Reading science fiction, fantasy and mystery books aren’t the only way that I learn about stories and inspire my writing. Films and television programmes play a major part in my fiction writing too. That’s why I love to offer up recommendations to readers and watchers so I can share movies and TV programmes that I love and seriously passionate about. Therefore, I hope you enjoy these various mystery, fantasy, science fiction and occasionally romance films and TV recommendations. The recommendations in this post are the ones I made in October 2023.
The Hobbit Trilogy: Fantasy Recommendation
Given that I have a fantasy Kickstarter going on at the moment, it felt only right to recommend some great fantasy films and TV programmes for the next few weeks. So I wanted to start off by recommending an absolute fantasy classic in the form of the three "Hobbit" films. In case you aren't a massive Hobbit or J. R. R Tolkien fan, the film follows a small Hobbit's journey with a bunch of dwarves to reclaim their homeland after it was taken by an evil dragon. But that isn't the start or end of the matter as darker forces start to take an interest in the homeland too. Personally, I think "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" because it contains some great action scenes, it introduces us to how Bilbo actually got the One Ring in the first place and it sets up the characters really well so they're interesting, engaging and they're very real by the end of the first film. Then we want to keep following them for the rest of their journey. That is just pure fantasy fun and escapism and it really sets up the rest of the trilogy well. The second film "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" is another great film and I think the films get better as they go along. Since this film focuses on the team completing their journey to the homeland after battling elves, orcs and some darker magical foes. Nothing is easy for the main characters and it is a constant, compelling enthralling battle for them to reach their destination. Also, the action scenes are really good. Especially the battle scenes against the massive dragon Smaug. As well as the main characters are explored even more so their characters become more complex with added emotions. Including a budding romance between one of the dwarves. And my favourite moment in the second film has to be Smaug's last line, that is an epic line. Finally, I do like "The Hobbit: The Battle of The Five Armies". I do agree with a lot of the criticism about how Smaug dies in the first ten minutes but the film still works great. Especially as someone who isn't really, really into Tolkien stuff, it deals with the darker forces at play, massive fight scenes and a great battle. It deals with all the remaining plot threats really well and because we've been watching these characters for three films now, it does get emotional at places. Even more so when the characters start dying, and we see the reactions other characters have to those deaths. Overall, if you want some brilliant, fun, gripping fantasy films to enjoy this weekend. Then definitely check out "The Hobbit" trilogy, you'll be glued for hours and will have a lot of fun too.
Wheel Of Time: Fantasy Recommendation
Whilst I fully intend to watch season 2 shortly, I currently haven't done that because my time is being taken up a lot by writing and my full-time Masters's degree. However, with my fantasy Kickstarter "Rise To Power" going on at the moment, I really want to recommend "Wheel of Time" this week. The story follows the journey of five young people one of which is fated to save or destroy the world and Season 1 follows their journey towards the place where they can kill the Dark One. But they get desperate, forcing them to explore the world on their own and make their own journey. Personally, I really liked Season 1 for a few different reasons. Firstly, because it is epic fantasy fun with the high stakes, global focus and they epic magic that happens in the series. It is great fun to see the magical battles, the different ways that magic is used and the world-building is brilliant as the different journeys show you different sides of the world. Also, I liked the fantasy characters. There were probably two main characters I just found so annoying and I think one of them died at the end of Series 1 so I was glad about that. Yet the rest of the main characters I really liked because they wanted to do good, they were calm and they were just good people trying to make the world a better, safer place. Something in this fantasy world isn't easy because of the evil and typically human forces, but also because of the sheer bureaucracy of the magical organisation. Also, I think the general concepts within Wheel Of Time are enthralling too. Since I have seen "time as a wheel" done before and the idea of magical organisations with different fractions including spies and others done before. Yet Wheel of Time manages to make it feel different, interesting and very modern. Like the consequences of only women having magic, the idea of the Light-something (it's been two years I don't remember everything) and the different religious aspects made it fun too. On the whole, if you're looking for a fun, rich, vivid epic fantasy TV programme to watch this weekend then definitely check out "Wheel of Time" on Prime Video.
The Outpost: Fantasy Recommendation
With this being the final week of my fantasy Kickstarter, there's one more brilliant fantasy TV programme I want to recommend and that is The Outpost. It follows the story of Talon, the last of the Blackblood, on her journey to destroy the people that wiped out her species and it takes her to The Outpost. A place where secrets rest, rebellion brews and characters of all sorts call home. Honestly, this has to be my favourite fantasy programme ever. I love the characters because Talon is a strong, capable, caring lead character that knows the difference between right and wrong. Yet she has a lot of flaws that make her grow across the 4 series and she is a very real, interesting character. Then over the course of the series, Talon builds a great team for herself made up of different people and regardless of the problems, villains and evil they face, they somehow manage to overcome it. Despite how close they come to death most of the time. Also, the plots are strong, believable and gripping that you can lose an entire weekend to this great programme if you let it. The Outpost is that good. And the writing is sensational. Not only because of the plotting and the characters, but how the 4 seasons were done. The main focus of each season was perfectly tied up and made sense because of what was set up in season 1. Of course it was sad when the programme ended but it needed to because everything was done, all the plot threads were tied up and it was the perfect ending. I loved the character and Jake Stormeon was brilliant in it too. So if you're looking for an incredible fantasy programme to fall in love with over the weekend, then seriously check out The Outpost. It is the best TV programme I have ever watched.
Taskmaster: Comedy Recommendation
Whilst this is certainly not something I would ever normally recommend because I am definitely not into comedy contest sort of programmes, there is one programme I have to recommend. That is Taskmaster (the UK version at least) and whilst I've only watched season 16, I'm confident in saying it is a brilliant programme. For people who don't know what Taskmaster is, it centres around bringing together 5 comedians and they have to do different tasks given to them by the Taskmaster. Yet they are not normal tasks, they are weird, whacky and extremely funny. Sometimes they're funny because the task itself is just stupid. Other times it's funny because the comedians are so painfully bad at the task and that makes it great. And other times, you just laugh because it's great. Personally, I loved Season 16 for a few different reasons. My favourite reason was because Mae Martin was in it and they are brilliant in everything. And I was shockingly surprised at how intelligent Mae was at the tasks because after a while they understood how the tasks were designed and it was impressive to watch them do it. And they're just funny anyway. I also liked season 16 because the tasks were great fun. Like driving a canal barge and getting five rubber things on your hook (some people cannot drive barges) and there was a brilliant task where the comedians needed to guide their team towards collecting metal spoons whilst talking in high pitch voices. I almost weed myself watching that. And the other comedians were brilliant too. Especially Jenny Éclair who reminds me of a sweet grandma figure that everyone likes but always acts like a little old lady and is bad at the tasks. Still she was beyond great and perfect for Taskmaster. So if you want to see some comedians doing some stupid stuff then definitely check out Taskmaster.
I hope you enjoyed these movie and film recommendations and if you want to see some of my own fantasy, science fiction, mystery and romance books. Then please click the hyperlink on the genre you want to explore. You won’t regret exploring these great books.
Comments