Celebrating favourite things.

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:

http://youtu.be/u3IONdE15vQ

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:

http://youtu.be/LtKuUPK2BfQ

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.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOrNdBpGMv8

4)     Some Like it Hot. Marilyn Monroe! Dudes in dresses! Singing! Shenanigans! One of the best movie endings ever!.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OhdD5n405I

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.

Trailer: http://youtu.be/yRjhQf2ZTCo

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

Pan’s Labyrinth. Trailer presented without comment, because http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbffV5LZfZI

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:

Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay. This is the only novel I’ve read by Gavriel Kay so far, but I love it so much. This is totally cheating but here’s a review I prepared earlier: http://justaddbooks.blogspot.co.nz/search/label/Tigana

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:

http://youtu.be/1GjHJjnjUKk

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:

http://youtu.be/OVMbk7OvgpQ

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:

(Live): http://youtu.be/soT2tZSV5wc

(Studio): http://youtu.be/R9jv1DyJOOI

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:

http://youtu.be/7-Z7d2KMoNU

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:

http://youtu.be/sTuOL-qreJc

Honorable mentions:
God’s Gonna Cut You Down by Johnny Cash: http://youtu.be/eJlN9jdQFSc

Little Talks by Of Monsters and Men: http://youtu.be/ghb6eDopW8I

Talk Show Host by Radiohead: http://youtu.be/mcYu5Vg_YH8

Highway Unicorn by Lady Gaga: http://youtu.be/-Q0m-48Sjok

Similar Features by Melissa Etheridge: http://youtu.be/b6hy5L82nQY