shrines.

Infinite anticipation!

 
Stuck! Festival - Trailer 2012 from Stuck! Festival on Vimeo.

(Although I didn't really figure out, yet, how to finance this trip to Salzburg, but be sure I already took part in one or two competitions! Hrrhrrr.) In other news, I'm really pissed right now, because Purity Rings long awaited full-length album is not available on Spotify - probably only in my country. FTS!

Over and over and over again.

submerge.

Ugh, I give up being in time with that monthly review. Though the third day of the month isn't really belated, is it? It's just my high aspiration to perfection I need to overcome. Well I planned to write all the book and movie related reviews yesterday, but then I crawled into my bed exhaustedly and woke up around 11pm and no shit was done. I didn't even mind the two longlegged fellows hanging right over my head on the ceiling. (Yes, I'm talking about spiders, here.)

So what happened in June, you ask? I went to 5 live shows. That's usually a rate of 3 months or so, when you live in a musically frustrating city like I do. (I can't emphasize it enough, peeps!) Yet, I am glad there is this "new" club called KONG I'm having high hopes on. They hosted a show with my new found love BEAR IN HEAVEN..(Spoiler alert: Record of the year!) 

I didn't find much time reading or watching movies due to that thing called social life, I guess. ;) 

And...as I already mentioned in the previous post, I did my best being all clumsy and here we already come to the part that is related to the post title. I flooded my apartment (or at least part of it). Actually...it wasn't really me, but the stupid rainstorm that had to surprise me on that day I forgot to shut my windows before leaving for work. Astonishment accomplished, Petrus! Gladly nothing was damaged, considering the fact that my computer was standing right in the middle of the pool! You can imagine the shock and the pleasure, getting rid of the mess and all that water. But two hours later it already looked liked nothing had happened. I'm glad I didn't have had any plans for that evening. Also, I am surprised I didn't get sick standing in the water with bare feet for so long. 

Ok, so here are the things I enjoyed last month, starting with the (few) books I read.

THE BOOKS I HAVE READ:

THE GLIMPSE by CLAIRE MERLE

So, by now, thinking about that book, I probably already forgot half of what happened. I even had to revisit the résumé on goodreads to get started writing a few sentences about it. Basically this book is yet another dystopian setting, where people are divided in Pures and Crazies. The author draws a futuristic scenario where flawless human beings exclude allegedly mentally ill people from their society. And of course we have our 16-year-old heroine who starts realizing that a lot of things are going wrong in her world. And although the cover of the book seems to promise a decent amount of romance, this was, to my disappointment, a rather dry detective-like story. (3/5)

MATCHED by ALLIE CONDIE

I have been lurking around that one for a long time. Most reviews I read had been very positive, but I always feared this would be too gooey for my taste. Way off the mark! This one, contrary to "The Glimpse" stays with you for a while and makes you want to crave for the sequel (yes, we have another trilogy here) and I would have ordered the second book right away if wouldn't have to pay back a severe amount of money to my electricity provider. The synopsis is summarized quickly. Cassia is living in a perfect world. Literally. Everything is prescribed by law. The food you get to eat. The job you will take, the person you will marry and the day you will die. All for the sake of getting perfect results and getting rid of distractions that make people think too much and dysfunction. I thought this was a very interesting scenario and this series lines up easily with some impressive dystopia like "The Hunger Games" and "Divergent". (4/5)

I am also halfway through another book, which was a present from our a intern, whom I helped with her exam preparation. It is "Hunting and Gathering" by Anna Gavalda, and I can already say that I really love the humor of this author. With that book I also got the DVD from the screen adaption and I'm looking forward to this one. 

THE MOVIES I HAVE WATCHED:

JEFF WHO LIVES AT HOME

Ok, first of all, I am fond of Jason Segel. So my judgement might be a bit biased. Meet Jeff, who...uhm yeah, still lives at home, and is sort of seeking the true meaning of live and gets all superstitious when he get's a call from a stranger asking for Kevin (you might be right, if you guessed there is no Kevin living at his house). Jeff takes the next bus to the city, because he is confused and feels he needs to get out or something, and sees this guy sitting in fron of him with a basketball shirt and the name "Kevin" on it. That's when Jeff is finally hooked, and tries to convince his indigenous brother, who alongside is struggling with his wife, about his new found destiny, he isn't sure about himself, yet. All in all, a diverting comedy with a Jason Segel you will enjoy if you love him as much as I do. (6.5/10)

CONTAGION

Packed with so many hollywood allstars this movie mostly lacks of character development. Kate Winslet for example whose talent I appreciate a lot, doesn't get the slightest chance in a movie like this, to show what she is really good at. You might also want to take my advice and don't eat while watching this movie, especially not during the Gwyneth Paltrow scenes. It's for your own good. What do we learn from this contagious blockbuster? Uhm, exactly...nothing. (5/10)

TAKE THIS WALTZ

Seth Rogen and Michelle Williams playing that couple that seems to fit so well but, in the end, still gets eaten by daily grind and boredom. But that's not it, yet. It is more a portrait of a young and insecure woman who is constantly searching for a higher meaning of her life and struggles with a sadness that overwhelms her and seems to be incurable. I didn't like her character much until the point where she says "Do you have any idea, how much courage it takes to seduce you?" And that's where I found a part of my own past personality in her.  (7/10)

FISH TANK

Talking about past lives. Meet Mia in her Fish Tank desperately searching for a way out. Growing up in a likewise neighbourhood I could perfectly relate to this young girl who is so angry and yet so passionate and strong. In my opinion this young actress, Katie Jarvis, does a much better job than I hoped I would see from Mr. Fassbender. In it's realistic setting it also reminded me a bit to "Weekend" which makes me want to observe the british film industry a little more. This is how brilliant filmmaking is done. (9/10)

WITHOUT

This one was listed as one of the International Independents at the still ongoing Filmfest in Munich. It is about a young girl breaking with her everyday life while taking a job as a nurse for an elderly person. When the host announced, this will be an oppressive experience, I sank back into the seats, daunted. Having seen some emotionally disturbing shit, I actually swore to myself, not to consume much more of these kinds of movies. But to defuse this a little, it was, in the end, indeed rather innocuous. But still, while watching the movie, I always expected some unsettling things to happen. And infact, the movie was built to make the audience wonder, what the hell is actually going on here, which was one of the good aspects. And if you like movies, that leave you riddled about what really happened and what didn't, you will probably enjoy this one. (7/10)