The Quarantine Film List: Week 2 | Zafira
Hey, I hope you’re all well!
So as promised, I’m back this week with another round of some amazing films to watch whilst in quarantine. I’ve tried to mix it up a bit more and put a wide range of films in here and I’ve quite badly attempted to illustrate my own version of the film posters so I hope you enjoy those (pls enjoy them i spent too long doing them).
1. American Beauty
I feel like a few people won’t be happy that I’ve put this here considering Kevin Spacey is quite the disgusting person however, his character meets a bit of an unfortunate but well deserved ending in this so in my eyes, I feel like it’s justified a little.
A timeless classic, that’s what American Beauty is. I know that one day I’ll be old and grey and still feel like watching this. It’s about Lester, a middle aged man who has a bit of mid life crisis. He hates his wife, has a daughter he barely knows and hates his job. He ends up becoming infatuated with his teenage daughter’s best friend which causes Lester to completely change his life.
I think you have to at least watch this film once in your life. It’s definitely an experience and will make you think plastic carrier bags are pretty.
2. the killing of a sacred deer
Starring the lovely Nicole Kidman and Collin Farrell, The Killing of Sacred Deer fits into that whole weird psychological horror/thriller genre like Midsommar and Hereditary. It’s one of those films that makes you feel not scared but incredibly uncomfortable afterwards.
Steven, a successful surgeon with a perfect life and family, takes a 16 year old boy named Martin under his wing after his father dies on his operating table. They form a bond and Martin is treated almost like Steven’s adopted son. However, as their bond grows, Martin’s malicious intent becomes clear as he seeks a very messed up sense of justice by punishing Steven and his family. He believes a ‘pure soul’ must be sacrificed in order to set some sort of balance.
Visually, this is stunning. Each frame feels so clean and well structured. It’s easy on the eyes.
3. penelope
I remember the first time I had watched this was during wet play in primary school and even then at like 8 years old, I knew this would be a film I’d think about for the rest of my life.
Christina Ricci stars as a aristocratic heiress named Penelope who was born affected by the Wilhern spell which was put on her family many years ago and gives her the misfortune of being born with the nose of a pig. The only way to break the spell is quite unique and unbelievable. It’s … true love.
Her family bring countless suitors to the house since she’s hidden away at her family’s estate at their attempt to try and break the spell. A tabloid reporter however is eager to get a photograph of the mysterious Penelope and enlists the help of Max (played by the dreamy James McAvoy) who poses as a prospective suitor and ends up slowly falling in love with her.
It’s a great early 00’s rom com. One of the best in my opinion.
4. Queen
After going to Asian wedding event to Asian wedding event, there’s one song that’s always playing at a Mehndi and that is London Thumakda. A few months ago, I saw that this was on Netflix so I ended up watching it and was quite thoroughly surprised at how much I liked it.
Rani, a girl from Dehli is about to marry who she thinks is the perfect man, Vijay. It’s beautiful watching the scenes leading up to her wedding day, seeing her family so happy, seeing all the traditional wedding stuff play out and it’s so colourful and pretty. This all changes when Vijay calls the wedding off the day before leaving her heart broken.
Rani decides to venture out and go on their honeymoon alone to Paris where she makes new friends, meets new people, tries out new experiences and most importantly, discovers herself.
This is so different than most Bollywood movies that I’ve seen, it’s really refreshing actually and I loved every moment of this film.
5. Perfect Blue
Now we’re all suffering from a bit of headache from being inside too long and Perfect Blue will extenuate that headache and leave you feeling quite confused. But in a good way of course. I don’t think even after watching this a handful of times, I’m still exactly sure what happened in this.
I haven’t ventured into the world of anime at all but from what I’ve heard, Satoshi Kon (director of Perfect Blue) is wonderful. So wonderful in fact that his films have inspired films such as Requiem for a Dream and Black Swan. These are both films that are so so so amazing.
Perfect Blue is about a retired pop singer who decides to pursue her dream of becoming an actress. Her sense of reality however becomes a little disturbing when a fan from her past begins stalking her and Mima finds it difficult to separate what is real and what isn’t.
This is animated beautifully, every little detail is done perfectly whether that’s little objects in Mima’s room or what she’s wearing.
6. Frank
I actually watched this a few days ago and shared this on my Instagram stories because I absolutely loved this.
Jon, a young man who is an aspiring musician with a bit of boring life, decides to take the plunge and join an eccentric pop band led by Frank. Frank is a very mysterious and strange man who always wears this freakish fake head that he never takes off (as illustrated above).
I think this film is a bit of everything. It explores mental illness but at the same time, it’s also a very bittersweet comedy about friendship and identity. It’s one of the most unpredictable films you could ever watch. Everything I anticipated didn’t happen, the film had a life of its own.
I also love all the songs they sing in this, as strange as they are, they’re pretty good.
7. the darjeeling limited
I had to try and restrain myself from filling these lists with Wes Anderson films because I adore them so much but the Darjeeling Limited is something I think everyone will truly like.
Three brothers come together after a year of not seeing or speaking to each other since their father’s funeral decide to set off on a train voyage across Indian to try and reconnect with each other.
All three of them of so different, one of them is obnoxiously wealthy, the other is heartbroken over a break up (watch Hotel Chevalier please this is who it’s about and most importantly Natalie Portman is in it!) and the last, who enjoys taking things from his family without asking and is about to become a father.
It’s a story about family and grief, it’s hilarious and obviously, aesthetically the most beautiful thing I’ll see. Even the train itself is set up in the most visually stunning way and hello? They’re in India. The most colourful and wonderful place you could possibly be.
8. i lost my body
This felt like what I can only describe as a fever dream. It was so weird and dark and just so incredibly sad but with hints of upliftingness?
The story focuses on the character Naoufel, or rather Naoufel’s hand who is roaming the streets of Paris trying to find the rest of it’s body and we through Naoufel’s memories slowly unravel how his hand became severed from it’s body. It’s about self exploration but it’s also about love and life and death. It’s a strange watch but a good watch.
I hope you enjoyed this second round of films! I’ll post my third series sometime next week so make sure you follow me on my socials to know when that’s up.
Thanks for reading,
Underrated TV Shows #1 | Zafira
Hey!
I'm what you would probably call a 'binger' when it comes to TV shows. I'm crazy about them. I love nothing more than a TV show I can waste my time on.
Last month I did an 'Underrated Movies' post and a lot of you really liked it so I thought I'd do another one but dedicated to TV shows. I'm kind of a picky person when it comes to shows, I like something with a bit of grip to it. It ultimately depends on what mood I'm in. I can go from watching something as terrible as Riverdale (don't even lie to yourself that show is a mess) to something as complex as Westworld.
Here's 8 of what I think are probably the best underrated TV shows at the minute:
ORPHAN BLACK
Many, many years ago (like 5 but ok), BBC Three (yes this was when that still existed) showed what I thought was literally the best TV show I had watched at the time. To be completely fair, I was only like 13 years old and was watching Pretty Little Liars so pretty much anything could have been better than that but this was so different than any other concept a TV show has had before.
The show is all about a woman who witnesses the suicide of a woman who looks exactly like her. Long story short, turns out the woman was a clone and the company that created them are trying to kill her and the rest of her identicals off one by one. It's a strangely unique show. It's insanely good. You'd be amazed at how connected you become to all the characters and how different all the clones are. It feels like they're all being played by different actors it's crazy.
2. THE ROMANOFFS
I've recently become an Amazon Prime member (helloo 6-month free student trial) and I love it. I especially love all these Amazon Studio shows and movies. I read the reviews for this show and I honestly, wasn't expecting anything grand or life-changing. I've had a strange fascination with the actual Romanovs for a long time now. I guess it all began when I watched Anastasia as a child but it's just a part of history that's intrigued me because of how sad it all is.
It's one of those shows where each episode is a different storyline which you think would be a bit annoying but it's so so so good because there's so much detail and focus in each episode. They're also each over an hour long which makes it feel like you're watching a movie.
Anyway, the show is about 8 different people that think they're descendants of the actual Romanovs. And of course, they're obnoxious and just very entertaining to watch. Some way or the other, the different characters in each episode connect. Kind of like in Love Actually but they don't actually meet which is a bit disappointing but nonetheless, it's such a good watch. If you're someone that watched Mad Men then you would love this because a lot of the cast from Mad Men are in it. It's also made by the creator of Mad Men. I think it's had a lot of unnecessary hate, ignore the reviews and just watch it. (except my review of course)
3. Z: THE BEGINNING OF EVERYTHING
This is another Amazon Studios series and I adore this so much and I'm so annoyed it's been cancelled.
Scott Fitzgerald has had a warm place in my heart ever since I read the Great Gatsby. I read a few bits about his wife Zelda here and there online and everything I've concluded from that is that she was probably one of the greatest women to have ever lived. When this show was recommended to me on Amazon I didn't even have to think, I just watched it straight away.
It's roughly based on Zelda Fitzgerald's life, everything comes from her point of view which I love. It starts off with her life shortly before meeting Scott but massively focuses on her relationship with him which is super rocky and just a massive sh*t show. The show also made me hate Scott Fitzgerald quite a bit. He's such a ... man. You'd think such a profound writer would be different especially because he writes such beautiful things about love and Zelda. He treated her pretty poorly.
This show is so worth watching. Zelda is crazy and wild and so full of energy. Also, did I mention Christina Ricci plays her???
4. TWIN PEAKS
Writing a little segment about me and my relationship with Twin Peaks is not enough. One day I'll have to write an entire post about it but it truly did change my life. I was going through a strange period of life, kind of an eh one when I found it. I wasn't in the happiest of places and something about this show just flipped my life completely around. My entire life is incredibly influenced by this show.
This show is definitely not everyone's cup of tea. It's more for those of you who appreciate the weird stuff, the stuff that makes no sense but also so much sense. It's also kind of old but good old.
It's about the small town of Twin Peaks where the dead body of a girl has been found. An FBI agent comes to the town to investigate and figure out what happened. This is the show that started all the 'small town' mystery shows like Riverdale (which actually features some of the Twin Peaks cast).
If you're looking for something different then this is it. Watch it and come be my bff please because no one I know has ever seen it :(
5. THIS IS US
This is one of the more 'popular' shows on this list compared to the rest but still, no one seems to know that this gem is floating around.
I have this weird obsession with shows and movies where they use the multiple characters whose lives somehow intertwine storyline like Love Actually and Valentine's Day. I just think they're interesting to watch and I love seeing how everyone is connected.
This is Us has one of those storylines but is super unique. I've never seen anything like it and I don't think I ever will because this is done so so so well. It's about a set of triplets, not your average triplets though, some very individual and distinct set of triplets. The show is all about their lives as well as their parents. It's something you will cry, laugh and get angry at. The cast is also just spectacular.
It's a really good show to watch with your family or with friends. I definitely need to persuade some of mine to watch it.
7. THE COLLECTION
Another Amazon show, I promise I'm not being sponsored by them although I wouldn't mind it if they did (pls sponsor me).
The Collection is made for fashion lovers like myself. It's set just after the war in a fashion house and the house is tasked to restore Paris as the fashion capital. It has a very Peaky Blinders-esque tone to it which I love. There's lots of drama, whether that's family or business or even both.
I think it was shot so well and it's set in France what's not to love? I love the clothes, I love seeing the fashion industry trying to pull it's self back together after the war and I love the surprising amount of depth this show has to it. I hope there is a season 2 so badly because it deserves it.
8. BIG MOUTH
I was heavily debating whether to put this in or not but it's too good of a show to miss out from this list.
This show is certainly not for the light-hearted, sensitive 'snowflakes'. It's vulgar, rude, blunt and most importantly, absolutely hilarious. It's the funniest thing I've seen in the longest time. It's an animated series about teens starting and going through puberty. They have these things called hormone monsters which are literally the best imaginary things to have ever been created.
It's one of the best things to have ever graced Netflix and they also recently released a Valentine's day special which has become one of my favourite seasonal specials of anything ever.
Thanks for reading and if you're watching anything good at the minute please let me know!
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