Tag: series

The Incredible World of DARK

Hola everyone.

How are you all doing on this fantastic Friday? I hope so far you’ve had a great week and that you’re all feeling well. Personally, I’ve had a super busy week, juggling free time with my new job at my mum’s company and my also new job as editor-in-chief of our uni magazine LDN (link here), which the team and I have been trying to give a huge makeover and thereby rejuvenate it and turn it into the amazing paper it can and should be. And I know it sounds a tad stressful as a whole, but, actually, I’ve really been enjoying it. I’d rather be busy and happy doing more stuff, than wandering around the house, not knowing what to do with myself. And it kinda makes me enjoy and savor some chill and free time even more, which is actually what I want to talk about today – a very specific, but incredibly amazing TV show that has been ruling most of my free time the past two months. As seen from the title and the cover picture, you can probably guess which show I am talking about. Exactly. DARK. Probably the best show I’ve ever watched in my life. But let me start from the beginning.

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For those of you who don’t know DARK yet – my god you’re missing out -, here’s a short intro: DARK is a German sci-fi thriller series co-created by the great Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese and produced by Netflix. Set in the fictitious German town of Winden, the show starts right during the aftermath of a child’s disappearance, which exposes the secrets of, and hidden connections among four estranged families as they slowly unravel a sinister conspiracy which spans several generations. Throughout the series, DARK explores the existential implications of time and its effects upon human nature.

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I’m purposely not going to reveal any more about the plot, as literally everything is a spoiler and as this is literally one of the best, if not even the best series I have ever seen, I don’t want to spoil this perfection of a show for anyone. What I need to add though is that the show is in German (although it has been dubbed and translated into many other languages), so if you don’t speak German, I would highly highly highly recommend watching the OV version with subtitles. No dubbing can come close to how perfect the voices of the German actors go with the show and with the overall feel of it. Seriously.

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I think what makes this show even more special for me, is that I got to watch it with my best childhood friend Maria, who I usually very rarely get to see as I obviously live in London and she lives and works in Vienna. But – and this is going to sound super insane – thanks to the quarantine (crazy, I told you), we were both forced to stay at home and as we only live minutes apart from each other, we spent most of the quarantine watching movies and tv shows together. And DARK was one of those shows – or more like the one show that ruled our weekly and daily tv marathons. I remember googling which shows to watch on Netflix and DARK immediately seemed like the most promising and interesting one, even before I had watched the trailer, which then sealed the deal. Usually, I am not that attracted to German-produced movies and shows, so I think both Maria and I went into that first episode with a bit of uncertainty.

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But after like the first five minutes, that was more than forgotten. I can’t remember the last time I had such a fantastic, thrilling, and exciting TV/movie experience. We fell in love with the main character Jonas in an instant. And the amount of times this show has made us do multiple facepalms, made us cover our faces in shock, even made us jump off the couch out of utter surprise. It’s truly insane but in the best way possible.

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So far, we’ve seen the first two seasons of the show (I even watched it twice) and as the third and last season has been released last Saturday (happy apocalypse day btw, for all my DARK lovers out there), I couldn’t be more excited to finally get behind all the mad secrets and hidden stories of Winden. But as much excitement I feel towards the prospect of finally getting to see the new season, the thought also gives me this somber, even sad feeling. It’s sad to see this show end. But I know the last season will be a hell of a ride. And I’m more than ready for it.

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I probably don’t have to mention that I HIGHLY recommend watching this show, I think I’ve made it very clear that you all need to watch this show right now. Honestly. You will not regret a single second of it, I promise. And for all of my fellow DARK fans, I’d love to hear what you think about the show – but no spoilers, please – so don’t hesitate to leave your thoughts and comments down below. And until then, I wish you all the best weekend and, as always, thanks for reading. x

The Romantics

Hola everyone.

How are we all doing on this beautiful Monday? I hope so far you’ve had a great day and that the past weekend has been nice. I, on my behalf, am pretty good, thank you. I’m currently juggling uni, work and free time, but I can’t complain, as I think that, besides missing my family and my pets and my home in general, I couldn’t be any happier than I am right now. My time here in London has been the absolute best so far. I can’t even believe that it’s not even been two months since I moved here. It feels like I’ve been part of this city for such a long time. But that’s probably thanks to Brighton and just my overall situation. I feel right where I am. And I love it more than I could ever describe.

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And speaking of that – this is also what I wanted to talk to you guys about today. Love. Or parts of it, at least. You know, I think nowadays it’s very hard or difficult for people to believe in love, to put their soul and trust into it. Although it’s the one constant in our life that surrounds us every single day, and we might not even notice it. Because love isn’t just what two partners feel for each other. It’s shared between family members, parents and their children, friends, grannys and their cats (or in my case, me and my babies). We might not think of these kinds of love as true love, but it is, just another version of it. I for my part am a hundred percent certain that there isn’t any bigger form of love than the one shared between parents and their kids. My mum once told me that I’m the reason for her to be on this earth (I’m trying very hard to not tear up at this part) and, in all honesty, I can’t imagine there’s any deeper version of love than this. At least in my opinion.

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Ever since I can remember, I’ve always been a romantic. A hopeless one, to be exact. I want all of it. The cheesy gestures. Tons of butterflies. Sweaty, nervous, shaky hands. Throwing pebbles at windows. Finding a bunch of flowers on the doorstep. Goodnight and good morning texts. The whole deal. I’ve always been in love with the idea of true love, which is funny, as I’m one of the people who unfortunately have never been a recipient of such cheesy gestures. And sometimes it gets difficult to not lose hope. But then something happens, you experience or come across something and suddenly it all comes flowing back. And in the case of the past few weeks, that something was a new TV series I found on Amazon. Which is exactly what I wanted to share with you today. I know, what a dramatic way to introduce a TV show, but I felt like being a bit emotional and dramatic.

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The show I’m talking about is called “Modern Love” and The New York Times fans among you will probably recognize that name from the column of the paper, which is exactly what the show is based on. The episodes embody the cinematic versions of the columns and the absolutely stunning stories that are told in them. And oh my god, I can’t remember the last time when I instantly fell so deeply in love with a series as I did with Modern Love. I adore it to pieces. And actually, I have to thank it as well, because it made me fall in love with love. With true love, in whatever form and between whoever. And it made me happy. So so happy.

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The show itself features eight episodes with eight different love stories that explore this very phenomenal feeling in its multitude of forms – including sexual, romantic, familial, platonic, and self-love. They only have two things in common – all of them revolve and happen in the beautiful New York and all of them depict a form of love. So far there unfortunately only exists one season, but I’ve got high hopes that there will be another one to come (please please please).

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As you can see in the trailer, the show doesn’t just contain super lovely stories but also features uber-fantastic actors and actresses and stunning cinematography. Needless to say that I cried more than just a few times. It’s just too beautiful. And too much for my romantic heart. If I had to choose, I’d probably say that the first two episodes and the seventh one are my favorites ones. All of them touched me in different ways, but these three earned a special place in my heart (especially the first one, just putting that out there).

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But, of course, I love all of them. The show is absolutely beautiful and I can only recommend it to any and all of you. Please go and watch it, seriously. You won’t regret it, I swear. Open your heart and let it make you fall in love with love. It’s currently available on Amazon for free if you’ve got Prime, so it’s basically just a click away. You know, the show left me with a feeling of hope that isn’t easy to evoke, so it really is something special. If any of you have already watched it or want to watch it, please don’t hesitate to leave your thoughts and comment down below. I’d love to hear what you thought/think. And until then I hope you enjoyed this post and wish you not only a great week but also lots of fun watching the show (which I hope you’re going to do). And, as always, thanks so much for reading. x

Ps: you can also check out the column on Spotify and on their website.

My favourite photographers

Hola everyone.

And welcome to another week. I hope, so far, your Monday has been great and that you’re all doing good. I’m currently sitting on our terrace at home, typing this, while my playlist (link here) is playing in the background. I woke up today not really having a plan of what to write about, but then I got an idea – I love doing series on here and I’m also very much in love with photography, so why not combine those two things? So that’s what we’re going to start today – a new series, dedicated to sharing my favourite photographers and their fantastic works of art with you. I’m already so excited. So, let’s get right to it, shall we?

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Brad Heaton

Choosing the first photographer to talk about might seem like a difficult mission for me, if you know me, but trust me, it was the very easiest part. Because, if you’ve got a photographer like Brad Heaton out there in the world, doing his magic every single day, the decision is always easy. Most of you will know him as the official photographer of Twenty One Pilots, but I regularly refer to him as a damn genius. Because he simply is, which becomes very clear once you take a look at his pictures.

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Brad has been part of the boy’s team since about ever, I think, as he’s also from Columbus, Ohio, just like Tyler and Josh themselves, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they had already been friends way before the boys became famous. And ever since then, Brad has been touring with them and blessing the world with his breathtaking pictures. Apart from Twenty One Pilots, he’s also photographed the likes of Paramore, Fall Out Boy, Steve Aoki and Hoodie Allen, just to name a few. In short – he totally knows what he’s doing.

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But that’s not why I look up to him that much as a photographic idol. It’s more because his pictures are simply out of this world. They make me feel things, a complex mix of emotions. And whenever I look at them, I’m immediately thrown back to my own Twenty One Pilots shows and the excitement I felt while being there, in the crowd, having the best time ever. Which again turns them into utter magical pieces of art, as they make me speechless and ramble about their beauty at the same time. They have the power to create an instant connection between the person looking at the shots and the people in the pictures. It might sound weird, but he really manages to gather the whole meaning of the clique and the boys and our special connection within one picture. Especially looking at the last picture I’m going to show you, my favourite one of his, I look at it and I instantly feel like I can see myself in it. I nearly fell off the couch when I saw it for the first time. Not just because it’s just so damn good, but also because it’s not only a photograph but a representation of the clique and the boys and who we are in this world. It’s simply perfect. And that’s what makes Brad and his pictures so special – for him, the fans and the crowd are just as important as the boys on stage. Another reason why the pictures he takes of the fans holding Tyler’s hand or fully being in the moment during the shows have a special place in my heart. And besides all that, Brad’s pictures always make me wonder how he manages to take his shots, as some seem to have been taken within the midst of the crowd, and they make me want to hear all the stories behind them. And, especially important for me as a lover of that certain photographic style, his use of black and white and the way he likes to stick to less colour and let the pictures tell the stories is just so beautiful.

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Looking at all these aspects combined, I’m sure it’s no wonder why I admire Brad this much. For me, he’s one of the most talented photographers out there and an artist I aspire to be, even it’s just on a small scale. He’s a genius. And for that, I have to thank him. And also for always providing us with quality backstage content. Thanks, Brad.

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And now, without further ado, let’s get to the most important part – the pictures. I dearly hope you enjoy them just as much as I do. All of them are from their current Bandito tour, which started at the end of last year (I got them from their Facebook page, all credits go to Brad, of course). And yeah, what can I say – I just love them. Please enjoy.

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not my picture; credits to Brad Heaton

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Last but not least… my favourite. No words can describe how much I love this shot.

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If you want to find out more about Brad or simply can’t get enough of his pics, here are the links to his website and his Instagram. And yeah, please let me know what you think and until then I wish you all a nice week. Oh, and just a short info that I won’t be posting anything on Friday, as I’ll be spending the day chilling outside the stadium in Klagenfurt and then admiring Ed during his show. But, I’ll of course tell you everything about it as soon as I get back next week. So, see you next week and thanks for reading. x

Winter Is Here

Hola everyone.

And welcome to another week. Can’t believe we’re already reaching the middle of February. When did that happen? Time really does fly by, doesn’t it? That’s why we need to enjoy it to its fullest. Which is something you could say I did in the past few weeks. Which is exactly what I wanna tell you all about. Today I’m gonna tell you the story of how I, despite all my beliefs, became a Game of Thrones fan.

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Yes, I know. I’ll give you all a minute to process that and calm down again. Yes, it’s really me, Laura. I know. I can’t believe it myself. I, the person who really really REALLY disliked Game of Thrones until a few weeks ago now calls herself a fan. Life is full of surprises. And I did not only watch it, oh no. I devoured it. I binged it. I didn’t watch anything else for about three or four weeks. Which is exactly how long it took me to get through all of the seven seasons. I’ll let you do the math, but yes, that’s not a long time. And every single time I felt my mind going a bit twitchy because I was sitting at uni and just wanted to know what would happen to Jon or Daenerys in the next episode, I got this instant feeling of shock and surprise and, quite frankly, happiness.

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But before I get into why I now really really like the series, let me first explain why I disliked it so badly. Well, I first got in contact with the show when my parents started watching it and I got see a few bits here and there. And I literally hated all of it. And that never really changed throughout the years. So, whenever someone asked me why I didn’t like the show, I told them that I thought that it was either a porno or a slasher/gore horror movie. Which was true, at least, because nobody ever seemed to come up with an argument against that. And let’s be honest, the first two seasons are indeed just a mix of those two things. So, as you can probably guess, I didn’t really enjoy watching it the first few days. That’s just not my cup of tea, you know. I love horror movies, but not that kind. But I thought I should just give it a chance. There had to be a reason for the extreme hype around it. And I wanted to know that exact reason. It was a bit like Lord of the Rings for me. I never liked it until I saw the ending of the second Hobbit movie by accident on TV and couldn’t stop myself from falling in love with the whole story. And that was exactly what I hoped would happen with Game of Thrones. I wanted to be wrong. I wanted to like it.

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Which I then did, after I let myself fall into it. The more episodes I watched, the more I enjoyed it. And maybe that’s just my opinion, but for me the show gets better with every single season. Compared to the last two, the first two seasons really are utter crap (my favorite two episodes are the last two of season 6; so epic, I can’t even describe it). Sorry, not sorry. And I can’t be the only one to notice that they literally got rid of all the crappy stuff. Of course nudity is still a big thing and it wouldn’t be GOT if not at least one person got killed in every single episode, but none of that is crappy in any way. They really topped up on the quality and I’m so utterly thankful for that. The more constructed the stories got and the more characters started to grow and change, the more I got to love the show. I caught myself cursing at different characters, even clapping and cheering when one of my favorite characters killed off one of my most hated ones. I got so intrigued by the story, I felt like a part of it myself. I still do, actually. And it’s all very fresh, as I just finished the series last week.

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I know that the last season is supposed to be released in the middle of April or something like that, which I’m super excited for. I don’t wanna spoil anything, but I honestly have no idea how any of them want to win the real war. I mean, whoever dies, they’re just going to have to kill them again. And from what I’ve seen online so far, I’m not the only one who thinks the war is literally impossible to win. Which is exactly why I’m so excited to see how it’s gonna end. Very very hyped up, honestly.

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So yeah, there you go guys. That’s how I became a fan of Game of Thrones and again learned you shouldn’t judge a movie or a series by a few minutes. But what do you think about the show, guys? Do you like it? Let me know your thoughts down below. And until then I hope you enjoy this post and wish you all a nice week. And, as always, thanks so much for reading. x

Sherlock

Hola everyone.

You know, Netflix is actually a pretty cool thing. Yes, I did say before that I’m not the biggest fan of it, but it’s true that it has some big advantages. You can watch tv shows and movies that you could never watch anywhere else (except for that illegal stuff, but we won’t talk about that). And as you can probably guess by the title, I recently had the chance to watch the tv show Sherlock.

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I just finished the last season, season 4, yesterday night and, honestly, I’m blown away. I mean, I’ve always been a big fan of the Sherlock Holmes stories. I loved the two movies with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law. Maybe that’s why I was quite skeptical towards the tv series. But I think to be able to review both of them in the best way, you really have to separate those two. Because apart from the names and some main plots, they are completely different. And I tried to do that and that’s why I really fell in love with the tv show too.

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I guess you all know the name Sherlock Holmes and what it means, the stories behind it. And the tv show Sherlock is like those stories, but just taken to our time, to the modern times. That’s also why the movies and the tv series are so different. I actually really enjoyed this aspect, but I think the old times just embody the stories better. But, anyways, I enjoyed it really much. Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock is truly mind-blowing. No wonder he had his big breakthrough because of this show. You can really see Sherlocks craziness in his eyes. And Martin Freeman as John Watson is just as good. I fell in love with Freeman when I saw him as Bilbo in The Hobbit and I’ve been a fan of him ever since. Maybe that’s why Watson is my favorite character of the series. Whenever he appeared, I saw Bilbo. And I love Bilbo. So it was pretty much obvious that I’d love Watson too. I think both actors are amazing at showing so many emotions with so little actions, with just their mimics, the looks in their faces. Especially at the last seasons. And yes, I did cry indeed. Quite often. But I laughed even more.

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I think my favorite seasons are the second and the third one. And apart from the amazing acting, I loved the way the tv show works the most. You really have to concentrate on the stories and think. I often went to bed afterwards, still thinking about an episode. And I loved the amount of crazy and superfrustrating cliffhangers and shocking plot twists. That turns a good tv show into an amazing one. And the fact that one episode is one and half hours long, just makes everything even better.

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You know, all I can say is that the stories are from an English writer, the tv show is English, the actors are English. Of course it had to be awesome. So, I can only recommend you guys to give this show a go, you won’t regret it. Seriously. Oh, and if any of you have already watched it, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment down below. Or if you just want to know more. Or say anything else. I’m here. And until then I wish you all an amazing weekend and hope you enjoyed this post. And, as always, thanks for reading. x

xoxo, Gossip Girl

Hola everyone.

As you probably know I’m currently going to college. And in order to be able to do that I had to move and now I “live” in a dorm, which means no TV or anything. So, as you might guess already, I depend on my laptop. I can watch movies and TV shows over Sky Go and Amazon Prime, but no common TV programs. So, in order to not die of complete boredom I had to find a new show to watch. And I found it – Gossip Girl.

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I knew the show before, because like who doesn’t know it? But I didn’t know much about it, I just had the idea that it was a pretty superficial teenie drama series with nothing much that was valuable. But I love fashion, so out of boredom I just gave it a chance and clicked play. I think it was already January when I started.

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And guess what? I just finished the complete show yesterday – 6 seasons, 121 episodes in less than two months. I binge watched it every single day since I started and now I basically don’t know what to do with my life, seriously.

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I never thought that I would get so caught up in the show, I really didn’t. And now I completely love it. At the beginning I didn’t exactly enjoy it THAT much, I thought the whole bitchy superficial attitudes were dumb and I just watched it because I had nothing else. But then the characters started to develop and more and more complex  small stories began to build up and I liked it more and more. That’s also the point why I fell in love with. At the beginning all of the characters seemed so unreal to me, but then the whole show came to life and the characters with it.

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Personally, Blair and Chuck are my favorite characters. Their love story was the main reason why I continued to watch the series, I wanted to know if they will ever be able to be together or not. God, how much I cried because of them… And slowly Blair became my spirit animal – she’s strong, she fights for her love and her dreams, she believes in herself and she likes the person she is and let’s none stop her from doing that. Besides that, I’m pretty much completely in love with her Elie Saab wedding dress – I’ll leave a link to the picture down below. Overall, nearly every single outfit in the show is breathtaking. I know, someone like me could never afford one single dress they are wearing but would be a life without dreams?

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And my least favorite characters? To be honest, the longer I watched, the more I started to hate Serena. Like really hate. She just annoyed the hell out of me. At the beginning she seemed like the nice girl, but then I noticed who true the things were everyone else was saying about her. She basically got everything she wanted, she was fake at some point, she never had to take responsibility for anything she did and even when she hurt the people around her, they just all forgave her everything although she hardly ever forgave them. I don’t know, her attitude just annoyed me. And according to what I saw on the internet, Blair and Chuck are everyone’s favorite –  if you search for Gossip Girl on Tumblr, they are the ones appearing.

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But if I ignore that one fact, I have to say that I liked every single character, even Serena. Because they turned the show into the one it is now. I think, the more seasons I watched, the better did the show get. I especially loved the last three seasons as the stories got more and more complex. And I love the ending, when they finally reveal who Gossip Girl truly is.

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After all, I’m really really happy that I started the show. I had a certain prejudice, but I have to admit that I was totally wrong. I think, if you like fashion, complex love stories, friends basically ruining each others lives and then rescuing them again and of course New York City, then the show is perfect for you. I can only recommend it, really. And in honor of the series, I’m gonna end this post the same as the show…

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You know you love me. xoxo, Gossip Girl

Thanks for reading. x

Blair’s dress: polyvore.com