What I've Been Watching: November Edition | Blogmas #4

Hey lovelies! I hope that you are all enjoying my blogmas posts, it's certainly been fun writing them and giving myself something exciting to think about everyday :) I got some more Christmas presents in the post today and I am definitely looking forward to wrapping them. I just love preparing presents for people, putting some TLC into choosing the paper and the gift tags and bows and gift bags, even though I am literally so bad at wrapping things neatly! I just adore the look on my loved ones faces when I give them their presents. Nothing quite compares to seeing people smile! Just talking about it is making me excited, haha. Before I get carried away talking about Christmas though, on with today's post. It's a new month and so it's time for a new What I've Been Watching post! I have to admit that I have been spending a lot of time in bed lately, and thus Netflix really has been my best friend so expect to see quite a few TV series on my post today. I hope you enjoy reading guys! 

Krampus (2015)

Well straight away, here I am with more Christmas talk, haha! This movie is a festive-themed horror, for those of you who are not a fan of the over-joyous Christmas family movies. If you follow on Instagram, you may have seen my post the latest additions to my Funko Pint Size Heroes Horror Classics collection If not, find it here. Anyhow, I finally got the super cute Krampus figure and it prompted me to finally watch the movie! I love all things German and I'm also a fan of folklore and legends passed down through the generations, so I was curious about the tale of the anti-Santa Claus that comes to punish bad children. I wanted to see if it was cheesy or not, as many modern horrors seem to be, but I was surprised to find that I enjoyed it! With the help of a newly discovered app called Rabbit, me and a good friend of mine from overseas were able to watch the movie together, which was awesome! If you have friends or family abroad, or are in a long-distance relationship, I recommend checking out the app for yourself :) So, what's Krampus about? It focuses on one particular family, who's arguing and lack of festive spirit unleashes the 'wrath of a fearsome demon'. You'll have to watch it to find out for yourself if Christmas cheer overcomes evil! 

Alias Grace (2017)

Back in July, I watched the new Hulu production of The Handmaid's Tale, based on the novel by Margaret Atwood. After watching the show and really enjoying it, I decided to read the book too. I also loved this, and so when I heard that Netflix's new show Alias Grace was also adapted from a novel by the same author, I just had to give it a watch! It was definitely a great storyline, one of those that has you really thinking, it keeps you on your toes as the saying goes. The main character is Grace Marks, who has been convicted of murder and is sentence to life in prison, and the story is apparently based on actual events too which is cool. As we watch Grace Marks tell her story to a young psychologist, it has you questioning whether you are a good judge of character and it's interesting to see the various sides of the story. If you enjoy period dramas and murder mysteries, then this is sort of like the two mashed together! Let me know what you think if you've watched it or you do after reading my post :) I think I'm going to give the book a read now, and maybe a couple more from Margaret Atwood too. 

Top of the Lake (2013)

This show was a very compelling and emotional watch. It is a mystery crime drama set in New Zealand, and is co-produced by the British & Australia-New Zealand BBC and by Sundance TV in the US. It follows the attempted suicide and later disappearance of a 12 year old girl who is from a notorious criminal family within the town where the story is set. Before the young girl goes missing, the local police discover that she is also pregnant and launch an investigation into the circumstances surrounding it. In the show, we follow Detective Robin Griffin as she works on the case and searches for the missing girl. I don't know how else to explain the show without giving too much away, but there are a lot of interesting characters. The whole series is on Netflix and is great to binge watch! I recently just found out that there was a sequel released too so I will be checking that out as soon as I finish typing up today's post. I've seen quite a few movies and shows set in New Zealand and have very much liked all of them. They just seem to be more realistic and have complex storylines, which is something that I really enjoy. Oh, and the filming locations are always so beautiful :) 

The Sinner (2017)

This USA Network/NBC series was recommended to me by the lovely Nat over at ThereMightBeCoffee via a twitter conversation :) Once I finished watching Mind Hunter, which was pretty good but nothing special for me unfortunately, I loved straight onto The Sinner. I'd seen people talking about how much they were enjoying the show online, and I can now see why! It was a fantastic show, another one to get your brain cells working and have you pondering about the different scenarios and storylines that occur throughout the show. It's another crime drama (they are apparently my favourite thing right now!) and is about a seemingly ordinary woman who's happily married, is a doting mother, things are going great for her and then one day she suddenly snaps and kills someone. 'The Sinner' explores mental illness and what can drive someone to commit the ultimate sin. It's one of the best shows I've see this year so definitely one that I'd recommend. 

It Follows (2015)

I thought it was about time that I mentioned another movie, haha! Last month, other than Krampus, I watched quite a few horror movies. This movie was one that my friend suggested we watch and I thought I'd give it go, even though when it was released two years ago, I was put off when I heard it had a supernatural theme. I'm really not a huge fan of the modern supernatural genre, all the 'Paranormal Activity' movies in my opinion were not great. Not that most horror movies are realistic, but at least with some of them there is a possibility of the scenarios happening and lots of them are inspired by real life crime stories. However when it comes to supernatural movies, I don't believe in ghosts and ghouls haunting people/places, so they are not thrilling to watch for me, and often bore me a little. Sorry if you're a supernatural/paranormal fan! The trailer for this movie however did look good so I thought why not! It wasn't actually all that bad, there were parts of the movie that I loved and then there were parts that I thought were pretty crappy, random or just didn't fit in with the storyline. When it comes to the story. it was different than I expected which made me more curious to keep watching to find out what happened. It is an independent movie (It Follows debuted at the Cannes Film Festival) and I really do enjoy them, as I feel they focus more on the details VS big production movies. I thought it was sort of a teenage coming of age-esque story mixed with a horror movie. I feel like the movie had many hidden meanings and messages, especially with regards to mental illness and also sexually-transmitted diseases. Has anyone else seen this movie? If so, I'd love to hear what you make of it? 

Godless (2017)

I've saved the best until last, as this Netflix original series was my favourite watch of the entire month! I really like films set in the Wild West era, I have since I was young, and I thought that nothing compared to the oldies until I watched this one. Godless is set in America during the 1880s and is all about an ex-member of a gang of outlaws (played by Jack O'Connell, who is pretty good-looking too ;) haha. You may remember him from the TV show, Skins), who is being pursued with a vengeance by the ruthless leader of the gang, Frank Griffin. It is a brutal series which really reflects the ferocity of the period, and also the resilience of the people surviving through these though times. There's lots of badass woman in it too! I want to talk so much about it but I'm trying to avoid spoilers. I'm very much looking forward to another season! Please let there be another season!

So, these are my six favourite watches of November. I watched quite a few other shows, but many of them are still ongoing so I’ll probably include some of those in my December edition. I’ve watched a few more movies too, including going to see Thor: Ragnarok at the cinema with my friends, which was an awesome movie! It made me laugh a lot and who doesn’t love hot dudes in armour? #TeamLoki ♥ Let me know if I’ve given you all some inspiration on what to add to your watchlist next. Have an awesome week everyone! 

Thankyou for reading!

♥

What have you been watching lately? Have any recommendations?

See you guys tomorrow for Day 5 of Blogmas. If you haven't checked out my previous posts, you can find them here.