Issue 12 Vol18

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IN INSIDER K YM E N L A A K S O U N I V E R S I T Y O F A P P L I E D S C I E N C E S | 11.12 .15 | Vo l . 18

STUDENT MAGAZINE

N O I IT D E S A M T IS R H C TH E ISTM AS EV E RY O N E! M E R RY C H R

INSIDER STAFF

INSIDER is published and printed at: Kymenlaakso University of Applied Sciences Campus Paraatikenttä 7, 45100 Kouvola, Finland

Tel: +358 44 702 8758 / Fax: +358 5 230 2433 E-mail: insider@kyamk.fi Website: insider.kyamk.fi Personal e-mails: firstname.surname@student.kyamk.fi

INSIDER ISSN 1457–1587 Copyright © Insider 2014 Editor in chief: Hugh Clack

As another year in Insider draws to an end, it is time for us to celebrate Christmas with you, our readers. There have been many upsetting news items in the media this past year, but I hope that the topics we have brought to you in Insider have given some small light in your life.

This week’s issue brings you the highlights from last week’s annual Independence Day Gala in Kouvola arranged by your student organisation, Heimo. I am sure that many of you had a great time at the event and also the continuation party afterwards. The photos speak for themselves!

We also bring you this year’s Lucia candidate winner. Remember that you can see the Lucia Day procession Friday 11.12 at the Kouvola campus main building from 9.00-9.30. There will also be peppercakes and glöögi available.

Are you thinking of spending Christmas away from Finland? We have some advice on travelling for the holiday season. Maybe an Xmas break in the Czech Republic maybe? I can tho-

roughly recommend it!

We will also be looking for a new member of staff for 2016 as our layout designer Alex, will be finishing her exchange visit here at Kyamk and returning to her home university. Thanks for all your hard work this year Alex! Any designers out there up to the challenge of taking Insider into its 18th year? Contact us as soon as possible if you are interested. Incredible to think that we have been publishing every week for 17 years already, my baby is becoming an adult!

Finally, this is the last issue brought to you from our home office in Meduusa Studio – this week we will move to the Kouvola campus main building at Paraatikenttä 7, where from January on, we will bring you your favourite student magazine from room 228 – pop in to see us if you are passing. I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a much Happier New Year – see you in 2016!

Hugh Clack Editor in Chief

WHO IS LUCIA? On the 11th of December the chosen singers will sing songs devoted to the national holiday of Finland. They share Italian tradition to celebrate the day of Light, which is directly connected with love and family. According to the legend Lucia’s husband once came fishing during the storm. He was about to die. At that moment Lucia came to rock and held the light by herself as a lighthouse. This saved her husband. After there is a special day of Light, celebrated once a year as a sign of love, dedication and devotion.

Who will be a Lucia at KYAMK in 2015?

There was a strong competition this year. Participants had a contest as everyone is talented. Until the last moment nobody knew who will be a Lucia. This year KYAMK chosen Lucia is from Russia! Insider journalist Ekaterina Volkova is a lucky one to be a Holder of Light 2015.

Come on the 11th of December and join a special Finnish atmosphere. Try glooggi, listen to songs, and enjoy historical Finnish Traditions at 9 am.

Every year people sing songs about this day, cook special bakery, and try to spend their day with family members. In the churches there is a special event: people sing and choose the one person, who will ‘hold’ the light this year.

Lucia Canandate

Text: Ekaterina Volkova

Ekaterina Volkova Russian, 1st year IB, love gymnastics, being photographed Can sing, play the piano Interested in intercultural issues

–3–

An escape to Praha every hour to watch the changing as well as going to the top floor of the clock tower and the whole Old Town is visible for you now. Those moments are just one in a life time, I suppose. Moreover, the Prague Christmas market including traditional handcrafts, toys, costumes, etc. is held every year from 28 November to 6 January is an ideal place to spend your Chirstmas time. If you still have time then the Jewish Squares is not a bad idea at all.

Planning on going somewhere rather than Finland this Christmas?

This article is here all for you and you only. During this year autumn break in October, my friend and I went to Praha; the capital city of Czech Republic and the trip was full of excitement actually.

It is easy to search for the top destinations for tourist when visiting Praha on either TripAdvisor or LonelyPlanet. On the first day, we decided to go to the Prague castle and it is true to say that it can be seen as a small historical town inside Praha. The St. Vitus cathedral amazed us by it wonderful architect and the story behind St. Vitus.

The Golden Lane in Prague is worth visiting also. The lane contains various tiny souvenir shops and even gallery about defense items in the old times.

One more thing to add on, along on the Old Town, you can find

On the second day, we found an interesting tour called “Prague Extravaganza free walking tour” which provides free tour around the Old Town Squares and the famous Charles Bridge. The Old Town is really lively with many good street bands and great foods as well. It was so nice to see people gathering around the astronomical clock

Enjoy the trip, but of course before that, please survive and get through all the deadlines and exams!

Cheers.

–4–

Text: Khue Do | Photos: Khue Do

many unique and interesting museums such as: Wax museum, Sex Machines museum, Torture museum. To add on, restaurants with beautiful views and delicious food are all there around the Old Town area waiting for you.

Zumba class with the staff On Friday 3rd of December the whole Insider team had a Zumba session at FunFit. We all enjoyed it and had great fun doing itand we all where tired after it. Zumba is something everyone should do, so put zumba on your get fit list for the New Year.

I would like to Thank Niina and all her team at FunFit and wish them a Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year!

Thank you for sharing this experience with us!

Merry Christmas!

trisarathops

 –6 8– –5 –

riku45100

In general, the Zumba session last Friday afternoon was quite nice. I expected that all the Insider team would have fun dancing there and I was not wrong. Despite the fact that in the next morning, every single inches of my body was aching like hell, I have to say it was a slightly great way to be healthy at least once in our lazy lifetime. Having this kind of activity once a month would be good and enough, I think.

Khue Do

Surprisingly, the Zumba session was not so terrified for me. Before it started, I espected domething which would be exhauting and heavy. However, it turned out to be fun and it did help me to burn some calories. The tutor was friendly and so energetic. She was able to ignite the dancer living inside us :D The only drawback was that I did not know most of the songs which we danced to. I would definitely recommend this Zumba Fitness course for my friends (if any of them suddenly want to live healthier).

Lan Le

As announced in the last issue last week the Insider staff went to partake in a whole hour of Zumba. I guess it is fair to say that some of us were more scared and anxious than others of the prospect of having to actually do physical activity for one whole hour. Physical activity no less that involves a lot of moving around, jumping, spinning and requires a minimum of arm-leg-coordination and certain sense of equilibrium.

I can only speak for myself here but I know that I lack all of the aforementioned abilities and therefore the whole thing felt more like uncoordinated flailing and trying not to create a knot with my leg and fall over. That would have been awkward to say the least. My inability to follow the probably simple instruction (depending on your level of proficiency in this field of sport/dance) made me no less enjoy the whole affair as the laughing part was quite extent.

In the future I will still prefer other types of cardio exercise like running or hula hooping or fighting my own blanket from night terrors. Would I do it again though? Maybe. Ask me again in a month.

Sarah Rosenthal

–6–

The Independe The student organisation Heimo ry organised again their annual Independence Day Gala on the 3rd of December. This year the event took place in Upseerikerho.

Upseerikerho is an old military building and it is just next to the Kasarminmäki Campus. Inside the beautiful red brick walls you can find atmospheric dinner hall and a bar. The building is nowadays used for weddings and meetings and it was ideal for the Independence Day Gala too. The old building, which was built in the 1910‘s, probably has loads of stories to tell. However this night wasn‘t probably the wildest one to remember.

Despite the beautiful surroundings, most of the students decided not to come. Only less than a hundred people showed up, meaning that over a half of the students were either tutors or working for Heimo ry. Perhaps the reason was the miserable weather, bad timing or that the tickets that cost more than my liver.

The tickets for the event were 30 Euros and it included buffet and a glass of wine. The buffet was perfect as it had loads of options for everyone. As a student, you learn to appreciate buffets as you are able to eat until you can‘t move anymore and someone has to push you in a stroller. However in fancy galas where you wear pretty dresses, this maybe a bit tricky as you have to avoid getting the „food baby“. Basically this means that after too many potatoes, people will ask you why you are drinking wine just because the food belly makes you look pregnant. Food was absolutely amazing and who ever made it deserves a medal.

STARTERS Smoked salmon with lime Slowly stewed roast beef and onion compote Colorful vegetable terrine, Cumberland sauce Dill potatoes

SALAD Fresh salad of the house Feta salad with onion and sweet melon Spice-marinated vegetables and sun dried tomatoes Croutons, pumpkin seeds, spice oil and salted peanuts

MAIN COURSE Gently grilled chicken with devil‘s sauce and red wine sauce Cheesy parmesan potatoes and seasonal grilled vegetables Bread, water, home brewed beer

DESSERT Coffee/tea Gourmet white chocolate-blueberry cake

The dress code for the event was dark suits for the men and long dresses for the girls. The dress code is an excellent opportunity for the Finnish girls to reuse their prom dress from high school and for the boys to look like James Bond. Everyone managed to look amazing, even if the gala took place on Thursday evening. Some girls had their hair done so well, that I can imagine someone even found time to visit a hairdresser.

–7–

ence Day Gala This year we had one foreign student in the gala, and even she speaks Finnish. As an international tutor, I think it would be great to have more our exchange students to join the Independence Day Gala next year. However the expensive tickets and the dress code put probably some of the students off. Having more international students in the event would probably make the event a bit livelier. So fingers crossed for more international Independence Day Gala next year!

Heimo Ry did a great job again to find time to create a formal event like this. It is fun that our student organization is able to create our own Independence Day Gala. However my highlight of the night was waking up after the food coma and sneaking out from the back door to go for a search of a less formal pint.

Text: Karoliina Niemi |Photos: Karoliina Niemi

This year was the fifth Independence Day Gala that Heimo Ry organised, and you could tell that this wasn’t the first time they organize a gala. The program had its traditional speeches, buffet, photos taken by a photographer and some dancing.

When you arrived to the gala, the members of Heimo Ry were at the door to welcome you. After formal handshakes, you were treated with a welcoming toast of sparkling wine and you could relax before the program started.

The problem with fancy galas like this is that the average age is maybe 25 but everyone is acting like they are 52 and that it’s the COP12. Someone might call it a “snoozefest”, but after all, most of the students who come to the gala, knows that it will have more listening speeches than toasting the glasses.

The after party of the Independence Day Gala took place in Aula where there were hopefully more toasting glasses and less listening speeches.

–8–

“TAI HEO” COOKIES Coffe

Ingredience: A roller 2 cups of flour ¼ cup cacao powder 1 egg 1/3 cup of milk A pinch of salt ½ cup of sugar.

Text: Hoa Hong Truong | Photo: Hoa Hong Truong

How to do it: 1. Mix everything except for the cacao powder. Mix with bare hand and split the dough into 2 parts on the ratio of 6-4.

2 .Put the cacao powder with the smaller dough, it turns into brown.

3. Use the roller to flatten both doughs.

4. Place the brown dough onto the white dough, then scroll it.

5. Cut the final dough into small pieces, chop it like chopping a cucumber.

6. Deep fry those pieces for 20 seconds, place them onto baking paper.

––7– 9–

RUSSISCHER ZUPFKUCHEN Coffe

Ingredience: Chocolate shortcrust: Shortcrust: 125g soft unsalted butter, 125g sugar, 2 tsp mix butter, sugar, vanilla sugar and egg vanilla sugar, 1 egg, 2 tsp baking soda, 50g mix flour, baking soda and cocoa combine baking cocoa, 225g flour both and mix well, put the dough in clingfilm and put in the fridge for about an hour Filling: 500g low fat curd cheese, 150g butter, molten, 150g sugar, 2 tbs vanilla sugar, 1 package of custard powder, 2 eggs

Filling: mix low fat curd cheese and butter add sugar and vanilla sugar finally add custard powder

Text: Sarah Rosenthal | Photo: Sarah Rosenthal

How to do it: 1. Mix everything except for the cacao powder. Mix with bare hand and split the dough into 2 parts on the ratio of 6-4.

2 .Put the cacao powder with the smaller dough, it turns into brown.

3. Use the roller to flatten both doughs.

4. Place the brown dough onto the white dough, then scroll it.

5. Cut the final dough into small pieces, chop it like chopping a cucumber.

6. Deep fry those pieces for 20 seconds, place them onto baking paper.

– 10 – 7– –

THE 10 BEST MUSIC ALBUMS OF 2015 ding in 1970, they would have just locked themselves into a bunker to do drugs. On their third album Currents the band completely reinvented themselves: their trademark rock sound was uprooted in favour of more synth-driven pop and R&B; and the previously indecipherable word salad is now replaced with coherent lyrics that can be related to by humans instead of random word generator algorithms. However, their psychedelic heart remains, through the ethereal synths, funky bass and curious details like the fake record skipping on “Let It Happen” or the banjo on “New Person, Same Old Mistakes”.

Frontman Kevin Parker, who basically alone wrote, recorded and produced the album, shows some his most stellar songwriting yet, and has meticulously crafted a record that stands out even when compared to Tame Impala’s previous, highly-praised discography.

10. Sleater-Kinney: No Cities to Love Even in a world where every damn band short Nirvana are reuniting in hopes of reviving the revenues after the album sales decline of the internet era, pretty much nobody was predicting Sleater-Kinney to come back. One of the most influential punk bands of the late 90s and early 00s, the Washington trio released their first album in 10 years, with no forewarning whatsoever. One could presume that this is due to the decade-long gap that surely has given time for the band to grow rusty and apart, and that the new material just couldn’t hold up to the old classics. Well, that would be a severe mistake, as on their new record S-K is sharper than ever: whether it’s the catchier anthems like “A New Wave” or the more abrasive tracks like “Bury Our Friends”.

It’s almost as the last ten years never happened: as far as Sleater-Kinney is concerned, it’s still 2005, well, apart from the wrinkles, better phones and a band Facebook page.

7. Iron Maiden: The Book of Souls I already said everything I needed about The Book of Souls in the Insider issue 2, but assuming you do not memorize everything I write by heart (and you shouldn’t), here’s a brief recap: instead of growing old and frail Iron Maiden seems to follow the warrior monk sensei model of aging, only growing more skillful and capable with age: the album is written, performed and produced better than anything they have done in the last ten years. There are thankfully few excess minutes for an hour-and-a-half hunk of metal, and the are far outweighed by the heavy-hitters like “Shadows of the Valley” and “The Great Unknown”.

Overall it is a welcome addition to the Maiden discography, holding the candle successfully to their 40-year career, while also pushing some new boundaries.

9. Enter Shikari: The Mindsweep Ever since their formation the British band Enter Shikari have combined post-hardcore with electronic elements with varying levels of success. However, the pieces finally clicked together on their last album, 2012’s Flash Flood of Colour. So now, on their fourth full-length record The Mindsweep they did what was left to do with a well-working combination: they perfected it.

The band’s curious crossover concoction is still the same mixture of hardcore punk, dubstep, drum and bass, and the kitchen sink; the vocalist Rou Reynolds still sings, screams, growls, raps and sometimes just plain talks about political subjects with the finesse and subtlety of a sledgehammer. The albums shows the whole, incredibly vast musical spectrum of the band without feeling disjointed or ambivalent: towards the end of the album the calmly swinging “Bank of England”, the visceral mathcore track “There’s a Price On Your Head” and the sombre piano ballad “Dear Future Historians...” all follow each other without a hitch.

I’m not sure if ‘beautiful’ is a good adjective when describing a hodgepodge like this; if not, we can just settle on ‘beautifully eclectic’.

6. The Punch Brothers: Phosphorescent Blues I’ve never been able to get into country or bluegrass music. It just felt like I owned too few firearms, farm animals, pickup trucks and family tree tangles caused by inbreeding to really understand the mindset behind the genre. ‘Progressive bluegrass’ seemed like an oxymoron, sort of like ‘deafening silence’, ‘irregular pattern’ or ‘likable reality TV star’. However, The Punch Brothers proved me wrong. Their technical prowess, the seamless synergy of their mandolins, banjos, fiddles and whatnots is captivating, further illustrated by their pristine vocal harmonies. Most of the lyricist Chris Tile’s texts tackle dealing with the ever-present information technology of the digital age, which creates an interesting juxtaposition with the fully acoustic, chamber music-influenced instrumentation. The writing and composition are done

8. Tame Impala: Currents The Australian psychedelic rock band Tame Impala came into the scene with their 2010 debut album Innerspeaker, a record that sounded like what The Beatles might sound like now if instead of disban– 11 –

with a beautiful attention to detail, and the few borrowed classical interludes (Claude Debussy’s “Passepied” is absolutely immaculate) fit gracefully among the original material. There might be a few lulls on The Phosphorescent Blues, but outside of those small moments the record showcases some of the most intricate and powerful songwriting this year.

Stories... One could say it was worth the wait.

The band still plays to their old strengths: ethereal, high-pitched vocals and the lush keyboards paint on the canvas formed by the guitars; the usual shoegaze cocktail is spiked by the energized progressive percussion. The strategically placed faster songs like “My Complications” and “Witness” help to pace out the album’s more serene moments. It might not extend to similar extremes as the previous albums; instead, the band has focused on streamlining and condensing their sound to its core, without losing their heart in the process.

5. Ghost: Meliora The Swedish metal band Ghost could be best described as “hilariously offensive”. They perform in cardinal costumes, with the singer Papa Emeritus III dressed as the Pope wearing corpse paint; musically they draw from the occultist psychedelic rock bands of the late 60s and early 70s like Blue Öyster Cult and Black Sabbath, and their lyrics are openly satanic. However, it would be a mistake to just dismiss Ghost as a comedy act, at least when it comes to their music, they are (un)dead serious.

While the previous album, the ominous and imposing Infetissumam, gave the center stage to the keyboards, Meliora puts emphasis on guitars, making the album heavier than its predecessor; riffs on tracks like “From the Pinnacle to the Pit” and “Cirice” are gruff and memorable. This accentuates the tonal differences between the grim verses and the grand and catchy choruses: combined with the outstanding songwriting, the result is an unmatched collection of unholy metal anthems with splendid pop sensibilities.

Also, +1 extra point for the best album cover of the year.

2. Grimes: Art Angels Canadian electronic artist Claire Boucher, better known as Grimes, pushed aside the veil of obscurity with her 2012 album Visions, which was an electronic experimental pop journey through insomniac hallucinations and GarageBand aesthetics. I wasn’t particularly fond of any of it; not the shoddy production; not Boucher’s high-pitched nasal voice; nor could I really say that the ‘experimental’ part of her music was a particularly successful experiment.

However, on the follow-up Art Angels, everything seems to work: Boucher has streamlined and sleaked her production and gotten rid of the most of psychedelic fluff; but saying that she’s selling out, our pandering to mainstream audiences, couldn’t be farther from the truth.

She still mixes influences and elements wildly and freely, forming a kaleidoscopic collage of sound: acoustic guitars, cowbells, guttural screaming, Taiwanese rapping, pitch-shifted chipmunk vocals. The end result is the poppiest, most infectiously catchy record she has ever done, and at the same time the antithesis of pop. The album has already gained an ungodly amount of accolades, and for a reason.

4. Florence + the Machine: How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful In 2011, when Florence + the Machine released their second album Ceremonials, I fell in love. The only reason I didn’t have a creepy stalker shrine devoted to Florence Welch in the basement was that we didn’t have basement. So naturally, when the band announced the follow-up record, I was a bit torn: while I was glad about the upcoming record, I kept thinking there’s a snowball’s chance in hell that the new album would live up to the expectations Ceremonials set for it. To my surprise, it kind of did.

How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful is the most personal Florence record to date. To highlight this, the instrumentation and production are smaller in contrast to the grandiosity of the previous record; simultaneously giving more room for Welch’s magnificent voice. Now the horns, the strings, the piano and the percussion work more organically to support Welch’s vocals rather trying to compete with them, which gives the spotlight to the lyrics: the record is a collection of tales of self-destruction and heartbreak, full of big emotion ranging everywhere between flaming passion and paralyzing fear, all of which are conveyed masterfully. HBHBHB is a cathartic experience for both the artist and the listener.

As a special note I would recommend checking out the Deluxe Edition, which features the best bonus tracks of the year.

1. Everything Everything: Get to Heaven

3. Mew: + It’s been quite a while since the the world saw a record from Mew, but after six years of silence the Danish dream pop quartet finally released a follow-up for their critically acclaimed fifth album No More – 12 –

Text: Roope Sorvoi

I hate to start with a cliche like ‘Third time’s the charm’, but in this case it seems more than appropriate: the British band Everything Everything have always made bittersweet pop music about horrifying subject matters, culminating on their third album Get to Heaven, on which the band present themselves more boldly and maturely than ever before. funky guitars, offbeat hip-hop influenced drums, and disoriented ethereal synths unique blend of glitchy and catchy artpop, full of surprising little musical hooks. Vocalist and the head songwriter Jonathan Higgs stretches his voice to all directions, from slimy snarling to vivid falsetto; delivering his lyrics with a unforeseen conviction. The often upbeat music is in stark contrast with the grim lyrics: dealing with alienation, suicide bombers, government surveillance, addiction to technology, ISIS beheadings, the fear of growing old; state of humanity in general, and the anxiety it causes. “Spring/Sun/Winter/ Dread” mixes together graphic ultraviolence with clever wordplay; the catchy “Regret” paints an ominous mindscape of a person slowly driven to radicalism and drastic measures on top of a drum and piano groove that sounds like it would be right at home in song by a 60’s girl group.

The dissonance between the music and lyrics grows stronger with each listen, making the technicolour pop appear treacherous and stygian , slowly eroding the listener’s soul piece by piece. Everything Everything have created a carefully constructed masterpiece.

THE BEST AND WORST MOVIES OF 2K15 From a list of the 24 to 26 movies I watched this year I now have to pick which to my liking were the best, which ones were the worst, or shall we say not as good as expected or something that you would not recommend for people to watch.

I’m gonna vote the movie which I watched by accident and totally fell in love with as the best movie of 2K15 as my personal favourite so far.: The Man from U.N.C.L.E..

It is a remake of a 60s U.S. television series and refreshingly hilarious, with a great cast and country stereotypes not getting dragged - too much. The characters are well rounded and the amount of cringe-worthy awkward situations is kept to a minimum. It lines up with the type of secret agent comedy that was last years Kingsman. The movie is great fun and definitively something I’d recommend and watch again. I also hope it will get sequel even though I can’t really see how you’d move on writing a script that continues on from where it left of.

The second movie I absolutely loved this year was Ex Machina. It was hands down my personal favourite out of the triplet of movies that revolve around an AI on their path to self-discovery - the other two being Avengers: AOU and Chappie. Ex Machina was unexpected and so very beautifully shot that even though you’ve seen it once and know the big reveal you might just watch it again for the fantastic set design.

I can continue in this category with the aforementioned Chappie. It felt like a mixture of District 9 and Short Circuit (with an actual Indian actor). The ending of the movie was somewhat disappointing and much too positive. It was overall fun to watch.

In line with the MCU are the Fantastic 4. Unfortunately they are still owned by 20th Century Fox and they had to make a movie or lose the rights for this beloved group of super-powered characters and I’m sure every fan by now wishes they had because that movie was awful. It was sad waste of perfectly good actors and has probably killed the franchise for good. Seemed like the studio tried to emulate the latest DC movies in its crappiness. Going overly dark and depressing with your storyline isn’t always the way to go.

One of the most hyped up movies of the year had to be Jurassic World. It certainly was a movie that plenty of people have been waiting for and had hoped to be better than the previous sequels The Lost World and Jurassic Park III. Well, it was but not by much. The first movie being the inspiration for a whole generation to all of a sudden take up archeology and genetic engineering as a fields of study this fourth movie of the franchise could never aspire to be even close to that even though it kept closest to the original. They had the chance to make it epic and epically failed at that which was rather disappointing. Just like Fantastic 4 it was a waste of brilliant actors for a great trailer. The story and character creation in the big picture could not uphold the hopes placed upon it.

Three other movie sequels that I watched this year were Furious 7, Spectre and M:I - Rogue Nation. Of these three, the first one in line was probably the most watchworthy, at least in my case as I have never seen any of the previous The Fast and the Furious movies before and therefore was not bored by repetition. M:I - Rogue Nation - as opposed to yet another Bond Movie - at least spared you from the entirely unnecessary romantic side-plot but was no less bland and unimaginative. It also makes you wonder at which point movie makers actually do start over think their strategy considering when even the lead actor of the movie didn’t like the movie.

Surprisingly the Marvel movie of the year for me was not the long since anticipated Avengers: AOU but rather Ant Man. The science of the movie my not check out but the jokes sure do. Ant Man is not only one of the most underrated heroes of the Marvel universe but potentially also the most powerful. That said AOU wasn’t a complete waste of time but I guess my expectations were just to high and there were some things seriously wrong with the writing of this movie. Hopes are that Winter Soldier is going to make up for that next year.

One of the movies critics raved about was Mad Max: Fury Road. Yes, the action was great, all the stunts and explosions were amazing, as were the unconventional camera shots, and the costumes will be copied plenty of – 13 –

from the cup clanking and mash-up music remixes to making original music. At the same time the premise of this sequel ridiculously far fetched: A) An acapella group that can become popular enough to perform at a gigantic venue in front of the president of the United States of America and getting celebrated like rock stars is about as likely as Hillary CLinton becoming the new president. B) A german acapella group dressed like they came straight from a BDSM party winning at this type of competition.

Really now? Knowing now that Flula is real now makes it just a tiny bit less cringy for me to watch. Thanks Youtube.

times in oncoming conventions but the storyline was all over the place and movie logic pretty much nonexistent.

Also the was the movie really about the guy called Mad Max or rather Furiosa and her love for trucks?

I cannot be sure who many times the Cinderella story was made into movies however they seem to throw one into cinemas at least once a year. Last year was Into the Woods which was thanks to its derpiness and despite being a musical actually quite funny. This year was Cinderella (because can nobody come up with no better name anymore for the same story for the 100th time). Going into this movie and panicking because I thought I accidentally walked into Frozen 2 was still better than the movie itself.

It was simply a waste of time.

A movie I had almost forgotten about is The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, a movie I watched by accident and which was so overly cute it felt like being covered entirely in tiny kittens. You once again wondered what the secret is to Maggie Smith not aging beyond a certain point.

The complete opposite of that movie was the last part of the Hunger Games series Mockingjay Part 2. After that movie you almost had a physical need to be covered in tiny kittens or else. It picked up the pace from the previous movies a devastating rate. It was presumably also more logical to those who had read the books in advance were not wondering about half of the plot devices used.

Another one of John Green‘s teen novels also made it onto screen this year: Paper Towns. I have already forgotten what the movie was about. I guess friendship and letting go of you childhood, moving on and living every moment of your life to the fullest - but then what else are John Green novel really about?

Three more contestants in the category for the Most Forgettable Movies 2K15 were Focus (something or other about Hustlers), Ricky and the Flash (Meryl Streep singing) and By the Sea (first and hopefully last movie written and directed by Angelina Jolie Pitt).

Now this leaves two movies on my list: The Martian and Inside Out. The later one being the the more depressive of the pair. Good job Pixar. The Martian felt almost light-hearted in comparison and could have been even more so had the script writers stuck a little bit more closely to the book. Then again I’ll give them a pass it was sci fi movie actually taking place in space and I’m always a sucker for that.

Unintentionally funny was The Visit the movie also known as another nail in M. Night Shyamalan career coffin. I guess it was supposed to be scary, then again I never understood the appeal of scary movies and always found them to be rather hideous or at least hilarious to some extent.

Crimson Peak was fairly refreshing if you watched it knowing about Guillermo del Toro’s kink for 70s Italian mystery horror movies and were therefore primed to take a closer look on the colour distribution throughout the movie.

Unfortunately that was all the movies I was able to watch this year, with plenty more coming up and some still on my list to watch before the year is done. Here is a small list of films to still look out for: Krampus, The Revenant, In the Heart of the Sea, The Good Dinosaur, Bridge of Spies, The Danish Girl, Joy, Spotlight, Black Mass, Macbeth, Sleeping with other People, Le petit prince, Sisters, Home, Spy and of course the one everybody is waiting for: Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

I guess that is it. If you found this review overly negative, you might be right. I may have watched too many movie analyses online and my expectations are ridiculously superelevated these days so as Grace Helbig would say now: I don’t know.

Sorry.

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Text: Sarah Rosenthal

On a less critical note I’d like to continue with some more movies that made my evening at one point this year. Starting of with Trainwreck. This movie had everything: realistic character (until about 50 minutes in), so many people appearing as themselves, Tilda Fucking Swinton (!!!) and that very first scene is epicness to live by. On the down-side it was kind of trying to make nerd culture sound not cool again and was a bit racist (at the same time the movie is calling itself out on it constantly and you got to give them credit for that). Also Amy Schumer is amazing and needs to make a movie with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler ASAP. Please.

Second of is Pitch Perfect 2. Thankfully they moved on