Films

Galaxus is the Swiss Amazon, or at least one option. I first came across when I was buying tech toys via Digitec. They then bought Galaxus, and then Migros bought them.

They provide an opportunity to buy Raspberry Pi, Continental GP 5000 tires, Apple iPhones, Merkur razors and much more. One of the great things about this online shop is that it interfaces with plenty of other shops and it provides you with an estimate for when things will be delivered. In so doing it is a convenient, and intuitive to buy stuff we do and do not need.

During the pandemic I became unable to listen to podcasts, watch television series and watch films. Each of these media reminded me of how dreadfully my existence had become during the pandemic. Instead of watching films and television series I listened to tech podcasts and watched people play computer games. The reason for this was simple. It didn’t remind me of my loneliness so it was bearable.

I was watching people play GTA V and a few other games, before eventually losing interest and watching other content. It’s only when I started to do group activities with people in the physical world, as I like to call it, that I got the ability to watch films and television series again. Now that life is “normal” again I am not reminded of what is impossible anymore. I am reminded of what I aspire to, once again.

For the last week, or less, I have been choosing what to watch, not based on what’s new, or recommended, but on what is leaving Netflix soon. With netflix it is very easy to think “I don’t know what to watch” and “I don’t want to watch anything that is being recommended.

By noticing the films that are “Leaving Soon” the challenge of choosing what to watch is simplified. If you have to choose what’s vanishing within a few weeks then the choice is smaller.

One of the greatest problems with music festivals is that they can be noisy until three or four am for days in a row. This means that sleep is affected. It is because sleep patterns are altered that it is the perfect excuse to watch several hours of television a night for several days in a row.

Usually I try to be disciplined. I try to watch one or two episodes of two or three shows, and then head to sleep. During a music festival I take liberties. I watch an hour or two of TV, and then I watch a full length film. Usually I don’t watch films because I don’t want to watch the same thing for an hour and a half or two.

Yesterday it snowed for several hours and that snow was covering the path to my house. When I saw the ground turn from asphalt black to grey, to white I decided to go and start clearing the snow. It’s easy to clear snow when you have three or four centimetres, rather than more. At first it was light and easy to move so I cleared the path once, and then a second time, and then a third, and by the third I decided to stop. It had become a sisyphean task. It was falling as fast as I was clearing it.

For years I didn’t watch many films but recently the habit has returned.

Blood and Gold

I am used to watching English or French films about the First and Second World War but recently I watched Blood and Gold, in German, with English subtitles. It’s interesting to watch a German film rather than a European one, for a different perspective of the war.

The film is set right at the end of the War, days before the Allies liberate Germany. Apparently some gold was left behind and promised to a guard but other people hid it.

Au Vieux Campeur held the summer mountain film screening event at the Batiment des Forces Motrices in Geneva. They introduced the event as being the opportunity for them to share the passion of the mountains with people who may not be aware of the activities that are possible. They then went on to say “but as we’re having the screening in Geneva we know that you’re just half an hour from the mountains so many of you are practitioners and today we may even have participants from the cancelled Patrouille Des Glaciers. [caption id=“attachment_2843” align=“aligncenter” width=“300”] Montagne en Scène, four films screened at the BFM buildling in Geneva[/caption] Four films were shown at Montagne En Scène. The films shown were A Line Across the Sky, a documentary following two less experienced climbers as they attempt the Fitzroy traverse during a rare good weather window, Chasing Niagra, a documentary about Rafa Ortiz and his preparations to shoot the Niagra Falls in a Kayak. The third film is Mont Rebei Project, a documentary looking to achieve a new Rope Jump record. The Last film, and my favourite is Valley Uprising. It takes a look at the American climbing scene from the fifties up to the Modern day. This documentary is great because it provides us with a deep understanding of the American climbing psyche. Mountain climbing is a sport of passion and so to see how different groups helped this passion progress over the years is interesting. Film screenings are in Switzerland, France and Belgium

Fox and UK cinemas fighting I have just read that a few cinema chains in the United Kingdom are pulling Night at the museum from the cinemas. They became angry after Fox distributors decided to release the film just three months after the cinema release. From a media student’s point of view, this is an interesting development. What early adopters have found is that they can get content as soon as the film has been out for a few hours/days. For those with the technological know-how, this means that they can ignore film releases and watch the film as soon as they hear about it’s release. As a counter to this problem new measures are being taken, for example, the simultaneous release of certain films in cinemas around the world on the same day in order to encourage people to go to the cinema rather than download the content for free online. For the film industry, this is bad news because it means that they have to find new ways of preventing the illegal distribution of the content they have produced. Whilst I think that the release of the DVD of Night at the museum is a good idea I fail to understand the logic in releasing the DVD whilst the film is still in the cinemas. They’re undercutting the European cinema industry. It’s not surprising that Europe is angry. The distribution of films is expensive. They have to take the film reels and ship them around the world. From a logistical point of view, it’s a nightmare both in terms of cost and time. Digital distribution is a good possibility but an investment for the cinema chains is high and the training of the staff would take time. What does this mean, Will it encourage the cinema chains to invest in new technology which would make having the most recent films available within a shorter amount of time, or will they lobby for the proper distribution times to respect?