Jenny Recommends - A Curated Books/Movies/TV List

For those of us who have A LOT of time to spend right now, I've put together some of my favorite things (TV, movies, books, etc) to pass the time.

BOOKS

Some of my personal favorites, or new books I've read recently that I recommend:

1. IDIOT by Laura Clery - An autobiography of how Laura went from being an idiot child, then a starving artist and an addict in LA/NY to turning her life around and getting sober. I've watched her videos for a while (If you've ever seen her Helen character --weird square jaw filter yelling 'Stephen!' all the time -- that's her) and gotten to know her family through her social media posts. It was really sweet to hear her story of not only getting clean, but how she met her husband Stephen and started a family.


2. The Shadowhunter Chronicles [BOOK SERIES] by Cassandra Clare - There is a TV show on Netflix called Shadowhunters that I started watching and I found out it's a fantasy book series. I very quickly became attached to them and they've become the next best thing to reading Harry Potter for me.
There are different 'collection' series (Mortal Instruments, Dark Artifices, etc) that follow a specific set of characters in Clare's world and each collection can be read separately as it's own thing as well as all together to get a bigger picture of the world.

Regardless, all these characters and collections all exist in the same world where the slogan is "All the legends are true". Vampires, Werewolves, Fairies, warlocks, demons, monsters...you name it, they exist..and there is a race of angelic soldiers called 'Shadowhunters' who protect the 'Mundane' world (humans) from all things that go bump in the night.


3. The Sookie Stackhouse Novels/Southern Mystery Series [BOOK SERIES] by Charlene Harris - Again, if you liked the TV show True Blood, then read the books they were based off of. It's not as obvious that they are a book series (not like "Harry Potter and the...." that is self explanatory that it's another HP novel) but each title in the series contains DEAD in it that link them together as a series. It's another Vampire/Fantasy series that I enjoy reading, so I recommend if youre into your fantasy genre.

CINEMA/TELEVISION

With so many streaming services, there is a bunch of good stuff to watch, but I appreciate that not everyone has ALL OF THE STREAMING SERVICES. So, I've put these into categories of where to find them.

I understand some of these people have already seen or there's already a lot of hype around them, so I tried to choose some shows that people might not have heard of/come across. But there are popular shows/movies that just can't be ignored. :)

First Up....

NETFLIX

Personally, Netflix is by far my favorite streaming service. They continually update their library of films as well as pump out a LOAD of new Original Netflix Series from all over the world. It is my go-to place for watching new Korean/Chinese Dramas.

Movies

Code 8- DRAMA - Brainchild of Stephen and Robbie Amell, this film started off as a short, but then after they did a kickstarter campaign Stephen and Robbie made it a full length feature film. Fun Fact--it wasn't much but I did contribute to that kick starter campaign. Anyway, The story is set in a world where some people exhibit supernatural abilities but are ostracized for them. It follows a young guy, Robbie Amell, who has to make a choice whether or not to use his powers in order to save his sick mum.

I, Tonya - DRAMA/COMEDY - Based on the true story of world renown figure skater Tonya Harding. It is tragic, shocking, and hilarious. Starring Margo Robbie as Tanya Harding & Sebastian Stan as Jeff Gillooly.



Howls Moving Castle - ANIMATED - This is originally a Japanese film, but I will say that the dubbed English version of this is actually pretty good. I saw an advanced screening of the English dubbed version and the actors did really well to match the same vibrant characterizations that the Japanese cast did. Christian Bale as the voice of Howl, and Billy Crystal voices another stand out character named Calcifer. Watch in either English Dubbed or the original Japanese with Subtitles.

TV Shows

Comedy Series you have to watch: The Good Place

The Good Place - It's forking hilarious. One of the great nuances of this show is that because they're in 'The Good Place' aka Heaven there is no swearing. So when someone tries to swear, it comes out as 'Holy FORK' 'bullSHIRT' 'Son of a BENCH' 'ASH-hole' 'CORK block'. Episodes are only about 20 minutes long and the series has come to an end after 4 seasons, so it's a great easy one to binge watch.

A Horror Series you have to watch: American Horror Story

Specifically Season 2: Asylum & Season 5: Hotel - For those of you know love serial killer documentaries, these two are probably the best seasons of AHS to watch because they feature dramatizations on real life serial killers. But they are also great for the story line and there are some music artists as actor Cameos that I like. :) The thing I love most about AHS is that every season alot of the same actors are reused (some drop off, and some new ones get introduced), but play completely new characters. You can literally start watching any season of AHS as a one-off, but it is fun to see how they link together with subtle nods to each other.


A Drama Series you have to Watch: Pose

Pose - A story set in that 80s that goes through the ups and downs of drag queens and trans people in the New York Ballroom scene. If you want to learn more about drag culture, while being entertained with a dramatic fictional storyline, then look no further. It's only 1 season, but it's beautifully done.


A Foreign Series you have to watch: 3%

3% - I believe this is a Brazilian? Netflix Original show. WATCH IT IN THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGE, with subtitles. You can choose on Netflix the Audio and subtitle languages. I believe in watching things in their original language, as intended, if I can. More often than not the dubbed versions are sooooooo cringy to watch.


Anyway, the story is set in a poverty stricken world where every year they have 'The Process'. The Process forces every 20 year old to go through trials/challenges/interview with the incentive of a better life. Only 3% of the people who go through the Process are offered the chance to go live on  'The Island' which is rumored to be rich and prosperous. The rest of the candidates who fail the Process have to go back to living in poverty and never get the chance to go through the Process again.

A Fantasy Series you have to watch: The Witcher

The Witcher - There is a lot of hype around this at the moment, but it is a great series based off of a video game and a polish? book series. Henry Cavill as the Witcher is bloody perfect, but I will come back for Joey Baty as Jaskier/Dandelion the Bard ALL DAY, EVERY DAY.  Season 2 coming soon, but Season 1 as a stand alone is good. It is a tad confusing as the scenes following certain characters are not all liner timelines to one another and they skip around. But you get the hang of it.

AMAZON PRIME 

I'm gonna be honest, out of all the streaming services out there I hate Amazon Prime (but I love fast deliveries so there we go...), so I use it the least. I don't like that some content is free for prime members and some of it is pay as you go streaming. It would be better if the prime streaming could be found all in one place instead of in sub categories on the main page, so at least that way you wouldn't find something you'd like to watch, only to find out it's not got that 'included with prime' tag. But I digress....

TV SHOWS

Vikings - HISTORY / DRAMA - I love this show. A little bit of history, a little bit of fantasy drama fighting...it's a good show if not a bit weird at times. Gustav Skarsgard as 'Floki' is definitely my stand out favorite in this series, so if nothing else watch it for him :)


The Boys - DARK COMEDY - Created by Seth Rogan and Erik Kripke (one of the writers of Supernatural), this shows there is a darker side to superheros. Seriously, it goes behind the heroics of super beings and exposes the truth about how their 'Saving the day' probably destroys more lives and property than expected for the greater good. It's graphic and equally hilarious.

Good Omens - COMEDY / DRAMA - Based off the comic of the same name, it follows an angel & a demon and the end of days. Honestly, there is no one I'd rather play this dynamic duo than Michael Sheen and David Tennant -- absolute comical gold.

MOVIES

The Intern - COMEDY - Great film starring Robert DeNiro and Anne Hathaway about a hip online clothing company that hires an intern (without age limit) who ends up being an old retiree. It's funny & heartwarming.


Two Night Stand - ROMANTIC COMEDY -  I thought the premise was actually funny and a new concept: two people who have a one night stand are forced to spend more time with each other trapped in an apartment due to a severe snow storm.


The Imitation Game - HISTORY /DRAMA - Based off the true story of Alan Turing who created 'Enigma' the machine that cracked the algorithm of German codes during WW II. Benedict Cumberbatch is amazing as Alan with equally great supporting roles from Keira Knightly, & Mathew Goode.


The Upside - COMEDY - Kevin Hart, an ex Con, finds a job working for a wealthy quadriplegic man, Brian Cranston, and hilarity ensues. It's funny but it's also very heartwarming at times.

DISNEY+

There's soooooo much to watch on Disney plus especially if you like your disney animated films, or your marvel films. People forget as well (me included) that Disney owns Fox, so stuff like the Simpsons is on there as well. I'm not too bothered about Disney+ TV shows beside the Star Wars shows, because I've been there done that when I had Disney channel as a child in the United States. If you had to watch one TV show on Diseny + Mandalorian is good, even if some people only watch because of baby yoga--he is extremely cute.



Here's just some of my favorite movie recommendations that can be found on Disney+:

Newsies - MOVIE MUSICAL - If you haven't seen it, get on this! It's based off the true story of the Newspaper boys (aka Newsies) strike in New York in 1899. It's a musical, it is so good, and it features alot of young men in 1800s attire (waist coats & suspenders, awooooga) dancing down the streets of New York. Also...starring a very young Christian Bale and with Bill Pullman as supporting lead!



Jack - COMEDY - This is a GREAT Robin Williams film where he plays a child that develops x4 as fast as normal due to Werner Syndrome. So even tho he looks like a 40 year old man, he is in fact a 10 year old and you follow his adventures of being put in the 5th grade with his peers.

ALL OF THE MARVEL FILMS

Now that there is a central place to watch all of the Marvel films, if you haven't watched any because you haven't had a clue on where to start...here is the linear timeline (not release date order) so you can binge the movies in the order that makes sense:
Captain America: The First Avenger (takes place during WWII)
Captain Marvel (takes place in 1995)
Iron Man (takes place in 2010)
Iron Man 2 (takes place after Iron Man)
The Incredible Hulk (time unspecified, pre-Avengers)
Thor (takes place six months before Avengers)
The Avengers (takes place in 2012)
Iron Man 3 (takes place six months after The Avengers)

Thor: Dark World (post-Avengers, pre-Ultron)

Captain America: Winter Soldier (post-Avengers, pre-Ultron)

Guardians of the Galaxy (sometime in 2014)

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (after Guardians)

Avengers: Age of Ultron (takes place in 2015)

Ant-Man (takes place in 2015)

Captain America: Civil War (post-Ultron, pre-Infinity War)

Spider-Man: Homecoming (post-Civil War, pre-Infinity War)

Doctor Strange (takes place in 2016)

Black Panther (takes place in 2017)

Thor: Ragnarok (post-Ultron, pre-Infinity War)

Avengers: Infinity War (takes place in 2017)

Ant-Man and The Wasp (ambiguous, but fits nicely between IW and Endgame)

Avengers: Endgame (starts in 2017, finishes in 2022)

Spider-Man: Far From Home (post-Endgame)

Bonus- If you can't be arsed to watch all of them, there are some (like Captain America: The First Avenger, Thor, or Guardians of the Galaxy) that are great to watch as stand alone films. Even though references to other characters/other movies in the franchise are made it doesn't take away from the individual plot/story line. 

STAR WARS  - Similar to The Marvel Universe, All of the Star Wars films and companion tv shows are up on Disney+. I myself haven't watched ALL of the companion pieces yet, but according to Disney, this is the ideal way to watch them in Chronological order:

Star Wars: The Phantom Menace [FILM]
Star Wars: Attack of the Clones [FILM]
Star Wars: The Clone Wars [TV]
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith [FILM]
Solo: A Star Wars Story [FILM]
Star Wars Rebels [TV]
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story [FILM]
Star Wars: A New Hope [FILM]
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back [FILM]
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi [FILM]
The Mandalorian [TV]
Star Wars Resistance [TV]
Star Wars: The Force Awakens [FILM]
Star Wars: The Last Jedi [FILM]
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker [FILM]

Again, if you don't have the time or patience to watch all of them in sequence, Rogue One or Solo are good stand alone stories to watch. Also! Fun fact: I actually know someone from school who is a voice actor for Star Wars Resistance strangely enough.

NOW TV

NOW CINEMA - Films:
First of all, if you don't have Disney+ but you already have Now Cinema, then there are still alot of great Marvel movies on there: Spider man, Avengers, Ironman, Captain America.... As well as some of the Disney remakes: Aladdin, and Lion King....and Rise of Skywalker just released on there too. So Disney+ doens't have all of the content exclusively.

The Truman Show - COMEDY - This is one of the great Jim Carrey Films of the late 90s. It follows Truman, an ordinary salesman, who is unaware that his whole life is a fabricated TV show complete with actors, sets, and scripted encounters.

Crazy Rich Asians - ROMANTIC COMEDY - This film has just about every Asian stereotype included, but with a a full Asian cast who are talented and hot AF. Based off of a book of the same name, this is a heartwarming story of culture & unconditional love that will make you laugh out loud. The movie has a stunning cast, amazing costume designs, and beautiful scenery as it follows its main characters to Singapore for a family wedding.



NOW ENTERTAINMENT - TV Shows:

Game of Thrones - FANTASY DRAMA - I know this is wildly popular, but it is a really good series....except the last season. They rushed the ending. But if you like Fantasy tv and movies with epic storylines then this is defo for you. And it's out of the limelight now that it's ended so there's not as much hype.


Chernobyl - DRAMA - Based on the true events of the Chernobyl Nuclear disaster in 1986. It's a short series but it is soooo worth seeing especially if you like history, or if you have no idea what Chernobyl was all about. It is gory at times. And it will open your eyes to what really went down, with some artistic license as it is a dramatization.


THE REAL CHERNOBYL - DOCUMENTARY - This Sky Documentary mentions the Drama series 'Chernobyl' and gets to the heart of what was fact and what was fiction from the dramatization version above.


Those are just a handful of recommendation I have. Obviously there is so much content out there and it's hard to sift through all of it. Have you got any lockdown recommended reading/watching lists? Put your favorites in the comments!