Watching - July 2024

Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie (2023)

The credits say "based on books written by Michael J. Fox" and there's nothing here that I wasn't familiar with from my previous reading, particularly the excellent Lucky Man. But reading about it is one thing; seeing it is another. Fox has spent over thirty years with his diagnosis but it's still a bit of a shock, for me at least, as someone unfamiliar with Parkinson's, to see the extent of how he's changed - and yet how he is the same. What's also really interesting is looking back at some of his roles from the early 90s onwards and being able to see the signs once you know what to look for. I could have done without the dramatic reconstructions (although whoever they used for Fox really caught the way he moves) and the way it edited in lots of shots from his films, but nevertheless it was interesting, engaging and affecting.

Our Welsh Chapel Dream (2024)

By turns amusing and slightly bewildering: the scale of the work that everyone's favourite lachrymose potter Keith Brymer Jones and his partner Marj have given themselves - to restore the enormous Welsh chapel they bought in 2022 - is incredible, let alone that they're basically doing it themselves on a fairly shoe-string budget. But they are amazingly good natured about it (at least on camera) and it's good to see them attempting it. Despite being only four episodes long, there's a little bit of a feeling of the material being stretched a bit thin. But I would watch another season as they are good company and I'd love to know how it turns out!

Pillow Talk (1959)

I watched Down With Love a while ago and while I'm no film buff, it was clear even to me that its inspiration was this Doris Day and Rock Hudson classic. And since it popped up on iPlayer, I thought I'd remind myself how the original was. As one of the landmark "battle of the sexes" romcoms, it has earned its place in history, but by modern standards it's a bit tame - entertaining enough to pass the time but now superseded. And surely only a few years away from having a warning at the start telling us that scenes in the film "reflect attitudes of the time" - for example, the ending, in which (spoiler alert) Hudson breaks into Day's apartment, yanks her out of bed and basically kidnaps her, only for her to melt as soon as he mentions the word "marriage", is a bit unappetising.

The Map of Tiny Perfect Things (2021)

Fourth time of watching, this time with K, as I insisted she would like it (she did).

Staged (series 1-3, 2020-2022)

I finally got round to watching this after having been told, separately, by two of my kids how good it was. And it is. The willingness of David Tennant, Michael Sheen and, in particular, director Simon Evans to make themselves look stupid in the name of comedy is great. It might be a somewhat tired cliché to have the men behaving like overgrown children while their womenfolk are responsible adults, but nevertheless it works here and provides plenty of comedy. And it's short - a much needed attribute of TV series I think. The first series was the best, while the second and third became decreasingly focussed and increasingly meta, but still enjoyable to watch.

Meeting People Is Easy (1998)

I must have bought this over twenty years ago but I've never watched it until now, and much as I love Radiohead's music, I don't think I've been missing anything. I can see what they were trying to do, and the point is made - the dehumanising, absurd nature of promoting and touring rock music - but it's not particularly enjoyable or enlightening. Maybe I would have enjoyed it or engaged with it more at the time; maybe now I just don't want to be challenged (I mean, look at the crap I normally watch). Incidentally you can now watch it for free at the Radiohead Public Library (which I have just discovered and is superb).

Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)

A boys' evening out with Z started with excellent fish & chips in a local park and then a nice helping of ludicrously over-the-top, very gory violence. Ryan Reynolds is of course very funny and I was laughing throughout (including at the line "What the MacGuffin is that?", which literally no-one else in the cinema reacted to), but as a whole, the film was a bit silly. I enjoyed our evening out very much though.

Reading - July 2024

Portable Magic by Emma Smith (2022)

An amusing and diverting history, discussion and discursion of books as physical objects, as opposed to their contents.  Although this is available via the library's (excellent) e-book service, I made it a point to reserve and then read a physical copy, as to do otherwise would seem wrong somehow!

50 Ways to Ruin a Rake by Jade Lee (2015)

I chose this mainly because of the amusing title. It's a regency romance, and in fairness, there's slightly more period flavour than you get with The Duke and I (the first Bridgerton novel). More of it is played for laughs than I expected, there's less romance and the ending is a bit sudden. Still, not a bad way to pass the time.

The Love Algorithm by Claudia Carroll (2022)

Not exactly a romance, more a gentle comedy about friendships. Ignore the vagueness about the central plot device (a dating app that seems to just magically work), and it's a sweet story.

White Picket Fences by Tara Taylor Quinn (2000)

Undemanding and familiar reading for when I'm feeling ill (which is now, just for clarity).

A Snowball in Hell by Christopher Brookmyre (2008)

Another book I know very well. I can see why the lengthy exposition might annoy some people but I like it.

Why Didn't They Ask Evans? by Agatha Christie (1934)

One of the benefits of being ill is having lots of time to read and I finished this in a day - although in fairness, this is a very short book. (And in fairness to me, it was the second book I read that day!) A bit whodunnit, a bit thriller, not the most impenetrable Christie plot ever, but easy to read.

Good Pop Bad Pop by Jarvis Cocker (2022)

We join the patron saint of every indie misfit who dreams of stardom as he goes through a stash of his own memorabilia. There's nothing here of intrinsic value and much that it outright tat, but of course it's all rescued by the stories it prompts. It's all so very ... Jarvis. I don't have anything against him (I love Pulp's mid-90s albums and it's impossible not to admire his sheer persistence and individualism) but sometimes he feels like a cliché of himself. That doesn't stop this book being a fantastic, entertaining read. (side note: I got this from my Secret Santa last December and I feel slightly sheepish now at having waited so long to get round to it, so, if you're reading this, thank you very much and sorry!)

The Times Style Guide edited by Ian Brunskill (2017)

I don't write professionally as much as I used to, but even so I like a good style guide. This has much that is very sensible and even if I disagree with the occasional stylistic choice (e.g. I don't like "eg"), it would make a good ready-made basis for a team to use.

Crumb by Richard Bertinet (2019)

A new bread book! Well, new to me, anyway - and the first time I've read one for ages. I chose this because it was the only one available in the library, but Bertinet has done a few, and he also has videos on YouTube that are refreshingly straightforward (too many bread videos on YT are all clickbait titles and zero content). I like his approach and I might even try a sourdough again. However, as usual, most of the book is made up of recipes that are variations on the same thing. Bonus points for including a challah recipe, but minus points for adding butter to it (you can't add dairy to a bread intended to be eaten at a kosher table).