Music Monday: Music I've Been Loving #4.

Hey everyone, I have a post about the music I've been really loving this past month or so. So many good songs have come out from artists I love and I've found a new one as well! For some reason, I can't find the actual music videos for two of them but the live versions are just as great, if not better, to watch anyway. I hope you like my choices and maybe you can recommend me some of your own.

First up, it's Adele. I think everybody has been anticipating Adele's return to music just as much as me and I love her new song 'Hello'. I'm sure you've heard the song before by now as it gathered millions of views within the first few days of being released! She has come back bigger than ever and I love her voice, her personality and talent. I cannot wait for her album which I have already pre-ordered. It comes out very soon and you should pre-order it too!

I have been loving The Weeknd's new album so much. It's fantastic and he has a whole load of incredible artists joining him on there like Labrinth, Lana Del Rey and Ed Sheeran. He and Ed Sheeran's song 'Dark Times' is soooo good. Ed Sheeran is just incredibly talented and I love every single song and cover he's ever done so two of my favourite artists collaborating together is all the more reason to love them both even more. 

Next are two songs from the magnificent Sia. These are two new songs from her new album that is coming out in January and they called 'Alive' and 'Bird Set Free'. 'Alive' is a fantastic song that has you singing along as loud as you can until your throat feels raw, really feeling the emotions of the song. 'Bird Set Free' genuinely makes you feel.. well, free. Her lyrics are incredible and very inspiring. Sia is probably the only one who can make voice breaking sound amazing.

Last of all and definitely not least is a new artist I'm loving called Aurora. Her cover 'Half the World Away' by Oasis, I believe, is stunning. She is a very pretty girl and I love the simplicity of her video. Her voice is haunting and really gives me goosebumps. This song accompanies the new John Lewis Christmas advert which you can watch here:

  

So those are the songs I've been obsessing over recently. Do you like any of them too?
Do you have any recommendations for me?

Thankyou for reading.

Laura.

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Film Review: Maleficent.

 

I wasn't too sure about seeing this film as it didn't entirely appeal to me however I have loved Angelina Jolie for as long as I can remember. She is one of my favourite actresses and is just brilliant in every film that she is in. Especially this one.

To give some background, Maleficent is about one of Disney's most iconic villain from the 1959 classic Sleeping Beauty. This is essentially the untold story of the once kind hearted baddie. Maleficent was a beautiful, young woman with a heart of gold and grew up in a peaceful forest kingdom, living a tranquil life. However one day an invading army threatens life in the forest and Maleficent rises to be the land's biggest protector but she ultimately suffers a heartbreaking betrayal which sets her heart to stone. Hell-bent on revenge and driven by a fierce desire to protect the moors where she resides, she faces a battle with the invading king's successor and in time, places a curse on his newborn baby, Aurora. As the child grows, Maleficent realises that Aurora is the key to bringing peace in the kingdom and perhaps the key to her own happiness.

Angelina Jolie as Maleficent was an absolutely fantastic choice. She was stunning with her sharp cheekbones (seriously, they could cut glass!) and gleaming eyes. Her performance as the titular character pretty much overshadowed everybody else, including Aurora. You would literally not miss any other character if they weren't in the film and they seem to be just standing around watching her doing the work. Which is alright by me because I could've happily watched Angelina as Maleficent for hours. For 98 minutes, you are amazed by her presence, creeped out at times by her intensity and taken away by her impressive wings.  

Despite all the hype about this film and Angelina herself, I wasn't that impressed by it really apart from her. The story is a bit of a muddle, just literally a thread of sequences that move the characters back and forth between the two sole locations; a castle and a magic forest. The characters don't really have much of a presence like Maleficent herself but I think this is due to poor screenwriting by Linda Woolverton who seems to not have given the others characters much to do that is challenging and attention-grabbing. 

Also when Aurora meets some boy who is deemed to be her 'true love', there is literally no connection between them within their two scenes that they have (yes, TWO SCENES) that make you believe that they could have any love for each other whatsoever. It is pretty unbelievable and a bit sloppy really. Furthermore when Aurora falls asleep, she is literally asleep for about five minutes and woken up instantly by a true love's kiss (which is a predictable scene by the way when you see it).. this is not enough time to make you feel the devastation that everyone seems to feel within the film and not quite like the death-like sleep that seems to be in the Disney animation.

All in all, every scene without Angelina Jolie leaves you lingering for more of Maleficent. Whether it be a mischievous twinkle in her eye or a flick of her hands whipping up some more brilliant magic, she is clearly the film's power and is the only thing that seems to make up for what the film lacks.

If there is any reason to go and see it, it's her.

Thankyou for reading.
Laura.