I bumped into these paintings on Behance.net today (always a good place for inspiration!). Although I can’t imagine this being done completely in Photoshop, there must be at least a little something tweaked in the end. However, it does not take away these paintings are absolutely stunning. Browsing his blog it’s clear he has some amazing drawing skills – worth the scroll!

Angels & Demons is the movie I’m looking forward to the most this year. Although The Da Vinci Code movie was a disappointment,? I admit this might be due to the fact I watched it?in a park on a huge screen with bad sound through some old speakers (this is the place to watch for 2009′s edition all ye Brusselites). Friends talking about?Dan Brown‘s success with TDVC eventually lead me to reading bestseller.?Jesus’s offspring is a good read but it was the other book that convinced me. I’m actually glad they had a tryout with TDVC because this time they will get the movie totally right. I mean, that statue half angel half demon in the trailer?scared the living crap out of me.

Audrey Toutou?not being in this second movie is a bummer. I’ve seen the trailer to her newest movie due April this year and she is incredible. Let’s see what Ayelet Zurer has in store. For thos who haven’t?read the book the choice of Ewan McGregor should indicate his role in the story. I won’t give it away completely?but casting such a famous actor takes away all the mystery in this conspiracy story. His performance in Big Fish has convinced me he’ll do great job as the camerlingo.

The movie’s website is also worth looking at. Being a Flash enthusiast it?musters perfect integration of web technology and video. This is the direction we should be going in the long run (although the shorter the better)?with internet and tv/film convergence.

EDIT: In the mean while I’ve been doing some research and found the name of this statue. It’s the Elorahim (or sometimes called the Nephalem), a half demon half angel mentioned in one of the Apocrypha (the books excluded from most non-Catholic bibles and included in most Catholic ones). This creature lives between heaven and hell, torn between his loyalty to God and Satan at the same time. Demons are said to be unforgivable because they’ve chosen for the ‘fallen angel’. But this story talks about a demon who is so afraid of the ‘end of times’ (cf. demons being cast into pigs because they’re so afraid of Jesus) that he feels remorseful for his choice. But God won’t forgive him completely which leads to him wanting to be faithful to God (who rejects him) and unwillingly belonging to Satan’s underworld (who owns him).

Rarely seen a movie that can incorporate some seemingly cheesy elements but make such a stunningly beautiful movie out of them. I could have watched it all over again the minute it ended. A must see on the big screen – still possible in some theaters in Belgium (I was late I know). Hand-held camera techniques which really added to the hasty-life slum atmosphere in which these kids live. My parents were in India for a few weeks a while ago living in the poorer parts and they could really recognise the world portrayed by Danny Boyle and Loveleen Tandan. Having watched movies like Salaam E Ishq – which shares the actor Anil Kapoor with the movie discussed here – I was expecting a lot of dancing and singing. Indian movies are known for their song and dance every so many minutes with storylines which are used and re-used every time (love, trouble,engagement, trouble, wedding, big party, trouble, etc.). But just as Salaam E Ishq was a surprise for its well-written script and amazing characters, Slumdog Millionaire is a big compromise between Hollywood and Bollywood where authenticity to the Indian culture is partnered with great Hollywood knowhow. Waiting for the DVD release.