I'm Lou -
A writer, blogger, book and movie reviewer. If you're looking for honest opinions, spoiler-free reviews, and the random rambles of a story-obsessed writer, you've come to the right place!
2023 Favourites!
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I can't believe this is my second-to-last post of the year!
Here are my 2023 favourites!
Favourite Movie (1): Barbarian
I reviewed this film HERE at the beginning of the year, and in that post I said it was an early contender for film of the year. Well it is absolutely my favourite film of the year. I've seen it at least four times and each time I love it more than the time before. I loved the creativity, the originality, the acting, everything. A truly great horror movie.
Favourite Movie (2): Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
I reviewed this HERE and it's on this list because, not only was it great, but it was one of my biggest surprises of the year. I had no idea how I'd feel about it, not being familiar with the game or the world, but I did not expect to love it as much as I did!
Favourite Movie (3): The Blackening
I reviewed this HERE and unlike Dungeons & Dragons, I knew I would like this movie, I just didn't know how much. There were so many ways it could go wrong and it never really did. Other than not loving the reveal, I really enjoyed the movie, and it definitely holds up after a few watches.
Favourite Movie (4): A Man Called Otto
I reviewed this HERE and I put off watching it for a really long time. I thought I'd probably like it, but it never interested me that much. Because of that, I was really unprepared for how much this would affect me. I loved it, sobbed when it finished and haven't been able to watch it since!
Favourite Movie (5): Emily the Criminal
I reviewed this HERE and I completely forgot about it until I was putting this post together. It was the third film I watched in 2023, the first new one, and I really liked it! It definitely deserves its place on this list!
Favourite TV Show (1): Derry Girls
I've seen clips of this show online for ages but only decided to watch it this year. I knew I would like the show, but didn't know how much I would absolutely love it. I'm currently re-watching it and it's just as good as it was the first time around!
Favourite TV Show (2): How I Met Your Father
Honestly, this probably wouldn't be on my favourites list if it hadn't been cancelled. It's not the best show in the world, but the second season was so much better than the first and it had so much potential! It ended with a couple of cliff-hangers (including who the father was!) and it's really a shame that it'll never get the ending it deserves.
Favourite TV Show (3): Mayor of Kingstown
I didn't know much about this show before watching it, and I'd only really planned to watch the first couple of episodes to see if I liked it. I was sucked in so quickly and ended up racing through it because it was so good! It's been renewed for a third season and I can't wait!
Favourite TV Show (4): The Last of Us
This was probably my most highly anticipated show of the year. I can't say I loved every episode, but I absolutely loved the first 5 and had such a good time watching the show as a whole. I'm definitely excited for season 2 and also really want to start playing the game again!
Favourite TV Show (5): Sons of Anarchy
SoA was in my 2022 favourites post too so I won't go into it that much here, but it's my favourite show on the planet and as I'm currently re-watching it again, it's on my mind, so it had to be included!
Favourite Song (1): Come Healing
Still on the SoA train, this song was used in one of the episodes and I completely fell in love with it after hearing it. It was my top song on Spotify Wrapped and I still can't stop playing it on repeat.
But also just in general, the show uses some of the most amazing songs, so the entire soundtrack is definitely worth a listen.
Favourite Song (2): Monsters
I don't know if I've heard a more beautiful song this year. Definitely listen to it if you haven't because it's an amazing song.
Favourite Song (3): Best Part of Me
This is a Jeremy Renner song that I first heard months ago and have been playing ever since. It's a really gorgeous, meaningful song that I can't stop listening to.
Favourite Song (4): Long Long Time
Ever since I first heard this song in an episode of 'The Last of Us', I have been obsessed! It's such a great song, I love that it was the focal point of the most beautiful TLOU episode, and it you haven't heard it (or seen the episode) you need to!
Favourite YouTuber (1): Nikki & Steven React
I started watching Nikki and Steven react to Sons of Anarchy just because I love the show, but I got to know and really like both of them, and now I watch them react to almost anything! I've actually found myself watching movies that they've reacted to just so I can see their reactions!
Favourite YouTuber (2): BookTubers
I have been loving BookTubers this year! I've included videos above for the four I watch the most - Chandler Ainsley, WithCindy, Emily Fox and A Clockwork Reader, and their videos have really strengthened my love of reading (and my TBR) this year!
Favourite Game: The Sims 4
I haven't mentioned Sims in a while but I always go through periods of not playing, and then periods of obsessive playing. It's probably my favourite game ever and I can't wait to play more next year.
Favourite Actor (1): Leonardo DiCaprio
I had absolutely no feelings, positive or negative, about Leonardo DiCaprio until this year when I properly started watching his movies, and I have become a really big fan! I've watched a lot of his most popular movies for the first time this year and I'm understanding the hype - he's an amazing actor!
Favourite Actor (2): Anne Hathaway
I've seen so many of Anne Hathaway's movies this year and she's the standout of every single one of them. From the ones that I've loved, to the ones I didn't like that much, she's always one of the best things about the films she's in.
Favourite Actor (3): Margot Robbie
I've watched so many Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt movies this year, and that had the by-product of allowing me to watch a lot of movies starring Margot Robbie that I hadn't seen before. I know she's had a huge year with Barbie, but in terms of my taste, she has so many other amazing movies in her filmography that should get the same, if not more, attention.
Favourite Book (1): House of Hollow
I reviewed this book HERE. I tend to struggle giving books 5 stars, so it was amazing that I managed to find and read 2 5-star books this year! This is such an amazing book. I had originally rated it 4 stars, but after sitting with it for a while, not being able to stop thinking about it, there's no way it could be anything less than 5.
Favourite Book (2): The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
I reviewed this book HERE and it's hard to work out whether I liked House of Hollow or Addie LaRue more, but while reading, Addie LaRue was the book that I loved reading the most this year. I had been intimidated to pick it up at first, but I'm so glad I did because it was as close to perfect as I've read this year.
And that's my final favourites post of the year! It's been a long one, but I'm so glad there were so many things I loved!
Wow. I can't believe I actually did it - and a lot sooner than I thought I would! I finished watching all the movies in October and as great as finishing it felt, not having a set list of films to watch every day has kind of thrown me. It's been nice to be able to watch films just because I love them, but I have really missed watching all these new ones. Completing this list has made this year a really great one for film. I've seen so many amazing films. From the great first-time watches that I'd always been meaning to see (like 'The Shawshank Redemption' and 'The Dark Knight'), the great first-time watches I'd never heard of before (like 'Oldboy' and 'Léon: The Professional', the re-watches that I loved more this time around (like 'The Prestige' and 'Up') and some familiar all-time favourites (like 'Back to the Fu...
It's Blogmas Day 1! Happy December! In order to reunite with the man who may be the love of her life, Layla (Christina Milian) must find a ticket to the sold-out Pentatonix Christmas concert. Netflix has a few interesting movies coming out over the Christmas period. This one was the first to come out, so it made sense that it should be the first pick of Blogmas. The main character, Layla, is a fun character to follow from the very beginning. We're invested in her life and we're rooting for her to find the love she wants. The premise itself is sweet. Generic enough to feel familiar but original enough to still be an intriguing watch. Making it the perfect way to start Blogmas. I wasn't familiar with Pentatonix or their music, so this film was a great introduction to them, and the way they were incorporated into the film was really fun. Because of the group, the music throughout the film was great! I don't think there's a Blogmas movie that will beat this, music-...
I feel like I get more and more excited for Christmas and Blogmas every year! In terms of Blogmas, I definitely feel like I've found a tried and tested method that works for me, so as usual I'll be reviewing Christmas movies for the 24 days leading up to Christmas, starting from the first of December. Which means that Blogmas officially begins in 3 days! It's always really fun to pick the movies I'll be watching. I'm not as far ahead at this point in the year as I usually am (I'm currently watching day 7 as I write this), so I hope some of my picks end up being great! As always I'll be ignoring my usual ratings in favour of my Christmas rating system: Title (How original? How creative? How fun?) Originality (self-explanatory) Christmas Spirit (Is Christmas integral to the plot, or could the film's events have happened at any time of year?) Christmas Music (again, self-explanatory) And that's everything! I'm really excited to get started. My n...
It's Blogmas Day 3! When Kim (Shae Robins) and Theo (Casey Elliott) meet while Christmas shopping, sparks fly. But when a power cut separates them, neither can forget their connection. This was a spur-of-the-moment random pick. I had a film picked for day 3 but just couldn't get into it at all when I started watching it, so I went for this one instead. And to be honest, neither were particularly great picks. But this one had potential. From the beginning the characters had really great chemistry. It was fun to watch them and I wanted to see a lot more of them. Because the issue with films like this, where the main couple are separated, is that they spend a lot of time away from each other and aren't able to build a connection. In a rom-com, this isn't really fun to watch. We want to believe the couple are meant-to-be because we can see it, not because we're repeatedly told. In addition to that, the two main characters, while fun together, weren't strong enough i...
It's Blogmas Day 2! Jessica (Sugenja Sri) is a lucky charm - everyone she dates finds the love of their life immediately after dating her. But when she decides to swear off love for good, a gallery owner (Adrian Spencer) moves in across the street and she starts to feel like her luck is changing... I really liked the premise of this one. It seemed sweet, but also like it could have more substance than the average Christmas romance. I loved the main character, Jessica, from the second the film started. She was so much fun and honestly could have carried the film on her own. The main couple are really sweet and it's lovely watching them together and seeing them get to know each other. They also had great chemistry, which for some reason is rare so far in the 8 Blogmas movies I've watched this year. Though I will say that because the poster of the film is completely misleading, it actually made me like and root for the couple more because I assumed we would end up being caug...
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