Rec. #306: The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul

What: Douglas Adams's other recurring hero, Dirk Gently, returns in this sequel to Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. Do you want Norse gods? We've got those. An exploding airport check-in counter? That, too. A hostile stray eagle? A filthy refrigerator? An I Ching calculator? Check, check, check.

Comparable to: It's all about gods on earth, like Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips or American Gods by Neil Gaiman.

Opening lines: "It can hardly be a coincidence that no language on earth has ever produced the expression 'As pretty as an airport.'"

Representative quote: “There are some people you like immediately, some whom you think you might learn to like in the fullness of time, and some that you simply want to push away from you with a sharp stick.”

Bonus representative quote (and excellent life advice): "I don't go to mythical places with strange men.”

How to get it: It's in print and also available as an ebook.

Connections to previous Wreckage: Gods Behaving Badly was Rec. #250.

Get introduced to Dirk Gently in Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (Rec. #162). You can also revisit a good chunk of the Douglas Adams oeuvre in List #25.

Friday Flashback: List #20: (Some of) The Best of Edward Everett Horton

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

Edward Everett Horton spent most of the 1930s and '40s playing second fiddle in some of the best screwball comedies ever made.

He appeared in eleven films in 1934 alone (!!!), but here is a small sampling of his work:

1. Arsenic and Old Lace (1944): Horton is the head of an insane asylum, which is quite full up with Teddy Roosevelts at the moment, thank you very much.

2. The Gay Divorcee (1934), Top Hat (1935), and Shall We Dance (1937): Horton is a non-dancing element of these classic Fred & Ginger romps.

3. Design for Living (1933): Horton is thwarted in love by both Gary Cooper and Frederic March.

4. Holiday (both 1930 and the --- superior --- remake in 1938): In both versions, Horton plays Professor Nick Potter, longstanding friend of the leading man. In the second version, Cary Grant is that leading man.

5. Trouble in Paradise (1932): Like Design for Living, above, this was a Pre-Code film. Translation: the characters can have sex.

Connections to previous Wreckage: Additional screwball from the '30s and '40s: The Palm Beach Story (Rec. #17), Midnight (Rec. #194), The Awful Truth (Rec. #219), and Libeled Lady (Rec. #229).

Fun Fact: It might also interest you to know the Horton was the narrator of the Fractured Fairy Tales segment on The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show.

[Originally posted 8/23/12.]

Rec. #305: The Girls of Slender Means

What: In Kensington immediately after World War II, a highly varied group of young women live at The May of Teck Club. The Girls of Slender Means features anarchists, Jesuits, journalists, a single Schiaparelli gown, and a highly significant lavatory window.

Comparable to: It pairs nicely with Loitering with Intent, another of Muriel Spark's novels.

Opening lines: "Long ago in 1945 all the nice people in England were poor, allowing for exceptions."

Representative quote: "As they realised themselves in varying degrees, few people alive at that time were more delightful, more ingenious, more movingly lovely, and, as it might happen, more savage, than the girls of slender means."

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

Connections to previous Wreckage: Loitering with Intent was Rec. #13. Other books by Muriel Spark include Open to the Public (Rec. #107) and Aiding and Abetting (Rec. #220).

Rec. #304: The Brothers Bloom

What: Mark Ruffalo and Adrien Brody are brothers and con men. One of them wants out of the game, but agrees to one last go-round, this time with heiress Rachel Weisz. Things go badly.

(Also, the wonderfully badass Rinko Kikuchi shows up as the aptly named Bang Bang.)

Comparable to: A little Pushing Daisies, a little Wes Anderson, a little Harold and Maude.

Representative quote: "You don't understand what my brother does. He writes his cons the way dead Russians write novels, with thematic arcs and embedded symbolism and shit."

Bonus representative quote: "Is this the bathroom? Hmm . . . no. This is camels."

Connections to previous Wreckage: I previously featured The Brothers Bloom as part of List #28 (Cons, Capers, and Heists).

Pushing Daisies was Rec. #233, Harold and Maude was Rec. #45, and Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox (also caper-driven) was Rec. #189.

The Brothers Bloom was written and directed by Rian Johnson, who also wrote and directed Brick (Rec. #62).

Friday Flashback: Rec. #174 (abbrev.): The Frequency of Souls

[Yes, I realize it's actually Saturday. Shhh.]

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

What: Mary Kay Zuravleff, debut novel, refrigerator engineers, electrical sound waves of the dead, the Veteran, cryogenics, Dino Park, hearing aids, miracles, control, Niagara Spense, real estate, homemade clothing, music theory, farce, piquant turns of phrase, science fair, Washington, D.C.

Representative quote: "His intentions of telling a simple story had led him out on a personal limb, and he wasn't sure if it could hold his weight until he was finished."

Also: Zuravleff followed this novel with The Bowl Is Already Broken (Rec. #46).

[Originally posted 8/22/11.]

Rec. #303: Welcome to Night Vale

What: Welcome to Night Vale is framed as a community radio show from a fictional town, presumably in the American Southwest. If you listen to podcasts, you've probably already heard of this one. If you haven't, here are a few things that happen in (and to) the town of Night Vale:

• No dogs (or people) are allowed in the dog park. Avoid the dog park.
• A glow cloud attends PTA meetings while dropping dead animals everywhere.
• The hierarchy of the local Boy Scouts includes "Blood Pact Scout."
• Carlos the scientist is perfect and so is his hair, no thanks to Telly.

Comparable to: This is probably how the local news in Sunnydale reported on each Big Bad that crawled out of the Hellmouth. With a twist of Twin Peaks thrown in.

Opening lines: "A friendly desert community where the sun is hot, the moon is beautiful, and mysterious lights pass overheard while we all pretend to sleep."

Representative quote: "You shouldn't wear these homemade tinfoil hats because it draws unnecessary attention to yourself. It’s pathetic and paranoid. The Sheriff's Secret Police are embarrassed for you."

You might not like it if: You just don't get the weather report.

How to get it: The twice-monthly episodes are downloadable from the usual sources. You can learn more about the program here and buy stuff about it here. 

And, oh my gosh, the fandom is everywhere and a little rabid and often extremely organized. They also ship Carlos and Cecil like whoa.

Connections to previous Wreckage: If you click on the "buying stuff" link above, you'll see that the creators of Welcome to Night Vale sell their wares through TopatoCo.

Also available from TopatoCo is merch from John Allison (Bad Machinery, Rec. #138), Kate Beaton (Hark! A Vagrant, Rec. #95), and Tom Siddell (Gunnerkrigg Court, List #21).

Friday Flashback: Rec. #259: Tropical Brainstorm

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 her twenty-year career, singer-songwriter Kirsty MacColl worked with The Pogues, Billy Bragg, Robert Plant, and The Smiths. She did nouveau-'60s-girl-group-pop ("They Don't Know"), snarky holiday non-cheer ("Fairytale of New York"), and bitter British wistfulness ("A New England").

In Tropical Brainstorm, which landed on several "Best of 2001" lists, MacColl rides some powerful Cuban and Brazilian influences as she sings about escape, strategic footwear, stalking a one-time fan, internet bonking, and football as metaphor.

Representative lyrics:

He'll learn to hunt and I'll teach him to fish,

We'll boil up our rice in a satellite dish,

We'll plant cassava wherever we can,

Us Amazonians always get our man.

--- from "Us Amazonians"

Bonus representative lyrics: 

If you hadn't passed out while I was talking to your friend,

It could have really ended badly 'cause you very nearly had me.

If he hadn't taken pity on my heart full of desire,

I might never have found out you're a serial liar.

--- from "England 2, Colombia 0"

How to get it: I'm going to suggest you buy the whole album, of course, but if you'd just like a taste first, most of these songs are 99-cent downloads on iTunes.

Connection to previous Wreckage: The song "In These Shoes?" tends to pop up all over. As just one example, it's used in the opening credits of The Catherine Tate Show (Rec. #81).

Rec. #302: The PowerBook

What: At the turn between the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, author Jeanette Winterson leaped into the cyber future with a prescient novel about online identities and the boundaries of interactivity. It's also about, you know, sex and tulips and stuff.

Opening lines: "To avoid discovery I stay on the run. To discover things for myself I stay on the run."

Representative quote: "I keep telling this story - different people, different places, different times - but always you, always me, always this story, because a story is a tight rope between two worlds."

You might not like it if: You keep getting confused about who this "I" person is.

How to get it: It really makes sense to read this one on a Kindle (or other eReader of your choice).

Connections to previous Wreckage: I first mentioned The PowerBook during Personal Wreck Week (List #4).

Winterson is also the author of The Passion (Rec. #66) and Weight (Rec. #272).

Friday Flashback: Rec. #166 (abbrev.): Strangers on a Train

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

What: Alfred Hitchcock, Patricia Hitchcock, a train, an overbearing father, an inconvenient wife, a murder pact, a senator's daughter, an amusement park, a pair of glasses, a runaway carousel, a cigarette lighter, the most suspenseful tennis match evah

Representative quote: "My theory is that everyone is a potential murderer."

Connections to previous Wreckage: Farley Granger also starred in Rope (Rec. #5). Want even more Hitchcock? Have Shadow of a Doubt (Rec. #78) and Family Plot (Rec. #120).

[Originally posted 8/1/11.]

Rec. #301: Not the End of the World: Stories

What: Much-beloved (by me, anyway) author Kate Atkinson takes a break from sharp, layered, wrenching novels to deliver a collection of sharp, layered, wrenching, loosely connected stories.

Comparable to: Atkinson shares with George Saunders the ability to create wildly inventive dystopias that manage to entertain and depress you at the same time.

Opening lines (almost): "Charlene and Trudi were in a food hall as vast as a small city. It smelled of chocolate and ripe cheese and raw meaty bacon but most of the food was too expensive to buy and some of it didn't look real."

You might not like it if: You believe the title. (Semi-spoiler: It might in fact be the end of the world.)

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

Connections to previous Wreckage: Not the End of the World previously appeared during Personal Wreck Week (List #4).

Kate Atkinson has previously appeared many times, for Case Histories (Rec. #3) , One Good Turn (Rec. #69), Human Croquet (Rec. #137), When Will There Be Good News? (Rec. #192), Started Early, Took My Dog (Rec. #270), and Emotionally Weird (Rec. #282).

Rec. #300: Amélie

What: Audrey Tautou glides through Montmartre, trying to save the world while avoiding the problems in her own life. For all of its dreamy atmosphere, Amélie is, at heart, a film about everyday details, where the mundane is saturated to the point of wonder.

Comparable to: As with Pushing Daisies, it's tempting to take one look at the hard-candy-colored appearance, hear five beats of the bright and expansive music (in this case, from Yann Tiersen), and dismiss the whole thing as escapism.

Once you actually pay attention to the content, though, you realize that Amélie's world is filled with people in comas, people with debilitating diseases, people committing suicide, people stalled in their lives, people going to funerals, people living on the street, and people who can't help sabotaging themselves. And that not all of them get happy endings.

Opening lines: 

"On September 3rd 1973, at 6:28pm and 32 seconds, a bluebottle fly capable of 14,670 wing beats a minute landed on Rue St Vincent, Montmartre. At the same moment, on a restaurant terrace nearby, the wind magically made two glasses dance unseen on a tablecloth. Meanwhile, in a 5th-floor flat, 28 Avenue Trudaine, Paris 9, returning from his best friend's funeral, Eugène Colère erased his name from his address book. At the same moment, a sperm with one X chromosome, belonging to Raphaël Poulain, made a dash for an egg in his wife Amandine. Nine months later, Amélie Poulain was born."

How to get it: Buy it, borrow it, stream it on Amazon.

Connections to previous Wreckage: Season one of Pushing Daisies was Rec. #233.

Amélie's writer-director, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, also wrote and directed Micmacs (Rec. #74), which is all about a group of misfits getting revenge on weapons manufacturers.

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!)