Notice of a Brief Service Interruption

I'm a bit overwhelmed at the moment, so it's going to be pretty quiet around here for the next couple of weeks.

We'll have the 300th recommendation to celebrate when things resume, though!

Spellbound screenshot from "1,000 Frames of Hitchcock."

Rec. #299: Love at the Bottom of the Sea

What: Love at the Bottom of the Sea is the latest album from The Magnetic Fields, and I had the standout song "Andrew in Drag" stuck in my head all weekend. Again.

Comparable to: Stephin Merritt and co. bring the synths back for the first time since 1999's mega-album 69 Love Songs.

Representative lyrics:
There is no hope of love for me
From here on I'll go stag
The only girl I'll ever love is
Andrew in drag
--- from [surprise, surprise] "Andrew in Drag"

More representative lyrics:

Hugh'd go anywhere with you
Hugh would take you to Timbukto
You would do anything for me
Me, I'd go anywhere with Hugh

--- from "I'd Go Anywhere with Hugh"

How to get it: Well, you should pay money for it, of course. And enjoy the "Andrew in Drag" video, which features Stephin Merritt, Claudia Gonson, Darrell Thorne, Stormy Leather, and a lot of turning.

Friday Flashback: Rec. #163 (abbrev.): East Is East

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

What: Manchester, England, 1971, comedy/drama, semi-autobiographical, seven children (six boys and one girl --- Kalinda from The Good Wife), cross-cultural tensions, Royal Tenenbaums aesthetic vibe, very traditional father, rebellions big and small

Representative quote: "We should have a whip-round and get Dad repatriated."



[Originally posted 7/25/11.]

Rec. #298: The Penelopiad

What: The short version is that it's The Odyssey told from the point of view of Penelope, wife of Odysseus.

The longer version is that it's about Penelope in Hades, looking back on her life. She reflects on her childhood, she remembers how she ended up married to Odysseus (dude cheated in a contest), she recounts what happened while Odysseus was away, and she calls out the infamous Helen for ruining her life.

The choral commentary in this Greek drama comes from the twelve maids who are unjustly executed as traitors by Penelope's son.

Opening lines: "Now that I'm dead I know everything."

Representative quote: "Cleverness is a quality a man likes to have in his wife as long as she is some distance away from him."

How to get it: Buyable, borrowable, Kindle-able.

Connections to previous Wreckage: I previously mentioned The Penelopiad during Personal Wreck Week (List #3). Author Margaret Atwood also wrote The Robber Bride (Rec. #105) and The Blind Assassin (Rec. #203).

This novella is part of Canongate's "The Myths" series. Another book in the series is Jeanette Winterson's Weight (Rec. #272), a retelling of the story of Atlas and Heracles. 

Friday Flashback: Rec. #253 (abbrev.): Next Stop, Wonderland

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

What: Film from Brad Anderson, life in Boston, nurse, aquarium, Ralph Waldo Emerson, the blue line, crowds, bossa nova, personals, airport, plumber, the T, marine biology, Brazil

Featuring incandescent Hope Davis, irrepressible Holland Taylor, unexpected Philip Seymour Hoffman

Representative quote: "Brazil . . . That's way past Medford."

Connections to previous Wreckage: This was part of Personal Wreck #2. Writer/director Brad Anderson also wrote/directed Happy Accidents (Rec. #59).

[Originally posted 7/25/12.]

Rec. #297: Love Lies Bleeding

What: In this mid-century mystery, Gervase Fen --- the amateur detective who wouldn't seem out of place in a P.G. Wodehouse novel --- gets tangled up in a series of mysterious goings-on at a boarding school. It starts with the theft of some poisonous acids and escalates to a brutal double murder. Sounds funny, right? It actually is, rather.

Comparable to: Among other Golden Age detectives, Edmund Crispin's Gervase Fen is most similar to Margery Allingham's Albert Campion. But I've mentioned that before.

Opening lines: "The headmaster sighed. It was, he recognized, a plaintive and unmanly noise, but for the moment he was quite unable to suppress it. He apologized."

You might not like it if: Perhaps you (unaccountably) don't care for Mr. Merrythought, the blackmailing hound/scene stealer.

How to get it: Buy it or borrow it --- it's in print, but not (yet) Kindle-able.

Connections to previous Wreckage: I featured a scene from this book in First Sign of Murder #11. A more rompish mystery featuring Gervase Fen is The Moving Toyshop (Rec #60), which is now back in print.

Friday Flashback: Rec. #250: Gods Behaving Badly

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

What: In this book by Marie Phillips, the twelve Greek gods of Mt. Olympus are alive and living in modern-day London. They've come down in the world a bit, though --- Artemis is a dog-walker, Aphrodite is a phone sex worker, etc. They all live together in a run-down flat and have spent most of the past several centuries bickering.

Two mortals, Alice and Neil, get caught up in the double-crossing, hero-questing, and world-saving. Much to their dismay.

Comparable to: Neil Gaiman also did the whole deities-walking-around-like-people thing with American Gods. This has a smaller, zippier scope.

Opening lines: "One morning, when Artemis was out walking the dogs, she saw a tree where no tree should be."

Representative dialogue:
"Why would you tell me the truth?" said Hera.
Apollo considered this.
"Mainly I'm trying to drop my siblings in the shit," he said.
Now it was Hera's turn to consider.
"Well, I'll admit that does sound like you," she conceded.

You might not like it if: You fear the gods will get angry about being described so frivolously.

How to get it: Buyable, borrowable, Kindle-able. Also! It's being made into a movie. So start picturing Christopher Walken as Zeus.

[Originally posted 7/9/12.]

List #29: So You Love the Cast of Hannibal, but Wish Watching the Show Itself Weren't So Psychologically Damaging --- Part 5

Part 1 was Hugh Dancy.
Part 2 was Mads Mikkelsen.
Part 3 was Caroline Dhavernas.

Part 4 was the Sassy Science Squad, Plus Bonus Jack Crawford.

Bryan Fuller likes to gather his own little personal collection of actors to draw from --- like Caroline Dhavernas, star of Wonderfalls, whom Fuller summoned back nine years later.

Here's some love for more of the ever-expanding troupe of the Bryan Fuller Repertory Players.

Raul Esparza

Previous Bryan Fuller Show: Pushing Daisies (as Alfredo Aldarisio) [Rec. #233]

On Hannibal, he's Dr. Frederick Chilton, who runs the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane.

Instead, Watch Him in

Company (2007)

It was Rec. #99.

____________________________________________________________________

Ellen Greene

Previous Bryan Fuller show: Pushing Daisies (as Vivian Charles)

On Hannibal, she's Mrs. Komeda, a novelist and frequent dinner party guest of Dr. Lecter.

Instead, watch her in

Little Shop of Horrors (1986)

See her battle a different kind of man-eater. (Heh. Sorry. [Not sorry.])

___________________________________________________________________

Eddie Izzard

Previous Bryan Fuller Show: Mockingbird Lane (as Grandpa Sam Dracula)

On Hannibal, he's Dr. Abel Gideon, a murderous psychopath.

Instead, Watch Him in

Dress to Kill (1999)

It was Rec. #152.

The Riches (2007)

It was Rec. #202.

___________________________________________________________________

Plus, there's also . . .

Ellen Muth, star of Dead Like Me, who did a version of that character on Hannibal.

Molly Shannon, who guested on both Hannibal and Pushing Daisies.

Chelan Simmons, who brought Gretchen Speck from Wonderfalls to Hannibal.

Gina Torres, who is Bella Crawford on Hannibal, and guested on Pushing Daisies.

But I would also like to request . . . 

Katie Finneran, who was a great foil to Caroline Dhavernas on Wonderfalls.

Beth Grant, who showed up on Wonderfalls, Pushing Daisies, and even Mockingbird Lane. Muffin Buffalo!

Lee Pace, who seemed to get even taller at some point between Wonderfalls and Pushing Daisies and is also a dreamy dreamsicle.

Tracie Thoms, who is amazing and another Wonderfalls vet. (Maybe I would just like a full reunion of the entire Wonderfalls cast? That sounds good.)

Audrey Wasilewski, who played criminals on both Wonderfalls and Pushing Daisies, so would probably feel right at home here.

and more singing, please --- surely there could be singing during a dream/hallucination sequence or something? Please?

List #29: So You Love the Cast of Hannibal, but Wish Watching the Show Itself Weren't So Psychologically Damaging --- Part 4

Part 1 was Hugh Dancy.
Part 2 was Mads Mikkelsen.
Part 3 was Caroline Dhavernas.

Do you extra adore the crime scene investigators on Hannibal (a.k.a. the "sassy science squad") because they sometimes bring brief moments of (admittedly often morbid) levity? Then keep reading.

Plus, bonus Jack Crawford.

Hettienne Park, Scott Thompson, Aaron Abrams

On Hannibal, they're

Beverly Katz, Jimmy Price, Brian Zeller --- forensic crime scene investigators; scientists; nerds; morbid comic relief; sassypants

Instead, Watch Them in

Young Adult (2011)

Look for Hettienne Park here --- it's as good a reason as any to revisit this really quite good film.

Kids in the Hall (1988-1995)

Psh, like you need an excuse to watch Scott Thompson and the rest of the Kids.

Slings and Arrows, season 3 (2006)

Aaron Abrams is Canadian, too! Bryan Fuller loves Canadian actors.

Season 3 of Slings and Arrows was Rec. #287.

_______________________________________________________________________

plus Laurence Fishburne

On Hannibal, he's
Jack Crawford --- FBI special agent; department head; guy who currently has a lot to answer for

Instead, Watch Him in

Bobby (2006)

You don't need me to tell you that Laurence Fishburne has been in A Lot of Things, but maybe you forgot he was in Bobby?
Also in the film, incidentally, is Mr. Iconic Hannibal himself, Anthony Hopkins.

Finally, next, to round us out: a quick tour through additional recurring members of the Bryan Fuller Repertory Players (Eddie Izzard! Ellen Greene! Raul Esparza!)