Introduction
Lockdown has been a tough experience for most, but the burden has been especially trying on students. Your early 20s are often described as the best years of your life, and us students are beginning to feel we are wasting our prime years baking banana bread and going on walks (however if you are sufficiently entertained through baking, check out this blog http://ucd-5469086.hs-sites.com/en/beginner-baking-recipes-and-tips-lets-whisk-up-some-lockdown-treats).
Thus, the aim of this blog is to offer some means of entertainment for students who find themselves bored during lockdown. The plan is to suggest a movie, series, and book that have helped to keep me entertained during lockdown… and which I hope will do the same for you. I am in no way an expert movie/book critic, but I will try my best, I will also attempt to suggest some enjoyable games/apps that can be played with friends which could be used as an alternative to the repetitive zoom quizzes!!
Movie(s)
I know I'm only supposed to suggest one movie, but it’s your lucky day… I've two. When reflecting on the movies I've watched during lockdown, two stand out. They are two completely different movies, but it didn’t feel right suggesting one and not the other. Firstly, there is Tenet, the new Cristopher Nolan film brought out in early 2020, weeks before the madness began. It’s the closest thing to a James Bond movie you can get, minus the English accent. A secret agent is given a single word to decrypt in order to halt the onset of World War III… sounds cheesy but is far from it. The movie is available from Sky Movies and is coming to Netflix in the coming months.
Soul is next, the eagerly awaited new release from Disney. Soul retains all the elements of our childhoods favourite Disney classics, the adorable animations, enjoyable characters and heart-warming storylines. Joe is a middle-aged music teacher, who has a big passion for jazz. Just when he is about to realise his dream of playing a gig, Joe begins some involuntary soul searching. It’s a very relatable movie, easy and enjoyable to watch, and available on Disney plus.
Series
Thereare 3 key ingredients to a good lockdown series. 1. An engaging storyline 2. Multiple Seasons (5+ is what we’re aiming for) 3. A streaming platform that allows you to binge watch them at your own leisure. For these three reasons I'm going to suggest Greys Anatomy, a series that ticks all three boxes. A medical drama, this series will have you revaluating your college course choice in turn for a degree in medicine. Who knew a hospital could be so interesting. 'Greys' has over 17 seasons and is available for steam on Disney plus and Amazon Prime. One quick tip, don’t become overly attached to any lead characters, you'll regret it… trust me.
Book
I was never much of a reader through my teenage years, but lockdown will do strange things to people. One day during this never-ending lockdown, I had reached a new level of boredom and sought the help of my dusty old wooden bookshelf for support. A book caught my eye, "The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 ¾" by Sue Townsend. The book is the well-kept diary of a young teen (13 and 3/4s to be exact) who is experiences all that comes with your formative teenage years. The diary explores Adrian's experience with puberty, young love, school and life in the suburbs. It is a very humorous book and I found myself laughing out loud on more than a few occasions. The book is perfect for students as it allows us to relate and laugh at our younger selves as we dealt with the problems of our early teenage years.
Game
Now for some more sociable methods of entertainment that you can enjoy with friends. A really enjoyable game to play with friends that I have recently come across is Geo Guesser. The game uses Google street view to give you a point, anywhere in the world. You are free to rotate around from the point but can’t move the point. You must use any clues in your field of view; houses, cars, trees, mountains etc and guess on a globe where the point is. For example, take the image below, you have to utilise the available information given in your field of view to guess what location you are. This example is quite difficult, with the image from Strasbourg, France. You get points for however close you come to the exact location, which makes it very competitive when playing with friends over zoom etc. Definitely they type of game that you need to play to see how enjoyable it is. It’s a welcome break from zoom quizzes and plus... it’s FREE.