Favourite things.
If you ask most people what their favourite book/movie/TV
show/etc… is, they often say ‘oh, I can’t pick, there are too many’.
I can pick. Yes, yes I can. I have favourite books, movies,
TV shows, chocolate … you get the picture. And for no good reason, other than I
haven’t finished my book yet and so can’t write a review, I decided to do a
post of my top five favourite favourite things.
Let’s start with movies because … I can.
1) All
About Eve – this is my all-time favourite movie ever. I don’t know how many
times I’ve watched it, but Bette Davis is perfection always, and basically my
queen. Trailer:
2) And
okay, yes, this is probably cheating but I’m counting The Lord of the Rings as
one movie. Because … I can. I’ve loved the books for years, and as Emma
Thompson says in Love, Actually, true love lasts a lifetime.
SUPERTRAILER:
3) The
Avengers. I cannot express how much I love this movie. It basically has
everything I love, and nothing I hate, even after repeated viewings.
4) Some
Like it Hot. Marilyn Monroe! Dudes in dresses! Singing! Shenanigans! One of the
best movie endings ever!.
5) The
Matrix. Yes, I know, by now it’s been often imitated in style and suchlike, and
the sequels were, quite frankly, pants but let’s take a moment to appreciate its
innovation.
Honorable mentions:
The Women. Unusal in that the entire cast is women – not
a man in sight. It’s deeply catty, but also deeply witty and I’ve always
harboured a secret desire to shop in one of those department stores even though
they went out with the dinosaur. *sigh*
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032143/?ref_=sr_3
Terminator 2: Judgement Day.
Arnie! Cyborgs! Morphing! Linda Hamilton
kicking ass and not even bothering to take names! I love it. Trailer:
http://youtu.be/eajuMYNYtuY
Pitch Perfect. Forget Bridesmaids
(which for the record I thought was kind of terrible) – this is the
lady-centric movie that you should be watching. Also, Anna Kendrick is
flawless. Trailer:
http://youtu.be/siEHekc-1oE
Rise of the Guardians. It’s a
shame that this movie didn’t seem to make any noise anywhere, because it is as
near to perfect a kid’s movie as I’ve seen in a very long time. Trailer: http://youtu.be/yd71LWhCO4s
Books!!!
My top five favourite books are:
1) The
Lord of the Rings by J R R Tolkien. Yes. Second-favourite movie but all-time
favourite book(s). I inhaled the whole thing when I was about 14-15 and it was
my gateway book for epic fantasy which I also inhaled for a while, and I will
love it forever.
2) One
Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I’ve read this three
times, the last time being when I was home with Patrick just after I had him –
heh. :D It follows the fortunes of one family in the fictional South American
town of Macondo. Be warned, though, you need to pay close attention to the
family tree, because some of the names are repeated.
3) The
Dark is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper. I’m cheating again, really, because
this is five books, but hey, semantics. I read this a lot as a youngster, when
I was about 11 or so. The library had an omnibus of all five books and I
remember borrowing it, and borrowing it, and … well, now I have my own copies.
I re-read them last year, and they hold up brilliantly. Arthurian legend mixed
with a kind of Famous Five feeling, The Dark is Rising makes for great reading
at nearly any age.
4) The
Stand by Stephen King. It’s a doorstopper for sure, but it doesn’t even matter
because King has such a way with words that you fall into the story of a world
gone horribly, badly wrong after a
catastrophic virus is released. There are good guys, bad guys and lots of Big
Thoughts.
5) Persuasion
by Jane Austen. My absolute favourite Jane Austen. It’s followed pretty closely
by Pride and Prejudice but Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth – for me – trump
Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy. Anne is so quietly competent, even though she’s
been taken for granted for years, and I love the fact that, at 27, she’s older
than your average Austen heroine. I love it. I do.
Honourable mentions:
Every Day by David Levithan. ‘A’
wakes up every single day in a different body, inhabiting a different life.
When ‘A’ meets Rhiannon, however, ‘A’ starts to want more … ugh, this book
broke my heart. It’s so good and so very shattering.
Chaos Walking trilogy by Patrick
Ness: I recommend this series to everyone. Everyone. The
premise is clever and Viola is forever one of my favourite YA heroines.
The Graveyard Book by Neil
Gaiman. Oh, God, how I love this book. how I love this book
I cannot count the ways.
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf.
Honestly, I tracked this down because I was curious to read it after seeing The
Hours and I’m very glad I did. I’ve read some of Virginia Woolf’s published
diaries, and they’re fascinating reading of a clever woman who battled her
inner demons as hard as she could. And hey, look, a review I prepared earlier:
http://justaddbooks.blogspot.co.nz/2009/03/mrs-dalloway-by-virginia-woolf.html
Songs:
1) More
Than One Way Home by Keb Mo’ – I love the lyrics and the message of the song.
It’s uplifting no matter what my mood is.
Video:
2) I
Think I Love You Too Much by Jeff Healey ft Mark Knopfler. I can’t even tell
you why I love this so much. It speaks to me somehow, on all kinds of levels.
Video:
3) Shady,
by Adam Lambert, ft Nile Rodgers and Sam Sparro. I’m putting two videos of this
song here – the album track, and the only version of it live with all three of
them performing at the We are Family Foundation celebration thing. I love the vibe of this song. It’s fun and a
little bit filthy and pretty much demands to be turned up up up.
Videos:
4) Down
the Rabbit Hole, Live acoustic version, by Adam Lambert. Two Adam Lambert
songs? Yes, hush, this is my list, go make your own ;p. This song is
ridiculous. Like. Actually ridiculous, the lyrics make no sense, but it’s so
much fun, it’s impossible not to like. Have a listen, judge for yourself:
Video:
5) Girl
in a Catsuit by Dave Stewart, ft Orianthi. I wasn’t sure if I liked this song
on first listen, because it’s a little bit unusual, but on a second listen, it really started to grow on
me and now it’s a never-go-past when I’m shuffling my ipod (high praise). It’s
kind of sly and kind of joyful and it totally has the feel of a song that’s just
got away with something.
Video:
