...TO FEEL EVERYTHING SO DEEPLY...

photo by Invitation To Inspiration

Antonia, Martina & Matea

LANA DEL REY FAIRY TALE

Once upon a time a girl name Elizabeth Grant tried to be a successful singer, but failed. Years later, we see on Youtube this unknown long haired young woman with sensual lips  singing ‘’Videogames’’ and we instantly remember her name: Lana Del Rey. Oh, but that's not her real name, is it? Her real name is Lizzy-something-Grant! Is she faking her emotions too? Is Lana Del Rey even real?

Lana Del Rey aka Lizzy Grant is very real and today even more successful since the release of ‘’Video games’’. As we can tell, she’s not an actress; she’s an introverted musician with songs of an extraordinary quality. She dares to expose her melancholy and the most intense emotions which bring a certain note of dark romance to her sound. She seduces and then withdraws into her own world. She doesn't shy away from her dreams and aspirations in her music, and to everyone who thinks she sings about depression, I say she celebrates the deepest aspects of life.

One could describe Lana’s music as a mixture of the opposites: paradise and hell, romance and hedonism, life and death, wild and peaceful, beautiful and ugly, sinner and saint, artificial and real, crazy and sane, superficial and deep. Even her voice surprisingly changes from high to low. Maybe that’s why some people just can’t take her public image seriously being accustomed to more definable musical and artistic expressions.

It’s not unusual for Lana to refer directly to her musical and stylistic influences and inspirations. She has evoked and praised Jim Morrison, Guns n’ Roses, Elvis Presley, Leonard Cohen, James Dean, Hunter S. Thompson, Walt Whitman, Marilyn Monroe, Bruce Springsteen, Nancy Sinatra, John F. Kennedy…What she praises the most is not the American glamorous lifestyle of the 50's and 60's or rock n roll.  it’s the true love, beauty and freedom of the human spirit she is questioning and searching for. The rest is her artistic expression of the eternal quest.

Her videos are not quite like all the other videos you see playing on MTV. They always have this unusual dreamlike atmosphere, maybe because of the self-production, lack of colours, vintage effect, or simply because of Lana. She also prefers unconventional models in her videos (considering commercial criteria). Bradley Soileau for example,  a model who has appeared in three of her videos: ‘’Born to die’’, ‘’Blue jeans’’ and ‘’West coast’', very dear to all Lana's fans (and very hot, too.)

While so many commercially recognized and successful musicians trivialize life and show zero artistic sensibility, with their strictly materialistic approach to music, we have this girl who does the opposite: keeps her life private but gives away all of her energy to produce unique surreal sound that has no expiration date, and being visually outstanding, she has finally found a place in the industry that had rejected her before. 

Whether she's a well planned project or just one lucky talented girl, or even both, today's music needs Lana Del Rey. It needs her bold persona, her vintage femininity, her spiritual touch, and her sensual rebellion. And that’s what you’ll get with her latest album ‘’Ultraviolence’’. 

Thanks to Lana, romance is back in fashion and it's not a fairy tale  for kids any more. It's a dare.

“Who are you?
Are you in touch with all of your darkest fantasies?
Have you created a life for yourself where you can experience them?
I have. I am fucking crazy.
But I am free.”  

Lana Del Rey, ''Ride''

A.B.

Love, A & M

MOVIES THAT DEFINE GENERATIONS

5 Feel-Good movies that make you wish you could go back in time:

1. Dirty Dancing
2. Almost famous
3. The Breakfast Club
4. 10 things I hate about you  
5. Midnight in Paris

1. DIRTY DANCING

That was the summer of 1963 - when everybody called me Baby, and it didn't occur to me to mind. That was before President Kennedy was shot, before the Beatles came, when I couldn't wait to join the Peace Corps, and I thought I'd never find a guy as great as my dad.

This movie will never be cheesy, no matter how many hipster generations occur from now on. The romance was truly alive back then, and it was undeniably sexier than 50 shades of Grey. I mean you have beautiful and talented Patrick Swayze, you have soul music, and you have dance moves you'll never see in the clubs today. You have soul music. Period. One simple summer love story and its magic. Not everything had to be said or done or shown directly so you could get the point of what was going on there, but oh man you could feel it directly in the heart. Dum dum. 

2. ALMOST FAMOUS

Some people have a hard time explaining rock 'n' roll. I don't think anyone can really explain rock 'n' roll. Maybe Pete Townshend, but that's okay. Rock 'n' roll is a lifestyle and a way of thinking... and it's not about money and popularity. Although, some money would be nice. But it's a voice that says, "Here I am... and fuck you if you can't understand me." And one of these people is gonna save the world. And that means that rock 'n' roll can save the world... all of us together. And the chicks are great. But what it all comes down to is that thing. The indefinable thing when people catch something in your music. 

Yes, the 70s.  When the Gods walked the Earth. Gods of music, of course. It's an unconventional love story, but not just between the guy and the girl, but between the man and the music, the creativity and its muse. We all know the story. Don't be deceived with the lightness of the plot; this movie reveals all the obstacles and the deceptions of trying to find the truth and the meaning to love and life. It's about an endless process of growing up. It's about the history repeating itself. It's about one boy who finds the meaning in the corrupted world thanks to his uncorrupted heart. And about sacred mantra: sex, drugs and rock n roll. The movie is not glorifying it in any moment, making fun of it slightly, but with deep feelings of love towards those crazy times full of ideals. One of the most memorable scenes: singing in the bus scene. Seriously, do people still do that today?

3. THE BREAKFAST CLUB

Why The Breakfast Club? Because it's the 80s. You can sense that 80s spirit through the movie, regardless of the whole plot being situated in a simple classroom. Since the movie has been made in '85, we shouldn't be surprised about that. The characters, the story, even the fashion can still be relatable to our times. But for the reasons I could only guess, the movie has such special vibe that it sucks you in until you wished you've stayed there a little more. Maybe it's those times where young generations truly believed in changing the world for good. ''Don't you (Forget about me)'' opens and closes the movie, maybe even sensing the future might forget those times of sweet rebellion and genuine human communication.

And these children that you spit on as they try to change their worlds; are immune to your consultations, they are quite aware of what they are going through. -David Bowie

4. 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU

Kat: I guess in this society being male and an asshole makes you worthy of our time.

Bless the 90s! Every true Heath Ledger fan must appreciate his work in this movie. This role was his gift to the world. And it's not just another teenage movie, this is a teenage masterpiece. Also, it’s cute to see Joseph Gordon Levitt in his boyhood days. Julia Styles nailed it too. Can you imagine her character today, having facebook, instagram, twitter and so on? I don't think so either. Oh, and the poem of course, THE poem in the movie, no need to recite it here. No need to cry again. In fact, remember that the dialogues in the movie were hilarious. It's the movie you fall in love for life because of its intelligence, genuine emotions, and the 90s punk attitude. The moral lesson of the movie? Still relevant: Stay true. F* the fashion. The heart is everything. The more people like that, the greater our society.

5. MIDNIGHT IN PARIS

This generation is empty and has no imagination.

You think you belong in a different time period?  Maybe even to a different country? Then this is your movie. If you’ve seen it already, then you know times change, but not the people. Yes, the 20s seem a little more magical though. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Picasso, Dali, is there need to continue? Woody Allen knew all of that and offered us a drink or two with those guys. It’s just small stuff, like random conversations about art, love and meaning of life, but nothing huge like taking selfies with famous people for example. You get the picture.

Oh, don't feel nostalgic now, because even if the past might seem classier or more fulfilling, remember:

Nostalgia is denial. Denial of the painful present. The name for this denial is Golden Age thinking - the erroneous notion that a different time period is better than the one ones living in - it’s a flaw in the romantic imagination of those people who find it difficult to cope with the present.

And I still wouldn't give up the Internet, though.

Would you trade your present for a different time period and is there any movie you would recommend to us?


A.B.

Love, A & M