What I’ve Been
Watching
Raised by Wolves
S1
This is my top pick of the month! Written by the divine Caitlin
Moran and her sister about their childhood and growing up in a home schooled
environment with the most unusual mother, Della. It is set in the now, is
absolutely hilarious, and chock block of snappy one liners. Caitlin’s character
is Germaine, wild and without filter, much to the annoyance of her older sister
Aretha. There is also the shy Yoko, the tween and only male Wyatt, the sassy
toddler (this chick has me, oh my) Mariah, and the babby, Cher. You get the
picture. Rounding out the cast is Grampy, who is sooo wrong on so many levels,
but in the most endearing way. This is the kind of show that has you laughing
out loud throughout and that’s a rarity!
The
Kettering Incident
This is my next top pick, an Aussie drama that is hard to peg or
describe. A young woman, Anna, returns to her small Tasmanian home-town of
Kettering from London where she is a successful doctor. But she is having black
outs and is unsure why medically, although she suspects they are connected to an
incident that happened when she was much younger. An incident where her step
sister disappeared. When another young girl disappears, Anna now becomes the
suspect. What happened to these two girls, did Anna murder them both, what are
the flashing lights and unexplained phenomena that happens, did UFOs take the
girls, or is it something completely different. This 8 part series has you
changing your mind constantly in a town full of people who are not what they
seem. Brilliant Australian cast, stunning cinematography in Tasmania, and a
great script that leaves you guessing until the very last
minute.
Broad City
S2
I love these girls, trying to avoid work and have as much fun as
they can. Besties forever, with a great supporting cast. Laughs all round and
great physical comedy.
Him and Her S3
Him and Her are Steve and Becky, who live together in a small UK
bedsit with a variety of visitors. This season focuses on Steve trying, very
unsuccessfully to propose to Becky. This is English dry comedy at it’s very
best.
Silicon Valley
S2
S2 commences
with Pied Piper – the start up company of the group – in demand with many firms
offering them money. This takes them to dizzy heights with much sabotage along
the way as the boys are not content to just roll with the victories.
Barracuda
The small mini series from the Christos Tsiolkas book about a young
male swimmer who has the Olympics in his sights, until things go very wrong. The
series pretty much followed the book, although it did tone down some of the more
challenging subject matter.
The Night
Of
I loved this drama from the get go. Basically a murder procedural,
which is normally not my thing. The first episode follows a young Muslim man
through a night in the city. He picks up a young woman and goes back to her
apartment, and when he wakes in the morning find her stabbed multiple times and
dead. There is more to it than that, it is very detailed and through a series of
absurd turns finds himself arrested immediately. AS a viewer you are sure he is
innocent, but all evidence points his way and nowhere else. The remainder of the
series takes you on twist and turns for a resolution you will never expect.
Starring the wonderful John Turturro as his goofy but clever lawyer. Turturro is
outstanding, but the rest of the cast of relatively unknowns are also great.
This is must see tv!
The
Intern
I admit I am way over De Niro and his attempts at comedy, I cannot
remember the last film I saw him in anything that impressed me. So I had low
expectations for this. It wasn’t great but it was better than I thought it would
be. Anne Hathaway manages a start up biz that has taken off online and is not
coping. The biz takes on interns but uses seniors instead. De Niro obviously
uses his age to assist Hathaway in some life decisions.
Creed
I love Rocky, it is one of my all time fave films. And I didn’t
mind the sequels either, although they were not a patch on the original. Donnie
is the son of Apollo Creed, spending his younger years in jail, he decides to
take up boxing and asks Rocky Balboa to train him. This is a lovely bookend to
the series, though you can see they left it open for more.
Goosebumps
Loads of fun about a young boy who moves in next door to mysterious
house with an odd man and his daughter living there. The odd man, Jack Black, is
RL Stine, author of the Goosebumps series. When the young boy and his friend
sneak into the house they find the entire series of books locked up, when they
accidentally unlock one of the books, they set off a train of unbelievable
events as characters from the books are unleashed. This was loads of
fun!
Big Stone
Gap
A pale imitation of the successful southern novels by Adriana
Trigiani. The trilogy was a mix of humour, melancholy, drama, and family saga.
BY condensing all three books into one movie distilled the charm of the books
and made them seem dour. A shame!
Straight Outta
Compton
Loved this excellent music biopic about N.W.A. It is my movie pic
of the month. With a cracking story and even better soundtrack, it tell the
story of their rise to fame with great performances. Paul Giamatti (can he be in
every film?) is also excellent as their manager.
5 Flights Up
I still don’t know about this film, It is always lovely to see
Morgan Freeman and Diane Keaton on screen but I felt this was walk through kinda
film for them and surely they don’t need the money. They play an older couple
who decide to sell their Manhattan apartment for something easier for them to
grow older in, yet neither really seem sold on the idea. Predictable and yawn
worthy!
Poet in New York
A sweet little independent film about Dylan Thomas and his visits
to New York. Quite intriguing with a fine performance by the male lead and by
Essie Davis as his long suffering wife.
Maigret
Rowan Atkinson plays the famous French detective, Maigret, in this
first movie length feature. Young women are being murdered and Maigret is called
upon to find out what is going on. Very lovely and sweet.
Peggy Guggenheim: Art
Addict
I loved this sooo much. I am a huge fan of Peggy and her fabulous
life, and it is one of my regrets I did not get to see her art collection whilst
in Venice, but I will be back. It traces the story of her remarkable life, who
she befriended and her wonderful collection of modern art. This is a great doco,
a must see for art lovers or lovers of history.
Agnetha
Doco
This was a sweet doco about the blonde gal from Abba, her rise to
fame and what happened thereafter. She still looks amazing today and her voice
still stunning.
Paul McCartney/Beatles
Docos
Foxtel had a Beatles month with a myriad of Beatles, Lennon,
McCartney, Harrison, and Starr docos. My favourite was a black and white doco of
McCartney in NY not long after 9/11 and getting together his concert for NY. He
was on a grounded plane that day, and could see it all unfolding outside his
plane window and it upset him deeply. He wanted to help and did what he knew
best, wrote some new music, and gathered some friends to play a concert. The
film follows him in the weeks leading to the concert, chatting to fellow
musicians, and doing a media blitz. It shows him in quite a vulnerable state. He
is an old hand, but the media circus obviously gets up his nose. He likes to
wander the streets and chat to people, and mostly people are respectful, but you
can see how things get out of hand and he handles them well but with gravity if
needed. One particular interview got to me, asked if The Beatles would ever
reform (probably for the one zillionth time in his life), he simply said to the
interviewer in a jovial but actually utterly heartbreaking way: ‘No, I would
look to me side and he wouldn’t be there, you know.’ oh boy, talk about bring
tears to your eyes.
Joni Mitchell
Doco
This was a lovely doco about the life and music of Ms Mitchell. A
sheer delight and class act!
Queen
Docos
Another Fox
special, a whole afternoon of Queen and Freddie docos, concerts, and clips.
Heavenly!!!!!
What I’ve Been
Reading
In My Skin – Kate
Holden
I never really get into books that are hyped up or oversold (yeah
yeah I am a book snob!) and this was one I had avoided for those reasons. But I
saw Kate on a panel at the Newcastle Writers Festival and was sold, so I gave it
a go and really loved it. It is of course not for the faint hearted, what a
horrid life she was living, but what a great recall of it and beautifully real
in it’s execution.
The Romantics – Kate
Holden
This is Kate’s follow up, where she disappears to Italy to reinvent
herself after In My Skin. Not as salacious at the former, and showing a lack of
restraint you would have thought from her previous escapades. It was still a
great read, but not a patch on the earlier.
Buddhism for busy people : finding happiness in an
uncertain world by David Michie
This was a lovely spoken word I listened to, with many great ideas
and thoughts in terms of living a peaceful and more zen life.
The Early
Stories of Truman Capote
Some early short stories by the great man, lacking his sharp wit
which was obviously developed over time, they are still worthy of a
read.
Men We Reaped – Jesmyn
Ward
This award winning history/biography about post Katrina and how
people were treated. Specifically men, men of colour, and a handful of men close
to the author. Eye-opening, corruption, hatred, racism, and pure sadness. This
is worth reading as a social history.
Searching for
Schindler
This is another spoken word and my pick for the month (after
Salinger). What a remarkable story! It tells how Thomas Keneally came across, by
accident, the story of Schindler looking for a new brief case in a handbag store
in California. It follows the journey of him meeting key characters, getting the
story written, and sold almost immediately to film but taking many many years to
become a film. Keneally weaves a wonderful yarn about how a story is told and
the creative process behind it. I was in heaven!
Rare
Books Uncovered – Rebecca Barry
Short essay
type true stories about various rare books and how they were found. Sometimes in
second-hand book stores, sometimes in old attics, sometimes in the most unusual
of places. This was a fascinating read.
All
the Buildings in Sydney: that I’ve drawn so far – James
Hancock
My
Salinger Year – Joanna Rakoff
This was an
absolute delight to read. Less about Salinger and more about publishing in the
late 90s and just fascinating. Rakoff, a wannabe writer, lands in New York to
work at a small publishing firm. The year is 1996 and the world is moving fast
electronically, but not this firm. As she commences work she realises the firm
looks after one reclusive J.D.Salinger. What this mostly means is they receive
many many fan letters for the great author, and it is Rakoff’s job to read them
and send a form letter in return. The memoir is more than Salinger, it is
surviving in New York, the dawn of the electronic age, change in the publishing
industry and more.
What I’ve Been Listening
To
Stranger to Stranger – Paul Simon – new album, and
not bad at all
Detour – Cyndi Lauper – this is Cyndi does Country
and blues and boy does it suit her. She sounds amazing. This was a great album,
completely unexpected
Passenger Concert – Hammersmith 2014 – fabulous
live concert featuring everything you want to hear and more.