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Stolen from palmolive5. This list will include all those books I have read in 2009.


001. Albrecht Dürer by Norbert Wolf
002. Der Vorleser by Bernhard Schlink
003. Der Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse
004. Educating Rita by Willy Russell
005. Tonio Kröger / Mario und der Zauberer by Thomas Mann *
006. Sämtliche Erzählungen by Franz Kafka
007. Darwin und der Darwinismus by Franz M. Wuketits
008. Eine kurze Weltgeschichte für junge Leser by Ernst H. Gombrich
009. Das Profi-Handbuch zur Canon EOS 1000D by Kyra Sänger
010. Die Geschichte der Kunst by Ernst H. Gombrich

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* = So far I have only read "Mario und der Zauberer".
** = still reading

I felt for sure last night
At once we said goodbye
No one else will know these lonely dreams
No one else will know that part of me
I'm still driving away
And I'm sorry every day
I won't always love these selfish things
I won't always live
Stop it

It was my turn to decide
I knew this was our time
No one else will have me like you do
No one else will have me, only you

You''ll sit alone forever
If you wait for the right time
What are you hoping for?
I'm here and now I'm ready
Holding on tight
Dont give away the end
The one thing that stays mine

Amazing still it seems
I'll be 23
I won't always love what I'll never have
I won't always live in my regrets

You'll sit alone forever
If you wait for the right time
What are you hoping for?
I'm here and now I'm ready
Holding on tight
Don't give away the end
The one thing that stays mine

Another new design. But I think I'll stick to this one because you can read the text better. The picture's also pretty.

Am I loud and clear or am I breaking up?
Am I still your charm or am I just bad luck?
Are we getting closer, or are we just getting more lost?

I'll show you mine if you show me yours first
Let's compare scars, I'll tell you whose is worse
Let's unwrite these pages and replace them with our own words

We live on front porches and swing life away
We get by just fine here on minimum wage
If love is a labor I'll slave till the end
I won't cross these streets until you hold my hand

I've been here so long, think that it's time to move
The winter's so cold, summer's over too soon
Let's pack our bags and settle down where palm trees grow

I've got some friends, some that I hardly know
But we've had some times I wouldn't trade for the world
We chase these days down with talks of the places that we will go

We live on front porches and swing life away
We get by just fine here on minimum wage
If love is a labor I'll slave 'til the end
I won't cross these streets until you hold my hand
Until you hold my hand

Swing life away

„Red Eye“ is a thriller about a young hotel manager, Lisa Reisert, who has a momentous encounter with a man, Jack Ripper, at an airport. They both take the same flight and surprisingly sit next to each other. It turns out that this is no coincidence: Mr Ripper starts to tell Lisa what he is really interested in and blackmails her.


The film is nothing extraordinary and filled with clichés, but still entertaining enough to keep you entertained although you shouldn't expect too much realism. To use a plane as the setting of the movie is a good idea and already brought a certain powerful atmosphere to “Flightplan” with Jodie Foster. There aren’t many surprises, if any – especially after the action leaves the plane, there is absolutely nothing unexpected. I still enjoyed it though and didn’t feel a big decrease of suspense.
While Rachel McAdams’ acting is rather pale, Cillian Murphy does a good job and already brings across a certain feel of danger in the beginning of the movie.

“Red Eye” is definitely not Wes Craven’s best movie, but only a decent attempt at a thriller outside of the horror genre.

A list with my ten most scrobbled tracks during the last six months of 2008.

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1) Maxïmo Park – By The Monument

Well, it’s just a very catchy song and so far my favorite one by Maxïmo Park.
Here’s a live version of the song:



2) Maxïmo Park – Books From Boxes

A beautiful song with a melancholic feel to it. At one point, a few weeks ago, I felt quite awful when I looked at old photographs and listened to the song on repeat.
Here’s the music video:



3) MGMT – Kids

At first, the only song I liked by MGMT was “Time To Pretend”. But when I listened to “Kids” again, after I only listened to it once before, I started to like that song as well. In fact, I even like it more than “Time To Pretend” now, or at least it’s on the same level. It’s just as psychedelic and electronic. Actually, I wanted to embed a live version of the song here, but I noticed that they don’t really sound … good live. So I’m gonna stick with this unofficial video for “Kids”:



4) Rick Astley – Never Gonna Give You Up

Well … Rickrolling made it popular again. If you listen to it once you keep listening to it afterwards. It’s catchy, it’s cheesy (as is the video) and besides that Rick Astley actually has a good voice.



5) Maxïmo Park – The Coast Is Always Changing

Another song by Maxïmo Park. What can I say? It’s once again catchy music with nice lyrics. The music video:



6) Rise Against – Re-Education (Through Labor)

When I first saw the video on TV the song didn’t really stick in my mind. However, after watching the video once again on YouTube, it did and I started to like it. With their new album Rise Against seem to have become a little “softer” but they are still full of energy with messages to bring across. The video is also interesting:



7) MGMT – Time To Pretend

And here’s the next song by MGMT. It contains great lyrics and again it sounds quite psychedelic. It made me want to continue watching “Skins” … which I didn’t. Anyway, actually I wanted to embed the song’s crazy music video but unfortunately I cannot find any version on YouTube that you can embed … So, if you want to watch it you have to look it up on YouTube yourself. Instead, here’s a video with a live version and an interview:



8) Coldplay – Fix You

We once saw the video of “Fix You” in class. What I like about the song is the rising tempo beginning after the first half and the lyrics. It’s also the best song on “X&Y”.



9) This Is Ivy League - London Bridges

A nice, fun song. I didn’t know there was a music video for it. Sounds a little different than the version I have. I also didn’t know the two members are also members of Cobra Starship.



10) Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Art Star

At first, I didn’t like the song. The sudden change of the relaxing tune into screaming didn’t do it for me. When I listened to the song again, however, I really started to like it. Now I really love this contrast, it gives the song something special. But you really have to get used to it. At least I had to. Here’s a creative, unofficial video for “Art Star”:

“High Art” depicts the encounter of Syd, a young woman who works as an assistant editor at a photography magazine and shares her flat with her boyfriend, and Lucy Berliner who once worked as a photographer but gave up on doing commercial work and lives with a drug-addicted German actress, Greta.

The chemistry between Syd and Lucy is sensible even at the beginning, so there isn’t any problem with the believability of their relationship. However, I thought that Syd’s relationship with her boyfriend isn’t dealt with very discreetly, in fact in contrast to Lucy’s relationship to Syd and Greta their relationship was written rather cheaply.
The end is abrupt and you could argue about if it is a good or a bad ending. When I saw it I was rather disappointed. It just felt so “trivial” to end this kind of movie like that even if it’s still a better ending than your average Hollywood finale. Plus, and even if the film may have tried to fool the viewer and therefore the ending is so “unexpected”, it just felt not contiguous to me. But maybe that’s the effect the director intended. Now, I’m not so sure anymore what to think of the conclusion.


Anyway: In the end it just didn’t really click. “High Art” is probably not a bad movie. Still, I couldn’t really get “into it”.

By the way: Two actresses I know from two of my favorite TV shows had a part in this movie: For one there is Patricia Clarkson who played Ruth Fisher’s younger sister Sarah O’Connor on “SIX FEET UNDER”. Next to Ally Sheedy she delivers the most memorable performance. And then there is – although only shown in three short scenes – Mercedes McNab as the receptionist who played Harmony in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and in “Angel”. Oddly enough, she’s not mentioned in the credits.

I finally watched it. You know, I bought the DVD of this movie in 2006 but never managed to watch it. I guess there weren’t any special reasons. I just didn’t feel like it. Maybe because it’s a Hollywood family movie, at least you could call it that.
Anyway, I liked the movie. It was a nice and moving story based on true events. As it is a Hollywood film it also contains quite a lot of pathos, especially at the end. Still, it’s worth watching. It deals with themes like the realization of your dreams and a difficult father-son relationship. The actors did a good job. This is one of Jake Gyllenhaal’s first films – he was only 18 when the movie was first released in 1999 – and I think the first one where he actually has the leading role. You can already see his talent here. Laura Dern was also nice as the teacher although she doesn’t have that much screentime. I was surprised to see Chris Owen whom I only know from the American Pie series where he plays Sherman. The most outstanding performance, however, is presented by Chris Cooper who plays Homer’s strict father. And wow, he resembles his father, John Cooper, a lot …
As to the script, well, it’s not overly exceptional. It uses various aspects other movies of that type include as well and characters like Quentin are rather one-dimensional.
The score is touching even if it might be considered a little “schmaltzy”. The soundtrack also includes 50’s hits like The Coaster’s “Yakety Yak”.


“October Sky” is based on Homer Hickam, Jr.’s autobiography “Rocket Boys”. It’s no masterpiece but if you want to watch a straight-forward movie with a positive message, you could include it in your short list.

This list will include movies I'll watch in 2009. Only "completed" movies will be part of this list.

001. October Sky (7/10)
002. High Art (6/10)
003. Red Eye (5/10)
004. Hotel Rwanda (7/10)
005. Willkommen zuhause (7/10)
006. Was nützt die Liebe in Gedanken (7/10)
007. Valkyrie (5/10)
008. Rendition (7/10)
009. Heimatfilm (6/10)
010. Blindflug (6/10)
011. The Rules of Attraction (6/10)
012. Knallhart (6/10)
013. Nichts ist vergessen (5/10)
014. Lost and Delirious (8/10)
015. Sophie Scholl - Die letzten Tage (9/10) **
016. Novemberkind (6/10)
017. Jeepers Creepers II (3/10)
018. Saam gaang (5/10)
019. Yella (7/10)
020. Mein Leben - Marcel Reich-Ranicki (6/10)
021. Notes on a Scandal (7/10)
022. Transamerica (8/10)
023. Angels & Demons (5/10)
024. Geuk jang jeon (4/10)
025. Darwin's Lost Paradise (6/10)
026. American Psycho (6/10) REWATCH
027. Inkheart (6/10)
028. Jurassic Park (6/10)
029. The Lost World: Jurassic Park (4/10)
030. Jurassic Park III (3/10)
031. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (5/10)
032. Jacob's Ladder (8/10)
033. Final Destination 3 (3/10)
034. Persepolis (8/10)
035. The Reader (7/10)
036. Anger Management (5/10)

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Year:


2000s (3)

2009 (4)
2008 (6)
2007 (5)
2006 (3)
2005 (4)
2004 (2)
2003 (2)
2002 (2)
2001 (2)
2000 (1)

1990s (5)

1999 (1)
1998 (1)
1997 (1)
1993 (1)
1990 (1)


Country:

USA (17)
Germany (10)
Canada (2)
UK (3)
South Korea (1)
Australia (1)
France (1)
Hong Kong / South Korea / Thailand (1)


Genre:

Drama (19)
Thriller (4)
Horror (4)
Adventure (3)
Mystery (1)
Documentary (1)
Fantasy (2)
Animation (1)
Comedy (1)

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** = watched twice