Rec. #275: Moonstruck

What: Moonstruck is one of the most quotable movies ever. After you watch it, I dare you to stop yourself from doing an impression of Nicholas Cage's baker-with-eyes-like-a-gypsy-who-lost-his-hand-and-his-bride.

Or maybe you'd like to attempt an impression of Cher's bookkeeper-whose-first-husband-got-hit-by-a-bus-and-she's-pretty-sure-it's-because-they-got-married-at-City-Hall.

You could also try Olympia Dukakis, John Mahoney, or Danny Aiello. Or --- ooh!--- you could do Cosmo's speech on the three kinds of pipe ("there's what you have, which is garbage"). So many delicious choices.

Representative quote: "A man understands one day that his life is built on nothing, and that's a bad, crazy day."

Bonus representative quote: "I looked the wrong way and I lost my hand. He could make you look the wrong way and you could lose your whole head!"

Representative dialogue:

"You're gonna marry my brother? Why you wanna sell your life short? Playing it safe is just about the most dangerous thing a woman like you could do. You waited for the right man the first time, why didn't you wait for the right man again?"

"He didn't come!"

"I'm here!"

"You're late!"

How to get it: Buy it, borrow it, stream it, or catch it on cable sometime.

Friday Flashback: Rec. #58: Him Her Him Again the End of Him

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 unnamed heroine of Patricia Marx's novel is working on her graduate thesis in Cambridge when she falls for a boring, miserable, selfish narcissist named Eugene Obello. Things do not go very well. Marx, a former writer for Saturday Night Live and the first woman elected to the Harvard Lampoon, has written a very funny tragedy/very tragic comedy.

Comparable to: Same type of sense of humor as David Rakoff, Sloane Crosley, David Sedaris, etc. But this is a novel, not a collection of essays or stories.

Representative quote: "I'd never been to Europe and now here I was, in a country where everyone sounded like Winston Churchill or Mary Poppins; where all the women had flawless skin and all the men looked as if they'd been wandering around in the Underground since World War II, never having seen the light of day or another change of clothes."

You might not like it if: The deliberately inexplicable nature of the Eugene obsession is a persistent bother that doesn't go away.

How to get it: The paperback is super-cheap on Amazon right now. If you're interested.



[Originally posted 2/26/11.]

Rec. #274: The Forsyte Saga

What: Before Damian Lewis ever crossed paths with Claire Danes, he starred in this 2002 miniseries. Adapted from the novels by John Galsworthy, The Forsyte Saga follows a British family over the course of five adulterous, scheming, artistic, wrenching, scandalous, tragic, well-funded decades.

Comparable to: Before Downton Abbey chomped its way through early twentieth century domestic drama, The Forsyte Saga made its own mark, with people running off with governesses, getting engaged to penniless architects, supporting spendthrift husbands, being killed while running around in the fog, disinheriting people (and then reinheriting them), and making grand gestures with jewelry.

A few key phrases from the Wikipedia plot summary:
"ends up vulgarly kissing her arm in public"
"June returns from a holiday in Switzerland and discovers the lawsuit"
"when he pulls the trigger he finds it was not loaded"

Representative quote: "There is something ironic, isn't there, that all the people I love, really love, all gravitate to her in the end. And they always love Irene more."

How to get it: It's available for streaming on Netflix and Amazon. All seven hours of it.

Rec. #273 (abbrev.): Amphigorey Too

What: Edward Gorey story collection, The Beastly Baby, The Nursery Frieze, The Pious Infant, The Evil Garden, The Inanimate Tragedy, The Gilded Bat, The Iron Tonic, The Osbick Bird, The Chinese Obelisks, The Deranged Cousins, The Eleventh Episode, [The Untitled Book], The Lavender Leotard, The Disrespectful Summons, The Abandoned Sock, The Lost Lions, Story for Sara, The Salt Herring, Leaves from a Mislaid Album, A Limerick

Representative quote: "One summer morning a sock on the line decided that life with its mate was tedious and unpleasant."

Also: Ascending Peculiarity (Rec. #80) and Amphigorey (the first) (Rec. #207)

Friday Flashback: Rec. #33: The Up Series

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

What: You know what's really quite scary? Driving in an actual blizzard. I did that today. You know what else is scary, in a very different way? Looking at a seven-year-old boy and thinking, "Ah, yes. You will grow up to be a Bond villain." I did not do that today, but I did it the first time I saw Seven Up, the initial entry in the Up documentary series. 

In the mid-'60s, the filmmakers interviewed fourteen British children from different socioeconomic backgrounds, and director Michael Apted* films follow-up interviews every seven years. The results are sometimes heartbreaking, occasionally scary, and consistently fascinating. You'll form very strong opinions about these people you've never met. (See if you can spot who I pegged as the Bond villain.)

Representative quote: "Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man." (This should tip you off that there's more emphasis on the ten boys than the four girls.)

You might not like it if: You get completely lost in the accents. No closed captioning, either, so it's sink or swim here.

How to get it: Quickly! Catch up before 56 Up comes out (due in 2012). So far, we've had Seven Up, Seven Plus 7, 21 Up, 28 Up, 35 Up, 42 Up, and 49 Up.

*Michael Apted was a researcher on the original film and has directed all subsequent films in the series.

[Originally posted 2/1/11.]

Also: Hey! 56 Up is out right now! Maybe in a theater near you! Might be a good idea to see it this weekend.

Rec. #272: Weight

What: Author Jeanette Winterson retells the myth of Atlas and Heracles. A tale of traps and bargains and freedom and trickery! The book is not very long, but it is smart, smart, depressing, and smart.

Comparable to: Weight is part of the The Myths --- a multi-country project of myths retold by critically fawned-over authors, including David Grossman, Margaret Atwood, Ali Smith, and Michel Faber.

Opening lines: "The free man never thinks of escape."

Representative quote: "I am good at walking away. Rejection teaches you how to reject."

Bonus representative quote: "What can I tell you about the choices we make? Fate reads like the polar opposite of decision, and so much of life reads like fate."

How to get it: You'll probably need to buy it used or get it from the library.

Connections to previous Wreckage: The Penelopiad, by Margaret Atwood, is also part of The Myths project. I recommended it during Personal Wreck Week (List #3). Also check out Jeanette Winterson's other (non-myth) books, including The Passion (Rec. #66).

Friday Flashback: Rec. #5: Rope

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 Rope, Jimmy Stewart plays an of-the-moment character who realizes too late what cool, clinical cynicism can lead to. This Alfred Hitchcock film gives everyone involved a chance to show off. The story was a stage play first, and the single-room set reflects that, allowing the actors to showcase their Craft. Meanwhile, Hitchcock demonstrates his innovation and technical skill by shooting the entire film in just 10 takes. (Fun party game! Spot the cuts!)

Representative quote: "Good and evil, right and wrong were invented for the ordinary, average man, the inferior man, because he needs them."

You might not like it if: You're in a "been there, done that" place with Hitchcock. Alternately, you might believe this can't possibly be a Hitchcock movie because you don't see any blondes.

How to get it: Rent it or buy it --- after being unavailable for decades, the film is now pretty easy to find. You also have a good-ish chance of catching it on TCM sometime. When you're done watching the movie, check out the IMDb and Wikipedia entries on it. Trivia galore for film geeks!


[Originally posted 1/4/11.]

Also: Check out the Hitchcock entry in my blog index. There's a lot there.

Rec. #271: Tamara Drewe

What: Tamara Drewe is Posy Simmonds's modernized, satirical take on Thomas Hardy's Far from the Madding Crowd --- she gets her characters into a rural setting via a writer's retreat. Her story started as a weekly comic serial in The Guardian before becoming an award-winning a graphic novel.

Opening lines:
"Assholes!"
"Oh come on, Glen, they're just bored . . . holidays've gone on too long . . . just mindless."
"But that's what I object to! I mean if they threw stuff with a purpose . . . like they see us and think: hey, writers! Let's egg the self-regarding sacks of shit."
"Maybe they did."

You might not like it if: Satire! Struggling writers! The British countryside! Adultery! Rock star ex-fiances! Mid-life ennui! Stalkers! Plotting! Sheep! What's not to like?

How to get it: Buy it or borrow it. The paperback edition is a super good deal right now on Amazon.

Connections to previous Wreckage: The graphic novel was made into a movie in 2010. I haven't seen it, but Tamsin Greig is in it, so how bad could it be? We love Tamsin Greig! See Black Books (Rec. #68), Green Wing (Rec. #110), and The Half (Rec. #178) for evidence of why she's great.

Friday Flashback: Rec. #9: No Ordinary Matter

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

What: Author Jenny McPhee excels at combining disparate themes and topics in delightful ways. The novel No Ordinary Matter brings together soap operas, musicals, private detection, and neurology. It sounds frenetic, but somehow it's not. McPhee's tone is playful, yet grounded.

Comparable to: Some of the farce of Shakespearean comedy, a pinch of Shannon Olson's tone, with a dash of Tom Robbins-type flights of fancy.

Representative quote: "Veronica began to put her clothes back on. She sensed impending doom and wanted to be dressed for it."

You might not like it if: You have absolutely no interest in, or curiosity about, the writing of soap operas, the creation of musicals, the practice of private detection, or the theories of neurology.

How to get it: It's probably available in your library system, it's possibly in stock at your local bookstore, and it's definitely downloadable to your Kindle.

[Originally posted 1/8/11.]

See also: McPhee's first novel, The Center of Things, was Rec. #214.

List #24: A List of Lists So Far --- Part 5 of 5

Part 1!

Part 2!

Part 3!

Part 4!

List #20: (Some of) The Best of Edward Everett Horton.
Featuring this guy. And Cary Grant.

List #21: If I Had the Sort of Job Where I Could Spend Time Doing Things on the Internet, Here Are Some of the Things I Would Spend Time Doing.
Featuring Exactitudes.

List #22: A Few of the Best Books I Read in 2012.
Featuring The Beginning of Spring.

List #23: A Few of the Best Movies I Watched in 2012.
Featuring Beginners (Rec. #249).

List #24: A List of Lists So Far --- Part 4 of 5

See Part 1 here!

See Part 2 here!

See Part 3 here!

List #16: Some Dishy British Male Actors and Where to Find Them. Phwoar.
Featuring North and South.

List #17: French Films to Watch Instantly on Netflix.
Featuring L'Argent de Poche.

List #18: Ten Movies That Pass the Bechdel/Wallace Test.
Featuring Junebug (Rec. #139).

List #19: Jay Smooth --- An Appreciation.
Featuring Jay Smooth!


More in Part 5 here.

List #24: A List of Lists So Far --- Part 3 of 5

See Part 1 here and see Part 2 here.

List #10: 4 Internet Crushes.
Featuring the four dreamboats above.

List #11: 4 Books That Are Ostensibly for People Under 18, but Are Actually for YOU.
Featuring Moominvalley in November (Rec. #109).

List #12: Things That Are Good for Wallowing.
Featuring Don't Point That Thing at Me (Rec. #31).

List #13: 5 British Miniseries to Watch Instantly on Netflix.
Featuring Bleak House.

List #14: Wow, Remember 2011? The Ten Most Popular Daily Wreck Posts from 2011.
Featuring Run Lola Run (Rec. #170).

List #15: Adam Goldberg, Why Are You All Over My Netflix Instant Queue?
Featuring (Untitled).


Continue with Part 4 here. And finish with Part 5 here.

Friday Flashback: Rec. #219: The Awful Truth

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 Awful Truth is a classic 1930s screwball comedy, a fine example of its type. The dapper Cary Grant and the sublime Irene Dunne play a soon-to-be-divorced couple who spend most of the movie sabotaging each other's new relationships.

Comparable to: Do you love Asta in the Thin Man films? Of course you do. Well, the same dog plays the pivotal role of Mr. Smith here. Watch the hat.

Opening lines: "Come on, Haig, get that sun lamp ready."

Representative dialogue:
"What do we drink to?"
"Well, let's drink to our future. Here's hoping you and Barbara will be very happy, which I doubt very much."
"No, let's drink to your happiness with Buffalo Bill, which doesn't even make sense."

Bonus representative quote: "In the spring, a young man's fancy lightly turns to what he's been thinking about all winter."

You might not like it if: You've seen some of the other versions of this movie (from 1925, 1929, or 1953), and you are now Over It.

How to get it: Careful here. This is a common title and the particular story itself has been remade a few times. If you want this version — and I think you do — look for The Awful Truth from 1937 with Cary Grant and Irene Dunne.

Connections to previous Wreckage: Get your fix of classic screwball with The Palm Beach Story (Rec. #17), The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (Rec. #65), and Midnight (Rec. #194).


[Originally posted 1/22/12.]

List #24: A List of Lists So Far --- Part 2 of 5

See Part 1 here.

List #6: A Few Seasonally Inappropriate Options for the Northern Hemisphere.

Featuring Paris to the Moon (Rec. #39).

List #7: Lesser-Known Books from Some Big(gish) Names.

Featuring The Salmon of Doubt (Rec. #4).

List #8: Smart, Non-Blockbuster Crowd Pleasers.

Featuring Hark! A Vagrant (Rec. #95).

List #9: 6 British TV Comedies to Watch Instantly on Netflix.

Featuring A Bit of Fry & Laurie.


Continue with Part 3 here. Then continue with Part 4 here. And the rousing finale of Part 5 is here.

List #24: A List of Lists So Far --- Part 1 of 5

List #1: 10 Movies You Can Watch Instantly on Netflix This Weekend.
Featuring Brick (Rec. #62).

List #2: The 5 Most-Viewed Recommendations (So Far).
Featuring Wonderfalls (Rec. #2).

List #3: 5 Things to Read Before the Book/Movie/Musical Comes Out.
Featuring Cloud Atlas (Rec. #140).

List #4: 7 Mysteries from Authors Who Are Still Alive.
Featuring The Good Children (Rec. #111).

List #5: 13 Out-of-Print Books to Get from Your Library.
Featuring The Undertaker's Gone Bananas (Rec. #16).



Continue with Part 2 here. Keep going with Part 3 here. And then on to Part 4 here. Finish up with Part 5 here.

Friday Flashback: Rec. #218: Bellwether

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

What: Intrigued by my fervent recommendations of To Say Nothing of the Dog and Blackout/All Clear (see below), but don't want to commit to 500+ pages without knowing what you're getting into? There are worse places to start than here, with Connie Willis's breezy take on herd mentality and corporate culture.

The main players in Bellwether are Sandra Foster (a fads researcher), Bennett O'Reilly (a chaos theorist), Billy Ray (a convenient provider of sheep), and Flip (a very inconvenient force of nature).

Comparable to: As she does in To Say Nothing of the Dog, Willis throws many disparate threads of knowledge together in such a way that you start thinking of Robert Browning, chaos theory, genius grants, trust exercises, flagpole-sitters, and Far from the Madding Crowd as inextricably and irrevocably linked together.

Opening lines: "Hula Hoop (March 1958–June 1959) — The prototype for all merchandising fads and one whose phenomenal success has never been repeated."

Representative quote: "The only thing I was aware of was that Flip had thoughtfully crumpled each clipping into a wad before stuffing them into the trash can, and that there was no way I could get them all smoothed out tonight, and, as a result, I was not only oblivious to the first event in a chain of events that was going to lead to a scientific discovery, but I was about to miss the second one, too. And the third."

You might not like it if: You've already read To Say Nothing of the Dog and are looking for something on that scope. Or at least for something that involves time travel.

How to get it: Buy it or borrow it. It's in print and also Kindle-able.

Connections to previous Wreckage: Blackout/All Clear (Gift Idea #1) is Connie Willis's latest success, but To Say Nothing of the Dog (Rec. #100) is still the most beloved one.

[Originally posted 1/21/12.]

List #23: A Few of the Best Movies I Watched in 2012

Beginners: "And what about the chair, is it gay?"  "The chair is not gay, obviously."

Moonrise Kingdom: "Why do you consider me your enemy?"  "Because your girlfriend stabbed me in the back with lefty scissors."  "She's my wife now."

The Queen of Versailles: "We never set out to build the biggest house in America. It just kind of happened."

Silver Linings Playbook: "You have poor social skills. You have a problem."  "I have a problem? You say more inappropriate things than appropriate things."

List #22: A Few of the Best Books I Read in 2012

The Beginning of Spring, Penelope Fitzgerald: "With the ruthlessness of the timid, Miss Kinsman was coming after him now to suggest that she would be suitable for the post of governess at 22 Lipka Street."

Fadeaway Girl, Martha Grimes: "I cleared my throat, which at least showed I could make a sound, balled up my fist in front of my mouth as if I were about to cough, rehearsed the word 'hello' in my head to see if it was a real word, then blurted out: 'My name is Emma Graham.""

The Red House, Mark Haddon: "Behind everything there is a house. Behind everything there is always a house, compared to which every other house is larger or colder or more luxurious."

Random Harvest, James Hilton: "This idea of unsameness as the pattern of life meant that (as Blampied put it) they didn't think there was anything very odd in anyone being a little odd."

Bel Canto, Ann Patchett: "It makes you wonder. All the brilliant things we might have done with our lives if we only suspected we knew how."

The Happy Exiles, Felicity Shaw: "The only things he was afraid of were boredom and blackmail."

Friday Flashback: Rec. #212: Ultraviolet (UK TV serial)

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

What: First, we need to clarify several things.

1. This does not have any connection whatsoever to the Milla Jovovich movie.
2. I mean, look at the DVD cover! They are very serious and British and are wearing so many clothes!
3. But, er, it is about vampires, actually.
4. But the word "vampire" is never, ever used. They are Code 5s, and they are rarely seen.
5. I know, yes, lots of vampire stuff around these days!
6. But this is from 1998, so ha.
7. And the focus is heavily on scientific methods and police investigation.
8. And each episode name is in Latin. Classy!
9. Also, no thinly veiled antiabortion rhetoric here.
10. Oooh, and there is Jack Davenport! We adore Jack Davenport.
11. And! You get to see Jane Bennet (Susannah Harker) and Stringer Bell (Idris Elba) work together!
12. Plus, someone from True Blood played a vampire here first.

Comparable to: It is kind of X-Files-ish. But British.

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

You might not like it if: You cannot stand one more vampire thing, ever, not even for Stringer Bell.

How to get it: You can watch it on IMDb and Hulu.

[Originally posted 11/21/11.]

Rec. #270: Started Early, Took My Dog

What: Started Early, Took My Dog is the fourth novel from Kate Atkinson that features former private detective Jackson Brodie. As if we weren't invested enough in Brodie's adventures already, this time around he acquires a formerly abused dog as he winds his way through various rumbling tragedies.

Opening lines: "1975: April 9. Leeds: 'Motorway City of the Seventies.' A proud slogan. No irony intended. Gaslight still flickering on some streets. Life in a northern town."

Representative quote: "Jackson wondered what a dog might need. Food and a bowl to eat it out of, he supposed. He found both in a shop called Paws for Thought. He sensed he was entering deep into unknown territory. He had a new role. He knew who he was, he was a dog owner. He found it hard enough coping with having a son, the dog felt like even more of a stretch."

You might not like it if: When I first read the book, I yelled "AND?!" at the last page. More, please, Ms. Atkinson, and quickly.

Connections to previous Wreckage: Start at the beginning with Case Histories (Rec. #3 and FSoM #14), move on to One Good Turn (Rec. #69), and finish your prep with When Will There Be Good News? (Rec. #192).