>>>The Perks reviewed by Jan
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky is frequently compared to the "coming-of-age" novel The Catcher in the Rye as it seems all novels about teenagers discovering themselves are compared to. I'll tell you one thing, this book is a million times better than The Cather in the Rye. It�s the story of Charlie and his freshman year in high school. This book is written with Charlie writing to an older, but otherwise unknown person in a letter fashion. The style in which it is written is probably one of the most unique things about the book.
At the beginning he writes about his Advanced English class and how his teacher suggestS many books to him for reading. Coincidently, The Catcher in the Rye is one of them. He meets Patrick in his tech class and they become friends after awhile. Patrick introduces him to his sister, Sam, and all their other friends. Most of them are seniors, and they accept Charlie as the freshman, and they do honestly like him. He's not teased or anything like that. He soon dabbles in drugs, smoking, and begins to ask himself about sex and drugs. He has a great love for Sam, and throughout the whole book you find yourself wondering "do they ever get together?". I won't tell.
Cera describes The Perks of Being a Wallflower as "the most emo (and I mean both 'emotional' and stereotypical emo person) book I've ever read. Amazing. I think everyone tries to find themselves in a book, movie, or song...I'm gonna have to buy my own copy."
The book may remind you of your freshman year or how you wanted to have the 'cool' life Charlie had. Many people can relate to this book on any level and most of the people I make read this book have loved it and can relate. So try it. You might like it. Fin
>>>Ghost World Movie Review by Jan
Thora Birch, Scarlett Johansson, and Steve Buscemi star in the dark comedy Ghost World, based off the comics by Daniel Clowes, who is also co-screen writer. Due to the popularity of the movie, a graphic novel was released.
Enid (actress Thora Birch)is a cynical high school graduate who must take an art class over the summer to recieve her highschool diploma. Her best friend Becky (played by Johansson) thinks this is rather funny. It turns out Enid is a very good artist, just not when it comes to school art classes. Enid lives a pretty casual life, her dad is easy going for sure. However, she is anti-social, as is Becky. Enid and Becky get themselves in to a lot of misadventures such as stalking satanists, buying their own place, and of course, answering personal ads to watch people sit alone for their amusement. And that is how they meet Seymour (Buscemi) a mid-forties jazz record collector. Enid and Becky follow him and realize he's not the most well off guy. He and the rest of his apartment building sell things at a tag sale constantly. Enid buys a record from him because she�s intrigued by him and they hit it off pretty well.
But Enid's world is not so typical and predictable as it seemed by the end of the movie. You will realize that the movie is called Ghost World for a reason. With such a great plot and great characters, the ending of a somewhat depressing one seems to fit well.
>>>in constant motion by cera
Turn the lights down and the stereos up, folks, I've got the one CD everyone should own.
If you like the emotion of emo but prefer your music a little less... docile, you need In Constant Motion's 5 track demo. Originally from Brattleboro VT, these guys played 2 shows at the shed last summer and stunned the crowd at both.
A traditional screamo band, complete with unique timing and the sometimes shredding wails and sometimes spoken word lyrics, In Constant Motion is very reminiscent (I stress "very") of New York's late Saetia.
The guitar is especially notable on this CD as track #3, "untitled", displays in its slow intro- one guitar plays a soft, quiet rhythm and another picks up about a half a minute in with riffs that seem to lift the listener up and away.
Though the CD is mostly about breaking up, it could be argued that track #5, "Thursday", isn't with the lyrics printed on the insert: "and as if in a moment of passion... my eyes become your eyes."
Unless you have an impeccable skill for deciphering screams and wails, the insert is the only way to understand what is being expressed in most songs. However, the insert only includes choice bits of each song's lyrics. The rest is left to a vivid imagination.
Overall, this CD awes me every time I listen to it, even 8 months after I bought it. It's well worth the $5 I paid, but fear not, you can download all the songs from this release from mp3.com. Or if you want to actually pay for the CD (which, of course, is always better), you can send $4 to:
in constant motion
c/o benjamin r zeman
po box 171
wilmington, vt 05363
Soon you can get even more of the band, too: They have plans to release their full-length in the next few months.
