2014 has been a fab year for entertainment, it just grows and grows year on year!
How easy is it for you to pick your favorite film/book this year? Not necessarily released in 2014, but the best you’ve seen or read this year.
I’ve been thinking long and hard and these are the two which stick out most for me…
Film: The Green Mile (1999)
I only watched this film for the first time a couple months ago and I honestly cannot get this out of my mind. Absolutely amazing!
Description of film:
The green mile is the building where men on death row were held.
Paul Edgecomb, played by Tom Hanks, had walked the final mile with many different cons in his career. But one day, Mr John Coffey is brought in for the brutal murder of two young sisters. Mr Coffey had the size and strength to kill anyone but did not act anything like a killer.
The lives of the guards on Death Row are affected by John Coffey and his mysterious gift.
Click here to view the trailer…
This film was utterly outstanding. This being top of the list of Tom Hanks films I’ve seen recently which have converted me to a fan! Tom Hanks is a fantastic actor and delivers his role amazingly.
I also couldn’t think of anyone better to play John Coffey than Michael Clarke Duncan, everything about the way he played that role was incredible! His whole demeanour made the character come to life, made you feel the way he felt and added so, so much to the film!
The story line was moving and gripping, It’s definitely a tear jerker so have the tissues at the ready. This is the film I have recommended most, this year!
Book: Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
This was a hard choice for me. There have been quite a few books I couldn’t put down this year – including Gone Girl and Divergent. I honestly think however that this book was my book of the year!
2014 has been the year I developed a real liking for multi-cultural stories from war times, and this was the book which turned me!
Blurb:
In 1960s Nigeria, a country blighted by civil war, three lives intersect.
Ugwu, a boy from a poor village, works as a houseboy for a university professor. Olanna, a young woman, has abandoned her life of privilege in Lagos to live with her charismatic new lover, the professor. And Richard, a shy English writer, is in thrall to Olanna’s enigmatic twin sister. As the horrific Biafran War engulfs them, they are thrown together and pulled apart in ways they had never imagined.
My Verdict:
I absolutely loved the learning aspect – finding out about different cultures and how everything ran in the 1960s. I didn’t used to enjoy history at school, but have become so interested lately and do believe this book has had a massive impact on this.
The way Chimamanda builds the characters is incredible. You truly feel for each of them and get to know them more and more as the story develops. Each chapter is from a different characters perspective, meaning you get the same part of the story from all angles, understanding how the main characters are brought together or cross paths.
I didn’t want to put the book down. It was gripping, I just wanted to know more and understand the culture. I couldn’t wait to find out how it ended and what happened with the war. I even ended up researching a little!
This book really changed my views on the type of book I now pick up when deciding on a new read. I got another title from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie for Christmas, Americanah, from my Auntie and cannot wait to start it! Incredible author I would recommend again and again.
So there are my favourites from this year. I wouldn’t be able to pick a tv show even if I tried – I wrote a post a little while ago on the ones I recommend. So many good ones out there!
What would your favorite film & book be for this year?
Chloe xx
This post has been created with inspiration from the Currys competition.
To reflect on a great year of entertaining fiction, they are giving away an Amazon Fire TV,eReader and tablet package worth around £300.
To enter the competition, all you need to do is blog about your favorite book and film/TV show you saw, read and loved this past year. It can be any book and film, not just those released in 2014.
Click here to find out more, how you can enter yourself and for all the terms & conditions.
