FEBRUARY REVIEWS

What I've Been Reading

Mirka and Georges: a culinary affair by Lesley Harding and Kendrah Morgan - wonderful coffee table type memoir with recipes. It follows the wonderfully bohemian Mirka and Georges as children until their lives intertwine and they end up in Melbourne. They then set up business in art and food, and take the town by storm. Filled with photos and paintings and recipes and history, this is a remarkable and thoroughly enjoyable story. It made me smile, how I wish to have been around during their heyday.

Look back in Hunger: the autobiography by Jo Brand - covering the early days of Jo's life, growing up, her family, and her entrance into comedy. It was sometimes funny, but mostly direct and matter-of-fact much like Jo herself.

Live Long and...what I learned Along the Way by William Shatner - memoir style stories and essays on things that have happened to Bill with some age old wisdom thrown in. A mix of humour and the dramatic as he is so well known for.

Fashion Climbing by Bill Cunningham - this was a manuscript found after the great fashion icon passed away. It details mostly his younger life as a designer and it fascinating, but ultimately I wanted more. Bill is notoriously private and this was as you would expect, but was a lovely taste of life and fashion and design in the 40s and 50s.

Iconic: the master of Italian Fashion by Megan Hess - I love Megan's books, loads of lovely and unique illustrations. This time she is working with the great Italian fashion icons.

Encounters with Peggy Guggenheim by Stefan Moses - a stunning coffee table book of photography of Peggy in Venice back in the day. Mostly from the 60s and 70s it features Peggy and her stunning collection of art. I was transfixed by this wonderful book. What a woman!!!

Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia edited by Anita Heiss - a wonderful compilation of stories from Aboriginals, famous and everyday people. A mix of heartbreak, honesty, funny and all of it ultimately uplifting. This is an incredibly important book every Australian should read.

Alone Time: four cities, four seasons, and the pleasures of solitude by Stephanie Rosenbloom -  I loved this book about travelling solo. It started when the author was sent solo to Paris for 5 days to explore the city as one person. She loved it and then took 4 separate trips to Florence, New York, Istanbul and back to Paris, each in a different season and explored them all solo. It is a meditation on being in the moment, doing your own thing, loving your self and sitting back and watching the world pass by. Oh if I could do it all right now...

What I've Been Watching

The Good Place S2 - this is a great show, more inspirational and thought provoking than a comedy, but not really a drama. The cast are exceptional, especially Ted Danson. The plot changes more than you can imagine, so it makes it a little difficult to explain, but not difficult to follow when you are watching. This is totally worth it, you will laugh and be amused but also think about the kind of person you are and what you are leaving behind as you move through your world.

Fahrenheit 11/9 - Michael Moore's latest doco about what is wrong with the world...a lot! I love Moore but feel he tackles more than he could manage for one movie. There are a lot of shocking revelations, but it spins around so much, you start to lose focus. I still think this is a great film and worthy of watching, but he should have stuck to a couple of topics. Having said that there are some amazing sequences, and his love for the younger upcoming generation shines through.

McKellen: playing the part - mostly interviews with the great man as he looks back on his life. Honest and funny and full of information, this is a must see, especially for fans

Jimmy Barnes: Working Class Boy - a filmed version of the stage show he has done, with interviews of all sorts of players in his story added in. This is really excellent documentary. Heartbreaking stories of his young life, with songs added at the right point. Funny stories, musical background stories, and great music. I cannot imagine anyone not enjoying this.

Bill Bailey Limbo Land - Bill's latest stand up tour filmed. Hilarious, loads of intellect and humour as he does so very well, and of course music. His anecdote about meeting Paul McCartney had me in stitches.

The Party - -great drama with an all-star cast. Working like a play and shot in black and white. Kristen Scott-Thomas and her husband Timothy Spall are holding a dinner party for friends and to announce her appointment as a minister. There is an undercurrent of drama despite the excitement of her news and things take a turn when her husband has a few announcements of his own. Patricia Clarkson is great as the sharp witted friend, and Cillian Murphy excellent as a friend with an axe to grind...or does he!? There are many laughs within, but it is black in parts and more a drama. However, it is compelling, and brilliant. I really enjoyed this one.

Hotel Artemis - this was an excellent thriller that I haven't heard much about. Set in a Dystopian future in LA, Jodie Foster is Nurse, an older woman, who runs a 'hotel' that is actually a hospital for criminals and underbelly caught up in the riots that seem to be continuing. She runs a tight ship and and there are rules to be played to. But on one heavy night, the rules start to be thrown out the window and chaos ensues. Excellent cast with Jeff Goldblum and Sterling K Brown. I really loved this.

Deadpool 1 and 2 - I rewatched these, cause I love them. 

Breaker Upperers - Hilarious NZ film about 2 women who run a business helping people to break up with their partner. But things go astray when one of them falls in love with one of their clients.

The Keeping Hours - This was a little insipid and only drew my attention because of the leads, the great Carrie Coon and Lee Pace. A divorced husband sees what he thinks is the ghost of his dead son in their old house, which he is getting ready to sell. He becomes obsessed with this and invites his ex-wife back. Their superb acting raises the stakes on what could have been a very sappy film. 

Mr Stein Goes Online - french comedy about a elderly man who needs help with his new computer, his daughter enlists her daughter's boyfriend in the job but he does not know who the young man is. A bit of a french farce ensues, with the elderly man and the young boyfriend getting caught up in mixed up connections but will it all end up ok?

Where Am I Going? - an Italian comedy about a man who somehow keeps managing to miss being sacked from his cushy government job by refusing to take a redundancy and moving to all sorts of weird and strange locations all over the world. Supposedly one of the biggest Italian film, I really enjoyed this, but at times found the main character a little annoying.

What I've Been Listening To

70s Radio

Elvis

Podcasts - Really loving Unspooled (looking at all of the 100 AFI Films in depth), Chats 10 (Annabelle Crabbe and Leigh Sales) and Alan Alda has one I have just discovered, the first I listened to was a MASH reunion which was a sheer delight.