In this year’s competition, I couldn’t really relate to any of the movies’ characters or plots recently. In Cédric Kahn‘s “La Prière”, a bunch of ex-junkies try to start a new life in a monastery. During all the prayers and praises to god in the movie, I couldn’t stop asking myself if hardcore junkies who…
“Las Herederas”, the heiresses, is the debut by Marcelo Martinessi from Paraguay. The movie had its world premiere last night at the 68th Berlin Film Festival. It’s about an older, lesbian couple whose lives start to separate during one of the ladies’ stay in prison. Chela, the one who stays home (wonderfully portrayed by Ana…
Wes Anderson‘s new movie “Isle Of Dogs” (opens in theaters March 23rd) opened this year’s Berlinale last night. Quarantined dogs have been banned to an isle close to Japan (20 years in the future) and supposedly sentenced to death, as far as the mayor of the city of Megasaki is concerned. But there is a…
Wes Anderson‘s animated movie “Isle Of Dogs” opens this year’s Berlinale tomorrow. Gina is especially happy about the fact that dogs play the main characters, all of them crossbreeds like herself. I was picking up my press badge earlier today and asked at the counter if I could bring my dog to the press screening…
He played drums on Michael Jackson‘s “Billie Jean”, “P.Y.T.” and “Baby Be Mine” and on a thousand more sessions. An album with Leon “Ndugu” Chancler on the drums was always worth checking out. In his early career, he played with the Gerald Wilson Big Band, Herbie Hancock, Willie Bobo, Miles Davis, and Freddie Hubbard. He…
“Don’t Look Any Further” was one of the big numbers in 1984. No, it wasn’t big. It was huge. My original 12″ is pretty worn out. The singer on this particular track was Dennis Edwards, who joined The Temptations in 1968 and sang on classic cuts such as “Papa Was A Rolling Stone”, “Cloud Nine”,…
I know it really feels like a circus, but North Sea Jazz in Rotterdam as one of the biggest jazz festivals is always good to get a proper overview of what’s going on in the jazz world and beyond. Plus, there is always something new and unknown to explore. To be honest, I just can’t…
Contemporary artist Christian Marclay has created the poster for the 52nd edition of the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival. For the first time on a festival poster, the cyanotype process has been used, a printing process which produces a cyan-blue print. Marclay is a Swiss artist, performer, and composer. He works in a multitude of media including…
An amazing storyteller, wonderful person, sublime artist. She is able to let you hear new twists and turns in songs you thought you’ve already heard a million times. Her otherworldly melancholic voice, connected with her wittiness, makes her one-of-a-kind. And she always added some rarely heard tunes and oddities in her repertoire on her records….
You could really feel the joy singer Stacey Kent had when she was sharing the stage with a 30-piece orchestra, the Hamburg-based Ensemble Resonanz under the direction of Francesco Bossaglia. The 18 strings and four flutes built a very harmonious, lush and concentrated cushion last night at Berlin’s smaller Philharmonie venue, the Kammermusiksaal. Mostly playing…