Favourites of 2013: Music, Film & TV

Now that it is officially 2014, I reflected on 2013 in the world of film, music and TV shows and shared my favourites with you.

Films

1) I'm a huge Avenger fan (although I only just watched all of the films throughout 2013 for the first time) but I went to see Iron Man 3 with my friend in May and thought it was absolutely brilliant and the best Iron Man film yet! Of course Robert Downey Junior is hilarious, but I loved how he had a softer, darker side to him. This film would not have been as successful as it was, had it not been for the humour that Ben Kingsley brought to his role.

2) Although this was released only a month or two ago, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire was probably my favourite film of 2013. It was so emotional (I cried and then I laughed and then I cried some more) and I personally believe that it was way better than the first film. Jennifer Lawrence is a wonderful actress and her fellow cast mates were also brilliant.

3) I watched Thor: The Dark World the day that it came out as I was so excited to see Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston! I had high hopes for this film and I was definitely not disappointed. Again, this film was an emotional roller coaster (Tom Hiddleston, you deserve an Oscar for your hilarious/heartbreaking acting) but the storyline had a very interesting concept that I really enjoyed. The only downside of this film was that it was over way too quickly (even though it's nearly 2 hours long - time flies when you're having fun).

I also liked:

We're The Millers - World War Z - The Great Gatsby - Now You See Me - Olympus Has Fallen

Albums 

1) MSMR have quickly become one of my favourite groups and Secondhand Rapture is wonderful. I heard "Salty Sweet" and "This isn't Control" in Pretty Little Liars a little while ago and fell in love with Lizzy Plapinger's voice and the catchy tunes of their songs. The lyrics are passionate and honest, for example "We fear rejection, prize attention, crave affection, Dream, dream, dream of perfection" to demonstrate the pressures of modern day society. My favourite tracks are Hurricane, Fantasy, Think Of You and Ash Tree Lane.

2) I first heard Sweater Weather in 2012 and soon realised just how talented The Neighbourhood truly were. They released their first album, I Love You early last year and it swiftly climbed the charts in the US. They basically combine dark, hypnotic hip-hop and indie beats with catchy lyrics and clear vocals to create a unique and distinct musical style. My favourite tracks are Afraid, Sweater Weather, Female Robbery and Let It Go.

3) I'll admit, I wasn't exactly the hugest fan of Arctic Monkeys before AM; I liked to listen to them but I would never consider myself to be a dedicated fan. AM is without a doubt their most successful album of their career. NME describe the album being about "sex, lust, frustration and isolation" and its clear Arctic Monkeys aimed to create an album without specifying a genre. The beats are dark and intimidating, yet excitingly thrilling to listen to. My favourite tracks are Knee Socks, Fireside, Snap Out Of It and Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High?

I also liked:

The 1975 by The 1975 - Bad Blood by Bastille - Holy Fire by Foals - Long Way Down by Tom Odell

Songs

1) I heard Of the Night by Bastille at the start of 2013 and soon became obsessed with it. It's one of those songs that make you just want to stand up and dance to. It immediately puts me in a good mood. Bastille, that was one amazing cover you did.

2) My Number is such a catchy song. I first heard it when I was watching MTV Rocks and this tune came on. I literally listened to this song more than a hundred times last year (it's the most listened to song on my iPhone) and I don't think it's possible to get bored of it. The chorus is brilliant and again, it makes you want to dance. Foals definitely stepped up their game last year.

3) Carry Me by Bombay Bicycle Club is a drum-heavy, electronic and bouncy song that you have to listen to on full volume to get the full effects. It's such a busy and intense song with sounds that shouldn't go together very well but sound absolutely brilliant. "You carry, you carry, you carry, you carry me" chants Jack Steadman. I want to go to an indie themed party with this blasting all night long. It's that good.

I also liked:

Full Circle by Half Moon Run - Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High? by Arctic Monkeys - Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke - Get Lucky by Daft Punk

TV shows
I absoloutely love watching TV shows, but I'm the kind of person that doesn't tend to start watching TV shows as soon as they're advertised on the TV. I seem to wait a little bit until I'm sure I'm ready to become addicted to the show. I love Arrow, The Vampire Diaries, Glee, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Pretty Little Liars, Teen Wolf and Made In Chelsea. Admittedly, I've only begun to watch two TV shows that premiered in 2013.

1) The Originals is a spin off from The Vampire Diaries. It's focused on the Mikaelson siblings, also known as the original vampires; Klaus (Joseph Morgan), the most hated and feared of the Originals, Elijah (Daniel Gillies), the most reasonable, peaceful and caring vampire and Rebekah (Claire Holt) who wishes to be normal but behaves cruelly and violently. Hayley (Phoebe Tonkin) is pregnant with Klaus' child and Klaus now focuses on taking down his protege, Marcel (Charles Michael Davis) who is in charge of New Orleans. The show has a good soundtrack and storyline which is entertaining to watch.

2) The Carrie Diaries is an American teen drama show which is a prequel to Sex and the City. The show focuses on Carrie Bradshaw (AnnaSophia Robb) during her junior year of high school in 1984. She explores life in New York whilst interning at famous fashion magazine, Interview, juggling love, friendship and achieving her dream of becoming a writer. The clothes and soundtrack is incredible due to it being based in the 80s (I would give anything to have grown up in the 80s). Austin Butler stars as Sebastian Kydd, Carrie's love interest (I have a huge crush on Sebastian ngl) and Freema Agyeman plays Larissa Loughlin who brings colourful energy and humour to the show. 

I hope you enjoyed reading my 2013 favourites as much as I enjoyed writing it although it took me ages to write.  Let me know what your favourite songs, film and TV shows of 2013 have been in the comments!

Sophie x

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What I got for Christmas 2013

Hi everyone, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. I ate far too much food, spent time with my family and watched plenty of films on TV. I decided to show you some of the gifts that I received for Christmas because I absoloutely love to read blog posts or watch youtube videos about what other people got for Christmas. I would just like to firmly state that I am not bragging or showing off at all at what I got, but just thought it would be nice to document and share with you. I am incredibly grateful for the gifts my family gave me and I do feel very lucky.

A few weeks ago I went shopping with my family and we all picked out a perfume/aftershave that we wanted for the next year. After what seemed like hours in Debenhams, I eventually decided on Daisy by Marc Jacobs as it smells wonderful. It's not overpowering but its sophisticated and definitely noticeable. In my stocking, Santa surprised me with two essie nail polishes. It's slightly annoying as the names of the polishes aren't on them, but I really like the colours. One is a pretty shade of purple/blue and another is a dirty, dark grey/green. I had my previous laptop for over 3 years and it was beginning to freeze and overheat constantly, so my lovely parents purchased a white, Sony laptop which I have fallen in love with. 

My sister also received the same laptop and her keyboard lights up, but for some reason mine doesn't. I've googled how to make it light up for the last few days and experimented with the settings but still can't work it out. If anyone has the same problem or knows how to make the keyboard light up, please let me know! Other than that, it's perfect! I've recently become obsessed with Tumblr again. You can follow me here.

I love rings and so my mum got me three sets of beautiful gold and silver rings from River Island. Most of them are midi rings which I adore. I've been admiring this gold, chunky chain necklace for a while as I love how they can transform a simple outfit into something a bit more glamourous and trendy. 

Next summer, I'm going to Orlando in Florida for a couple of weeks with my family. My parents gave me and my sister this waterproof camera to document the fun we will have when we're there (swimming with dolphins, water parks and snorkelling etc) which I think is such a brilliant idea! I also got the Disney Princess CD with songs ranging from Tangled to Beauty and the Beast so that by the time I go to Disney World I'll know all the lyrics to the songs. 

I love Made In Chelsea and I love all the songs that feature on the show so my sister bought me the Made In Chelsea soundtrack which I'm super excited about. My favourite tracks on the album are "Midnight City", "In Your Car", "Drink, Dance, Play", "Summer", "Full Circle" and "Enjoy the Silence". This year I watched all of the Avenger films for the first time and soon became addicted so my parents gave me all my favourites; Thor, Iron man (1, 2 and 3) and The Avengers. I went to see We're the Millers at the cinema and I couldn't stop laughing the whole time so Santa decided to give me it, yay.

Once again, I'd just like to state that I am not boasting. I feel very lucky and have thanked my family for their amazing and generous gifts. I'd love to hear what you guys got for Christmas so please feel free to leave a comment.

Sophie x

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I Heart Autumn Tag

Hey everyone! Long time no see. I'm not going to apologise for our absence because we always seem to say sorry hundreds of times after being MIA and it gets annoying (but I do apologise anyway). We've been extremely busy with work at the moment as we started college in September. A Levels are such a huge step from GCSE!! However, it's now October half term and although we've got even more homework/coursework to do, I decided to do the autumn tag!

grizzlyz

Favourite thing about autumn?

I absoloutely love how the trees transform into beautiful shades of golden orange and vivid reds. Snuggling up in bed with a good book/magazine in the evenings with fairy lights glowing around the room and being able to hear the wind and the rain outside. I also like carving pumpkins and bonfire night when the sky bursts with colour whilst you huddle in a group and stare upwards and all you can smell is smoke and delicious food being cooked.

Favourite drink?

I've never been one to like warm drinks but I tried my friends' hot chocolate from Starbucks the other day and I surprisingly loved it. I'd love to experiment with marshmallows and sprinkles, but I've recently given up chocolate until advent starts so hot chocolate will have to wait until December unfortunately. 

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Favourite scent/candle?

I love the smoky smell of bonfires and firework night, but of course I also love Yankee candles! Vanilla candles smell absoloutely delicious.

Favourite colour?

Autumn is just a perfect excuse to wear darker clothing and this has influenced my favourite colours this season. I adore oxblood (all year round to be honest), brown, dark blues and greens. Not typically red, orange, yellow but all set for winter!

Favourite fashion trend?

This season I'm in love with tartan but not the typical red tartan, more like this tartan from Urban Outfitters. I stomp around in boots all year round but they're perfect for autumn too. The temperature hasn't quite dropped enough yet to wear chunky knit scarves yet, but I can't wait to begin layering them with my outfits when the temperature begins to cool soon.

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Favourite TV show?

I can't narrow it down to just one, so here is a list of TV shows I can't wait for/am currently enjoying: The Originals, The Vampire Diaries, Arrow, New Girl, I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! and Downton Abbey.

Favourite Music to listen to?

Hmm, at the moment I love Arctic Monkeys particularly Knee Socks and Fireside. I also love the song Wide Eyes by Local Natives. I mainly search 'autumn' and 'indie' into 8tracks and listen to all the mixes on there. Check out my account to see what my favourite mixes and songs are. 

Favourite film?

It's not even out yet, but I'm dead excited for Thor 2 to come out on Wednesday. My two friends and I are planning to go see it on the day it comes out eek!! 

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I hope you enjoyed my autumn tag. I tag anyone to do it!!! Thanks for reading.

Sophie x

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