I've Been Watching #4

Starting as I mean to go on with my 'I'm going to talk about film and tv because I like to talk about film and tv' plan, here's another I've Been Watching! I think it's safe to say that when I'm not writing my dissertation or catching up with my friends to bore them with chat about my dissertation, I'm combatting the monotony of job hunting by watching lots and lots of my favourite things.



Once Upon A Time

I've been binge watching Once Upon a Time this week, and I really am "hooked" (Get it? Being as witty as I am is a curse, I tell you. Obligatory photo above of Captain Hook who I may or may not spend the majority of my viewing time swooning over). I adored season 1 and watched it when it was on Channel 5, but for one reason or another I managed to lose track of it round about episode five of season 2. This has now been rectified as Emma got me the seasons 1 and 2 boxset for my birthday, and I have been devouring it on a daily basis since. It is amazing. For anyone who enjoys fairy tales (take a look at my blog header and you'll see I'm a fan!), this show is an absolute must watch. It's also the creation of two of the brilliant brains behind Lost (Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz), which made me pretty certain I'd be on board from the start. It has a lot of really nice little similarities to Lost, with the dual worlds and the story flashing between one world/timeline and another. It also has a few of the same cast members, with Lana Parilla (minor role in Lost, but major role as the Evil Queen here), Emilie de Ravin, Jorge Garcia and Alan Dale all appearing already. Speaking of the cast, they are amazing. I'm a big Jennifer Morrison fan, and she is amazing as Emma, but every single cast member plays their part to perfection. It also has some fantastic, kick ass female characters which I really love - they've taken the lovely but often passive female characters from the Disney-style takes on fairy tales, and changed them up into really feisty, powerful women. I honestly cannot get enough of this show. Or Colin O'Donoghue/Captain Hook/Killian Jones...

New Girl - Season 3

I've only watched two episodes so far, so haven't got too much to say on it yet, but we all know I love New Girl. Nick and Jess are one of my favourite on-screen pairings, and the chemistry between the cast is electric. HOWEVER. What are they doing to Winston?! Writers, what's going on here?! I can honestly say that in season two, the references to Winston's uselessness when it comes to pranks were some of the funniest moments of the show - there's a scene between him and Schmidt that makes me cry with laughter every time I watch it (the bear in the restaurant plan, New Girl fans?! I'm laughing just thinking about it!). But in the past two episodes he seems to have gone from the sort of sensible one, who would always call Schmidt out on his nonsense, and give Nick a kick when he needs it, to a slapstick idiot, who has lost his grip on reality. I get the feeling the positive reaction they got to those scenes in season two made the writers decide to kick it up a notch, but for me, it just doesn't work, and actually puts me off watching a wee bit *cries*. That being said, I still love the show, and still love Nick and Jess's banter. Must catch up on episodes three and four soon.

24: Live Another Day

I won't say too much on this, since I mentioned it before, but after episode ten I couldn't very well not talk about it. 24: Live Another Day is knocking it completely out of the park - it is fully insane. Honestly, I was on the edge of my seat for the whole episode; it's actually quite exhausting viewing. I don't want to spoil this for anyone, so won't say anything specific, but the level of terror threat in this series is actually mind-blowingly scary. You're watching it, knowing it's a television drama, but it still sends chills down your spine. I think Kiefer Sutherland is playing it beautifully though, as he always does. Poor Jack has had quite a life. I love Jack Bauer, I really do. I simultaneously cannot wait to watch the next episode, and I'm frightened to watch it, because that will mean there's only one left!! I've missed it, and it feels like it's come and gone again too quickly.

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

Another reason to celebrate having Netflix, I watched this little gem a couple of weeks ago. I've wanted to see it for ages - I haven't actually read the book, but I read and enjoyed "Dash and Lily's Book of Dares" last year, which is a similar YA sort of story from the same authors. If you've got a couple of hours to spare, and you just want to lose yourself in a cute, sort of predictable, but easy going romantic movie, give this a shot. The entire story happens over the course of one night, and we watch the relationship between Nick and Norah (who have just met) take a few twists and turns along the way. It's not going to win multiple awards for life changing movie of the year any time soon, but it brightened up my evening, and I thought Michael Cera and Kat Dennings worked really well together on screen. One downside - I could not STAND Nick's ex-girlfriend, which I know is entirely the point, but still. She drove me well and truly up the wall!

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

I bought this on DVD for my mum for her birthday or Christmas last year, but neither she and my dad, nor I, had got around to watching it, and I had forgotten we even had it. One of my friends was talking about it recently though, and he urged me to watch it, saying it was amazing. Sitting down to watch it one evening last month, I tweeted that it was my choice of film for the night, and instantly got messages from friends and followers on twitter saying "get your Kleenex ready'', with one of my friends saying she cried so much watching it her boyfriend's mum thought they were breaking up! Suffice to say, I was concerned about how I would react. Did I cry? You bet I did. I cried bucketloads. But it was absolutely worth it. The film follows a young boy named Oskar (Thomas Horn) in the aftermath of his father's death in the 9/11 attacks. He attempts to deal with his grief, and struggles to let go, causing a rift to form between him and his mum (Sandra Bullock), as we follow him on a journey to hold on to the remaining connection he has to his dad (Tom Hanks). I won't say any more than that since that's about as much as you get from the trailer, but it is a beautiful, sad, hopeful story about family, grief and moving on, and I would recommend it in a heartbeat.

Have you seen any of these shows/films? I'd love to know what you thought! Or let me know what you'd recommend I check out next!

Thanks for reading!

All images sourced on my Pinterest board!

I've Been Watching #3

Maleficent

I went to see Maleficent in the cinema a couple of weeks ago, and it was incredible. I was totally mesmerised from start to finish - I am one of those people who gets ridiculously involved with whatever I'm watching, to the point that I react to every little moment, and I was in full swing with this one. Angelina Jolie was incredible. I am a fan of Jolie just as a person in general, the work she does for charity and for women worldwide is fantastic, but I've never had huge feelings about her one way or another in terms of her acting. She was phenomenal here though! The film is the story of Maleficent before the character you meet in "Sleeping Beauty", and is a brilliant twist on an old tale. If you haven't seen it yet, I'd definitely recommend checking it out - it's visually stunning, well written and total escapism!

The Room

Ahhh The Room. Emma had been telling me for ages that I needed to watch this cult classic and I just hadn't had the opportunity until a couple of weeks ago. I can tell you it was worth the wait!

This is undoubtedly one of the worst films that has ever been made, which is what makes it so utterly fantastic. The writing is appalling (the plot makes no sense whatsoever), and the direction is equally terrible - both are courtesy of actor/writer/director/producer Tommy Wiseau. And don't even get me started on the acting - there were literally tears rolling down my face I was laughing so much at some points. But this combination makes for brilliantly funny viewing, as you attempt to grasp on to any, minute strands of plot that are referred to more than once throughout the 99minute run time. In it's simplest form, The Room tells the story of an awkward love triangle between Johnny (played by Wiseau), his fiancee Lisa, and his best friend Mark. But it is so, so much more than that. It has cultivated such a following that the cast now tours around the globe discussing the film in panels, and introducing it at screenings, while it has inspired a book and a video game (according to wikipedia!). I can tell this is a film I will watch many times, and definitely suggest you check it out if ever you have the chance!

Eat Pray Love

I've been intrigued by Eat Pray Love for a while now, and with a free evening this week I settled down with a gigantic cup of tea and an obligatory bit of cake, to devour all two hours and twenty minutes of the movie adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert's memoir. Starring Julia Roberts, it tells Gilbert's personal journey to, for lack of a better phrase, find herself after a difficult divorce and equally unsuccessful rebound. She travels to Italy, and then on to India and finally Bali, and attempts to reshape her life, and her attitude to life, through a search for spiritual fulfilment, focusing solely on becoming happy alone before approaching any new relationships. It is a great story and I definitely walked away from it feeling inspired. I wonder if it could perhaps have been a little shorter, but if you don't mind a lengthy film then get on Netflix and give it a go.

Tabloid

I watched Tabloid a couple of months ago now and forgot to mention it in a previous I've Been Watching post. This documentary by Errol Morris looks into the bizarre story of Joyce McKinney, a young American woman who, in the 1970s, was accused of kidnapping her morman boyfriend in England, and raping him. The documentary is made up of clips from an in depth interview with Joyce about the events at the time, her subsequent arrest and the trauma she has suffered at the hands of the media ever since. It is a baffling story, and while the film portrays McKinney in a less than stable light, you leave it not having a clue what to believe. It is a scandalous story, and certainly makes for some interesting viewing.

Fargo

I talked about Fargo in my last I've Been Watching post, but I need to mention it again. I cannot explain how good this show is, I really can't. It is absolutely insane, but the performances here are just spectacular (pay attention cast of The Room). Martin Freeman has just completely blown my mind in the past couple of episodes. His character, Lester, is (without giving anything away) a complex sort of person, and over the course of the past nine episodes his character progression has been amazing to watch. It is such an intense hour of television and the fact that I'm keeping up with it while it's still on TV instead of forgetting it's on and eventually waiting for it to appear on Netflix or for the DVD to come out shows you what high quality it is. It's definitely a TV highlight of the past couple of years for me.

24 - Live Another Day

I am a massive, massive fan of 24 - it's the show that really made me realise I wanted to study television at some point in my life, leading to the selection of my undergraduate degree course! I'll admit, I was sceptical when I heard that they were bringing out a twelve episode 'mini-series', when the entire format is based on the events taking place over twenty four hours. The moment I saw that ticking digital clock, and heard that oh-so-familiar soundtrack from Sean Callery, however, I was hooked. I'm just loving having Jack Bauer back, and having Kim Raver, one of my favourite actresses, back on screen is almost too much for me to cope with... #jackandaudreyforever. The storyline this season is just as dramatic as ever, with another terrorist threat for Jack to swoop in and save the world from; the only difference being that this series is set in London. Every episode leaves you with your heart in your mouth at least once and I can't wait to see how this pans out.


So that's it for this edition of I've Been Watching! What shows or movies have you been enjoying lately - you know I love a good TV or film recommendation!

Image Credits - all on my Pinterest board!