It's the happiest time of the year, and I'm watching horrormovies as if my life were depending on it. For fellow genre-lovers; here are some of the highlights of this month. For people that are not into guts, weirdo's, unneccesary nudity and wild chases with or without chainsaws; scroll baby scroll.... all the way down!
I: Haute Tension (2003) A french horrormovie by Alexandre Aja. This one had it all; gay love, a guy that looks like a ranger, but does nasty things with chopped off heads... lots of suspence, great acting and an unexpected brilliant twist in the plot. A definite keeper, and it ended up in the top 25 scariest movies of all time!
II: Body Bags (1993) Nice 'vintage' horror triptych of genius John Carpenter (Halloween, The Fog, The Thing) and Tobe Hooper (Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Poltergeist). This one came to me in a package with a note enclosed: "this is the movie we talked about last week, hope you enjoy it". That was the nicest thing ever, especially because I really enjoyed it. These three short films (The Gass Station, Hair, Eye) were all very different, one was really funny and another gave me sweaty palms, but I saw things in all three of them that I saw in movies that are much younger than these. Really worthwhile if you like orang-y blood.
III: Devil (2010) I was told that this one was superscary and I must say that the concept seemed kind of appealing to me. A bunch of people getting stuck in an elevator is nasty to begin with (I know this from personal experience) but when people start dying every time the light turns off (electricity malfunction?) it gets even nastier. I thought of Cube immediately and hoped for a nice psychological game with some nice gore added to it. Nevertheless, I should have remembered that it was directed by M. Night Shyamalan. He likes religion and stories that are full circle. I'm not into that, it's not what I look for in a horrormovie. I like bad endings and even more.. the unexpected. Not a keeper, but at least there was no Haley Joel Osment to overact this movie to death.
IV: The Human Centipede (2010) Last but REALLY NOT least: a dutch horrormovie that kept me nauseous for quite some time. Director Tom Six and his wife apparently wrote the movie and also came up with the rather sick idea of having a MAD german doctor (Dieter Laser, awesome name huh) sew together three people and give them only one digestive system. After some experiments on dogs, he does it for real. Just try to picture what this human centipede looks like and one can only imagine what happens with the second and the last person, when the first one eats. Not for weak stomachs, but really original and well made. And oooh, the mad doctor... love his looks!
Here's some of the sound that goes with all that terror:
Join us tomorrow December 17th for some rollatordisco at PUHA's Greedy X-mas party in Utrecht! Puha is a funky little shop in the Hardebollenstraat, that sells great stuff by young independent designers (they've got the very last pairs of our Hand in Glove mittens for example). So get your pressies while drinking and dancing; Christmas shopping doesn't get any better than this!!
Now let's hope and pray we survive this trip with Blanche through the snow and icy streets (definitely not the right weather conditions for a soundsystem!)...
Sorry guys, I'm a bit pressed for time at the moment. I just handed in an illustration and now I've got to pack my stuff and go to Rotterdam to pick up the other Dutch Doll and Blanche, and take the train to Utrecht to play at a party tonight. So no personal disclosures, no background info and no uploads this time. Luckily embedding a video is done in a flash and I've been dying to blog about these two anyway! Some my favorite female UK MCs (Envy, Mz Bratt, BabyBlue, Ruff Diamondz) are doing it for themselves on this remix of Tinchy Stryders' Game Over. For a while I was afraid grime was sliding down a steep slick slippery slope, but this track gives me hope.
While I was slaving over this impossible deadline, with the rain (and later snow - lots of it!) gushing down outside, all I had to do is look at this video and everything was alright again. A grinding cookie monster, what more do you want?!?
For some reason I lately enjoy listening to the Dutch radio's news channel while working. I think it's the voices of the people chattering away that make me feel like I have company (uhm this sounds pretty pathetic..). They play only one song per hour or so, and usually it's pretty middle of the road. With a startle I realized that now that I'm completely up to date with what's going on in the real world, I might be losing touch with what's happening in the world of music! So I hurried myself online and put up a search for new musical input. I hereby present you some of my findings. Not all tunes are "fresh from the press", but in my opinion they're still newsworthy.
Aloe Blacc - I Need A Dollar (Ft. Wu-Tang Clan)(ChromeRemix). Get it here (YSI). Love love love this song and love it even more now.
Wearing two pairs of socks, jeans, a singlet, a t-shirt, a blouse and the most hideous (and huge) wollen cardigan you've ever seen, the summer seems so far away now. But it was the summer when we started this project... and this december we will reveal it, at CBK Rotterdam! Haadjar Fris, an artist/teacher from Rotterdam asked six (fairly) young designers from Rotterdam to collaborate with six women that weren't born in Holland, but who are experts at a 'forgotten' technique such as knitting, crocheting or embroidery. We were supposed to give this somewhat oldfashioned craft a fresh look by mixing it with modern techniques, views or material.
I remember thinking: 'oh, this can be fun but I hate crochet so I really hope she's not going to match me with a crochet-person'. What did I get? I know, I jinxed it. As it turns out, I hate it so much that I almost gave up on the project, because I just don't have the patience or the love for it.
In the end, I decided to just ignore the wool and the needle and turn the whole thing around and now the exhibition will finally happen. On saturday december 18th from 14.30h - 16.30. Expect original (affordable) pieces by Kwannie Tang, Yvonne Gaemers, Daisy Kroon, Zelda Beauchampet, Diana van Golden and yours truly.
Join us for a drink and a happy dance!
Saturday december 18th, Nieuwe Binnenweg 75, Rotterdam
Dutch Dolls is a Design + DJ duo. This is our blog. Here we write about our designs, upcoming gigs, events and exhibitions, our latest musical findings, inspirations and whatever goes on in our daily lives...
All music and images posted on this blog are for promotional purposes only. Downloads are available for about a week. You like what you hear? Buy it!!! Links to the artists' websites are always provided in the posts.
If you are an artist, or are affiliated with an artist and you want your music/image taken down, please contact us and we'll be happy to do so.
