Plan your happy weekend - 22-24 November

Hunger Games Marathon

The weather is not very inspiring, but thank God it’s almost weekend and planning your free days always helps. It will be quite a full weekend, with a lot of events and new things to try.

First on my list is Hunger Games – Catching Fire, that for me is the film of the year. I loved the first one; it was the first movie that turned out better than the book. I remember I had zero expectations when I went to the cinema two years ago and it was one of the most entertaining experiences ever. Since then I fell in love with Jennifer Lawrence – how can a person be so cool in her early twenties? She has that coolness and brightness that you have to be born with. Of course, after seeing the movie I went to buy all the three books and I read them all in less than three days. Catching Fire was last on my preference list which makes me even more curious about the movie. And speaking of that, did you see the pictures with the costumes? Amazing!

So don’t forget, today at 19:00 at Utopolis and Belval starts the Hunger Games Marathon. The price of the ticket for both movies is 14.80 euro.

Metz Christmas market

Source: Metz Tourism

Saturdays are always good for day trips so I would suggest visiting the Christmas market in Metz, the opening day is November 23 and it will definitely cheer you up. It’s always amazing to discover how the same market concept is different from place to place. Plus, with 3 million people visiting each year the Christmas market in Metz is considered as France’s second most visited market after that of Strasbourg. The cosy chalets are spread over 5 sites - Place de la République, Place Saint Louis, Place de la Gare, Place Saint-Jacques and rue des Clercs. 

Coffee tasting at Golden Bean

Source: Golden Bean

Of course, after so many exciting events, a day of rest would be perfect. I’ve been thinking of tasting the coffee from Golden Bean in the city center, where specialized baristas promise real coffee experience. Apparently it’s the best place for coffee in Luxembourg, so I definitely have to give it a try. I’m more into Italian espresso in the morning and cappuccino after lunch so I’m curious how my Sunday coffee break will look like. Plus I’ve heard they have an amazing carrot cake bakes by two girls from Sweden…

Golden Bean
23, rue Chimay
L-1333 Luxembourg

Have a great and inspiring weekend!

Gravity or no Gravity?

I had very high expectations when I went to watch Gravity last week; the movie had great reviews and ratings (97% on Rotten Tomatoes, 8.5 on IMDB), lots of my friends were impressed and everyone was already talking about Oscar. Not to mention that I love George Clooney and Sandra Bullock. Of course I believed all the hype and imagined it will be as great and magnificent as told.

And it is true, the images are overwhelming, the special effects definitely deserve an Oscar, the work of Alfonso Cuaron (who has given the world Children of Men or Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) is incredible. So realistic and breathtaking, in fact, that you’ll forget you’re watching special effects, and feel as if the movie were actually shot in space. The level of technical detail and accuracy is amazing, and Cuarón’s use of extended sequences without cuts magnificently enhances the sense of place and realism.

But the story is flat, safe, the sort of supermarket philosophy very popular at Hollywood. How many times have you watched a movie with a character whose life lost purpose, due to tragedy in the past and who isolates from other people and concentrates on work and all of a sudden something happened that forces her to confront her loss and fear and regain the desire to live? Hundreds of time I think. This is not enough for a movie with only two characters, even one if we think that George Clooney disappeared after less than an hour. It is such a pity that the screenplay was not on the same level with the images. Or maybe the bar was set too high.

How do you feel about the movie? Did you enjoy it?

The Avengers or how does humour save the world

The Avengers is every ComicCon fan dream – six superheroes that not only fight the evil Loki, but also fight each other in some scenes satisfying the curiosity of comics geeks who couldn’t help but wonder about the winner of a battle between Iron Man and Thor, or Captain America and the Hulk.

For the rest of us is just a funny and easy film to watch and one more reason to love Robert Downey Jr. who not only saved the world, but brought life in this 200 million $ blockbuster. Because all the special effects and tight polyester suits would be zero without his amazing humour and energy. I will only spoil the scene when Thor yells at Loki in iambic heptameter “You take the world as recompense for your imagined slight”, an antique line that immediately exasperates Iron Man. “Now there’s this guy - Shakespeare in the Park.” And the chemistry between Iron Man and Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) should inspire the producers to launch a film with the two characters.

For me the 3D technology (the film was converted in 3D after production) was just a business decision, so the price of the tickets could be higher, as I didn’t notice any amazing effect that justified the effort of wearing the glasses.

But do you know which is the trendiest and most talk about sport after the release of the Avengers (and The Hunger Games as well)? A sport that inspired even Louis Vuitton to feature a themed window display this month in its stores? 

Well, archery, one of the oldest activities known to man found a new life and the specialized clubs in US report a raise in attendance.