You crazy bored people. Thanks everyone, whoever you are!

THIS IS A ROYAL BLOOD APPRECIATION POST.

I went to see the band at the Institute in Birmingham on Tuesday night and they were incredible. Just, SO much fun. And flawless live.

I have a fairly broad taste in music – old stuff, new stuff, pop, rock, indie, dance. During the day it’s generally “indie” stuff – I hate that word but you know what I mean, Arctic Monkeys, The Killers, The 1975 and the like – and some pop thrown in, like Taylor Swift (my love) or Charli XCX. And before a night out I listen to remixes and dancey stuff. Generally I flick between Radio 1 and XFM in my radio station choices, and who I listen to varies greatly with mood and setting. Anyway, I digress. Basically Royal Blood are a little on the rockier end of the spectrum but I love that because I let loose and feel like a teenager again; I used to be into American pop punky stuff like Blink 182 and Paramore, and although Royal Blood are nothing like that they still have the crowd with a desire to mosh or jump about and generally go crazy, screaming every word, but in an aggressive yet non-threatening way. And I like that.

With only one album coming in at 33 minutes according to my iTunes, I wondered how Royal Blood would fill a headline slot. The pair came onto Jay-Z’s ’99 Problems’ – very badass. They played the entire album as far as I’m aware, with 2 or so songs I didn’t know – perhaps old demos or EP tracks. Because every song on their debut album is a banger – no ballads, no interludes, everything is rock and power and has an insanely catchy hook. I don’t know how they do it. But this meant people would get excited every time every new song started. There were no gaps or awkward attempts to converse with the audience save a few sentences here and there. The duo are insanely talented; just two of them onstage, Ben Thatcher plays drums and Mike Kerr (arguably eye candy, although I do have a thing for boys in bands, another leftover from my teenage years) is on vocals (flawless throughout the set, his voice strong yet husky in every song) and bass. According to my brother, his bass guitar doubles as a normal guitar, but I don’t know enough about these things so don’t take my word for it. The two of them manage to fill the stage, and the entire venue, with their noise and their presence.

The crowd was different to most others I’d ever experienced, and this is coming from someone who’s been to two different huge music festivals. There were the black-clad tattooed punky looking groups, normal-looking teenagers, those who looked like someone’s parents who just wondered into the wrong room. It shows how diverse a fanbase they have; the crowd was of all ages, me being one of the youngest bar a few groups of teenagers, right up to a grey-haired mum-type (comparisons were drawn to Judy Murray?) literally in the middle of the most pit having the time of her life – definitely a hero. There was the inevitable male-dominated moshing around the middle which I tend to stand as close as possible to without actually getting involved for fear of losing an eye to a stray elbow. I bruise easily enough as it is. But where I stood, almost right at the front but to the side, was the perfect mix of the crowd going crazy, jumping around and singing along at their top of their lungs without causing any injuries. Ideal!

They ended with ‘Out of the Black’ which is possibly my favourite at the mo, and clearly a crowd favourite. We went wild, shoes were lost, sweat was sweated. We were genuinely lucky to get to see them in such an intimate venue early on in their career – these boys will be headlining stadiums pretty soon, mark my words.

P.S. – Check out their live lounge cover of Pharrell’s ‘Happy’ – I literally hate this song as I find it creepy, flat and very annoying. They managed to make it cool.

Last week Radio 1 and BBC Three did something new – curated by Zane Lowe, they re-scored the entire soundtrack to Nicolas Winding Refn’s 2011 film Drive and showed it on tv, original film and dialogue intact, only with completely new music. This excited me for two reason: firstly, I saw this advertised by The 1975 who are one of my favourite bands (you may have realised this from previous posts) as they created an original song for the new score, and secondly because I adore Drive because it encapsulates everything I love about cinematography.

Now, in terms of the film itself, I can understand why some might find it uninteresting. Ryan Gosling not saying much, Carey Mulligan not saying much, an hour or so of not much happening then some crazy gratuitous violence. But what I love about it is it is essentially style over substance and that can definitely be a good thing. Not to degrade the substance; I think the minimalistic, moody acting styles of the two main actors are spot on and you could see it as a satire of Hollywood, the movie industry in general, or just a really doomed love story. But essentially, and a quote on the front of my DVD case sums it up nicely as ‘the most stylish film in years’, you’re not watching it for a deep, thoughtful narrative or complex plot full of twists and turns. You’re watching it because, like me, you appreciate the aesthetics of a highly stylised film. And perhaps also Ryan Gosling’s face.

Ryan is the brooding, stony-faced stunt car driver with an extra nighttime job on the side – no spoilers here as it pretty much explains this in the first minute of the film. You hire him as your getaway driver, for 5 minutes and 5 minutes only he’s yours, and if you’re not back in the car after that then you’ve missed your chance and he’s outta there. Because of his crazy driving skills he seems to get away with this every time. This is until he meets the girl next door – except with a young son and a husband in prison. Not so boy-meets-girl. And when he’s with her, that Gosling smile makes a rare appearance and suddenly all the 20-something girls watching the film (me included) melt back into The Notebook mode as if Noah is right next to us declaring his love for us. If you’re a bird, I’m a bird, right?

Anyway, what I love about the cinematography is that every. single. shot. is. PERFECT. No exaggeration; it’s all so perfectly framed and deliberate and beautiful. And whoever did the colour grading is my hero; there’s this one scene in the supermarket where the characters are just entirely surrounded by this rainbow of luridly coloured branded objects and it’s just too bright and too colourful which is, of course, the intention. Ryan’s character (does he have a name? Pretty sure he’s only ever referred to as The Driver!) in his all black outfit and always black mood just looks absurd carrying this little red basket surrounded by all this stuff you could never imagine him wanting.

Although Only God Forgives is extremely similar in style, right up to Gosling’s casting, the reason why I didn’t enjoy it as much was it felt like 100% style and 0% substance. Also, the violence was just TOO much for me. Like an even more extreme Drive without any kind of characterisation. Again I appreciated the cinematography but I’m in no rush to watch it again anytime soon, despite all the pretty pink lights.

Anyway, back to Drive, and more specifically the new BBC version. In all honesty, I haven’t seen the normal version in a few years so couldn’t compare much and I was so involved in enjoying the film’s beauty that I often forgot about the music. Except for when recognisable voices popped out – CHVRCHES, Bastille, and that 1975 song I’d already downloaded (keen) were moments I felt worked well within the narrative, although at times a little jarring against the smoothness of the film. It was the pieces of music that were instrumental and atmospheric that I felt worked the best in that they weren’t as noticeable and therefore could have been a part of the original soundtrack. It would be interesting to watch both side by side and compare how the music works with the visuals, and that would actually be a great essay for me to write, but alas my Film Aesthetics module essay questions have already been set and are largely about silent films I would never ever choose to watch. Oh well, that’s the price you pay for actually wanting to study something you enjoy. No Ryan-Gosling-based essays for me this year.

To summarise, if you appreciate beautiful films, watch Drive. If you were thinking of watching it just to appreciate Ryan’s face, maybe this isn’t the one for you, especially as it’s in shadow or splattered with blood for 70% of the film. And in my opinion, the music will always take a backseat to the visuals for this film, but anyone who is particularly into movie music I’m sure will disagree – other opinions are very welcome!

The film is on iPlayer till next week for UK residents but the various other material including live versions of the songs and interviews may stay for longer if you’re interested

Don’t get me wrong, I love University, but it TAKES UP A LOT OF TIME. So to avoid actually having to think of things to write, I decided I should also use this blog as a showcase of my media work as well as just writing (if you can call it writing). The other day I made a movie-trailer-style video to promote an event at my uni called Zombie Run, always in time for Halloween and always a great laugh. I’m part of Warwick Sport’s Student Committee as Marketing Co ordinator so this was something I volunteered to do out of that. I used a trial of Adobe Premiere Pro (not my first – oops, don’t tell Mr Adobe) as I am a poor poor student who cannot afford Creative Suite myself. I learnt to use the software during A-Level Media Studies at school, and whilst I’ve forgotten 90% of what I learnt at school, somehow I managed to keep hold of the basics of how to use Premiere. So here’s my amateur-ish video – considering I made it in about 2 days between lectures I think it’s decent

Music – Royal Blood, Out of the Black (side note: I’m seeing them in Birmingham next Tuesday so it felt appropriate!)

First, a celebration – I finally have wifi in my house, woooo! Any student will know that the first 2 or 3 weeks of term are hectic. I have new modules, new responsibilities, a new house, cheerleading tryouts, and of course the inevitable freshers’ flu, which I am renaming finalists’ flu in honour of my 3rd year (original, right). Going out last night definitely wasn’t great for my cold (who knew?) and I woke up this morning with absolutely no voice – fab.

Today, since I have nothing much to review or talk about in particular but just felt it was about time for a post, I’m going to do another “lady crush” post (cringey but I don’t know what else to call it and girl crush is even worse? Also, Mindy Lahiri, to reference the title quote of this post, if I wrote about my crush it would be someone I fancy rather than admire and want to be like, you know, like Douglas Booth), this time about Mindy Kaling.

I recently finished Mindy’s hilarious autobiography/book of musings, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?. I couldn’t resist it as a bit of light reading amongst all my endless literature module novels, since I adore The Mindy Project and follow Mindy religiously on twitter and instagram, basically because she’s so funny and I just want to feel like I’m her friend. I don’t care if that’s sad. LOVE ME MINDY.

One episode in particular stood out for me as my fave. Before, I should probably explain how the book is set up – sections, from memory as the book is metres away and I’m comfy in bed right now, range from childhood to New York to the writers’ life, with sub sections such as dating and body issues and friends, and the like. It makes for easy reading and means it has the perfect stop points to go make tea, check Facebook, etc., which are essential in life nowadays. Brb, gotta go check my Facebook messages*. Anyway, I digress. One of my top bits was called something like – ‘guys, why do you take so long to put your shoes on?’ and the entire section was just a description of how a guy says goodbye, or tells you he’s ready, then proceeds to sit down and spend ten minutes tying his shoe laces. This is literally my boyfriend. I told him and he agreed. SO on it once again, Mindy. This is why you are my queen.

One of the things I love about Mindy, something thematic throughout the entire book, is her ability to take the mick out of herself and be so humble yet also so self-confident at the same time. Like, what woman wouldn’t want to be like that? As well as the ridiculous anecdotes that make up the book, it’s this personality that’s what I like most about her tone – whether it’s all completely real or not is impossible to tell but I like to think it is. In The Mindy Show, her character is girly and sometimes shallow but in a totally honest way and the fact that she’s so confident, and of course a doctor, makes her much more than the romcom-referencing chirpy girl’s girl with a leaked sex tape (sometimes the storylines are a little out there, I admit). Like, sometimes I say dumb things and am overly concerned about my appearance but I got really good grades and I go to a good University and will hopefully have a somewhat respected career one day… Mindy is me**, Mindy is girls like me everywhere! You see???

And in case you didn’t get the hint, Mindy Kaling – call me. Anytime. We’ll go out and have a great time. Please?

*I had none.

**Except funny.

Hello hello, the reason I’ve been so awol is because, as a student, stupid annoying things happen to you every time you move into a new house or halls, and this time it’s the dreaded lack of WiFi. Yep, Virgin Media screwed us over by first offering us a loyal customer discount – we had no issues with them last year – then days later saying sorry, we got your address wrong, there are no cables in your house so you’ll have to wait until next week, then the next week, when we had all moved in and started university, saying sorry actually we can’t install virgin broadband at your house at all, lolz, you’ll have to go with sky or BT who are really too slow for 5 people all spending lots of time multi-tasking on laptops and offer no student time period so you’ll have to pay for a year when you’re only going to be living here for 9 months. Phew! Brilliant!

So here I am, sitting on campus for hours like a loser cramming for exams in term 3 except it’s only day 4 of the entire year. It’s the only place I can get work done – both dissertation work and my job, interning for The Picnic Project – because, yep, in 2014 you need WiFi for everything. Even my phone’s 3G allowance is almost run out for this month, cry cry.

So to conclude this brief and uninteresting post, yes I am back at uni, in my final year now eeeek, so will probably be blogging less frequently than during the summer, however I will still be blogging – as soon as I get WiFi, that is.

Toodles!

Here’s a photo of my cute new room in our sad wifi-less student house, because this post was dull enough so I thought you at least deserved a photo to brighten it up a tad.

Throwback time: well, kind of, since Friends is still shown all day every day on Comedy Central, and hopefully it will stay this way for the rest of my life. Yeah, so I love Friends. Like many people. To celebrate its 20th anniversary there’s been a lot of posts knocking around about Friends recently (see Buzzfeed figure A, figure B, figure C) which got me thinking about why I love it so much and why I can continue to watch episodes over and over. Part of it’s nostalgia – even though the first episode I ever watched happened to be the last ever one, as I was 9 at the time it aired, I used to come home from school every day and watch a double bill on E4 at 5pm throughout pretty much the whole of secondary school. There’s something about being home from uni (where I have no TV and therefore watch no Friends as it’s not the kind of thing I search for to watch online, I only watch it if it happens to be on) and lounging back on the sofa and watching Friends on the big TV in the living room, just like I did throughout the whole of my teenage years.

There are of course others reasons. Who can deny the insanely brilliant characters? The sheer ridiculousness of Joey trying to speak French. The way that Phoebe goes to the airport to try and catch an aeroplane unattended so she can learn to fly. Ross’s overreaction to that sandwich. Rachel telling Joey her boss wants to buy her baby just so they have something to talk about. Chandler trying to break into the world of advertising. Monica telling everyone to put the lids back on the pens when they’re not in use.

The storylines are also brilliant. That longing for Ross and Rachel to get together and STAY TOGETHER. When Mike comes back for Phoebe and finally proposes. The monkey. The chick and the duck. Joey’s plays. It’s all too much! I want to go watch it all over again!

But what I’ve discovered is really so much of the appeal for me is the aspirational element. I know so many have pointed out how unrealistic it all is – these people with these jobs can miraculously afford such nice apartments in the centre of Manhattan (an out of work actor? A masseuse?!), the fact that they can wander into Central Perk and everyone else happens to be there and there happens to be a seat for them? Of course it would never happen. But just imagine if it could! I totally love the idea of having such a tight knit group of friends who are there for me throughout my whole adult life, whether I meet some of them in school, at uni or afterwards. The way they tell each other everything, and every time they come home for work they’re there with a mug of coffee for them, or hanging out in Monica’s apartment for a gossip. The way they live in this incredible city in these cute flats, just across the hall from one another. The way they all end up in their dream jobs, or at least doing something that they love. And of course there’s the fairytale happy ending (something that, ahem, How I Met Your Mother foolishly decided NOT to give its audience) where she gets off the plane and Monica and Chandler get their baby and it’s the end of an era but what an era it’s been. And I think everyone wants that really! Even the theme tune! Can that be the theme tune to my life? Can I have these friends? I guess I’ll get back to you in ten years’ time…

For my birthday my lovely housemates treated me to two tickets to a Rooftop Film Club event of my choice. Running for the whole of summer and beyond, the company shows films old and new on four different rooftop locations across London. After browsing through the listings, one was simply perfect – Casablanca, one of my all time favourite films, in Shoreditch which is the most convenient location for me and on the Tuesday night after I returned from Paris.

Beforehand, as my boyfriend isn’t from London, we wandered around Brick Lane, stopping at awesome record shop Rough Trade East before grabbing a curry at one of Brick Lane’s famous curry houses. The film was showing at Queen of Hoxton nearby, so we got there at around 7.30pm and had a couple of drinks – my cocktail, Don’t Go to Dalston, was delish and very drinkable. Not as drinkable as it would’ve been if it cost less than £7.90 but hey, it’s Shoreditch. The bar downstairs is compact with a bit of difference to most with a ping pong table and photobooth inside. Despite being relatively empty, we headed up to the rooftop and could barely find a seat. Full of early filmgoers like us and Liverpool Street workers catching after work drinks, the fairy lights and whimsical decorations made it a really charming, warm place to be. The smell of their rooftop barbecue also helped!

When it came to setting up the film, things were a little unorganised – despite being scheduled to start at 9, they were still setting up chairs 10 minutes after that, but apart from this it was well organised. We queued to exchange our printed tickets for wireless headphones – no problems with them – before buying two boxes of popcorn for £5, way cheaper than standard cinema price! You could also sit with drinks purchased from the bar. Boxes were filled with complimentary blankets which, after a while, you definitely needed. I started to get a bit fidgety after an hour or so as I was so cold even in my big woolly jumper and blanket, but there’s not much they could do about that. The size of the rooftop a screen made it intimate and the overall experience made it extra special compared to watching a dvd at home – I’d seen Casablanca a few times before but this was definitely worth it. Watching the film, black and white with all those famous lines, on a rooftop at night, surrounded by fairy lights, cuddled under a blanket with my boyfriend next to me was cosily romantic and the perfect way to end two weeks of 21st birthday celebrations.

Here’s looking at you, kid!

Rooftop Film Club runs until the end of September in most locations. Upcoming films include:

Stratford – Clueless, Frozen, Grease and Romeo & Juliet

Peckham – Grand Budapest Hotel, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Dirty Dancing

Kensington – Top Gun and Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Shoreditch – Bridget Jones’s Diary and Manhattan

I’m sick of apologising for being rubbish at posting but I’ve had a whirlwind two weeks since  my birthday with celebrations then the small fact of going to Disneyland Paris with my boyfriend! I was literally so excited about this for months and months it was honestly such an incredible week. We stayed on the edge of the park which I recommend as you can take a free shuttle bus to the park which is 5 minutes away, and the hotels that aren’t actually run by Disney are a lot cheaper – you need to go all out to be able to afford one of the official ones. Mine was out of our price range normally but we managed to get an offer online for anyone interested – Kyriad Hotel, lovely rooms, free wifi, cheap buffet breakfast, and when we were told we were given two single beds as there were no doubles left the receptionist could sense our annoyance and did some fiddling before telling us that she might get in trouble for this but that she’d fixed us a double bed – now that’s service!

We spent 3 days at the park – two in the main and one in Walt Disney Studios, and a full day plus the two half days of travelling in Paris centre itself. This was exactly right in my opinion. The queues were almost non-existent at the main park and we got tons done the first day, although it did get busier on the Friday. The Studios, for some reason, were packed and we had to
queue for around an hour for more than one of the rides, probably because it’s much smaller and more condensed with nowhere near as many attractions. These were weekdays in September – God forbid we should go during the summer holidays or – gasp – on a weekend as it would most likely be hell on earth (Disneyland for some people at the best of times). We acted like big kids and had the best time – visitors were mainly families with young kids (most older kids and teens would be in school at this time of year which was fab) and couples in their 20s, like us. My fave rides were the Haunted Mansion, Tower of Terror and Space Mountain – it’s a classic for a reason! Not gonna lie, I absolutely loved the Buzz Lightyear ride were you go round shooting targets to get points on a screen in front of your seat – think Disney meets Laserquest! Also, as a bonus the weather was LUSH, around 25C all week. We spent a huge amount on food obviously but most of it was decent.

Sounds cheesy but the atmosphere at Disneyland is pretty magical. We kept noticing how really it was all in the details – everywhere you look everything is themed, perfect, neat and it’s as if they care so much, compared to somewhere like Thorpe Park where it’s obviously just ride, ride, restaurant, ride, and not much in between. For example, the queue for the new Ratatouille ride (which is NOT TO BE MISSED – 3D at its finest, seriously!) featured a whole Parisian rooftop scene decorated around the room, much of which a lot of people wouldn’t so much as glance at, but it’s all there in fine detail. You really can tell where your money is going! (I paid £129 for 4 days for the price of 3 which is decent in my opinion).

One of my highlights was the nighttime show which we left for our final night, the Friday. The parade at 5.30pm each day is meh unless you’re a very small kid, but the night show really is spectacular. It goes on for half an hour or so, featuring incredible lights, fireworks, music and use of smoke and projections to show so many different movie scenes projected onto the iconic castle. In the dark, in the so-called city of romance, it was a truly perfect way to spend our last night. I’m particularly proud of this instagram shot I took at the climax of the show.

We did a super compressed tour around Paris itself in the short time we had, featuring all the classics – the Louvre, Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, etc. Plus two football stadiums for the boyf, one of which almost ended in disaster as we couldn’t get out of the train station, having used the wrong tickets (blame stupid foreigner confusion). Most stations allow you to simply exit without inserting a ticket, but here you had to put in your ticket. And then the gates didn’t open. And then there was no-one working there. And then we realised we couldn’t even go back into Paris as that required exiting the station to get onto another platform. In the end, after trying to explain our problem to some other confused people who seemed stuck but couldn’t really talk any English, some kind soul put his ticket in, then turned back around and didn’t leave, allowing us to bundle through and leave to purchase the CORRECT ticket for the way back into Paris. I don’t know what he was trying to do but thank you kind sir for saving our day!

A highlight for me was visiting Shakespeare and Company, an English bookshop expatriates used to hang out with in the 1920s including a Mr Ernest Hemingway. It’s packed with endless books, old and new, and is a must for an literary fan. I got a used copy of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road in hardback for 8 euros which I have wanted to read for a while. We had a fantastic French meal one night near the Eiffel Tower, snails and all, before heading back to the tower to see it at night which was GLORIOUS. Definitely worth staying out for!

Overall, Paris was everything I wished for and more. And what better way to celebrate your 21st, your descent into adulthood, by spending three days with screaming toddlers going on Disney rides? My idea of heaven!

Sorry I haven’t posted in a week or so, I’ve been pretty busy – having my 21st birthday!!!! Ouch, I know, I’m old. But hey – I got a MacBook Pro! Here I am writing my very first post on it

So my birthday was yesterday, and I chose to go to Sushi Samba restaurant in London in the evening with my family and boyfriend, who stayed at mine for a few days (he lives up north). The restaurant, if you’re unfamiliar, is at the top of Heron Tower, the third tallest in London. As you can imagine, the views were incredible, and as you’re dining you can see all the way out across North and East London, from the Olympic Park to Wembley and beyond. The lift itself up into the restaurant is an experience. You are greeted at the bottom by a bouncer who checks you have a reservation before opening the rope and allowing you inside to the lift, where you press the button for the 28th floor. You fly up, watching London get smaller and smaller beneath you. Admittedly my stomach dropped on the way down – not quite tower of terror but you catch my drift!

The restaurant itself is next to an outdoor bar with a huge tree that lights up in spectacular orange when the sun goes down. We were greeted by super friendly waiters, who may have become a nuisance at other restaurants but because we had lots of questions about ingredients and the like it was very useful. Naturally many of the dishes had Japanese names and we were unsure of a lot of what was in them – we’re all pretty adventurous and kind of picked 3 dishes each at random, as we were recommended that everything is designed to be shared. This was after receiving our gorgeous cocktails – mine was served tall and tasted like mango juice – which were so big they almost felt worth the £13 price tag. 

Once the food arrived – most dishes coming at different times, like in Wagamama or somewhere else similar – we were overwhelmed by the beauty and colours in the dishes, which I what I come to expect from sushi. As well as classic sashimi and roll dishes, we ordered a mushroom-stew type dish, one that was like a huge red curry full of seafood (the sauce was DIVINE, no exaggeration), some vegetable tempura, and much more I can’t remember. Despite me and my mum not eating red meat so not even trying the boys’ beef dishes, we had so much to choose from and the flavours were exquisite. I was super full by the end, having had exactly the right amount of food for a meal out. However, I couldn’t resist ordering dessert – it was my birthday, after all! And it was lucky I did because when my assorted mochi with ice-cream turned up, instead of being in a rectangle box filled with ice like the others, it was on a special plate with a candle and chocolate birthday message just for me. Talk about being spoiled!

Now, the food was very expensive – I didn’t dare look at the bill – but for a special occasion I couldn’t have asked for anything more from my meal. The tastiness and beauty of the food almost made us forget about the price, and the views, lovely ambience and knowledgeable waiters made it all the more worthwhile. I highly recommend it for anyone who has a big birthday or celebration coming up – families, couples, whoever your group (though there might not be too much for little kids unless they have a taste for raw fish!). It was also a great excuse to get dressed up. I’m literally dreaming of that green rice in the gorgeous creamy, red coconut sauce right now in my mind… anyway, I have more to look forward to this weekend when I go out to Camden with my friends for shots and lots of well-earned dancing. Bring it on! I love birthdays,

Trust me when I say this: your next tv show binge should be Masters of Sex. Last night I finished season 1 and was straight onto 4od for season 2 (More4 are currently making its way through the series on UK TV).

At first I wasn’t sure it would be for me – it seemed slow, serious, and this may sound narrow-minded but I tend to watch shows focused on twenty-somethings. After thinking the trailer looked decent, and different, I watched the pilot and was hooked. Despite being just shy of an hour, each episode packs so much content that it often feels like you’ve been watching for much longer – in a good way, not because it’s dragging.

The characters are interesting and you’re never sure who you’re supposed to like, as their collective imperfections mean they make decisions we often disagree with. Masters at times is himself fairly detestable but, largely due to Michael Sheen’s genius, you’re drawn to him like the characters in the show are. Virginia (the stunning and mesmerising Lizzy Caplan of Mean Girls fame) is the intelligent and admirable young woman we all wish we could emulate a little more in the workplace, but she does make some, ahem, questionable decisions. Even Ethan, the handsome junior doctor (remember West from Heroes?) with his puppy dog eyes and dedication to the woman he loves has an angry, abusive side that it’d be easy to forget about. 

If you’re unfamiliar with the plot itself, it’s based around a real-life study in 1950s Missouri pioneered by Dr Masters and his assistant Virginia Johnson into the unexplored world of sex. It may be hard to imagine a world before Cosmo but at the time people knew little to nothing about sex and the body during it. A couple in the show, married adults, are hilariously unaware that sleeping together doesn’t actually just mean, well, sleeping together. The study has to take place in secret in a sealed room at the hospital where Masters works due to its nature – the team literally watch people having intercourse right in front of them, something unheard of at the time.

Beyond the scientific side, it’s the sexual tension between the two protagonists that really holds the show together. Bill Masters is married, yet does not seem to want a child with his wife, and even at the end of the series it isn’t completely clear why. Virginia is divorced, yet has complicated relationships with her ex and with doctor Ethan. Every episode you’re constantly thinking – will they? Won’t they? And I won’t give anything away, but even from the pilot trailers you can safely assume that at some point they definitely will.

Recently I’d been hearing a lot about a new novel from Haruki Murakami, and as a Literature student I wondered why his name was familiar but not household. I decided I’d find out more about his books and, after a bit of Amazon browsing, downloaded Norwegian Wood to my Kindle as it was one of the most popular and didn’t seem too long. I started it on a lonely train ride to Birmingham and was a quarter of the way through by the time I arrived, only stopping as we were pulling into New Street station. 

I had become so absorbed into the life of this character, Watanabe, and his story. At first it isn’t much of a story – he is an introverted, average college student with very few friends. The whole book is written as a nostalgic flashback of sorts, and soon there are revealing flashbacks into Watanabe’s earlier life within the story, such as the fairly casual admittance that his best friend at school killed himself aged 17 for no apparent reason and without warning. Despite being set in the 1960s, his life in Tokyo feels relatably modern as he struggles to connect with other people his age, find a girlfriend he truly cares for, get along with his oddball roommate and find motivation to work hard at his studies. Despite such common themes, Watanabe does not feel like a normal person, and although at times very relatable, it is clear he is a definite outsider and often it feels as if there is no hope for him, the novel sometimes very downbeat indeed. 

Soon he bumps into his deceased best friend’s girlfriend, who at first seems could be the girl of his dreams to lift him out of his downwards spiral (or perhaps it’s more of an endless stasis?) but soon it becomes apparent that she is much more than this and has troubles far deeper than Watanabe can even begin to comprehend. With the story told entirely from Watanabe’s point of view, with the lives of other characters coming purely from long monologues where their pasts are explained to our protagonist, it feels deliberate that all the other characters can never been fully understood by the reader, much as it is near impossible to truly understand how the mind of another person that is not ourselves works in real life. 

Although it is a sad, moving novel, there are also very pleasing moments and the, albeit rare, odd moments of hope. Perhaps nostalgic isn’t the best word for it, as it doesn’t seem as if Watanabe’s college life was really much to put on a pedestal as he flips between complete loneliness and adoring obsession. The nostalgic moments are those rose-tinted times of romance between Watanabe and Naoko, the dead friend’s doomed girlfriend, and it’s not a spoiler to point out that their relationship ends up being far from perfect.

I honestly can’t wait until I have time to read another of Murakami’s books, and will probably be asking for his latest for Christmas. Apparently this book is one that everybody in Japan has read, and although Murakami is clearly well-known over here, I don’t think this is yet perceived as a classic that you just have to have read. It should be.

As promised, here’s part 2 of my blog about my favourite aspects of my degree this year, this time counting down the top 5 course films I studied this year! I did two modules, National Cinema and Hollywood Cinema, and due to my love for many of the selected Hollywood films none of the Italian films I studied made the list and only one Japanese film did, even though I did hugely enjoy that section. This is not including My Neighbour Totoro as I had seen (and adored) it before this year so I’m only including films new to me, like with the literature in part 1. Weirdly, this list is also in time order – unintentional! Here goes…

5. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

This is a very long, pretty weepy but oh so uplifting film old school Hollywood film about a group of returning war veterans who make friends on their journey home after discovering they’re all from the same town. It follows each of their re-adaptations back into daily life, with their families, friends and jobs. I, of course, got a bit teary at the reunions with their families near the start and found myself emotionally hooked from then on. Especially moving is the story of a man whose hands were both burnt off during the war, and he and his fiancee struggle to move on as if nothing has happened and get used to his prosthetics. Cheesy at times but seminal at the time in America and still poignant now.

4. Face of Another (1966)

This disturbing Japanese Sci-FI Drama follows a man whose face was severely disfigured due to a chemical accident at work. He spends his days with a white bandage covering his entire head, refusing to reveal the scars underneath, until he meets an enterprising doctor who offers to create him a mask – from the face of another man – he can wear as an experiment. This, of course, transforms him but outwards and inwards into a different person as he begins to live a double life, retreating from society and trying to seduce his own wife who no longer feels attracted to the man underneath. Strange, chilling and downright terrifying at times, it predictably gets more bizarre as it goes on,

3. Back to the Future (1985)

Obviously a classic yet, embarrassingly, I had never seen the film until this year. Not surprisingly I loved it and the abundance of hilarious pop culture and film references that come with it. I don’t need to say much about it except this is a film that it really does help to delve deeper into and study, as although it seems like a silly bunch of laughs on the surface is actually packed full of easter eggs and extremely clever in-jokes – the internet is a mine of information on it.

2. Boogie Nights (1997)

We spend half a term focusing closely on one Hollywood director, and this year it was Paul Thomas Anderson. A director whose name I had heard but knew little about beforehand, same with his films, he is now a firm favourite of mine. I enjoyed Boogie Nights a ridiculous amount, finding it both hilarious and very moving, which you might not expect from a tongue-in-cheek nostalgia-filled movie about pornstars. But really it’s about a lost boy with no role models and no family who gets too rich and too famous too fast which is all to realistic in the modern day celebrity culture. And Mark Wahlberg is GREAT in it which helps.

1. There Will Be Blood (2007)

Totally not the kind of film I thought I would like – I assumed it was a Western, action-based, very lengthy. I left the screening IN AWE. I can’t exactly explain why I loved it so much. Some of my favourite things: the epic, wordless opening sequence where Plainview’s backstory is explained in like, 20 minutes. The insane ending – which has polarised viewers – but which I thought was hilariously fitting. The crazy milkshake speech. Its comments on capitalism, religion and war. The power of the oil rig explosion. Daniel Day Lewis’s flawless acting, of course. And the way that a lot of it doesn’t make sense. This film just resonated with me and I advise you to watch it on a big screen if at all possible – it’s SO worth it.

Sorry for the cringey title, I cannot resist a pun.

This is just a post to say I made a gross mistake in my last post, my top 5 course books of the year, by forgetting to include the incredible Maus by Art Spigelman. I wrote an essay on it in relation to guilt and I actually kind of enjoyed it, which proves how great a book it is.

Like Building Stories, it is also a graphic novel, this time in several volumes, all black and white. It is sad, funny and tragic. In a nutshell, it documents the life of an American Jew, largely believed to be the author/artist Art himself, born in postwar USA to parents who experienced the Holocaust firsthand, his grumpy old father now his only surviving parent. His father often fits what Art describes as the stereotypical miserly old Jew, yet as Art delves into the extraordinary story of his life through the war, getting sent to endless concentration camps, hiding out in unimaginable conditions, and slowly losing everyone he loves. As my essay somewhat explained, it explores both survivor guilt, that of Art and his fellow Jewish Holocaust survivors, as well as Art’s guilt; he feels responsible for his mother’s death and that second-generation guilt passed down by the parents who experienced conditions they themselves could scarcely imagine.

It really is a harrowing look into the Second World War, yet what makes it special is the author/artist’s decision to draw all the human characters as animals. Art and his family are mice, other nationalities and cultures are pigs and dogs, yet their speech and experiences make them feel 100% human. It’s an incredibly moving story and offers insight into the many different perspectives in the postwar US family dynamic, as Art’s father sometimes wishes he did not survive the war, and Art himself wishes on some level that he experienced the war himself as he feels inadequate compared to his father. Graphic novel lovers and normal readers, like me, alike will find themselves sucked deep into a story that is a lot more truthful than some documentaries I’ve seen, regardless of cartoons and mouse-faces.

Thought I’d do something a little different today – as I study Film and Literature at uni, I obviously get to read and see a lot that I wouldn’t normally have chosen myself. So I thought I’d do a two-parter based on my second year at uni, part one being My Top 5 Course Books of the Year. I did 2 English modules this year: States of Damage (21st Century US Writing and Culture) and 20th Century North American Literature. So I read a lot of American books from the past 100 years, basically. This list excludes two I had already read and were already two of my favourite, The Great Gatsby and On The Road, as there were too many otherwise. Here are my top 5!

5. Angels in America – Tony Kushner

This is a play which got a star-studded adaptation on HBO a while back. Set in the 1980s AIDs epidemic in America it explores gay men and their relationships with one another, their wives, spirituality and religion. Some characters are easy to despise, some we’re not sure whether to love or hate, and they’re all extremely complex. As is the appearance of a huge angel who visits the characters in hospital. Extremely heart-breaking stuff.

4. White Noise – Don DeLillo

This is a long book on first glance but it’s so readable you’ll hardly notice. It’s a postmodern novel, full of technology, advertisements and memory confusion. It’s set in a college town in America where the residents experience a disaster called the ‘Airborne Toxic Event’ (yes, the band got their name from this book!) which leaves them potentially exposed to radiation. This only happens about halfway through, however, and the rest is a witty look into the suburban life of Jack, a college professor of ‘Hitler studies’ and his wife, both of whom are terrified of dying. Sounds strange but it’s brilliantly written.

3.The Sun Also Rises – Ernest Hemingway

I’m sorry to say I had never read any Hemingway before this year – poor English student, I know! I fell in love with this novel though, and his modernist writing style, and the loneliness and emasculation of the protagonist, Jake. Some of the lines I would highlight and read over and over again – ‘Isn’t it pretty to think so?’ ‘I mistrust all frank and simple people, especially when their stories hold together.’ I’ve even decided to go to Shakespeare and Company, the bookshop in Paris where the lost generation used to hang out, when I go on holiday next month. Anyway, this is a hell of dull talk…How about some of that champagne?

2. Pastoralia – George Saunders

This is a book I wish I’d known about sooner as it’s right up my street. Short stories, each with a different topic in mind, often satirical. The title story, the longest, is about two people who work in a caveman theme park and have to stick in role 24/7 to the extent that they are not allowed to speak English and are fed meat through a hole. Another, Sea Oak, is about a grandma who dies and comes back to life as a tough-talking, potty-mouthed rotting zombie who attempts to kick her surviving family’s pathetic lives into shape. It’s insane but there’s a lot to be learnt underneath all the craziness and so easy to read you really have no excuse.

1. Building Stories – Chris Ware 

It was really tricky to pick my favourite but I’ve put this as number one because of it’s surprise factor and the immersion I felt from it. The least conventional here, it’s not actually a book but more a collection of pamphlets and short books that make up a giant graphic novel, almost an epic in my opinion. There are many interweaving stories and no specific order to read it in, but all are based around the inner lives of the residents of a tower block. One character, a nameless woman with an artificial leg, features in most of the sections and soon we become so interested in her life it’s as if we’ve grown up with her, from her abandoned passions as an artist to her despair that no-one will ever love her. It’s funny at times but always moving and often very sad. I was overwhelmed by its sheer size at first but found once I dove in it was difficult to stop reading. A true work of art as well as literature.

Syllabuses compiled by The University of Warwick English department, 2013-2014

I’d heard that the recent Channel 4 doc The Secret Life of Students was exaggerated and made students look bad. I also read that it was pretty normal and therefore not very exciting tv at all. So I finally got round to watching it as, as a student at a British university myself, I hoped I could tell whether it painted students in a negative light or whether, really, that’s just how young people are.

I actually thought it was quite a genuine and often moving show. They picked students who were quite varied, from the girl who’s almost literally scared of other people to the self-proclaimed ladies man to the 21-year-old single mum. These characters also all faced struggles, which is what you might expect from a documentary. In the first episode there was a girl who had tons of friends back home and seemed really confident, but behind closed doors she was actually so self-conscious that she was afraid for her new flatmates to ever see her without makeup and she worried that her new friends might not like her at all. The show’s self-proclaimed groundbreaking feature was that it showed onscreen every text, whatsapp, facebook message and even google search the kids made – you’d NEVER get me to agree to that but hey, it made it more realistic as you can never really tell what someone our age is really feeling unless you are able to see into our phones, an integral part of our day-to-day existence. It was interesting how rumours and gossip spread like wildfire via their group whatsapp thread, something that never really happened within my first year halls but definitely happens amongst me and my group of best friends from school. Like the students say, it really is a way of having instant access to those you miss most, and without my school friends in my pocket throughout uni I would have felt a lot lonelier than I did.

Romantic relationships were also an important part of the freshers’ experiences and many were all too familiar to me. Some might think that they had chosen extreme situations for better tv but actually almost all the relationships onscreen occured in my first year halls, and we were a pretty average group, not particularly wild or even particularly sociable. There was the guy who had a girlfriend back home then cheated and got with someone else from the flat – check. There was the girl who visited her boyfriend back home pretty much every weekend – check. There was the girl who had a one night stand then regretted it in the morning – OBVIOUSLY check. The new couple who flirted for a while and eventually became official, showing onscreen as Facebook official on November 1st, might make a few look again in shock – all of this happened in a month?! All this felt like it must have been going on all year yet they’ve only known each other about 4 weeks?! This was the moment I blushed a little as, looking back, I met my now-boyfriend on the 2nd day of uni, we got really close really fast as we lived in the same block, and were Facebook official by… 31st October. Honestly, when you live together and you’re in a completely new environment, a month can really feel like a year! And hey, we’re still together now at the end of 2nd year, so I have my fingers crossed for that couple.

Aiden is also an interesting one as you immediately dislike him because of his arrogance and attitude towards women, yet a few episodes in you find him almost in tears because his mother is selling his family home. That’s the thing with people – we are all people! Although he went back down in my estimation when yesterday I tweeted about the show, not even mentioning Aiden’s name let alone tagging his username, and within about an hour he’d favourited the tweet. He obviously is having a productive summer.

Overall I really found myself moved at times, whether it was over a girl’s dedication to her boyfriend back home who had a serious heart condition and her serious dilemma over whether to drop out of uni to be closer to him or not, or Hassan’s mother who spoils him rotten and treats him like a child mainly because she was to ill to look after him for the first six years of his life. So maybe it wasn’t as scandalous as Sun, Sex and Suspicious Parents but I don’t think it painted students in a bad light at all – if anything it reminded you that yes, maybe some of us get stupidly drunk and talk about sex in ways that our parents wouldn’t want to hear, but that really we’re all just young people in that awkward transition between childhood and adulthood and that probably, everything will all turn out alright in the end.

This is basically just a post about my new mini-obsession – Charli XCX. I started listening to her on Spotify through clicking various related artists then realising I recognised her name from featuring on Icona Pop’s ‘I Love It’ from last year, or possibly earlier. ‘You’ and ‘What I Like’ instantly caught my attention because they were in-your-face pop that instantly brightened my mood. The term ‘pop’ is so vague nowadays it’s hard to define but Charli really is pure pop but that’s definitely a good thing in that her songs are upbeat, catchy, emotional, compared to someone like, say, The Saturdays, whose music I simply find bland and irritating, with nothing unique about it, whereas I think I could recognise a Charli XCX song a mile off.

I first saw her, after just having listened to a few of her songs then left it at that, when Iggy Azalea’s arguable hit of the summer video hit the internet because of it’s insanely cool recreation of Clueless, which is literally one of my favourite films ever. I LOVE Fancy and however many times I hear it, I can’t help but sing along, and much of that is due to Charli XCX’s chorus rather then Iggy’s rap which, hard as I try, I can’t seem to quite be able to sing along yet (First thing’s first I’m the realest… then what?!)

It says something about me that I went on Youtube to find this video and right on the front page, there it was, under the title ‘Watch again’ – Youtube knows.

Anyway, listen to Charli XCX’s album True Romance because you don’t hear enough of her in Fancy. I read about her the other day in the Guardian supplement actually and despite being only 21 she’s actually been tipped for success for like 6 years – it’s safe to say her time has finally come!

Oh, and did I mention I’m in love with her style? After my post a few weeks back about 90s style, Charli epitomises what I love about that kind of fashion. As if the Fancy video wasn’t enough, she pretty much dresses like that in real life too, though perhaps not as full-on. She LOVES a tartan skirt and as a gal with big hair myself I am really into her wild curls as it’s kind of how I wish my hair went.

So sorry if this has come across as a weird sort-of shrine to Charli XCX. Let’s be honest, it basically is. Let’s just hope she never sees it because stalking is never a good basis for a friendship.

YES. A new trailer for something that looks cool! I haven’t been inspired by much at the cinema lately – I haven’t bee in at least 6 weeks and that is looooong for me. I still really need to see Boyhood but I fear I’ve missed the cinematic boat for that one.

This trailer on the front of imdb caught my eye recently for a film coming up in October/November – Nightcrawler starring Jake Gyllenhaal.

I love Jake Gyllenhaal. I love Donnie Darko, I love Brokeback Mountain (all of the tears), I love The Day After Tomorrow, I love… umm…. well that’s all that comes to mind at first thought, but you get the idea. He does crazy well which is why this film looks brilliant. Is it just me or is there something about his eyes in this trailer? They are just TOO BIG?

Anyway, Jake aside, there are other reasons I think this might be good. I like the whole unreliable anti-hero thing. Think Wolf of Wall Street – hedonistic young man works hard and spirals out of control. And at 0:55, the cheeky point, that is so Leo DiCaprio. It also gives off a Drive vibe, I think because of the night settings and maybe the car which is tenuous but it just reminded me of it. I like that it’s about the media/journalism world as there aren’t many films I can think of set in a similar career environment – Anchorman aside.

I’m a sucker for a gripping trailer and this ticks all the boxes for a thriller/drama – atmospheric music, choppy clips that don’t give too much away, creepiness without being offputting. By the end of the trailer you’re simultaneously charmed by and terrified of the main guy, which is a success in my mind. I do love a movie basketcase – American Psycho, Black Swan, Donnie Darko, There will Be Blood – you know the types, the ones you love to hate even when they’re attacking priests in bowling alleys or hiding dead women in fridges. Yes, there’s something about the insanity of a movie psycho that is just far enough from reality that we can enjoy the madness without it hitting home too much. It’s also why I don’t enjoy films about war, cancer etc. – too real! Too sad! Give me Jake Gyllenhaal yelling at himself at a mirror! That’s all I ask!

This week’s selection is a little dancier than, say, normal (whatever normal is). Lately I’ve just been listening to Radio 1 in the background all day as I work, pretty much just because it’s the only channel my old radio seems to get and the speakers on that are much better than listening to music from my laptop. This means that even when I enjoy songs they are played 500 times a day and mostly they’re songs that have been around for a while. If only Zane Lowe was on during work hours! Anyway, these songs may be stuff you haven’t heard, and if you have, I can only apologise.

Grimes ft. Blood Diamonds – Go

I’m undecided about Grimes’ other music at the moment – she reminds me of singers like Sky Ferreira and Kyla La Grange who I like but her songs just aren’t really grabbing me yet. This one, however, I heard for the first time today and I am really into.

Sylvan Esso – Coffee

This is gorgeous, I don’t know how long it’s been out but who cares. I love the wild winter / warm coffee, blazing summer / cold coffee lyrics for some reason – the lyrics are really simple but they make me really want to listen. The perfect long train ride song, I reckon – just stare wistfully out of the window and pretend you’re Serena van der Woodsen in that pilot.

Usher – Good Kisser (Disclosure remix)

Because everyone knows the original is rubbish (soz Usher, we’re not into your Confessions anymore whatever part you’re up to now) but somehow this remix is brilliant because Disclosure are just brilliant. This remix just makes me wanna get uuuup and dance.

REVIEW: Digital Revolution at London’s Barbican Centre

The simple feature of air conditioning in the London heat meant I was already in a good mood as I turned up for the Barbican Centre’s hi-tech new exhibition. I was a little taken aback by the concept of having to queue even though we had booked in advance for a specific time slot but, I told myself, at least this means they’re limiting the amount of people in order to optimise our experience. Although this probably was true, I found that once inside there really were just too many people to make the most of it. Bear in mind that I visited on a Saturday afternoon because I could only make weekends, like many others, so visiting at an off-peak period might have lead to a more enjoyable experience.

The first section is a chronological display of computer technology, starting with arcade games of the 1970s. Happy to wait for the popular features like the arcade-style Pacman game, it did start to get irritating when people seemed to be hogging such attractions, leaving us to re-read descriptions of old computer systems that really didn’t mean much to me. When one couple re-started Pacman for the third time in a row, I did what any disgruntled Brit would do: I sighed loudly and moved on to the next section. It was fascinating to see how technology had evolved and to get the chance to interact with old systems, especially as I was obviously too young to have experienced most of it the first time around. Newer features included the original Sims PC game which was particularly nostalgic for me, although to my dismay there was no keyboard connected – how on earth was I to earn any money without being able to type in the ‘rosebud’ cheat?!

There were some interesting, varied features in the next sections of the exhibition but I often found that I didn’t really know what I was looking at or listening to. For example, we were ushered into a room showing an original piece by will.i.am, but with little explanation all I witnessed was an overbearingly loud song with a giant face on the wall surrounded by some crazy patterns. Many of the attractions I expect would appeal to people who are more interested in specific technical details. As a film student, I was intrigued at first by the behind-the-scenes look at Hollywood’s Gravity, but found I wasn’t really in the mood to stand around for an unknown period of time watching what appeared to be a DVD-extra documentary.

One highlight was the trio of giant screens which visitors stand in front of to watch themselves be transformed into a silhouette and subsequently be decomposed by a swarm of tiny birds before having to flap their arms and turn into a giant bird themselves and fly away into nothingness. Unfortunately, again, the queues for this were long enough for me to be satisfied with watching a few others take on the experience so wasn’t actually able to interact with the piece myself. The Indie Games Space was also a nice idea as people could sit down for as long as they wished to play quirky, low-budget PC games, and it was off the beaten track enough for us to be able to play a couple without having to wait too long.

One rather ironic thing that let down the so-called revolutionary exhibition was that quite a few things just didn’t seem to work. At least two of the indie game screens were blank. A digital ‘Twitter skirt’ invited guests to plug in their phones so the clothing could display live tweets using the phone app, yet such a cord was nowhere to be seen. My advice would be to go on a weekday if possible, and perhaps only if you’re interested in the inner workings of digital tech rather than going with the expectation that your mind will be blown. For the student price of £8.50 I feel I got enough for my money but my expectations for what I expected to be a ground-breaking exhibition were not quite met.

Digital Revolution runs at the Barbican Centre until September 14th – http://www.barbican.org.uk/digital-revolution

This review was written by me for Warwick University’s online paper, The Boar