Rec. #374: High Maintenance, season 1

What: This web series follows an unnamed pot dealer "bike messenger" and his clients. Each 5-to-10-minute episode is like a little, perfect short story.

Comparable to: I mean short stories in the vein of Daphne Kalotay. As in, swap out New York for Boston and you've basically got Kalotay's Calamity and Other Stories (Rec. #227).

Representative quote: "I gotta say, originally I was kind of upset that you guys had a kid 'cause he was kind of screwing up my income stream, but he's really cute!"

How to watch it:

First of all, go to Vimeo.

Second, the episode titles are not the client names. The episodes can be a little tricky to track, so here are the key words/phrases that describe each one (while still mainly avoiding spoilers). I've starred my favorites.

"Stevie" --- Personal assistant
"Heidi" --- Moocher
"Jamie" --- Mouse
***"Olivia" --- Assholes
***"Helen" --- Lonely
"Trixie" --- Airbnb couple
"Dinah" --- couple + friend
"Jonathan" --- Hannibal Buress
"Elijah" --- Family dinner
***"Brad Pitts" --- Bird watching
***"Qasim" --- Polyphasic sleep
***"Matilda" --- Niece
***"Rachel" --- Dan Stevens


Third, HBO has picked this up. Because of course it has.

Quote from a Fictional Character #65

"My name is Jennifer. I have been told that most Jennifers are not 'nice,' that if I were more cheerful and bubbly I'd be called Jenny, and that if my presence were warm and comforting I'd be Jen. 

"But I have always been called Jennifer, and while I don't espouse idiotic generalizations --- these in particular were made by a boy I dated for five months in eleventh grade --- I am definitely not someone you'd call nice."

--- Jennifer Rabinowitz,

Day for Night, Frederick Reiken, 2011

(Rec. #128)

Friday Flashback: Rec. #175 (abbrev.): What a Way to Go

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

What: 1964, black comedy, Shirley MacLaine, Paul Newman, Robert Cummings, Gene Kelly, Dick Van Dyke, Dean Martin, Robert Mitchum, painting chimp, IRS, wigs, psychiatrist, dead husbands, Edith Head costumes, Paris beatniks, utter joyous ridiculousness

Plus, things like this:

Representative quote:
"Put it down here, baby."
"Gee, I wish I'd said that."

Also: Yes, all those people really are in this movie.

[Originally posted 8/23/11.]

Rec. #373: The Complete Talking Heads

What: Talking Heads is a series of dramatic monologues that Modern British Treasure Alan Bennett wrote for the BBC (first in the late '80s, then more in the late '90s). This book is those monologues in readable form, and they're really, really good.

First lines: "I was all right on the Monday. I was all right on the Tuesday. And I was all right on the Wednesday until lunchtime, at which point all my nice little routine went out the window."

You might not like it if: You were expecting David Byrne.

How to get it: Buyable, borrowable, Kindle-able. You can, of course, also watch the BBC production of the monologues (Maggie Smith sighting!).

Connections to previous Wreckage: Modern British Treasure Alan Bennett also wrote The Clothes They Stood Up In (Rec. #169), The History Boys (Rec. #115, QfFC #13), The Lady in the Van (QfFC #8), and The Uncommon Reader (Rec. #260).

Streaming Suggestion of the Week #11: Next Stop Wonderland

Stream what: In Boston in the late '90s, a sorta grumpy nurse keeps almost crossing paths with a plumber/aquarium diver. It is a very, very Bostonian (and late-'90s) movie, bossa nova soundtrack notwithstanding.

Stream why: The top-notch acting (cast includes Hope Davis, Holland Taylor, Phillip Seymour Hoffman) and quiet, bitter humor.

Stream where: Netflix



Read more: Rec. #253

Friday Flashback: Rec. #233: Pushing Daisies, season 1

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 so easy to get sucked into the candy-colored production design, right? 

And Kristin Chenoweth's chirpy voice. And Anna Friel's amazing wardrobe. And Lee Pace's general aura of dreaminess. And Chi McBride's sardonic eye rolls. And the mere presence of Swoosie Kurtz and Ellen Greene in all their glory. And Jim Dooley's bright, fresh, sweeping music.

It's no wonder you sometimes have to squint a bit before you remember that Pushing Daisies is really quite a dark show. The female lead is, after all, routinely referred to as "Dead Girl." The most frequently recurring character is "Coroner." 

People die by stabbing, suffocation, trampling, poison, explosions, hit-and-runs, and drowning. The show floats on a constant threat of death, bobbing along on Bryan Fuller's delicious, chewy, ripe dialogue. And pies.

Comparable to: It is recognizably part of Bryan Fuller's universe, in which the dead stick around (Dead Like Me) and the living snark-talk their way through situations they're trying to ignore (Wonderfalls).

Representative quote: "I hate to be a bad host, but I'm sort of exhausted from chasing your coffin."

Representative use of narrator Jim Dale:
Narrator: At that moment, the Pie Maker felt a mixture of happiness and trepidation.
Ned: Why is it always a mixture?

You might not like it if: You can't get through the candy coating to the bite underneath. Or: maybe you get squeamish about, for example, a sequence in which a frozen body ("corpsicle") gets dropped and breaks into a lot of meat pieces on the sidewalk.

How to get it: Buy it, borrow it, stream it on Amazon. (Buy it. Maybe if you re-watch it enough you'll finally catch every word of the speedy dialogue.)

Connections to previous Wreckage: Wonderfalls was Rec. #2. And check out the bulimic dandelion from episode 2, Riki Lindhome, in her musical act, Garfunkel and Oates (Rec. #155).

If you enjoy Bryan Fuller's creative endeavors, you might also look at List #29: So You Love the Cast of Hannibal, but Wish Watching the Show Itself Weren't So Psychologically Damaging.

[Originally posted 5/6/12.]

Rec. #372: Pop Sonnets on Tumblr

What: So, this is fun. Pop (and rap and disco) songs written as sonnets!

The first one was "Call Me Maybe" and the latest is "Uptown Funk." In between, there's been Beyoncé, Daft Punk, The Beatles, Green Day, Cyndi Lauper, etc.

This very tumblr-y Tumblr has been going for a year, and there's a new one every week. We're due for Sonnet LV tomorrow, and --- like many successful novelty blogs that have come before --- Pop Sonnets is also going to be a book soon.

Representative quote:
"When music stirs the soul with rhythmic joy,
O! Anyone might be thy paramour;
but 'til the right one's found, thou need'st no boy
to frolic free and let thy spirit soar."

--- from ABBA's "Dancing Queen" [did you guess it??]


Bonus representative quote:
"For there uptown, we'll rhythm's mission serve;
if thou dost not believe me, hark! Observe!"

--- from "Uptown Funk"


How to get it: Here's the link -- http://popsonnet.tumblr.com/

The site popsonnets.tumblr.com [with an "s"] also exists, and with a similar idea, but it only has nine posts and seems to have been abandoned last fall.

Quote from a Fictional Character #64

"Me? I think a bellwether's the same as any other sheep, only more so. A little hungrier, a little faster, a little greedier. It wants to get to the feed first, to shelter, to a mate, so it's always out there in front.

"Not a lot ... Just a little bit, so they don't even know they're being led. And the bellwether doesn't know it's leading."

-Shirl,

Bellwether, Connie Willis, 1996

(Rec. #218)

Friday Flashback: Rec. #139: Junebug

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

What: A newly married couple, Madeleine and George, travel from Chicago to a small town in North Carolina with a dual purpose. Madeleine is meeting George's family for the first time, and she is also interested in signing a local, self-taught artist for her outsider art gallery. 

As the pregnant sister-in-law, Amy Adams has all the best lines, and she is so charming that she basically walks away with the entire movie stuffed in her prosthetic stomach.

Comparable to: Junebug shares The Station Agent's quietly encompassing character development.

Representative quote: "I wonder what she looks like. I bet she's skinny. She probably is. She's skinnier'n me and prettier too. Now I'll hate her. Oh, I can't wait!"

Bonus representative quote: "God loves you just the way you are. But he loves you too much to let you stay that way."

You might not like it if: You're expecting either a wacky fish-out-of-water comedy about dim country folk, or a preachy feel-good movie where the city slicker learns the true meaning of ... something. 

What makes this film great is that it neither condescends to the rural nor demonizes the urban.

How to get it: Widely available to rent or buy.

Connections to other Wreckage: Junebug was part of List #18: Ten Movies That Pass the Bechdel/Wallace Test.

I also mentioned it in Rec. #311: Young Adult.



[Originally posted 6/7/11.]

Rec. #371: High Rising

What: For a few decades in the middle of the twentieth century, author Angela Thirkell published a new book nearly every year. High Rising is the first of her Barsetshire novels, and it's a good introduction --- we've got satire, we've got vague but well-meaning gentry, we've got mild scheming, and we've got very dry British wit.

Representative quote: "Damn your impudence is the answer I'd like to give, thought Laura, but aloud she said, 'Shall I find you all in tomorrow if I come over to tea?'"

How to get it: Go for the very gorgeous new Virago Press editions. (See Gift Idea #11 for more covers.)

Connections to previous Wreckage: Thirkell is very quotable, so it's not surprising she keeps showing up in my semi-regular Quote from a Fictional Character feature. See QfFC #12, QfFC #31, QfFC #43, and QfFC #51.

Later Barsetshire books include Cheerfulness Breaks In (Rec. #240) and Summer Half (Rec. #40).

Rec. #370: Family Tree

What: Tom Chadwick (as played by the ridiculously likable Chris O'Dowd) is a bit lost --- he's lost his job, his girlfriend, and [somewhat less immediately] his great-aunt Victoria. The first two don't leave him with much, but the late great-aunt leaves him a Box of Stuff.

An old photo in the Box of Stuff starts Tom on his quest to explore his family's history. Across 8 episodes, this takes him to princes and theatres and the Olympics and a farm and, strangest of all, California.

Comparable to: The show is from Christopher Guest, so it's, you know, a lot like Christopher Guest stuff.

Representative dialogue:
"My bravery, my kind of innate courage ..."
"What courage and innate bravery?"
"I was the first out of our group to wear skinny jeans."

How to get it: Streams for free with Amazon Prime.

Connections to previous Wreckage: Family Tree was part of List #49: A Few of the Best First Seasons of TV I Watched in 2014.

Friday Flashback: Rec. #227: Calamity and Other Stories (abbrev.)

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

What: Collection of stories, Daphne Kalotay, pivotal moments in ordinary lives, piano lessons, garden party, shower singing, Bleecker Street, poetry, recovering, worms, French class, prom, dry cleaners, Brookline, electric outlet, smoking, ugly house, translation, Florence, ride from the airport, emergency landing

Opening lines: "My mother believed that her entire life would have somehow been different had she been given piano lessons as a girl. She said this often, with a little sigh that made me feel I had better run through my scales one more time."

Representative quote: "I had never met a poet before. After knowing Valerie's father, I was under the impression, for years to come, that poets were unconditionally cheerful people."

Connection to previous Wreckage: Mentioned previously during Personal Wreck Week (List #4).

[Originally posted 4/9/12.]

Streaming Suggestion of the Week #10: Bill Cunningham New York

Stream what: This engaging documentary profiles the legendary and much beloved Bill Cunningham, a longtime street fashion photographer for the New York Times.

Stream why: Charming old guy! Very sweet and charming old guy! Very sweet and charming old guy riding around New York City on a bike!

Stream where: Netflix


For more info: Rec. #223

Quote from a Fictional Character #63

"I'm so in love with you I wish you were dead."

--- Nora Mars,

The Center of Things, Jenny McPhee, 2001

(Rec. #214)

Friday Flashback: Rec. #29: Cherish

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

What: Robin Tunney is a woman wrongly accused of vehicular homicide who is under house arrest with an electronic ankle monitor. Tim Blake Nelson is the officer in charge of checking the monitor. Also appearing: Jason Priestly and Liz Phair.

Mix these ingredients together, and you might expect to get a kitschy, wacky, winking comedy. That is definitely not what this is. Mainly, it's eccentric and sweet. And a liiiiiittle bit violent and kinky. But, really, mostly eccentric and sweet. And nothing like the DVD cover art.

Comparable to: Definite tonal similarities to Lars and the Real Girl. Except that Cherish turns into a thriller for the last twenty minutes.

You might not like it if: The tone doesn't work for you, and you would like the movie to pick just one genre, please. Also, you are sick of eccentric and sweet.

How to get it: Might be best to Netflix it. That way you won't be distracted by the very misleading cover art.

Connections to other Wreckage: Lars and the Real Girl was Rec. #196 and SSoW #8.

[Originally posted 1/28/11.]

Rec. #369: Ant Farm: And Other Desperate Situations

What: Simon Rich's book of very short stories is possibly the fastest read ever. It's also very funny, which makes sense since Rich is a former president of The Harvard Lampoon and wrote for Saturday Night Live for four years.

Representative quote:
[From "A Conversation at the Grown-Ups' Table as Imagined at the Kids' Table"]

Mom: Pass the wine, please. I want to become crazy.
Dad: Okay.
Grandmother: Did you see the politics? It made me angry.
Dad: Me too. When it was over, I had sex.
Uncle: I'm having sex right now.
Dad: We all are.
Mom: Let's talk about which kid I like the best.

You might not like it if: You find it extremely annoying that Simon Rich published his first book [this one] when he was 23. And he's written almost a book a year since then. Damn kids.

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

Connections to previous Wreckage: Patricia Marx, author of Him Her Him Again the End of Him (Rec. #58), is also a former SNL writer.

Quote from a Fictional Character #62

"Only one is a wanderer; two together are always going somewhere."

--- Madeleine Elster,

Vertigo, 1958

Friday Flashback: Rec. #226: Symptoms of Culture

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

What: Marjorie Garber --- Shakespearean scholar extraordinaire --- explains how bits of our culture reflect back on our modern anxieties. In her freewheeling chapters, she touches on all types of cultural artifacts, from Charlotte's Web to the Scopes trial to historical sneezes to The Wizard of Oz to video games to Jell-O boxes to famous second-best beds.

Comparable to: Garber and Margaret Visser share an insatiable curiosity about the whys and wherefores of the way we live now.

Opening lines: "The 'Great Wall of China' is, some modern scholars suggest, neither great nor a wall."

You might not like it if: You don't miss unexpectedly riveting university lectures in the humanities, not even a little tiny bit.

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

Connection to previous Wreckage: Margaret Visser examines the culinary aspects of culture in The Rituals of Dinner (Rec. #63).

[Originally posted 4/5/12.]

Streaming Suggestion of the Week #9: In Bruges

Stream what: Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell are two hitmen lying low in Belgium after a job goes wrong.

Stream why: Writer/director Martin McDonagh rivals Armando Iannucci (The Thick of It, In the Loop) when it comes to dialogue that is gorgeously baroque in its filth and violence.

Stream where: Netflix (or rent via Amazon, Xbox, iTunes)

Stream whuh?: Amazon describes this as an "outrageous, action-packed comedy." That is a very, very, very, very inaccurate representation of the movie's tone.


For more info: Rec. #135

Quote from a Fictional Character #61

"It was a dumb thing to do but it wasn't that dumb. There hadn't been any trouble out at the lake in years. And it was so exquisitely far from the rest of my life."

--- Rae Seddon,

Sunshine, Robin McKinley, 2003

(opening lines)