VIXX is back once again with a beautiful new album. I pre-ordered this album in April, a few days before it was actually released. Obviously I purchased signed copies which will always be my downfall. When will I learn not to purchase signed albums from Mwave? Probably never. I waited over two months for my albums to arrive, which sucks, but I finally have them and I'm happy as a clam! Eau de VIXX is the 3rd album from my favorites, VIXX. The album's concept is perfume, and the album features 12 songs. The physical CD comes in two versions: black, and red. I bought both versions of this album because I love spending money!! Ken signed the black album and Hyuk signed the red album. I was happy with the autographs since the only other autographed album I have is from Ravi. The CD itself comes with the usual photo cards. I received a Ken photocard and a black and white photo of N and Hongbins hands in the black version of the album. I was super excited to get a Leo card and a photo of N in the red version of the album. I was hoping for LR cards since Ravi and Leo are my favorites, but Leo's card is cute enough for now. The really unique part about this album are these red and white cards. The white card came in the black version and the red card in the red version. These are perfume cards, which is so awesome and such a great idea to include in an album with a perfume concept. I'm pretty sure the red card is scented like roses and the white card is very elegant smelling but I'm not sure what it is exactly. VIXX always makes me so proud with everything they put out and this album is the reason. The CD's are obviously the same with the same songs but they are designed differently. The black version is gray with chains while the red version is purple with a flower. Some of my favorite songs on this album include My Valentine, Trigger, Circle, and Navy & Shining Gold. These boys work so hard on the music they put out so I'm grateful for and love all of their songs! I'm especially grateful for Ravi who writes and produces a lot of VIXX's songs, I really admire his drive. I encourage everyone to give VIXX a chance and if you enjoy this album, listen to their other songs! They deserve all the love in the world so please support them!
Have you listened to this album? Did you get the red or black version?
(Sorry this review is so late, I'm not even sure I fully believe what I wrote here. This movie/book is so important to me I want to write only good things about it. I'd love to here other opinions on the film though! It is my favorite thing to talk about!!)
Despite losing 3 out of 4 Oscar nominations, Call Me By Your Name will still be the highest rated movie of 2017. With a gorgeous glimpse into northern Italy in 1983, director Luca Guadagnino encourages a divine picture of our well-beloved characters, Elio and Oliver.
Shots of an Italian countryside slip across the screen setting the stage for the youthful plot. It is a lavish summer spent on bikes or in swim trunks, listening to Psychedelic Furs on the radio, dancing under the night sky, or going for a midnight swim. A sweet summer romance that most long for develops only to disappear when reality sets in: summer is just a dream.
The best component of this entire film has to be the alluring presence and enticing appearance of the leading man, Timothée Chalamet. Dolefully, Timmy lost his nomination for "Best Leading Actor" this Oscar season. Yet this does not denounce his incredible performance that ultimately led to his true entrance into the world of acting. Though a few scenes seemed a bit lackluster to me, others were able to rectify those losses. Timmy devoted himself to this film when he found himself in Italy a month in advance to learn not only how to play the piano and the guitar but to speak Italian as well. I have never seen such maturity in a young actor before. He clearly cares a lot for his profession. Next to Timmy, Armie Hammer shines while playing Oliver. He plays Oliver almost exactly as he is presented in the novel. I often felt as though Timmy outshined Armie in most scenes. However, these men together tell a heartbreaking tale beautifully.
Though I am sure many viewers have not read the book of the same name, I think it would be extremely beneficial. The film only scratches the surface of the gut retching emotion within the novel. To see the film only gives a shallow understanding of how these two men felt about each other. Reading the novel after the film would serve to be immensely profitable as it splurges on character development and raw emotion. Without reading the book the relationship seems too quickly developed and lacks the theme of fading time that is so present in the book. The movie appears to focus more on relationships and the idea that Elio and Oliver are homosexual. These concepts are clearly presented in the novel as well yet seem less important than exhibited in the film, in my own opinion at least. When reading the book, I found it slightly unimportant, most of the time, that the budding romance was between two men, I felt the book would have worked just as well had one of them been a woman. The movie made it more clear that their love was mostly forbidden as they were seven years apart and of the same gender. I perceived that the book and the film seemed to focus on different ideas. Though, they were essentially the same story with the same characters (with an additional French gene in Elio). James Ivory won an Oscar for his Adaption of this novel, which should prove how close the novel and film are related.
Aside from the perks of Timothée Chalamet glistening on our screens, another wonderful aspect of this film was the soundtrack! I began listening to the soundtrack, after I finished the novel and before I was prepared to see the film (it was a big deal to me ok). Amidst the classical sounds of Ryuichi Sakamoto, there were great 80's tunes allowing the listener to place themselves within 1983 Italy. Sufjan Stevens created two original songs, Mystery of Love and Visions of Gideon, both of which make this movie as harmonious as it is. The soundtrack of this film is the most pleasing and supportive soundtrack I have heard, in all honesty. I would even go as far as to say the soundtrack is my favorite part of the entire movie (besides Timmy of course). It was interesting to listen to each song before watching the film and seeing how they are implemented throughout. Some of my favorite songs off the soundtrack didn't have much emphasis within the movie, but it was cool to hear them in the background of some really important scenes.
This film has only helped me to adore the novel more. I view it as an aid in following the romance between Elio and Oliver. I would describe the book as a second, deeper layer of the film; they work so perfectly together. Yet, on its own, this movie is a gorgeous slideshow of Northern Italy and a shallow yet satisfying development of a summer romance. I can't help but compare the novel and film, but believe me when I say they are both fully developed on their own yet work so perfectly together. If you plan to see this movie or have already seen it, definitely read the book afterward, trust me.
Here is a really awesome interview with André Aciman. He shares how much he enjoyed the film adaption of his novel!
Hope you love everything to do with CMBYN as much as I do!
I have been reading yaoi for years now and it brings me so much joy its crazy. I have read a large share of yaoi/BL manga as I read one or two every day. Recently, in an attempt to explore different subgenres within the yaoi genre, I have been asking friends to pick one at random for me to read. This way, I avoid judging the story by its cover or its art. By doing this, I have found so much manga that I truly enjoyed reading but probably would not have read otherwise. However, I did find myself leaving many unfinished, which I don't necessarily want to do. So, I have decided to read every yaoi in numerical/alphabetical order. My go-to yaoi reader is mangago.me; On this site, there are almost 6,000 listed yaoi manga, so I have a lot of reading ahead of me. I started reading from the top of the list last week, and have completed 7 out of 5,918 yaoi manga; I have finished the numerical series of yaoi where I found some pretty bad stories and one beautiful gem.
That beautiful gem would be 1999 Shanghai. I was hesitant to start this manga as the art looked older and there were so many chapters. The comments/ratings for this manga were pretty high yet everyone said it was extremely sad; which isn't necessarily my favorite. Setona Mizushiro has illustrated this tragic love story in four volumes. The story follows two men who meet by chance one night in Shanghai. They later learn they are from opposing gangs, Xianglongji gang and Toulon gang. The men begin to share feelings for eachother developing a romantic relationship that must be kept secret from their gangs. Dawu, of Toulon gang, is a younger boy with an innocent aura, however, as the son of a drug lord he does possessive an aggressive and murderous side to himself which reveals itself as the story progresses. Dawu is surrounded by the struggles of others, including an unrequited love from another Toulon member which ultimately tears the gang apart. Xiaoxue, of Xianglongji gang, is strong but hesitant of everything as he was orphaned as a child and raped by his adoptive father. Xiaoxue struggles to deal with his loneliness and uses his childhood friend to fill the empty space in his life. Personally, I am not a fan of gang stories, yet this one had a more prominent forbidden love and didn't focus so much on the gangs themselves, though the parts that did focus on the gang rivalry were interesting and well executed. This story is so beautiful yet tragic as it is a twist on the classic Romeo and Juliet tale.
If anyone has been reading this genre for a while, I recommend doing this challenge as well. However, if you are new to yaoi, it might be best to avoid the horrible manga's like 01 Monkey. I would definitely recommend 1999 Shanghai for new and old yaoi readers, and please don't be put off by the older art style!
VIXX is back once again with a beautiful new album. I pre-ordered this album in April, a few days before it was actually released. Obviously I purchased signed copies which will always be my downfall. When will I learn not to purchase signed albums from Mwave? Probably never. I waited over two months for my albums to arrive, which sucks, but I finally have them and I'm happy as a clam! Eau de VIXX is the 3rd album from my favorites, VIXX. The album's concept is perfume, and the album features 12 songs. The physical CD comes in two versions: black, and red. I bought both versions of this album because I love spending money!! Ken signed the black album and Hyuk signed the red album. I was happy with the autographs since the only other autographed album I have is from Ravi. The CD itself comes with the usual photo cards. I received a Ken photocard and a black and white photo of N and Hongbins hands in the black version of the album. I was super excited to get a Leo card and a photo of N in the red version of the album. I was hoping for LR cards since Ravi and Leo are my favorites, but Leo's card is cute enough for now. The really unique part about this album are these red and white cards. The white card came in the black version and the red card in the red version. These are perfume cards, which is so awesome and such a great idea to include in an album with a perfume concept. I'm pretty sure the red card is scented like roses and the white card is very elegant smelling but I'm not sure what it is exactly. VIXX always makes me so proud with everything they put out and this album is the reason. The CD's are obviously the same with the same songs but they are designed differently. The black version is gray with chains while the red version is purple with a flower. Some of my favorite songs on this album include My Valentine, Trigger, Circle, and Navy & Shining Gold. These boys work so hard on the music they put out so I'm grateful for and love all of their songs! I'm especially grateful for Ravi who writes and produces a lot of VIXX's songs, I really admire his drive. I encourage everyone to give VIXX a chance and if you enjoy this album, listen to their other songs! They deserve all the love in the world so please support them! 
