What I've Been Loving Recently #5

So it's been about six weeks since my last WIBLR and once again I have a lot of recommendations for you all. I've been watching a lot of tv shows and movies and they weren't all amazing but these are the ones that I loved (or really liked).

I had heard about Ozark a few months before it was released on Netflix and at first it didn't interest me, but then I watched the trailer and it made me very excited to start watching it. In short, it's about a guy called Marty Byrde (Jason Bateman) who launders money for the Mexican cartel and has to relocate his family to the Ozark lakes in Missouri after his business partner gets into debt with them. The cast is excellent with Laura Linney playing Marty's wife, Julia Garner who plays Ruth Langmore is amazing as is Jason Butler Harner who plays FBI Agent Roy Petty and Peter Mullan as usual is incredible as the local crime lord who comes up against Marty.

After a slow pace to begin with, this is definitely one of those shows that once you get into it, you'll want to binge watch it. It's been compared to Breaking Bad I suppose for the anti-hero, ordinary family guy turned criminal aspect but it's very different although just as gripping. Having said that if you were a fan of Breaking Bad this might fill that void for you. I enjoyed seeing Jason Bateman playing a darker character but part of me will always just see him as Michael Bluth (there's definitely some Michael Bluth in Marty Byrde too). It's been picked up for a second season and I'm definitely excited to see what happens next in the story.

The film Wet Hot American Summer was was released in 2001 and has since become a cult classic amongst its fans. It's one of those absolutely polarising films that you will either love or hate (I can see how it might not be a lot of peoples sense of humour). It's ridiculous and wacky and I adore it. I've watched it countless times and so when I heard David Wain and Michael Showalter were making a prequel for Netflix in 2015 I was delighted. Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later is the second follow up to the film but this time its set ten years later. Most of the original cast returned including Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler and Janeane Garofalo as well as Adam Scott, Chris Pine, Jason Schwartzman and Kristen Wiig. Obviously if you haven't seen the film there's no point in watching this but I encourage anyone who likes any of the above actors to watch it. David Wain who co-wrote the film with Michael Showalter and directed it also made Role Models and Wanderlust so if you liked the kind of humour in those films, you might like this. 

Bojack Horseman is something I used to see all the time on the Netflix suggestions and having one of my favourite comedic actors as the voice of the main character (Will Arnett) made me want to watch it but for some reason I never gave it a go. My boyfriend started to watch it and it happened to be on in the background a few times and I found myself paying attention and laughing so I started watching it with him and now I'm obsessed. We're currently on the fourth season which is the most recent and I'm definitely going to go back and watch it from the beginning as I missed most of the first season. To give you an idea of what it's like, the picture below is of one of the main characters Princess Caroline who is voiced by the hilarious Amy Sedaris, with her boyfriend Vincent Adultman who is not a man but rather three kids sitting on each other's shoulders in a trench coat pretending to be a man. It's a hilarious yet dark (sometimes very dark) show that has lots of amazing guest voice actors as well as the main cast of Aaron Paul, Paul F. Tompkins and Alison Brie. 

Difficult People is now in its third season and again this will be a love or hate show. If you've watched Parks and Recreation or the latest American Horror Story you might recognise Billy Eichner (also if you haven't seen his show Billy on the Streets it's so funny) and along with Julie Klausner they play Billy and Julie, two best friends living in New York and trying (and failing terribly) to make it in show business. They're annoyed by everyone except each other which I'm sure a lot of people can relate to. It's well written and has a great support cast who are equally funny. This third season was probably my least favourite out of the three so far but its a show I'd definitely watch all over again. 

I've been looking forward to watching The Deuce since I first heard about it earlier this year. It has everything I love, New York, the seventies, Maggie Gyllenhaal, James Franco and it's on HBO. It's not for the faint of heart as it does have graphic scenes of sex and violence but after only five episodes this has quickly become one of the best television programmes I've seen in a long time. Like I've already mentioned it's set in New York in the 1970s in the area around Times Square and explores the lives of the sex workers in the area as well as the legalisation and rise of the porn industry. James Franco plays Vincent and Frankie Martino who begin working as a front for the mob. Maggie Gyllenhaal plays Candy, a struggling sex worker who develops an interest in working in the porn industry as a means to make more money to support her young son. The Deuce was created by the guys behind The Wire so if you've watched that you might be interested in this. 

When I saw the trailer for Logan Lucky I was so excited to watch it. As a big Steven Soderbergh fan (I think most people are) I was hoping this wouldn't disappoint and thankfully it didn't. First of all I loved the cast. Channing Tatum is so damn funny. Daniel Craig was ridiculous and amazing. Adam Driver I'd watch in anything, he's an incredible actor and Riley Keogh was so funny and completely on par with the boys. Also, Irish actor Brian Gleeson and Jack Quaid (yes, that's Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid's son!) played the brothers of Daniel Craig's character and were both hilarious. It's basically Ocean's Eleven set in North Carolina. Watch it for the accents alone. 

Was anyone else obsessed with the 1990 version of IT starring Tim Curry and Ray from Sister Sister? Just me then! I remember first watching the 192 minute two part miniseries when I was probably far too young to be watching something about a demented clown who tortures and kills children. I actually owned a VHS of it and I'm pretty sure it's still somewhere in my parents house. My sister and my friends and I would watch it at sleepovers and terrify each other throughout the viewing by making noises and jumping out at each other. I was terrified of clowns as a child and it didn't help that my aunt was obsessed with them and had clown paintings and figurines all over her house which didn't exactly make me excited about visiting her. The sight of Tim Curry as Pennywise still gives me chills, that one scene where he appears behind the sheets on the washing line in the garden haunts me. That being said, it is quite a cheesy film so I was very curious to see how the reimagining would compare to the miniseries.

I wasn't overly excited to see it which was probably a good thing because my expectations weren't too high and therefore I was left pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I liked how it was set in the eighties and had that nostalgic feeling, like with Stranger Things or films I watched as a kid like The Goonies. The actors were all amazing, the casting was perfect. However I wasn't that impressed with the actual clown. I think it's just the CG effects I don't really like, the original film was terrifying because Tim Curry looked so real as the clown whereas the effects in this new one just distracted me and took me out of the realistic world they created. I'm very interested to see the sequel and who they cast to play the adults. I don't know how much it's going to differ from the book as I never finished it because it's so damn long and boring, so if you did manage to read it let me know what you thought of this adaptation. 

Mother! is yet another film that will divide people. If you don't like Darren Aronofsky's other film's chances are, this won't be for you, but if you liked Black Swan, Requiem For A Dream or The Wrestler then definitely check this out. I chatted with a few people about this after I watched it and I did find there was something lacking in it for me, I couldn't quite put my finger on it although I did enjoy it. I love that his films really engage you in the main character and the way it was shot I found myself getting more and more frustrated the way Jennifer Lawrence's character did. I loved her performance (apart from her wig which was a bit distracting) and I am so excited to see Michelle Pfeiffer on the big screen again, she was incredible as she is in everything she stars in. If you're in any way faint of heart, you might want to give this a miss because without giving anything away, the last half an hour or so or the film builds into quite disturbing and difficult to watch scenes that left me feeling very uneasy. However to me, that's the mark of a great filmmaker, to engage his or her audience and make them feel something intense. 

Finally, my music recommendation is the collaboration between Kurt Vile and Courtney Barnett. I'm a big Kurt Vile fan and I knew of Courtney Barnett but hadn't ever really listened to her music. Their album has only just been released but I've been listening to the few songs I'd heard over and over again and I'm loving the combination of these two incredibly talented people. I'm looking forward to giving the album a proper listen and hoping I get to see them perform it live. 

So those are my recent recommendations. I've just started Mindhunter on Netflix and I already love it so I'll be featuring that in my next post as well as Blade Runner 2049 which I saw last week. If there's anything you loved recently whether it's a film or tv show or music, please tell me because I'm always looking for new things to get into and let me know if you've watched any of these and what you thought.

Emma x

What I've Been Loving Recently #4

It's been six weeks since my last WIBLR post and in that time I've consumed quite a lot of popular (and not so popular) culture. I've continued to watch Archer and Twin Peaks. Twin Peaks is continually blowing me away, I'm loving it more and more with every episode. I'm almost caught up with My Favorite Murder (mentioned in the second WIBLR post ) which is crazy because I've been listening to it since the middle of May, so that's over 100 episodes in the past almost 3 months. I don't know what I'm gonna do once I've caught up and have to wait every week for an episode. Binge consuming of culture has ruined me! 

First up is a film I had really been looking forward to, Spider-Man: Homecoming. I was mostly looking forward to it because I've never been crazy about the other Spider-Man incarnations. Honestly I just wasn't a fan of Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man and I don't think I even saw the Andrew Garfield one. My favourite Spider-Man was probably the nineties animated series which I loved as a kid. After Tom Holland's cameo in Captain America: Civil War I was excited to see him in his own Spider-Man film. The reunion of one of my favourite on screen couples Marisa Tomei and Robert Downey Jr. may have also had something to do with my excitement. 

I really loved this film. It was fun and entertaining and hilarious and the casting was spot on. I've been loving Michael Keaton's return the big screen too. A lot of it was filmed it Queens which was an added bonus because we recognised some of the locations. Since having been in New York I get so excited every time I watch something that's been filmed there. I like the light-heartedness that this film has in comparison with the other Spider-Man films, it doesn't take itself too seriously which is exactly what I want from a superhero movie. My only gripe is that Marisa Tomei wasn't in it enough for me.

I saw one of the early trailers for Baby Driver without knowing it was an Edgar Wright film and my initial thought was "what the hell is this?". I didn't think the trailer did it any favours and I definitely wouldn't have been convinced to go see it by watching the trailer if I didn't know who directed it. I'm a huge fan of Edgar Wright so when I saw this was one of his films I was a lot more excited to see it than I had been initially (also, two words: Jon Hamm). I was really surprised by how much I liked this. Ansel Elgort is amazing in it. I found the performances by the supporting cast to be a bit tongue in cheek which I'm sure was intentional. The soundtrack was particularly incredible as it is with the other Edgar Wright films. There's also some romance and a lot of humour. I'd highly recommend seeing this if you get a chance.

I was very excited to see The Beguiled, mostly because it was directed by Sofia Coppola who directed one of my favourite films, Lost in Translation. I loved The Virgin Suicides, Marie Antoinette and Somewhere too, The Bling Ring left me disappointed but I'm always interested in seeing her work. The Beguiled is a (sort of) remake of the 1971 Clint Eastwood film of the same name based on the book A Painted Devil by Thomas Cullinan. I'm not going to go to much into the plot for anyone who doesn't know what it's about, but in short it's set in a girl's boarding school in Virginia during the Civil War. One of the girls finds a wounded solider and brings him back to the school to recover and his presence stirs up the relationships between the teachers and students. 

I still don't really know how I felt about this film. It's beautifully shot, as is the case with all Coppola's films. The performances were excellent, although as much as I love Colin Farrell as an actor I always laugh when he has his own Irish accent in his films. I feel like it lacked something for me, I read some reviews of it that said it cut out some of the back story to the characters and one significant character from the book and 1971 film and I'm not sure if that was a bad choice. It's definitely an interesting plot as it is, seeing how the introduction of a man into the home of a group of women instantly affects them all in different ways, but I did feel there wasn't the character development there that happens with adaptations sometimes. 

If you're a Sofia fan, you'll definitely enjoy this, but I didn't love it the way I did her other films. 

If you get the chance, try to see Dunkirk in IMAX. The sound design of the film is such an important part of it and the IMAX really immerses you in it, as much as a film can because thankfully most of us will never know what it feels like to be apart of such horrifying circumstances. Again, Christopher Nolan is a director who I have loved for years. The first film I saw of his was Memento and then Insomnia and ever since I've looked forward to seeing each film he has directed. Dunkirk was no exception and I was very interested to see what way he was going to handle a film about World War II. 

I really enjoyed the film, like I said the sound design is incredible as is the cinematography and the performances. I like the way it was split into land, sea and air and you got a glimpse of each perspective. Some characters were more well developed than others. The men from the sea portion of the film had the most development, the pilots were pretty straight forward and group of young guys who were trying to get off the beach were somewhere in between. I don't know whether it's just me expecting a more human element to the story rather than straightforward almost documentary like storytelling of the events. But there was something lacking for me. I appreciate that Nolan wanted show the events of Dunkirk from several different perspectives in such a short space of time and therefore its difficult to go into much depth with any one character. But then it is a film about the war and if you're not going to choose to depict a specific story, then you have to just let it be about the events in order to honour the people who went through it.

Shamefully, I didn't know much about what happened at Dunkirk so it's great that a film like this can remind us all that what happened wasn't all that long ago, especially with what's going on in the world at the moment, we can never remind ourselves too often of the lessons history has taught us and that sadly that fight is still going on for so many people around the world today. We all have our part to play in making sure nothing like World War II ever happens again. 

I was looking forward to seeing The Big Sick since I first heard about it. I've been a big fan of Kumail Nanjiani for years, he's been in lots of my favourite comedy shows and most recently Silicon Valley which I wrote about here. I knew the story of how he and his wife Emily got together and the very unusual situation that came about when they were first dating. I won't spoil what happens because if you don't know the story yet I don't want to ruin it for anyone but basically himself and Emily wrote the film based on their relationship and the difficulties of coming from two different cultures. I really really loved this film, the cast is so good, Holly Hunter and Ray Romano play Emily's parents and they really stole the show for me. The adorable Zoe Kazan plays Emily and Kumail plays himself. It's hilarious and heartbreaking and a very unromantic, romantic comedy. 

Glow is a Netflix original series about female wrestling in 1980s Los Angeles. It was created by the women who made Weeds and Orange is the New Black so it has the same dark humour as both of those shows. I was a huge fan of Weeds, but I never actually finished it because I thought it was starting to go downhill however the first few seasons are excellent. 

Glow is probably my least favourite of the three shows. I really like the cast, Kate Nash, the British singer is in it which I found very strange but she's actually really good. I loved Debbie and some of the other characters more than the main character Ruth, played by Alison Brie and Marc Maron who is a great comedian that I've loved for years now. 

It's fairly light-hearted and easy viewing that doesn't demand much from the audience which is just what you need sometimes. If you're a fan of OITNB you'll enjoy this, but I don't think it's as good. 

Orange is the New Black is now in its fifth season and it's still going strong. I put off starting this most recent season for a while because there were a few other things I wanted to finish watching first. I wasn't overly excited to watch it if I'm honest, but once we watched the first episode I think we finished it in a week. I was really impressed with this season, I loved that they did something a bit different and we got to see the characters in different situations to their normal everyday prison life. I also like how they addressed social issues that mirror what's going on in the world at the moment. There is a lot of humour too, some of my favourite parts were the prison guard talent show and Flaca and Maritza's YouTube channel (I'd definitely subscribe to that). But like I said above, there is a lot of darkness in this show too. I think this was my favourite season yet and it's one of those shows where the writing and cast are so good that there is still so much they can do with it without it going stale. I really hope next season is just as good and if you haven't watched it yet, you've got five seasons to binge watch!

Friends From College is something I came across one night when I was doing my usual browsing through Netflix for an hour before actually choosing something to watch. I watched the trailer and I was intrigued because I hadn't heard anything about it but it was new to Netflix and has some of my favourite comedians in it- Billy Eichner and Keegan-Michael Key as well as Cobie Smulders from How I Met Your Mother and Fred Savage (yes, from The Wonder Years). It was created by Nicholas Stoller who made Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Get Him to the Greek, The Five Year Engagement and Bad Neighbours and it's the same kind of humour as those films.

The premise is pretty simple, a group of friends from college get back in touch with each other and chaos ensues. It's a very straight forward comedy/drama that's very easy to watch. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would, it's a great one for rainy days like today when you want to watch something easy and entertaining.

So those are my favourites from the past month. I'm currently watching Ozark and Wet Hot American Summer TenYears Later on Netflix so I'll give you my thoughts on those in the next post. I saw Fleet Foxes live which was amazing and I'm still loving their new album. I also saw Michael Ian Black do a set at the Vodafone Comedy Festival which was so cool. I've listened to the new Arcade Fire album a few times too and I'm not crazy about it so far which is disappointing because we got tickets to see them next year.

Have you seen any of these? What have you been watching/listening to recently?

Emma x

What I've Been Loving Recently #3

Like last month I was worried I wouldn't have that much to write about for June's instalment of What I've Been Loving Recently, but I should realise by now I consume so much popular culture that I'll always have recommendations to write about. Here's what I've been loving over the past month or so. 

I'll start with television as usual, or should I say Netflix. I adore a good true crime documentary and a series is even better. I had heard about The Keepers a few months ago and I was eager for it to be added to Netflix at the end of May. I didn't read too much about it or watch the trailer because I didn't want to spoil anything for myself. I knew the basics which is all I'm going to tell you here because I always feel like it's best to know as little as possible about a documentary (or anything for that matter) before you watch it. The Keepers is the story of Sister Cathy Cesnick who was murdered in 1969 in Baltimore, Maryland. As the story progresses, we learn of the horrific abuse that went on in the school where Cathy worked as a teacher and which may have ultimately lead to her being murdered. I don't want to give away anything else but that's the basic story. Just to warn you, it's a harrowing, hard to watch documentary and if you have bad feelings about the Catholic church as it is, this series will only strengthen and cement those feelings. I cried a lot watching it, it broke my heart to hear of such incomprehensible suffering. If you can stomach it, I feel like it's a very important story to know about and sadly it's probably one of many many more stories like it.

Next up is the tv show I've been excited to see since it was announced a couple of years ago. The Twin Peaks revival started on Showtime at the end of May and so far seven episodes have aired. I was so nervous that I wasn't going to like it after completely loving the original series, but I'm blown away by how David Lynch has brought the story back and taken it so much further. If you haven't seen the original Twin Peaks, it begins with the discovery of the body of Laura Palmer, a teen girl who has been murdered in a small town called Twin Peaks. FBI Agent Dale Cooper arrives in the town to investigate her murder and the rest is history. The first season is pretty straight forward, the second goes a bit mad and this recent incarnation is just completely nuts but in a good way. You will most definitely either love or hate it, there's no in between. The story continues 25 years from where it left off and there's a whole host of new characters added into the mix. There are lots of famous faces in this new series including Laura Dern, Naomi Watts, Amanda Seyfried and Michael Cera. I'm so excited to see what happens, the first episode was crazy and I had no idea what was going on but slowly pieces of the story are being revealed. If you loved Twin Peaks and if you love the films of David Lynch you'll definitely love this. I have haven't seen the original two seasons, I'd recommend watching them, I know it won't be to everyones taste but it's definitely worth a try. 

Anyone who is a fan of Tina Fey and watched 30 Rock, will no doubt have seen Netflix's The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. If you haven't, it's a comedy about a woman who was help captive in a bunker for 15 years by a doomsday cult leader played by Jon Hamm. The show begins with her moving to New York after escaping from the bunker, and moving into a basement apartment with an aspiring actor named Titus Andromedon (who is probably my favourite character). She has to learn to be an adult in the real world after growing up isolated from the world and as expected the results are hilarious. If you loved 30 Rock, you'll definitely love this because it has the same Tina Fey stupidly clever sense of humour. The above photo shows Titus's tribute to Beyoncés Lemonade which is so funny. We just finished the third season and I already want to see more because I love it so much. I think this most recent season has been my favourite so far (I mean, it features Fred Armisen as serial killer Robert Durst dating one of the main characters!). If that doesn't convince you, nothing will. 

Silicon Valley is a HBO show that's currently in its fourth season. It's a comedy about a group of computer programmers attempting to become the next big thing in the tech world with their data compression app. It was created by Mike Judge who is famous for Beavis and Butt-head, King of the Hill, Office Space and Idiocracy which he has either created, written or directed. The show is basically about the guys trying to get backers and funding and having everything go wrong, go right and go wrong again. It's hilarious, but yet again, a specific type of humour that you'll either like or you won't. Then again, it's HBO so you're pretty much guaranteed it's going to be good. It's definitely not my favourite comedy show, but it's consistently funny and I'd watch anything Mike Judge does because I think he's a comedy genius. 

Wonder Woman is pretty much the only film I saw this month worth writing about. I actually watched Brooklyn too (and rewatched a few other things). I really enjoyed Brooklyn, a lot more than I thought I would. But onto Wonder Woman. So I think everyone can agree that the DC film offerings haven't been great lately. I didn't even bother watching Man of Steel or Batman v Superman. To be honest I'd rather watch the Animated Batman, the Adam West one or the Adventures of Lois and Clark. I was praying that Wonder Woman would redeem the DC world and it totally did. It exceeded my expectations, mostly because I didn't get my hopes up. Incredible casting first of all. Gal Gadot is perfect in the role. She's funny and strong and STUNNING and smart. Chris Pine is the most adorable actor of all time and Robin Wright is just as amazing as ever. It was heartwarming and a lot funnier than I had ever thought it would be and just totally empowering. It's so great to see a comic book movie with a female lead that's actually just a very good film. It's about time! 

It's been six years since the last Fleet Foxes album, Helplessness Blues and their third album Crack Up was only released last week but has already become a favourite. I love their first two albums and have seen them play a few times (and I'll be seeing them again next month) so I was really hoping that after waiting for six years, this album would be great. I've only listened to it fully a few times so far but I'm already excited to see them play the songs live.

I saw Robin Pecknold (Fleet Foxes frontman) supporting Joanna Newsom last year which I only found out on the day of the gig and I was so excited because I hadn't heard anything about the band in years and didn't even know if they'd be releasing another album. Seeing him solo was an incredible experience, his voice is just so beautiful, I would have sat there and listened to him play by himself all night. He's got one of those voices that sounds so much better in person. My boyfriend listened to the album before me and said he loved it but he said he couldn't hum or sing one song to me. It hasn't got the obvious singles that the previous albums had but I really love that. It's complex and beautifully written and I want to listen to it and read the lyrics and study them. If you haven't listened to them yet and you're looking for some new music, check out their first album, it's still one of my all time favourites. 

My final favourite of this month is Radiohead. I saw them live this past Tuesday night and it was unbelievable. This was only my second time seeing them live and I was completely blown away. It was such a emotional experience, I found myself welling up several times during the show, particularly when they played one of my favourites, Let Down and then again with Fake Plastic Trees. The first album of theirs that I listened to was The Bends and it's probably still my favourite. They're one of those bands that I always take for granted how good they are and how many amazing songs and albums they have. 

So that's what I've been loving recently. I finished the Handmaid's Tale which I wrote about last month and it blew me away, I just want more and more of the story. I'm still listening to My Favorite Murder, in fact I just listened to the 50th episode so I'm catching up quite quickly. If you've seen or heard any of these do let me know in the comments or if you have anything that you've been really loving recently and think I'd like, please let me know! 

You can read the first two WILR posts here and here.

Emma x

What I've Been Loving Recently #2

I'm back with my second instalment of What I've Been Loving Recently. After writing the first one last month I was really excited to put together a second one and hopefully next month I'll have even more to write about.

It's been a month since my last post of TV, Film, Music and Podcast suggestions and I wasn't expecting to have as many to write about so soon because we were away in New York for a good chunk of the month but here we are with lots more things I've been loving and I've even had to cut my list down so as not to make this post too long which I'm sure it will be anyway. I've tried to not give away too much about anything, so you can read without getting any spoilers.  

Let's begin with the TV shows I've been loving. First up is The Last Man on Earth which has just finished its fourth season on FOX. It's a comedy created by and starring Will Forte (who I've adored since watching him on Saturday Night Live). **SPOILER ALERT** (she types after just saying she won't spoil anything) he's not exactly the last man on earth, but you learn that pretty quickly so it's not really a spoiler is it? I won't go too much into it just in case anyone reading wants to start watching it, which you should because it's hilarious. This will be a love or hate show, because it does have a specific type of humour and if you love what Will Forte has done in the past, you'll definitely love this. It's so friggin good!

You might be looking at the picture above wondering why a grown woman is watching a cartoon. Well I'll have you know I love cartoons (Adventure Time, Rick and Morty, Bob's Burgers are all amazing!) These are obviously "grown up" cartoons and Archer is one of the funniest shows on Tv at the moment, animated or not. Archer was created by Adam Reed who also created Sealab 2021 and Frisky Dingo (neither of which I've watched yet). It centres around the employees of an international spy agency in New York with Sterling Archer as the show's egotistical but highly skilled protagonist. 

I started watching it when it first began in 2009 and stopped watching somewhere during the fourth season, not because I disliked it but I think I had missed a few and then never caught up so I just waited to rewatch it from the beginning again which is what we did recently. We're now on season six and it's just as good as when it first started. Obviously you can do so much more with the story of an animated television show and the last season Archer Vice was probably my favourite yet because of how hilariously crazy it was. There's another two seasons and I'm looking forward to getting completely caught up. The writing and the voice actors make this show. It stars Jon Benjamin (Bob from Bob's Burgers among many other amazing roles), Chris Parnell (from 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live), Judy Greer and Jessica Walter (both from Arrested Development) and Aisha Tyler (from Criminal Minds and Friends). This is another show you'll either love or hate, it's currently on Netflix so you can binge watch 8 seasons, so why not give it a go if you're looking for something funny and light-hearted to watch that's a bit different from your normal comedy.

This is one of the shows I'm most excited to talk about. Ive been looking forward to the second season of the Netflix series Master of None for what feels like years now, in a way it has been because the first season aired in 2015. At the moment there's no news as to whether there will be a third season or not so if there is, I'll be waiting a long time again. This second season was so good that I almost wouldn't mind if there wasn't another season because I'd be worried that nothing could live up to how good this one was.

For anyone who hasn't heard anything about it, Master of None was created by Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang, both of whom are probably best known for working on Parks and Recreation. I adore Parks and Rec, but Master of None is a completely different show, even though they're both very funny. 

The show centres around Dev Shah, played by Aziz Ansari who is an actor living in New York. It deals with the struggles of being a minority working, dating and living in a big city. I love everything about this show. The soundtrack really stands out, the cinematography is so beautiful for a television show and in general really (bravo Mark Schwartzbard), I especially loved the many cinematic references in the second season. The supporting cast are all excellent including Aziz Ansari's own parents (his father is particularly hilarious). 

I loved the first season, but the second really blew me away. The first episode is set in the Italian town of Modena where Dev has spent some time learning to make pasta (he's a tiny bit obsessed with food) and is filmed in black and white in homage to the Vittorio de Sica film Ladri di Biciclette (Bicycle Thieves). It's in Modena, that Dev meets Francesca (I double dare you not to fall in love with her!) who's grandmother is teaching him how to make pasta. Their friendship is one of the main storylines of the season, as is the development of Dev's career and his continued efforts to date in modern society. One episode is solely Dev going on numerous first dates that he has arranged as a result of using a Tinder style app. 

There is a few central storylines throughout the season with the addition of stand alone episodes centering on some of the other characters, such as the Thanksgiving episode that tells the story of Dev's friend Denise coming out to her mother. It was based on the real life story of how Lena Waithe, who plays Denise, actually came out to her mother which makes it feel like such an authentic piece of storytelling. 

As you can see I have lots of thoughts but I don't want to go into it too much for anyone who is reading this and hasn't seen the show yet. All I can say is that it won't be to everyone's taste, if you're in your twenties/thirties I fell like so much of the show will be relatable. It's on Netflix and is only twenty episodes over two seasons so it's worth giving it a go. 

I had heard about Margaret Atwood's book The Handmaid's Tale for years and even though I have never actually read it (which I am definitely going to now), I vaguely knew the plot, so when I heard that it was being made into a television series starring Elisabeth Moss I was incredibly excited to see it. There were advertisements for it all over New York when we were there. There was even an installation in the High Line that had free copies of the book for passers by, but all the books were gone when we were there. 

When we returned from New York, the post holiday blues inevitably set in but then I remembered there were a few episodes of The Handmaid's Tale to watch. I didn't know the full plot, just a few details, which I think is the best way to watch this if you haven't already read the book. All I really knew was that it was set in a near future dystopian society where most women have become infertile. I don't want to tell you anything else just in case you don't know anything about it yet. I was completely hooked after the first episode which blew me away. Elisabeth Moss is one of my favourite actors and I was so excited to see her in this role because her performances are always phenomenal and this is no exception. 

I don't even know where to begin with it. I have so many thoughts about it, the performances, the cinematography, the art direction, the soundtrack which is so perfect (how good was Don't You Forget About Me in the second episode), the storylines, everything! I'm completely in awe of this incredible, disturbing story that feels almost too real. It's difficult to watch some scenes, especially because of the amazing performances. The flashbacks and the inner monologue of the main character Offred are the most upsetting because of how realistic they are. Theres a quote from one of the first episodes (and also from the book) that really stuck with me, "Nothing changes instantaneously: in a gradually heating bathtub, you'd be boiled to death before you knew it". The idea is that governments don't get overthrown overnight. Big changes take time and can happen slowly before our very eyes without us realising it and that's the scary part.

If you were to take any of my suggestions from this post, I'd urge it to be The Handmaid's Tale. If anyone else has seen it or read it let me know what you think, I'm dying to talk more about it. Don't let the bastards grind you down!

Something a little bit lighter now (although I did actually cry during this so not entirely light-hearted).  Anyone who saw and loved Guardians of the Galaxy knew a sequel was inevitable and although I'm not usually the biggest fan of sequels, in the Marvel universe, sequels are fine by me. I was quite excited to see Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 because I adored the first one. First of all, I'd watch anything with Chris Pratt because he is the cutest! I've loved him since I first saw him in Everwood (anyone else remember that show) and then my ultimate favourite Andy Dwyer in Parks and Recreation where he was incredibly funny and charming. The entire cast is excellent (you can't not love baby Groot) it's entertaining and hilarious and there's Kurt Russell and Kirk from Gilmore Girls and there's a heart there too, which I can't help but love even though in films like these it's not 100% necessary. The soundtrack is also amazingly curated. 

This month I have another podcast suggestion, My Favorite Murder, which was recommended to me on Instagram by Sinead who you should definitely follow if you enjoy lovely photos and food and skincare/makeup. I was looking for something to fill the S Town void and I can't think of anything better than a podcast by two hilarious women about their favourite true murder cases. As it stands there are 69 episodes (I've listened to the first 16 in the past week!) and I'm so excited that I have this huge backlog of episodes to catch up on. You probably don't know this about me but I'm big into true murder, especially film and documentaries. It kind of runs in my family because my granny and aunt are the exact same. They even used to buy all of those true crime magazines. Making a Murderer, The Jinx, The Staircase, you name it, I'll watch it. The Zodiac is probably one of my favourites and I actually have the book based on that case which I have yet to read.

The thing I love about My Favorite Murder is the two hosts Georgia and Karen and how they deal with the subject of horrific murders and yet somehow manage to keep it from getting too intense (most of the time). I also love how passionate they both are about this topic (yay, I don't feel like a total weirdo for being obsessed with true murder) and how excited they get when one of them mentions a case the other hasn't heard of yet. Be warned though, sometimes it can get gory and horrifying so if you're scared easily this probably isn't going to be for you but I absolutely love it and can't stop listening to episode after episode. They also recommend some great tv shows and movies too. I have a feeling this will keep me going for a while but if you have any podcast suggestions please let me know because it's such a vast world that I don't even know where to start.

Finally is this month's music suggestion which is the new album from Mac DeMarco called This Old Dog. I started listening to him when his last album Salad Days came out in 2014 and became obsessed. This is his third album and at just 27 years old, it feels like he is so much older than his years. He's admitted that some of the lyrics are about his father with whom he has a fairly estranged relationship but there's also a lot more in it. I'm going to be seeing him play live for the first time in November and I'm so excited, especially after recently watching his set at Coachella. He's such a unique person with an incredible voice and musical talent, but he's definitely got a love or hate style. You either get him and love him or you don't. That being said, I'd definitely give this new album a listen. It's a bit more relaxed than the last album but the lyrics are beautiful and so relatable at times. I listened to this a lot on the subway when we were in New York so I think it'll always have a special place in my heart.

So that's a selection of what I've been loving recently, apologies that it was such a long post, but it's sometimes difficult to know how much to write because I want to encourage people to check out my suggestions without giving too much away but I also have so much to say about each one that it's hard to just give a quick synopsis. I hope you enjoyed this post and please do leave a comment if you have suggestions of films and tv shows you think I'd like or books, podcasts or music. I mostly find new things I love through other peoples suggestions so hopefully some of you will find something new to love after reading this.

Hope you're all having a lovely weekend!

Emma x