Hotel Hell Vacation

When I was a kid, I watched a lot of movies. Video's were the latest craze and seeing as I come from a long line of movie lovers / couch potatoes we'd get a dozen or so every week. This not only nursed my love for motion pictures but also created a lingering sense of 80s nostalgia. For some odd reason my parents never got me cartoons, just comedies and lots of them.

John Hughes, the Brat Pack, Gene Wilder, Labyrinth, John Candy, the great Don Bluth who gave Disney a well-deserved run for their money, Beverly Hills Cop (first movie I "saw" in the cinema according to my mother), basically Eddie Murphy when he was still funny, Tom Hanks before he got all serious on us, the utterly awesome Lethal Weapon... there are just too many classics to sum ip here.

And then there was Chevy Chase and the great National Lampoons movies: Vacation, Christmas Vacation and European Vacation written by John Hughes and the latter was directed by Amy Heckerling who brought us Clueless, every girl's guilty pleasure.

27 years after the Griswalds went on their first wacky road trip, they are back! Sadly, not in a feature film but in a short movie that was created as an advertisement for vacation rentals by HomeAway.com.

Suite 101

I have to confess, haven't done a lot of reading this year. For some reason I just haven't been in the mood but that's all about to change now seeing as I've adopted no less than 8 new books this week. Damn you online sales!
You also might have noticed that my reviews (and lack there of) haven't been as detailed as they used to be because I'm posting my in depth thoughts on Suite 101 now so don't forget to check that out as well once and a while. You can find the link on the left hand side. But I'll save the fun literary facts, anecdotes and opinions for The City. For now, I'm lusting after literature again and I'll keep you posted ;-)

Jacket + Bookmark

Graphic designer Igor Udushlivy has created a whole line of simple yet sophisticated dust jackets for some classic novels that not only illustrate the story inside but are also accompanied by a cool bookmark that is both efficient and adds a whole new layer to the book, quite literally. Or as he puts it, how books influence icons and vice versa.

Book Trailers

I have a confession to make. There isn't a day that goes buy without me browsing books online. During these daily and multiple online expeditions, I am always surprised to see how many books are using trailers these days as promotional material. These trailers are sometimes actual films but mostly they are animated clips that subtly unveil the story whilst making you relish more like any good (movie) trailer would.

Chick lit, children's books,... are all venturing down this visually appealing road of advertising proving that litertature with a capital L just won't go down that dare I saw mundane path. Personally I love trailers, movie as well as book ones, because a mere synopsis can never truely capure the spirit of the story. But these often ingeniously crafted clips are just so well made, book or no book, that they have got me wondering if they'll actually succeed in their life's ambition or will be just considered enterataining.

What do you think? Book trailers: do or don't?

Anne-July Aubry's dreamlike damsels

I'm starting my day off with some magical maidens by French illustrator Anne-July Aubry. Inspired by fairytales, nature and dreams, she has created a whimsical yet often melancholy world filled with beauty and ethereal grace.

The Swan Thieves

I love vampires, that's no secret, so when Elizabeth Kostova published her debut novel The Historian back in 2005 I was mildly extactic. In this novel which overlaps several decades, scholars go in search of Dracula's tomb leading to an exciting and gruelling voyage full of danger, mystery and an unavoidable dash of romance. This gothic novel / adventure novel / thriller / historical novel all rolled into one isn't your typical contemporary lovey dovey vampire fare but a good old fashioned chilling Victorian ghost story where vampires simply want to suck your blood, like it should be.

Classic vampire stories are usually filled with melancholy and passionate yet lonely creatures longing for redemption and a little AB-. The combination of mystery and tormented characters gets me every time and that is why I loved The Historian. Although it reads like a Dan Brown novel, minus the incredibly bad writing style, Kostova creates captivating tales that will haunt and entrall.

And this January she has finally released her second novel, The Swan Thieves:

Psychiatrist Andrew Marlowe has a perfectly ordered life - solitary, perhaps, but full of devotion to his profession and the painting hobby he loves. This order is destroyed when renowned painter Robert Oliver attacks a canvas in the National Gallery of Art and becomes his patient. Desperate to understand the secret that torments this genius, Marlowe embarks on a journey that leads him into the lives of the women closest to Oliver and a tragedy at the heart of French Impressionism.

A quest filled with art, love, history and obsession... now where is that 'add to basket' button?

I'm here

Visionary director Spike Jonze has created a thirty minute short film that will premiere at this year's Sundance Festival. The film, that was funded by Absolut Vodka, is an unusual robot love story. Yes, you heard me.

The movie is set in contemporary LA, where robots live among the general population. A lonely male robot librarian lives a life devoid of creativity, joy and passion until he meets an adventurous and free spirited female robot.

I'm here is an unique and very touching tale about love and alienation in our present day society but with an uncanny technological twist making it a quintessential Jonzian work of art.