Today's Column: just a taste of what cinema employees have to suffer through while everybody else is having fun

 2013's final column on MovieScene is now a fact:

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/152676/column_kerst_de_bioscoop_en_menselijk_leed

Words alone cannot adequately express the chaos the Holidays cause in movie theaters, but I decided to give it a try anyway. The picture you see in this column, which is not one I shot myself (no cosy blue chairs in my theater!), reveals only a tame glimpse of the mess we have to clean up in over fourty theater rooms each day, but the thought behind it should be clear: people are having a ball, and they care not what happens to their stuff when the lights go on again. Of course we know what we get ourselves into and this is our job so we ought not complain about it too much, but the levels of utter disregard in terms of cleaning up one's own garbage, the sheer disinterest in and disrepect for the theater employees and the total decadence the Christmas vacation inspires in popcorn sales remain ever staggering. Even though my company apparently has reached record levels of attendance (again!) last Friday, this year is no 2009-2010, when we had Avatar to survive. One thing is for sure: as popular as The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug may be, it won't keep audiences coming for another three months on end like that movie did back then. Good thing too, since the last thing the global environment needs is another 'Afvaltar'...

Only had to clean up puke twice this week. That's good news, believe it or not. Now for the second week. If you think that one's easier, think again.
Oh well, wouldn't want to end the year on a note of despair, so here's a funny picture:

Today's Column: life and death of theatrical advertisement

Got another column up at MovieScene:

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/150228/column_leven_en_dood_van_filmreclame

As usual I handed in my column weeks in advance, and it promptly got put online, even though it basically wasn't my turn to post a column this week. Case being the guy posting the columns mistook my column for someone else's. That'll teach me to wait with getting my columns up too early: my rampant punctuality is getting people confused.

A personal topic this time. It so happens building standees and unwrapping promotional material is the one thing that I really like doing at work these days. Everything else has become an excruciatingly dull routine, but this is literally new each week. You never know what's in store for you, it remains a surprise each time. Too bad I normally only do it on Thursdays. It goes without saying that is my favorite day of the week in terms of work. Incidentally, the part about the Jurassic standee that can be found under my bed is actually true (except it's from Jurassic Park 3D, not Jurassic World 2 (though if I stay with my current job for long enough, that one may end up under my bed as well)). I wish I had display space for it, but I don't. I also wished I checked all the components for silverfish better: there has been a remarkable increase in the numbers of Thysanura in my house ever since I got that standee home...

You'll notice the titles of the films mentioned in this piece are fictional, they don't exist. In many cases I wish they would (I so want a Batman VS Predator film!), in others I just put them in for a joke. The Matrix Rebooted, really? Then again, you never know. There actually is a Titanic 2... And Harry Potter and the Winds of Winter... I would watch that immediately! Kudos to those that get the gag behind Nicolas Cage and Superman Lives. They even made a documentary about that one, so it shouldn't be so hard to puzzle out.

Now for the next column. I have no idea what it will be about, but that's what I say every time, and so far I have no trouble delivering the goodies on time. Inspiration will find me. But it can stay in bed for a few weeks longer this time.