The Readlist: March 2016

April 3, 2016April 3, 2016Leave a comment

Tender Is The Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald

My only exposure to Fitzgerald was studying The Great Gatsby at GCSE. I had purchased a couple of his books in a set at a discount at one point, and this is the first one I’ve gotten round to reading. This particular novel comes some twelve years after Gatsby and is viewed as semi-autobiographical, with parallels to his relationship with Zelda.

Tender Is The Night is at points difficult to follow, with so many characters already in play at the beginning I had no idea who anyone was between readings, or their relevance. To be honest I’m not entirely sure Fitzgerald did either. Eventually the number of characters is whittled down and the majority of the book deals with Dick, his wife Nicole and Rosemary’s influence.

The time frame jumps around a fair bit and its only deep into reading a chapter that this becomes clear. Equally, many scenes are over written. Fitzgerald is a master of description but there’s often a lot of fluff too. Yet, his presentation of people is second to none. They are presented as mundane and fickle, and his understanding of the human psyche is tremendous. Fitzgerald also pinpoints the exact moments that a relationship changes or perception of people change perfectly – the one thing that causes a relationship or a friendship to change irreparably is crystal clear.

The women have character and personality and their own thoughts, although, admittedly, I’m not sure it would pass the Bechdel test. The presentation of mental illness and its understanding puts many people in the twenty first century to shame, however.

It’s a long novel, split into three books. Reading the first can seem like a drag with so much going on that seems increasingly irrelevant, but the whole things comes into its own from Book II onwards.

There’s so many moments and passages that I should have highlighted or marked as I read through, but here’s just a couple of things that resonated with me:

“once I knew a man who worked two years on the brain of an armadillo, with the idea that he would sooner or later know more about the brain of an armadillo than any one. I kept arguing with him that he was not really pushing out the extension of the human range – it was too arbitrary. And sure enough, when he sent his work to the medical journal they refused it – they had just accepted a thesis by another man on the same subject” Book II, Chapter 1

“There were other patients to see: an American girl of fifteen who had been brought up on the basis that childhood was intended to be all fun – his visit was provoked by the fact that she had just hacked off all her hair with a nail scissors. There was nothing much to be done for her – a family history of neurosis and nothing stable in her past to build on. The father, normal and conscientious himself, had tried to protect a nervous brood from life’s troubles and had succeeded merely in preventing them from developing powers of adjustment to life’s inevitable surprises” Book II, Chapter 14

The Moth: 50 Extraordinary True Stories

I’ve dipped in and out of The Moth podcast for years – it’s not one I’m subscribed to but I always enjoy it when I listen and when I was wandering around a book warehouse closing down there was a pile of these in the corner so nabbed one. It’s a collection of stories told on The Moth – the creme de la creme, apparently – arranged into broad themes. Obviously some of the magic is lost when you the stories aren’t being delivered out loud but this is a really nice, light read and something you can dip in and out of.

The one overwhelming feeling I had while reading it though was that I haven’t lived. I haven’t got stories like these to tell, I still live in my childhood cul-de-sac and do the same routine everyday. Should I be living more? How do I do this? Am I meant to somehow arrange these often bizarre opportunities for myself, or wait for them to come to me? Obviously, being nineteen I *shouldn’t* necessarily have experienced life in all its forms and yet I did pine for some adventure while reading this book. I suppose that’s natural, but mentally speaking I’ve always been obsessed with the future. Every single moment I’m always thinking “will this make a good memory?” “will this make a good anecdote?” “how is this relevant to me in five or ten years?”. I haven’t got much of a past to dwell on, and my present is so boring that I can only sit and stew hoping the future will be better, more productive and more ‘fun’. Am I making excuses? Probably. The change starts with you, after all. We’ll see.

The Circle by Dave Eggers

I was going to write that this is clearly an important novel, but now I’m less sure. To Kill A Mockingbird is an ‘important’ novel, representing a slice of life that should never be forgotten. However, it’s set in the 1930s and was written in the 1950s (published 1960).

The Circle, on the otherhand, is an incredibly *relevant* novel. Only viewing it from a future perspective (here we go again!) would you be able to judge it as important, but I can easily imagine it being viewed in the same way George Orwell’s 1984 or Animal Farm are now. It’s set around San Francisco and the all encompassing and ubiquitous ‘Circle’ company which of course has many parallels with Google, but combines elements of all our large technology corporations such as Facebook, Paypal and Amazon. It’s an odd one to try and place time-wise as Facebook is acknowledged but was at some point subsumed by The Circle, as I imagine were all the other companies.

Likes are smiles, dislikes are frowns, and posts are zings but everything feels very real throughout the novel. It’s all just one step away from where we stand now and as The Circle’s influence and power grows it questions our ability to almost be ‘brainwashed’, to accept things gradually and then wholeheartedly. Everyone is connected and people believe they have real influence – does ‘frowning’ against a far flung Government’s human right record help the issue? Circlers seem to think so.

For children growing up now they’ve never experienced a world without wi-fi, social media and easy access to knowledge and items online and a huge prevalence of internet connected devices. I grew up on the fringes – I’m older than Google, but remember a time at school where computers were still a commodity, and you used to huddle in groups around them to use Paint or PowerPoint. We didn’t get one at home until 2005 – I was 9, and it was an incredibly old model which a family friend was getting rid of – and I didn’t have home internet access until around 18 months later. Things were changing when I left, with the IT suites being completely overhauled and smart whiteboards and overhead projectors installed in every classroom.

And yet, I feel like technology has crept up on me and that it’s too late to turn back now. Of course, it *is* because so much of our daily lives relies on it but I’ve reached a point now where I don’t care. Some people obsess over our internet privacy, our lives being published for all to see and our data collected by firms. If I’d been worried about that to begin with I might have been more careful but now I have more online accounts than I care to remember (many of which lie dormant and forgotten, each company and site still holding my personal data and information) and more knowledge of my likes and preferences than I probably have. Algorithms and the like aren’t perfect yet of course, and neither are recommendations on streaming services and shopping sites, but they soon will be. It’s a reached a point now where I don’t care what I share and who knows what.

Although I rarely post on Facebook, The Circle encourages each of its users to be as active as possible – trolls can’t hide as each profile has a social security number and ID aligned with it, so there’s anonymity, and there’s rankings for your social performance. The way its presented in the book is initially hugely overwhelming, and as more screens and devices are given to Mae you feel breathless just reading it as she tries to keep tabs on everything that’s going on. However, she soon reaches a saturation point where she becomes used to it and doesn’t question its impact. That job lies with her ex-boyfriend and parents but Mae is oblivious to their warnings, she’s rising up The Circle chain and begins to have real influence on the companies direction. She believes that privacy shouldn’t exist, knowledge should be collective and everything accessible. Nothing should be deleted, everything exists in the cloud and is accessible and on record.

At each stage an argument is presented to show that The Circle’s next development is only seeking to improve our lives, to stop crime, expand democracy and help alleviate problems. It all seems reasonable, but its only when you take a step back you can see the true picture.

To think that The Circle was written four years ago seems astonishing – its ahead of its time, incredibly relevant and a must read. It acts as a warning but I doubt we’ll heed it.

A film adaptation is currently in the works.

Currently reading: The Man In The High Castle

Long reads & articles

A little light on these this month.

Zoe££a How Youtubers are stringing their fans along.

Copycat What do you do when you discover someone’s been republishing your books in their name?

In Man’s Image Imgur doesn’t get near enough as much press as other social media sites, but its community loves it. This traces its history.

Mulhernism Stephen Mulhern has been on telly for as long as I can remember, hosting CITV when I was a wee boy. I even had a Stephen Mulhern branded magic trick case, I seem to remember (?!)

The Watchlist: March 2016

April 3, 2016April 12, 2016Leave a comment

I feel like I’ve watched a fair bit this month, so I won’t go into too much detail on everything…

Films

Populaire

This is a lovely, almost stereotypically, French film and a perfect Sunday afternoon watch. It doesn’t ask for much from you and you know where it’s going from the beginning and it does indeed go there. But a film about a clumsy girl who finds her calling by being a speed-typist? What’s not to love.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist

This is based on the novel of the same name with the film rights snapped up *before* the book was even released on sale. Based around 9/11 and the fallout and questions it creates for one young Pakistani living the American high life; it flopped at the pictures but it’s not overly terrible. Undoubtedly it thinks of itself as a bit worthy and I didn’t come away from it feeling particuarly validated by its existence, spending most of the time staring at Riz Ahmed’s perfect nose.

Anomalisa

I didn’t know what to expect from this film but somehow I’d built it up in my mind to be some great watch. I’m not entirely sure it delivers on that point, but it’s certainly different enough to warrant a viewing . The use of stop motion animation takes a couple of minutes to get to used to but it’s nice to see this method used well to create an adult animated film. It also means I get to tick ‘stop motion sex scene’ off my to-watch list. The use of the same voice and face for everyone seen through the eyes of our protagonist Michael is a genius touch and very jarring – then along pops Lisa, the only person in the whole world who looks and sounds different and is the light Michael has been looking for.

Bridesmaids

I’ve been aware of this film for ages but put it in the ‘nice for 20 something females’ box and left it at that but surprise!* I really enjoyed it. A great ensemble cast and I finally learnt that Wilson Philips were a band and not just one person (I’m basically a foetus, okay?). *not at all surprising

What If

Look, it’s Daniel Radcliffe not being Harry Potter! This is a gentle romantic comedy which is surprising in absolutely no way whatsoever. It’s a shame that so many modern films rely on technology to further the plot – it’s to be expected, and you’d imagine two people *would* text each other but seeing an old iOS on screen is an oddly jarring experience. I think films should move to using more generic Android devices to alleviate this issue.

A Most Violent Year

This has been on my to-watch list for a while and I’m glad it delivered. I expected a higher body count, thinking it would be a gentle thriller as one man rallies against the huge levels of crime in NYC. I imagine I was getting my wires crossed with Inherent Vice, another film that was out at the same time. AMVY focuses on one man (played by Oscar Issac) as he tries to build his oil business focussing on quality of product and customer service, something the other providers couldn’t care two jots about. It all comes down to morals – recommended.

Television & Streaming

Bosch

Some streaming exclusive shows such as OITNB and House Of Cards on Netflix and Transparent on Prime seem very well known whereas I’ve always felt alone in watching and enjoying Bosch. It’s an American crime series based on the books by Michael Connelly and is delivered spectacularly – think CSI but not dull. I really enjoyed Series 1 and was counting down the days until Series 2 was available. It did deliver, with a good number of “ohhhhh!” moments and it was great to see the character of Deputy Chief Irving come into his own. Unfortunately I do feel that Amy Aquino as Lieutentant Billets and Jerry Edgar as Bosch’s partner Jamie Hector were criminally (forgive the phrasing) underused this series – I’d love to see more of their lives in the now commissioned Series 3.

The finale felt a little rushed and this might be down to them having a little too much plot to deal with. The point about Bosch’s mother, which was featured a few times in S1, became a big part of the finale even though it had been barely mentioned throughout the entirety of S2.

Also, Bosch’s house is shitmazing. Perched on the top of a mountain, it offers amazing panoramic views of LA.

Transparent

Initially I described Series 2 as ‘plodding’ but I grew to like its pace by the end. It’s undeniable that each of the characters is deeply, deeply flawed, but then aren’t we all? We’re not here to follow one person and feel empathy for them, we’re just watching each character continually muck up their own lives. In a pleasant twist though, each major altercation and life changing event isn’t spelt out plainly on screen. You see the build up and the aftermath but not necessarily the moment itself. The historical flashbacks seemed odd at first but as is always the way with these things, their raison d’être was clear by the end and proved to be a wonderful touch. This is a definite binge-watch programme, if you don’t mind the plodding nature of it.

Highston

Can you tell I currently have a Prime trial subscription?! Amazon premiere pilots of possible Prime productions before delivering entire series and I can see a lot of potential in this. Highston focuses on 19 year old Highston Liggets and his host of imaginary celebrity friends only he can see. It’s very charming although I can see that it might suffer from having too many recurring characters in the long run. Celebrities playing versions of themselves in sitcoms is nothing new and this doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel but I hope it becomes a cult hit. I just hope I recognise who half the celebrities are and it doesn’t become too US-centric (the pilot featured Shaquille O’Neal?)

Please Like Me

I feel part of some secret club watching this in the UK. A minor hit in Australia (not helped by some very poor scheduling of series 2) and a minor hit over in the US too, this will probably never be shown on UK television, which is a real shame – it has cult hit written all over it. I think I worked out that the last Australian TV that I watched was Round The Twist in my childhood, so it’s bizarre to me that we don’t import more Australian originals for British TV other than the occasional Aus version of a game or talent show. You could easily fill hours worth of BBC Two with the decent stuff.

This series continues the story of Josh and Arnold, but you never feel that the story is *just* about them. The fringe characters of Clare and Mae have as much a place in my heart as Josh does and each character is intricately written. They are people and they’re real and they’re charming. The way it deals with mental health and depression is startlingly real (Josh’s mother suffers from bi-polar in real life) – PLM just seems to ‘get’ life. While other sitcoms put characters in ridiculous scenarios and love triangles PLM presents everything in a realistic manner. Yes, odd things happen but it’s never melodramatic – it’s genuine in purpose and delivery.

New girlfriend Ella’s overwhelming similarity to Niamh is a nice touch but can feel a little suffocating, which I suppose, is tantamount to her well written character and her annoying personality. And there’s John the dog who deserves every animal acting award going.

There’s some really great moments in this series, notably one involving a car in episode 8 and another in episode 9 on an observation wheel. There’s no word yet on a series 4.

Happy Valley

Everybody seems to have been raving about this, and although good I’m not entirely sure it’s as perfect as everyone makes out. A incredibly great cast and the juxtaposition of both the mundanity of home life and the day to day work of a police officer is what makes HV so good. S2 probably suffered from a little too much plot and a rushed finale – would the chief detective really leapt to his conclusion as quickly as that? Many bits were summed up and ended with just one line in the finale and some never referenced. What was the true relevance of the gang member found hanged in a tree? Was the illegal biscuit woman’s life all plain sailing? What is the Gallagher daughter and trainee police officer actually doing with her life and her alcoholism? What happened with Neville Longbottom?

Other bits

The Great Sport Relief Bake Off a convoluted and bizarre way of getting celebrities to bake cakes (it’s a sport!!!!1!) but thoroughly enjoyable. Never forget Maddie Hill’s “pinch of salt” faux pas.

Crashing I watched the first episode of this after seeing some chatter on Twitter. It did nothing for me, so I’m yet to come back to it.

Thirteen I also watched the first episode of this after seeing some chatter on Twitter. It did nothing for me, so I’m yet to come back to it.

The People vs. OJ Simpson 40 minutes long one week and 50 the next – I’ve never felt more sympathy for the people who schedule BBC Two. Sadly this month I discovered the result of the trial due to a newspaper front page framed in the background of a scene in Bosch, having managed to avoid the news about them finding a knife (?) linked to the case, which was in the papers a few weeks back. Ah, well. Clearly it was made to be viewed with knowledge of the outcome in mind.

First Dates YESSSSSS. God, I love First Dates with all of my heart and watching it on catch up means I get to skip the two minute long opening each week.

Blondie’s New York & the Making of Parallel Lines I haven’t watched a music documentary in ages and I’m glad I took the plunge with this one, tracing the story of Blondie (who I must play on the radio at least four times a week) and their huge commercial success. I also might fancy one of the guitarists (in the archive footage clearly, not as a grey haired man).

EastEnders There’s been some great episodes this month – alcoholic Phil is a masterpiece and Aunt Babe continues her twisted, manipulative edict. And Johnny returns in April – hurrah!

Doctor Who: Boom Town Talking of Aunt Babe, I decided on a whim to watch an episode of S1 of new-Who and plumped for this. I was pleasantly surprised to discover I still knew much of the script by heart, not having watched this for years! That’s what comes of having a book of the S1 scripts as a boy.

The Readlist: February 2016

March 6, 2016Leave a comment

Curtain Call by Anthony Quinn

For years I’ve became lazy with my reading: I haven’t beem setting out to read something challenging, mainly due to time constraints, and often settled on some paperback bought in The Works. As a result I read a lot of crime fiction and I still have a soft spot for it. I had no awareness of Anthony Quinn before picking up this book on a whim in Waterstones Piccadilly but I’m glad I did.

It’s a classic crime story set in the 1930s with a serial killer on the loose in Soho who’s murdering prostitutes – and one gets away. Quinn manages to effortlessly weave numerous different strands of society into one, from a closeted homosexual to those in the middle classes via the sleazy world of the London working girl with the backdrop of pre-war London, fascism and anti-semitism. Indeed, you have sympathy for each and everyone of the main characters – something I never thought I’d say after the ending of Chapter 3 – and the storytelling passes between them.

This isn’t a crime story that has everything nicely wrapped up at the end but equally it doesn’t try too hard to be macabre either. Gentle enough to be a light read but heavy enough to keep you going – and in a change to the kind of books that I used to read from The Works, it’s nice to have the occasional word popping up that I don’t recognise. Quinn has clearly been influenced by classic crime fiction but manages to make his own mark on it. Well worth a read.

Bread by Ian Gregg

Popping into a charity shop for a vinyl hunt I stumbled across this book for 99p. It was released a few years ago and it’s part auto-biography, part business manual and charts the rise of chain bakery and indigestion giver Greggs. I find business history fascinating for some reason, particularly expansions and takeovers of other firms – I used to sit up at night reading Wikipedia pages for chain stores as a young teenager and can still recite to you the chequered history of most supermarkets. (I was soooo cool)

Greggs is still fairly new where I live – we were deep in Bakers Oven land, a slightly more upmarket brand Greggs took over in the 1990s. The products were slightly more expensive and the branches often had instore seating and bread baked fresh in store rather than delivered overnight. The differences between Baker’s Oven and Greggs faded as time went on and they opted to continue only with the Greggs name. This caused much anguish when I was at school and peers boycotted the new Greggs for all of two minutes as a result, even as I tried to explain the products were exactly the same and it had been Greggs in all but name for years. It’s recently been refurbished so no longer resembles a Baker’s Oven branch with the muted browns and big ovens in the shop.

Also: another chain bakery, Don Millers, closed their popular Queensgate store in Peterborough due to high rents. Who moved into the unit immediately after? Greggs. I’ve always wondered if they’ve been losing money being there. Anyway…

Gregg’s operated from vans to begin with, delivering baked goods to the housing estates around Newcastle and Teeside before expanding into shops and eventually baking their goods themselves rather than sourcing them from wholesalers. As with any business, it was near to crumbling at any point in the early shop days as they faced the difficult purgatory between having a small enough number of shops that they could easily manage (five, say) to expanding. With expansion you’d need a new bakery but in order to open that you need cash, and another ten stores to gain some return on it.

Takeovers of other local bakeries, often those that had been underloved and poorly managed for years, meant they were able to expand fairly quickly from the 1970s onwards. This is the most interesting part of the book as the company deals with their issues. As soon as it hits 2000 that’s when things start to get awry and the timeline jumps all over the place – indeed, the last quarter of the book is fairly incomprehensible.

It suffers from being a list of men at times – clearly Ian wanted to mention all those that helped shape the business, but page after page are dedicated to their life stories and I found myself skimming over numerous parts out of fear for my sanity.

There’s some interesting points here: Ian had no real knowledge of the business when he took over as his parents wanted him to pursue a ‘proper career’ so he went out researching to learn as much as possible. He claims this allowed him to expand strategically as he had no favouritism over particular parts of the business. If something needed doing he’d do it for the right reasons and wouldn’t bury his head in the sand but equally Greggs don’t go around screwing people over. Although they have just announced job cuts and closure of some regional bakeries.

Just by chance there’s a Guardian article at the moment that basically summarises the book: How Gregg’s conquered Britain and its refocus as a Food To Go chain over a traditional bakery.

Tender Is The Night by F Scott Fitzgerald

I’m currently around 2/3 of the way through this and thoroughly enjoying it after having my reservations to begin with. What I will say at this stage is that it’s remarkable that a book written in 1934 presents a better understanding of mental illness than many people have in 2016. More in next months Readlist.

LONG READS & ARTICLES

I’ve *finally* taken the plunge and subscribed to the New Yorker and get it delivered weekly direct from America. Surprisingly, the deliveries are quite speedy and the latest issue arrives every Friday just days after its release in the US. There’s something far more pleasant about reading it in its ‘true’ form over a screen like I have done for years.

Here’s some articles I’ve enjoyed this month…

INDEPENDENT’S DAY Archie Bland on what made working at the Independent special and the camaraderie and team spirit that those working on it had.

RICHARD AND MOODY Lowculture on the ridiculous headlines and stories in cheap celebrity magazines. My favourite story of the type was headlined ‘RICHARD: the night I wanted to kill myself’ and it was literally a story about Word crashing before Madeley could save a chapter of his autobiography. We’ve all been there.

ALWAYS CLEANING WINDOWS An old New Yorker piece on skyscraper window cleaners

PRISON BUS CRASH Buzzfeed on a horrific bus crash in America.

STANDING IN THE WAY OF CONTROL New Yorker long read on TMZ gossip website – does it have morals? Should it be praised? Interestingly one titbit from the article is that one of the original names bandied around during its creation was ‘Buzz feed’

WHAT, A PARK? Water parks at Disneyland might seem an odd thing now but when it first opened it was *the* big attraction, now slowly rotting away.

IT’S GETTING HOT IN HERE Gay saunas are an alien concept to me, like something from a by gone age though I understand their appeal in an age before apps. There was a documentary on gay saunas on C4 the other day, and the general consensus was it was a bit rubbish so read this article on one sauna’s final hours instead.

CORDENING OFF A CRIME SCENE I know this should technically be in March’s Readlist given the article date but this is a look at James Corden’s success in America. I’m still not entirely sure why the backlash over here in Blighty took place… maybe something to do with the many, many stories Popbitch write about him? Personally, I’m pleased at his success and I’m impressed at how he’s gone someway to reinventing the talk show wheel.

The Watchlist: February 2016

February 29, 2016February 29, 2016Leave a comment

FILMS

Spy

There’s been a spate of comedy spy movies recently and the most heralded were Spy and Kingsman so I was keen to get around to watching one of them. Spy is very enjoyable with great performances by Melissa McCarthy and Miranda Hart in her first big screen role. It’s just the right length and never feels rushed *although* I did have big issue with the amount of swearing in it, from all characters. I swear like a trooper but even I thought a lot of it was unnecessary and detracted from the plot – you don’t need swear words to be funny. There’s some comedy NSFW moments and goryish violence so you might want to leave it if you’re a bit squeamish but it’s not exactly Kill Bill.

The Hundred Foot Journey

I was feeling burnt out one evening and needed a film that would take my mind off things while using very little brain power: step up the 100 ft Journey. A feel good, restaurant based movie with a great cast. Indeed, there’s a not so subtle nod to Helen Mirren playing the Queen in it which was nice. It’s two hours long and I have the attention span of a flea these days but I think most people would agree that they could easily have shaved a good twenty – thirty minutes off its length. The final quarter is very slow and I lost all interest after a great first half – not helped by the fact that we clearly know which way things are heading. Still worth a watch, however.

TELLY

In The Flesh

I never got round to watching this first time round and surprisingly it’s not available on Netflix/Prime so I had resigned myself to possibly never watching it (searching for a decent ‘dubious’ link is often too much effort) – however with BBC Threeeeee’s move online, S1 has been added to iPlayer.

I’m always a fan of mild dystopian fiction – just far enough away from reality to seem improbable but close enough to raise real questions about how we’d react as a society. There’s loads of nice touches in this – little things like Kieran playing the board game ‘The Game Of Life’ with his family, for example. I’m a big fan of Luke Newberry and not just because he’s nice to look at. In fact I once went to the hairdressers and asked to have my hair styled like he did in an episode of Banana. It didn’t really suit me.

There are some plot holes in ITF: the couple who visit the house in Ep 1 and the assumption that ‘they have one too’ makes no sense given everyone in the country seems to know that that particular village hates PDS sufferers. Equally, in Ep 2 some wild PDS sufferers are seen eating a sheep AND YET it is quite clearly explained that PDS sufferers can’t eat anything. Go figure. I’m currently still watching this.

Suits

I saw someone post the other day that they despise Suits because it’s proof of everything wrong in this capitalist, big money society we live in. They have got a point but it doesn’t stop Suits being a great watch – and this series actually ticks the ‘capitalist’ box more than ever with Mike’s new career as an investment banker.

Admittedly I still often have no idea what’s going on in any given episode and everything’s so fast paced that I miss all the legal jargon and reasons *why* things are happening but my character investment overrides that. I’m just grateful I know what a subpoena is otherwise I’d be screwed. It’s been great to see a human side to Jessica this season and her to falter within a relationship given her hard exterior. And her wardrobe is still on point of course. And it wouldn’t be Suits without the occasional glaringly obvious continuity issue between camera shots.

Deutschland 83

This series really came into its own by ep 4 but lost it again with the last episodes which were combined into one feature length finale by Channel 4. Everyone was raving about this as if it was the greatest piece of tv they’ve ever seen – let’s get a bit of perspective: it was average at best. Predictable? Yes. Thought it was clever? Yes. Was it? No. BUT it did have its moments. The oddest thing in my opinion was the whole Thomas storyline – we hadn’t seen enough of him to be truly emotionally attached to the character so the fact his story was given a big chunk of the finale seems bizarre to me. *shrugs shoulders emoji* There were enough threads left hanging to warrant a second series and I’ll probably watch it out of obligation but I can’t promise I’ll enjoy it.

Spin

I’ve been really enjoying this series from Walter Presents although my complete lack of any knowledge of French politics did start to become an issue in the latter episodes – I’m still not sure what the exact difference in power between President and PM is and why the President’s office has ministries and why the Presidential candidate becomes leader of the opposition if they don’t win and everything overlaps and EURGH.

A lazy, lazy ending was only compensated by the fact S2 aired immediately after S1 over here in the UK although I haven’t started it yet.

The People vs. OJ Simpson

I have a very vague awareness of the OJ Simpson trial as a pop culture reference but that’s it. Not really surprising given it was before my time, however, that puts me in the rather interesting position of not knowing what happens. Not one bit – I don’t even know if he got off or not. I’m assuming he did because of the number of OJ Simpson jokes in 30 Rock, but then again…

I’m also really enjoying this series and not just because of the wonder that is John Travolta’s non-moving botox face (srsly, I’ve seen ventriloquists move their mouths and faces more). This is classic American network drama – fast paced, quick camera cuts, dramatic music and it’s got a real retro 90s feel to it. I wonder if that was intentional. It’s actually a really refreshing change to the HBO cinematic drama productions we’ve become used to recently.

Transparent

Christ, S2 plods along. I got myself a student Prime trial so have left Netflix for a bit and gone over to Amazon Prime and their terrible excuse for a video service. Honestly, you try searching for something to watch on there. Paid for items are mixed in with those available via Prime, and individual series are listed rather than combined by show. It’s a mess… although their playout system is greatly improved from the last time I used the service and their link up with IMDb (another Amazon company) is very helpful. Recognise an actor but can’t remember their name? Wiggle your mouse and it’ll pop up.

I binge-watched Transparent S1 over one weekend when Amazon opened it up for free to everybody after it had some awards success and thoroughly enjoyed it. There’s some lovely subtle humour within the show and I have a real soft spot for the opening titles. S2 feels to me to be plodding along though – difficult second album? Possibly. I’ve still got to finish it.

New Yorker Presents

Another show on Prime – I watched the pilot many a moon ago and was pleased to see a full series had been commissioned with two new episodes a week. It’s a little scatty but I think that works; it really is a magazine in visual form.

Other bits and pieces

EastEnders Shabnam’s shock exit, even more of the greatness that is Kim & Pearl, and Abi’s ‘pregnancy’. There’s been some great moments and duff duffs over the past month. (And Jonny’s back soon – hurrah!)

War & Peace In January, I explained that I’m not a costume drama guy but this was superb to the end.

Camila’s Kids Company I had a vague awareness of the Kids Company scandal and its owner Camila Batmanrobinwhatshername, who dresses like she fell on a table in a curtain shop and everything just stuck to her, but I had no idea what actually went on. Thank goodness for this documentary then – it got to the heart of the organisation and showed Camila’s complete and utter denial that there was a problem. Aside from the rather grating vo, this was well done.

Happy Valley I won’t go in depth on this because a) I can’t write for shit and b) every newspaper columnist has already done so but y’know, it’s good.

First Dates It’s disappeared off again, ffs! There were some great moments once again though and none of it ever feels in poor taste. There was a newly out gay guy who struggled with admitting his sexuality out loud, the woman who was reduced to tears in her post-date interview and the loveliest newly divorced man in the world.

The Man Who Witnessed 219 Executions This is one of BBC Three online’s first shows and it’s short and sweet but worth a watch when you get a spare moment. This is an interview with the guy at the coalface of the final stage of the American ‘justice’ system. Interesting is how he explains the helplessness of being behind the glass – you can suspect that someone is innocent but you have no power to help them in the final moments.

To watch next month: Thirteen, Mr Robot, Please Like Me S3, The Man In The High Castle, Newsroom S2

The Readlist: January 2016

January 31, 2016January 31, 2016Leave a comment

When I was younger I would quite happily be able to sit all day on one of the steps on the stairs and read. Morning, noon and night it was all I ever did. Sadly life and work gets in the way when you get older but this year I’m aiming to read more and get back into it properly. It doesn’t help that my concentration is now no where near what it used to be but I’d like to read a book every couple of weeks which seems like a reasonable goal. It’s not like I wasn’t reading last year, but the problem is I’ve forgotten half the stuff I’ve read even though some of it (and in particular the non-fiction) was really great. Much like the watchlist, I’m aiming to keep tabs on my reading. There’s also a load of links to articles and long reads at the bottom. Here’s January’s offerings:

Dirk Gently: The Long Dark Tea-time Of The Soul by Douglas Adams

I bought a set of the three Dirk gently books ages ago after enjoying Hitchhiker’s and loving the Dirk Gently adaptation on BBC Four. I thought I’d never got round to reading the first one so started that only to then discover I’d infact read it last year but had very little recollection of it (cc the post opener). I then dived into Dirk 2. It was an alright read, a little ploddy and slow in places but with enough interlinking layers to make it an interesting story. I found the ending a really disappointing pay off however, and it (without being too dramatic) ruined the book for me. Other points:

One of the running themes in the book is the fact that you can’t get pizza delivered in London even though it’s a staple of any decent American town: a little dated.
There are certain people you know would have been brilliant on twitter but they’re sadly rotting in the ground and Douglas Adams is very definitely one of those people.
I’d recommend watching the Stephen Mangan dramatisation of the Dirk Gently books. They don’t follow the stories and are merely based in his world instead, but they’re really great. They pop up on iPlayer from time to time, otherwise grab the DVD. The soundtrack to it is great too.
Also, BBC America announced this month they’d be making a Dirk Gently TV series which makes me incredibly fearful as I presume it’s going to be very Marvel-ly in its way. We shall see.

Room 536 by AL Kennedy (short story)

A book warehouse to the trade closed near me not too long ago and had a public closing down sale and I spent two happy hours browsing the place. One of the things I picked up was an old edition of Granta and this story was in it. It’s brilliantly told, and is like peeling back the layers of an onion – you never know what’s going on and then little by little something new is revealed. It’s incredibly witty too. Alas, it never became a proper novel as intended and left me with many more questions than answers.

The Error World by Simon Garfield

I’m a big fan of Simon Garfield and have read a few of his books and his inside account of Radio 1 in the late 1990s is well worth grabbing a second hand copy of, particularly if you work in radio. Without getting all James Ward on your ass I do find a fascination in the “boring”, “dull”, everyday things that most people don’t give a second thought to. It also annoys me when people look down on those who collect things or have a great knowledge of specific items as if that’s really any different to being able to name every player in the Chelsea squad.

In this book, Garfield talks personally on one of his passions: stamp collecting, and in particular error stamps. This is one of the only worlds where the more incorrect, and ‘damaged’ an item is, the more it’s worth. These are usually down to rare printing errors where the Queen’s head is missing, or a specific part of the design has not been printed. He talks about his search for certain stamps which he’s been longing for since he was a child and the eventual strain it had on his marriage. TEW is an incredibly personal book – less about stamps and more a memoir of Garfield’s life, the deaths that shaped him as a young man and the mistakes he acknowledges he’s made. This is one of Garfield’s great strengths, being able to present these subjects that most would describe as “dull” in an incredibly human way.

There’s lots of interesting titbits in the book as you’d imagine, but one that’ll stick with me is that the first Christmas stamp was based on a muslim! It was designed by a child who entered a Blue Peter competition and based the king’s face on her father. I’m sure Daily Mail readers would be thrilled by that knowledge. Also, Serena Williams is a philatelist – who knew?

Tintin: Cigars of the Pharaoh

I bought a complete set of Tintin on a whim last November and have been making my way through them when I have a spare moment or when I’m between books. They’re always very fast paced but the attention to detail in each slide is astonishing. This page from Tintin In America which I read last month doesn’t avoid political issues.

…and I’m currently reading Curtain Call by Anthony Quinn

LONG READS & ARTICLES

QUBE The interesting story of the first cable network in America, called Qube. It was interactive (!) and is largely forgotten.

Railways The most unusual stations on the British rail network

Stand On The Right Why challenging the status quo on the Underground has benefits

Stream Me Up, Scottie Why streaming TV isn’t just TV delivered differently

Tuchman You’ve never heard of him but you’ve seen him

Droning On How a Kickstarter campaign went awry and lost £££s for investors

Making A Mistake How Making A Murderer isn’t as clear cut and well made as thought

Whitney How Whitney changed America’s national anthem

Ad blockers The future of news on the web and what Forbes did about it

Bye Jazeera The real reason Al Jazeera US failed

Bernie NRA Sanders How the NRA accidentally elected their enemy

The Watchlist: January 2016

January 31, 2016January 31, 2016Leave a comment

I often feel like life is passing me by and I have no one else to blame for that but myself. It’s not as if things don’t happen and take place, but I often forget what I’ve done or watched or read of note and this year I’ve opted to keep a list of all the telly, films and books I read. I could keep a diary but I know I’d forget about it after a week so a continually updated list of ‘culture’ (bleurgh!) seems doable. My memories of TV shows can sometimes be a scene popping into my head but with no further details, and the end of the year can come and I can forget what shows I really enjoyed because months have passed, so this little project should go some way to alleviating those problems.

FILMS

I’m not a film buff, indeed I used to be known at school as the person who had never seen any of the well known films (and yes I know, ‘never seen Star Wars’ is such a cliché). I probably go to the cinema once every two years in reality, so Netflix’s collection is all I have. I apologise for the awful quality of my writing – I’m certainly nor Mark Kermode.

Muriels’ Wedding

In all honesty, I had my doubts about this film when I started it. It’s joyful and one of those films you could happily watch on a Sunday afternoon even though you’ve seen it a hundred times before. Muriel encapsulates the feeling that everyone has at some point in their lives – that everything’s okay for others and you’re some how this big exception. In reality of course your next success is just around the corner but at the time you can rarely see it. The film doesn’t try to be something it’s not – it’s not a romcom, it’s not sickly sweet, it’s not some big blockbuster with a huge budget, but it is human which I think makes it special. Very much in the same vein of Bridget Jones, of course.

I had no idea Toni Collette was in the title role – she looks so different.
Bonus points for having an attractive blonde swimmer, even if he is a dick to Muriel
I will be endlessly dropping “Oh Muriel, you’re terrrribleeeee” into conversation from now on
The scene at the holiday resort where they mime to Abba complete with dance is one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen
And on that note, the gospel version of Dancing Queen is my new jam and will 100% be the music used at my probably-never-going-to-happen-but-you-never-know wedding.

Behind The Candelabra

This could so easily have been terrible. Really truly terrible, but was actually incredibly well delivered. I watched it three weeks ago though so can’t remember what my initial opinion of it was so this review ends here.

In The Loop

I loved The Thick Of It, as I think everyone who ever watched it did too, so I was looking forward to this. Everyone other than the indefinable Malcom Tucker is merely playing a version of their character under a different guise, which I think is understandable as you don’t want any other back stories getting in the way of the film. It’s got killer lines, as you’d imagine, and benefits from both having tight editing but also moments where scenes are allowed to play out properly which was sometimes lacking from the telly show.

Carol

So here we go then, my biennial cinema visit and I actually ended up seeing this in London because it wasn’t showing anywhere near me (the nearest multiplexes are 20-40 miles away and concentrate on blockbusters, and if they do show smaller more artsy films they’ll be on for one weekend then disappear). I have the concentration of a… ooh, shiny… so surprised myself by being able to sit through this whole film and barely fidgeting once. The characters were greatly portrayed and I’d recommend it to anybody. It could have fallen into so many tried, homophobic traps but it was refreshing in its presentation of it and the large acceptance on an individual level.

Roman Holiday

The second Audrey Hepburn film I’ve seen after watching Breakfast At Tiffany’s* on New Years Eve. It partly caught my eye while browsing Netflix because while at the cinema watching Carol a trailer for the new film about writer Dalton Trumbo and his Hollywood blacklisting appeared, so thought I’d give it a go. Another heartening film, which takes no effort to watch. Definitely one for the ‘hungover’ list. Points of note:

the bearded photographer looked very familiar and I couldn’t place why, but have now decided he looks like Tim Key.
the Italian barber is incredibly attractive
Audrey Hepburn’s eyebrows are a force of nature
I was very surprised to discover there was no gif of the taxi driver on the internet, so I made one of his fabulous eye-roll-shade-throwing-sigh

*the real showstopper performance of course being from the cat and not Audrey.

TELEVISION

Sherlock: The Abominable Bride – it’s seem very fashionable to hate Sherlock and pick it apart, much like it was to hate Coldplay in 2006 but I feel it is often understandable in Sherlock’s case, as it’s wasn’t as AMAZEEEEEE as everyone (Tumblr) claims it to be anyway. Sure, it’s great but not AMAZEEEEEE. A bizarre episode.

The Newsroom: Season 1 – I started watching this a few years but have dived back into it again. My concentration span is often dreadful, and if you let your mind wander for even twenty seconds you miss something crucial during this show. Every line is there for a reason. I’m also glad I have a base level knowledge of American politics from my A-levels because otherwise I wouldn’t have a clue what was going on most of the time.

30 Rock: Season 6 and Season 7 – I’ve been watching 30 Rock since mid-2015, pausing between seasons but opted to view S6 and 7 as one. Some people judge S6 harshly, and others think S4-5 are dreadful but I don’t think that 30 Rock ever truly dropped the ball. Sure, some episodes are weaker than others but overall its quality of one liners and throwaway comments in every show was outstanding. I’m both gutted I’ll never be able to watch it afresh again but also quite keen to start over from the beginning because there are no doubt great lines I missed.

Making A Murderer – a bit of an iceberg effect on this one, in the same way everyone already knew the story arc of the film Titanic and how it would end, everyone watched it anyway. I watched the first episode of this, read a few articles and would be able to get through a conversation about it. Did I watch anymore of it? No, because ten hours of documentary when I already know where it’s leading isn’t enticing to me. I loved Serial and probably would have loved this had it been released week by week, but out of everything I had on my watch list this was at the bottom of the pile.

Deutschland 83 – The Cold War! Spies! Communism! Gay characters! I had my doubts when this started. It was perfectly pleasant but just seemed a bit shoddy around the edges; a great idea delivered poorly, if you will. The pop music soundtrack, particularly in the first few episodes, seemed forced and the strength of suspense and drama seemed weak. It is no way near the best foreign drama I’ve ever seen and I felt like it was appealing to those who had never watched foreign TV before, and that’s fine and the more the merrier but all those claiming on Twitter that “it’s amazing” or the “best thing ever” just clearly haven’t seen any other foreign drama – hello, The Bridge?! Episode 4 on Sunday was truly gripping however, a show that had been coasting along as a 6/10 truly came into its own

EastEnders – srsly Lacey Turner, what a pro.

The Tracey Ullman Show – being basically a foetus I had no real awareness of Tracey Ullman other than some vague notion she was partly responsible for the Simpsons. This is the first thing I’ve ever watched her do and I’ve been really enjoying it. Bonus points for having Samantha Spiro in it as well.

Spin – enjoying this far more than Deutschland 83, and the intrigue and drama in this is far more rewarding. Originally airing in 2012 over in France, it’s incredibly well timed here given recent events. Still had the classic French TV problem in the first episode however, as I couldn’t work out if people were being affectionate and kissing each other because they were screwing or because they were French. I also have real issues with Apple bringing out new iOS and iPhones in that it immediately dates a TV show when characters use them, as in Spin. I know that’s an issue with all technology but at least with Blackberrys they all looked the same.

War & Peace – I’m not usually one for period dramas and fancy costume but I’ve been gripped by this adaptation. Also features attractive boys looking dapper, so tick tick tick.

First Dates – brilliant as always.

Murdered By My Boyfriend – I hadn’t watched this the first time round but knew it had won a load of awards. When it appeared on iPlayer again I gave it a go and it is utterly heartbreaking. I did some googling to try and find out who phoned 999 at the end because it was never truly explained and found an article on the real case. The toddler daughter wandering in *four times* is such a harrowing detail.

Please Like Me: Series 1 – This is truly great and deserves to be far more well known than it is. Josh Thomas, a gay Australian comedian, stars as a version of himself in this sweet comedy where he explores his sexuality for the first time after breaking up with his girlfriend. The writing is both clever and witty, but the show also allows time for moments to occur too – there’s no rush to move on to the next thing, and scenes have as much time as they need. The comic timing is often perfect and I found myself laughing out loud on occasion, which as I’m sure you’ll know, rarely happens when you’re watching something alone (laughter is a social response, after all). I can understand that some people might find Josh Thomas’s character and sing song voice irritating but I love it and him, and find this ticks the box of being relatable. Mildly similar to Simon Amstell’s great and underloved sitcom Grandma’s House, if you’ve ever seen it. It’s surprisingly hard to track down and watch so give me a bell if you need a decent link.

Only Connect – this is the first series I’ve watched with any degree of regularity, and I’m just incredibly grateful that smug Gerard didn’t win.

Suits: Season 4 – every time I come round to watching a season of Suits I forget what happened last time, but manage to fall straight back in with ease which I think is tantamount to the show and the strength of its characters. Not too many that you feel swamped, but enough that you feel empathy for them. The comedy moments are still there of course as is the poor continuity of Donna’s hair between shots, but it’s Donna so I’m not complaining. Interestingly, the show’s ratings for S3+ are surprisingly poor in the US compared to S1 and S2, and it is now rarely in the Top 20 most watched shows on cable when it used to be consistently in the Top 5. Four episodes in at the time of writing.