Noordzee, Texas

North Sea Texas (2011)

Directed by Bavo Defurne

Screenplay by Bavo Defurne and Yves Verbraeken

Based on the novel, "Nooit gaat dit over" by André Sollie

Stars: Jelle Florizoone, Mathias Vergels, Nina Marie Kortekaas, Eva van der Gucht, Luk Wyns, Thomas Coumans and Katelijne Damen

Personally, I never heard of this movie before last year's Omie Awards when a follower of mine mentioned this movie as a nominee. The movie was most honored last year. It was on my radar to watch it. I reinstated my Netflix account to take advantage of the movies I missed out on. This movie was suggested to me. It was kismet or so I thought.

It seems like the story takes place in the late sixties Belgium, not Texas as I thought, where we follow Pim (Florizoone), a boy that is coming into his sexuality. He is realizing that he has feelings for his friend, Gino (Vergels). Gino gives into his feelings for Pim. Pim feels lost as his mother, Yvette (van der Gucht) is more concerned about playing her accordion and men then her son. Pim seeks solace in Gino's family home. Gino's mother, Marcella (Damen) assumes loving mother role that he wants as Gino's sister develops a hopeless crush on Pim.

Through the grapevine, this movie was touted as the next "Brokeback Mountain". I would not take it that far. Seeing my share of gay movies, this movie would be in the middle of the pack. Don't get me wrong. There were parts of this movie that mimicked my childhood. I had crushes on boys, played dress up, did things that boys did, girls had crushes on me and all that.

It felt like something was missing with the movie. I think it was with the "love story" between Pim and Gino. The brief times that they were together, they had triple amounts of time apart. I didn't feel longing. It died on-screen. It was an afterthought. The only good thing that I took from this movie was the feeling of lost innocence. That's it.

Rating: 6/10

The 2013 Omie Award Winners

 

I am sure that twenty of you are eagerly anticipating the winners of the 2013 Omie Awards. Without further ado, here are the winners:

The Omie Award for Most Deserving Picture goes to…

for creating a story about innocent love between two boys,

"North Sea Texas." Producers: Luc Roggen and Yves Verbraeken

The Omie Award for Most Deserving Director goes to…

for bringing the coming of age story to the screen,

Bavo Defurne, "North Sea Texas"

The Omie Award for Most Deserving Actor goes to…

for portraying a police detective that moonlights as a contract killer, Killer Joe Cooper,

Matthew McConaughey, "Killer Joe"

The Omie Award for Most Deserving Actress goes to…

for portraying the titular Tolstoy heroine torn between wifely duty and forbidden love, Anna Karenina,

Keira Knightley, "Anna Karenina"

The Omie Award for Most Deserving Supporting Actor goes to…

for portraying a dastardly slave owner that wants to keep his "property", Calvin Candie,

Leonardo DiCaprio, "Django Unchained"

The Omie Award for Most Deserving Supporting Actress goes to…

for portraying a girl that professes her love to a boy that doesn't reciprocate, Éponine,

Samantha Barks, "Les Misérables"

The Omie Award for Most Deserving Original Song goes to…

  

for making a song about lost love into a song to find another love,

"The Big Machine" from "Safety Not Guaranteed"


The Omie Award for Most Deserving Foreign Language Film goes to…

a film about the epic clash between mobsters and the policemen trying to stop them, 

"The Raid: Redemption". Director: Gareth Evans.

The Omie Award for Most Deserving Animated Feature goes to…

a animated retelling of classic fables into an action hero team,

"Rise of the Guardians". Director:  Peter Ramsey

 

The Omie Award for Most Deserving Original Screenplay goes to…

a film that poses fun of typical horror movie tropes with a twist,

"The Cabin in the Woods." Written by Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard

The Omie Award for Most Deserving Adapted Screenplay goes to…

winning their third Omie Award,

"North Sea Texas." Written by Bavo Defurne and Yves Verbraeken. Based on the novel,
"Nooit gaat dit over" by André Sollie

The Omie Award for Most Deserving Documentary goes to…

(another four way tie)

for showing the blunt reality of millions of students lives every day,

"Bully". Producers: Lee Hirsch and Cynthia Lowen

for shedding light on a young Frenchman preying on a grieving Texas family,

"The Imposter". Producer: Dimitri Doganis

for showing the precision skill of sushi master, Jiro Ono,

"Jiro Dreams of Sushi". Producer: Kevin Iwashina and Tom Pelligrini

for bringing the life of AIDS activist, Vito Russo to the masses,

 "Vito". Producer: Jeffrey Schwarz

And for the granddaddy of them all, The Suck-It! Award goes to…

for a boring movie about a guy on the lam for stealing fucking bread,

"Les Misérables" nominated for Best Picture

And there you have it folks. I want to thank everyone for voting, especially for Bernardo from The Movie Rat for the nomination of North Sea Texas that it could dominate the awards. Until next year...