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
Much to the eight-year-old version of me’s shock and disappointment, Cars is no longer my favourite film, and instead it’s Damien Chazelle’s La La Land. Random, I know, but how can I deny watching Emma Stone and a dashing Ryan Gosling singing and dancing around the dreamy streets of Los Angeles? Cars is still a classic though, it’s still in the conversation of my favourites, don’t get it twisted.
The last film I saw
I was very ill recently, so I decided to watch The Big Lebowski again. I needed something to make me laugh, which it did, to no end, thanks to an hysterical performance by John Goodman, but I forgot how much of a fever dream the film is. In hindsight, maybe I should have picked something which wouldn’t have been so overstimulating.
The TV show I’m currently watching
Despite my best efforts to watch anything else, I am watching The Vampire Diaries with a side of Love Island: All Stars courtesy of my girlfriend. I lost the battle against watching Love Island years ago, but I fought valiantly against The Vampire Diaries. It’s her favourite TV show so I conceded defeat and you know what? It’s actually really good. I am hooked. I would love to sit here and complain that I am being forced to watch it, but at this point, I think I may be more invested than she is.
My favourite TV show as a kid
I was a generic teenage boy so it would probably have to be the original Ben 10. I used to watch it religiously before school every morning and, honestly, it used to be the highlight of my days as a kid. The theme tune used to ring around in my head for the whole time I was at school. I’m still fuming that they ruined it by making crap remakes of it.
The best gig I’ve ever seen
On pure spectacle, it is hard to look past Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour. Seeing around 90,000 Swifties scream as loud as they can in Wembley Stadium was a sight to behold. I don’t think I will ever hear that loud noise in my life again. Speaking on a pure musical standpoint however, it’s Kendrick Lamar’s The Big Steppers Tour, although I am going to see Bruno Mars at Wembley this year, so I imagine it will take the number one spot.
My first album
The first album that was bought for me was The Marshall Mathers LP2 on CD when I was ten. Why I was an avid listener of Eminem at such a young age is a question I do not have the answer to, but I loved it. A special shout-out to Jamie T’s Kings & Queens, which used to play in my dad’s car every time we left the house.
My favourite lyric
It has to be Jay-Z on the remix of Diamonds From Sierra Leone by a man I would rather not name.
I’m not a business man, I’m a business, man
Let me handle my business, damn
Braggadocios Jay-Z at his absolute best.
My karaoke standby
As quite an avid karaoke goer, there are quite a few in rotation, but if I had to pick one, it would be either When I Was Your Man by Bruno Mars or Valerie by Amy Winehouse. I have quite a liking for absolutely butchering songs that my vocal cords don’t have the capabilities of replicating.
Overrated
Ed Sheeran. I could fill a book with the number of things about Ed Sheeran that annoy me. Sure, his old music has its moments, but I can’t fathom how he has become such a global superstar. He is as pretentious as it gets.
Underrated
I need to plug my favourite artist in here somewhere, so it’s got to be Chicago rapper Saba. His album Care For Me is one of the greatest albums of all time, and I will not be convinced otherwise. It is an absolute clinic in musical story telling.
