an unforgettable city: Paris, Je t'aime (2006)

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Title: Paris, je t'aime
Language: French
Year: 2006
Directors: Olivier Assayas, Frédéric Auburtin, and 20 more credits
My Rating: 4.7/5

"Through the neighborhoods of Paris, love is veiled, revealed, imitated, sucked dry, reinvented and awakened." -imdb

After seeing this film last night, I couldn't fall asleep for a long time. The opening film at Cannes International Film Festival of 2006, this 20-segment film portrays the many facets of Paris that one least knows and/or expects. Although the plot summary above seems broad and over-generalizing, I assure you that it is not. It is accurately the impression that the film will leave you.

Each of the 20 segments in this film, directed by a different director, lasts 5 minutes and can be a standalone by itself. In one way or another, each segment tells a love story, no matter heartwarming, saddening, thoughtful, or bizarre: one talks about a young boy discovering the right way to treat a girl on the bank of the Seine; one deals with a grieving mother's recovery from having lost her son; one tells the story of a blind boy falling in and out of love with a foreign actress; one shows the audience the complicated breakup scene of an old couple... 

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Through these 20 mini films that together build the complex, interweaving structure that is not only the film Paris, Je t'aime but also the city Paris and its people, I constantly felt the enchantment as well as the cruelty of the society that we live in. The last segment of the end of the film sums it up for us really well: "Sitting there, alone in a foreign country, far from my job and everyone I know, a feeling came over me. It was like remembering something I'd never known before or had always been waiting for, but I didn't know what. Maybe it was something I'd forgotten or something I've been missing all my life. All I can say is that I felt, at the same time, joy and sadness. But not too much sadness, because I felt alive. Yes, alive. That was the moment I fell in love with Paris. And I felt Paris fall in love with me." (source)

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In the last few minutes of the movie, the camera shifts from one protagonist's perspective to another, and through their eyes we realize that their lives, however unrelated as they seem, are ultimately connected to each other. And this is the wonder of the our lives, of the world we live in.

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xx
Vanessa :]

Music Monday: poignant french song time

Last night I saw a wonderful film called Paris, Je t'aime (you can find my review here). I found two songs in the film extremely moving: Paris Je t'aime by Elisabeth Anais and La Meme Histoire by Feist. Listen to the two songs, and you'll find yourself lost in nostalgia, dreams, and thoughts. Beautiful tunes that remind me of the ever-changing face of Paris, of fate, and of love and life.

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http://lyricstranslate.comThe Same Story
This link between us
This elusive thing?
Where are those fates, which are tied
To make us inseparable, going?
Over time
Wherever the wind goes...
Our desires, our loves
We leave without knowing
We're still
In the same story...
This thing which separates us,
Which, by chance, brings us together?
Why so many one-way tickets, so many departures
In this unending circle?
Over time
Wherever the wind goes...thus...
Our desires, our loves
We leave without knowing
We're still
In the same story...
The same story...
Our desires, our loves
We leave without knowing
We're still
In the same story...
The same story...

But what is

We move forward

We live day by day

But what is

We move forward

We live day by day

We live day by day

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xx

Vanessa :]

Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated Fiction Fall 2013

After watching so too many TV shows that aren't even that well executed, I decided that it's time to jump back into the arms of my good old friend who never disappoints - books! Here's a list of 10 fictional novels that I can't can't can't wait that I came up for myself, I thought I'd share it with you guys!

*there is no specific order to the list.

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1. Allegiant by Veronica Roth
The third and final installation in the quick-paced, adrenaline-inducing Divergent series = huuuuuge anticipation

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2. The Bones of Paris by Laura R. King
Okay, just the name gives me chills. I've always automatically associated Paris with romance, love, lightheartedness, and all things good and sweet. But bones? No-o-o-o-o. So I'm really curious about what story this "novel of suspense"entails, especially because, oh la la, it takes place in the sensual Jazz Age.

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3. How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny
Yet another mystery/thriller set in my favorite time of the year (for reading mystery/thriller and otherwise): Christmastime! Can't wait to feel the clash between the tension and the festiveness.

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4. The Secret Keeper by Beverly Lewis
This story is about a girl abandoning modern life to pursue another living in the Amish community. I've never read any book about the Amish people and their ways of living, so I think this should be really interesting!

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5. Paradise City by Joe Gunther
Gotta love this misty & mysterious cover. Another mystery/thriller about a thief stealing eccentric items across town.

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6. United We Spy by Ally Carter
An intense spy story in a high school setting...ooh...

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7. The Hero by Robyn Carr
Yet another hauntingly beautiful cover. A story about falling in love when you least expect it, and how this seemingly romantic act can also require courage and determination.

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8. Doctor Sleep by Stephen King
A novel by Stephen King and a sequel to The Shining - need I say more?

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9. The Returned by Jason Mott
Seriously, what is up with these just breathtaking covers? They just make me want to read the book so much more! This story has a very captivating premise: After having lost their eight-year-old son many many years ago, the parents find their son on their rooftop one morning, very much alive, still eight years old. He has "returned."

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10. The Longest Ride by Nicolas Sparks
A Nicolas Sparks book is always an enjoyable read (and most likely a tear-jerking one.)

xx
Vanessa :]

paradise lost: Oblivion

Title: Oblivion
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Starring: Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman, Andrea Riseborough, Olga Kurylenko
Metascore Critic Rating: 54
IMDb User Rating: 7.1/10
My Rating: 3.5/5

"A veteran assigned to extract Earth's remaining resources begins to question what he knows about his mission and himself."

I'm sure when you saw this trailer  in theaters you were thinking, "Wow, I bet that movie is gonna rock!" And then you never got around to seeing it. It's okay. You didn't miss too much.

Oblivion is a post-apocalyptic sci-fi adventure that follows the monotonous life of drone repairman, Jack (apparently Tom liked the name Jack this year), and his "effective teammate" Victoria. They live in a house in the sky and have a glass pool that they go skinny dipping in. By the way, Tom Cruise, not ageing.

Top left: Tom Cruise in 1986
Bottom right: Tom Cruise in 2013
Whatever he's on, I want some.

When the movie first began I got a strange case of deja vu. "Wow, I think I've seen this before..." And I sort of had. The director of this movie, Joseph Kosinski, was also the director of Tron: Legacy. So, needless to say, these visuals were stunning. Paired with a fantastic soundtrack, courtesy of M83, the movie managed to evoke some feeling.

Oblivion - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack from NoddingToMusic on 8tracks Radio.

The movie opens like Tron, the opening sequence a montage of killer visuals, epic music, and a wonderful voice over from Cruise. He explains everything you need to know before the opening title flashes across the screen.

Kosinski nailed the futuristic look...again. The entire set looks straight out of Tron: Legacy. The man knows how to shoot movies. He can evoke feeling without the use of dialog. He could make you cry just by panning a camera. Now if only he could find a better script (I would love to see what he would do with the script for The Matrix).

The film has very subtle nuances that you might miss while watching it:

Like the fact that there are canyons made from the streets of New York City.

Hey, look! The Library of Congress (I think). This feels like National Treasure...
*suddenly, Nicolas Cage*

"Just another day in [post-apocalyptic, radioactive, uninhabitable] paradise."

While the script for Oblivion is weak in the emotional department the movie makes up for it with some wonderful acting from the entire cast. It's been a long time since I've really enjoyed watching Tom Cruise at work. And of course Morgan Freeman was fantastic as always. His introduction is wonderfully thought out in the ever classic Freeman style. But I won't ruin it for you.

One of the other things I enjoyed about this movie was Tom Cruise's character. His quirkiness was perfectly portrayed by Tom. The baseball cap was a nice touch I thought.

Like I said above, this movie could have done with some more depth. So many possibilities were missed with this script. But there were enough twists to keep me interested. I feel like they could have drug out the suspense a bit longer. They spill the big secret before you're even halfway through.

I'd love to write a deeper review for this movie, but there's not a lot to go on here. So take of it what you may.

Check it out and tell me what you think :D

Just to be honest, I’m not really sure what this Wednesday’s question is. I just have this story to tell y’all, and I guess you can decide what the takeaway is.

Like I already mentioned in this Monday’s post, I love choir. I love everything about it: the warmups, the music-reading, the tryouts for solos, the last-minute rehearsals… When I was in middle school, my school’s choir decided to participate in the World Choir Games 2008 in Graz, Austria.

The preparation started the second the first rehearsal of the school year began. Even though it was still ten months until summer at the time, we already plunged into it. In order to perform the four songs we picked for the Games perfectly, we trained every day of the week, and in the last two months even on weekend evenings. Occasionally there were complaints; a few people even dropped out. But July came and we flew to Austria. The Games were a huge success. We won silver medal. And we had so much fun as a team together, picnicking along the Mur, hanging out by the fountain in front of the Town Hall, putting on makeup in a tiny restaurant before the competition…

In short, it was a wonderful time. Everyone bonded over the Games, and our time spent in the scenic town of Graz. Because I had always remembered Graz with a smile and warm memories, when I started planning my trip to Europe this summer I could not not add Graz to the itinerary.

So, on July 22^nd, 2013, exactly five years after I left Graz, I was back. I took a taxi from the train station to get to the downtown area. The taxi dropped me off in a small street just off the town center. As soon as I rounded the corner, I almost burst into tears. There, right in front of me, was an ancient building decorated with frescoes that I took an exact picture of five years ago. Even though I couldn’t remember about the building, I knew it was the building I’ve seen before as soon as I saw it. That feeling when my past suddenly somehow caught up to me was strange: I was overcome with acute nostalgia, yet I was not sad; I was happy, no, delighted, to be back again, even though I was on my own this time, without the rest of the choir.

Staring at the building, I started to have this thought about life and growth. Sometimes you don’t realize that you’ve changed until you see something that haven’t. Returning to Graz is one of these things. The historical part of Graz which I remember ever so clearly hasn’t changed one bit, but I was completely different. I am no longer a girl; I’ve grown into a young woman. That powerful difference made me gasp at how much time can do to a person, how much I’ve grown. When I got back to my hotel that night I realized that I would’ve regretted it tremendously if I didn’t put Graz on the itinerary.

So that’s my story. I guess there really isn’t one single question to ask. Perhaps I just wanted to make a proposal: revisit a place that meant a lot to you during your childhood or adolescence. Let the unchanging show you the change.

After doing that, here’s a question for you: how does it feel?

xx

Vanessa :]

Music Monday: what about choir

Hi y'all, for today's Music Monday I want to do something different. In the past I've always introduced playlists or songs that reflect my mood. Today I feel like doing a completely different genre - choir! 

Personally I have been in choir in and out for more than ten years. Here's a picture of me in World Choir Games (the equivalent of Olympics in the choir world) back in the summer of 2008. My middle school's entire choir made a trip to Graz, Austria just for the Games! In fact I was back in Graz just a few days ago to revisit the good memories. (And that is another story, which I will blog about soon.)

Anyway, so now you know that choir is of great significance to me, and whenever I come across a good choir on Youtube or in real life I just get these inexplicable feelings. Sometimes I even burst into tears (yes, I realize how crazy that sounds). Today I want to introduce this one especially amazing group from Europe, Scala & Kolacny Brothers. I first heard one of their songs in a random playlist on 8tracks, and I was all aslfljkadsfsglshg;djafhsg;ad. (Sorry for my lack of words.) So then I dug them up on the Internet and found out that they were coming out with a Christmas album! It was November last year, and when the album came in December it was one of the best things my ears ever heard.

And now, without further ado:

Enjoy!

xx

Vanessa :]

I just found something ah-mazing

you guys have to check this out. Keep this website open while playing any music just simply transforms the whole experience.

xx

Vanessa :]