Watching - April 2023

Moonage Daydream (2022)

A sort of life story, but of David Bowie's creative life rather than anything else - if, indeed, there was much else. It's impressionistic and only approximately chronological, and the only real way to experience it is to kind of surrender to the wash of sound and vision rather that attempt to make sense of it - something I think Bowie would have appreciated and at which I am sure the director was aiming. Unfortunately, it's nowhere near engaging enough for this to happen. It felt to me like the intro montage that you get before the proper film starts - except it lasted over 2 hours and there was no proper film. Interesting in places and I kind of see what the director was going for, but not for me. Inevitably the most featured work is his 70s albums - there's little from the 80s, almost nothing from after that and, astonishingly and appallingly, no mention of the epochal Tin Machine whatsoever.

The Guard (2011)

More Irish clichés than you can shake a pint of Guinness at, but Brendan Gleeson is brilliant and the plot is nice and simple. The ending is implausible but overall, good fun.

Airplane! (1980)

Dated and politically incorrect - which is probably was at the time - but hilarious. So rammed full of jokes that there are always new ones to spot. Watched with B & Z, and happy to introduce them to a classic.

Casual Sex? (1988)

An odd film, which shows its roots in theatre, and now notable primarily for featuring the utterly divine Lea Thompson. (I don't know why but it's disappointing to read that the other star, Victoria Jackson, has since become a raving right wing Christian fundamentalist nutjob.) Nevertheless, there's plenty to enjoy here, even the heavy-handed, tacked-on ending which looks like it was a complete after-thought.

Can You Keep A Secret? (2019)

When I first read Sophie Kinsella's book I thought it was ideal material for a film. Well, give me a job, Hollywood, because blow me down if a mere 14 years later they didn't go and do just that. Inevitably transplanted to America and missing some of the charm I remember from the book, but sweet enough and enjoyable on a Sunday afternoon when I wanted something unchallenging.

21 (2008)

Based loosely on a book (Bringing Down The House - there's also an interesting article in Wired) that is itself apparently loosely based on the truth, this is nevertheless a somewhat formulaic but enjoyable thriller about MIT students beating the odds at Las Vegas - real fantasy, wish-fulfilment stuff. I don't know the details but I suspect the real thing is firstly, a lot more complicated ("counting cards" sounds simple but I don't think it is in practice) and secondly, a lot more interesting when not shoved into a Hollywood template.

Deadpool (2016)

Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson aka Deadpool is possibly one of the best casting decisions ever. And the film plays up to both the character and the actor's persona brilliantly (there's a whole sub-genre of amusing Ryan Reynolds clips on Youtube). The film is so relentlessly entertaining - in many sick ways - that it's kind of easy to overlook that it's a very simple plot. But that's OK. (Watched with Z, who hadn't seen it before)

Reading - April 2023

Take A Chance On Me by Jennifer Dawson (2014)

The Winner Takes It All by Jennifer Dawson (2014)

What originally drew me to these books were the ABBA songs as titles. Other than that, the basic premise is fairly standard: another idyllic US small town where people can find real life and love after the artificiality of the big city - so far, so formulaic. The formula is stretched too far though with the alpha-male characters. It's one thing to be swept away by passion and another to force your passion on someone else. Maybe it's appealing to the millions who lapped up 50 Shades (which I haven't read, incidentally), but the willing submission of the female characters made me uncomfortable. The books are well-written and the characters believable - mostly - but I won't be reading any more.

Finding Hope by Stacy Finz (2015)

Working my way through the "Nugget" series again reminds me of how well-balanced they are: a superb mix of plot, romance, sex and characterisation - in particular, many of the secondary characters are really well drawn and fill the story out very well.

One Two Three Four: The Beatles in Time by Craig Brown (2020)

This is an odd book, and one I found hard to get through. It consists of one hundred and fifty short vignettes, in broadly chronological order, about different aspects of The Beatles, from trivia, fan accounts, and curiosities to interviews and fan conventions. There's no real thread and overall the sense is of a rather scattershot approach that feels like it was assembled piecemeal. I'm not sure I understand the universal acclaim for it.

Second Chances by Stacy Finz (2015)

A little less well-paced than the previous two installments in this series, and I found myself getting frustrated by how self-absorbed the main hero was. Probably realistic actually, but annoying. I enjoyed it though.

Bedlam by Christopher Brookmyre (2013)

I've not read this for over two years, which when you consider that up until then I'd pretty much read it once a year since I got it, is something. So, on the (counts) eighth reading, is it still good? Yes, it is. One of my favourites.

Starting Over by Stacy Finz (2015)

Getting Lucky by Stacy Finz (2015)

If there's a sign I've not been well, it's that I'm ploughing through easy-reading romance novels. Nice stories that resolve well and don't require too much brain power, but are engaging enough to keep my attention, and not make me feel like my time has been wasted. Both of these books are similar in structure and pattern but different enough to feel like it's not a formula.

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang (2018)

Re-reading this nearly five years later (and where has that time gone?) because it stuck with me and although I remembered less about it than I thought, it was still as enjoyable as I recalled. Just as nice the second time round.

Borrowing Trouble by Stacy Finz (2016)

More cute fun in Nugget, this time with a soupçon of thriller and suspense. Again, I'm enjoying the fact that there are secondary characters with nicely developed stories too (and of course those end happily too).