses on countries where art and culture play an important role. This year, because of their 60th anniversary of existence: Israel. Bringing not only performers and artists from the region, but also an impression of what their modern culture is all about.

One example: Israel sells more theatre tickets than movie tickets. So expect some great theatre this weekend (in English and Hebrew). See Short List.

NDSM-werf, (Thur-Sat), various prices

Presence of Mind—A Choice from the Collection

by Wolfgang Tillmans The Stedelijk Museum regularly invites artists to select from the collection, coloured only by their own artistic perspective. This time, the German photographer Wolfgang Tillmans (1968) offers a fresh perspective amidst the context of his own oeuvre. Stedelijk Museum CS (Daily 10.00-18.00), until 30 September

Festival: Night of the Mink A PR offensive for the mink. Bont voor Dieren puts the mink in the spotlight with philosophy, literature, interviews with politicians, music, film and a Loesje workshop. Mainly in Dutch.

Felix Meritis, (Fri 20.00), €9

Malick Sidibé Malian photographer (b. 1935, Soloba) who, from the early ’60s on, snapped portraits and various engagements of local society, from football matches to weddings and Christmas Eve celebrations, which now offer insight into the people’s lives shortly after winning their independence.

Sidibé was one of the first African photographers to gain recognition in the West. Foam (Sat-Wed 10.0018.00, Thur, Fri 10.00-21.00), until 15 October

Festival: Jordaan Festival Getting in touch with the Jordaan during two days of partying, performances, wining and dining. Located at the bus station near Marnixstraat and Elandsgracht. See www.jordaanfestival.nl. Jordaan, (Fri-Sun), free Event: Nacht van de Vrede Programming for peace. There’s a poetry battle, political debate (Jan Pronk vs Jessica Serraris), cabaret, live music from Hospital Bombers and C-Mon & Kypski, and finally DJs till late. See article on p. 7. Volkskrantgebouw, (Sat 20.00), €6 Discussion: Worldchat A unique evening on neocensorship featuring international academics and journalists. In addition to a live Worldchat, there will be a DJ and an excellent cocktail bar. In English. De Balie, (Sat 20.30) Festival: Cross-Over A two-day celebration at this floating broedplaats, which is a cross between a casual village festival and an exhibition. Expect exchanges between local residents, artists and art lovers, with added environmental awareness. Party facets include a drive-in cinema, artistic boat trips, a YouTube disco, guided tours, hot tub, family fun, drinks and dancing. See www.bontezwaan.nl. De Bonte Zwaan, (Sat, Sun), free Sport: 24e Dam tot Damloop Starting at Prins Hendrikkade, around 35,000 runners in little shorts and bouncy shoes will begin their race (various lengths: 10 miles, 4 miles or one of two mini routes (0.6 or 2.2 km). Go ahead, cheer them on. Sure, it’s not as exciting as the olympics in an oppressive communist regime, but still a good time. Various locations, (Sun 11.04-15.00), free to watch Event: Mebike at Mercatorplein Mebike celebrates the annual action of Autoloze Zondag. What can you expect? A big BMX flatland competition

by Soulcycle, live painting on street obstacles, dance, beatboxing and special surprises. For more anti-car entertainment and information, see www.autovrijedag.amsterdam.nl. Mercatorplein, (Sun 12.00-17.00), free Event: L’Usine Sunday afternoon talk show. Guests include molecular neurobiologist Ype Elgersma, theatre-maker Neville Tranter, sport trainer Johnny Fernand, junior body-builder Leroy Lachman, performance artist Uwe Laysiepen, choreographer Mijke van der Drift and young actor Jan-Paul Buijs. Hetveem Theater, (Sun 16.00), free

Stad uit de School Designs by former students of the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture. ARCAM (Tues-Sat 13.00-17.00), until 25 October

Sanne Sannes Hup Gallery, opens Tuesday 23 September, until 21 November Rare vintage works by Dutch photographer Sanne Sannes, who perished in a car accident in 1967. Renowned in the early ’60s for using photography as a means to create autonomous art, he was known as the ‘photographer of tomorrow’. (Tues, Thur, Fri 10.00-17.00)

ART Opening Jeroen Blankert en Co An exhibition of landscape views from outdoors specialist Wim Elzinga, women’s mouths by Jeroen Blankert and, as per usual, artistic surprises from the inimitable Gabriel Kousbroek. Chiellerie (Thur 17.00, Fri-Wed 14.00-18.00), opens Thursday, closes Wednesday

contemporaries, predecessors and followers. Hermitage Amsterdam (daily 10.00-17.00), opens Saturday, until 18 January 2009 Marijn van Kreij: Tomorrow is Humourless Large wall paintings, combined with drawings in various formats and styles, transform the space of SMBA into a colourful, anarchistic interplay of diverse artistic forms.

Central aspects of Van Kreij’s work such as appropriation, copying, citation and redefining return in this powerful three-dimensional installation. Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam (Tues-Sun 11.00-17.00), opens Saturday, until 2 November Moderne Mexicaanse Meesters Work by four Mexican artists: Emilio Sánchez Díaz, Alejandra Nettel, Anna Kurtycz and Veronica Elizondo. Galerie Wies Willemsen (Fri-Sun 10.00-18.00), opens Sunday, until 4 December

ExperimentaDesign Three ongoing exhibitions that make up the programme for the design biennale. Sunday Adventure Club takes place at Groenburgwal 44 (Staalstraat 7a/b); Droog Event 2: Urban Play takes place at Onder de Brug (De Ruyterkade 153-157) and the IJ waterfront; and Come to My Place can be found in the Westerhuis Gallery (Westerstraat 187). See www.experimentadesign.nl. Various locations (WedSun 11.00-18.00), opens Friday, until 2 November

Uit de Tijd Diverse works by Maartje Korstanje, Iede Reckman, Tarja Szaraniec, Frank Ammerlaan, Thijs Rhijnsburger, Lucia Luptáková, Koen Delaere, Caroline E Prisse, Jan Van Der Ploeg, Erik Mattijssen, Aldert Mantje, Ad de Jong, John Blake, Eli Content, Jan Henderikse and Nan Hoover. De Service Garage (Wed-Sun 12.0018.00), opens Wednesday, until 19 October

Museums

Literature: David Sedaris The humorist and author of Me Talk Pretty One Day and Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim brings his entourage to Amsterdam for the Dutch publication of his latest collection of wisdom, When You Are Engulfed in Flames. In English.

See Short List. De Rode Hoed, (Tues 20.00), €18.50

Miyako Ishiuchi: Photographs 1975-2005 The first European retrospective of Japanese photographer Miyako Ishiuchi. While the artist brought attention to herself at Biennial 2005 in Venice with her collection Mother’s, the remainder of her work had not yet been presented collectively in Europe. Exhibited in Foam are ninety photographs from the series Yokosuka Story, Apartment, Endless Night, 1.9.4.7, 1906 to the Skin and Mother’s. Foam (Sat-Wed 10.00-18.00, Thur, Fri 10.0021.00), opens Friday, until 16 November

Multimedia: PICNIC ‘08 A fascinating festival boasting fresh creative and innovative ideas, PICNIC is one of the world’s leading events where creative minds from the realms of media, entertainment, science and the arts convene. Today is just the start. See www.picnicnetwork.org for the full whack. Until 26 September.

Westergasfabriek, (Wed), various prices

Caspar David Friedrich and the German Romantic Landscape For the first time ever, all the works by Caspar David Friedrich from the collection of the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg will be loaned for a special exhibition focusing on this renowned German artist. His paintings and drawings are at the centre of the exhibition, but they are surrounded by works by

Benefit: I Love Sadza! To help raise money for a performance art programme in Zimbabwe, a slew of talent comes out tonight to share their skills, from poets and hiphop acts to singer-songwriters. Bitterzoet, (Sun 20.30-01.00), €7.50 Discussion: Women Inc A ‘New Girls Network’ special with Anna Chojnacka from the 1% CLUB. In Dutch.

Pakhuis de Zwijger, (Mon 20.00), free

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Keep warm this winter: head to Night of the Mink with credit card in hand.

NL28 Olympic Fire An exhibition in which scale models, film, debate and theatre help visitors to imagine that the Netherlands is organising the Olympic Games in 2028, a century after the Games in Amsterdam. Nederlands Architectuurinstituut (Tues-Sat 10.00-17.00, Sun 11.00-17.00), Rotterdam, closing Sunday Gewoon Anders! Exhibition revolving around alternative sexual lifestyles which, during the turn of the 21st century, spawned a wealth of images. With over 100 pieces by some 35 artists, including Gilbert & George, Nan Goldin, Marlene Dumas, Wolfgang Tillmans, Marlene McCarty, Rachid Ben Ali and a nine-metre high monumental statue of David, in bright pink and canary yellow, by Hans-Peter Feldmann. CoBrA Museum (TuesSun 11.00-17.00), closing Sunday

Black is Beautiful A journey of discovery though the history of art, which for the first time aims to highlight the attractiveness of the black person in the art of the Lowlands. It turns out, many great masters have portrayed black people. Their fascination will be illustrated in 135 paintings, drawings and manuscripts from collections here and abroad, including artists like Rembrandt, Breitner, Sluijters, Appel and Dumas. Nieuwe Kerk (Fri-Wed 10.00 18.00, Thur 10.00-22.00), until 26 October Sonic Voices, Rocking Hard Audio artist Nathalie Bruys co-curates this exhibition, showing a personal selection from very diverse approaches, each making use of sound and music. The works have been created by young artists with highly varied backgrounds, all with a sincere love of music, audio and art in common. Montevideo/Time Based Arts (TuesSat 13.00-18.00), until 2 November Pieter Hugo: The Hyena & Other Me Photos by 2008 KLM Paul Huf Award winner Pieter Hugo, made while travelling in Nigeria with a group of animal charmers and their hyenas, monkeys and snakes in tow. Foam (Sat-Wed 10.00 -18.00, Thur, Fri 10.00 21.00), until 2 November Censuur! Exhibition offering an overview of groups, institutions and individuals who’ve had dealings with censorship and the various forms of resistance against it, dating from the 17th century to the present. Persmuseum (Tues-Fri 10.00 -17.00, Sun 12.00-17.00), until 9 November Cy Twombly: Photographs 1951-2007 Photos by the renowned American artist, in celebration of his 80th birthday, As a photographer, Twombly still has the eye of a painter, who explores rather than captures his subjects—still lifes, flowers, interiors, seascapes. His ‘dry prints’, a specialised version of colour prints from a copy machine, are being shown for the first time in the Netherlands. Huis Marseille (Tues-Sun 11.00-18.00), until 23 November Art of the State Photographs and video works by sixteen artists from Israel. Through their works they reflect upon their country: the community in which they live, the numerous cultural and religious differences among Israel’s population and the current political situation. Joods Historisch Museum (daily 11.00-17.00), until 30 November Palestine 1948 On 14 May 2008 it will be exactly 60 years ago that the State of Israel was founded.

This long term presentation shows how this event affected the lives of individual Palestinians. Tropenmuseum (daily 10.00-17.00), until 4 January 2009

Galleries Dirk Bakker New paintings. Beeldend Gesproken (Wed, Thurs 13.30-18.30, Sat 14.00-17.00), closing Saturday Group Exhibition Featuring Joris Woertman (installations) and photographers Emmy Beenken and Bas van

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Amsterdam Weekly_18-24 September 2008

AGENDA: ART/ADDRESSES

Lekker Bezig

By Liz Farsaci

Galerie Roger Katwijk Lange Leidsedwarsstraat 198-200, 627 3808

Nalden, blog master

Galerie Smits Fokke Simonszstraat 29, 06 43001833

Nalden is a man with his finger on the pulse. He set up his website, Nalden.net, eight years ago and through it shares his thoughts on music, trends, technology and design, reaching out to everyone from marketing agencies to movie nerds, artists, cool kids and the prince of Monaco.

When he’s not busy with his blog, he works as a consultant for advertising agencies and for Appletree Records, an Amsterdam-based hiphop label which he helped to establish in 2006.

One of Nalden’s major focuses right now is on promoting the English version of his website (thus far, he has written in Dutch). Why the switch? ‘I basically wanted a new challenge after writing [for so long] in Dutch,’ he says. ‘It’s also because my personal life went really fast, and I’m travelling a lot and meeting new people. And with Nalden.net as an extended portal of my life, the choice to write in English was quite logical. Plus, the audience is much bigger now, which is interesting too, of course. By the way, the columns of James Worthy will be still in Dutch. He’s genius with that language.’

So what are some of the hot trends coming out of Amsterdam right now? ‘Festivals,’ Nalden says. ‘Every organisation has a festival. On the streets, the Vice/American Apparel combo is really happening. Also, electro music. And everybody is a DJ, and everybody does parties. There’s a lot happening, which is good. I think the biggest trend from a business point of view is all the international advertising agencies coming to Amsterdam to have an office here!’

Nalden doesn’t plan on staying still and says he would like to ‘make Nalden.net bigger. Work for Google Labs. Do a lecture on TED. Help new talented people get their game on.’

Gemeentemuseum Stadhouderslaan 41, Den Haag, 070 338 1111

Galerie Wies Willemsen Ruysdaelkade 25, 470 1073

Grimm Fine Art Hazenstraat 24, 422 7227 Hermitage Amsterdam Nieuwe Herengracht 14, 530 8751 Hetveem Theater Van Diemenstraat, 626 9291 Huis Marseille Keizersgracht 401, 531 8989 Hup Gallery Tesselschadestraat 15, 515 8589 iLLUSEUM Witte de Withstraat 120, 770 5581 Jan van der Togt Museum Dorpsstraat 50, Amstelveen, 641 5754 Joods Historisch Museum Jonas Daniel Meijerplein 2-4, 531 0310 KHL Koffiehuis Oostelijke Handelskade 44, 779 1575 KIT Tropentheater Mauritskade 63, 568 8711 De Kring Kleine-Gartmanplantsoen 7-9, 623 6985 Mart House Prinsengracht 529, 627 5187 Melkweg Lijnbaansgracht 234A, 531 8181 Melkweg Galerie Marnixstraat 409, 531 8181 Montevideo/Time Based Arts Keizersgracht 264, 623 7101 More Rozengracht 133, 528 7459 Muziekgebouw Piet Heinkade 1, 788 2010 NDSM-werf TT Neveritaweg 15, 330 5480 Nederlands Architectuurinstituut Museumpark 25, Rotterdam, 010 440 1200 Nederlands Uitvaart Museum Tot Zover Kruislaan 124, 694 0482 De Nieuwe Anita Frederik Hendrikstraat 111, 06 4150 3512 Nieuwe Kerk entrance on the Dam, 638 6909 Photo by Joost Benthem

OCCII Amstelveenseweg 134, 671 7778 Oosterkerk Kleine Wittenburgerstraat 1, 627 2280 OT301 Overtoom 301, 779 4913

Website: www.nalden.net

Oude Kerk Oudekerksplein 23, 625 8284 P/////AKT Zeeburgerpad 53, 06 5427 0879 P60 Stadsplein 100A, Amstelveen, 023 345 3445 Pacific Parc Polonceaukade 23, 488 7778

Tol. Galerie Bart (Thur, Fri 11.00-18.00, Sat 12.00-17.00), until 27 September Young Identities Teenage portraits by Jasper Groen. Melkweg Galerie (Wed-Sun 13.00 -20.00), until 28 September Stefan à Wengen—Nightology Paintings by the Swiss artist. Witzenhausen Gallery (Hazenstraat) (Thur-Sat 12.00-18.00), until 4 October John O’ Carroll Drawings, paintings, books and sculptures by the English artist, much of it based on archaeological findings, which he witnesses firsthand two months every summer, making accurate drawings at digging sites in Egypt. Galerie Roger Katwijk (Wed-Sat 12.00-18.00), until 4 October Dan Walsh New minimalistic works from the American artist coming out of Brooklyn, New York. Slewe Gallery (Tues-Sat 14.00-17.00), until 4 October Silent Times Drawings and oil pastels from Lies Neve. AYAC’S (Fri, Sat 13.00-17.30), until 4 October Soul Mirrors Travel through nightmares and fairy tales, as seen through the work of Andrea Lehman, Griekse kunstenaar Tassos Missouras and Zwitser Leopold Rabus. Galerie Hof & Huyser (Tues-Sat 13.0018.00), until 4 October Delight Group exhibition with artists inspired by various African countries and cultures. Arti et Amicitiae (Tues-Sun 13.00-18.00), until 5 October Leven op de maan Recent works on paper by Tomas Hillebrand and Marijke Sjollema. Galerie Smits (WedSat 13.30-17.30), until 8 October Neil Clements, Alex Dordoy, Morag Keil Och! Three Scottish artists present their latest paintings and installations. Grimm Fine Art (Thur-Sun 12.0018.00), until 9 October Homer This three screen slide installation by veteran artist Pablo Pijnappel follows a narrative about his friend’s move to a small Alaskan fishing village called Homer. Like much of his oeuvre, this piece employs methods of cinematic deconstruction and collage to tell a more or less linear story. Galerie Juliette Jongma (Wed-Sat 13.00-18.00), until 11 October Hinke Schreuders, Manon Bovenkerk, Awoiska van der Molen Embroideries, drawings and photographs from the three talented artists. Wetering Galerie (Wed-Sat 12.30-17.30), until 11 October Better Spectacles Recent works on paper by Nik

ADDRESSES

Pakhuis de Zwijger Piet Heinkade 179-181, 788 4444

11 Oosterdokskade 3-5, 625 5999

Pathé Tuschinski Reguliersbreestraat 34, 0900 1458

ANNO Westerstraat 35/49

Persmuseum Zeeburgerkade 10, 692 8810

Spade-Scrape Artist James Beckett pays hommage to Wilhelm Riphahn, city architect in pre-war Cologne. Van Zijll Langhout (Mon-Fri 11.00-17.00), until 15 October

ARCAM Prins Hendrikkade 600, 620 4878

Platform 21 Prinses Irenestraat 19, 344 9449

Aromatique Nieuwe Spiegelstraat 11b, 624 0044

PRIK Spuistraat 109, 06 4544 2321

Arti et Amicitiae Rokin 112, 624 5134

Rembrandtplein 44, 626 7070

AYAC'S Keizersgracht 166, 638 5240

The Photo Academy Award 2008 Starring the short-listed works. Among the prizes: an exhibition in Foam and publication in de Volkskrant and Elle.

Fotogram (Mon-Thur 09.30 -21.00, Fri, Sat 09.30 17.00), until 17 October

Rembrandthuis Jodenbreestraat 4, 520 0400

Badcuyp 1e Sweelinckstraat 10, 675 9669

De Rode Hoed Keizersgracht 102, 638 5606

De Balie Kleine-Gartmanplantsoen 10, 553 5151

Rozentheater Rozengracht 117, 620 7953

Beeldend Gesproken Borgerstraat 102, 612 1847

De Service Garage Stephensonstraat 16

Bijbels Museum Herengracht 366-368, 624 2436

Skek Zeedijk 4-8, 427 0551

Foreign Ground Works by young internationals: Erik de Bree, Danielle Itzhaqi, Yehudit Mizrahi and Masha Osipova. Ververs Gallery (Thur-Sat 12.00 17.30), until 17 October

Bimhuis Piet Heinkade 3, 788 2150

Slewe Gallery Kerkstraat 105A, 625 7214

Bitterzoet Spuistraat 2, 521 3001 Blow Up Gallery Hazenstraat 67, 665 3435

SMART Project Space Arie Biemondstraat 105-113, 427 5953

De Bonte Zwaan Houthavens (by Pont 13)

Souterrain Messinastraat 38

Activist Videoclips A PLANETART presentation of several rebellion videoclips, shocking film material and confrontational works of art. Volkskrantgebouw (MonFri 12.00-17.00, Sat 14.00-17.00), until 18 October

De Brakke Grond Nes 45, 626 6866

Stadsschouwburg Leidseplein 26, 624 2311

Cafe Pakhuis Wilhelmina Veemkade 576, 419 3368 Cafe Sappho Vijzelstraat 103, 423 1509

Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam Rozenstraat 59, 422 0471

Carré Amstel 115-125, 524 9452

Stedelijk Museum CS Oosterdokskade 5, 573 2911

Casablanca Muziek Zeedijk 26, 06 1220 0519

Stubnitz Odinakade, NDSM-werf

Centrale Bibliotheek Oosterdokskade 143, 523 0900

Studio K Timorplein 62, 692 0422

Christensen, who reinvents everyday objects, setting them in the foreground of figurative landscapes. Galerie Gabriel Rolt (Wed-Sat 12.00 18.00), until 11 October

Ingrid Baars Powerful images of the female form built up with various photographic layers and elements. Blow Up Gallery (Thur, Fri 14.00-18.00, Sat 13.00-18.00), until 25 October Niemand kan het Images that inspired former photographer Hans Aarsman’s theatre piece of the same name. De Brakke Grond (Mon 10.00 -18.00, Tues-Fri 10.00-20.30, Sat 13.00-20.30, Sun 13.0017.00), until 26 October Pierre Paulin—Artifort’s Artist Chic furniture designer Paulin worked for Dutch label Artifort in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s creating such memorably sleek and cushy chairs as the Ribbon, Tongue, Mushroom, Orange Slice and Tulip. This exhibition shows not only his work, but also a rare glimpse at the man everyone heard about but rarely saw. ANNO (Fri-Sun 12.0017.00), until 16 November Structures Group exhibition that examines the structure of the art world from the perspective of the artist.

Souterrain (Thur-Sun 12.00-17.00), until 7 December The Touch of Dick Evers Action and body painting. Aromatique (Fri-Sun 12.30 -17.30), until 16 January 2009 Blueprint Room New work from Rijksakademie resident Lotte Geeven. Mart House (Thur-Sat 13.00-18.00), until 11 August 2009

There really are many more art listings online at www.amsterdamweekly.nl/art.

Chiellerie Raamgracht 58, 320 9448 Church Kerkstraat 50-52 Club 8 Admiraal de Ruyterweg 56B, 685 1703 Club Home Wagenstraat 3-7, 620 1375 Club NL Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 169, 622 7510 CoBrA Museum Sandbergplein 1-3, Amstelveen, 547 5050 Cockring Warmoesstraat 96, 623 9604 Concertgebouw Concertgebouwplein 2-6, 671 8345

Paradiso Weteringschans 6-8, 626 4521

Sugar Factory Lijnbaansgracht 238, 627 0008 Supperclub Jonge Roelensteeg 15, 344 6400 Suzanne Biederberg Gallery 1e Egelantiersdwarsstraat 1, 624 5455 Tassenmuseum Hendrikje Herengracht 573, 524 6452 Teylers Museum Spaarne 16, Haarlem, 023 516 0960 Theater Bellevue Leidsekade 90, 530 5301 Tropenmuseum Linnaeusstraat 2, 568 8200

Consortium Veemkade 570, 06 2611 8950

UvA: Special Collections Library Oude Turfmarkt 129, 525 2141

Cotton Club Nieuwmarkt 5, 626 6192

Van Gogh Museum Paulus Potterstraat 7, 570 5200

Desmet Studios Plantage Middenlaan 4A, 521 7100

Van Zijll Langhout Brouwersgracht 161, 06 2825 9620

De Duif Prinsengracht 756

Ververs Gallery Hazenstraat 54

English Reformed Church Begijnhof 48, 624 9665

Verzetsmuseum Plantage Kerklaan 61, 620 2535

Felix Meritis Keizersgracht 324, 626 2321

Volkskrantgebouw Wibautstraat 150

Foam Keizersgracht 609, 551 6546

Vrankrijk Spuistraat 216

Fotogram Korte Prinsengracht 33, 624 9994

The Waterhole Korte Leidsedwarsstraat 49, 620 8904

Frascati Nes 63, 626 6866

Westergasfabriek Haarlemmerweg 8-10, 586 0710

Galerie Bart Bloemgracht 2, 320 6208

Westerunie Klönneplein 4-6

Galerie Gabriel Rolt Elandsgracht 34, 785 5146

Wetering Galerie Lijnbaansgracht 288, 623 6189

Galerie Hof & Huyser Bloemgracht 135, 420 1995

Witzenhausen Gallery (Hazenstraat) Hazenstraat 60

Galerie Juliette Jongma Gerard Douplein 23, 463 6904

Zaal 100 De Wittenstraat 100, 688 0127

Amsterdam Weekly_18-24 September 2008

Film review

AGENDA: FILM

By Mike Peek

Blind Date Opens Thursday at Ketelhuis.

SEX, LIES AND DUTCH VIDEOTAPES Theo van Gogh’s vision of a broken relationship enjoys a surprisingly faithful American adaptation.

For someone not exactly known for his social skills, the late Theo van Gogh showed a remarkable insight into human pain. Blind Date (1996) was a prime example of his cinematic ability

to analyse the most intimate of emotions. It’s also his second film (after Steve Buscemi’s Interview) to be remade by an American director. A pretty close adaptation, the new Blind

FILM

Catholic mother (Emma Thompson). Bedazzled by their opulent world—and estate—he gets caught up in a web of faith, love, passion and guilt, which will mark him for life. Performances are fine and everything looks lush and sumptuous, but despite its grand themes the film remains oddly unaffecting.

(GR) 130 min. Cinecenter, The Movies, Pathé ArenA, Pathé Tuschinski

Festivals

Disaster Movie If you’re still not tired of those parody movies that Hollywood keeps churning out almost on a monthly basis, this one intends to spoof pretty much everything from Indiana Jones to Juno and High School Musical. Do we need to comment again on how lame the actual jokes are? Will they ever stop making those? Written (really?) and directed by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, with Matt Lanter, Vanessa Minnillo, Kim Kardashian and (of course!) Carmen Electra. 90 min. Pathé ArenA, Pathé De Munt

Filmacademie Festival 1958-2008 To honour the 50th anniversary of the Dutch Film Academy (which used to be located in the OT301 building), The Cult Corner compiled this programme of the best and most important graduation films from the Academy’s former alumni. Among the titles to be shown for this celebration: Adelbert (1977) by Dick Maas, Alle vogels vliegen (1983) by Maria Peters, Altijd November (2004) by David Verbeek, and Nachtwake (2008) by Menno Otten. OT301 Hoge Ogen Filmfestival A series of recent classics, ranging from Taxi Driver to No Country For Old Man are shown at the Theater Vrijburcht (above the Vrijburcht bar) in IJburg. The programme also includes the IJ-Kort short films selection, which are competing to win the IJ-Palm. See www.filmopijburg.nl.

Theater Vrijburcht Manhattan Short Film Festival 2008 Stopping again in Amsterdam, this global festival attempts to unite audiences around the world by organising simultaneous screenings of creative short films in 100 cities across Europe and America. If you love short films, you must check out this year’s 12 finalists. Kriterion

New this week Brideshead Revisited Many viewers will immediately associate Evelyn Waugh’s 1945 novel Brideshead Revisited with its 1981 TV adaptation starring the unforgettable Jeremy Irons. Now director Julian Jarrold brings a compressed version to the screen: in mid-’20s Oxford, young middle-class Charles Ryder (Matthew Goode) befriends upper-class flamboyant Sebastian Flyte (Ben Whishaw), who invites Charles to his magnificent home. There atheistic Charles meets Sebastian’s sister Julia (Hayley Atwell) and their

Joy Division A perfect complement to Control, this

2007 documentary superbly details the background of the seminal rock group and its members, as well as the cultural context from which they emerged. There are interviews with most of the key figures: the three surviving band members, Bernard Sumner, Stephen Morris and Peter Hook, the amazing Tony Wilson, who founded Factory Records (and who recently passed away), Martin Hannett, their brilliant producer, and Annik Honoré, Curtis’s Belgian lover. The only figure who does not appear on camera is, not by chance, Curtis’s wife, Deborah, on whose biography Control was based. 94 min. Melkweg Cinema Mirrors Kiefer Sutherland stars in this remake of the Korean horror flick Into the Mirror (2003). Like The Haunting (1963) and The Shining (1980), this is a thriller in which a vulnerable character is menaced by a building that pulsates with malevolence. Sutherland plays a former detective, disgraced and alcoholic, who now works the night shift patrolling a fabled department store gutted by fire. After he’s attacked by distorted images in the store’s many mirrors, the evil follows him across town to threaten his family. Director Alexandre Aja (High Tension, The Hills Have Eyes) keeps the suspense tight for most of the movie, only to fritter it away in an overblown ending. The real star of the movie is the towering production design of Joseph Nemec III (Terminator 2). (AG) 110 min. Pathé ArenA, Pathé De Munt

Date centres on the marital problems of a middle-aged couple, Don (Stanley Tucci, who also directs) and Janna (Patricia Clarkson). Their relationship went sour some time ago, and they try to recapture their love and respect for each other through role-playing.

Responding to each other’s personal ads in the paper, Don and Janna pretend to be different people every time, hoping to discover something new about their partner. Their dates take place in Don’s cheesy bar, where he also performs his stale magic act in an attempt to allure more customers.

The idea is as fascinating as it is desperate: pretending to be someone else in order to get your partner to love you again. It doesn’t work that well, of course. Take one ad, where Don claims to be a reporter looking for an aggressive woman. When Janna walks in the door, she happily hits Don in the face.

In every date the couple’s past problems shine through at some moment.

An early scene has Don asking Janna how she knows if a man really loves her. She answers: ‘when he doesn’t mind if I don’t want to make love.’ This clearly hits a nerve, as Don bursts out in patronising laughter, which in turn upsets Janna and ends the date.

Though we never know how much of what they say during their dates is true, Blind Date foregoes any attempt it might have made at suspense. A voiceover provided by the couple’s daughter guides us through their emo-

The Seven of Daran: Battle of Pareo Rock The Battle of Pareo Rock is the first in a series of seven international family films that refer to the old myth of the ‘Seven of Daran’, in which seven talking animals took the fate of the world on their shoulders, reversing wrongs and making them right with the help of children. Pareo Rock is set in Africa and is a tale of a streetwise young black girl and a boy from the white suburbs who cooperate to prevent war between two rivalling tribes, with the help of a magic giraffe. Pathé Tuschinski Y.P.F.—Young People Fucking Like a bittersweet romantic comedy but with more thrusting, this indievibed film follows multiple relationships—in this case best friends, a couple, exes, a first date and roommates. Lightly funny, quirky vignettes of each lovemaking stage from ‘prelude’ through ‘afterglow’ illuminate the irrepressible power of sex to break down façades you didn’t even know you’d built.

Though occasionally these ‘classic’ relationships feel a smidge too familiar, Y.P.F. more than makes up for it with great acting and surprisingly astute observations about sex—like, is it rude to offer sex tips during a threesome? Smart and gently sexy, it lacks X-rated heat but gives a warm glow nonetheless. 90 min. Pathé ArenA, Studio K

Still playing 3:10 to Yuma Period westerns are so unfashionable and costly that they usually require a top-drawer script to get off the ground - and this one, adapted from an Elmore Leonard story and its 1957 movie version, travels with an arrow’s clean arc. Christian Bale is a one-legged Civil War veteran who can’t keep his ranch and young family solvent, Russell Crowe is the notorious bad man who steals his cattle (and most of their scenes together). When Crowe is captured, Bale signs on to help deliver him through Santa Fe’s striking Diablo Canyon to the prison train of the title, where the poor rancher will collect a $200 reward. 3:10 to Yuma harks back to the 50s westerns of Budd Boetticher and Anthony Mann, with their elemental journeys and damaged men. Director James Mangold (Walk the Line) draws good performances from both leads as they wrestle with the predatory power structure of the old west. (JJ) 117 min. Kriterion, Pathé De Munt

In case Control wasn’t depressing enough, enter the Joy Division world once more. Beautifully sadistic.

17

tions and reveals the main reason for their problems fairly early on. This unfortunately doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, because it takes away much of the intrigue the movie has in its opening scenes. But luckily, the dialogue is good enough to keep viewers focused throughout, and Tucci, maybe even more than Van Gogh, certainly knows how to build atmosphere. The bar, with its overflowing ashtrays and shabby decorations, is as gloomy as its inhabitants. And in a rare scene outside the main hall, Don takes Janna for a spin on an old, indoor bumper car ride.

Run down and deserted, it might fit their current understanding, but in some way it reminds them of old and happier times.

In lesser hands, a concept like this could easily become ridiculous, but Tucci and Clarkson, like Peer Mascini—who has a cameo here—and Renee Fokker in Van Gogh’s version, maintain a great sense of authenticity in the midst of an ever-changing masquerade.

It’s no coincidence, of course, that Don is a magician, balancing on the edge of reality. The whole film is about truth, dare and lies. How much of the love between Don and Janna was a lie? And how much of their current hate is true?

Can a relationship this damaged ever really become whole again? It’s summed up beautifully when Don gives Janna some plastic flowers. ‘Yes,’ he admits, ‘they’re fake. But they’ll last forever.’

5 word movie review

Stop Making This Shite Please Disaster Movie, Pathe ArenA, Pathe de Munt

Annie Leibovitz: Life Through a Lens A torrent of sensational shots by rock’s, and now fashion’s, foremost photographer keep this documentary flowing.

Annie Leibovitz has always had timing: she grew up at Rolling Stone magazine, snapped Richard Nixon as he slinked off in shame and posed Arnold Schwarzenegger when he was better known as Mr Universe. She was also one of the last people to see John Lennon alive, when she took the iconic nude portrait of him curled up like a foetus next to Yoko Ono. Photography fans and old hippies will delight in every frame, unlike Keith Richards who mutters, ‘...uh, no, I don’t remember that’, when shown a photo of his drugged-out ’60s self splayed on the floor.

Made by Barbara Leibovitz, the sister of, the film isn’t exactly critical, but who cares? (IM) 90 min. Rialto Bienvenue Chez les Ch’tis A smash box office hit in France, this effervescent comedy is about prejudices and the differences between the north and south of France. To help his depressed wife, post office manager Philippe Abrams (Kad Merad) tries to cheat his way into a transfer to the Côte d’Azur, but when he’s discovered, he’s relegated to the dreaded Nord-Pas-de-Calais region with its freezing cold weather and inhabitants who speak the ‘Ch’timi’ dialect. But lo and behold, Abrams actually likes the North, and befriends locals, especially postman Antoine (Dany Boon, who also co-wrote and directed the film). Bienvenue Chez les Ch’tis loses parts of its

18

Amsterdam Weekly_18-24 September 2008

AGENDA: FILM

Special screenings

ed optimism honestly express the worldview of songwriters Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein. In the words of theatre historian Ethan Mordden, their last collaboration is a ‘youthful piece written by the elderly, because it is entirely about freedom, which youth always seeks and the aged feel the loss of.’

The film’s sweeping aerial cinematography and Salzburg location footage and Julie Andrews’s smart, feisty performance enhance the story’s appeal, while its ‘sing-along’ edition affirms Rodgers and Hammerstein’s belief in the power of music to unlock the buoyancy of the human spirit. (AW) 174 min. Pathé Tuschinski

3:10 to Yuma (1957) One of the first antihero westerns, with Van Heflin as a farmer hired to tend a captured outlaw (Glenn Ford) until a train arrives.

Veteran director Delmer Daves hit his stride with a series of tense, modestly budgeted westerns in the ’50s (Broken Arrow, The Hanging Tree), though his career eventually petered out in glossy teenage suds (A Summer Place, Youngblood Hawke).

Despite an abundance of jabber, this 1957 film is often considered his best. With Felicia Farr, Leora Dana, Henry Jones, and Richard Jaeckel. 92 min.

(PG) 92 min. Kriterion

Tapas Three interlocking stories set in a Barcelona neighbourhood make up this low-key 2005 Spanish comedy. When his wife Rosalia leaves him, Lolo (Angel de Andres Lopez) needs help tending his bar, and hires Chinese immigrant Mao (Alberto Jo Lee) who knows how to cook and kung fu. Middle-aged store owner Raquel (Elvira Minguez) is having an Internet relationship, when a young worker has to come up to her house to fix her video. And Mariano (Alberto de Mendoza) is an old man that asks his wife to kill him, because he’s about to die, but grandma is busy selling drugs at Lolo’s bar. By first-time directors José Corbacho and Juan Cruz. In Spanish with Dutch subtitles 94 min. Rialto

Bloody

Sunday Paul Greengrass’s devastating Irish film (2001) captures the dread, horror, and confusion of January 30, 1972, when British soldiers fired on civil rights marchers in Northern Ireland, killing 13.

Adapting Don Mullan’s oral history of the tragedy, Greengrass sacrifices character and plot to a chilling impressionistic stylisation. Cinematographer Ivan Strasburg uses handheld cameras that hover and swoop, producing a breathtaking immediacy. The director dispenses with transitions, punctuating terse, charged scenes of political organisers, soldiers at the army command centre, and British officers by fading to black—a form of ellipsis that establishes a convincing political, cultural, and social framework for the events. 107 min. Theater Vrijburcht

Fresa y chocolate Neither fish nor fowl, Tomas Gutierrez Alea’s touching yet compromised depiction of the persecution of gays in 1979 Havana was directed in collaboration with Juan Carlos Tabio when Alea became ill. It opts for an extremely broad depiction of gay mannerisms and tastes in its treatment of a campy but committed dilettante with whom the hero, a university student and ardent communist, comes into contact. Controversial in Cuba yet only mildly polemical by American standards, this 1993 movie is entertaining and evocative both as storytelling and as a description of intellectual life in Havana, but it also borders on the obvious in certain particulars. Also showing: Dos patrias: Cuba y la noche, a new documentary by German film-maker Christian Liffers that follows the lives of six gay Cubans. In Spanish with English subtitles. (JR) KIT Tropentheater, Kleine Zaal

Must see:

Taxi driver Theater Vrijburcht, Sunday

Lou Reed’s Berlin Director Julian Schnabel, along with his daughter Lola, provided the visuals for the live show of Reed’s 1973 concept album. The film, shot in Brooklyn in 2006, is a pretty straightforward rock documentary, but the high-octane performances make it essential viewing for serious rock fans. With Emmanuelle Seigner as Caroline, the album’s most prominent character. (MB) 85 min. Melkweg Cinema Luna Papa In this 1999 comedy by Bakhtiar Khudojnazarov, a girl lives with her widowed father and her war veteran brother in a small village in Central Asia.

She dreams of escape and wants to become an actress. A man seduces her by pretending he’s friends with Tom Cruise, he gets her pregnant and her family tries to hunt him down. Ah, and a bull falls off a plane.

Khudojnazarov’s sense of humour is very close to the Balkan comedies of Emir Kusturica. In Russian with English subtitles. 107 min. Cavia

Green Fish Far from the stylised form of Korean gangster pictures, the 1997 directorial debut from Lee Chang-dong is a gritty look at the underworld of crime.

Mak-dong comes back home to the city of Ilsan after the obligatory stint in the Army, only to join a violent organisation and raise money to open a restaurant and help his family. The director is able in adding social commentary about the current status of Korean society into a formulaic genre picture. In Korean with English subtitles. 111 min. Filmmuseum

Medea Pier Paolo Pasolini’s disappointing 1970 version of the Greek tragedy—shot in Syria, Turkey, and Italy—offers soprano Maria Callas in her only film role, playing the lead part but not singing it. Pasolini’s Marxist, Catholic, and pagan impulses infuse the film with some life, but it’s a step backward after Oedipus Rex (1967). It’s worth seeing nevertheless. In Italian with Dutch subtitles. (JR) 104 min. Rialto

Loenatik de moevie One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest remade as a comedy for kids. Based on the Dutch TV Show Loenatik (1997), this title won the Audience Award at the Nederlands Film Festival in 2002.

Directed by Bobby Eerhart. 90 min. Theater Vrijburcht

The Mourning Forest This 2007 Japanese film directed by Naomi Kawase won the Grand Prix of Jury at the Cannes Film Festival last year. A nurse (Machiko Ono), grieving for the death of her young son, grows close to an elderly man (Shigeki Uda), one of her patients who

fun for non-francophone audiences, but there’s still enough left to enjoy this gentle and hilarious story. In French and Ch’timi with Dutch subtitles. (GR) 106 min. Pathé ArenA, Pathé De Munt

for the next paid gig. Plus his girlfriend just dumped him, so what a perfect time to go back to native Rimini. Once there, he finds out that his dysfunctional family has gotten worse. His retired father only thinks about golf, his big brother, who runs the family business, is a neurotic mess, and his younger sister just quit her studies. It’s an unusual Italian comedy, known originally as Non pensarci. In Italian with Dutch subtitles. 105 min. Kriterion Cordero de Dios The debut of Argentinean director Lucía Cedrón tells the story of a family torn apart by the military regime of dictator Videla. Its central figure is Guillerma, whose father died during the junta, after which she and her mother fled to Paris. The film opens with the kidnapping of Guillerma’s grandfather in 2002; gradually, Guillerma learns what really happened. The glamorous-looking cast and soft-focus lighting are somewhat out of step with the grim events, yet the film has its moving moments, especially when dealing with Guillerma’s childhood memories. And it is praiseworthy that Cedrón dared to tackle the painful subject of the junta in all its moral complexity. In Spanish with Dutch subtitles. (MM) 91 min. Rialto Dagen Zonder Lief A group of twentysomething friends, leading their lives in different parts of the world, gather in the small provincial city where they originated.

But their reunion only sparks feelings of disillusionment and sadness. Felix Van Groeningen’s fresh, honest look at generational problems from Belgian director Felix Van Groeningen, already screened at this year’s Rotterdam Film Festival and boasts a great jazz score by pianist Jef Neve. 100 min. Filmmuseum

Calimucho Director Eugenie Jansen’s new film follows the travails of a small family circus in the Netherlands that has difficulties breaking even. Here Jansen utilises performers from an actual circus, with its melting pot of characters coming from Germany, Romania, Morocco and the Netherlands. And to add one more ethnic twist, the circus director’s daughter has an affair with a young hired-hand from Morocco.

With Dicky Kilian, Ellie Teeuw and Tarek Hannoudi, written by Natasha Gerson. Het Ketelhuis, Rialto Caos calmo Pietro (Nanni Moretti), while enjoying a day out at the beach with his brother Carlo (Alessandro Gassman), saves a woman from drowning. When they head home, he finds out his wife has died unexpectedly. His grief takes him from his TV executive desk to a bench, where he sits every morning waiting for his tenyear-old daughter to finish classes. Life circles around him, and Pietro starts observing all the little bits of action happening in the square, trying to find a new meaning to his existence. Look out for a cameo by Roman Polanski. Based on the award-winning novel by Sandro Veronesi. In Italian with Dutch subtitles. (MB) 105 min. The Movies, Pathé Tuschinski, Rialto Ciao Stefano A washed out, ageing rock guitar player (Valerio Mastandrea) returns from Rome to his hometown in the Italian countryside. He hasn’t become a rock star, merely a session man looking

suffers from dementia, and who takes her on a mystical quest into the forest in the mountainous region west of Nara. This advanced screening at the Filmmuseum, prior to the film’s general release in October, includes a conversation between Peter Bueren and director Naomi Kawase. In Japanese with Dutch subtitles. 97 min. Filmmuseum Septembers Every September, a prison just outside of Madrid holds a music festival. Both male and female inmates from different prisons participate, and this documentary follows some of the contestants for the whole year prior to the event. Directed by Carlos Bosch, shown at IDFA in 2007. In Spanish with English subtitles. 113 min. Theater Vrijburcht

Shine a Light Martin Scorsese brings his superb eye (and ear) to a Rolling Stones concert experience.

Closer to The Last Waltz than No Direction Home in its structure, Shine a Light intercuts live performances of the band at the Beacon Theatre in NYC with some clips of its members’ TV appearances over the course of their 40-odd-year career. A funny prologue of the band’s interaction with Scorsese adds extra cinematic flair. If you’re not embarrassed to see grandpas Jagger and Richards sweat it out for two hours—with a little young blood, including Christina Aguilera and Jack White of the White Stripes—you’ll be highly satisfied. It’s only a rock ’n’ roll concert movie, but we like it. (MB) 121 min. Melkweg Cinema The Sound of Music Many critics trashed Robert Wise’s 1965 screen version of The Sound of Music, but the musical’s emotional openness and unguard-

The Dark Knight There is nothing camp about

Christopher Nolan’s second (and vastly superior) outing in the Batman franchise—although Christian Bale’s slightly ridiculous, husky voice as Batman could still use some fine tuning. Gone are the days of Burtonesque villains and nippled crusaders. This is as grim and realistic as it gets. In Nolan’s Gotham City there are no superheroes or supercrooks, just very disturbed people—notably Batman’s nemesis the Joker, who, in the late Heath Ledger’s incarnation, has never been more deranged nor more menacing. (His inventive pencil-disappearing-trick probably won’t find its way to children’s parties anytime soon.) A haunting (and haunted) masterpiece.

(BS) 152 min. Pathé De Munt, Pathé Tuschinski Deception You don’t have to be a genius to find yourself several steps ahead of this helpfully titled mystery thriller, which opens with a nerdy financial auditor (Ewan McGregor) being aggressively befriended by a slick Manhattan executive (Hugh Jackman). Sensing the problem perhaps, director Marcel Langenegger rolls out a series of hot sex scenes as McGregor is initiated into a secret club that sends him to swank hotel rooms for one-night stands with stunning women (Natasha Henstridge, Maggie Q, and a typically game Charlotte Rampling). Even after the expected happens and McGregor is snared, this unfolds in fairly predictable fashion. Jackman and McGregor throw their best American accents behind the effort, but Michelle Williams seems fairly bored as the sex-club partner who wins McGregor’s heart. (JJ) 108 min.

Pathé ArenA, Pathé De Munt

Okay, so we’ve got no hills, but you can still be alive with The Sound of Music. Go sing-a-long!

Taxi Driver Martin Scorsese put all the city dweller’s irrational, guilty fears into this 1976 story of a New York taxi driver (Robert De Niro) on a one-man rampage against the ‘scum’—pimps, whores, muggers, junkies and politicians. Scorsese’s style is a delirious, fullcolour successor to expressionism, in which the cityscape becomes the twisted projection of the protagonist’s mind. It would be hard to imagine an American film more squarely in the European ‘art’ tradition than this, yet it was misunderstood enough to become a significant popular success. (DK) 113 min.

Theater Vrijburcht Trouble Every Day Vincent Gallo plays an American who is visiting Paris with his new wife in this 2001 film

by Claire Denis (Beau Travail). But don’t expect the typical romantic honeymoon in the Ville Lumière, as Trouble Every Day is one of the most haunting horror films ever made. Cast includes Beatrice Dalle at her most sensual and dangerous. The opening sequence where she feasts on her sexual prey is one of the most arousing and disturbing to come out of French cinema in the last decade. In French with English subtitles. 101 min. De Nieuwe Anita Willie King: Down in the Woods Dutch film-makers Saskia Rietmeijer and Bart Drolenga went to America with the intention of producing a documentary about African American arts and culture in the deep South. When they met Alabama bluesman Willie King, they were so impressed with him that they decided instead to devote their efforts to create a film about King’s life and times. Even if he’s a successful musician, King chose to stay and live in the woods, close to nature and his people. 63 min.

Melkweg Cinema

Dialogue avec mon jardinier This film could just as well have been called ‘Zen and the art of gardening’. Separated from his wife, a crisp-looking, middle-aged Parisian painter (Daniel Auteuil) retreats to the house he grew up in, in rural France.

His gardener there (Jean-Pierre Darrousin) turns out to be his partner in mischief from their schooldays.

While one paints and the other grows vegetables, they comment on the world in front of them. ‘Don’t you look at the sunset, the stars, the fog?’ asks the painter. ‘I don’t usually see much of anything in a fog,’ replies the gardener. What is art to one is garbage to the other, and vice versa. Director Jean Becker has kept the material down-to-earth, and steers away from possible sentimentality with a couple of good laughs. In French with Dutch subtitles.

(KE) 109 min. The Movies Elegy Adapted from Philip Roth’s novella The Dying Animal, this film charts the older man/younger woman dynamic. After work, sixtyish, self-centred and hedonistic professor of literature David Kepesh (Ben Kingsley) has three things on his mind: sex, sex and more sex. When he meets dazzling young student Consuela (Penélope Cruz) he starts rhapsodising about her breasts, but Consuela wants a true relationship. Kepesh, mesmerised by her and acutely aware of his age, veers between possessiveness and his desire not to get emotionally involved. Elegy has classy performances and is nicely shot, but is also quite gloomy and prone to philosophical platitudes. Roth’s humour is sorely missed. Written by Roth and Nicholas Meyer and directed by Isabel

Amsterdam Weekly_18-24 September 2008

AGENDA: FILM

like a hideously deformed troll doll. He has zero chemistry with love interest Jessica Alba, and only Justin Timberlake manages to elicit a few laughs as the ridiculously well-endowed Canuck ice hockey goalie Jacques ‘Le Coq’ Grande. The Love Guru is a grating, juvenile and terribly unfunny experience that makes you feel sorry for Myers, and is definitive proof that he’s lost his mojo. (LvH) 86 min. Pathé ArenA, Pathé De Munt

Coixet, with Patricia Clarkson, Dennis Hopper and Deborah Harry. 107min. (GR) 107 min. Cinecenter, Pathé Tuschinski Elle s’appelle Sabine French actress Sandrine Bonnaire makes her directorial debut with a documentary about her autistic sister Sabine, intercutting home movies from the past with recent footage. The director wants to make the audience aware of the ravages brought about by inadequate health care systems. The adolescent Sabine was a gorgeous, vivacious and talented woman, but after being institutionalised at the age of 28 for five years, Sabine—now 38—is altered in an overweight, dispirited and sometimes aggressive person. This is extremely shocking to see, but Elle S’Appelle Sabine is not balanced and leaves too many questions unanswered. What actually happened at the psychiatric institution, for instance, is never explained. A missed opportunity. In French with Dutch subtitles. (GR) 85 min.

Het Ketelhuis, The Movies Estômago Drifter Raimundo Nonato (João Miguel) arrives penniless in a big Brazilian city and lands a job at a snack bar for food and lodging. But when he ends up in the kitchen, it turns out Raimundo is surprisingly talented, working miracles with the simplest of ingredients. His cooking not only wins him the affection of prostitute Íria, who is happy to sleep with him in return for good food, but a wealthy restaurant owner offers him a dream job. Course, things are never as they seem in this delicious comedy drama from Brazil. In Portuguese with Dutch subtitles. 100 min. Cinecenter, Pathé Tuschinski Factory Girl Edie Sedgwick was Andy Warhol’s superstar for a little while before getting cast out of the Factory, having an affair with Bob Dylan and subsequently dying in her sleep before reaching her 29th birthday. The rise and fall of the troubled starlet feels strangely current in our celebrity-crazed postBritney society, while at the same time utterly depressing in its familiarity. Sienna Miller bares body and soul to successfully play the charming socialite, while Guy Pearce doesn’t romanticise Warhol, but portrays him as the immature, conniving vampire he probably really was. Directed by George Hickenlooper, with Hayden Christensen as the Dylan figure. (LvH) 99 min. Kriterion Le Fils de l’épicier A road movie of sorts, with a very French twist. The story is a bit flimsy: a young man (the grocer’s son of the title) helps his parents when they’re in trouble and sorts himself out along the way. The film’s strength is in its humane view of its characters and painterly eye for the landscape. As Antoine (Nicolas Cazalé) grudgingly drives his dad’s delivery van around, his brusqueness doing little for his sales or relations with the old clientele, we’re treated to breathtaking wideangle shots of Provence. Close friend Claire (Clotilde Hesme), former femme fatale Lucienne (Liliane Rovère) and increasingly senile father Clément (Paul Crauchet) play crucial, and sometimes very funny, roles while Antoine adjusts to his new life. Eric Guirado directed this feel-good film with an eye for the individual. In French with Dutch subtitles. (KE) 96 min. De Uitkijk Get Smart Remaking Get Smart, the 1960s Mel Brooks/Buck Henry spy parody series, without the original stars is like remaking My Little Chickadee without Mae West and WC Fields—the best possible outcome is disappointment. This big-budget comedy updates the action, with Maxwell Smart (Steve Carell) and Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway) foiling a plot to detonate loose nuclear bombs from Chechnya. The geopolitics haven’t required as much revision as the gender politics: on the show, 99 clung to Max’s side, but here Max is a neophyte and 99 a hardened veteran. This PC inversion robs Max of the crisp certitude Don Adams brought to the role, which was the comic linchpin of the series; all that’s left is an assortment of recycled gags and catchphrases. Peter Segal directed. (JJ) 111 min.

Pathé ArenA

Happy-Go-Lucky Poppy (Sally Hawkins) teaches

kindergarten in North London, lives in a flatshare with her best friend and fellow teacher Zoe, goes clubbing on Friday nights, and is the kind of person who, in the words of Eric Idle, always looks on the bright side of life. For example, she regards the fact that her bike has been stolen as motivation to improve her skills and decides to take driving lessons instead.

That’s how she ends up meeting Scott (Eddie Marsan), who’s basically her opposite. Not much happens in Mike Leigh’s latest film, but Hawkins’s Poppy is one of the great characters of the current cinematic year. (MB) 118 min. Cinema Amstelveen, Studio K, De Uitkijk

19

Mataharis Three women work at a seedy detective agency in this lively, likable film by Icíar Bollaín (Take My Eyes). Each of the female detectives has her own charm, but all of them are real women— overbites, underbites, bumpy noses and all. Will they sell out? Will a comatose marriage be revived with the help of lovers and lingerie? The empowering choices they eventually make inspire a hearty ‘good for you, girl’. In Spanish with Dutch subtitles.

(KE) 100 min. Het Ketelhuis

New this week:

Brideshead Revisited Pathe ArenA, Pathe Tuchinski

Hellboy II: The Golden Army The second outing of the grumpy but good-hearted demon commonly known as ‘Red’ focuses on the bonds between him and his supernatural companions, the amphibious Abe Sapien, human firecracker Liz Sherman and the new ectoplasmic addition Johann Krauss. Their occasionally rocky relationship is disrupted by vengeful Elf prince Nuada, who plans to awaken the mythical Golden Army to wage war on humanity.

Director Guillermo del Toro delivers a film filled with visually stunning flights of fancy, brought to life by a combination of old-school special effects and newfangled computer wizardry. But the film belongs to Ron Perlman’s cranky yet lovable Hellboy. (LvH) 120 min. Pathé ArenA, Pathé De Munt Il y a longtemps que je t’aime Kristin Scott Thomas is a talent who cannot be used often enough. Her characters are usually hard-as-nails socialites, who fanatically guard their real emotions with cynicism and acerbic wit. In Il y a longtemps que je t’aime (I loved you for so long), she has never been more brittle, or so tough. Her Juliette has just been released after 15 years in prison for a crime that seems beyond comprehension. Still, Juliette has refused to defend her actions, even to her younger sister Léa (Elsa Zylberstein), who desperately wants to understand. A strong, composed debut by novelist Philippe Claudel. In French with Dutch subtitles.

(BS) 115 min. Cinecenter, Het Ketelhuis

Into

the Wild Moving, if somewhat overlong, account of the life of Christopher McCandless, with a bravura performance from Emile Hirsch. At the age of 22, McCandless left his wealthy, dysfunctional family, gave his college cash to Oxfam and took off into the breathtaking beauty of the American wilderness. What starts as a run-of-the-mill road movie twists into an American Odyssey as, after two years away from it all, McCandless meets an untimely death in the wilds of Alaska. The usual Characters Met Along the Way include Catherine Keener, Vince Vaughn and Hal Holbrook. McCandless won’t stick with any of them, and gradually begins to unravel in his determined solitude.

The film becomes a meditation on the human need for human company, framed against some of the most glorious scenery the world has to offer. A triumph for Sean Penn as a director, backed by a custom soundtrack from Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder. (AD) 140 min. Cinema Amstelveen, Kriterion, The Movies, Pathé Tuschinski Julia The title character of this new film by Erick Zonca and Camille Natta resembles Gloria, the Gena Rowlands character in the 1980 John Cassavetes film of the same name. Like Gloria, Julia (a superb and brazenly unglamorous Tilda Swinton) harbours little maternal instinct beneath her tough exterior.

But where Rowlands slowly turns into a grudging heroine, cold-hearted, scheming Julia, who kidnaps a rich man’s grandson for ransom, stubbornly sticks to her plan—until the inevitable redeeming final act, that is. It’s a shame Zonca (director of the awardwinning La Vie rêvée des anges) and Natta didn’t dare go all the way. (BS) 138 min. Kriterion

Keane

This sobering drama about a schizophrenic man desperately trying to be normal is finally, after four years, getting a Dutch release.

Damian Lewis (Dreamcatcher, Friends & Crocodiles) is superb as the tormented lead, but he is helped by two equally excellent supporting actresses, Amy Ryan (the lousy mother in Gone

Go on, see Keane. And bring lots of tissue.

Baby Gone) and Abigail Breslin, who play a woman and her 7-year-old daughter living in the same shabby hotel. The scenes between Keane and the little girl are the beating heart of the film, filled with love and sadness—not for who Keane is, but for who he could have been. Directed by Lodge Kerrigan. (BS) 100 min. Filmmuseum Lake Tahoe A teenager crashes his family car and desperately looks for a way to fix it before going home. On his way, he meets a bizarre parade of characters who provide some mild, dry comedy bits.

Borrowing heavily from the likes of Jim Jarmusch, Hal Hartley and Aki Kaurismaki, Mexican director Fernando Eimbcke is able to bring in a laugh or two, but ultimately his Lake Tahoe lacks the concrete sense of humor to be a successful comedy, while it doesn’t have enough depth for a strong social observation on Mexican youth. In Spanish with Dutch subtitles. 85 min. Cinecenter, Rialto

Lemon Tree This bittersweet comedy-drama by

Israeli director Eran Riklis tells the story of Salma, a Palestinian widow whose lemon grove stands dangerously close to the new country house of the Israeli Defence Minister. When an order is issued to cut down the trees for security reasons, her fight to defend them takes on a greater significance. Hiam Abbass, the Anna Magnani of the Middle East, turns in a great performance as Salma, amid a strong supporting cast. In Arabic/Hebrew/English with Dutch subtitles. (MB) 106 min. Rialto The Life Before Her Eyes Adapted from a novel by Laura Kasischke, this gauzy drama by Vadim Perelman (House of Sand and Fog) is an unfortunate combination of real-life horror and narrative game playing. A high school shooting rampage culminates in two friends (Evan Rachel Wood and Eva Amurri) being held at gunpoint by a deranged classmate, who threatens to kill one of them. From there the movie cuts back and forth between the girls’ friendship leading up to the crisis and events 15 years later, when Wood has aged into an emotionally damaged Uma Thurman. Perelman never overcomes the disjuncture of having two familiar actresses play the same grown character, and despite the endless crosscutting, the two halves settle respectively into ghoulish foreboding and murky psychological drama. (JJ) 90 min. De Uitkijk The Love Guru Mike Myers reportedly developed the character of guru Pitka during stand-up comedy skits over the course of several years, but it doesn’t show in this painfully pun-free comedy. Myers mugs and giggles like a hyperactive toddler, but he looks

Webtip

‘A Few Good Creative Men’ www.youtube.com/ watch?v=gYEf8XZKlUU

Midnight Meat Train This grim and sick adaptation of a story by Clive Barker suffered from a prolonged stay in distribution hell, and the only thing that prevented it from becoming a straight-to-DVD title was a flaming legion of horror fans. They will get what they expected and then some, as director Ryuhei Kitamura assaults your senses like Sam Raimi on acid. The titular subway line is haunted by a Frankensteinian brute (a truly menacing Vinnie Jones) and when a nosy photographer (Bradley Cooper) goes investigating, the situation quickly turns crimson. If you’re looking for the goriest film this year, look no further. (LvH) 85 min. Pathé ArenA, Pathé De Munt Mongol At last, here’s proof that a bold, big-budget epic from the Eastern steppes can compete with the classics from Hollywood and New Zealand. This German/Russian/Kazakh coproduction is the first of a planned series of biopics on the life of the legendary Genghis Khan, and the bloody battles, excellent cinematography and sprawling locations are very impressive. However, the first act of the film suffers from repetition and Asano Tadanobu’s practically saintly Genghis is a little hard to take. The utter anticlimax of an ending also makes Mongol hard to recommend. In Mongolian with Dutch subtitles.

(LvH) 120 min. Pathé Tuschinski La Noche de los girasoles If you had plans to visit the lovely Spanish countryside for your summer holidays, you might reconsider after watching this grim and downbeat Hitchcockian Spanish art house thriller. A rape and murder in a rural town set up the Rashomon-like structure in which six characters are followed in six seperate chapters, with each chapter cleverly expanding the audience’s knowledge and deftly expanding our point of view. The depravity and dark view of human nature might be too much to stomach for the faint of heart, as every ounce of innocence is squeezed from the film throughout the two hours of running time. In Spanish with Dutch subtitles. (LvH) 118 min. Kriterion North by Northwest Hitchcock’s classic 1959 comic mistaken-identity thriller. Cary Grant plays an unsuspecting businessman caught up in a cheerfully complicated web of intrigue involving some microfilm, the United Nations, a crop duster, Eva Marie Saint and Mt Rushmore. What more could you ask for? 136 min. Filmmuseum The Panman: Rhythm of the Palms Steelpan player Harry Daniel wants to pass on the traditions of steelpan music to the younger generation so badly that, in his attempts to do so, he jeopardises his family life.

When he meets the young and talented Jacko, he believes he’s finally fulfilled his wishes. But when Harry’s glory begins to fade, Jacko turns against him and switches to rock music. Panman, the opening film at the Africa in the Picture festival, is the first independent film production made on the island of Saint Martin and also received the Best Film Award at the Hollywood Black Film Festival. In English with Dutch subtitles. 90 min. Het Ketelhuis, Rialto

20

Amsterdam Weekly_18-24 September 2008

AGENDA: FILM

FILM TIMES Thursday 18 September until Wednesday 24 September. Times are provided by cinemas and are subject to last-minute changes. .

De Balie Kleine-Gartmanplantsoen 10, 553 5151 Filmbanktour #20: Under Your Skin Sat 20.30.

Cavia Van Hallstraat 52-I, 681 1419 Luna Papa Thur, Fri 20.30.

Cinecenter Lijnbaansgracht 236, 623 6615 Brideshead Revisited daily 15.45, 18.45, 21.45, Sun also 11.15 Elegy daily 16.15, 21.45, Sun also 11.00, 13.30 Estômago daily 19.00, 21.45, Sun also 11.00, 13.45 Il y a longtemps que je t'aime daily 16.15, 19.00 Lake Tahoe daily 16.00, 17.45, 19.45, 22.00, Sun also 11.15, 14.00.

Cinema Amstelveen Plein 1960 2, Amstelveen, 547 5175 Happy-Go-Lucky Tues, Wed 20.30 Hoe overleef ik mezelf Sat 15.30, Sun 13.30 Into the Wild Thur-Sat 20.30 Kung Fu Panda (NL) Sat, Wed 13.30, Sun 11.30 Wall-E (NL) Sun, Wed 15.30.

New this week:

Y.P.F.—Young People Fucking Pathé ArenA, Studio K

Savage Grace Julianne Moore is the perfect fit in yet another portrayal of a woman on the verge of a mental breakdown. In this tale based on real events in the lives of Brooks and Barbara Baekeland, director Tom Kalin specifically decided to focus on Barbara’s unhealthy relationship with her son.

Moore immerses herself in her portrayal of beautiful Babs, who, having married far above her social and intellectual level, has turned into an affected, needy woman. The film could have done without the end titles informing us of the fate of Barbara’s equally twisted son, which underline the exploitative nature of the story and undermine the potency of the final shot. (BS) 96 min. The Movies The Strangers Young lovers Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman, arriving at his parents’ remote summer home after a wedding, are terrorised in the wee hours by three masked assailants whose motives are never explained. Making his debut as writerdirector, Bryan Bertino exploits all the old horror standbys—the phony based-on-a-true-story preface, the knock on the door in the dead of night, the eerily skipping record on the turntable, the malevolent figure glimpsed in soft focus over the heroine’s shoulder. There’s nothing remotely new here, but the movie has the taut, queasy feel of an early ’70s drive-in shocker: old-fashioned suspense without any guarantee of old-fashioned mercy. (JJ) 90 min. Pathé ArenA Vliegen naar de maan (3D) This adventure comedy, the first CGI animation feature specifically designed for 3-D, would have been more impressive if most of its images weren’t so drab. Its story about three young flies who hitch a ride aboard the Apollo 11 is meant to inspire, and the flight and moon-landing sequences make good use of the 3-D format. But the little heroes and their families are surprisingly ugly, with faces resembling skulls, and the colors are so faded and muddy, the movie feels tired and bungled.

Film includes a live-action epilogue by astronaut Buzz Aldrin. (AG) 89 min. Pathé Tuschinski

Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden? Morgan Spurlock’s long-awaited follow-up to Super Size Me purports to be a search for Bin Laden, but in fact it’s just a jocular fact-finding tour of the Middle East and Southeast Asia. The director travels around the world, seeks out worthwhile subjects, and puts himself at some risk to pose fairly dim questions, his effort culminating in a Pepsi Generation wrap-up that insists we all want the same things. The narrative emphasizes how much danger Spurlock is in and how noble he is to embark on all this while his wife is back in the US expecting their first child; it’s a little insulting to all the real reporters who’ve died in the field looking for hard information, not weak indie comedy. (JJ) 93 min.

Pathé Tuschinski Wild Child A spoiled Southern Californian (Emma Roberts) is sent off to a strict English boarding school, where she finds herself in the middle of yet another banal across-the-pond romantic comedy.

100 min. Pathé ArenA, Pathé De Munt The X-Files: I Want to Believe The second bigscreen spin-off of the cult TV show is a ‘standalone’ that nonfans can follow without knowing the series’ fiendishly complicated backstory. The problem is that only a fan would be inclined to tolerate this dunderheaded mystery, in which the FBI recruits former agents Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) to help find a missing woman. In addition to the usual paranormal stuff, writer-director Chris Carter has added some canned Catholicism: clues arrive in the visions of a wiggy pedophile priest (Billy Connolly), and in a groaner of a subplot, Dr. Scully, now employed as a surgeon, struggles to save a dying boy whose only hope is a radical new treatment and a whole lot of faith. (JJ) 104 min. Pathé ArenA

Wall-E It goes without saying that the new offering by the animating geniuses at Pixar is a marvel to behold and an example of old school Hollywood storytelling at its finest. But while the Pixars succeed in infusing the two most inanimate characters in cartoon history with compelling personalities—which was Pixar’s stated goal—you can’t help but wonder if you’re in the middle of an animating pissing contest. They’ve more than proven themselves as animators; now they need to focus on great stories. That said, the robots are awfully cute. (LvH) 98 min. The Movies, Pathé De Munt, Studio K, De Uitkijk

You Don’t Mess With the Zohan A battle-fatigued Israeli commando gives himself a makeover, assuming a new identity as a New York hairstylist.

That’s more high-concept than most Adam Sandler comedies, with the star creating a distinctive character amid all the meshugas. Though a bunch of the jokes are milked too thin, there are some absurdly goofy sight gags—like a hacky sack game enlisting a family pet—and a lineup of fun, silly cameos by guests from Chris Rock to Mariah Carey. John Turturro and Rob Schneider play the hero’s inept Arab nemeses, but skinheads and greedy tycoons are the ones who really get bashed in this lightweight amiable parody. Sandler cowrote the screenplay with Robert Smigel and Judd Apatow, and Dennis Dugan directed. (AG) 113 min. Pathé De Munt

Wanted The first foray into Hollywood by Kazakh director Timur Bekmambetov feels very much like a bullet ploughing its way through a brainpan, but in a good way. This hyperkinetic action flick defies conventional morality and the rules of nature to deliver a thoroughly enjoyable rollercoaster ride with a surprising sadomasochistic subtext. James McAvoy is excellent as the pencil pusher turned psycho-killer, Morgan Freeman once again easily oozes gravitas, but Angelina Jolie steals the show as the deadly assassin who is appropriately named Fox. Suffice to say, she belongs to the stone cold variety. (LvH) 110 min. Pathé ArenA, Pathé De Munt, Pathé Tuschinski

Edited by Massimo Benvegnù. This week’s films reviewed by Lisa Alspector (LA), Massimo Benvegnù (MB), Shyama Daryanani (SD), Angela Dress (AD), Don Druker (DD), Kate Eaton (KE), Sarah Gehrke (SG), Andrea Gronvall (AG), Jack Helbig (JH), Luuk van Huët (LvH), JR Jones (JJ), Dave Kehr (DK), Iris Maher (IM), Peter Margasak (PM), Mike Peek (MP), Julie Phillips (JP), Gusta Reijnders (GR), Kim Renfrew (KR), Jonathan Rosenbaum (JR), Martin Rubin (MR) and Bregtje Schudel (BS).

All films are screened in English with Dutch subtitles unless otherwise noted. Amsterdam Weekly recommends.

Go on, see Young People Fucking. And bring lots of tissue.

Filmhuis Griffioen Uilenstede 106, Amstelveen, 444 5100 Kung Fu Panda Thur, Fri, Tues 19.30.

Filmmuseum Vondelpark 3, 589 1400 Le Ballon Rouge & Crin-Blanc Thur-Sat, Tues, Wed 17.15 Dagen Zonder Lief Thur-Sat, Mon-Wed 17.30 Green Fish Mon 21.45 Keane Thur-Sun 21.45, Mon-Wed 22.00 Het kleine spookje Laban Sun, Wed 13.45 The Mourning Forest Sun 19.30 North by Northwest Sun 16.15 Oasis Wed 21.45 Peppermint Candy Tues 21.45 Secret Sunshine daily 18.45, Thur-Sun also 21.30, Sun also 16.00 Sjakie en de Chocoladefabriek (1971) Sun, Wed 14.00 Le Voyage du ballon rouge Thur-Sat, Wed 19.30.

Goethe-Institut Amsterdam Herengracht 470 Salon Unmuted: The River Fri 19.30.

Het Ketelhuis Haarlemmerweg 8-10, 684 0090 For film times see www.ketelhuis.nl KIT Tropentheater, Kleine Zaal Linnaeusstraat 2, 568 8500 Fresa y chocolate Wed 20.30 The House of the Spirits Tues 20.30.

Kriterion Roetersstraat 170, 623 1708 3:10 to Yuma Thur-Mon, Wed 22.15, Thur-Sat, Mon-Wed 20.00 3:10 to Yuma (1957) Mon 22.00 Ciao Stefano daily 17.30, 19.30 The Darjeeling Limited daily 19.45, Sat, Sun, Wed also 14.45, Sat also 0.15 Factory Girl daily 22.00, Sat also 0.00 Hunted Like Animals Sun 15.00 Into the Wild Thur-Sun, Tues, Wed 21.30 Julia daily 17.00 Het kleine spookje Laban Sat, Wed 14.30, 16.00, Sun also 13.15 Manhattan Short Film Festival 2008 Sun 20.00 La Noche de los girasoles daily 17.15 Sneak Preview Tues 22.15 Wall-E (NL) Sat, Sun, Wed 15.00, Sun also 13.00.

Melkweg Cinema Lijnbaansgracht 234A, 624 1777 Control Tues 21.00 Joy Division Fri, Sat 19.00 Lou Reed's Berlin Mon 21.00 Scott Walker: 30 Century Man Mon 19.00 Shine a Light Thur 19.00, Sat, Sun 21.00 Willie King: Down in the Woods Sun 19.00.

The Movies Haarlemmerdijk 159-165, 638 6016 For film times see www.themovies.nl De Nieuwe Anita Frederik Hendrikstraat 111, 06 4150 3512 Trouble Every Day Mon 20.30.

OT301 Overtoom 301, 779 4913 Filmacademie Festival 1958-2008 Tues 20.30.

Pathé ArenA ArenA Boulevard 600, 0900 1458 The Accidental Husband daily 16.10, 18.30, 20.40, Thur, Mon, Tues also 13.30 Bangkok Dangerous daily 13.00, 15.15, 17.30, 19.45, 22.00, Sat, Sun also 10.45, Sat also 0.10 The Bank Job Sat 22.50 Bienvenue Chez les Ch’tis daily 16.20, 21.10, Thur, Mon also 13.40 Brideshead Revisited daily 12.50, 15.40, 18.30, 21.15, Sat, Sun also 10.00 De brief voor de koning Fri-Sun, Wed 13.30, Sat, Sun also 11.00 The Dark Knight (Imax) Thur, Fri, Sun-Wed 11.30, 14.40, 17.50, 21.00, Sat 10.40, 13.50, 17.00, 20.20, 23.30 Deception daily 13.20, 15.50, 18.25, Thur-Mon, Wed also 20.50, Sat also 23.20 Disaster Movie daily 11.40, 13.45, 16.00, 18.00, 20.15, 22.20, Sat also 0.20 Evening Tues 13.30 The Forbidden Kingdom daily 18.20, Thur, Mon, Tues also 12.40, 15.30 Get Smart daily 21.40 Hellboy II: The Golden Army daily 17.45, 20.30, Sat also 23.00 Kung Fu Panda (NL) Fri, Wed 11.40, 13.55, Sat, Sun 11.20, 13.50 The Love Guru daily 18.50 Mamma Mia! The Movie daily 21.20 Meet Dave daily 12.10, 14.10, 16.10, 18.10, 20.10, Thur, Fri, MonWed also 22.10, Sat, Sun also 10.10, Sat also 0.30 Midnight Meat Train Sat 0.05 Mirrors daily 11.35, 14.00, 16.30, 19.00, 21.30, Sat also 0.00 The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor Sat 23.40 Nim's Eiland Sat, Sun, Wed 12.15, 14.20, Sat, Sun also 10.00 Sneak Preview Tues 21.30 Star Wars: The Clone Wars (NL) Fri-Sun, Wed 12.30, 15.00, Sat, Sun also 10.15 The Strangers Sat 23.45 Superhero Movie daily 17.40, 19.40, Thur, Mon, Tues also 13.35, 15.45, Sat also 0.20 Tropic Thunder Sat 22.10

Wall-E (NL) Fri-Sun, Wed 12.45, 15.00, Sat, Sun also 10.30 Wanted daily 11.45, 14.15, 16.50, 19.20, 20.45, 21.50, Sat also 23.10, 0.15 Wild Child daily 12.20, 15.20, Sat, Sun also 10.10 The X-Files: I Want to Believe Sat 23.55 Y.P.F.--Young People Fucking daily 17.10, 19.10, Thur, Mon, Tues also 13.10, 15.10 De Zeven van Daran: De Strijd om Pareo Rots Fri-Sun, Wed 12.00, 14.05, 16.15, Sat, Sun also 10.00.

Pathé De Munt Vijzelstraat 15, 0900 1458 3:10 to Yuma Thur, Sun-Wed 14.50, 17.45, 21.10, Thur, Mon, Tues also 12.15, Fri, Sat also 15.45, 18.50, 21.45 The Accidental Husband Thur, Sun, Mon-Wed 12.20, 14.45, 17.15, 19.45, 22.10, Sun also 10.15, Fri, Sat also 13.45, 16.15, 18.45, 21.15, 23.40, Sat also 11.15 Bangkok Dangerous Thur, Sun-Wed 19.30, 22.00, Thur, Mon, Tues also 12.10, 14.30, 17.00, Fri, Sat also 20.30, 23.15, Fri also 17.50 Bienvenue Chez les Ch’tis Thur, Sun-Wed 13.40, 16.10, 18.45, 21.30, Fri, Sat also 14.20, 16.50, 19.45, Fri also 12.00, Sat also 11.40, Sun also 11.10 De brief voor de koning Fri, Sat 14.00, Sat also 11.30, Sun, Wed 14.15, Sun also 11.40 The Dark Knight Thur, Sun-Wed 20.15, 21.10, Thur, Mon, Tues also 12.30, 16.00, Sun, Wed also 16.45, Fri, Sat also 17.30, 21.00, 22.00 Deception Thur, Sun-Wed 18.20, 21.00, Thur, Mon, Tues also 12.50, 15.40, Fri, Sat also 17.10, 19.30, 22.15 Disaster Movie Thur, Sun-Wed 16.45, 19.15, 21.40, Thur, Mon, Tues also 12.00, 14.15, Fri, Sat also 16.30, 19.00, 21.30, 23.45 The Forbidden Kingdom Thur, Sun-Wed 18.15, Fri, Sat also 19.15 Hellboy II: The Golden Army Thur, Sun-Wed 20.45, Fri, Sat also 22.40 Kung Fu Panda (NL) Fri, Sat 13.15, Sat 10.50, Sun, Wed 12.30, Sun also 10.20 The Love Guru Thur, Sun-Wed 18.40, Fri, Sat 20.20 Mamma Mia! The Movie Thur, Sun-Wed 18.00, Thur, Sun, Mon, Wed also 20.30, Fri, Sat also 17.45, 20.15 Meet Dave Thur, Sun-Wed 13.15, 15.45, Fri, Sat also 12.00, 14.15, 16.45, Sun also 11.00 Midnight Meat Train Thur, Sun-Wed 22.15, Fri, Sat 23.35 Mirrors Thur, Sun-Wed 12.45, 15.30, 18.30, 21.15, Fri, Sat also 14.30, 17.15, 20.00, 22.45, Fri also 12.00, Sat also 11.45, Sun also 10.15 Sex and the City: The Movie Sat 17.00, Sun 16.15 Sneak Preview Tues 21.45 Star Wars: The Clone Wars (NL) Fri, Sat 12.40, 15.00, Sun, Wed 14.20, Wed also 12.00 Superhero Movie Thur, Sun-Wed 14.00, 16.30, Thur, Mon-Wed also 12.00, Fri, Sat also 13.40, 15.50, 18.15, Sat also 11.20, Sun also 11.50 Tropic Thunder Fri, Sat 23.00 Wall-E daily 13.00, Thur, Sun-Wed also 15.20, Fri, Sat also 15.30, Sat, Sun also 10.40 Wall-E (NL) Fri, Sat 12.25, 14.50, Sat also 10.15, Sun, Wed 12.50, 15.40 Wanted Thur, Sun-Wed 13.30, 16.15, 19.00, Thur, Sun, Mon, Wed also 21.45, Fri, Sat also 12.50, 15.15, 18.00, 20.45, 23.30, Sun also 10.45, Tues also 21.30 Wild Child Thur, Sun-Wed 12.40, 15.00, 17.30, 19.50, Fri, Sat 13.30, 16.00, 18.30, 21.10, Sat also 11.00, Sun also 10.25 You Don't Mess With the Zohan Fri, Sat 22.30 De Zeven van Daran: De Strijd om Pareo Rots Fri, Sat 12.30, 14.45, Sat also 10.15, Sun 11.30, 13.45, Wed 12.15, 14.30, 17.00.

Pathé Tuschinski Reguliersbreestraat 34, 0900 1458 Atonement Thur, Tues 13.30 Brideshead Revisited daily 12.00, 15.00, 18.10, 21.10 Caos calmo daily 12.45, 18.45 The Dark Knight Fri-Wed 21.20 Elegy daily 18.15 Estômago daily 15.45, 21.30, Thur-Mon, Wed also 12.30 Into the Wild daily 20.45 Mamma Mia! The Movie daily 12.45, 15.30, Fri-Wed also 18.45 Mongol daily 18.30 The Seven of Daran: Battle of Pareo Rock daily 13.00, 16.00 The Sound of Music Thur 19.30 Vliegen naar de maan (3D) Sat, Sun, Wed 12.15, 15.15 Wanted Thur 16.30, 19.00, 21.45, Fri-Wed 18.00, 20.30, Fri, Mon also 12.15, 15.15 Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden? daily 15.30, 21.20.

Rialto Ceintuurbaan 338, 676 8700 Annie Leibovitz: Life Through a Lens Fri-Sun, Wed 15.30 Calimucho daily 19.15, Sun also 11.15 Caos calmo daily 19.45, 22.00, Thur, Fri, Sun-Wed also 17.00, Fri, Sun, Wed also 14.45, Sat, Sun also 12.30 Cordero de Dios daily 21.15, Sat, Sun also 13.30 Lake Tahoe daily 21.30, Thur-Tues also 19.30, Fri, Sat, Wed also 15.15, Sat, Sun also 13.15 Lemon Tree daily 17.15 Medea Sun 11.00, Wed 19.20 The Panman: Rhythm of the Palms daily 17.30 Tapas Sat 16.00.

Studio K Timorplein 62, 692 0422 De brief voor de koning Sat, Sun, Wed 17.00 Happy-Go-Lucky Fri-Mon, Wed 19.30 In Bruges daily 22.15 Wall-E Sat, Sun, Wed 15.00 Y.P.F.--Young People Fucking daily 19.15, 21.15.

Theater Vrijburcht Jo Valiantlaan 43--Bloody Sunday Sat 18.00 Dunya & Desie Fri 17.30 Earth Sat 12.30 Hoge Ogen Filmfestival Fri-Sun Juno Fri 19.30 Loenatik de moevie Sun 10.30 No Country for Old Men Fri 21.30 Ratatouille (NL) Sat 10.00 Septembers Sat 21.00 Sicko Sun 13.00 Sideways Sun 18.00 Taxi Driver Sun 20.30 Y-Kort Filmpjes Sat 14.30.

De Uitkijk Prinsengracht 452, 623 7460 Le Fils de l'épicier Thur-Tues 19.30, Wed 19.00 Happy-Go-Lucky Fri, Sun-Tues 17.00, Wed 16.30 The Life Before Her Eyes Thur-Tues 21.30 Wall-E Sat 17.00, Sun 13.00, 15.00, Wed 14.30.

Amsterdam Weekly_18-24 September 2008

FOOD/DRINK

The Mouth

By Nanci Tangeman

Panned cakes Meneer Pannekoek Raadhuisstraat 6, 627 8500 Kitchen open daily 12.00-20.00 Cash, PIN, credit cards Mr Pancake is having a bad day. Lost orders. Fake topiary flying across the restaurant. It’s not all his fault, of course. But, truth be told, today is not adding up to the best dining experience I’ve ever had in Amsterdam.

It all begins two weeks ago, when I wake up with the urge for pancakes— big fluffy, buttermilk pancakes with handfuls of blueberries and rivers of maple syrup. In other words—NOT Dutch pannekoeken. Realising my geographic limitations, I amend my cravings and today, Partner-in-allthings-gratifying and I finally head out to Meneer Pannekoek to satisfy my hankering.

It’s a long, miserable bike ride through rain and wind to the busy tourist corner on Raadhuisstraat. Partner and I arrive soaking wet.

Meneer Pannekoek’s decor is an odd mix of memorabilia: pigs in chef hats hold chalkboards; stuffed Dalmatian toys line the walls; Bing Crosby flaps his ears from a large black-and-white movie poster in the corner. It’s not completely bad. The music is soothing—mostly jazz, with an appropriate rendition of ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ on the jukebox.

The menu is another eclectic assortment. The monthly threecourse special (€18.50) offers chicken salad, fish stew and apples with cinnamon ice cream. There is a long list of Dutch favourites: pea soup with black bread and bacon (€3.75), uitsmijter (€6.75)

and stamppot (€10.25). I’ve heard from a friend of a friend that the Wienerschnitzel (€13.25) is the best in town.

There’s even a children’s dish (€4.25) that comes with a surprise. But no buttermilk pancakes with blueberries.

Still, I’m determined to order something that I can squirt syrup on... so I take a long look at the pancake and toast selections. I settle on Toast Meneer Pannekoek with ham, pear and cheese (€6.25). Partner passes on the Cajun pancakes and those covered with shawarma, mussels, smoked salmon or artichokes, and settles for a pannekoek with salami, onions, cheese and mushrooms (€9.25).

We order and the long wait begins.

All around us, diners are served. A giant serving of stamppot with smoked sausage, bacon and cracklings barely makes it past our table, as my stomach growls. Eventually, the waitress fesses up—she’s lost our order, but the drinks are on them. I contemplate the pancake house’s full bar, but settle for sparkling water.

About now, the topiary begins to fly. A diner from the next table stands up and somehow trips on a fake tree. Its beautifully manicured top careers through the air, landing right next to hungry Partner. If it had been real, he would have eaten it.

When our food finally arrives, my two pieces of toast, with crisp pears and grated cheese (straight from underneath the broiler) are just the slightest bit bland. I squirt a little syrup on top. That helps. Partner cuts into his pancake. The mushrooms are canned and the salami is soft, not hard. Still, we’re so hungry that we finish every bite. If there’s another visit to Meneer Pannekoek, we hope he’s having a better day.

Eventually, the waitress fesses up—she’s lost our order, but the drinks are on them.

A night in the life...

By Sarah Gehrke

Slow night, so long Cafe de Tuin Tweede Tuindwarsstraat 13 Open: Mon-Thur 10.00-01.00, Fri, Sat 10.00-03.00, Sun 11.00-01.00 Cash, PIN ‘So it was a lecture about “slowness”,’ says the girl. She’s sitting at a table outside Cafe de Tuin with her friends.

It’s a mild Wednesday night. ‘The whole thing was quite awful. The woman that held the lecture stood there with her jumper half on...’ Her friend interrupts. ‘What do you mean, half on? Like it was sliding down her shoulder or something?’—‘No, seriously half on!’ says the girl. ‘She only wore the sleeves, and the rest of it was just hanging down her back! Maybe she was demonstrating her way of taking things slow? Put on your clothes really slowly... Start with the sleeves, leave the rest for later...’— ‘Yes, or maybe she was continuing to put it on during the lecture,’ says her friend, ‘and you couldn’t see the process because she was doing it in a sort of super-slow motion—too slow for the human eye to see...’

They ramble on like this for a while and laugh. ‘Anyway,’ the girl continues her story, ‘as the lecture went on, I was getting more and more

Beer price: €2 for a vaasje (Grolsch).

Emergency food: Tostis and bread with tapenade, served well into the night.

Special interior feature: Beautiful, old-fashioned wallpaper, and old lamps and old mirrors to go with it.

Predominant shoe type: Arty trainers on the younger part of the customers. Old ‘Jordaanese’ shoes on the old ‘Jordaanese’ part.

Typically ordered drink: Speciaalbier. And normal beer.

Smoking situation: Sit outside, bathe in the soft red neon light that emanates from the bar’s sign, and watch the world go by—as long as it’s still warm enough.

Tune of the night: MGMT: ‘Electric Feel’.

Mingling factor: Medium.

State of toilets near closing time: The toilets are actually the only part of the bar that’s really ugly. They’re clean, yes, but the doors are painted in an abominable way and in disgusting colours.

aggressive. Then she posed a question to the audience: “What would you do to change the space around you?” And I wanted to say I’d let out a fart and stay where I was while everyone else went away, and I was waiting for her to call on me so I could say it, but she didn’t. I think she had already sensed the bad karma exuding from me.’

In Cafe de Tuin, however, the karma is pretty good. It’s quite a large place, but without the hall-like feeling of the ‘grand cafes’ of this town. The people are a nice mixture of all types and amusing to watch. The beer is good and so is the music. It’s busy, but the atmosphere is relaxed. In short, this is the perfect place for a slow night of drinks and silliness.

‘Vacuum cleaners!’ says someone outside. ‘The shop sells nothing else.

It’s called Stofzuigerkoning and it’s amazing. They have one by Alessi in the window, and the board next to it says: “An adornment for the living room”. Imagine—“I went to buy something nice for the house, a dinner table maybe, but well, it ended up a vacuum cleaner...”’

Let’s leave them here. I’m sure an elongated and very amusing conversation about vacuum cleaners is to follow, but on this slow and silly night it’s getting late, and we still have other places to go. But we’ll be back.

21

22

Amsterdam Weekly_18-24 September 2008

S E RV I C E

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