Some Like It Hot, Borat, The Party: Brussels’ Cinematek has a tradition of ending the year with roars of laughter. But this year it’s whistling another tune, choosing Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller Rope as the final screening of 2009. In a career full of devilish suspense, Rope is one of Hitch’s most venomous films.Two students plan and execute a murder, for no other than philosophical reasons. They hide the body in a chest that, later that night, during a party with friends and relatives of the victim, is used as a buffet. With the body inside, the party guests discuss the concept of…the perfect murder. A film that appears to be done in one long take without apparent cuts – quite an experiment for a mainstream director in 1948 – Rope plays over the course of 80 minutes in an apartment with a view on Manhattan. Hitchcock makes the oppressive atmosphere palpable and the suspense heats up to nail biting heights. Granted, no laughs this year at the Cinematek. But Rope beats glühwein, fireworks or eating till you feel like a stuffed turkey. Christophe Verbiest

Beach bonfire

It was 30 December, and my first time spending New Year’s on the Belgian coast. It started around 16.30 with a procession: children – some of them as young as three – carried flaming torches. After a short walk down the promenade, they collectively set fire to a huge mound of Christmas trees that citizens had brought from their homes and piled on the beach. Whoosh! There goes Christmas. Out with the old, quite literally. In the meantime, the little kids were still swinging around those torches of fire in the ever-growing crowd. My partner and I stepped back a little to avoid our hair being set alight.Yet another surreal experience in small-town Flanders, and one I return to year after year. This happened to be Oostduinkerke, but these activities take place up and down the entire coastline. Rent a hotel room or apartment right on the beach, and you will have a free fireworks show on New Year’s Eve itself, courtesy of average citizens, from the comfort of your room. There are official fireworks, too, on 1 January in Koksijde and De Panne. Lisa Bradshaw

www.dekust.org

City carnage

I try to avoid the centre of Brussels as much as possible on New Year’s Eve, but I always head downtown on the first day of the New Year. Everything looks apocalyptic: empty bottles and broken glass on the streets, remains of fireworks everywhere, bins belching the strangest objects, the last party people on their way home. While Brussels is slowly recovering from its hangover, I cure mine with hot fries and a pita in one of the snack bars behind the Grote Markt. At the same time, a team of brave cleaners do their best to make the city shine again. Little by little, both the city and I start feeling alive, ready to face the New Year. Katrien Lindemans