Students on De Montfort University’s Music, Film and Entertainment Journalism module pick the films, plays, music, TV shows and books that shaped them
My favourite film
What’s Eating Gilbert Grape always makes me super emotional. Training Day is a classic. It’s captivating and shocks me every time. Call Me by Your Name is up there too, I love an unconventional love story. Beautiful Boy is another movie I love. It’s heart wrenching and it follows the relationship of a dad and his drug addicted son closely. It’s SO incredibly sad and inspiring.
The last film I saw
Nosferatu 2025
The worst film I saw
Nosferatu 2025. I took so long to end, nearly died of boredom. Great cinematography though.
My favourite TV show
None have stuck with me
The TV show I’m currently binging
Apple Cider Vinegar. Painful to watch but I love it. Follows the story of an Australian scammer called Belle Gibson who lied about having cancer. Warning, it will be an angry watch!
My favourite band/song
Fontaines DC, Starburster. Irish rock band. Listening to them makes me feel so rebellious and alternative, like I’m part of the counterculture.
The lyric I love
I’m gonna hit your business if it’s momentary blissness. (See above)
The first gig I saw
Fall Out Boy, Kendrick Lamar, Kings of Leon, Panic! at the Disco at the 2018 Leeds festival. Take me back!
The best gig I saw
Kendrick was electrifying. The crowd knew every word and it was so surreal.
The instrument I can play
Used to be alright on the keyboard.
The instrument I wish I’d learnt
Guitar 10000%.
My favourite author
James Baldwin and Ernest Hemingway. My favourite book is The Old Man and The Sea, it follows the story of an old, poor, Cuban fisherman and a little boy following a marlin fish through the sea. It’s the kind of book that leaves you feeling solemn but hopeful. And James Baldwin was just an incredibly poetic and forthcoming writer. His work can be uncomfortable to read for some because it’s so direct, but I love how bare it is.
The book I’m currently reading
The Quran. I read it as often as I can, sounds incredibly beautiful to read aloud.
The first time I went to the theatre
I must have been under 10 at least and it was Pocahontas. It was super interactive, and they threw sweets into the audience. What a memory.
My favourite play
Macbeth and Twelfth Night. Chaotic, raunchy and funny! Twelfth Night is funnier than Macbeth though.
The comedian I love…
Dave Chapelle, Bill Burr and Jordan Peele. I love Key& Peele skits. I LOVE comedy central and the smaller comedians on there. I don’t remember the names of them though.
… and can’t stand
CK Louis. Unbearable to watch. He has a sort of racist republican humour I just can’t get into, and he keeps saying the n word.
Overrated
Jimmy Carr, I find him insufferably unfunny. And I’m convinced the crowd only laughs out of fear.
Underrated
Key & Peele. What a duo. Their comedy skits are impressive because just when you think this could be offensive, they find a way to make it even funnier.
My guilty pleasure
I love emo music. My Chemical Romance, Green Day, Fall Out Boy, Jimmy Eat World.
