March Favourites

(Favourite) Television: This month there is one particular stand out for a television series I have been loving this month and that is Brooklyn Nine-Nine. I have absolutely no words for how much I love this series. It's definitely a new favourite, and I will be adding it to 'My Favourites' list as soon I am done writing this post. It's a hilarious, fresh comedy with one of the most perfect casts I've ever watched and is truly groundbreaking. This show should be mandatory watching for everyone. I don't want to go on and on about how amazing it is but seriously, just do yourself a favour and if you're not watching it already: GO! (I actually give you permission to leave this blog post on the condition that you watch this show it is that amazing . . . and then come back and read the rest!)
I also have to give a massive honourable mention to My Mad Fat Diary. I won't talk about it much here, because I want to write a whole post on it and I'm only just finished Season 1, so watch this space! 

(Favourite) Film: Surprisingly, March has been a pretty good month for films and I. Usually, I will watch two or three films in a month, four if I'm lucky. I do favour television quite a bit more. This month, for some reason, I found more and more I was wanting to watch a film over any episodes of television I had lined up. I think that there were a lot of reasons for this, one of which was the fact that I crammed in heaps for before the Oscars, the other of which was I'm in a little bit of a television rut at the moment (I think I just have too many choices!). I'll be writing a small post about the films I have been watching, so keep an eye out for that, but without further ado, onto my favourite which I have to say was: Howl's Moving Castle. I have never watched a Studio Ghibli film before this, so I didn't know what to expect but I can tell you that since watching this I have now seen another three and plan on seeing many more. They were all films that are just enjoyable, cute and fun. The animation is absolutely stunning and so beautiful. I do have a post coming up on the films I watched in March so look out for that soon!

(Favourite) Reading: February was a big month for reading. I was on holiday in Hawaii and I just powered through quite a few books that I had been meaning to read for ages. March, with the start of uni again, has seen a rapid decline in my reading time. I am going to do a bog post sometime soon about some books I've been loving/looking forward to reading, so keep an eye out for that too. Here's an Empire article I absolutely adored reading: it's the exact article that Empire published in their June 1994 issue about the movie Four Wedding's and a Funeral (if you weren't already aware, that's my favourite movie). For this month's favourite I have to go with something I've read before and that is Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. Unlike the other two in the series (The Hunger Games and Catching Fire) I haven't read this one since I originally did around three years ago. Since I saw Catching Fire I have wanted to re-read because I just couldn't really remember any of the details of what happened anymore. I finally managed to start it again a few days ago and I've just really been enjoying it. It's almost like reading it for the first time again. I have had to put it down a few times because I couldn't see the pages through my tears (no one mention Finnick) but it's also helped me get back into reading as I've started and finished two more books in the mean time. 

This photo is of Jared Leto in a dragon/lizard onesie (not that you can really tell).

(Favourite) Random: I think the most exciting thing that happened to me this month was the fact that I bought VIP tickets to meet Benedict Cumberbatch. Yes, I did pay an arm and a leg for them, but I am so excited and I think it will definitely be worth it, considering it will probably be the highlight of my life year (no pressure Benedict!). It's not until April 13th, but it's just under two weeks away now and I'm not sure I can get anymore excited! The other other highlight happened just a couple of days ago: I got see 30 Seconds to Mars live in concert! They were so amazing, it was definitely one of my favourite concerts I've ever been to. I just love every single one of their songs and Jared Leto is such an amazing performer, I'm so happy I've seen them live. 

Let me know what you've been loving the past month in the comments! 

February Favourites

I've decided to write a little bit of a catch up/February favourites because I haven't written in a while.

(Favourite) Television Show(s): Febrauary has been a great month for television. So many shows are back, and I'm loving all the new storylines. However, I can't write about all of them here so I've chosen my top three. Of course the start of Teen Wolf has been the highlight of my life month. Season 3B started off in January quite slowly, but is quickly picking up the pace and every episode is just getting better and better. There is so much mystery and intrigue this season and there is so much potential, I absolutely can't wait to see where it ends up (although I also can because I don't want it to end!). I spent the first couple of days in February watching the 2013 mini-series Top of the Lake with Elizabeth Moss (Peggy from Mad Men). It's directed and written by Jane Campion, who wrote and directed one of my favourite movies Bright Star. It's a drama/crime series set in New Zealand, and it's pretty similar to ITV's Broadchurch. I very highly recommend both. Moss is brilliant, displaying so much raw emotion in every single episode.

True Detective: Episode 1

The third TV show I have been loving this month has been HBO's new series True Detective. I feel like this show just came out of nowhere. I saw it advertised on a billboard a few days before it started and was intrigued by the fact Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey were in a television series. I loved it from the first episode and somehow every episode manages to make me love it even more. McConaughey is absolute perfection playing Rust Cohle. I honestly think this is his best work to date and I cannot recommend this show highly enough. It's already made it onto my favourite television list.

(Favourite) Film: To be completely honest I haven't watched too many films this month. The absolute stand out that I have watched definitely has to be Dallas Buyers Club. It's really been McConaughey month this February. He was outstanding in Dallas Buyers, so much so I would not mind seeing him beat Leonardo Di Caprio for the Oscar (yes, I said it). Jared Leto will without a doubt win Best Supporting Actor for his role as well, he was phenomenal. The story itself was so heartbreaking, but quite inspiring and I would highly recommend it to everyone.

I'm not going to write a section for my favourite books this month because I (fingers crossed!) will be doing a blog post solely on books I've been loving lately sometime in early March.

Hope you enjoyed that, let me know what you're favourites for this month were in the comments!

Catch up #2

Hei hei guys,

I'm sorry! Aside from my post yesterday I don't think I've posted anything in over a month. I just really haven't been feeling writing posts lately and so I decided not to force it, and just to take a little break. I also had a lot going on with work over this month but, of course, I haven't stopped watching television or movies. I would never do that! Here are some things I have been loving over September. Hopefully I'll be back into the swing of things soon. 

Favourite (Television):
September was a month I was loving two shows: Breaking Bad and Orphan Black. I finished the latter earlier in the month and I'm so excited for season two already. Breaking Bad I caught up with just in time to see the last episode ever with everyone else. It took some serious effort but I actually managed to do it. There should be a post on this coming up really soon, so I don't want to say too much but definitely keep an eye out for that. 

Favourite (Films):
I didn't see a lot of films this month. I have actually spent this month annoyed due to the complete lack of films that are out in the cinema that I want to see. I have no interest in White House Down (even Channing Tatum couldn't get me to see it) and after watching Red on DVD the other day had very little interest in seeing its sequel. What I did end up seeing was Blue Jasmine. Although I feel like I knew the storyline the minute it started (it's basically A Streetcar Named Desire with flashbacks), I was still gripped and could not take my eyes off the screen. Cate Blanchett can come get her Oscar for Best Actress now - I have absolutely no doubt she will win for this. I loved all the costuming and set decorations, especially in the flashback scenes. It's a must see. I took my mum too and she can not stop talking about it.

On another note, I (finally) watched American Psycho with one of my all time favourite actors, Christian Bale. I began this film with the intention to watch just half an hour and then go to bed because I was so tired. Do you think I could stop? It was so gripping, yet so disturbing at the same time, it was perfect. By far the stand out of the whole movie was the acting of Christian Bale. He was just so convincing it was scary. I was a little confused by the ending but the amazing supporting acts from Jared Leto, Reese Witherspoon and Chloe Sevingy made up for it.

Favourite (Reading): I finished Divergent last month, and have started Insurgent it's taking me a little longer to get into that one. I read Divergent as though my life depended on it, and it was over in a day or two. I really recommend this if you liked The Hunger Games as it's quite a similar concept. The film adaptation is being released in March next years and stars Shailene Woodley and Kate Winslet. I also finished Gone Girl which I was so excited to read and had wanted to since the minute I heard it was going to be David Fincher's next project. That I finished ever quicker, I stayed up until four in the morning until I was satisfied I knew where the plot was going. I even tried to sneaky read at work (shhh!) because I was so determined to find out just what was going on. I really recommend this book but make sure you've set out a few days off before you begin it. 

Favourite (Random): I've really been loving Lily Pebbles and Vivianna Does Makeup youtube channels. They both blog about beauty and fashion, and I just find that everything they recommend I want to buy and if I do buy I can't believe that I managed to live without it before. I have been buying more and more lately which is really annoying actually because in other news: I've booked a trip to Hawaii! So I've been doing a lot of research for this as we'll be there for almost three weeks. 

Let me know what you've been loving lately, I love recommendations! x

July Favourites

Hei hei lovely people,

I can't believe that July is already over. I'm back at uni this week and it's crazy to think that I spent my holiday break in Europe and Melbourne. August means getting back into the swing of things: back to uni, back to work and back on the diet. However, it also means a lot of new films are coming out which I have no doubt will make it into my August favourites. This post however, is about what I was loving during the month of July.

1. Game of Thrones

source: aryarstark

This season was really great for me because I was reading A Feast for Crows at the same time and just absolutely loving it. One thing about this season that I've found really good is that it has been giving a lot of characters a bit more of a back story, and sort of fleshing out their story line. It's been quite interesting to see. I can't believe it's all over and we have to wait another year! The other thing that really scared me today was thinking that I've waited "another year" for the next season of this show twice already - I've been watching this show for nearly three years! That is such a long time considering how much I still love this show (possibly even more than I did at first) and that it is still such a fresh, different program from anything else on the small screen. Love. Love. Love.


2. David Fincher 

source: slayerage

As some of you might know I've been trying to get through IMDB's Top 250 films by the end of the year. David Fincher is a director with quite a few of his works in the list. I am a huge admirer of his work, I especially love Fight Club and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Fight Club is currently #10 on IMDB's list, and while I don't agree with a lot of the placing on the list, this movie definitely deserves to be top 10. Lately I've been trying to catch up because I feel like I'm running out of time a little, and trying to focus on specific directors or actors. David Fincher is one of these directors. I watched Se7en at the beginning of the month (#22 on the list) and fell in love with it. Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow and Kevin Spacey - what a cast! I did find it a quite predictable, and the way they actually find the murderer is a little shaky but I loved the gruesome crime scenes and murders, and it has a good ending. It's hard to find a good murder mystery film, and I think this is definitely one of my favourites ever.


3. Leo

Leo & Kate Winslet

Just thinking about Leonardo DiCaprio makes my eyes well with tears. I can't. I just can't explain to people how much I admire him. I just love people who pick their work projects properly and take so much pride in what they do and what they produce, and Leo is one of these rare people (Ben Whishaw and Cate Blanchett are some others). Leo is on this list because a) I (finally) watched Shutter Island and was struck yet again by his incredible talent and b) I have had the trailer for The Wolves of Wall Street on repeat for the whole month. I think it's one of the best trailers I've seen. Plus, I have good feelings about this movie, and feel that this could just be the one where Leo finally gets his Oscar (fingers crossed people!)

As usual, please let me know what you've been loving, I'll need some new television to watch because all my favourites are ending or have ended for the season now.