Friday Five

[annavere]

On Saturday, discovered through network, originating from thefridayfive

1. What is your all time favorite book?

I must concede defeat and go with Vivian Vande Velde's Companions of the Night (1995), which I read countless times as a teenager, and which I revisited a year ago and to my astonishment it still held up as a thriller, as an exploration of vampire lore, as a YA novel skirting the edge of paranormal romance, and as a character study of a teenage girl thrown into insane circumstances. It's still my highest standard for a believably dangerous vampire love interest and I read the book in two sittings because it remained highly compelling after all these years.

2. What is your all time favorite movie?

The Third Man (1949) has continued to beat all comers and has never gone down in my estimation across multiple watches. It's basically a perfect film to me. The feel-good variation on this movie-making perfection would be Casablanca (1942), but The Third Man nudges it because of the score.

3. What are you reading right now?

Arthur C. Clarke. 2001: A Space Odyssey. About thirty pages from the end, though! I will likely make a post about it.

4. What is your favorite show on TV?

My usual comfort show for many years has been the combined twelve seasons of Buffy and Angel. Bad things would happen and that's where David and I would go, curling up and watching it until we could recite swathes of dialogue. Other shows where I have lost count of the number of times I've seen them have been The Wire and Highlander, and my chief source of writing inspiration has been Jeremiah, but the Buffyverse was the only show where we got to the end and instantly started over.

5. What is the last movie you saw in the theater?

That would be Baby Driver, seen when David and I were visiting some of his family in Boston. I had to look it up to remember when it was (2017). It was a surprisingly good time, and it featured a music score I really appreciated, including Queen's 'Brighton Rock.'

Then whatever the hell that was about Kevin Spacey broke, and was followed by a whole bunch of other information about certain Hollywood people, and it leeched all the fun right out of the experience.

Still, the core memory is of a really nice evening.

Comments

[bleodswean]

Oooh, not familiar with that first title. I'm going to try that! Have you read Robin McKinley's Sunshine? If not, I think you would dig it.

[annavere]

It is so hard to find Robin McKinley books in the wild. People know a good thing when they see it, so they don't stick around the used bookshops for long. I've only found her Damar books, but I've always been curious to read Sunshine.

[teratornis]

There's a lot here I'm gonna have to check out, I think. The Wire in particular has been sort of distantly on my radar for a while, but I never got around to watching it. Maybe I'll have to give it a look soon.

I'll also have to check out Companions of the Night if I can get my hands on it, that sounds pretty interesting.

[annavere]

I'm totally biased toward my favorite things, but I really do feel you can't go wrong with The Wire, provided you're in the mood for it.

I'm glad you enjoyed this meme. I keep a sharp eye out for ones I can do, but they don't surface very often (which is a shame, because they help me post more).

[teratornis]

I've definitely heard good things about it, though I've also heard it can be pretty grim, I believe. I'll definitely have to give it a look though.

For sure, I have fun with question lists and memes, and this is definitely a good one.

[killabeez]

Companions of the Night sounds fun. I'll look for it!

The Third Man is so good. Great pick.

{{{hugs}}}

[annavere]

I certainly hope you enjoy it! It's a quick read.

The Third Man is a treasure.