October, November & December Favourites

I have always wanted to do a «monthly favourites» kind of post in this blog, but I kept putting it off for one reason or the other. Last year, though, I finally decided to do it. I will be doing one of these every month (or every two months) and I will included literally everything that I loved or that made me happy during that time, be it a film, a TV show, a song, a book, an item of clothing or anything else. These are my October, November and December favourites. (I completely forgot to do this earlier, but, as they say, better late than never.)

 

1. wtFOCK (2018-)

The first item on this list is a TV show called wtFOCK, which is the Belgian/Flemish remake of Skam (2015-2017), one of my absolute favorite series of all time. For those of you who have never heard of it, Skam is a teen drama about the daily life of a group of high school students in Oslo, Norway. Each season follows a new main character and it focuses on topics ranging from relationship difficulties, identity, sexual assault, homosexuality, mental health issues and religion. And what really sets Skam (and its remakes, including wtFOCK) apart from other teen shows is that there are no stereotypes and each topic is handled with utter care and respect. 

 

After watching Skam France and Druck (the German version) — and loving both — I promised myself I wouldn't watch any more Skam remakes, but I couldn't resist wtFOCK. I saw a short clip of Robbe and Sander (the leads in season 3) and I just had to see more of them. They are simply adorable, and the two actors who play them (Willem Herbots and Willem De Schryver) are incredibly talented. They show such depth and emotion in their performances that you almost forgot they are playing a character. So far I have only seen season 3 (that's my favorite one), but I'll definitely be watching the two previous seasons very soon.

2. Who's the Boss (1984-1992)

The second thing on this list is the TV show Who's the Boss, starring Tony Danza, Judith Light, Alyssa Milano, Danny Pintauro and Katherine Helmond. It's about an Italian-American former major league baseball player who moves with his daughter from Brooklyn to Connecticut to work as a live-in housekeeper for a divorced advertising executive and her young son.

 

There's a Portuguese television channel that only airs old shows and movies, and a couple of months ago they starting airing Who's the Boss. I had heard of the show before, so I started watching it and ended up loving it. They air two episodes a day, from Monday to Friday, and I loved it so much that I binge-watched it online. It's such a cool show and the cast is simply amazing. I have such a huge crush on Tony Danza right now. I love him as Tony Micelli! He reminds me a lot of Joey from Friends. Maybe because they're both Italian, I don't know...

3. The King (2019)

My next favorite item is the Netflix film The King, based on the plays from William Shakespeare's «Henriad». It follows Henry V's rise to the throne and culminates in the Battle of Agincourt, which was a major victory for England in the Hundred Years' War against France. Timothée Chalamet plays Henry, alongside Joel Edgerton as Falstaff, Robert Pattinson as Louis, the Dauphin, Sean Harris as Chief Justice Sir William Gascoigne, Ben Mendelsohn as King Henry IV, Tom Glynn-Carney as Harry Hotspur and Lily-Rose Depp as Catherine of Valois.

 

I'm a stickler for historial accuracy, so I was a bit miffed by all the inaccuracies in The King. Like, for instance, Henry's brother Thomas didn't die before their father; it's very unlikely that Henry killed Harry Hotspur, who should have been way older in the film; and that whole feud between Henry and Gascoigne is basically a Tudor invention. But all of this is in Shakespeare's original plays, so I guess they had to stick to it. Apart from that, The King is quite a phenomenal film. David Michôd is a wonderful director and the cast is absolutely flawless. Timothée, in particular, is exquisite as Henry V (but then again, he's Timothée Chalamet, so of course he would be). Joel Edgerton is incredible as Flagstaff, and the cinematography is absolutely gorgeous. 

 

4. Maurice (1987)

Next, there's Maurice, a film I had been wanting to see for ages and finally did back in December. It tells the story of a young man named Maurice Hall, who feels trapped by the oppressiveness of early 20th-century English society and tries to come to terms with and accept his sexuality. James Wilby stars as the title character, with Hugh Grant as Clive Durham, Maurice's best friend and first lover, and Rupert Graves as Alec Scudder, the under-gamekeeper at the Durham estate who later becomes Maurice's life partner.

 

Maurice is probably one of the most beautiful love stories I have ever seen. I especially loved the fact that the film has a happy ending and shows unabashed declarations of love between two men, especially considering that it was made at the height of the AIDS crisis, when homosexuality was a rather controversial topic. James Ivory and Ismail Merchant are a winning filmmaking duo, and the main actors are stunning at bringing these characters to life.

 

5. Marriage Story (2019)

The third and final film in this list is Marriage Story, which became one of my all-time favorites. It's about a married couple (played by Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson) going through a very difficult divorce, especially since they have a young son and live in opposite parts of the country.

 

I love Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson, so I was really excited when I found out they were making a film together with Noah Baumbach directing. I knew it was going to be a great film, but it surpassed my expectations. Marriage Story is outstanding! And also emotionally devastating.

5. «Fine Line» by Harry Styles

Lastly, we have «Fine Line», the new album by Harry Styles. I have to confess, I wasn't a massive fan of his first album (although «Sign of the Times» was one of my favorite songs of 2017), but I love the second one. It's very ebullient and melancholic at the same time (if that makes sense) and I love that it combines different genres as well. It's like psychedelic pop mixed with folk mixed with soul, with sprinkles of funk and progressive pop. It's bloody brilliant, it's what it is!

 

And that's everything. What have been some of your favourite things in the past few months?