Friday Flashback: Rec. #220 (abbrev.): Aiding and Abetting

I decided to start doing Friday Flashbacks in case you missed some early posts the first time around. You're busy; I understand.

What: Muriel Spark, fraudulent psychiatrist, missing Lord Lucan, notorious real-life case, fictionalized follow-up, seventh Earl, fugitive, impostors, Paris, con-woman, Bavarian stigmatic, dead nanny, upper-class mores, murderer, satire

Opening lines: "The receptionist looked tinier than ever as she showed the tall, tall Englishman into the studio of Dr. Hildegard Wolf, the psychiatrist who had come from Bavaria, then Prague, Dresden, Avila, Marseilles, then London, and now settled in Paris."

Representative quote: "Beate during that time had been able to live in comfort. Every month she took to her bed and bloodily received pilgrims. Miracles did happen, as in fact they sometimes do."

Connections to previous Wreckage: The Girls of Slender Means (Rec. #305), Loitering with Intent (Rec. #13), Open to the Public (Rec. #107), Personal Wreck Week (List #5)

[Originally posted 1/25/12.]

Rec. #325: Brief Interviews with Hideous Men

What: This was never going to be perfect. It's a film adaptation of a series of short stories by the late, much-beloved David Foster Wallace and it deals with the terrifying-to-some f word (feminism), so it's going to have its haters. For what it is, though --- basically a series of monologues from some very good actors --- it works.

Some of the actors who talk at the interviewer (played by Julianne Nicholson) are: Will Arnett, Bobby Cannavale, Michael Cerveris, Josh Charles, Dominic Copper, Will Forte, Benjamin Gibbard, Timothy Hutton, John Krasinski (who also wrote/directed), Chris Messina, Max Minghella, Denis O'Hare, Clarke Peters, and Ben Shenkman.

Representative quote: 

"Do you see how open I'm being with you here? Well I know I'm not telling you anything you haven't already decided you know. I can see you forming judgments with that chilly smile. You're not the only one who can read people you know."

Quote from a Fictional Character #17

"I'm against murder on principle. I think it's unethical and ungentlemanly and also unkind."

--- Albert Campion,

The Fashion in Shrouds, Margery Allingham, 1938

Friday Flashback: Rec. #14: Shameless (U.K.), series 1

I decided to start doing Friday Flashbacks in case you missed some early posts the first time around. You're busy; I understand.

What: I freely admit to being a devotee of television writer Paul Abbott. Touching Evil, Reckless, State of Play, Alibi --- I love all of it. Shameless is his semi-autobiographical creation, and it's a long-running doozy.

The depressing-sounding premise: The six Gallagher siblings fend for themselves because their mum's run off and their dad's worse than useless. In creator Abbott's hands, though, the show is clever, authentic, unsentimental, and delightfully filthy.

You might not like it if: You have a low tolerance for British swearing, or underage drinking, or nine-year-old kidnappers, or complacent car thieves, or agoraphobic nymphomaniacs.

How to get it: It's available to stream on Netflix. If you want a taste first, just watch the original title sequence, which briefly introduces each of the Gallaghers. 

(We have a U.S. remake now, too. If you see William H. Macy, you've got the wrong version.)

Connections to additional Wreckage: As I mention above, creator Paul Abbott also wrote Reckless (Rec. #290) and State of Play (Rec. #104).

[Originally posted 1/13/11.]

Rec. #324: Victory Over Japan

What: Ellen Gilchrist's collection of stories was the winner of the 1984 U.S. National Book Award. The 14 stories are grouped into 4 sections: "Rhoda"; "Crazy, Crazy, Now Showing Everywhere"; "Nora Jane"; and "Crystal." Very different characters and situations, but recognizably the same universe.

Representative quote from the "Rhoda" section:
"Rhoda woke up dreaming. In the dream she was crushing the skulls of Jody's sheepdogs. Or else she was crushing the skulls of Jody's sisters. Or else she was crushing Jody's skull. Jody was the husband she was leaving."

Representative quote from the "Crazy, Crazy, Now Showing Everywhere" section:
"Lenny Weiss had been sweeping sand for an hour. Was that any way to treat asthma?"

Representative quote from the "Nora Jane" section:
"Freddy Harwood was the founder and owner of the biggest and least profitable bookstore in northern California."

Representative quote from the "Crystal" section:
"Now King's run off to a hippie commune because Mr. Alter shot himself and Miss Crystal's going crazy looking for him. It's the second time he's run off since the funeral."

Connections to previous Wreckage: Gilchrist also wrote The Cabal and Other Stories (Rec. #216), Light Can Be Both Wave and Particle (Rec. #159), and Nora Jane: A Life in Stories (Rec. #25).

Quote from a Fictional Character #16

"Well, this is the most depressing hallucination I ever had."

--- Harper Pitt,

Angels in America, 2003

[play by Tony Kushner 1993]

Friday Flashback: Rec. #8: Last Night at the Lobster

I decided to start doing Friday Flashbacks in case you missed some early posts the first time around. You're busy; I understand.

What: I don't know what's happening where you are, but in my little part of the world it's snowing. This seems to be a particularly good time of year to read this sad, heartfelt (and short) novel by Stewart O'Nan. 

One day in late December, employees at a Red Lobster in Connecticut work their last shifts before the restaurant closes for good. The focus is on the manager, Manny, who is determined to do a good job right up until the end, despite a snowstorm, very few customers, chefs who don't show up, and a complicated personal life that's constantly in the back of his mind.

Comparable to: Michael Cunningham channeling Studs Terkel.

Representative quote: "Two months ago Manny had forty-four people working for him, twenty of them full-time. Tonight when he locks the doors, all but five will lose their jobs, and one of those five --- unfairly, he thinks, since he was their leader --- will be himself. He's spent the last weeks polishing letters of recommendation, trying to come up with nice things to say --- not hard in some cases, nearly impossible in others."

You might not like it if: You have no idea what happens in a Red Lobster kitchen and you want to keep it that way.

How to get it: It's easy to find. There's an audiobook, too.





[Originally posted 1/7/11.]

Rec. #323: Fay Grim

What: Parker Posey is Fay Grim, an inadvertent femme fatale sent to Europe by the CIA to recover her fugitive husband's possibly-written-in-code "confession" journals.

I freely and openly acknowledge that this Hal Hartley espionage thriller will not be everyone's cup of tea, but I like the odd tonal shifts and the deadest of deadpan humor. They make for nice beats in between all the shooting.

Comparable to: It actually reminds of the corporate-intrigue-con movie The Spanish Prisoner (see List #28).

Representative quote: "An honest man is always in trouble."

How to get it: Buy it, borrow it, stream it. Sometimes it streams for free on Netflix and Amazon. Sometimes not.

Connections to previous Wreckage: Writer-director Hal Hartley also wrote-directed Trust, which was Rec. #165. You can also see indie queen Parker Posey in Party Girl (Rec. #141) and The Daytrippers (Rec. #232).

Quote from a Fictional Character #15

"Anything anyone tells you becomes absorbed into you, becomes part of your consciousness, even if you don't believe it or know that it never happened and that it's pure invention, like novels and films."

--- Maria Dolz,

The Infatuations, Javier Marias, 2013

List #39: Some of the Best Internet I Internetted in 2013

Best Web Series (tie): 

The Outs

(Rec. #280)

(http://theouts.squarespace.com/)

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries

(http://www.youtube.com/user/LizzieBennet)

Best Internet Talking Head for
What’s Going on in the World:
Jay Smooth
(List #19)

  

(http://www.illdoctrine.com/)

We've discussed this before. Jay Smooth is just really great. He's articulate, funny, and pretty much always right.

Best Internet Talking Head for
I Want to Laugh, but No Cats, Please: 

Flula Borg

(http://www.youtube.com/user/djflula)

Topics include: "Beer Pong, You Are Terrible," "Pie Is Not Easy, Eric," and "Nick of Time? What Are You Even?"

Best Google Reader substitute:
The Old Reader

(http://theoldreader.com/)

Thanks for saving us, The Old Reader. Thank you.

Least Guilty Pleasure on Tumblr:

Awe-Inspiring Fan Art That’s Leagues Better Than the Official Stuff*

Exhibit A: Orphan Black fan art

Exhibit B: Hannibal fan art

Case closed.

* The notable exception here is the super trippy official Korean promotional materials for Hannibal. But you can see those on Tumblr, too.

List #38: A Couple of the Best Things I Listened to in 2013

Best Podcast:
Welcome to Night Vale

(Rec. #303)

Weird and dark enough to feel like a cult hit while still being one of the most-downloaded podcasts of the year.

Best Downloadable Radio Show:

BBC Radio 2 — Graham Norton

This is almost better than his television chat show for a few reasons: 1) It’s easier to obtain, 2) he gets to interview properly clever Brits instead of (usually dull) Hollywood faces, and 3) the “Grill Graham” advice segment is more reliably funny than any other regular feature being done on any talk show.

List #37: Some of the Best TV I Watched in 2013

Best Overall:

My Mad Fat Diary

(Rec. #283)

I appreciated, admired, and adored a lot of stuff year, but my feelings for My Mad Fat Diary are in a different stratosphere. It tore me up. It made me giddy and livid and soul-achy and triumphant and reverent, and not a single emotional beat felt unearned.

Best Actor:
Tatiana Maslany,

Orphan Black

(QfFC #10)

The first season of Orphan Black did a lot of things right, but the most important thing it did was introduce us to the jaw-droppingly talented Tatiana Maslany.

She is our queen now, you know. Long may she reign.

Best Show Cut Down Before Its Time:
Bunheads 

I haven’t watch Enlightened yet, but otherwise I stand by this one pretty strongly.

Best Show That Should Be Terrible by Now but
Somehow Really Isn’t:
Portlandia

By all rights, Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen should have completely run out of ideas about fifteen episodes ago. At the very least, their funny/not funny ratio should be getting worse. It’s not.

Best White Male Showrunner Who Is Not Wholly Oblivious to His Privilege [tie]:
Michael Schur (Parks and Rec, Brooklyn Nine-Nine)
Bryan Fuller (Hannibal)

Look at the realistic presence of women and non-white dudes in Michael Schur’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine!

Look at the fully realized female characters that Bryan Fuller created for Hannibal! These did not exist in the original story by Thomas Harris. In the novel, for example, Alana Bloom and Freddie Lounds are both men.

List #36: A Couple of the Best Movies I Saw in 2013

Best Effort to Redeem the Worst “Hero” in Shakespearean Canon/
Best House Party You Would Actually Like to Go To:
Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing

I love Fran Kranz to bits, but not even he could really make Claudio ok. Claudio is never ok. He is the worst. But! Whedon did his best, and the movie is admirably boozy.

Best Documentary: 

56 Up 

This documentary series has been checking in on its subjects every seven years for half a century and it’s still as fascinating as ever. The format has also been adopted by several other countries — notably South Africa, which got to 28 Up this year.

See also: Rec. #33

New Favorite Film Reviewer:
The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw
Who else would invent his own end-of-year awards (“The Braddies”) and then go on to say, “The reader is invited to note omissions and evidence that the list betrays suggestions of sociocultural bias.” Also: “This article was amended on 13 December 2013. The earlier version used the word ‘coruscating’ where ’excoriating’ was meant.”

Love. It.

List #35: A Few of the Best Books I Read in 2013

Best Way That Kate Atkinson Is Slowly Killing Us:
Life After Life
Kate Atkinson

If you can make it through the “Like a Fox in a Hole” section without needing a break, I suspect you might be emotionally numb beyond redemption.

See also: Cast Histories (Rec. #3), Emotionally Weird (Rec. #282), Human Croquet (Rec. #137), Not the End of the World: Stories (Rec. #301), One Good Turn (Rec. #69), Started Early, Took My Dog (Rec. #270), When Will There Be Good News? (Rec. #192)

Best Short Stories:
Pulse

Julian Barnes  

 

My favorite stories in this collection are the dialogue-only snapshots of dinner parties, but we've also got some more traditional contemporary short fiction and some historical tales.

Best Memoir in Essays:
I Know I Am, But What Are You?

Samantha Bee
(Rec. #285)

 

Samantha Bee is best known as a correspondent on The Daily Show, but here she reveals an eventful past — flashing, a girlhood crush on Jesus, and even a stint as a car thief. The book is in the same vein as Bossypants and Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, but (don’t yell at me) better.

Best Memoir in Paint:
Hyperbole and a Half 

Allie Brosh

 

I might have given this to you as a present. If I haven’t yet, I still might. It’s nearly 400 pages of some of the best bits of Brosh’s blog, plus new content. It’s wonderful and Brosh is a marvel.

See also: Rec. #7

Best Novel in Translation:
The Infatuations

Javier Marias
translated by Margaret Jull Costa

 

The narrator thinks herself over, under, around, and through the many-shaded moralities of murder, love, and death. Jull Costa does a bang-up job of translating both long, deep thoughts and snarky, funny asides.