A few weeks ago I’ve seen a movie on TV. A pretty strange one actually, starring James van der Beek. I missed about 2/3 of the film, forgot the title and had no idea what it actually was about (besides remembering a damn funny scene at the end where one of his friends reports what he did in Europe the last few days, in fast motion).
Nevertheless, it was quite an event (“A good movie on TV? Tell me! You’ve only seen the last 20 minutes? Doesn’t matter.“). So I told my friends, they told me that they’ve seen the movie too (my 20 minutes plus 5) and one could even remember its title.
{Add some days of studying, holidays and a few visits to the cinema here}
Last week I grabbed a random not-yet-read book from my bookshelf (which was Bret Easton Ellis’ “Less Than Zero”) and somehow the whole story reminded me of the movie I’ve seen a few weeks ago. I was thrilled by the book and his style of writing. It was exactly what I was looking for all the time since I’ve finished a majority of Douglas Coupland’s novels.
And because my favourite book-and-everything-else-store is still Amazon (I like it when I can get everything what I want within four mouse clicks), I ordered American Psycho (DVD), which I haven’t seen yet. I knew that the original story was written by Bret Easton Ellis and I think I do have the book. Somewhere. And now to the point why I’m writing this entry (despite the fact that I simply have to write something, do my creativity a favour, you know): There was this little link titled “Also by B.E.Ellis…”. Clicked it and what did I see? Right, Rules of Attraction, the movie I’ve written about at the beginning of this post.
The moral of this story? Don’t know yet, I’ll tell you when I’ve seen the movie (the whole one, not only the last 20 minutes).
Sometimes it’s better not to read books (before you stop here and call me an illiterate, read at least the next sentence) because than you can’t be disappointed by the film version of the book.
I haven’t read Michel Houellebecq’s “Elementarteilchen” and so the only thing I can say about the movie is: it’s great, it’s simply great. It’s the story of two half-brothers who are, more or less, looking for the real love (actually they are stumbling across it). For one of them that’s sex, mixed with love, for the other it’s the purity of love.
Leben
Originally uploaded by me.
I’ve just returned from the cinema (Zentralkino Wiener Neustadt, still my favourite) and I have to say that I’m still really, really amazed by the new Woody Allen movie ‘Matchpoint’.
Chris Wilton is a former tennis pro, looking to find work as an instructor. He meets Tom Hewett, a well-off pretty boy. Tom’s sister Chloe falls in love with Chris but Chris has his eyes on Tom’s fiancée, the luscious Nola. Both Chris and Nola know it’s wrong but what could be more right than love? Chris tries to juggle both women but at some point, he must choose between them… (taken from imdb)
Woody Allen has chosen a beautiful scenery (London is beautiful, at least for me), wonderful actors (including the amazing Scarlett Johansson) and has written a truly genuine story. If you are going to see only one movie this month, or maybe even this year, make sure it is Matchpoint.
Flickr is really a great thing. Of course there will be always people who will be complaining about webservices they have to pay for (actually you even need not pay for Flickr, you can go with a free account). I don’t mind spending money on a site I use every day to find inspiring art, meet new people and discover new professionals.
So yesterday I found a picture of Kurt Halsey on Flickr. I actually don’t know much about him, but be sure to visit his website kurthalsey.com. He has a special feeling for describing, for bringing his feelings to paper. It’s this language combined with his great drawing skills which really amazes me.
I find it actually pretty sad that I’m living in such a small town, so we don’t have any art exhibitions or even the possibility for artists to present their work. Okay, that’s not really true but it’s kinda hard to find an audience here in the middle of nowhere. I have to think of Zach’s idea again, which is brilliant in my eyes.
…Because the love song is never simply happy. It must first embrace the potential for pain. Those songs that speak of love without having within their lines an ache or a sigh are not love songs at all but rather hate songs disguised as love songs, and they are not to be trusted. These songs deny us our humanness and our God-given right to be sad and the air-waves are littered with them. The love song must resonate with the whispers of sorrow, the echoes of grief. The writer who refuses to explore the darker regions of the heart will never be able to write convincingly about the wonder, the magic and the joy of love, for just as goodness cannot be trusted unless it has breathed the same air as evil – the enduring metaphor of Christ crucified between two criminals comes to mind here – so within the fabric of the love song, within its melody, its lyric, one must sense an acknowledgement of its capacity for suffering.
Found this on flickr today. My special topic for my english matura was about Nick Cave and his life and one of my questions was exactly about his definition of a love song – duende.
Originally uploaded by Cristina Precioso.
It’s the end of January and I finished my first semester at college :-). So at the moment I’m experiencing something which is called ‘holidays’, a strange period of time where people do just plainly nothing. Except going to parties, sleeping the whole day, writing tiny rails apps or going to the cinema.
That’s what I did. Paying for ‘Munich’ is definitely one thing I don’t regret. Although it’s quite brutal (which is probably the truth) it has a good story plot, fantastic actors and a really nice scenery. Go and watch it!
I’ve just finished reading reading Conversations with Capote (actually I’ve read the German version Ich bin schwul. Ich bin süchtig. Ich bin ein Genie.) by Lawrence Grobel. It’s one of those books where I simply couldn’t stop reading. So I finished it in less than two days and maybe I missed a whole stuff of it, but basically Capote and Grobel talk about literature, of Capote’s life of course and of all the famous persons Capote can’t stand.
I haven’t read any of Capote’s books yet, but I can remember my Spanish teacher at high school who was really a fan of In Cold Blood (which I will buy tomorrow, when I’m in town). He was really a impressive person, high knowledge of literature and movies but still weird.
Nevertheless, if you are not only interested in sci-fi books and still-alive-authors, get that book and you will find links to a whole bunch of other great literature in it.
I went out yesterday to get the very last Christmas present (if I were chancellor of Austria, I would adopt an anti-commerce law for Christmas). It’s the same every year, people are running around everywhere, buying gifts, carrying large shopping bags and all that.
But my day was saved when I found the new Cardigans album Super Extra Gravity. I heard their single I need some fine wine and you, you need to be nicer before and I really love it, but the album… It’s just awesome, really a masterpiece in my eyes. So powerful and everything.
Perhaps I will still go to Sweden for my exchange semester, swedish band’s seem to be quite hot at the moment :-)
One thing I have to say first: I really, really love the web. It’s so easy to meet new people over the web and read about their lifes and appreciate their work.
I’ve recently (about two minutes ago) bought my very first digital-book (Dopamine Addict by Zachary Forrest) over at Lulu.com:
When Dax finds signs of a venereal disease, his world comes to a screeching stop. His good looks, the women at his fingertips, not even his closest friends can stop him from sliding down a black hole of depression, suicidal behavior and ultimately, redemption. Dopamine Addict is a brutal portrayal of one man’s suffering, from the necessary evils of hindsight and consequence to the redemptive power of a girl’s love; this is a journey to the depths of hell and back, one man’s struggle to find personal meaning potent enough to keep him alive.
Will enjoy it on Thursday in my physics course ;-)
