Randy Newman in Concert

On Sunday February 26th Randy Newman will play a solo concert in the cultural centre of Hasselt. I am one of the lucky people to have two tickets, but unfortunately my date can't make it. So if anybody is interested in joining me, send me a private message. Randy Newman is know to the public as either the greatest satirical songwriter of his era (Short People, I love L.A., Political Science, God's Song,...) or as the composer of film music who has been nominated 20 (!) times at the Academy Awards (Toy Story, Ragtime, Monsters Inc., Cars,...)

The Reader (2008): a review

I just finished watching The Reader, a movie from 2008 starring a brilliant Kate Winslet (has she ever been less than brilliant I wonder), Ralph Fiennes and David Kross. Looking for reviews on the internet, I was amazed reading that so many people consider Hanna as a monster. I thought the whole point of the movie was to show that nobody is a monster. There are no good or evil people, just mixtures of both. Our world is not black or white, and it is definitely not grey. No, we live in a multicolored universe.
Haven't we all had secrets in our lives? Both protagonists have secrets and because they want to hide them, they do wrong things. The question we should ask is not why they did these things, but whether they can live with the shame, the guilt and the consequences.  

I think it was well put in the movie that the law (our justice) is a very narrow and shallow thing. We do not judge people on the basis of morality, but on the basis of legality. And to make it more difficult: the legalitily of a certain period. What was considered right 50 years ago is considered wrong or racist or despicable in the 21st century.

The movie is dark, disturbing and doesn't provide answers. But it will make you think about your own decisions. I never read the book by Bernard Schlink but I'm sure I will soon.