Currently reading / watching / listening to...

Reading

* Chi's Sweet Home volume 8 by Konami Kanata. Even cuter and more heartwarming than the previous installments. I defy you to read this and not get ridiculously happy.

* One Year Lived by Adam Shepard. I love true stories about travels and inspiring people and One Year Lived was a delightful combination of both. For an entire year, Adam Shepard traveled the world, living and volunteering in countries such as Honduras, New Zealand, Australia, Philippines, Nicaragua and Spain. Shepard gives a good idea of the countries he visited, but where he really succeeds is in describing life as a volunteer in an exotic country and in inspiring people to do something extraordinary with their lives, even if it's just for one month. One Year Lived is free for readers of this blog. Look below for more information.


Watching

* Orphan Black. Sarah witnesses the suicide of a stranger who looks just like her. Sarah assumes her identity in the hopes of cleaning out the dead woman's bank account. Instead, she finds herself caught in the middle of a deadly conspiracy involving clones. I'm currently at episode seven of this TV series. There's never a dull moment with Orphan Black, but the first two episodes were definitely the most racy and surprising ones.

* Hemlock Grove.  I didn't get beyond episode two of this TV series based on the werewolf novel by Brian McGreevy.

* Sightseers. A woman goes on a road trip with her fiancé and finds out he's a killer. And isn't true love about encouraging your man's activities and joining in the fun? Not bad at all, just not as good as most of the other movies I watched over the past few weeks. From the director of Kill List.

* Killing Them Softly. It's been a couple of weeks since I saw Killing Me Softly and I forgot almost all about it. Enough said, no?

* Survive Style 5+. I've rarely seen anything as bizarre, original and over the top as this Japanese movie. Loved it.

* My Amityville Horror. Documentary about the events and people that have inspired the 70s horror movie The Amityville Horror. It didn't really come as a surprise that the family living in the house was rather unstable and that the spooky events probably never happened.

* Mientras duermes (Sleep Tight). Spanish director Jaume Balagueró has been my artistic crush since The Nameless and Darkness. With Mienatras duermes he proves once more that he has visual flair and a gift for intelligent storytelling. Also, here's one of the best endings you will see in a long time.

* To The Wonder. Terrence Malick tells us about our incapacity to make decisions by showing us an unhappy couple that doesn't know if they want to stay together or not. It's beautifully rendered and the lack of dialogue (we only hear actors talking from afar) gives the movie an estranged atmosphere.

* The Lords Of Salem. The vintage feel, reminiscent of the 70s witch movies, makes The Lords Of Salem worth watching. The lack of story and character development and the overdose of ridiculous scenes on the other hand...

* The Road To Salina. A man is mistaken for someone's missing son and decides to play the game... until he notices he doesn't resemble the boy at all. I loved the brooding atmosphere, the locations (France and Spain), the actors and the bizarre story.

* The Chumscrubber. Relatively unknown film despite the funny story and the famous cast (Ralph Fiennes, Glenn Close, Jamie Bell, Justin Chatwin). The Chumscrubber is easily as good as Juno and the likes.

* Movie 43. All the sketches in this film have one thing in common: they are as gross as possible. There are some clever ideas in this otherwise unstable collection, but two sketches really stand out. In the first one, Kate Winslet has a blind date with Hugh Jackman who happens to have a pair of testicles in his neck that only she seems to notice. The scene where Winslet almost throws up in her plate is legendary. Another favorite was the one from James Gunn about the obsessive relationship between an man and his cat. Hilarious. Everyone who still believes that I have an unhealthy relationship with my cat, please watch this first and we'll talk later.

* Perfect Mothers. Naomi Watts and Robin Wright play two mothers who sleep with each other's sons. Too much giggling, self-absorbed babble and soap-like twists make Perfect Mothers hard to fully enjoy despite the breathtaking scenery and holiday feel. Still, there's something that lingers on with this film. Based on Doris Lessing's novel The Grandmothers.

* Side Effects. Steven Soderbergh's latest is an assured thriller that captivates from beginning to end. Only downside: Side Effects was VERY similary to the 80s movie Final Analysis.

* Aftershock. Holidays, earthquakes, natural disasters, criminals on the loose... Aftershock could have been a lot of fun, even despite the silly characters. But then a tsunami is announced, people start running... and suddenly get more interested in stealing televisions and raping people. Definitely the thing to do with a tsunami on your heals.


Listening to

* The soundtrack of Maniac. I'm obsessed with this ever since I saw the movie at the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival.

* The soundtrack of Side Effects. The perfect companion for when I'm writing.

* Also been to concerts of Max Richter (assured, precise, classy) and Christina Vantzou (promising but inexperienced).

What have you been reading, watching and listening to lately?

Giveaway

Adam Shepard, the author of One Year Lived, will send a PDF copy of his book to everyone who shares this blog post on either Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, StumbleUpon or Google+. Giveaway is open worldwide and ends May 22nd.

For a complete list of giveaways of the Love In Bloom Giveaway Hop, go to: http://www.iamareader.com/2013/04/love-in-bloom-giveaway-hop-sign-ups-may-16th-to-22nd.html