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Come to think of it, it’s been at least 10 years since I have put up the Michelangelo Antonioni archive.

Initially, I just wanted to build a site to put up all the great content and fimography I found at a festival in Hong Kong, but then I added a forum for people to discuss and talk about Antonioni’s work. It’s become a great resource back then. 

Ten years ago, there was barely anything on Antoioni’s work available on the “cyberspace”. I suppose I did break new ground then. Things are very different now. To begin with, we have IMDB and Wikipedia, there are blogs that talk about his work, and tons of sites that list writings and studies on his films. I haven’t done anything to keep the site updated, but I was still proud of the fact that I was there to supply information on Antonioni’s work when nothing was available on the Web back then.

When I watched La Notte on DVD a few months ago, it gave me the chill when I saw the URL listed on the screen. I was glad to be part of it.

I have decided to close the forum, because I couldn’t keep up with the spammers. It’s unfortunately. But there are also many places on the Web nowadays to discuss his films, so it’s time to move on as well.

Yes the book is finished, but not so fast, the movie hasn’t. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is coming in November. 114 days to go.
Watch the trailer.

José Saramango’s Blindness was among one of the most memorable books I have ever read. We had a book club then and we read the book. We made comments about how interesting would it be to see it as a motion picture. The prose was so graphic and vividly visual. We felt “dirty” after we finished the book, it was so damn intense. It was nice though we got to discuss about the book afterwards.

And here it comes, this Fall, Blindness will be adapted onto the screen. Julienne Moore will play the role of the doctor’s wife. She’s one of my favs and I was glad that she’s in the picture. The trailer was pretty good, I have to say, it gives me the scary and werid chill that I felt with the book. Apparently Saramango refused to sell the rights of the book for years, fearing that filmmakers would give the book’s violent setting typical Hollywood treatments.

On the movie website, they posted a YouTube clip that shows how much Saramango was touched after seeing the movie. Honestly, I thought putting that on the movie site was a bit hokey, and it gave me a chill. But then again, Saramango was the 1998 Nobel prize winner in Literature, I suppose it’s hard not to exploit that a bit…

As for the sequel, Seeing, I have yet to find the right moment to begin.

I was in Baltimore for Thanksgiving. We went by The Senator Theatre, and of course, there are tons of imprints on the sidewalk right in front of the theatre. I took a picture of the imprint of John Water’s Serial Mom, my favorite John Waters’s movie. It was premiered on April 5, 1994, at The Senator Theatre.

My favorite line from the movie, of course, is, “Beverly, honey, you’ve got some… do-do on your shoe.” (full script can be found here)

It looks like a lot of fun! Even though the official trailer of The Golden Compass tells me a lot more than I need to know about the story while I am still reading…

As recommended by Rey, I have started reading the first part, The Golden Compass, of the trilogy, His Dark Materials. I bought the 3-in-1 version so that I can read the 3 volumes with one book. The movie is coming out this coming holiday season.

I am already imagining Danial Craig as Lord Asriel and Nicole Kidman as Mrs. Coulter while reading. Let’s see how the movie goes when it comes out.

My friend Ong dubbed the Thai version of Aladdin years ago, and of course, he sang the Thai version of A Whole New World, the theme song of the movie. He sent me the “pop” version of the song, sang by pop singers Bird and Amp. And apparently they can’t pronounce the word “new” correctly. You can To hear his beautiful voice, download the songs at http://undinisis.multiply.com/music/item/163/Aladdin_Thai.

My favorite director Michelangelo Antonioni, passed away at the age of 94 at his home in his native city of Ferrara Monday evening. His films opened my eyes to the world of cinema and taught me to watch and appreciate cinema. I am feeling extremely sad. Incidentally Ingmar Bergman passed away within 24 hours before Antonioni’s passing.

May he rest in peace.

I invite you to remember Antonioni on the discussion board.

Some links:

• Slide show from New York Times
• New York Times article, Michelangelo Antonioni, 94, Italian Director, Dies
• Articles via Google News

Image: Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Edith and Edie from the Grey Gardens. S-t-a-u-n-c-h-y and scary!