Friday Flashback: Rec. #143: Me Without You

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

What: Anna Friel and Michelle Williams give knock-down-drag-out powerhouse performances as charming, volatile, possessive Marina (Friel) and quiet, insecure, frustrated Holly (Williams). 

The film follows the childhood friends through the '70s and '80s, drugs and breakups, unforgivable actions and inescapable dependencies. It's a harsh, unflinching look at the layers of support and mild sabotage that are inherent in almost any close relationship.

Comparable to: The friendship in Heavenly Creatures is only slightly more toxic. (OK, that's an exaggeration. Anna Friel and Michelle Williams don't murder anyone.)

Representative quote: "Don't ever be yourself; you've got to have a gimmick. How about 'intense and difficult'? You could manage that."

You might not like it if: You are looking for Beaches. Or maybe you're unprepared to hear Michelle Williams with a British accent. Or Anna Friel without her Pushing Daisies U.S. accent. Or maybe you're sick of seeing Kyle MacLachlan pop up in unexpected places.

How to get it: Tricky to buy, but easy enough to rent or borrow.

Connections to previous Wreckage: Me Without You is part of List #18: Ten Movies That Pass the Bechdel/Wallace Test. Also see Quote from a Fictional Character #50. 

When the show Pushing Daisies (Rec. #233) first came out, I was already prepared to like it because I was a big fan of Anna Friel, both from this and from the miniseries adaptation of the Dickens novel Our Mutual Friend (Rec. #88). 

And Oliver Milburn, who plays Marina's brother, also shows up in Green Wing (Rec. #110).

[Originally posted 6/13/11.]

Rec. #383: Traitor's Purse

What: He wakes up in a hospital not knowing who he is, and the first thing he hears is two people discussing his case: "They'll hang him, I suppose?"

So he runs.

Opening lines: "The muttering was indistinct. It crept down the dark ward, forcing itself upon the man who lay in the patch of light at the far end of the vast room."

Representative quote: "The one clear conclusion to be drawn from present developments, he decided, was that he and the girl were up to something --- or at least she certainly was."

How to get it: Buyable, borrowable, Kindle-able. Also available as an audiobook, but I can't vouch for that.

Connections to previous Wreckage: Other books by Margery Allingham include Black Plumes (Rec. #156), The Estate of the Beckoning Lady (FSoM #3), The Fashion in Shrouds (QfFC #17), and Sweet Danger (Rec. #133).

Rec. #382: Waitress

What: The movie Waitress is the final film from the late, great actress/writer/director Adrienne Shelly. (She was murdered before its release.) The title character is Jenna, who is saving up money to leave her abusive husband when she discovers that she's pregnant.

Things only sort of look up from there for Jenna, but there are a lot of pies and some very excellent writing.

Also, Nathan Fillion. People really seem to like Nathan Fillion, so I should mention that.

Comparable to: As an actress, Shelly was best known for her roles in Hal Hartley films, and Waitress shares the sort of deadpan humor found in Trust and The Unbelievable Truth.

Representative quote: "Hiya there, Earl! We all just agreed that your hair is super attractive! Hooray for you!"

How to get it: Buy or borrow. It's also recently been adapted into a stage musical, set to open on Broadway next spring.

Connection to previous Wreckage: The movie Trust was Rec. #165

Friday Flashback: Rec. #260: The Uncommon Reader

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

What: Alan Bennett devises a clever premise --- the Queen of England discovers the joys of reading via a library bookmobile parked at the palace kitchens --- and he executes the premise delightfully.

Comparable to: Bennett's first novella, The Clothes They Stood Up In, is a similarly stripped-down modern fable.

Opening lines: "At Windsor it was the evening of the state banquet and as the president of France took his place beside Her Majesty, the royal family formed up behind and the procession slowly moved off and through into Waterloo Chamber."

Representative quote: "Once I start a book I finish it. That was the way one was brought up. Books, bread and butter, mashed potato --- one finishes what's on one's plate."

You might not like it if: Given how quick a read this novella is, you'll be done with it before you could decide you didn't like it (which is unlikely, anyway).

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

Connections to previous Wreckage: Find more Alan Bennett in The History Boys (Rec. #115) and The Clothes They Stood Up In (Rec. #169).

See also List #52: Happy Birthday, Alan Bennett

[Originally posted 8/30/12]

Streaming Suggestion of the Week #17: Slings and Arrows

Stream what: Behind-the-scenes drama at a theater festival. It's Canadian.

Stream why: The creators knew ahead of time that the show would run for three seasons, so the overall arc of the series flows and grows and deepens -- basically the things you always hope a series arc will do. Plus excellent acting, writing, etc.

Stream where: Hulu, or pay to stream on Amazon


Read more about season #1: Rec. #127

Read more about season #2: Rec. #191

Read more about season #3: Rec. #287

Quote from a Fictional Character #75

"We maintained a brief but meaningful standoff. I can win any such standoff. I can win any contest involving silence or stillness or maintaining a straight face."

---Finley,

Orion You Came and You Took All My Marbles, Kira Henehan, 2010

(Rec. #195)
(List #51)

Friday Flashback: Rec. #238 (abbrev.): Monsoon Wedding

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

What: Preparations for an arranged marriage in New Delhi, director Mira Nair, fathers, mothers, dancing, brothers, cousins, event planner, uncles, aunties, exactly and approximately, affair, eating, tv producer, secrets, housemaid, marigolds

Representative quote: "Computer engineers are India's biggest export."

Bonus representative quote: "These are my children, and I will protect them from myself even if I have to."

Also: The actual wedding isn't shown until a few brief clips during the end credits.

Connections to other Wreckage: Part of List #18: Ten Movies That Pass the Bechdel/Wallace Test

First Sign of Murder #18: The Reaper

"The pen was not required. Unseen by the bishop, Otis Joy had snatched up St. Paul's Cathedral. He swung it with tremendous force at the back of the big, bald head.

"The impact of solid glass against bone was irresistible. Marcus Glastonbury was killed by the first blow. He got two more to be certain."

--- The Reaper, Peter Lovesey, 2000

(Rec. #21)

Quote from a Fictional Character #74

"I haven't got any thoughts. I'm just staring vacantly into space while a distant voice in the back of my head goes, 'Oh, shit!' like a car alarm in the middle of the night."

--- Simon Foster,

In the Loop, 2009

Friday Flashback: Rec. #44: Guys and Dolls

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 stories in Guys and Dolls are so much more than the musical that took the collection's name. The stylistic dialogue of Damon Runyon's number-runners, chorus girls, gamblers, and hustlers might seem familiar, but you could be surprised at some of the situations they get themselves into.

Comparable to: Think of Runyon as P.G. Wodehouse for 1930s New York mobsters.

Representative quote: "If a guy keeps yessing a doll long enough, she is bound to figure him a bright guy, and worth looking into." (from "The Delegates at Large")

You might not like if it: You don't develop a liking for Runyon's distinctive vernacular.

How to get it: There are several different collections of Runyon's stories, including Guys and Dolls and Other Writings, The Damon Runyon Omnibus, Damon Runyon: Favorites, A Treasury of Damon Runyon, and Runyon on Broadway.

You're bound to run into one of them. Consider this recommendation applicable to all of them.



[Originally posted 2/12/11.]

Streaming Suggestion of the Week #16: Another Period

Stream what: This new tv show from Riki Lindhome and Natasha Leggero deftly skewers two genres at once --- period piece family drama and pseudo-celebrity reality show.

Stream why: Lots of funny people being very funny (Michael Ian Black, Kate Micucci, David Wain). And lots of who-knew-they-were-this-funny? people being very funny (Christina Hendricks, Jason Ritter, Paget Brewster).

Stream where: Hulu for free, or Amazon at a cost

Stream whuh?: Why does this show work so well? I do not know. I do know, however, that I laughed very hard at Paget Brewster shooting an eagle out of the sky and declaring, "Majestic no more!"

Rec. #381: Death of a Peer

What: Ngaio Marsh was a British New Zealander who directed Shakespeare and wrote mystery novels. I love her books very much, and this is my favorite.

Following the death of her parents, quiet and watchful Roberta Grey travels halfway around the world to live with some charming, down-on-their-luck aristos. Then the murder happens.

Representative quote: "It was in a sort of trance that Roberta offered to spend the rest of an endless night in an unknown house with the apparently insane widow of a murdered peer."

Connections to previous Wreckage: For other Marsh novels, see List #27, in which I wish Ngaio Marsh a happy birthday.

Death of a Peer was also the debut entry of my occasionally recurring feature First Sign of Murder (FSoM #1).