Isabelle Seow
With the world on lockdown and everyone in self-isolation, we all suddenly have more free time to do what we enjoy, like baking, exercising or art. But sometimes we do need a bit of down-time, so I’ve compiled a few of my favourite TV shows, books and movies to enjoy.
TV Shows:
Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Mark Gatiss)
Sherlock is one of my absolute favourite TV shows. I was part of the first student exchange between NLCS London and Dubai, where I was introduced to this show by my exchange partner. Doctor Strange star Benedict Cumberbatch takes the spotlight as our favourite detective in a modern-day London, joined by The Hobbit’s Martin Freeman as his trusty friend Doctor John Watson. Together they take on our favourite villain, Jim Moriarty, played by the ever-lovable Andrew Scott. If you enjoy a good adrenaline-filled chase scene and snarky sarcasm, then be sure to check out BBC’s Sherlock. Season 1 poster pictured.
Episode Length: 90 minutes
Episodes Per Season: 3
Number of Seasons: 4
Extras: pilot episode, Christmas special (90 minutes)
Warnings: minimal language, violence, blood, substance use
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Clark Gregg, Chloe Bennet, Ming-Na Wen)
If you love Marvel then you must have heard of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D before. The show follows Clark Gregg as Agent Phil Coulson, back from the dead after being stabbed in the heart by Loki in the Avengers (How? That’s a spoiler). Together with his select team, consisting of specialist Grant Ward, biochemist Jemma Simmons, engineer Leo Fitz, the Cavalry Melinda May and hacker Skye, they take on some familiar enemies – the Chitauri, Kree and Hydra, and meet some other familiar faces – Nick Fury, Maria Hill and Lady Sif. AOS is set sometime after Avengers, touching on consequences of events from The Avengers, Thor: The Dark World, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: the Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War. Over seven seasons, they encounter old branches of Hydra, people with inhuman abilities, aliens, take a trip to the future and perhaps to the past. With a diverse cast and some familiar characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), you’ll be sure to enjoy this action-packed sci-fi show. Be prepared to become extremely emotionally attached to these characters as you join them on the most thrilling Marvel adventure yet. Be sure to catch up quick as season 7 started airing this May! Season 1 poster pictured.
Episode Length: 40 minutes
Episodes Per Season: 22 (S6 & S7:13)
Number of Seasons: 7
Extras: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot (6 episodes)
Warnings: minimal language, violence, blood
Good Omens (David Tennant, Michael Sheen, John Hamm)
We’ve all seen those shows and movies about Armageddon and the world ending, but what about an angel and a demon working together to save the world? Both Aziraphale and Crowley have been on Earth since the beginning, sort-of-friends but not really – angels and demons are on opposite sides after all. Eleven years ago, Crowley was tasked with delivering the Antichrist to a group of satanic nuns, but the baby switch ends up going awry. Living with the American family that they believed to be raising the Antichrist, they are determined to have a neutral influence on the boy so he doesn’t destroy the world. However, once he is supposed to receive his hellhound on his eleventh birthday, they realise they have the wrong boy. Meanwhile, Anathema Device is working on deciphering prophecies from her descendant, Agnes Nutter, all of which have come true so far. They bring her to Tadfield, where she comes across a boy named Adam and his friends, as well as his dog, appropriately named Dog. At the same time, Newton Pulsifer is also on his way to Tadfield as well, also looking for the Antichrist. By the end, it takes this strange kettle of fish to stop the four horsemen and the impending apocalypse.
Episode Length: 50 minutes
Episodes Per Season: 6
Number of Seasons: 1
Extras: Lockdown special
Books:
All Souls (Trilogy) – A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night, The Book of Life (Deborah Harkness)
In a world where witches, vampires and daemons live amongst humans, Diana Bishop is a witch who refuses to use her magic. Studying overseas at Oxford, she comes across a strange manuscript, Ashmole 782, a bewitched palimpsest that attracts the attention of the other creatures. With the aid of a vampire, professor Matthew Clairmont, they must keep the manuscript, which is discovered to be the Book of Life, out of the hands of the Congregation of opposing witches, vampires and daemons trying to get it for themselves. However, three pages are missing which must be retrieved to read the manuscript. In order to find them as well as a witch who can train Diana, who must now learn to use her powers, they travel back to Elizabethan England, meeting with Matthew’s old friends: the School of Night, including Walter Raleigh and Kit Marlowe. Diana must adapt to life in 1590, such as her American accent, clothing and writing. After returning to the present with the Book of Life, they must continue to search for the last two pages of the manuscript. Together, this unlikely band of creatures must work together to prevent the Book from falling onto the wrong hands.
Uprooted (Naomi Novik)
Uprooted is a fantasy-filled novel about a not-so-ordinary girl, Agnieszka. Every ten years, the Dragon takes one girl from the village, a small price to pay to protect them from the Wood, a corrupted forest full of evil magic. After their time is up, they leave the valley: different, distant and with no desire to stay. Agnieszka suspects her friend Kasia will be the one chose, perfect in every way she is not. To the surprise of us all (not really) she is chosen to live with the wizard to protect her family and friends. She soon learns magic from the Dragon, picking it up fast. Together with the wizard, she must protect the village from the Wood, now more powerful than ever with the return of the Queen. This book has very mixed reviews, but I highly suggest you give it a try. This book will have you hooked from the start, sprinkled with magic between the pages. The book follows Agnieszka’s story closely, her childhood and journey, slowly falling in love with the Dragon himself.
The Trials of Apollo (series) – The Hidden Oracle, The Dark Prophecy, The Burning Maze, The Tyrant’s Tomb, The Tower of Nero (Rick Riordan)
Following the events after Blood of Olympus, part of the Heroes of Olympus Series, the Trials of Apollo is a series of books by my favourite author Rick Riordan. Apollo, the god of the sun, healing and poetry, has been cast down to earth by his father, Zeus, as a 16-year-old mortal boy with no powers whatsoever, with the ridiculous name of Lester Papadopoulos. He quickly befriends demigod Meg McCaffrey, daughter of Demeter. He makes his way through Manhattan to find our favourite main character of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Percy Jackson himself. He brings them to Camp Half-Blood but doesn’t stick around long. Throughout the series Apollo struggles with adapting to mortal life, such as accessing his memory (which has 4612 years’ worth of memories), musical abilities, combat skills and terrible poetry (of which each chapter’s name is a terrible haiku). Meg quickly binds Apollo to her service, making her his master. Apollo must secure all the Oracles of prophecy and keep them out of the hands of Triumvirate Holdings, which is run by evil not-so-dead Roman emperors. Once he has completed all of this, he suspects he will have to face his old nemesis Python, who now resides in the original caves of the Oracle of Delphi. Throughout the series Apollo faces three evil emperors of old: Emperor Nero, Emperor Commodus and Emperor Caligula. We also get to see some familiar faces among Percy Jackson and Chiron: Leo Valdez, Calypso, Lityerses, Piper McLean, Jason Grace, Grover Underwood, Coach Hedge and his wife, Mellie, Reyna Ramírez-Arellano, Tyson the cyclops, Ella the harpy, Frank Zhang and Hazel Levesque. This series is an exciting sequel, facing consequences and aftereffects of the Second Giant War in Heroes of Olympus. Look out! The Tower of Nero comes out Autumn 2020.
Movies:
Knives Out (Chris Evans, Daniel Craig, Christopher Plummer)
Five words: murder mystery with plot twists. Have I got your attention now? Knives Out is a mystery film following the events after the death of crime novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer). Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is keen to find the culprit of the seeming suicide of the author, accompanied by Harlan’s nurse, Marta Cabrera (Ana de Armas), questioning the remainder of the somewhat dysfunctional Thrombey family. However, the culprit is not what they seem. With plot twists at every turn, Knives Out is bound to keep you on the edge of your seat, trying to pick up clues to who’s committed the crime. Chris Evans stars as the enrapturing grandson Ransom, with his many memorable jumpers as he aids our main protagonist Marta to avoid getting caught.
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 97%
Length: 2h 10m
PG Rating: 16+
Warnings: blood, language
Onward (Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Octavia Spencer)
In a world where the use of magic has faded away, elf brothers Ian (Tom Holland) and Barley (Chris Pratt) must locate a phoenix gem in order to bring back their dad for a day. Not-so-confident Ian must learn to use magic in order to complete the spell (which backfired in the beginning, resulting in him conjuring only his dad’s legs) while rambunctious magic buff Barley leads them to the gem’s location. A wholesome family bonding movie, join the Lightfoot brothers as they journey to be able to meet their dad before the sun sets, encountering a manticore, punk sprites and several raven statues. However, the gem comes with a curse, which their mother (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) discovers by teaming up with the Manticore (Octavia Spencer), setting off on their own adventure to save her sons with the aid of a special sword.
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 88%
Length: 1h 42m
PG Rating: PG
Warnings: none
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Jake Johnson)
We’ve all heard about the story of Spider-Man, but what about 7? In a curious turn of events, biracial main character Miles Morales gains spider powers after the original superhero is unfortunately killed by main antagonist, Kingpin. He joins our band of other spider themed heroes: another Spider-Man, Spider-Gwen, Spider-Ham, Spider-Man Noir and SP//dr, however they’re all from different dimensions and different years. They must work together to reopen the collider and get the heroes back to their own dimensions before they’re killed by the cellular decay they’re experiencing, but Miles is still struggling to adapt to his newfound skills. Into the Spider-Verse is a great family movie to watch with a unique animation style, reminiscent of a colourful comic book. A fun story with a couple of unexpected villains, Miles has to hide his new identity from his friends and family in order to keep them safe and save the other spider heroes. This movie has an amazing soundtrack and absolutely stunning visuals and, trust me when I say this, they look great as a poster on your wall.
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 97%
Length: 1h 56m
PG Rating: PG
Warnings: minimal violence
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