Friday Flashback: Rec. #90: Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

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

What: During the writers' strike of 2007-2008, Joss Whedon decided to demonstrate that "original online content" doesn't have to mean cats flushing toilets. So, he rounded up some people from past projects (Felicia Day, Nathan Fillion), some family members (sister-in-law Maurissa Tancharoen, brothers Jed and Zach), and one child-star-turned-Broadway-pro-turned-sitcom-star (Neil Patrick Harris*), and they put on a show. 

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is a villain's origin story. Dr. Horrible ("I have a Ph.D. in horribleness") is torn by two ambitions: to join the Evil League of Evil and to win the heart of Penny ("She works with the homeless and doesn't eat meat"). The warring desires converge when Dr. Horrible's nemesis, Captain Hammer ("corporate tool"), shows an interest in Penny.

Comparable to: It is Whedon through and through, with the humor, the distinct characters, the smart writing, and the surprisingly high stakes. As he did with the lauded "Once More, With Feeling" episode of Buffy, Whedon uses a musical framework to heighten emotional impact (with very pretty songs) even as his hyper-articulate characters work out their chaotic thoughts (with very clever lyrics).

Representative quote: "Destroying the status quo because the status is not quo. The world is a mess, and I just need to rule it."

You might not like if it: I think that a lot of people like at least one of the following things: musicals, Nathan Fillion, superheroes, Felicia Day, snarkiness, Joss Whedon, the strategic use of the word "balls," Neil Patrick Harris, equestrian super-villains. If you hate all of those things, then possibly, maybe, there's a chance you won't like this.

How to get it: Dr. Horrible is divided into three 15-minute acts (that's a total of 45 minutes for those keeping track). The DVD triples your viewing time because it has two full-length commentaries. One is an actual commentary, and the other is effectively a bonus musical. The excellent songs in Commentary! The Musical include "Better Than Neil" and "Nobody's Asian in the Movies."


*If you were Harris's HIMYM co-star Alyson Hannigan, an ex-Whedonite herself, wouldn't you be pissed that Whedon gave Doogie a lead role?

[Originally posted 3/30/11.]

Rec. #281 (abbrev.): Death in the Andamans

What: M.M. Kaye, 1930s, Bay of Bengal, violent storm, Christmas Eve picnic, Copper Randal, naval officer, murder, isolated on an island

Also known as Night on the Island.

Opening lines: "Something bumped lightly against the side of her bed and Copper Randal, awakening with a start, was astonished to find that her heart was racing."

Connections to previous Wreckage: Death in Zanzibar (Rec. #183), Death in Berlin (Rec. #244), Death in Kenya (FSoM #4)

Media News Item of the Day (#1)

"Early Hitchcock Films to Tour the U.S."

Related: 

Family Plot, Rec. #120

The Lady Vanishes, Rec. #225

Rope, Rec. #5

Shadow of a Doubt, Rec. #78

Spellbound, Rec. #185

Strangers on a Train, Rec. #166

The Trouble with Harry, Rec. #145

Friday Flashback: Rec. #85: Mr. Chartwell

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

What: Winston Churchill suffered from severe bouts of depression, which he called his "black dog." In Mr. Chartwell, author Rebecca Hunt presents the figurative black dog as an actual black dog (he prefers to be called "Black Pat") who divides his time between Churchill and Esther Hammerhans, a young woman with whom he's lodging.

Comparable to: Hunt's narrative voice reminds me a bit of Alan Bennett and Max Beerbohm (at different times).

Representative quote: "He made a welcoming sound over a mouthful of flapjack and shut his newspaper. He did the universally understood spin of his hand to show he couldn't understand why it was taking him so long to swallow. It was the spin that said, 'I'm bored of chewing; I can't believe I'm still chewing.'"

You might not like it if: You're a bit put off by Hunt's descriptions of Black Pat, which can be . . . vivid.

How to get it: Not only is this book in print, it's even quite a recent publication. So, you could actually go into a bookstore that sells new books and expect to see this on the shelf. (Also available at libraries, or for your Kindle.)


[Originally posted 3/26/11.]


Connections to other Wreckage: Zuleika Dobson by Max Beerbohm was Rec. #96, and Alan Bennett has shown up in Rec. #115, Rec. #169, and Rec. #260.

Rec. #280: The Outs

What: The Outs is a six-part web miniseries about the fallout after the end of a relationship. The series looks and feels like it should be programmed right before Girls on HBO, but instead it's on your computer, streaming for free.

Opening lines:
"Hi, I'm Jack."
"Whatever."

Representative dialogue:
"You said you wanted to kill him."
"No, I didn't. I said I wanted to outlive him."

You might not like it if: You have a low threshold for the number of scenes you can watch wherein the characters get high.

How to get it: You can go through Vimeo or just go to theouts.tv. Plus, there's a seventh episode coming in April! It's a Chanukah special.

Also: I have to mention that one of the main characters is named Oona and I can't seem to stop doing impressions of her.

Friday Flashback: Rec. #86: Inconscientes (Unconscious)

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

What: It's a Freudian screwball comedy! How can you resist that? You can't. In Barcelona, 1913, Alma and her brother-in-law embark on a Sherlock-style investigation to figure out why her psychiatrist husband has run off, leaving her alone and very pregnant. Their only clue? The case studies of four of his patients. Also, there is hypnosis, cross-dressing, and a final tango. It is wicked fun.

Comparable to: A little bit Amelie, a little bit Preston Sturges, a little bit whodunit. (If you've read any of my other posts, you can't possibly be surprised that I like it.)

You might not like it if: Mutton. Chops. Mutton chops!

How to get it: The English translation of the title, Unconscious, is a bit vague, so be careful in your search. It might help to search using the original Spanish title, Inconscientes. It might also help to know that the film is from 2004. Also, please, be prepared to spend a significant amount of time coveting and/or marveling at the gorgeous hair of the lead actress. It is amazing.

[Originally posted 3/26/11.]

List #26: Content That Has Actually Caused Me to Throw Something Across a Room

Some of these I love and some of them I loathe. Feel free to guess which is which!

1. Angels and Ages [book], Adam Gopnik (see also Rec. #39)

Trigger: The prologue.

What I yelled: * "'He' is a not a gender-neutral pronoun! Using the word 'man' to mean 'people' makes you sound like a dick!"

Who's to blame: Adam Gopnik. He should know better.

2. Berkeley Square [miniseries] (see also Personal Wreck Week, List #1)

Trigger: The final scene.

What I yelled: * "That's it?! You put us through all that for this?!"

Who's to blame: The living conditions in the early 1900s; they weren't great.

3. All Jane Eyre adaptations before the 2006 version with Ruth Wilson [movies, miniseries] (see also List #16)

Trigger: Usually the first time Jane speaks as an adult.

What I yelled: * "You're ruining it!!!"

Who's to blame: William Christy Cabanne, Robert Stevenson, Delbert Mann, Franco Zeffirelli, among others.

4. Light in August [book], William Faulkner

Trigger: The cumulative effect.

What I yelled: * "The dust, the dust! Dear gods, the dust!"

Who's to blame: The dust.

5. My Mad Fat Diary [television series]

Trigger: The party at Rae's house.

What I yelled: * "How can I be expected to deal with this?! I can't, I can't."

Who's to blame: Me. I should be emotionally stable enough to handle watching events in the life of a 16-year-old in the mid-'90s.

  

6. Started Early, Took My Dog [book], Kate Atkinson (see also Rec. #270)

Trigger: Reaching the last page.

What I yelled: * "And?!?!?!"

Who's to blame: Me, for being greedy.

7. State of Play [miniseries] (see also Rec. #104)

Trigger: Twist number . . . I lost count.

What I yelled: * "Damn you, Paul Abbott!"

Who's to blame: Paul Abbott, for being so clever.




* While throwing; minus the expletives

List #25: Happy Birthday, Douglas Adams

 

The Salmon of Doubt (Rec. #4)

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Rec. #42)

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (Rec. #162)

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (Rec. #198)

Life, the Universe and Everything (Rec. #230)

The Deeper Meaning of Liff (Rec. #239)

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish (Rec. #279)

Friday Flashback: Rec. #74: Micmacs

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 French film Micmacs contains some of my favorite things: A group of misfits banding together, a caper in the name of a progressive cause, and gorgeous shots by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. The director of Amelie gives us the story of Bazil, whose life has been all but ruined by two big companies that manufacture weapons. He and his aforementioned band of misfits concoct a complicated revenge scheme against their little corner of the military-industrial complex. Or, as Amelie would say, they have a stratagem.

Comparable to: Like Buster Keaton had a bunch of eccentric friends who liked to tinker with junk. But very beautiful.

Representative quote: 

"I'm Bazil." 

"I know. You have a slug in your brain box. I know a family who'll adopt you."

You might not like it if: Too much whimsy makes your brain box ache.

How to get it: Watch instantly on Amazon, or watch on disc in most other ways.



[Originally posted 4/14/11.]

Rec. #279: So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish

What: Arthur Dent makes his way back to Earth, which is quite an accomplishment since the planet was destroyed three books previously to make way for a hyperspace bypass.

Opening lines: "Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun. Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-eight million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue-green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea."

Representative quote: "His name was simply John Watson, though he preferred to be called --- and some of his friends had now reluctantly agreed to do this --- Wonko the Sane."

Bonus representative quote: "She was most immensely relieved to think that virtually everything that anybody had ever told her was wrong."

You might not like it if: This was the first story in The Hitchhiker's Guide series that Douglas Adams wrote specifically as a book instead of adapting it from something else. You might object to a result that's slightly more straightforward than usual.

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

Connections to previous Wreckage: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Rec. #42); The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (Rec. #198); Life, the Universe and Everything (Rec. #230)

Friday Flashback: Rec. #45: Harold and Maude

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

What: Harold Chasen is a privileged young man obsessed with death. He stages fake suicides, drives a hearse, and attends strangers' funerals. At one of these funerals, he meets Maude, who is equally driven by a love for life. She dances and sings, rescues trees, and steals cars, and Harold quickly falls in love her. Harold's mother, priest, and psychiatrist all object to the relationship, though, mainly because Maude is 79 years old. Ah, l'amour.

Comparable to: A major influence on many writers/directors. In my opinion, Wes Anderson has spent most of his career trying to recapture the quirky, happy/morbid vibe of this film.

Representative quote: "You know, at one time I used to break into pet shops to liberate the canaries. But I decided that was an idea way before its time. Zoos are full, prisons are overflowing . . . oh my, how the world still dearly loves a cage."

You might not like it if: You have a very low threshold for quirk.

How to get it: Buy it, don't borrow. You have to buy a movie that has someone named Vivan Pickles in it. That's just a fact.

[Originally posted 2/13/11.]

Rec. #278: Personal Velocity

What: Did you watch the Oscars this past weekend? If so, when Daniel Day-Lewis won his award, you might have found yourself wondering, "Who is this woman he's married to, this woman he calls 'the versatile one in the family'?" She's Rebecca Miller, she's extremely talented, and this is a book of short stories that she wrote.

The book was praised by the New York Times and was a Washington Post Best Book of 2001. She later adapted three of the stories into a movie, which she also directed. The film went on to win stuff at Sundance and the Independent Spirit Awards. (Try not to feel too depressed about having done comparatively little with your life. We can't all be Rebecca Miller.)

Opening lines: "Greta Herskovitz looked down at her husband's shoes one morning and saw with shocking clarity that she was going to leave him."

How to get it: Buy or borrow. (Not currently Kindle-able.)

Connections to previous Wreckage: I mentioned the Personal Velocity book/movie combo during Personal Wreck Week (List #2).

Rec. #277: The Business

What: A production company previously committed to smut-peddling unexpectedly acquires an indie hit and decides to change its direction to Quality Films. The only problem is that most of the people who work there have terrible taste and absolutely no idea what they're doing.

Representative quote:
"What do you want, chicks, fame, money?"
"Those things sound nice, yeah."

How to get it: There's good news and bad news. The bad news is that the television show's vague title can make it kind of difficult to find. Try adding keywords like "IFC" (channel it aired on) or "Kathleen Robertson" (star). Or limit your search by year (2006-2007).

The good news is that once you do find it, it will probably be pretty cheap.

Rec. #276: The Heir

What: Peregrine Chase manages an insurance company, and he really, really seems like someone who would manage an insurance company. Then he inherits a Tudor house with a moat and some peacocks, and everything changes. (Except his name, which was already pretty great.)

Comparable to: Cold Comfort Farm without the smirking bite.

Opening lines: "Miss Chase lay on her immense red silk four-poster that reached as high as the ceiling. Her face was covered over by a sheet, but as she had a high, aristocratic nose, it raised the sheet into a ridge, ending in a point. Her hands also could be distinguished beneath the sheet, folded across her chest like the hands of an effigy; and her feet, tight together like the feet of an effigy, raised the sheet into two further points at the bottom of the bed. She was eighty-four years old, and she had been dead for twenty-four hours."

Representative quote: "What on earth were panage hogs, to which apparently he was entitled?"

How to get it: Buy it or borrow it.

Connections to previous Wreckage: I previously mentioned Vita Sackville-West's The Heir during Personal Wreck Week (List #5). And all the smirking bite of Cold Comfort Farm was Rec. #34.

Friday Flashback: Rec. #40: Summer Half

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

What: Over the course of three decades (1930s, '40s, and '50s), the characters under Angela Thirkell's purview grow up, grow older, fall in love, get political, stay provincial, mostly survive one war, and try to recover from the resulting peace. Summer Half is a golden period for the characters. It's summer; teachers, students, and headmasters (and their relations) are enjoying the holiday; and the second world war is not yet on the horizon.

Comparable to: Same vein as Austen, Dickens, Gaskell, and Thackeray. But one hundred years later.

Representative quote: "To his unhappy situation he saw no outlet which honor could allow, and hoped vaguely that on his Russian visit he might somehow turn into someone else, or even get sent to Siberia by mistake."

You might not like it if: It's too quiet. You want the war!

How to get it: Thirkell's books tend to go in and out of print. It looks like Summer Half is out of print now, but try your library.

[Originally posted 2/8/11.]

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.