Tuesday, December 11, 2018

The strangest item on my bucket list

The strangest item on my bucket list

The strangest item on my bucket list is in connection with my attraction to cold places, like Scandinavian countries. But this one is located even further. This place is called Longyearbyen and this is the world's northernmost settlement with more than 1000 inhabitants. It belongs to Norway and the tempereture there is very low most of the time, but in summer it can go up to 3 or even 7 degrees °C. It is surrounded by beautiful glaciers and mountains and it is also next to the sea so overall it has a beautiful landscape. In spite of the low tempereture, Longyearbyen is a tourist attraction. This place is among the recomendations on Norways touristic informational websites and many people visit it. Although I wouldn't live there, it seems fun to visit it.


Péter Kamondy

A really bad "travelling" experience

A really bad "travelling" experience

An indonesian 19 years old boy survived 49 days alone at the sea in a small fishing boat. As a fisherman, his job was to catch fish while floating on the sea and each week someone from his company came to harvest the fish and give him fresh food and water supply. In July the heavy winds sent him adrift into the ocean. He handled it well, although he was increasingly running out of food and water.

Some star is born, some is falling (a review)



Some star is born, some is falling
(film review)
The fourth version and the third remake of the legendary film, A star is born is now going on in cinema. The latest film with the same title was produced by Clint Eastwood, directed, produced and also acted by Bradley Cooper, starring the famous singer, Lady Gaga. Because of the interesting choices of roles and the high budget production, the latest film got huge attention.
 In this version one can find an experiment of the director to go back to the roots of the series but also modernising it and making it current. The 1937 film was about an unknown actress fulfilling the American dream with the help of a Hollywood actor, who was already famous. The latest film is about a famous singer, Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) who discoveres the undiscovered talent of the young bar singer, Ally (Lady Gaga). The 2018 version follows the original story. While the young singer breaks into the show business and becomes a superstar, her ”mentor” slowly declines and is being destroyed by his own alcohol and drug problems.
This was Bradley’s debut film as a director and the first main role as an actress for Lady Gaga, so the expectations were big. The results were more than satisfying: Bradley and Gaga worked perfectly together on screen. The resonance between them was excellent. It was fun to watch ”Lord and Lady Gaga” having conversations, laughing, arguing, singing and performing. But Lady Gaga was the biggest suprise. Her acting was so powerful, it was like Gaga and Ally fusing into one person. Looks like her character was flawlessly fitting to her.
The writing and directing was also suprisingly good. It was like the production of a veteran filmmaker, so this credit goes to Bradley. The extreme close-ups of the main actors’ facial expressions when something sad was going on were especially charming.
One of the most important parts of this film was definitely the music. Of course the two main characters are musicians so we can hear them a lot singing and playing. The music and singing was recorded real time most of the time. The life performance of Jackson Maine with his band was mindblowing, especially whatching it in the cinema. It was loud, energic and raw- just like an actual live show of such bands. The artificially overproduced and overdone performance of Ally as a pop diva fulfilled its purpose. It showed the contrast between mainstream pop songs and songs that are actually played by musicians.
The main point of the film was unsuprisingly to show the world that the pop industry – and especially the music industry – works not the way people may think or expect. It can destroy people’s lives indeed. What makes this message even clearer is the Chris Cornell reference in Jackson’s character who has the same haircut, beard, almost the same guitar and plays a very similar type of music. He (among many famous musicians in our history) commited suicide a year ago.
It was a great success for film industry that directors and writers still can come up with ideas that reflect on nowadays problems. And when such a great idea becomes a massive high-budged production and also a box-office hit- that’s what I call a win. A Star is born is a highly recommended film for those who want to know more about the music industry, or just want to see a good film that not only tells about fighting giant monsters. But don’t be suprised if it changes the way you think of your musician ”heroes”!


Péter Kamondy

Monday, December 10, 2018

Film review

  The film is an adaptation of the book, which has the same title, that was written by Agatha Christie in 1934. This story has multiple adaptations including another film that was released in 1974.
  The plot starts with Hercule Poriot, who is a famous detector, he receives a telegram prompting him to return to London. He manages to get on a fully booked train named the Orient Express, with the help of his friend. The has to stop because of an avalanche that occurred. On the previous night one of the passengers has been murdered in a mysterious way. The protagonist, Hercule, starts to investigate the case and after a few days he can only come up with two guesses. One of the passengers admits that all the passengers were involved in the murder, thus Hercule's second guess was right. As I mentioned before the story is well-known, therefore the question is not "who done it" but rather how did they do it and why did they do it.
  From my point of view, the film was not as spectacular and good as I expected it to be. There are logical mistakes in the film and the plot twist was not exciting either. 


Sunday, December 9, 2018

One is born, another dies

One is born, another dies

A Star Is Born is a drama directed by Bradley Cooper, who is one of the leading characters as well. The other main character is played by the well-known popstar, Lady Gaga. The story is based on a romance between two singers.
First of all, the plot of the drama is nothing special. It is the usual love story between two singers, one of them is already popular, while the other suffers from lack of confidence, which is why she is not famous yet, even though her talent is enormous. Their love is stronger than anything after they fall in love at first sight. The famous singer, Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) recognises the natural talent of Ally (Lady Gaga), so they start to work together. Quickly, Ally gets even more famous than her boyfriend. It causes some tension between them, but they try to keep going with their relationship, so they even get married.
I really like the character of Ally. She is a bit harsh and honest, but this is her true self, and being able to be who we naturally are and not who others want us to be is something special. Only a few of us can do this, and she could. But how fame changes her is a bit upsetting though. I think it is a very common issue among young talents and celebrities. They want to fit to every expectation, which is simply impossible, and they change their character and behaviour to be good enough. It is not needed. The main reason why I liked this film is the message: do not change yourself to amaze others, because if someone loves you, they love you for who you really are.
The good thing is that Ally deep inside knows this. Under the glitter and make-up she is the same insecure, yet talented and honest girl. At the very end we can recognise this feature of hers. The last song is very beautiful and moving.
In Bradley Cooper’s case it is rather a tragedy. He cannot get out of this vicious circle that hi has fallen into. He knows that his love is threatened by the same issue, but not in the field of alcoholism. After he recognizes that he cannot give anything to her anymore he chooses suicide.
All in all, the film is tragic, sad and depressing, yet moving, beautiful and romantic. It shows to the audience that we should never change our minds because of others, and if we want something we should just go for it and work as hard as possible to achieve our goals. The only thing that bothers me is the red hair of Lady Gaga. That is awful.


Rebeka Sebestyén

My worst travel experience

My worst travel experience


My worst travel experience happened this year in Paris. The whole trip was perfect, except of the last day. It was my first time travelling alone, without my parents. During the trip the weather was perfect as well, but the last day. An enormous storm ruined it. Our plane was planned to leave at 19:15. We left our accommodation two and a half hours earlier to make surewe are in time. We sat on a train, and suddenly it stopped. It was so hot and humid inside, that a lot of people got sick, and we could not open any doors. We stuck in the train. Later the driver told us that the wire of the train broke so there was not electricity and we could not go ahead. We sat in the hot train for an hour and we were afraid that we will miss the flight. Finally, the train started to move forward, but could only go a 10 metres. The doors opened, but it could not go to the airport because of the broken wire. We ran out to the rain and tried to catch a bus but there was not one. Finally, a Thai couple cought us and told us that we can sit in their uber, so it was cheaper for each of us. There was huge traffic on the highway, and I still do not know how, but we were so punctual that we arrived to our terminal at 19:15. It was like a nightmare!

Thursday, December 6, 2018

Bodybuilding or Body-destruction?


Testépítés feketén-fehéren (in English: Bodybuilding in black and white) is a Hungarian documentary made by the Bódi brothers. It revolves around the life of professional bodybuilders by following the everyday life of the most successful sportsmen in Hungary, such as Krisztián Bereczki, Kornél Bohos and Tibor Füzessy.
The film shows the difficulties of the competition season. The main characters let us see their diets and training regime and they talk about their feelings and experiences during that time. We can witness all steps of their preparation for the competition. We can see how strict their diet is, how hard and concentrated their training routines are and what suffering they need to bear in order to achieve the desired physique. The film reveals the secret of the usage of steroids as well. A specialised doctor, who is a bodybuilder at the same time, talks about the dangers of using steroids and growth hormones and their effects on the human body.
This film absolutely impressed me and I watched it more than once, which is unusual. It shows everything in an appallingly honest way. We can see how many things these men sacrificed for their success which I think can make anyone motivated. This film and these men prove that there is nothing that is impossible, it is our choice to make efforts in order to change our lives, or not.
It should be seen by everyone who despises this sport, at least once in a lifetime, and it should be shown to a wider audience. People could learn a lot from this documentary, for example, the importance of will-power, humility and resignation. As I have mentioned, the film could serve as a great motivation for those who had the thought of giving up in their head.