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.]