Streaming Suggestion of the Week #27: The Buccaneers

Stream what: In this Edith Wharton adaptation, new-money Americans head to England to buy themselves some aristocrats.

Stream why: It's soapy in the best way possible. [Don't take the puppy, Nan! It will not end well for you!]

Stream where: Netflix

Friday Flashback: Rec. #169: The Clothes They Stood Up In

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

What: One evening, Mr. and Mrs. Ransome return home from the opera to discover that all of their belongings are gone. More than just electronics and jewelry have disappeared --- gone too are the toilet paper holder, the carpeting, the curtain rings, the light bulbs, and the casserole warming in the oven (not to mention the oven itself). 

The Ransomes suddenly find themselves in the uncomfortable position of discovering who they are without their possessions. One adjusts better than the other.

Comparable to: The Clothes They Stood Up In was written by Alan Bennett. Like many of his plays, the story of this couple's struggle is witty, cutting, subversive, charming, and satirical.

Representative quote: "Once they had asked some newcomers on their floor around to sherry, but he had turned out to be what he called 'a big band freak' and she had been a dental receptionist with a time-share in Portugal, so one way and another it had been an awkward evening and they had never repeated the experience."

You might not like it if: You are not a fan of Bennett's style of humor.

How to get it: It's Kindle-able, and the print version is conveniently pocket-sized, which means this is an excellent book for a commute on public transit.

Connection to previous Wreckage: Watch The History Boys (Rec. #115) to see one of Bennett's plays in action. See also List #52: Happy Birthday, Alan Bennett.

[Originally posted 8/14/11.]

Quote from a Fictional Character #89

"Sharon Driscoll, my best friend and mentor at the travel agency, had been influential in making me believe that telling the truth and lying convincingly are more or less the same thing."

--- Patrick O'Neil,

The Easy Way Out, Stephen McCauley, 1992

Bonus quote from the aforementioned Sharon Driscoll:

"The fifth bite is the real test of food. Remember that. The fifth bite, the third date, the fourth fuck, and the sixth year of marriage. Everything else is inconsequential."

[Also from author Stephen McCauley - Rec. #360: The Object of My Affection.]

Rec. #399: The Last Five Years

What: Making a film adaptation of the musical The Last Five Years is a weird choice.

• It's a musical
• It has a very, very, very limited number of characters (2)
• In the stage version, the characters have a total of one (1) scene together
• The story is told from two viewpoints
• One viewpoint is a linear timeline
• The other viewpoint's timeline is in reverse
• ... at the same time
• It is not big or flashy, and no one dies
• It does not have a happy ending

But! They somehow pull this off.

• Anna Kendrick is wildly miscast as a blonde "Shiksa Goddess," but also she is excellent
• The music is really beautiful and translates surprisingly well to the big screen
• Jeremy Jordan is not at all bad to look at
• The characters seem like real people who do and say things that actual people really do (... and also they sing)
• Seriously, Anna Kendrick is so good
• Seriously, the music is so good

How to get it: Currently streaming on Netflix

Friday Flashback: Rec. #289: Psmith, Journalist

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

What: The perennially unruffled Rupert Psmith (the "P" is silent) decides to take over a syrupy hearth-side magazine and shift its focus to exposing slumlords and supporting underdog boxers. (As you do.) 

Psmith is enjoying himself so thoroughly that becoming the target of some New York mobsters barely fazes him.

Comparable to: This novel has the typical P.G. Wodehouse flavor, but don't assume Rupert Psmith is another Bertie Wooster. Psmiths probably eat Woosters for dinner, after talking them to death first.

Opening lines: "The conditions of life in New York are so different from those of London that a story of this kind calls for a little explanation. Not all of them eke out a precarious livelihood by murdering one another, but there is a definite section of the population which murders --- not casually, on the spur of the moment, but on definitely commercial lines at so many dollars per murder."

Representative quote: "Meanwhile, however, kindly knock that chauffeur down and sit on his head. He's a bad person."

You might not like it if: You keep waiting for Jeeves to make an appearance.

How to get it: Looooook at that pretty edition from Overlook Press (above).

Connection to previous Wreckage: Loooook at some of the other pretty Wodehouse editions from Overlook Press in Gift Idea. #7. Also see the "W" index for more Wodehouse wrecks.

[Originally posted 5/13/13.]

Streaming Suggestion of the Week #26: Best in Show

Stream what: Writer/director Christopher Guest does not particularly enjoy that his movies are referred to as "mockumentaries." But that's what everyone calls them, so ... this is a mockumentary about dog shows.

Stream why: The humor holds up pretty well 16 (!) years later. Plus, dogs!

Stream where: Netflix
(if you're in Chicago, it will also be one of the movies in the parks this summer)

Quote from a Fictional Character #88

"American millionaires must all be quite mad. Perhaps it's something they put in the ink when they print the money."

--- Charles Bonnet,

How to Steal a Million, 1966

(Rec. #205)

(List #28)

(List #41)

(SSoW #19)

Friday Flashback: Rec. #200 and Rec. #201: Brat Farrar and The Ivy Tree

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

What: Josephine Tey's Brat Farrar and Mary Stewart's The Ivy Tree are two glorious examples of mid-century suspense. Each novel centers on a fiendishly clever scheme to impersonate a missing heir. 

But as Brat Farrar becomes Patrick Ashby and Mary Grey becomes Annabel Winslow, the plans start to twist themselves inside out.

Representative quote, Brat Farrar: "But then he had never been interested in other people's concerns: their sins, their griefs, or their happiness. And anyhow, you couldn't be righteous with a man whose food you were eating."

Representative quote, The Ivy Tree: "There has to be luck, certainly, and there has to be careful planning. But it's like murder, isn't it? You only know about the ones that are found out. Nobody ever hears about the ones that get away with it."

You might not like them if: You're not willing to be won over by some charming, gutsy impostors.

Connections to previous Wreckage: Tey also delved into psychological suspense in Miss Pym Disposes (Rec. #75). Stewart also did neo-Gothic in My Brother Michael (Rec. #387). I previously mentioned The Ivy Tree during Personal Wreck Week (List #1).

[Originally posted 10/26/11.]

List #59: Great TV Shows, Terrible Titles

A.K.A., the spiritual successor to List #51: Great Books, Terrible Titles.

Better Off Ted (Rec. #147, QfFC #5, SSoW #18)

Streaming on Amazon and Netflix

Why the show is great: It is very possibly the wittiest workplace comedy ever. Endlessly quotable, with well-judged touches of the absurd.

Why the title is terrible: The main character's name is Ted.

Given the verbal dexterity of the episode scripts, I can only imagine that the title itself represents some kind of comedic double bluff.

Schitt's Creek

Streaming on Amazon

Why the show is great: Despite being about a wealthy family forced to move to a small town, the show is only partially about fish-out-of-water gags. The rest is actually kind of Northern Exposure-ish character study (but broader).

Why the title is terrible: Well, at least this terrible title is built in to the plot -- the family bought a town named Schitt's Creek for laughs, and now it's all they have left.

Scrotal Recall (List #57)

Streaming on Netflix

Why the show is great: Flouting all reasonable expectations, this show is sincere and wistful and British-charming-funny.

Why the title is terrible: This? This is what we've come to? Really?

HELLO. I am back.

The unexpected hiatus was due to moving and being without internet for a very long time because Comcast is terrible.

But! We are back! New content tomorrow!!







[Image taken from the "1,000 Frames of Hitchcock" section of the Alfred Hitchcock Wiki. It is fantastic; do check it out.]