2018: Movies, Music & TV

Merry Christmas Eve! I can't believe we're one day away from Christmas and 8 days away from the New Year. As always, I like to spend this last week of the year enjoying my staycation with family and friends and.. sharing my best of 2018 lists on the blog. I'm kicking things off with Music, TV & Movies but watch out for my favorite books and a recap of the entire year.

Most-played songs

Be warned: I'm about to show my geeky side when it comes to music stats.

I know everyone uses Spotify Wrapped to find out what they've been listening to in 2018 but call me old school because I still use Last.fm, which I joined back in 2007 (!) to find out what I listen to on a regular basis. The Spotify generated playlist isn't nearly as accurate and the first 20 songs on it aren't even the ones I listened to the most. But with Last.fm, I can tell you that I listened to "Alaska" by Maggie Rogers 145 times because apparently I am that much of a fan.

For the most part, I'm not surprised by my list! I totally expected to see Maggie Rogers, James Bay, Emily Burns, Ariana Grande and Maren Morris. But I was surprised to see Christina Aguilera (and so prominently too!) as well as Hasley, Jillian Jacqueline, Charlie Puth and Tove Styrke.

Next year's goal: find more indie rock/alternate bands.

Top TV Shows

I've realized a few things about my TV habits. One, a lot of my favorite shows are on BBC America/UK. Two, I tend to gravitate towards fantasy/sci-fi, historical fiction and mystery shows the most, the exceptions being This Is Us and Grey's Anatomy. And three, I watch a lot of TV but that wasn't really a surprise.

Here's what I've loved from this past year:

Best of new-to-me shows | This Is Us, The Last Kingdom, The Magicians, Humans, Yona of the Dawn, Killing Eve, Altered Carbon, Bodyguard

Surprisingly entertaining | Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Cloak and Dagger, Iron First Season 2 (shocking, I know)

Oldies that still rocked | Grey’s Anatomy, Daredevil, The Gifted, Doctor Who, The Affair

Top Movies

I was just saying to my best friend that I often feel like the only movies I see in theatre are Marvel ones so I'm happy to report that only half of my list is about superheroes!

To All the Boys I've Loved Before • This was the first movie that immediately came to mind. Young adult adaptions are always so wrong and overly cheesy but this film blew me away. Lana Condor was perfect as Lara Jean and pretty much everyone fell in love with Noah Centineo as Peter K. It's genuine, heartfelt and funny. I can't recommend enough! (See more of my thoughts and a viewing party I had with friends here.)

Bohemian Rhapsody • Rami Malek did an incredible job of portraying Freddie Mercury. Even though the events in the film were altered and slightly out of order when compared to what happened in real life, it encompassed what made Queen as a band so special and the rare talent Freddie was. My favorite moments of the film were watching how they made albums together and of course, their live performance at Live Aid.

Avengers: Infinity War • I still remember freaking out at the ending of this movie because I had no idea what was coming. I had my doubts about how this film could work with so many characters but it really did. I loved the new dynamics that emerged (Rocket + Thor forever) and enjoyed seeing everyone on the same side fighting against a common enemy. I can't wait for Endgame!

Crazy Rich Asians • Seeing an all-Asian cast in a mainstream romantic comedy was a sight to behold. Not only was it incredible to see Asian culture represented, the movie itself was funny, charismatic and totally feel-good. Of the characters, Astrid was my favorite so I'm looking forward to a sequel featuring more of her (and Henry Golding too, of course).

Ant-Man and the Wasp • After doing a Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) rewatch in preparation for Infinity War, I realized how underrated Ant-Man is. Seeing his first movie for the second time made me realize how it's one of my faves and seeing the sequel only confirmed that even more. I have a feeling he's going to be a key player to save the day in Endgame.

Black Panther • The cinematography, the acting, the story. This movie took the MCU movies to a whole other level and definitely start off 2018 with a bang. It was the perfect precursor to Infinity War and I sincerely hope for more movies in that world.

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What were some of your favorite music, movies and songs from this past year? 

Better yet - anything you'd like to recommend to me?