Subs..

There was a time, not very long ago, when you would say about the best Norwegian films that "it's good for a Norwegian one", implying that is was sub-standard compared with movies from other countries. That time is past. Norway and the other Scandinavian countries have a lot to be proud of when it comes to movies.

I don't know exactly when it all started to get really good, but a little before 2000, Norwegian film was in world class. Take movies like "Mongoland" (2000), "Elling" (2001), Jonny Vang (2003), "Buddy" (2003), "Uno" (2004), "The art of negative thinking" (2006), "Let Jimmy free" (2006), and many others. They are all great movies, and will put Norway in the back seat of no other country when it comes to movies. Also, think of American movies like "Head above water" and "Insomnia" - they were both reproductions of Norwegian movies.

One thing that annoys me a little, though, is that it is sometimes very hard to find these great movies with English subtitles. For me personally that would be a good thing. My girlfriend is not Norwegian, and I would like to watch some of these movies with her. But without subtitles, that would not be very enjoyable for her.

For an international and outward-looking country like Norway, it's ironic that not every Norwegian movie on DVD is subtitled in English. Having so many good movies, it is a shame that we can't share them with non-Norwegian speakers. We should be very, very proud of them, and make them accessible for other people than Norwegians.

New year's resolutions? Not really..

As we pass into a new year, it is, I guess, the time for making all sorts of promises and new year's resolutions. For this blog, maybe it would be a good thing to make a new year's resolution that I will write more. That I won't do, because I'm not sure how long it will hold out. But I will at least try to be more active and write more. But no promise...

To make it easier to do that, I have renamed my blog. It's new name is simpy "Random thoughts of a Random Norwegian." Although it will probably be concerned to a large extent with Norway-related subjects, I will not anymore limit myself to that subject. So from now on: random thoughts on any subject.

Happy new year!