4. To be a robot in 2023
I.
Thomas Bangalter was one half of Daft Punk. Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo formed the other half of the musical duo from France. They became world-famous, partly thanks to their distinctive robot helmets. For years, Daft Punk used machines to express human emotions. A beauty in the contrast. But two years ago, it was over.
It was time to stop, Bangalter told BBC News. “In this world we live in in 2023, being a robot is the last thing I want.”
Bangalter now seems to be heading down a completely different path. His first solo project following the break-up of Daft Punk (quite literally, in fact), is an orchestral score for a ballet performance.
Coincidentally, I also saw TRON: Legacy this week. Daft Punk created the soundtrack. You could safely say that the music is one of the best things about that film. Along with Jeff Bridges. The real one, that is, not the young, uncanny valley version.
II.
Tarantino mania in Amsterdam. On Sunday, Quentin Tarantino was interviewed at Carré about his book Cinema Speculation. The venue was packed, despite the high ticket prices of around 100 euros. No wonder that on Monday, Spui in Amsterdam was packed to the rafters when Tarantino was signing books for free at Athenaeum bookshop.
Even before I left work, it was already clear that the queue was too long to get an autograph. The photos were on Twitter. A massive queue. Tarantino signed ‘only’ 150 books. The early birds were in luck.
Everyone standing outside was briefly thanked by the directorrewarded.
III.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie is showing in cinemas. The film is okay. That is to say: it could have been much worse. As it is, it’s an endless series of ‘do you remember this?’ moments covering everything to do with Mario. A flimsy plot thread holds it all together.
Story-wise, it doesn’t really work. (In an almost hilariously poorly contrived subplot, Mario’s father agonises over his son’s life choices.) But Jack Black is brilliant as Bowser. And the animation is beautiful. It’ll be a treat for children.
Incidentally, there’s a restored version of the very first Mario animated film on YouTube. It was released in 1986 and is also pretty bad. You can watch this Japanese fever dream below.
---IV.
Easter Sunday in the woods. This looks like a snake, but it isn’t. It’s a slow worm. Which, in turn, isn’t a worm. The slow worm is a legless lizard. This confusing species is reportedly rarely seen, so we were lucky.
Afterwards, all the branches in the woods suddenly looked like snakes and lizards.
PS.
Eefje de Visser performed ‘Bitterzoet’ at Carré. You can watch it on NPO Start. Wonderful. (Note: it starts straight away.)
Spinvis has a new album. Be-Bop-A-Lula. Portugal is my favourite track so far.
As old as the hills: tech companies selling your data. This is what Wim de Bie wrote on his blog over twenty years ago:
These are the four astronauts who will be flying around the moon at the end of next year:
---The James Webb Space Telescope has captured another incredible image. This time of Uranus:
An entertaining thread on Twitter. Designers made a game of who could create the worst volume control. Click through for all the entries.
Trailers for films I’m looking forward to: Barbie, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.