Chris Carter: The X Files. I Want to Believe

Three down, six to go ...

I saw this movie last Wednesday with my best friend, C. It was on the smallest screen at Saga (a theater which is starting to suck more and more, customer-relations wise) and it was the day before the last screening. So ... I am slow, but better late than never. ;-)

I am so glad I managed to see it, though. It was so great to 'see' Mulder & Scully again. I've missed those two!! I need to get more of the series on DVD; as it is I only have the first season. And that is so far from the best of what that show offered. Unfortunately, the movie's pretty far from the best too ... :-)

This was a movie that I enjoyed, and that C. enjoyed - we thought it was pretty good and we were glad to have seen it. BUT: we are fans. Caveat emptor! Anyone who's not a fan would have to be somewhat uncritical in their appreciation of weird mystery thrillers with vague supernatural overtones ... because this movie, seen in as objective a light as I can manage, is not all that if removed from the protective magic of the show. Mulder & Scully - who are, unsurprisingly, an 'item' at this point (who on earth else would ever be able to live with either of those two) - have a lot of back story, which the movie doesn't go into. So if you've never watched the show, you'll have some important clues missing, and the behavior of the characters will make less sense to you. Like, they're as good as married, but they still call each other by their last names? Scully is obsessed with young boys dying of mysterious diseases? Mulder has an unexplained grudge against the FBI? For me, all of this was just fine. Normal. :-) But I think it would be safe to say that the movie would be much less interesting for any non-fan ...

... since you'd then be stuck with only the plot, which is unfortunately pretty standard fare. FBI agent gets kidnapped, creepy old 'psychic' claims to receive visions of her whereabouts, Mulder's called in to disprove or validate allegations of creepy old man, Mulder gets too obsessed with case, Scully is upset with Mulder's preoccupation, things are not what they seem, Mulder gets in shitload of trouble, Scully is desperate to find & rescue him, Skinner saves the day!!! yay, Skinner!! :-D and then they figure everything out and OMG! that is SO fucked up! and then things are pretty much back to normal again.

Basically, plot-wise, this is like a really long episode of the show, but not one of the best episodes. So ... no, it didn't suck, but it wasn't that great. Not as good as it should have been, and not as good as it probably could have been. But I loved it anyway ... because I was so happy to see those two weirdos again.

Unmissable for us fans, but for the rest of you out there ... meh.

But if you aren't already a fan: you have GOT to watch this show!!!!! The truth is out there ... !

To whom it may concern: David Duchovny wears a beard in the first part of the movie, and he looks SO HOT ... !! ;-)

Må bare si dette, folkens ...

Åpent brev til mange nordmenn som skriver på nett og andre steder:

Det heter ikke 'triologi'.

Det heter 'trilogi'.

At det skal være så jævlig vanskelig å lære seg det a???

Phyllida Lloyd: Mamma Mia!

I was so psyched about seeing this movie, but then too lazy to blog about it ... ;-)

Two down, seven to go, anyway.

I saw this on August 18th with my friends Anéa and Findabair. It was a singalong screening, or at least was supposed to be ... but the subtitles were exlusively in Norwegian so IMO that kind of defeated the purpose. I mean, the subtitles were great. Totally above and beyond anything I'd expect from movie subtitling in this country. You could sing the Norwegian lyrics, totally. But the songs were in English. We mostly don't dub movies here. So I'm sure a lot of people there felt it would be somewhat weird & awkward to sing in Norwegian. Not a lot of people did any singing, at least. For whatever reason. I knew all the English lyrics by heart, but I can't sing. :-) ... or :-(

This was an entertaining and well crafted movie, for its genre. Obviously the characters weren't very intelligent and behaved very strangely. But that comes with the territory. You've just got to accept what kind of movie this is - it's a musical and that does mean, to some extent, check your brain at the door. It also means that the actors have to do certain things, behave in certain ways ... it was borderline embarrassing (ahem) at times to see Meryl Streep squirming and rolling around and generally acting like she was either 5 years old or mentally retarded. But that's the genre. You pays your money, you makes your choice.

The music of course was fantastic. Goes without saying. Everyone except the three dads did a great job singing. Amanda Seyfried was impressive, she should have a fine career ahead of her. Meryl Streep was amazing; she has a wonderful singing voice and she put soo much emotion into her songs. Slipping Through My Fingers was especially moving. That was a lovely scene in itself, too. All the songs were excellently produced, and the majority well performed. Obviously, you can only see this movie if you are an ABBA fan or at least like their music. Otherwise you'll just be torturing yourself. But for those of us who are able to appreciate the genius of Björn & Benny, this is, in terms of the music, pretty much heaven.

The plot is extremely simple, but that's how it goes. The twists are obvious and any reasonably intelligent viewer should be able to spot them coming a mile off. (But really, what do you expect.) The choreography is extremely professional, and very well performed. The setting is wonderful - who doesn't love a little Greek island. ;-) A lot of great characters - maybe the supporting characters especially were very charming. Old local ladies, &c. :-) Some really good performances. And, of course - Colin Firth. Mmm, Colin Firth ...

A tip: Do NOT rush out or push the off button* as soon as the credits start rolling - you'll be missing something great. ;-)

*This movie should probably not be watched at home, though. Typical big screen only fare.

Backyard sale @ Pax/Oktober etc 2008

This year's other sale was at the Huitfeldt Street offices of Pax Forlag, and held by a group of small and smallish publishers. The following publishing houses collaborate on this sale: Oktober, Samlaget, Pax, Spartacus, Humanist, Imprintforlaget, Andresen & Butenschøn. Primarily Pax and Oktober though. They are all more or less to the left of the mainstream, and publish nonfiction books on various topics and fiction by authors who generally are not big stars ... as well as translated fiction from various countries.

This is an interesting sale as well; it was the second year I'd gone. Again, I'm not sure how many years they've been doing it. Their location is easy to find; it's a cross street to Henrik Ibsen Street a few blocks up from June 7th Square (on which the statue of King Haakon 7 gazes out to sea; easy to spot). Across the street from the Palace Gardens, quite far down Huitfeldt Street and on the right hand side of the street. I'd recommend the sale for anyone who's interested in the types of books they publish. If you're looking for easily accessible fiction, for instance, this may not be the place for you. ;-)

As I said I was there last year as well ... and I recognized a lot of titles from last year's sale. And last year I did buy quite a few books, so I wasn't entirely thrilled to see the same titles there again. At Tronsmo the variety was better and the selection was noticeably different from last year's. So for my personal taste this wasn't too impressive, but from an objective POV there was a good selection of books; I'd think most readers could find something there. Nonfiction on many topics, biographies, new fiction titles, classics and children's books. The price range was similar to Tronsmo's; generally speaking slightly higher here, though.

They obviously have good storage facilities, though, and keep whatever overstock doesn't sell for next year's sale ... kudos to them for not throwing it out, definitely, but also something a potential shopper should be aware of.

KAS bought more books at this sale than I did, I think. :-o But I already had a pretty heavy bag to carry; it was dragging down my urge to shop ...

KAS browsing the shelves:

My haul, such as it was:

The floral arrangements on June 7th Square, which we went past twice, were absolutely beautiful. We were impressed by how colorful and lush the flower beds looked even now, when fall is definitely here.

Backyard sale @ Tronsmo 2008

It's become kind of a tradition in Oslo for publishing houses to have annual 'backyard sales' in which they sell old stock at low prices in their ... back yards. :-) Not sure which publisher started it, or when. It's a neat event though. You can make some great finds ... but where you will make them depends on what you're looking for. The sales are normally held the first weekend in September, or thereabouts.

Aschehoug normally has one of these events, but apparently they will not be doing it this year. Although I do normally go to their sale I won't be missing it much, since they are so very mainstream that I don't normally find a whole lot there that interests me. Sounds like I'm so special ... !! :-D But it's true. Anything at their sale you can normally easily get from any library. So. Not such a big deal to me.

The one I am really psyched about is the one held by Tronsmo. They are not a publisher but a bookstore ... a genuine bona fide independent bookstore, one of the last of its kind in the city. In the country. Their profile is political and leftist. They have sooo many interesting books ... !! and most importantly, books your average chain stores do not and will not stock. A lot of titles on politics, philosophy, etc, and a lot of fiction from South America, Asia, Africa ... books you just won't come across in a regular store. And they have comics too. I luvs dem. :-)

Tronsmo almost went out of business some years ago ... they had too little money coming in and the rent was too high. So they started a PR campaign to get people to shop there more ... because although everyone agrees that Tronsmo is so important and it's so wonderful that Oslo has a store like that, that's just no good if nobody shops there. I decided back then that I would buy something there every month. Just to do my bit. Because I'd be SO sad if they had to close down. This was about five years ago and I have kept my private promise ever since. :-) September's purchase last year and this year was made at the backyard sale. I first discovered their sale last year; I don't know how many times they have held it. Last year's may have been the first for all I know.

For any out-of-towners reading this: Tronsmo is a fantastic store, very well worth a visit even when there's no backyard sale in progress. :-) It is located centrally downtown, just behind the old University building and across Tullinløkka square. Any subway, any streetcar will take you to somewhere close by. Neil Gaiman thinks that Tronsmo is one of the top ten bookstores in the world (actual quote). So if you're ever in Oslo, don't miss it. :-)

The sale this year, which was this weekend, was as good as last year's. A lot of nonfiction books, a lot of fiction (mostly in Norwegian, some in English and Swedish), some crates of comics, some T-shirts and other merchandise. The prices are generally 30 or 50 NOK per book (various paperbacks and hardcovers); some smaller ones will be 20 or even 10, and some heftier hardcover volumes 75 (ie about $2-$13.50). Everything is brand new (as in unread; they will not all be very recently published, but there were books there today of dates as recent as 2007). This place does cater to special interests and leanings, but if you have those, you'll love it. :-)

I got about a dozen books - most of them to read and then maybe, probably, BookCross. Some of them I got just to 'Cross - like one in French which I plan to offer as a RABCK on the French BookCrossing forum. It's a Norwegian comic translated into French; I want to spread the good word. :-) In all I spent 420 NOK there (about $75) and was very happy with my haul. My friend KAS was there with me today; she (unsurprisingly) spent much less ;-) but found some gems too. :-)

The sale:

My loot:

Flea market review 2008: Linderud, August 31st

Linderud elementary school at Linderud, in the east of the city.

This was my first time at this flea market, and possibly the last. I went with a friend from work who lives close by, so that's why I went there. Not sure I would have otherwise.

This is a two-day event - Saturday and Sunday - which is normal for flea markets around here that are hosted by schools. To get there, try subway line 5 to Linderud station, or alternatively, there are at least two bus lines that have stops right by the station (line 59 and at least one other). The school is a short walk from the station.

This was really not all that. Disappointing. I got a good haul, because in the book room they were having a bag sale - yes!! - and at a very good price, too. 40 NOK for one bag, 70 for two (roughly between $7-13). This was on the second day. And not only was the price right, but the selection was good too - although I'm not sure this was really normal for this place. Apparently someone had donated to this year's collection - someone with an interest in India. I found about ten books - both fiction and nonfiction - all newer paperbacks in good condition, on various topics related to India and Bangladesh. Both contemporary and historical. So I was really happy with that. But obviously that was a one-off occurrence, can't expect to be that lucky every time. :-) And other than this it was pretty standard. I did find one book in a series that Findabair collects, and that she didn't have ... so that was lucky. But again, a fluke. The selection generally wasn't that big or that good ... although perfectly acceptable. And in other news ...

The knickknack section was surprisingly small. The kitchen section was OK, but not very big either. Furniture, which my friend was looking for - pretty small selection, and not a lot of interesting stuff either. Clothes we didn't look at. Sports equipment and electronics I'm not sure I even saw. The café was OK. Seemed to have some good cakes, but we went for the waffles. :-) Overall OK but not anything I'd be very sorry to miss the next time. And I just heard a story about someone who had a bad experience there later the same day - a woman who witnessed someone being rudely yelled at by one of the staff for something extremely irrelevant. Not a plus, I guess.

My loot:

Flea market review 2008: Tveten Farm, August 24th

Tveten Farm is a now-defunct farm very close to where I live at Tveita in Oslo. It's no longer in use as a farm, but instead is a kind of cultural center and is also home to a stable/riding school. The farm is quite old, and what's unusual about it - because it is quite unusual, both in the area generally, and certainly so near the city center (10-14 minutes by subway) - is that it still has several of its oldest buildings. Some of them as old as the 15th century, and mostly still in use. The ownership of the farm has been argued over for years - many locals have wanted the city to buy it, and this was finally done about, what, a year or so ago. Various cultural activities take place there - concerts for instance, I hear them through my windows in the summer sometimes :-) - the riding school is of course quite popular among the local teenage girls, and there are a number of activities for the elderly as well.

Easiest way to get there: take the subway (line 2) to Tveita station, and it's a few minutes walk. I don't drive - no car, no licence - so I will not be giving any driving directions to anywhere. ;-) There are also several bus lines that stop very close to the farm.

This flea market - a one-day event - seems to be a rather irregular affair. This was as far as I know the second time it's been held since I moved here a year and a half ago. Is it worth visiting? Well ... it is for me, because I live so close. But I'm not sure I can recommend it. The prices are low there, but it's not very big. The sellers are volunteers and locals; what's on sale is mostly normal used stuff, but there have also been some local artist-type people who have set up tables to sell their artsy craftsy stuff. Not a lot of these people, but some. Regular café activity, selling waffles and stuff. Not in any way shape or form a great selection of items. No larger furniture. A plus for some may be the 'extra-curricular' activities they offer: a cherry pit spitting contest :-) and ... what was the other thing ... something to do with lemons, you had to make something out of lemons, I think. Peel the longest possible lemon peel ... ? So for anyone looking for something to do with the kids on a Sunday, this may be a plus. I did not sign up though. ;-)

I bought eight books for 50 NOK (about $9). I was happy about one find that was great for me, because I needed it for something specific. But other than that - not so much. It's a nice place to visit, but I can't recommend going there for the flea market itself.

My loot: