What I've Been Watching: October Edition

Hi guys! I hope you all had a fantastic weekend. I absolutely love Bonfire Night, even though it's origins make it a little strange of a celebration but oh well, haha! It doesn't seem like Autumn is in full swing until this occassion has come and gone. I adore bonfires, all of the pretty colourful lights that fireworks create, the smell of burning wood and paper in the air and the fact that it brings people together. I had a lovely evening last night with my family, setting some fireworks off in our garden and lighting a mini bonfire. I just wish that we had gotten some marshmallows to top it all off! Anyhow, today's post is this month's installment of my 'What I've Been Watching' series. If you're a regular reader of my blog, you'll know sometimes these posts can contain little unintentional spoilers, when I'm explaining briefly what the movies or tv shows I've watched are about, but I try to keep these to a minimum. I hope that reading my post gives you some inspiration on what to include in your next binge watching session :) Enjoy! 

 What Happened To Monday? (2017)

I first heard about this movie in a post by the lovely Georgina over at She Might Be Loved, in her 11 Things You Need to Watch on Netflix This Month post, and it sounded like a really interesting movie so I couldn't not give it a watch when I have the Netflix app at my fingertips and I'm laying in bed at night, my insomnia refusing to let sleep happen. The movie is a sci-fi dystopian drama set in the future in a world that's overrun with people, too many people for the resources available. So in a bid to solve this problem, a one-child-per-family law is implemented. The story is centred around seven sisters (septuplets) who must avoid government detection in a system where multiple children are torn away from their parents. What will they do when one of their siblings goes missing? I'd explain more, but you should watch it and find out for yourself! I'm really into the dystopian genre, so I enjoyed this movie. There were parts that I didn't like so much, but overall it was a good watch. I'd like to read the book that it was based on, which I think is The Steven Sisters novels by Lucinda Riley. Has anyone ever read these? 

10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) 

It was all about science fiction for me this October, especially with the release of Netflix's Stranger Things season 2! I watched another brilliant sci-fi movie at the start of the month. 10 Cloverfield Lane is about a woman (played by the gorgeous Mary Elizabeth Winstead) who after a car accident wakes up in a bunker with two men, who tell her that there has been a catastrophic chemical attack and that they can no longer go outside. Eventually she will discover for herself what has gone on in the world outside of the underground bunker. Usually I have a google first to read the movie outline before choosing whether or not to watch it, but for this one I just saw that it was a thriller and decided to just go straight in without a clue what to expect. It's one of those movies that you think might go one way as you watch it but then things unexpectedly change. I like being surprised like this, unless the plot changes ridiculously to something implausible. I'd give this movie a 7 out of 10. Let me know what you all think if you've watched it or decide to after reading my post :) I'm hoping that there's a sequel. 

Cardcaptor Sakura (1998-onwards)

It recently came to my attention that there was going to be a new season of Cardcaptor Sakura released in 2018 after apparently 15 years since they made the last episode. I watched quite a few episodes of 'Cardcaptor Sakura' on Cartoon Network when I was really young, and I didn't remember much about it other than that I loved it! I have been meaning to get myself up to date with all of episodes for ages now and I thought it was about time that I did, in time for the new 'Clear Card Arc' season! I'm still getting through the episodes (slowly but surely) but I thought I'd include it anyway. The Japanese anime series, created by the iconic all-female manga artist group CLAMP, is all about a ten year old girl called Sakura who stumbles upon a book filled with magical cards in the basement of her house, which she then accidently releases and thus it's up to her to find each of the cards, known as Clow Cards, to put them back! Only people with magical abilities themselves can release these cards and with the help with a mythical creature known as Kerberos (Kero for short), Sakura uses these newly-discovered 'powers' to re-capture the Clow Cards. It's a really adorable anime, and even though it's aimed at a younger audience, it's awesome and I love it, and it has a huge fanbase all over the world. People of all ages love Cardcaptor Sakura and you might to! Give it a watch and see :) 

 Gerald's Game (2017) 

We are seeing so many of Stephen King's novels adapted into movies this year, most famously with the new release of the IT movie, which I adore and have now watched several times! There's also a new tv series made for The Mist, and two movies released by Netflix '1922' and 'Gerald's Game'. I am yet to watch the tv show but I have seen the movies and they were fantastic. Gerald's Game was my favourite out of the two and it was one of my favourite watches of the month. I now have a mighty need to add the novel (of the same name) to my reading list, because I enjoyed the movie so much! So what's the movie about? A couple with relationship problems decide to take a break for the weekend in a remote holiday home and after experimenting with a kinky game shortly upon arrival, the main character is left handcuffed to a bed after something tragic happens to her husband. With no hope of rescue, what will become of her? Will she be able to escape? Head to Netflix to find out. What I loved about this storyline/plotline was the realistic element, it made it such a compelling movie to watch! I mean, you could actually be partaking in a similar sexually-adventurous scenario and have something like that happen to you! It has you pondering throughout, what would I actually do in that situation? I am very much into psychology and so I thoroughly enjoyed the psychology basis of the movie, with the main character experiencing visions caused by her 'near-death experience'. It's an A* from me for 'Gerald's Game'! 

The End of the F***king World (2017)

I'm not really a massive fan of comedy series or movies. Sure, there are movies that do make me very nearly PMSL but in general, I don't usually watch comedies unless they include some of my favourite actors of the genre. I love Jim Carrey, Steve Carrell and Will Ferrell to name a few, however I wouldn't choose to go watch a comedy at the cinema.  When it comes to comedy, dark humour is my preferred type and this is why I enjoy animation series like Rick & Morty so much. When I saw the advert for the new channel 4 show, The End of the F***king World, as it is a dark comedy, coming-of-age drama combination I thought I'd give it a try. It features two quirky teenagers who end up going on a trip across country filled with young romance and self discovery, with both of them getting into some tough situations. After watching the first episode I couldn't stop, even though I couldn't tell if I liked it much or not, I had to see it through until the end! Do you ever feel like that after watching something... unsure of whether you actually liked it or not? I thought the two main actors were fantastic (Alex Lawther & Jessica Barden) so I'll definitely be watching other stuff that they've starred in. But I wasn't sure about the show itself. It's certainly worth a watch if you have some time to waste, since 4oD (I can't get used to calling it All 4) put the whole series up after episode 1 was shown on TV. Anyone else watched it yet? 

Leatherface (2017)

It wouldn't feel right if I didn't watch horror movies in October with it being Halloween-time, the month for all things spooky to be celebrated! I watched quite a few movies of this incredible genre, mostly old classics that I've seen again and again, but this was my best movie of the October! I really enjoyed this latest movie in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise, which shows us the origin story behind Leatherface, the iconic horror protagonist. I always wonder about how the 'bad guys' in horror movies came to be so I really like movies like this one which give us an intepretation of where it all began. If you search on google, the description that first pops up about this movie is as follows: 'A violent teen and three others kidnap a young nurse while escaping from a Texas mental instituation. Pursued by a vengeful sheriff, the disturbed young man embarks on a murderous rampage that shapes him into a legendary killer known as Leatherface'. I am more times than not left disappointed by modern horror movies, however I was impressed with this one :) The first Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie (1974) is one of my top 10 favourite horror movies, and I thought this one was an awesome additon to the franchise!

I hope you all enjoyed reading about my top six watches of October 2017. I watched ALOT last month so it was tough to decide which to include in today's post! I started watching the STARZ series Black Sails which I've had on my to-watch list for a few years now, and also a couple of interesting documentaries, including one called 'Head Cases: Serial Killers in the Delaware Valley (2013)' which is interesting as it's a finctional, re-enactment style movie. I'd love to know if I've encouraged you to watch any of these movies/shows.

Thankyou for reading! 

♥

What movies/tv shows have you been enjoying lately?

If you didn't catch last month's post, you can check it out here.