Watching - August 2023

The Crow Road (1996)

An old favourite and an acclaimed adaptation, apparently. I think it's great (and the book is one of my all-time favourites) but I do wonder what I'd make of its multi-layered, flashback-in-flashback structure if I wasn't already very familiar with the plot. Nevertheless, a great watch.

Cheers (Season 1, 1982-1983)

This reminds me of working in Halifax, about twenty years ago, when I filled the dull evenings by watching the first few series. Obviously it was already dated then and now it really does show its age, but the writing is sharp, the lines mostly funny and I can forgive the occasional wobbly camera angles. A classic for a reason.

Wham! (2023)

I don't know whether this is correct, but I wouldn't be surprised if this was commissioned off the back of the (surprising?) success of Andrew Ridgeley's autobiography from 2019. It's essentially a filming of that, with lots of footage and plenty of archive interviews from George Michael himself, making it perhaps a bit more balanced. The story's the same though: childhood friends become massive stars and the normal one retires to live a normal life. I still have a lot of respect for Andrew Ridgeley for doing that. A really fun trip down memory lane for me.

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)

Watched with the boys. Very very silly.