Watching - May 2021

Brave (2012)

Family viewing on a Saturday night, and something we probably haven't watched since we first got it. A fun story, well told and (of course) superbly animated.

Gregory's Girl (1980)

Having watched Chariots Of Fire last month, I had to get to this next, as they go together in my mind - in fact, I feel sure I saw them on a double bill once. It's on my list of favourite films, although I can't remember the last time I watched it. It's dated, obviously filmed on a budget and some of the acting's a little ropey, but it's so sweet and charming that it's easy to forget all that. At least, I find it so, but then it's so irrevocably associated with my own adolescence that I can't really judge it impartially. This is why I'm keen for B to watch it and see what he thinks! I'll persuade him eventually ...

The Lego Movie (2014)

Despite having seen this many times, there is so much detail in this film that it's easy to watch again. The animation is spectacularly clever and the script is tongue-in-cheek and witty. Sure, the ending, where the dad realises his mistake, is a touch sugary, but this is splendidly sent up by the final twist: "Now that I'm letting you come down here and play, guess who else gets to come down here and play? Your sister."

Clueless (1995)

B's Sunday afternoon choice, possibly partly because he's reading Emma, but who needs a reason? It's still one of my favourite films, a smart, funny and sweet film, given depth by its literary inheritance and its heart by some lovely performances.

One Day (2011)

The sign of a good book is that you don't want it to end, even while being unable to wait to find out how it ends. The film of the book is a way of extending your time in the book's world and maybe seeing it from a new perspective. In this, the film does very acceptably; seeing the characters and seeing their environment does bring the story to life in a new way. The film continues the grand tradition of British films featuring a US star to try and make it internationally appealing, which in this case is a mistake, I think. Not that Anne Hathaway isn't decent in the role, but she is too recognisable and consequently unbalances the story (look, there's Anne Hathaway pretending to be plain again!). And why did no-one spot that her "Yorkshire" accent keep disappearing (when it's there, she sounds just like Jodie Whitaker, who is also in the film). But a British actress who could actually do the accent would have been better. Still, the story survives, all the right buttons are pressed and I found it moving all over again.

Back In Time (2015)

Documentary about Back To The Future - made, of course, in the year that Marty McFly famously went to in BTTF2. Not as much about the making of as I expected, but there's reams of that on the box set. This is more about the phenomenon, the fans, the cars (lots about the cars). Mildly diverting but entertaining enough.

Reading - May 2021

Guitar Magazine (June 2021 / Issue 393)

Another month, another Les Paul on the cover - the most accurate ever, apparently! Again. While I can see the appeal of a nicely aged guitar, paying over £6,000 for something that's been artfully beaten up, which you will then be too scared to touch, has a certain irony. Elsewhere, the Macmull Stinger looks rather nice and Benson make a germanium fuzz with it's own built-in temperature regulator. Whatever next?

The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis (2017)

I picked this just because it's by Michael Lewis, not because I was interested in the subject - not that it was at all clear what the subject was. I think it's a bit of a miss, unfortunately. Lewis often includes the stories of the people behind the events he is explaining but here he has reversed that and chosen to put the relationship between two men - Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman - at the centre. As a result, discussion about what they actually did is a bit more vague, and I'm left with the impression that if you cut out all the biographical details (which are not really necessary in order to understand their work), you wouldn't be left with much of a book - and neither their lives or their friendship are so interesting that it's worthwhile. Michael Lewis writes superbly but this was harder going than his other books.

David & Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell (2013)

Malcolm Gladwell is another author whose books I will pick up when I find them, just because of how well he writes. Here, he uses examples from different fields to show that what accepted wisdom deems to be disadvantageous - be it dyslexia, larger class sizes or more lenient crime laws - is not necessarily so. Full of fun facts to quote at people as well as some thought-provoking ideas, this is a really interesting book which, despite tailing off a little inconclusively (it could have done with an epilogue of sorts) is well worth reading. (also, coincidentally, Amos Tversky is mentioned in a footnote!)

Jingo by Terry Pratchett (1997)

Maybe it's because I read this at bedtimes - which means a few pages per night and stopping in rather random places - but this feels a bit disjointed and kind of Discworld-by-numbers. Corporal Carrot (still one of my favourite characters) is increasingly used as almost a super-hero, albeit one whose super power is irresistible niceness and reasonableness - but still, a bit deus ex machina. Obviously the book is about nationalism - jingoism, duh - and the stupidity thereof, and makes a decent job of satirising it, although it's all a bit fish-in-a-barrel taking the piss out of nationalism anyway.

One Day by David Nicholls (2009)

I've owned this for probably ten years but never felt like taking the plunge. Then the other day I saw it on the shelf, decided to finally try it, and two days later I'd finished it, devouring it in huge chunks in a way I haven't with a book for a while. Kind of appropriate if you know the story, which is moving, affecting and quietly dramatic (at least until the last bit which turns a bit melodramatic). That said, it irks me slightly that underneath the superb writing, the astute observations and the compelling structure, the story is actually just pure Mills & Boon: Dexter is an self-involved idiot, eventually saved by the love of Emma, who is too good for him but loves him anyway and always has. But I still couldn't read it quick enough, and then immediately went and bought the film too.

Gangsta Granny by David Walliams (2011)

The success of David Walliams perplexes me: after making the most egregiously unfunny sketch show ever, he moved onto children's books, which are deeply unappealing mixtures of pastiche and cliché that nevertheless seem well on their way to making him the successor to Roald Dahl and some sort of national treasure. Gangsta Granny is a good example. No cliché about old people is left unexhumed and given one last outing: apparently they fart all the time (aren't farts funny kids!) and smell of cabbage (yuck, cabbage!), but it turns out they're actually real people too (who knew?). The writing is a blunt instrument, with none of Dahl's flair or originality, and just a crass approximation of his legendary grotesquery. The only saving grace is that the story is original and engaging. (I should admit that although I'm familiar with many of Walliams' books, this is the first I've read all the way through, in this case to Z over the course of a couple of weeks. And he enjoys it, as indeed he does all of these books. Oh well.)

The Rough Guide To The Titanic by Greg Ward (2012)

I'm not sure why I keep coming back to this, but I've read it about five times now, which is a bit over-the-top, even for me. In Southampton today we saw the MV Brittania, which is huge, and it's sobering to think that over 100 years ago, the Titanic was not far off this size - about 80% of the length and half the width.

The Best of Nat King Cole

 Nat King Cole

Capitol Records - ST 21139 (c1968)

The next random selection managed to pick out one of the few "pop" records in my grandparent's collection. This was obviously a popular choice in their househould, as it showed signs of being played a fair amount - the cover is well used and the record itself, while in good condition, wasn't particularly clean (I'm fairly certain there were some bits of chocolate on it).

It's nice to have short, easily digestible songs, and while some are very much of their time ("Those Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer" has some particularly cringe-inducing lyrics to modern ears), they all sound pleasant. I was familiar with about half of the songs on this album - the timeless classics such as "Unforgettable" of course - but it's been nice to hear others. Tracks like "I Don't Want to be Hurt Anymore" or "Dear Lonely Hearts" sound almost country; "L-O-V-E" is as swinging as anything Sinatra has recorded (it's interesting to note that both singers worked with the same arrangers, such as Nelson Riddle).

I have a particular fondness for "Let There Be Love", as I think my parents had this on 45 and I must have been hearing it since my teens. Cole's voice is remarkably consistent across all these songs - perhaps he doesn't have the range of a Frank Sinatra, but his vocal quality is of course unique and instantly identifiable. Easy listening in the very best sense.

[side note: I'm cheating a bit again, as my record player is still playing up, so I mostly listened to this on Spotify. I'm a bit disappointed - I really wanted to be playing the actual discs - but I wanted to carry on with the listening anyway]

Bruckner: Symphony No. 8

 Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Conducted by Daniel Barenboim

Deutsche Grammophon - 2741007 (1981)

My Vinyl Album of the "Week" project has looked like being decreasingly well-named of late, and partly this is because I was determined not to just skip this record, even though I have found it really hard to like. It's too long for me to be able to get a grip on, with each movement more than ten minutes long and some over twenty. Perhaps what I needed to do was listen to each movement individually rather than attempt the whole symphony each time.

I can pick out some repeated themes, but as a whole it seems to jump from this to that, without seeming to have any connection between what I shall, in my ignorance, refer to as "bits". As you'd expect, the orchestration is never less than excellent and there's undoubtedly harmonic sophistication going way over my head - but, as a whole, I found it in part too daunting and in part just too much. I couldn't concentrate for long enough to get an overall picture in my head. Clearly this is my failing - apparently this is one of the greatest symphonies of all time - but I can't say it's a piece I'll be rushing back to.

On the last side (of four) is Bruckner's Te Deum, a piece which is amuses me (entirely unoriginally, I'm sure) to think of as "tedium", although I haven't listened to it more than about twice. It has operatic singing on it which was never going to interest me anyway, and now it's time to move on to another record.

The other reason this took me so long to write up is because this record seems to either illustrate shortcomings of my record player, my setup, or possibly both, as the louder sections distort noticeable in the left hand channel, which is very distracting. It might be the record, although, remarkably, this was still sealed in its cellophane until I played it, so it can't be previous damage. I think it's mostly sorted out now - I've readjusted the tone arm multiple times - but it just reminds me how fragile and fiddly record players are. Other than the sentimental value of listening to it - which is valid - there are no other reasons I can think of to bother.

Watching - April 2021

True Lies (1994)

Seen it for the second time in six months (selection courtesy of Z) and it's still very watchable.

Chariots Of Fire (1981)

Still one of my favourite films - although I know it so well I rarely watch it and haven't seen it for years. Ostensibly a film about striving for your goals and overcoming obstacles, it feels to me as much a testament to lost youth somehow - not sure why. There's an underlying melancholy about it that adds more complexity than a simple "yay we won". Wonderfully constructed and played, even if a critical 21^st century eye might quibble about the authenticity of some of the setting. Just subliminal.

Reading - April 2021

Somebody To Love by Matt Richards & Mark Langthorne (2016)

I was listening to the entertaining podcast QueenPod while decorating - thanks Brian! - and it was ideal accompaniment; engaging and long enough to keep me company, but not too demanding. At some point they mentioned this book, so I had to read it. While concentrating mostly on Mercury's story, it also uses it to provide a parallel story of AIDS and did so in a way that didn't feel like it was too much at odds with the main biography. I definitely learned something (for example, I hadn't realised how early AIDS had developed originally, in Africa). The book could have been better edited; there are occasional contradictions (in particular about Gaëtan Dugas) and duplicate statements across different chapters, which makes it seem like perhaps the two authors took specific sections each. However, it's a good read overall.

The Guitar Magazine (May 2021 / Issue 392)

Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline (2020)

Bless B, he bought this for my birthday two months early (when it came out) and not only didn't let on at all, but resisted reading it even though he really wanted to. So I feel a bit guilty about taking this long to get to it. And now I additionally guilty because it's a teensy bit disappointing. It's essentially a replay of the (fantastic) first novel, and as a result feels a bit forced (as William Goldman observed, about films and possibly a little unkindly: "sequels are whore's movies"). Not that it's not fun; I enjoyed the section set in a whole world devoted to Prince, although the part in Middle Earth left me cold. But towards the end there are a few too many conveniences - the kind of twists that could be prefixed with "by a strange coincidence ...". They make the plot less believable even on its own terms and so spoil it somewhat. Still, a great present!

If Only They Didn't Speak English by Jon Sopel (2018)

I was keen to read this when B brought it home from the library, even though I suspected - correctly - that it would just depress and annoy me in equal measure. Sopel paints a more nuanced, balanced picture of US culture than I've read for a while, but that picture is more alien than I expected. And that's his point: if we weren't so familiar with superficial aspects of the US, primarily because of our shared language (and hence films and TV), we'd stop thinking of them as basically like Britain, only with some odd foibles. For example, I'd previously been largely unable to explain the US's odd and disturbing fetishization of guns, but Sopel puts it in the context of a country that prizes self-reliance. Yes, of course it's more complex than that (and so is the discussion in this book), but it's an example of how well-observed this book is. Inevitably, Trump features (although not at much as you'd expect from a book with the subtitle of "Notes from Trump's America") and when he does, it's always a marvel not just that a man so obviously unsuited to political power managed to achieve it, but that millions of people voted for him again. Truly, a foreign country.

The Chrysalids by John Wyndham (1955)

The third book in a row to be inspired by B, who brought this classic home from the library (although I dug out my own copy and read that!). I first read this at school, if I remember rightly. I am not sure when I first figured out (spoiler alert) that it was set in a post-nuclear-apocalypse world, but I do remember feeling very pleased with myself for doing so. Perhaps that's why I still like it - it's been decades since I last read it, but it still strikes me as a superbly realised and crafted novel. Since it's all explained from the point of view of people living there now, it's never made explicit what's happened but Wyndham nevertheless manages to make it clear, in an admirably concise, eminently believable world. Highly recommended.

The Science of Discworld II: The Globe by Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart & Jack Cohen (2002)

I don't feel capable of giving a very measured overview of this. I made the mistake of reading it at bedtimes and, since I usually go to sleep pretty quickly, I rarely got through more than a couple of pages at a time. As a result, I can't say what it was actually about. The wizards are stranded on Roundworld - or "Earth", as we know it - trying to fix history. And the authors are using this as a jumping off point for a lot of discussion about perception, stories and the development of the human mind - I think. I blitzed the last hundred pages in a determination to finish it but I'll have to revisit this some time to understand it properly.

Airhead by Emily Maitlis (2019)

Obviously I know who Emily Maitlis is, but only in a general way and I wouldn't have read this had I not just finished Jon Sopel's book also. This is a very different read; about thirty short behind-the-scenes anecdotes of her most famous, notable or interesting encounters. It's pretty warts-and-all, an acknowledgement of the shortcomings inherent in attempting to cover current affairs (as indeed the subtitle says: "The Imperfect Art of Making News"). It's also very well written and very engaging. Maitlis makes the life sound exciting but there's an undercurrent of the ruthlessness required to get the story that makes me slightly uncomfortable.

Moneyball by Michael Lewis (2003)

Oddly compelling, even though not much happens and frankly, what does, I didn't really follow anyway. In fact, I can't review this any better than Nick Hornby (quoted at the front of the book): "I understood about one in four words of Moneyball, and it's still the best and most engrossing sports book I've read for years." In fairness, I don't read many books about sports but the sentiment is correct. It's just fascinating. What's a bit depressing is the new afterword, reflecting on the way that the book made so many baseball professionals so cross, although the real comeback is that so many teams have now used the approach successfully. I'd been waiting for this book at the library for ages and I have to say, it was worth the wait - a classic.

Watching - March 2021

Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

As I write this, I am listening to Wayne Newton's "Danke Schoen", which can only mean one thing: we watched the incomparable Ferris Bueller. Z hadn't seen it and no further excuse was needed for us all to watch it again, on our Saturday pizza 'n' movie night. Great fun, as always - I was worried that I wouldn't enjoy it, as I have seen it so many times, but it was and is brilliant. And yes, you can get bogged down with carping about how entitled Ferris is, or about some of the more dated scenes (Ferris dashing past two women in bikinis and then stopping to introduce himself) but I think to do so is largely pointless. It's nearly forty years old, for goodness' sake. Just enjoy it as a slice of eighties escapism.

High School Musical (2006)

HSM first entered our lives when K was about five, I think, and so is forever known in our house as "Highsical Musical", because that's what she called it at the time. I have sometimes described my relationship with it as being down to a kind of Stockholm Syndrome but, crassness aside, I really do love this film now - as does the whole family, and we can basically all talk and sing along with the whole thing.

High School Musical 2 (2007)

... and so the following evening we watched the second HSM. Notably less keen-ness from the family (two of whom disappeared from the living room half-way through), and possibly because it's not quite as good as the first one. Still, plenty to smile about.

High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008)

The dining room was still out of action (being decorated) so we were eating dinner in the living room and that was apparently reason to continue our theme of the last few nights. Enough excuses though - once you're in the HSM world this is a great finish to the trilogy and ties off all ends satisfactorily. I don't think we'll go on to Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure though.

Friends With Benefits (2011)

I watched this about a year ago on a whim (on Now TV iirc), not because I knew anything about it but because it sounded like a cool film. I really enjoyed it, bought the DVD and wanted to come back to it. It's sparky, sassy, sexy and probably a bunch of other things beginning with 's' that I can't think of right now; Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake (neither of whom I knew anything about, as actors anyway, before this) are great together, and if there are couple of slightly disjointed moments on second watching, it doesn't detract from the film for me. A bit cliched perhaps (it's a very standard romcom story arc) but no worse for it - great fun.

The Muppets (2011)

For some reason this has 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, which was partly why we watched it (on B's suggestion). It's not that good (TMDB's 66% is more realistic) but it's pleasingly meta to begin with, even if the plot becomes pretty standard ("we can do it if we all pull together!"), and it's a nice family film. For adult, there's enough cameos to make spotting them entertaining - my favourite was Dave Grohl as a substitute Animal - and B and I were happy to realise that the reason we knew the main song was because Sara Cox uses it in her show.

The Truman Show (1998)

I showed this to Z last year on the off-chance and was slightly surprised he liked it. But he did, and it was his choice this evening. A classic, of course, even if (as always) the details don't bear too much thinking about (so Meryl says she wants a baby, but actually she's an actor, so really that makes her ... errr).