October: Top 20 (Part 1)

Welcome to the Top 20 of October 2011, where I run down my favourite 20 songs of this past month. Things are definitely picking up in Autumn like I predicted and so my top 3 songs are all very close this month. Let's have a look at numbers 20 to 11, and make sure to come back for Part 2 to see what made my number 1...


20. David Guetta (feat. Usher) - Without You

David Guetta is an annoying little fella, isn't he? Constantly turning out ridiculously catchy tunes that storm the charts with seemingly no effort whatsoever. And with the combination of Usher, and remnants of a U2 song, Without You was never going to fail now, was it?...
The world becomes one

Martha Marcy May Marlene

UK Release: 3rd February 2012

Watched in Cinema: Monday 24th October 2011

Rating: 15

Genre: Drama, Thriller

Runtime: 1hr 51 mins

Newcomer Elizabeth Olsen stars in this atmospheric story of a young woman recently escaped from a cult-like commune.

Breathing (Atmen)

Cannes Film Festival Premiere: 19th May 2011

Watched in Cinema: Monday 24th October 2011

Rating: 15

Genre: Drama

Runtime: 1hr 30mins

The directorial debut of Austrian actor Karl Markovics, Breathing is an assured, intelligent work that has deservedly picked up a number of prizes in Europe since it premiered at Cannes earlier this year.

We Need To Talk About Kevin

UK Release: Friday 21st October 2011

Watched in cinema: Sunday 23rd October 2011

Rating: 15

Genre: Drama, Thriller

Runtime: 1hr 52mins

TUNE OF THE DAY #47

Gosh, I've missed blogging terribly! I got back from London today so thought I'd post! Because of my rushing-around-town and making the most of my time in the capital I wasn't able to blog the past couple days. 
But I have to say I had the most amazing time and saw many a fantastic film at the festival, the reviews of which I will be sharing over the past week or so. 
For now though, a decent song will have to do - and I have to say it's a pretty great one at that from the brilliant Chase and Status and Sub Focus...

Music Monday #11

It's Monday! So that means only one thing... Music Monday! I'm currently in London, so I put this together a couple days ago, so hopefully I won't have changed my mind by now! Here's what I'm loving today...
(click on the covers to see the awesome videos)


5. Gym Class Heroes (feat. Adam Levine) - Stereo Heart

TUNE OF THE DAY #46

Today, I set off to London for the week! It's my first time travelling alone so I'm pretty nervous but also really excited! Hopefully you'll understand if the blog goes a bit quiet, but you can look forward to some special film reviews as I'm going to the London Film Festival. The next few posts will be scheduled and I'll hopefully be back to blogging normal on Friday! 
But for now enjoy this brilliant song from the mighty Rihanna and even mightier (in my eyes!) Calvin Harris with a pretty impressive video...

Frost/Nixon

UK Release: 23rd January 2009

Watched on Recorded TV: Saturday 22nd October 2011

Rating: 15

Genre: Drama, History

Runtime: 2hrs 2mins

Tagline: 400 million people were waiting for the truth

Gossip Girl Season 5 Episode 1

On TV: Wednesday 19th October 2011

Channel: ITV2 8pm

Episode Type: Season Premiere

In 1 Sentence: Gossip Girl is back! More glamour, rumours and secrets galore...

Gossip Girl

TUNE OF THE DAY #45

It's another Tune of the Day today as Half Term deadlines mean normal service is temporarily suspended. 
But this means I get to share a song with you which I have been loving now for the past week, so I'm glad for the interruption! 
When the video came on in the gym today it made me smile a stupid big smile, and go that little bit harder which I really needed! The combination of the excellent producer Labrinth and brilliant rap artist Tinie Tempah makes this song infectious and I just can't get enough...

Bend It Like Beckham

UK Release: 12th April 2002

Watched on DVD: Wednesday 19th October 2011

Rating: 12

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance

Runtime: 1hr 50mins

Tagline: Sometimes, to follow your dreams... you've got to bend the rules!

Nowhere Boy

UK Release: 25th December 2009

Watched on Recorded TV: Monday 17th October 2011

Rating: 15

Genre: Biography, Drama, Music

Runtime: 1hr 38mins

Tagline: The Extraordinary Untold Story Of John Lennon.

Music Monday #10

Hello again, this is Music Monday, where I run down my top 5 songs of the week! There are a few new entries this time, so let's take a look...
(Click on the covers to take you to each video)


5. Tinchy Stryder (feat. Calvin Harris & Burns) - Off The Record

TUNE OF THE DAY #44

It's been a busy week/weekend so I haven't been watching nearly as many films as I usually do: hopefully next week I'll be back on track, but for now here is a song that has been stuck in my head all day and has (finally!) grown on me...

Step Up

UK Release: 27th October 2006

Watched on DVD: Friday 14th October 2011

Rating: PG

Genre: Crime, Drama, Music

Runtime: 1hr 39mins

Tagline: Every second chance begins with a first step.

New Film: In Time

I've been reading a lot recently about In Time a high concept Sci-fi film from Andrew Niccol released  on the 1st of November in the UK.
It stars Amanda Seyfried and Justin Timberlake and the premise is quite intriguing...

In the not-too-distant future the aging gene has been switched off. To avoid overpopulation, time has become the currency and the way people pay for luxuries and necessities. The rich can live forever, while the rest try to negotiate for their immortality. A poor young man who comes into a fortune of time, though too late to help his mother from dying. He ends up on the run from a corrupt police force known as 'time keepers.

I can't wait to see if it lives up to the hype! What do you think?

The Vampire Diaries: Season 3 Episode 1

On TV: Tuesday 11th October 2011

Channel: ITV2 9pm

Episode Type: Season 3 Premiere

In 1 Sentence: Elena, Damon and Stefan are back with even more tension and excitement than before: the show has well and truly grown up...

The Vampire Diaries

ITV Summary: The Vampire Diaries: Season Three kicks off on the morning of Elena's 18th birthday. Caroline Forbes is busy planning a party, but Elena is focused on searching for any clues that might help her discover where Stefan is.
Damon is also searching for Stefan, while trying to protect Elena and keep her from doing anything that would draw Klaus’s attention.
Elsewhere, Klaus and Stefan are busy trailing a werewolf and Jeremy is struggling to understand why he keeps seeing ghosts of Vicki and Anna...

Hidden

On TV: Thursday 6th October 2011

Channel: BBC One 9pm

Episode Type: 1/4

In 1 Sentence: A new conspiracy thriller that’s gritty, intriguing and full of mystery

Hidden

BBC Summary: Small-time solicitor Harry Venn is forced to revisit his murky past when he is approached by a mysterious and glamorous lawyer, Gina Hawkes, looking for a missing alibi witness for her client. Harry quickly finds himself plunged into a deep and dangerous conspiracy.

Howl

UK Release: 25th February 2011

Watched on Orange FilmToGo: Tuesday 11th October 2011

Rating: 15

Genre: Biography, Drama

Runtime: 1hr 24mins

Tagline: The Obscenity Trial That Started a Revolution. The Poem That Rocked a Generation.

Music Monday #9

It's been a packed week for new music as we head deeper into Autumn all the great new tunes are coming out. About 50% of my Top 20 of 2010 were all from the Autumn/Winter season, so hopefully this year will be another fantastic season for music... 
(click on the covers to take you to each video...)


5. Labrinth (feat. Tinie Tempah) - Earthquake

Save Doctor Who Confidential!

After the announcement that Doctor Who Confidential would be axed last week the campaign to save it has stepped up. And now as the Petition to save it has almost reached 40,000 signatures I'm asking for your help to save this treasured show.
And here's why...
The show is relatively cheap to make - there are no cast members, sets, locations etc, just a small crew needed to film what goes on behind the scenes. 
It has consistently good viewing figures for BBC3 and has a big fan base who love and adore the show, of which many (including myself) are inspired by it for their future career paths. The information and insight on set of a successful television programme is invaluable and there is nothing else like it on tv today. 
I actually agree with those saying it is too long - it is. At 45 minutes it is the same length of the original programme. 15 minutes of good quality programming would be enough. Or if the BBC are determined for it not to be on our screens a low quality web series would just about suffice but nothing at all really would be devastating. 
Cutting it all together - doesn't make sense!

Monsters

UK Release: 3rd December 2010

Watched on DVD: Thursday 6th October 2011

Rating: 12A

Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Runtime: 1hr 34mins

Tagline: After Six Years, They're No Longer Aliens. They're Residents.

TUNE OF THE DAY #43

THIS SONG HAS TAKEN OVER MY HEAD!!!

Seriously. Coldplay's new single 'Paradise' is simply gorgeous and fast becoming one of my Top 5 Coldplay songs! It is ridiculously catchy and I find myself humming along to it at strange moments throughout the day. Coldplay are well and truly back... (but when did they ever leave?!...)

Sweet Home Alabama

UK Release: 20th September 2002

Watched on DVD: Wednesday 5th October 2011

Rating: 12A

Genre: Comedy, Romance

Runtime: 1hr 48mins

Tagline: Sometimes What You're Looking For Is Right Where You Left It.

A Beautiful Mind

UK Release: 22nd February 2002

Watched on (Recorded) TV: Monday 3rd October 2011

Rating: 12

Genre: Biography, Drama

Runtime: 2hrs 15mins

Tagline: It is only in the mysterious equation of love that any logical reasons can be found.

Music Monday #8

Music Monday today is brought to you on a Tuesday for this week only!
There are many reasons for this, but the main one is that my monthly Top 20 was just completed on Saturday, so I wanted to leave it a day to let the music dust settle...
And here we are! My internet is atrocious today so this will just have to be the bare minimum until that's fixed...


5. Nicki Minaj (feat. Rihanna) - Fly

Doctor Who: 6.13 The Wedding of River Song

On TV: Saturday 1st October 2011

Channel: BBC One 7.05pm

Episode Type: Finale of the season!

In 1 Sentence: A jaw-dropping end to the series - this is how it’s done!

Doctor Who

BBC Summary: All of time and space hang in the balance, for this is the day the Doctor dies.

Shirley

On TV: Thursday 29th September 2011

Channel: BBC Two 9pm (70 minute duration)

Episode Type: One off drama

In 1 Sentence: Glitzy biographical drama of Dame Shirley Bassey which didn’t quite deliver

Shirley

September: Top 20 (Part 2)

Welcome to the second part of September's Top 20! I've reached number 10 and am counting down to my number 1, so click to find out what I deemed to be the best song of September! Enjoy...


10. Noah and the Whale - Life is Life

Noah and the Whale were the support band for Arcade Fire when I went to see them a month ago in the MEN Arena. And while many people didn't seem to really 'know' them, if anything I knew Noah and The Whale more, so thoroughly enjoyed their set. Since then I got the CD for my Dad's birthday and thus I've been hearing a lot of them lately. This song is one of my favourites...
Cheerleader's watermelon running dream