Wrapping Up May 2014 | Happy New Month!

May was an odd month - I don't have any classes anymore so basically, I sleep for hours, spend most days either in the hammock or working at the local supermarket (the first thing is awesome, the latter sucks) and watch a bunch of movies if I'm not meeting friends. Nobody has suggested studying to me yet... well, okay, some have. I will start this month, there are still three weeks until the exams so I'm good. The greatest news I have for you is that I finally found an au pair host family... in Anchorage, Alaska! So I will be moving way up north in August and honestly I have no idea how I will handle blogging and all that jazz for the following 12 months. So be prepared for a hiatus. As a little compensation, I will host an Alaska-centered blogathon during June and July so look out for that post pretty soon. And no worries, the podcast is definitely going to continue. Speaking about which, we finally found a way to get all of our old episodes on iTunes and Stitcher. If you follow us on iTunes or the Apple Podcast app, you need to unfollow the old feed and search for Across the Universe Podcast. You should find the up-to-date feed with all previous episodes. (Let's hope so!)

Leaving Hogwarts and the Half-Blood Prince

HARRY POTTER AND the half-blood prince

book 2004   movie 2009   first read 2004   first watch 2009

A sixth-in-a-row return to the school of witchcraft and wizardry, where love is in the air and each laugh is followed by a sob.

Au Revoir to Cannes 2014 | Blue Is the Warmest Color

Yesterday was the last day of the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. It was also the day that I saw last year's Palme d'Or winner La Vie d'Adèle, Chapitres 1 et 2 or Blue Is the Warmest Color for the first time.

Do you remember the time when a beautiful, fresh French face made a short but effective appearance in Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris? Back then, it was still questionable whether there was more behind that intriguing smile. Not anymore - last year, Léa Seydoux (the actress behind selfsame smile) was awarded the Palme d'Or along with her director Abdellatif Kechiche and co-star Adèle Exarchopoulos. The two ladies are the only women to have won the award beside Jane Campion. Blue Is the Warmest Color is indeed a very feminine film that explores women in various ways. Firstly, there is the most apparent theme - homosexuality. The films main character, Adèle, finds out that being with men doesn't give her the same sort of satisfaction as being with a woman does. More so, there is one particular woman that Adèle falls head over heels in love with: the artistic and charming, blue-headed Emma. The two spend several years together as Adèle finishes high school and starts studying to be a teacher. Meanwhile, Emma is becoming an acclaimed artist and doesn't have as much time for her girlfriend anymore. After Adèle cheats on Emma with a male colleague, the two break up, leaving Adèle cold and lonely. 

Favorite Movie Titles Blogathon

The brilliant Brittani Burnham from Rambling Film sets out on her first quest in blogathon land with the Favorite Movie Titles Blogathon. If you would like to join, click on the link above to read the instructions. The theme is as easy as the title suggests. As I have chosen some foreign language titles, I will explain those in English. Off we go!

8 1/2

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

Biutiful

Blind Spot Fixed: Rear Window

With the recent release of Grace of Monaco (2014), there has been more talk than usually of the immortal ghost of the fabulous Grace Kelly. I knew about Grace before I ventured into the art of film for my leisure time, since my favorite topic used to be fashion once. She's your go-to choice for random photo collages that are supposed to express 'glamour', 'timelessness' or simply 'the 50s'. Much like Marilyn Monroe, she's a confusing persona and most people would find it hard to determine what kind of celebrity she was. Apparently, she started a promising career in acting before venturing into princesshood by marrying the Prince of Monaco. When you type her name into the IMDB, it says 'Actress, Rear Window (1954)' in a smaller font below an attempt to capture her breathtaking beauty - it was shortly before she met the prince that my blindspot for this month, which is the film she is best known for, was filmed.

Despite James Stewart's charm, Grace Kelly is the dominating star in this light-hearted murder mystery: She plays Lisa, a New York socialite who is in an on-off, love-hate relationship with adventurous photographer Jeff (Stewart). Due to an accident, Jeff is bound to a wheelchair for a few weeks in the hottest time of summer, a time he fills by regarding the goings-on in the backyard of his apartment complex. Most of the evenings, Lisa goes to visit Jeff and tries to talk him into considering a more serious relationship with her. When Jeff thinks he has overseen dangerous happenings from his rear window, Lisa tries to help him figure out the mystery.