I have created a video with all the best romance movies to watch while in lockdown this Valentine's Day. There’s classic romances, French gems such as the always charming Amelie and one of the most tragic love stories I have ever watched.
Let me know in the comments section what your favourite romance movies are.
Assuming that you haven’t already binged this 8-part mini-series detailing the murders of notorious 70’s serial killer Charles Sobhraj aka The Bikini Killer or The Serpent (where the series takes its name), let me convince you as to why you should.
My oh my, Rahim and Coleman are exceptional in the roles of Charles Sobhraj and Marie-Andrée Leclerc. TBH, I will watch anything Rahim is in after watching his breakout film A Prophet. And unsurprisingly Rahim absolutely kills it (no pun intended) as a creepy, charismatic killer… it’s very unsettling just how good he is! And Coleman, I have only ever seen her in Doctor Who but she makes Leclerc 3 dimensional and has you wondering whether she is actually a victim or just a killer throughout.
The fashion. The hair. The music. I must admit that I am obsessed with the ’60s and ’70s, and I love the mise-en-scène in this show, everything on screen feels tangible and immersive. I can tell that Jenna Coleman’s hair and wardrobe is going to be everyone’s obsession.
This is on the edge of your seat shouting at the TV stuff. The tension is so palatable, and I found myself cringing and trying to advise characters not to make the decisions they inevitably make (why do we do this 😂). Some people don’t like the flitting between timelines, but I personally like it, it adds suspense and makes you focus.
Ah, in the era of Corona we can only travel through our screens. This show could not have aired at a better time here in the UK, we are in Lockdown 3.0, and it’s absolutely freezing! Hong Kong, Thailand, Nepal, Pakistan, France and India are a welcome escape from a dreary winter in England, even if this jet-set trip is rather gruesome.
Luscious colour palettes, film footage montages and surveillance like zooms are just some of my favourite things about The Serpent’s cinematography. The way a TV show or film is shot is infinitely fascinating to me; I love analysing what a camera movement could mean or why a specific colour palette has been employed. In The Serpent, the cinematography serves to build tension and immerse the viewer in its timeline. Film footage instantly makes it feel retro, and those surveillance zooms make you nervous and think that someone is in danger. The colour palette is almost oppressive in its lushness, mirroring the headiness of occupying the same space as Sobhraj.
The Serpent is available to watch in the UK on BBC 1 @ 9 pm on Sundays or to binge on BBC iPlayer (Elsewhere on Netflix soon)
Everyone loves Christmas movies; they are the perfect antidote to the cold dark days of Winter, and more so than ever this year they are great for lifting the mood.
In my Festive Favourites of Film & TV, I will also be answering some heavy-hitting questions such as is Love Actually actually good? Is Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut a Christmas film? And, of course, the much-debated Nightmare Before Christmas conundrum, is it a Halloween film or a Christmas movie?
So without further ado, let’s say cheers to the season and have a look at my Festive Faves
A classic that I have watched over and over again since I was a child. Back in the day, my sister and I would watch it on VHS tape probably every year, and we were utterly obsessed with Angels with Filthy Souls the fake black and white gangster movie that Kevin watches and would re-enact the scene over and over again (we still do sometimes). I also think the idea of being left home alone over Christmas spoke to my introverted soul, and I felt that I would totally enjoy it. But I guess every kid felt the same and as you grow up you realise half the joy of Christmas is the communal experience (RIP Christmas 2020).
I have so much love for this stop-motion masterpiece and while some may argue that it is a Halloween movie I most ardently think that it is a Christmas film and one of the best at that. I think it captures the wonder and awe of Christmas in a very unique and charming way. I watch The Nightmare Before Christmas every year and will probably be watching it on Christmas Eve this year or maybe tonight who knows.
I am a sucker for a Rom-Com and The Holiday is my festive film of choice within that genre, I was umming and ahhing as to whether I should choose Love Actually instead, but I’m not so sure about that film anymore.
I feel like modern dissections make me realise that it’s somewhat problematic, but I still find some of it funny, like the scene with Rowan Atkinson pretentiously wrapping a gift.
But anyway, back to The Holiday, and while it’s not without its issues, I would be inclined to say that it has aged better than Love Actually. It’s light-hearted fluff, and tbh I would totally spend Christmas at Iris’s cute country cottage.
Carol is gorgeously shot, and the performances by Cate Blancett and Rooney Mara are stunning. I love the moment Carol and Therese meet at the department store.
Also, Therese reminds me of how I used to behave working in retail over Christmas, nervous and quoting product specifications because I read all the material on the items I had to sell. I also wrote a film review of Carol a few years back on my old blog that I copied over to this one (wow, 5 years, to be precise!).
This Norwegian language TV series is a concoction of romantic comedy genre tropes in one delightfully festive package, and I can’t get enough!
Joanne is a single 30-year-old nurse who is quite ok with her relationship status until the festive season rolls around. At the first advent dinner, her family criticise her for not having a boyfriend and sit her next to her brother’s noisy twins. Hell on earth, essentially.
So in true rom-com heroine style, instead of resigning herself to a repeat come Christmas Day, Joanne announces that she has a boyfriend without thinking. Thus a mad 24-day hunt ensues as she tries to find the perfect man to bring home for Christmas.
Am I clutching at straws to include this film in a Festive Favourites list? After all what says Christmas more than a secret high society sex cult?
Well, nothing other than the fact that Eyes Wide Shut takes place over the festive season, and I love Stanley Kubrick, so you can’t stop me from including it!
While it’s not your usual Christmas movie brimming with festive cheer or romance, it’s almost like a shot of reality, or perhaps it could even be called an Anti-Christmas film.
Film Critic Lee Seigel wrote:
“There is the fantasy of absolute gratification, cynically projected from every corner of the culture, and there is the reality of the cookie and the child and the homework and the companion you have chosen, and for whom, despite everything, you sit at home waiting. Compared with the everyday reality of sex and emotion, our fantasies of gratification are, yes, pompous and solemn in the extreme. That is why the film’s recurrent motif is of the Christmas tree. For desire is like Christmas: it always promises more than it delivers.”
This analysis really hits the nail on the head. When you delve deeper into the film, its themes of sexuality, ego, desire, and sexism really are complemented by the fantastic metaphor of Christmas. And, of course, it goes without saying that all those lights make for great cinematography.
Let me know in the comments what your Favourite Festive Film and TV picks are.
This month my watchlist is dominated by non-English language content with Danish, Korean and German dramas at the forefront but the Jordan Peele produced Lovecraft Country looks to be one of this year’s best shows. What TV Shows will you be watching this month?
I only just started watching this Danish post-apocalypse series recently and after the first episode, I was hooked. It takes place after a mysterious virus that is brought with the rain kills off most of Scandinavia (and perhaps the rest of the world). There’s family, end of the world brutality and an interesting moral sci-fi dilemma. Great pandemic viewing.
I am so glad that this Korean Crime drama is back for another season, normally it’s one-season and done with Korean TV shows but sometimes and it’s happening more and more now, we get a continuation of a story. Stranger follows Prosecutor Hwang Shi-Mok (Cho Seung-woo) as he investigates corruption alongside Police Officer Han Yeo-Jin (the always amazing Bae Doo-na). I’m not too sure what this seasons story will be as there has been no trailer with English subtitles released yet!
Jordan Peele is one of the executive producers for this show that is based on the book of the same name. The premise of both mediums and their namesakes comes from a mingling of H.P. Lovecrafts iconic bizarre horror and 1950’s Jim Crow America. I’m getting a little bit of an Indiana Jones vibe mixed with a whole lot of darkness! I think this could be one of the best TV shows of the year!
I am so interested in the idea of biohacking, I watched this documentary when I was younger about cloning and genetic modifications (goats that produce spider silk instead of milk, that kind of thing) and I have kinda been a little obsessed by the idea of self-perpetuated evolution, be that through cybernetics or biohacking. So, this German language TV looks like it will be right up my alley and kind of feels like it might fill the void left by Orphan Black.
Touted as a Spanish Sex and the City, Valeria follows four friends as they navigate life in Madrid. The protagonist Valeria is a struggling writer who has been married for 6 years, then she meets Victor a charming troublemaker at a party. I’ve already watched a couple of episodes and I am hooked!
In a major oversight and perhaps an avoidance of American comedy has lead me to not take notice of Insecure. But after the massive wake up call that was the past few months, I need to make sure I’m watching black oriented narratives more. Insecure tells the story of two women Issa and Molly who have been friends since university and how they navigate relationships, jobs and life in america as black women.
As a general rule of thumb, if Eva Green is in something then it’s good. The Luminaries is a miniseries adapted from the Man-Booker winning book of the same name. It is set during the 1860’s gold-rush in New Zealand and is a story of love, betrayal and murder…sounds intriguing. The series also stars Eve Hewson, Himesh Patel and Marton Csokas.
The title alone is enough to pique my interest. Warrior Nun looks like it will be a fun and ridiculous romp and I’m all here for that. The premise is that a young woman awakens in a morgue with some kind of powerful divine artefact embedded into her back and she soon discovers a new world of demonic forces and a sect of nuns who are trained to fight these monsters. The world is in a really weird place right now so a little supernatural fun will do no harm.
From Frank Miller, Cursed is a reimagining of the legend of Arthur. Judging by this trailer we are going to get a similar visual style to 300 and Sin City, which I love. It’s also a series to watch if you fell in love with The Witcher last year. Toss a coin to Netflix, oh valley of plenty, oh valley of plenty
Season 1 was such a blast so I am really hyped for The Umbrella Academy to return, unfortunately, there is no trailer for season 2 yet but I’m sure it’s coming very soon. The storytelling is fantastic and it’s a great twist on the overwrought superhero genre so if your yet to delve into this show go watch season 1 ASAP.
