Top Ten Tuesday #8

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created and hosted by The Broke and the Bookish where, each week, a Top Ten list is posted based on a particular topic.

This week's: Top Ten Favourite Movies or and TV Shows

I'm going to do a combination of my favourite movies AND TV shows because I'd love to share both with you (: Gonna cheat and do 10 movies and 10 TV shows :D

Top Ten Movies

1. Howl's Moving Castle (ハウルの動く城)  2004

This is my absolute favourite movie of all time and it's my most watched movie. Most people prefer Spirited Away (which I do love) but I'm a sucker for the romance in Howl's (plus, he's so swoony). It's such a great story and I love the slightly steampunk feel to the world. Studio Ghibli/Hayao Miyazaki can do no wrong. I still need to read the book though. If you do decide to watch this, DO NOT WATCH THE ENGLISH DUB. I don't care that Howl is voiced by Christian Bale, English dubs are horrible. Watch the original Japanese with English subs!

2. Pretty Woman 1990



Favourite rom-com of all time. Richard Gere back in the day mhmm. This is a rom-com I can always turn to when I need a pick me up. It's funny, so sweet and swoony. And all that awesome shopping omg!

3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 2011



The best HP film. I actually watched this twice I think - midnight screening, 3D and then IMAX 3D. I loved all the HP films but I think they did this one the most perfectly. The Prince's Tale (my favourite chapter out of every single one of the books was done to the book) and The Battle of Hogwarts was epic! Honestly out of all the book to movie adaptions, Deathly Hallows was the only book that actually needed to be split into 2 films!

4. The Avengers 2012



My favourite superhero movie :D such a great cast that played their characters so well, awesome storyline and absolutely fantastic dialogue. What more can one ask for? Avengers 2 obviously. CAN'T WAIT.

5. Center Stage 2000



Anyone who knows me, knows I'm a sucker for dance movies. I've basically watched every dance movie out there (I think) and Center Stage (American spelling I know) still stands as my favourite. I re-watched this last week and ahhh the feels - Sascha Radetsky <3

6. Beauty and the Beast 1991



Tale as old as time, true as it can be, barely even friends, then somebody bends, unexpectedly...
I have so many Disney favourites but Beauty and the Beast probably is my number 1 because I can relate to Belle and her love of books. I also love the way it breaks stereotypes of not falling in love based on looks, but because of personality and what's inside a person. My dream is to have the Beast's library.

7. Tangled 2010



And at last I see the light, and it's like the fog has lifted. And at last I see the light, and it's like the sky is new...
My other Disney favourite. Growing up, Mandy Moore was one of my role models and I absolutely loved her voicing Rapunzel. I See the Light is probably one of my top 3 Disney songs. I love the humour interspersed with this - Pascal, Flynn/Eugene and Maximus <3

8. Sense and Sensibility 1995



One of the my favourite Austen novels and I thought this BBC adaption portrayed the book perfectly. That cast <3 Half of them appeared in HP (; Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Kate Winslet <3 Ugh Alan Rickman was so swoony in this.

9. Tomorrow Never Dies 1997



Not many people know this and are surprised when they find out but I am a massive 007 fan. My dad loved James Bond so I grew up watching the films - majority of which were Sean Connery and Roger Moore. But my all time favourite will always be Pierce Brosnan as 007 - he's so handsome and swoony and those sex eyes omg. I have so many 007 favourites but I think Tomorrow Never Dies tops the list because I loved Michelle Yeoh in this too.

10. Trainspotting 1996



Not for the faint-hearted this one is about drugs. So uh don't watch this if you're like... I don't know. But I loved this film. It was absolute mind fk and so very real and raw.

Honorary Mentions:
Frozen 2013, Mean Girls 2004, The Parent Trap 1998 and Hero 2002

Top Ten TV Shows (including dramas and anime)

1. Charmed 1998 - 2006

This TV show was my childhood. I watched the original run from the time I was 5 up until the series ended when I was like 14 and was really devo when they took it off prime time started showing it during the middle of the day. I have the DVDs and I think this was the best TV show ever made. Do not argue with me on this. Piper, Phoebe and Paige <3 (no to Prue sorry I've always hated her). Witches, romance, drama - can you see why I love reading YA?

2. Veronica Mars 2004 - 2007

LOGAN AND VERONICA <3 I also watched the original run of this back in the day - from the very first episode! So as a Marshmallow I was ecstatic when I heard about the movie as I was always expecting a season 4 after that season 3 end (the look that passed between LoVe!!!). There has never been a boring episode with VMars. This and Sherlock are the only 2 detective shows that have really wow'd me.

3. Hana Yori Dango (花より男子) TV series 2005 - 2008



The only drama I can re-watch every year, this Japanese drama of the manga is the best ever. The Korean version, Boys Over Flowers, was terrible in my opinion and let's not even mention Meteor Garden. The cast is perfect and the story is so bittersweet at times. Fun fact: 9 years later, apparently Mao Inoue (Tsukushi Makino) and Jun Matsumoto (Tsukasa Domyouji) who played the lead female and male, ARE APPARENTLY DATING. Best news I've heard.

4. X/1999 1996
Their destiny was foreordained



Based on the manga X by CLAMP this is about the end of days as the year 2000 approaches. My favourite anime EVER. Those who are newer to anime while complain about the old-style art of this but the story is beautiful and tragic - totally worth watching if you can still find it today (I've been trying to find it for ages to re-watch but I can't find it).

5. Sword Art Online 2012



My second favourite anime series, I only watched this earlier this year. I marathoned this because it was so fantastic. In the year 2022, MMORPGs let you put on a headgear and enter the game in this whole virtual world. In the game Aincrad, the GM has prevented anybody from logging out - anybody who tries to disconnect the headgear in the real world, will fry the player's brain. If you die in game, your brain dies. The only way to get out of the game is risk your life and win the game. I LOVE the premise of this because it questions how much we value our lives and its worth. Do you play it safe by doing nothing in game but stay in town - you won't die... but you'll be hooked to an IV for god knows how long as you hope someone in game wins. Or... do you risk your life and try to beat the game so you can get out? WATCH THIS!!!

6. Pride and Prejudice 1995



Austen's best novel <3 MR. DARCY! COLIN FIRTH AS MR. DARCY AHHHH *dies from swooning* The only adaption of Pride and Prejudice I will watch, I re-watch this a lot :D

7. Game of Thrones 2011 - 


I need to catch up on this but I started this from the beginning and was immediately hooked. From beheadings to sex scenes in a matter of seconds this goes from one extreme to another. Fantastic cast, heart butchering story yesss.

8. Sherlock 2010 - 


Benedict Cumberbatch is the perfect Sherlock Holmes. Such a good TV show I love the way Cumberbatch does the cold and detached Holmes so well. Buuuut Lara Pulver as Irene Adler just doesn't cut it. Rachel McAdams please <3

9. Gossip Girl 2007 - 2012


DON'T JUDGE ME. This will always be one of my favourite series. I loved the scandals, the fashion, AND THE ROMANCE <3 Chuck and Blair my ultimate OTP since season 1.

10. Return of the Condor Heroes (神雕侠侣) 2006



A Chinese wuxia series based on the best-selling book of the same name I really loved this drama. I never watched the 1983 version which my mum says was better, but this one had AMAZING scenery and cinematography. Like woah I've never seen such beautiful scenery - even Hero with its colours didn't compare to this. Also, Crystal Yifei is so pretty. 

TFIOS Movie Non-Spoiler Review

"The fault in our life"

"The fault in our love"

As a YA book blog I have never done a movie review before – not even for a YA book to movie adaptation. Sure I’d post a tweet and snap a picture on Instagram but that’s about it.

Yesterday night, I had the privilege of being one of the few in the world to watch The Fault in Our Stars thanks to Bookworld’s (an online bookstore under Penguin, the publishers of TFIOS in Australia) Little Infinities screening. Many countries around the world are showing pre-screenings of TFIOS as part of the Little Infinities campaign. In Australia, Bookworld held a competition, where 65 people from each state were chosen based on their entry of “What does TFIOS mean to you?” I was one of the lucky ones that won and got to take 2 friends with me.

Once the movie finished I tweeted about it and posted a picture to Instagram and tumblr. The response I got was astounding:

Followers and non-followers alike liked, re-tweeted, reblogged my post but more significantly, everybody asked me how the movie was – specifically, if it was true to the book. Here I am now writing a non-spoiler review to calm you all down.

Firstly, let us all be reminded that John Green himself gave this film his own tick of approval. Sure, you think, he has to say that. But this is John Green guys. We’ve seen how closely he’s worked with Shailene, Ansel and the cast and crew of TFIOS. He may not have been completely involved 100%, but we’ve witnessed his growing relationship with Shailene and Ansel. We’ve seen how they all interact. Heck, John Green said that Ansel’s audition was extremely true to Gus. As Nerdfighters, I don’t think John Green would do wrong by his fans.

Are you appeased now? If so, leave now and wait in anticipation until the film releases in your country – you can wait it out, you can! If you’re STILL not convinced then by all means read my spoiler free “review”.

I don’t want to set your expectations any higher than you have them. Please keep in mind that this is purely my opinion. We’re all different – everybody likes different things. These are just my thoughts on the movie.

For many of us, The Fault in Our Stars is an extremely personal book. It may have touched us through Hazel and Gus’ beautiful love story that was told through Green’s witty and astounding writing. Or like some of us, myself included, this book was a cancer story that we could relate to, having known someone in our lives who lost their battle with cancer. But unlike other cancer stories, this wasn’t some sappy sob story that asked for pity. This was bitter, raw truth, told like it is; told with wisdom and humour and love. And to turn something like that into a movie, where so many YA books to movies got butchered? Well I can understand people’s worry. Time to address some of your concerns.

The movie was, in my opinion, VERY faithful to the book. And when I saw very I mean it was a perfect adaptation. As perfect as you can get. Being a movie, things need to be cut out, some elements reshuffled to fit everything in a 2h time slot. Boone and the crew did an amazing job of this. The most important bits were in there, maybe with a minuscule change to accommodate for time, but that was the only change you’d notice. The story my dear readers, resonates as strongly as the book.

I completely forgot that Shailene and Ansel were brother and sister in Divergent once I got past the beginning (like 10 minutes into the film as soon as Ansel appears). Everybody was like “oh no they’re brother and sister and now they’re boyfriend and girlfriend that’s so weird”. Their familial bond from Divergent does not show. Instead, we get this chemistry between them that is practically tangible. We get their witty banter that makes them Hazel and Gus.

All your favourite quotes are there. Every quote that has been repeated by us fans over and over for their wondrous and profound meaning? It was in the movie. Shai and Ansel got it WORD FOR WORD. Are you internally screaming? I know I was.

The casting and acting was sublime. I absolutely adored Lotte Verbeek as Lidewij and Nat Wolff was the perfect Isaac, making us all laugh and cry. Willem Dafoe does Van Houten like he was born for the role – douchepants and all.

The setting, and the music, ahhhh the music (ED SHEERAN!) complemented the film perfectly.

I hope this helped. I hope I haven’t raised your expectations even more – if I have, I sincerely hope they are met. If not, then I would like to know that this review sort of appeased your fears.

I laughed. I cried. I laughed AND cried at the same time. I bawled my eyes out and was a sobbing mess, walking out of the cinema with tear stains on my face. And just like in the book, I was Hazel Grace as she experienced her infinity in the numbered days with Gus.

I hope you enjoy the movie when you see it.

Thank you again to Bookworld for this amazing opportunity.

The Fault in Our Stars opens in Australia June 5, and in the US June 6.

For those that are curious, this was my entry for what TFIOS meant to me, in 25 words or less:

In our darkest hours,

Life is ephemeral

It looks bleak;

Tomorrow is unknown

So live in the moment

Choose now,

And grasp your little infinity.