List #34: British TV Dramas to Watch on Hulu (for free)

If you're a bit hungover from spendiness and manic good cheer, try these.

(A few weeks ago, we had a similar list of comedies. In case you feel like a laugh.)


1. Misfits

5 key words: delinquent youths, probation, superpowers, snark

Representative quote:
"What if we are meant to be, like, superheroes?"
"You lot, superheroes? No offence, but in what kind of fucked-up world would that be allowed to happen?"


2. NY-LON

5 key words: New York, London, Jones, Moyer

Representative quote: "Have you noticed something about the girls Mike goes for? They're either mad or unavailable, all of them. This American girl ... I mean, she's mad and unavailable. It's like his perfect woman."


3. Queer as Folk

5 key words: here, queer, friends, family, controversy

Representative quote:
"You're straight, you don't know anything."
"I'm black. And I'm a girl. Try that for a week."


4. Shameless (Rec. #14)

5 key words: council estate, siblings, crime, chaos

Representative quote: "I had to wait 4 hours at A & E 'cause of someone queue hopping! Who cares if he was shot? He shot himself. Some people are so selfish."


5. Teachers

5 key words: school staff, smoking, drinking, swearing

Representative quote: "Bob's always got Valium, if you're desperate. And my year twelves can get you some smack, if you threaten them with suspension."


6. Ultraviolet (Rec. #212)

5 key words: secret government organization, vampires, police

Representative quote: "Our free range days are over."

Friday Flashback: Rec. #36: Boys Gets Girl

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

What: Sounds cute, right? It's not.

In this unsettling play by Rebecca Gilman, a magazine reporter finds herself menaced when she rejects a man after a blind date. It's a stark, realistic, modern look at how the blurred idea of romantic pursuit can camouflage all manner of threats. If you've ever watched a movie and thought, "That gesture's not romantic, it's creepy and stalkerish," you'll want to read Boy Gets Girl.

Comparable to: The opening is pretty similar to several contemporary romantic comedies. (The main character is a single, successful magazine reporter who lives in New York City. She goes on a blind date.) After that, though, the similarity ends.

You might not like it if: You've never thought, "That's not romantic, it's creepy and stalkerish" during a movie.

How to get it: Available online and at libraries, but I think this is prime used-book territory. Boy Gets Girl is only 128 pages long, and books with its dimensions tend to hold up well. It's also a good size for a book on the go because it fits well in a bag or briefcase, and it's not too heavy. Physically, anyway.

[Originally posted 2/4/11.]

Quote from a Fictional Character #14

"He's much more Jewish than I am. Mostly because he was born that way. I'm sort of a Christmas and Easter Jew."

--- Gretchen Speck-Horowitz [not pictured],
Wonderfalls, 2004
(Rec. #2)

Friday Flashback: Rec. #32: Take the Cannoli

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

What: We all love Sarah Vowell, right? Well, I'm just reminding you that she exists. And, in my humble opinion, Take the Cannoli is her best --- and most personal --- book. Essay topics include: the Godfather movies (hence the title), driving lessons with Ira Glass, her relationship with her gun-nut father, and a trial run as a goth.

Comparable to: Many of the pieces first appeared on This American Life. So, yes, that.

Representative quote: "Nothing scares me more than driving. I can't even ride a bike without mangling my digits and hitting parked cars. I've always been terrified that I'd get behind the wheel and it would turn into one of those death scenes in a Shangri-Las song with bystanders screaming, 'Lookoutlookoutlookoutlookout!'"

You might not like it if: Everyone loves Sarah Vowell, right?

How to get it: Easy to get online or at a library, but it would also be a really satisfying find at a used bookstore.

Connections to previous Wreckage: Vowell also wrote The Partly Cloudy Patriot (Rec. #213).

[Originally posted 1/31/11.]

Gift Idea #9: Sherlock, series 1 and 2

Click here for Gift Ideas #1-7.

Click here for Gift Idea #8.

What: Sherlock is due back in January with series 3! That is soon, but it actually does give people plenty of time to catch up on the show, since the first two series only had three episodes each. That's just six episodes total of Benedict Cumberbatch being satisfyingly smug-grumbly and Martin Freeman being adorably exasperated-snarky.

Who to give it to: Your Anglophile friends who wish Downton Abbey were cleverer/more murder-y and who are not currently boycotting Steven Moffat for ruining their golden age of Doctor Who.

Gifting tip: With the discs, you can pass along lists of helpful websites that a) show Cumberbatch as an otter and Freeman as a hedgehog, b) gather Sherlock slash fiction, or c) perform both functions. Choose wisely, depending on the recipient.

Quote from a Fictional Character #13

"The more you read, though, the more you'll see that literature is actually about losers. It's consolation. All literature is consolation."

--- Stuart Dakin,

The History Boys, 2006

[play by Alan Bennett 2004]

(Rec. #115)

Gift Idea #8: Bad Machinery Merch

Click here for Gift Ideas #1-7.

What, and recommended giftees: John Allison is the Internet-crushworthy clever person behind Bad Machinery. But dude cannot be expected to exist just on the fervent love his (free) web comics inspire. So get thee to his TopatoCo store and buy some delightful merch.

Like a hardcover edition of Bad Machinery's Volume 1: The Case of the Team Spirit (shown above). For almost anyone, really.

Or this t-shirt, for your friends who are not afraid of odd whimsy:

Or this print with some very sound advice:

Or this tote bag, for your cousin who knits (but is, thank goodness, not smug about it):

Or this apron, for your brother who mocks you for being a vegetarian, but whom you've decided to forgive, in the spirit of Cold Weather:

So many other things, too, and I want them all, even the ones I already own.

Connection to previous Wreckage: Bad Machinery was Rec. #138.

Friday Flashback: Rec. #268: Meme

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

What: Susan Wheeler's exploded, layered elegy is riddled with cliches in the best possible way. The poems spiral the reader down past a variety of voices, from chiding/petulant to jaded/smirking, all within 100 pages that are filled with plenty of white space.

Meme is also a finalist for the 2012 National Book Award. If you want to jump into some contemporary poetry, this is a pretty good place to start.

Comparable to: The tone is similar to a very  s t r e t c h e d  o u t  snippet of Kira Henehan's novel Orion You Came and You Took All My Marbles, which I loved the heck out of.

Opening lines:
"She was a real stickler.
Well, I couldn't get it for the life of me. All I remember is, Mademoiselle Skeen, vous êtes une tête du bois!"

Representative quote:
"It could have been the sea
It could have been the stars
It could have been
that girls not men
were the ones from Mars."

You might not like it if: Well, poetry. It's poetry all over the place.

How to get it: Buy it or borrow it.

Connections to previous Wreckage: Orion You Came and You Took All My Marbles was Rec. #195.

If you want more poetry, try Monologue of a Dog (Rec. #19), The Best of It (Rec. #50), or Ripple Effect (Rec. #118).

[Originally posted 12/3/12.]

Rec. #322: You Instead

What: For a movie about two bickering rock stars who end up handcuffed together at a weekend music festival, You Instead does an admirable job of keeping the characters from being too annoying. Really! I promise.

The movie was filmed on location in Scotland at the T in the Park festival in 2010, and the cast and crew react to the surrounding happenings accordingly. In the process, they manage to capture the vibe of a muddy-crowded-grungy-hipster-glam music festival really well.

Representative quote: "You almost killed my band --- that is attempted murder."

How to get it: It's available to stream on Amazon and Netflix under the title Tonight You're Mine in the U.S.

List #33: Previous Gift Ideas from The Daily Wreck

Before we venture into new territory, here's a quick reminder of Gift Ideas from years past. Click through on the titles below for more details.


From 2011

Gift Idea #1: Blackout/All Clear, by Connie Willis

 

Gift Idea #2: Hark! a Vagrant, by Kate Beaton

 

Gift Idea #3: The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edition

 

Gift Idea #4: Penguin Classics designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith

 

Gift Idea #5: Parks and Recreation

 

From 2012

Gift Idea #6: A New Leaf

 

Gift Idea #7: P.G. Wodehouse, as published by Overlook Press

 

Quote from a Fictional Character #12

"... in any case it would be another act of caddish bounderism to get the man that the girl one worshipped was very fond of to break her heart by paying attention to a flibbertigibbet."

--- Everard Carter,

Summer Half, Angela Thirkell, 1938

(Rec. #40)

Also: Virago Modern Classics is putting out new editions of Angela Thirkell books (like the one above), and I want them all. Here you go, BookDepository.co.uk and/or Amazon.co.uk, take all my money.

Friday Flashback: Rec. #43: The Gift

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 Gift is a Southern Gothic thriller with a noteworthy cast, including Cate Blanchett, Giovanni Ribisi, Greg Kinnear, Hilary Swank, Keanu Reeves, Katie Holmes, Gary Cole, and J.K. Simmons. Director Sam Raimi keeps the whole thing humming with a constant buzz of low-level suspense mixed with dread. Plus, Cate Blanchett basically gives a master class in acting.

Comparable to: Some understated supernatural elements in combination with the suspense might remind you of The Sixth Sense.

Representative quote: "I don't know. I guess I just don't believe there are any great mysteries in life. I kind of figure what you see is what you get."

How to get it: It should be readily available to rent/borrow, or you could buy it super-cheap.



[Originally posted 2/22/11.]

Rec. #321: Do the Windows Open?

What: Julie Hecht's collection of linked stories deal primarily with the quotidian details of modern life, as seen through the eyes of a clever, neurotic narrator. We buzz in and around artifacts of the progressive affluent --- organic vegetables, hairpieces, fertility clinics --- and the worries they trigger.

Opening lines: "Dear Elizabeth: Although we haven't spoken in more than a year (I believe it was before last Christmas when you stopped calling me and refused to tell me why), I feel I should warn you about Mr. Kropstadt --- the man who owns Osborn's Opticians, on Park Avenue.

I was there last December, about a year ago, and his behavior and demeanor convinced me that he is definitely a Nazi, was a Nazi (age is right for Hitler Youth), is the son of Nazis, or is at least a Nazi sympathizer."

Representative quote: "I had to describe my project by telephone to a secretary who sounded like Little Richard. As I was telling her my plans she suddenly said, 'Oooh!' I was surprised that she was impressed. Then she said, 'Oooh! oooh! oooh!' and added, 'The reason I'm saying 'oooh' like that is because a big hornet just flew in the window.'"

Connection to previous Wreckage: Do the Windows Open? was Hecht's first collection of stories, but not her last. She also wrote Happy Trails to You (Rec. #6).

List #32: British TV Comedies to Watch on Hulu (for free) --- Part 3 of 3

For many of us, this time of the year isn't about what we want so much as what we don't want.

We don't want to spend money and we don't want to think too much.

So here you go.


[Start with Part 1 here and Part 2 here.]

12. Spaced

5 key words: flatmates, pop culture references galore

Representative quote: "You're scared of mice and spiders, but oh-so-much greater is your fear that one day the two species will cross-breed to form an all-powerful race of mice-spiders who will immobilize human beings in giant webs in order to steal cheese."


13. That Mitchell and Webb Look

5 key words: sketch show, helivets, snooker, numberwang

Representative quote: "Know you not, Miss Bennet, that Mr. Darcy has been freestyle disco champion of all of Derbyshire these last dozen years?"

14. The Thick of It

5 key words: politics, yelling, gloriously baroque swearing

Representative quote:
"Are you lying to me now about not lying to me before?"
"No, No... I am not a liar! I categorically did not knowingly not tell the truth, even though unknowingly I might not have done."

15. Whites

5 key words: executive chef, country house hotel

Representative quote:
"Wow, look at this place. Right up your street, Roly. Old school."
"Well, it's an old building."
"And it did used to be a school."
"Right, it is an old school, but I wouldn't describe it as ..."

16. The Wrong Mans

5 key words: mistaken identity, office workers, danger

Representative quote:
"Go and put him in the recovery position."
"Stop suggesting the recovery position for dead people!"

List #32: British TV Comedies to Watch on Hulu (for free) --- Part 2 of 3

For many of us, this time of the year isn't about what we want so much as what we don't want.

We don't want to spend money and we don't want to think too much.

So here you go.

[Start with Part 1 here.]

7. Miranda

5 key words: pratfalls, food, awkwardness, "such fun"

Representative quote: "A savory muffin? Life is full of enough disappointments, Gary! A savory muffin?! I don't know you anymore."

8. The Office

5 key words: the original, Slough, heartbreakingly funny

Representative quote: "I'd be lying if I said my life had turned out exactly as I'd expected. My old school recently had a reunion, which I didn't go to, but one girl in my class it turns out, right, she is now running her own Internet auction website, making a fortune, and is happily married to a marine biologist. She used to eat chalk."

9. Peep Show

5 key words: odd couple flatmates, alternate p.o.v.s

Representative quote:
"My brother is such a dickhead. I wish he was dead."

"Oh, that's a bit much. Just pretend you need his bone marrow. Apparently that's agony."



10. Pramface

5 key words: accidental pregnancy, mismatched youths, oops

Representative quote:

"Get back on your BMX, go home, and just forget about the whole thing."
"Hey! I didn't come here on my BMX! My mum gave me a lift."



11. Smack the Pony

5 key words: sketch show, jumps into surrealism

Representative quote: "Hi. I'm a Gemini . . . and I've just set fire to my head. Um, I can't really remember why now. I think I was going to say that I did special effects for movies. But I'm not really qualified. I'm just very enthusiastic about the subject."

[Continue with Part 3 here.]

List #32: British TV Comedies to Watch on Hulu (for free) --- Part 1 of 3

For many of us, this time of the year isn't about what we want so much as what we don't want. 

We don't want to spend money and we don't want to think too much. 

So here you go.

[Note: Not all shows are recommended equally. I've starred my favorites.]

*1. Black Books (Rec. #68)

5 key words: bookshop, misanthrope, Dylan Moran, wine

Representative quote: "What did you say to Kate? She thinks I'm the renaissance. She'll think I've lied, I had to go along with all this reclusive genius stuff. She'll be really upset when she finds out I'm a reclusive wanker."

2. Coupling

5 key words: dating, rants, bar, giggle loop

Representative quote: "I don't like to label everything in my medicine cabinet. You'd never have any surprises."

3. Fresh Meat

5 key words: university students, shared house, pubs

Representative quote: "I'll probably end up being Prime Minister or something one day. I don't want to be. It's just, that kind of shit just happens to guys like me."

*4. Green Wing (Rec. #110)

5 key words: hospital, surreal, smoo, no patients

Representative quote:
"How was the interview?"
"Not sure... think I might have used the words 'job,' 'stick,' 'up,' and 'arse' all in one sentence. Is that a bad thing?"
"Well I... I think tone of voice is very important."

*5. Jeeves and Wooster

5 key words: Wodehouse, Fry, Laurie, what ho

Representative quote: [dictating a telegraph] "To Aunt Dehlia: Um, I say, look here, this is absolutely impossible. Not to say, out of the question. Spode has already threatened yours truly. Sorry, and all that. Oh, about the cow creamer, I mean. Anyway there it is. Toodle-pip. Your affectionate nephew, Bertie."

6. Man Stroke Woman

5 key words: sketch comedy, thirtysomethings, sublime idiocy

Representative quote:
"So what's been happening?"
"Well, I got married. And you?"
"Um, well it's a bit of a long story, actually. I moved back in with my parents for awhile, and then late last year ... I became the king of Spain."

[Continue with Part 2 here and Part 3 here.]

Friday Flashback: Rec. #61: Christopher and Columbus

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

What: Twin adolescent girls, recently orphaned and shunned by their remaining relatives, find themselves en route from England to the United States in 1916. One of Elizabeth von Arnim's greatest strengths as a writer is deliberate, insightful, witty character development, and she works her usual magic with Anna-Rose and Anna-Felicitas. They may be twins who finish each other's thoughts, but they're also two distinct, vibrant individuals.

Comparable to: A combo of Angela Thirkell and E.M. Delafield, but fewer characters than Thirkell and more points of view than Delafield. There's also a strong thread of Vita Sackville-West-ishness.

Representative quote: "Uncle Arthur was the husband of Aunt Alice. He didn't like foreigners, and said so. He had never liked them and had always said so."

You might not like it if: You think twins are inherently creepy, and not in a good way.

How to get it: Not only is it Kindle-able, it's free.

Connection to previous Wreckage: Elizabeth von Arnim also wrote The Enchanted April (Rec. #113).

I mentioned Angela Thirkell and Vita Sackville-West in the "Comparable to" section above. Thirkell's Summer Half was Rec. #40 and Cheerfulness Breaks In was Rec. #240. Sackville-West's The Heir was Rec. #276.

[Originally posted 3/1/11.]

Rec. #320: Pretty Little Head

What: Nellie McKay's second album was much-delayed, mainly due to disputes with her label (don't tell Nellie her album is too long, Columbia; don't do it). The result is worth it, though. In the 23 songs on Pretty Little Head, McKay sings about gay marriage, animal testing, Brecht, tenant rights, and the joys of food.

She also duets with both k.d. lang and Cyndi Lauper, plays the cello and synthesizer, sings in French, and even yodels. Yes, yodels.

Representative lyrics:
"Buy me a billionaire
And maybe I'll forget
Maybe I'll accept
Write me a Baudelaire
And tie me uppercut
If you're going up"

Connections to previous Wreckage: McKay's first album, Get Away from Me, was Rec. #206. She was also featured on the David Byrne/Fatboy Slim project Here Lies Love (Rec. #187).

Quote from a Fictional Character #11

"Anyhow, I shall be able to give up going to parties and things. I'll go to parties or have a baby, but I won't do both."

--- Denham Dobie,
on the silver lining of her pregnancy,
Crewe Train, by Rose Macaulay, 1926
(Rec. #84)

Friday Flashback: Rec. #210: The Mermaids Singing

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

What: Val McDermid's award-winning novel marks the beginning of the partnership between forensic psychologist Dr. Tony Hill and Detective Inspector Carol Jordan that has thus far spawned seven books and a British television series. 

McDermid's prodigious literary talent elevates this above the quotidian police procedural that one might expect, while her complete lack of squeamishness means that descriptions of the book contain phrases like "sadistic, twisted yet intriguingly ingenious" and "graphic, psychologically terrifying."

Comparable to: Frankly, I am shocked (shocked!) that Showtime does not appear to be adapting this into a new series even as we speak (er, type/read). It fits perfectly with the channel's current aesthetic, without any need for the terrible, terrible, terrible Dexter voiceovers. (Sorry, Dexter fans! But those voiceovers are pretty terrible.)

Representative quote: "On the other side of the city, John Brandon stooped over the washbasin and stared glumly into the bathroom mirror. Not even the shaving soap covering his face like a Santa Claus beard could give him an air of benevolence."

You might not like it if: You have a weak stomach, but you read the more graphic parts anyway. I am not ashamed to admit I just skipped over some passages. Torture scenes? What torture scenes?

How to get it: The book is easily available (and Kindle-able). The television adaptation is called Wire in the Blood, which is the title of the second book in the series. Don't get confused and read that first.

(Incidentally, the television show is amazingly well cast --- Robson Green ftw! --- but later seasons do diverge very sharply from the books.)

Connection to previous Wreckage: Read more about Green's work as Tony Hill in List #16: Some Dishy British Male Actors and Where to Find Them. Phwoar.

[Originally posted 11/13/11.]

Rec. #319: The Thin Man (film)

What: Myrna Loy and William Powell set out to prove that the key ingredients for a happy marriage are a sense of humor, family money, a sparky dog, a murder to solve, and lots and lots of booze.

Representative dialogue:
"Say listen, is he working on a case?"
"Yes, he is."
"What case?"
"A case of scotch. Pitch in and help him."

Representative quote: "I don't like crooks, and if I did like crooks, I wouldn't like crooks that were stool pigeons, and if I did like crooks that were stool pigeons, I still wouldn't like you!"

How to get it: This is just the first in a whole series of Thin Man movies. The titles make no sense from here on in, but just go with it.

Connections to previous Wreckage: The source material is the novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett (Rec. #234). 

You can also watch Loy and Powell trade flirtatious barbs in the screwball comedy Libeled Lady (Rec. #229).

List #31: Happy Birthday, Margaret Atwood

Painting by Oksana Zhelisko

Who: Margaret Atwood is a Canadian icon --- novelist, literary critic, poet, activist, essayist. She writes cities, she writes nature. She writes short and she writes long. She writes past, she writes present, she writes future. 

The Robber Bride, 1993

(Rec. #105)

The Blind Assassin, 2000

(Rec. #203)

The Penelopiad, 2005

(Rec. #298)