31.1.12

Lana Del Rey, the girl we love to hate.

  
Driving In Cars with Boys, by Lana Del Rey


This girl has managed to become such a massive, super-hype these past couple of months, it's incredible.
She's one of those musicians people decide they love or they hate, for some reason few people are somewhere inbetween. I'm one of those.

To be honest, I like her songs. It took me a while to get into Video Games, but then listening to Blue Jeans, Born to Die and Diet Mtn Dew, I changed my mind about her. It was definitely a surprise for me to like an artist like this. Yes, I'll admit it, partly because she is such a hype, but also because she's stunning in a conventional way? I don't mean this in a negative way, I'm just usually not that into the popstar scene.
Her songs are quite catchy, yet have a touch of individuality. This is definitely accentuated by her voice, this low, sleepy even, voice.

Of course, no one can help but notice those lips and realize in no time that she wasn't born with them. I guess it doesn't bother me at all. What did bother me was her performance on SNL which was quite dreadful. The voice, wow, she just could not control it. And that just makes me wonder, how on earth does she sound so good on record? Perhaps it was too early for such an important show, maybe she needs more time to get used to live performing, some training even. I can understand how difficult that must be, the problem is it's still very amateuristic.

I wish her fame (popularity maybe?) would have built-up a bit more gradually. I have a feeling that this is not going to be so great for her carreer.



Finally, I couldn't help but make a comparison with Lia Ices, as did Nylon Magazine I learned later on.

Personally, even though I've been caught up in the Lana hype, I definitely prefer Lia Ices.
Her music, her voice, her sincere style. Everything appeals to me more than Lana's style.

 
Daphne (feat. Justin Vernon, by Lia Ices



30.1.12

Sundance 2012

I should be doing HW right now, but I just ran into this :
So naturally, I had to have a look, since Sundance is the best film festival/competition I know of.
(screw Oscars, screw Cannes)
So here are the Big Winners (that caught my eye):

The Winner of the Grand Jury Prize : Dramatic
Beasts Of The Southern Wild  (dir. Benh Zeitlin)
which also won the Excellence in Cinematography Award: US Dramatic




World Cinema Jury Prize: Dramatic 
Violetta Went To Heaven (dir. Andrés Wood)




US Dramatic Special Jury Prize for Excellence in Independent Film Producing: 
Smashed (dir.Andrea Sperling)


and!

Nobody Walks (dir. Jonathan Schwartz)

 
I Am Not a Hipster (dir. Destin Daniel Cretton)
is part of the NEXT <=> programme*





La Guerre Est Declarée (dir.Valérie Donzelli)
also part of the Next <=> programme



* "NEXT <=> encompasses a selection of pure, bold works by promising filmmakers distinguished by an innovative, forward-thinking approach to storytelling." according to the official sundance site.

As you can see this isn't an article about Sundance and the winners, but more of a self reminder about which films to watch. At the same time, perhaps this might intrigue any passers-by to look up these movies !

29.1.12

Le Dernier Jour


 
I just watched this film



both Gaspard Ulliel and Mélanie Laurent are so adorable



I actually did like it, it was slow and peaceful, don't think I understood everything though. To be honest it wasn't very coherent, but it the cinematography and setting were beautiful.

22.1.12

Moonrise Kingdom

  
Le temps de l'Amour par Françoise Hardy




 



 

  

 


21.1.12

we miss the beach



I realize that this is something like my 3rd 'surf' mix, and I've probably repeated myself somewhere along the way, but I just feel like this.
I also bought this yellow sweater from H&M because it reminded me of Wes Anderson.
Tomorrow I'm henna-ing my hair.
Somepoint soon I'll take some pictures, especially of that awesome yellow sweater. When I'm finally liberated from exams (Wednesday last one, physics. I'm gonna die.)

19.1.12

Haruki Murakami



Memories are what warm you up from the inside. But they’re also what tear you apart.

Finished 'Kafka on the Shore' a couple of days ago and I must say i've been completely overwhelmed by it. I really enjoyed reading it so much, I was so surprised by how the story was unfolding. I had read 'Norwegian Wood', so I guess I expected a story about real life, let's say. Anyway, I'm really bad at this, just read the book, you won't regret it.

30 Days, 30 Films: an overview

First of I'd like to say that even though I didn't manage to see 30 films in 30 days, I cannot consider this a failed attempt. It took me 51 days, but I watched some excellent films I really enjoyed, so yay for that! (Look, I've transformed into a positive thinker)

 
the highlights:
Brothers Bloom
Volver
The Big Lebowski
Hanna
My Neighboor Totoro
Despicable me (LIGHTBAAAAALB)
Norwegian Wood

disappointing ones:
16 Candles ( the acting..wow.)
Crazy, Stupid, Love  (it only got funny at the end.)
American Beauty (creepier than I had expected)

Overall I'm really happy I did this. I only wish I'd managed to find other films I wanted to see, rather than some silly ones like "How do you know?" (which other than Jack Nicholson had nothing to offer). Regardless, I'm compensating tonight by watching Vivre Sa Vie as a preparation for my French exam tomorrow :)

Things to look forward to :)

Jan. 25th    End of pre-bac
Feb 20th  Vacation
Feb 27th   Model European Union
Mar 18th   Laura Marling in Paradiso
Apr 1st     Florence + the Machine in Paradiso !
Apr 3rd     Flying to Athens
Apr 14th    Ben Howard in Melkweg
May 8th+9th    Performing school play
May 13th   BIRTHDAY
May 14th   Vacation
Jun 4th   BAC exams begin holy shit
Jul 6th    Highschool Graduation