Reading - March 2024

An Utterly Exasperated History of Modern Britain by John O'Farrell (2009)

A concise and surprisingly effective primer to the last 60 (ish) years. As befits the author of Things Can Only Get Better, this is broadly more sympathetic to the centre-left, politically, but doesn't spare the Labour governments either. In between the jokes, there's a lot of actual history being conveyed. Very entertaining, if - as per the title - a little exasperating when you look back at the opportunities missed. But, as I mentioned in my review of Stewart Maconie's superb The Nanny State Made Me, the people get what the people vote for.

Totally Wired: The Rise and Fall of the Music Press by Paul Gorman (2023)

In which an interesting subject is made tedious and dull. I think Gorman's attempts to be comprehensive have completely hamstrung any sense of a real story - indeed, the "fall" is covered in a mere handful of pages - and instead we get an unfocussed ramble through myriad minor titles and names. I managed to finish it with a last final push over a few hours but blimey it was hard work. One for the charity shop.

Stompbox created by Eilon Paz; edited by Dan Epstein and James Rotundi (2021)

I love playing with effect pedals and find the subject really interesting. But the ostensible raison d'être of Stompbox - 100 of the "greatest guitarists" discuss their favourite pedal, accompanied by a photo of said item - occupies less than half of this book. The rest is a collection of articles that are mildly interesting but don't add anything new to the subject. I feel that anyone sufficiently interested in pedals to want to read the first half of the book will already know all the information in the latter half. A much slimmer volume that just had the players and their pedals would have been much better, although presumably couldn't warrant the same price. It also has to be said that although there are some genuine greats amongst the players included, there are some choices clearly only here to make up the numbers. So was it worth it? Well ... not really. It's an interesting diversion but ultimately this book is not worth the expensive, luxurious and ostentatiously heavy coffee table treatment.

Love Again (originally Text for You) by Sofie Cramer (2009)

I read this after watching the film and while it's the same basic plot - man gets texts on his new phone number from a woman writing to her dead boyfriend - the overall feel is very different. While the film is a slightly tongue-in-cheek romcom about finding new love, the book is a more serious examination of the grieving process - a romance still, but one with a bit more depth. Despite that, I found it a little unengaging. Perhaps it's because it's been translated from the original German (SMS für Dich), perhaps because it feels like there are missing scenes; one recurring feature of the narrative is to describe how a main character feels about something that happened earlier, "off camera", as it were, rather than actually including the scene itself. The big emotional break up then reconciliation is curiously muted too. And there's no Céline Dion!

Fingers Crossed by Miki Berenyi (2022)

I always look for good reviews on a book cover as I've learned that if no-one has anything nice to say about it, there's probably a reason. However, Fingers Crossed comes with so many laudatory quotes from both heavyweight publications and reliable insiders, both on the cover (front and back) as well as inside, that it's a bit intimidating. What if I don't like it? Thankfully, this is not a problem here. Miki Berenyi writes fluently, with admirable clarity, and dispassionately lays out the facts of her life leading up to and during her time with her band, Lush. It's not an ordinary story by any means. The stories from her childhood are saddening but provide a necessary context for her life later, while her insights into the sexism and exploitation at the heart of the music industry at the time (and almost certainly still) are not revelations but no less disheartening for all that. And yet throughout she comes across as well-balanced - helped, dare I say, by a quarter of a century's perspective and the grounding of a subsequent normal life and family. It's a really good read and I don't think you'd have to be a fan of Lush to enjoy it. I'm happy to know she's OK. And finally, a very, very slight personal connection: me and my friend Pat once had a beer in the World's End in Camden with Chris Acland, Lush's drummer. He was lovely and bought us chips, which, given that he was probably more broke than we were, was a nice thing to do.

Notting Hill by Richard Curtis (1999)

I've kept this for 25 years primarily because Hugh Grant's afterword is so funny, and because some of the deleted scenes are interesting. I read it this time to complement the film.

The Neighbor Favor by Kristina Forest (2023)

Enjoyable contemporary romance, readable and believable.

Watching - March 2024

Finding Dory (2016)

A slightly lowest common denominator choice of family movie time on a Saturday evening (I think we got Google to choose a random letter and then this was the only film we could all agree on), but everyone enjoyed it, there's lots going on and the animation is, as always, incredible. Probably wouldn't feature on anyone's list of favourite Pixar films (it is, after all, a sequel) but still fine.

Love Again (2023)

This romcom is either cheesy or tongue-in-cheek - or perhaps both. It was primarily made in London and features mostly British actors (albeit nearly all doing US accents), which makes me hope that it's the latter, because if it's serious then it misses the mark. That said, Priyanka Chopra Jonas is very good and the fact that one scene features her husband Nick Jonas in a cameo as a vain, hookup-obsessed bro is also a little sign that maybe it's not taking itself too seriously. Factor in the entertaining supporting cast, and, despite a somewhat predictable plot, I found myself laughing a lot more than perhaps it deserved - enough that I can even forgive it featuring Céline Dion (who in fairness seems entirely in on the joke and well up for gently mocking herself ... probably).

Fast & Furious (2009)

Obviously, ludicrously excessive, but surely that's the point. Vin Diesel broods nicely; presumably he's contractually forbidden from smiling, or maybe it just doesn't suit him. The cars charge around excitingly; there are noticeably more US models this time, mostly 70s muscle cars, improbably capable of keeping up with modern Japanese hot-rods. And there are scantily clad women randomly dotted around; the producers know their market! The plot's not terrible, the acting's OK and there is real suspense even though obviously everything is going to work out. Brainless fun for the fifteen year old in me.

Dash & Lily (2020)

Having enjoyed the book, I started the series a bit before Christmas but haven't finished until now - which, given that it is very much seasonally-themed, makes it a bit odd now it's spring. The plot device is the same, of course, but the series doesn't follow the book much at all - but that doesn't detract from the overall sweet feel. What does, though, is the fact that the two main actors are clearly in their mid-to-late twenties, playing seventeen year-olds. Still cute and watchable though. (side note: the second thing I've watched this month to feature Nick Jonas in a cameo. What are the odds?)

Notting Hill (1999)

I love this film - I've seen it many, many times, first in the cinema of course (although I have no recollection of this), then on VHS, then on DVD and now streaming - but that's despite its many flaws. Mostly, it's the loose ends that annoy me. Why does Tony crop up occasionally for no reason? How come Honey and Spike suddenly end up together? What's Martin's story? Why does Bella suddenly mention that she and Max can't have children? I have the book of the script (which includes a hilarious afterword from Hugh Grant) and these are all explained (apart from the really weird thing with Honey and Spike) by the deleted scenes that are included; it's all background that was cut, for time, pacing or other reasons. So the question is: what the fuck is it still doing in the finished film? Even the author admits that Bella's admission "does rather leap out of nowhere". Oh well. It's still a modern fairy tale, as Curtis describes it - or, more accurately, a modern, male fantasy.

Apollo 13 (1995)

Hard to believe this film's almost thirty years old! Because of its setting, it doesn't date in the same way that, say, Notting Hill does, and of course it's brilliantly made. There's a few minor changes in the name of fitting everything in just over two hours, but I've read Jim Lovell's book Lost Moon and this is pretty close. A classic.

Baby Driver (2017)

I don't follow film news or pay much attention to what's out, so I only learned about Baby Driver about a year after it came out, while reading an old Empire magazine at the doctors. I think the fact that it is directed by Edgar Wright is what really grabbed my interest, otherwise I'm not sure I would have been bothered about a fairly standard heist movie. It's gripping though, particularly the first two-thirds or so, and the music is wound into the action very nicely. The overall ending is a bit anti-climactic, although it's nice to see Baby (Ansel Elgort, very good) and Debora (the divine Lily James) meet up again at the very end.

Barbie (2023)

The concept of mixing a fluffy Hollywood comedy with a feminist polemic must have been a hard sell but it's a winning combination. The points about the unrealistic expectations imposed on women and the role of patriarchal institutions in upholding that are a bit sledgehammer but obviously needed. What's surprising is the way that Mattel have allowed Barbie, and themselves, to be identified as culpable for this. Anyway, there's reams and reams of commentary available online if you want better informed opinions. I thought it was lots of fun and very, very clever, albeit slightly uncomfortable watching while sitting in the same room as my teenage daughter shouting "that's right, that's what all men do!" (I've tried telling her that she doesn't understand what "mansplaining" actually means but she won't listen for some reason.)

Watching - February 2024

WALL·E (2008)

Such a sweet film. I'm sure there are many references for film buffs that I won't pick up, but even so the ability to produce a story about two robots falling in love is just so impressive, and WALL-E him(?)self is such lovely character.

Rocketman (2019)

Obviously not intended as a biography, exactly, nor not one either - a very broad brush interpretation of Elton John's life that aims at the truth in a wider sense. As a result, while very entertaining and setting the songs very well, it feels a bit scattered. possibly because it's a real life rather than a story with a beginning, middle and end. Full marks for including all the more controversial elements of his life though, and credit to Taron Egerton for a superb performance.

Love at First Sight (2023)

I thought K would like this, and so I finally got her to sit down and watch it - and she (perhaps slightly reluctantly) admitted she did enjoy it.

Doc Hollywood (1991)

Yeah, I've watched it too many times, but it's still worth it for the scene where Lou and Ben dance to  Patsy Cline's "Crazy", never quite kissing. One of my favourite movie moments.

The Fast and the Furious (2001)

I've been curious to know what it is about this film that has managed to generate nine sequels (so far), but my interest was finally really piqued when an episode of Inside Cinema (a great series of short films by the BBC about, well, cinema) mentioned that it was essentially Point Break, but with cars. Well, I like Point Break so that settled it. It was inspired by an article about street racing in New York, but moved to the west coast, and I can see the appeal: fast cars, a soundtrack that I'm pretty certain we'd call "bangin'" and plenty of babes in bikinis. What's not to like if you're a teenage boy? Ultimately though, there's not that much to it, but Vin Diesel is surprisingly good (even if he's no Patrick Swayze) and some of the car chases are fun.

Speed (1994)

A classic thriller that somehow I have managed never to have seen before. Deeply implausible, of course, but that's kind of the point - it's solidly in the vein of Die Hard and that sort of thing. Keanu does his Keanu thing and Sandra Bullock does well in a role that basically requires her to look scared most of the time. 

Forces of Nature (1999)

Largely forgettable travel/buddy movie. Some funny moments, but didn't seem to be quite sure what sort of film it was. (Roger Ebert's review is spot on, btw)

Cool Runnings (1993)

This is such a feel-good story and so it's a bit of a disappointment to learn that it is really only loosely based on the real events. I was more surprised to find that all the actors were American. Still, none of this really spoils what's a classic family film and one that everyone should watch (although my kids, in what is apparently now a family "joke", refuse to watch it on the grounds that I keep telling them they would enjoy it. Ha. Ha. Ha.)

Ready Player One (2018)

I was blown away by this in the cinema, in 3D and it saddens me a bit that I'm unlikely to see it like that again. Nevertheless, it's a good film. I miss the detail and background that you get with the book though, and some of the more Hollywood moments are, well, a bit lame.

Long Story Short (2021)

An obvious, slap-you-round-the-face moral and Rafe Spall apparently attempting to impersonate David Brent at times, still didn't stop me enjoying this simple time-travel(ish) story about making the most of your life. Perhaps there's something for us all to learn from that (he says, having just spent the evening watching a low budget Australian romcom).

Animal House (1978)

I watched this because I hadn't seen it in a long time and my subscription to Sky Cinema runs out in few days. Amusing in places, silly in more, and an interesting example of how a film that breaks boundaries (as I believe it did) can end up looking a bit pedestrian with the passage of time.

One Day (2024)

Sometimes more is not more.

Plus One (2019)

A little bit romcom by numbers but watchable and nice at the end.

Moana (2016)

Family singalong fun.