Monday, August 01, 2022

Monday, Monday

 
Mostly good to very good movies. Especially liked GOD'S COUNTRY based on James Lee Burke's story "Winter Light" and SORRY I MISSED YOU, (Ken Loach) and BAD AXE. The crowds were almost as big as previous years although there were less films and fewer venues. The weather was sensational and we had several excellent meals. So lucky to get away for a week in terrific northern Michigan.  Masks varied but not enough for my peace of mind.

Reading NORMAL PEOPLE by Sally Rooney. Watched not a minute of TV this week. 

What have you been up to?

18 comments:

Steve Oerkfitz said...

Glad you had a good time and got to see some good films. Saw one movie at the theater this week. The new Jordan Peele movie Nope. All three of us who went hated it. Can't understand all the positive reviews. Rewatched the new 4k of Mulholland Drive. My favorite David Lynch film, and Licorice Pizza. On tv I am still watching Animal Kingdom and John Oliver.
Read The Matchmaker by Paul Vidich. A spy novel set in 1989 Berlin. Also By Sorrow's River by Larry McMurtry, and the new anthology edited by Ellen Datlow, Screams From the Dark. Only one story I disliked out of 29. My favorite was Sweet Potato by Joe Lansdale. Also excellent work from Joyce Carol Oates, Daryl Gregory, Nathan Ballingrud , and many others. Now reading Winter Work by Dan Fesperman.
After the last cataract surgery my vision has gotten a lot better. The injections in my other eye are also helping a lot. Afternoons and evenings I can usually read a book without a magnifier. Still a bit blurry in the mornings. Hopefully they will help. I can see anything over ten feet fine without my glasses. It is up close I still have trouble. The exact opposite of what my vision has been like since the age of 12.

Todd Mason said...

Glad you had a good time (if too many folks taking masking risks) in Traverse City, Patti!

And that you had a better time reading this past week, Steve! Will look forward to that Datlow anthology...care to say what was hateful about NOPE? His work can be Very Notional. Rather as with Serling's, hence the natural draw to doing his own season of TZ.

Bleary-eyed in putting all the links in a post, and the indexing, taking breaks to catch my Sunday programs...FLATBUSH MISDEMEANORS had its best epi in a good season, with Maria Bamford joining the cast, and BRIDGE AND TUNNEL had its best episode of the season as well. CITY ON THE HILL being back is a very good thing, and WOMEN WHO ROCK alas came to too quick an end (no wonder they were hurtling through the subject, as they only had four episodes). LAST WEEK TONIGHT and THE ANARCHISTS were good, as well. Was recording ANIMAL KINGDOM, as it was the only item so far with commercials...caught some of 60 MINUTES and some of THE SIMPSONS repeat while doing indexing. The blog post already taxing Blogspot's technical limits (not too tough).

Nichelle Nichols and Bill Russell being announced in one evening was a bit sad, to say the least...busy and long lives, though.

Reading mostly tied up with blogpost, as frequently, though taking some time with some memoirs and critical works.

Todd Mason said...

John Oliver's resentment of phone conversations seems odd to me, but chacun.

THE OBSERVER asked Megan A among others about their fave suspense novels:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/jul/31/crime-writers-choose-their-favourite-thriller-fiction-nicci-french-val-mcdermid-anthony-horowitz

Margot Kinberg said...

Very glad you enjoyed seeing those films, Patti. It is nice, isn't it, to be able to get up and around a bit again.

George said...

Diane and I were supposed to see a local theater production of THE GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE.TO LOVE AND MURDER yesterday when the news arrived that the show was canceled because the cast had Covid-19. Western NY infection rates are up.

Our temps were in the 70s last week but that all changes today. Some 90 degree temperatures are in the forcast along with high humidity. Yuck!

Glad you had a great time in northern Michigan. I remember the summer the United Auto Workers sent me to Black Lake for a week-long conference.

Diane is in Deep Clean mode as she prepares for her sister from Ohio who arrives here next week for an extended stay.

Steve Oerkfitz said...

Todd-I found Nope to be dull. The worst thing a film can be. And not much is explained at the end which was just confusing. The social commentary isn't as heavy handed as in Us and that wasn't the problem.

Jeff Meyerson said...

I'm glad you had a good week there. We're seeing The Music Man on Wednesday on Broadway, and I was glad to see that masks are still required. This was a pretty normal weather week here in the 80s. We saw Jackson Browne at the Beacon, and while masks were spotty, he did thank the people who were wearing them and encouraged everyone to do so. Good show, by the way.

Too many people are still getting Covid a d most people want to pretend it's over and get back to what is supposedly "normal" but the virus doesn't care what they want. It's out there, it's not going away, and the new strain is very contagious. Deb and her daughters have it, my cousin and his family have it. We're being careful, wearing masks in stores and theaters, but way too many people aren't.

We missed IT'S A SIN when it first came out because we couldn't access HBO Max then, so are castching up on it now. It's about the 1980s AIDS epidemic in London. Very well done. Finally started series 4 of the French SPIRAL. I'm up to the final episode of SCHITT'S CREEK. Enjoying series 2 of HACKS. Finished series two of LONDON KILLS, with one to go.

Emma Straub's THIS TIME TOMORROW improved for me as I went along. It's a time travel story of sorts, as well as a story about a woman's love for her dying father. My problem early was personal - she is very specific with time and place and details about what was going on and yet leaves out certain things that should be there. But I just let that go as I went along. The 2020 section has no pandemic.

pattinase (abbott) said...

It was cool in Northern Michigan but heating up as we left. Glad your eyes are improving, Steve. For a great reader like you, it's so important. The couple that put us up deserve so much thanks. They are good friends but still having company for a week is not an easy thing. Good thing we are agree politically.
Todd, some of the shows you watch I don't seem to even have. And I am not subscribing to any more. My month streaming $ is ridiculous. I am paying a fee to Roku and I don't even know why.

pattinase (abbott) said...

It's a Sin was truly great.
Kevin (my grandson) has a mild case of Covid from being a camp counselor.

Jeff Meyerson said...

I recorded John Oliver. Will watch tonight, Also watching Netflix's series on Street Food. So far we've watched L.A., Portland and NYC, with New Orleans up next.

Steve, I'm with you on Peele. I find his work is generally Not For Me.

TracyK said...

Glad to hear that your trip went well and you enjoyed the movies. Sorry to hear that Kevin has Covid but glad it is a mild case.

We have been shopping for a while to replace our (30 years) Morris recliner chair, since it was falling apart, and finally found something we liked and got it delivered on Saturday. Dealing with all of that has been distracting. Other than that life is much the same from week to week (which is not a bad thing).

Since we finished watching STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION recently, we started watching DEEP SPACE NINE and PICARD. Still watching DOCTOR WHO, now in Peter Capaldi's last season. Still watching the original PERRY MASON, still loving all the characters. And BOSCH: LEGACY.

Very sorry to hear about the deaths of Nichelle Nichols and Bill Russell. But it was interesting reading more about each of them. I wasn't watching basketball when Bill Russell was playing, but I admire him for many things.

I recently finished reading THE MAN FROM BERLIN by Luke McCallin. Good but complex and depressing. Set in Sarajevo in World War II. Continuing to read AGATHA CHRISTIE: A MYSTERIOUS LIFE by Laura Thompson. Finally got to her marriage to Max Mallowan. The author really spent too much time on the mystery of her disappearance (in 1926?), but I did not know that much about it, so it was interesting.

pattinase (abbott) said...

I have to look up a Morris recliner. TNG has always been my favorite. I am not sure I have watched much of DEEP SPACE NINE. You would probably like FOR ALL MANKIND if you get Apple TV.
Did Mason win every case in the original series?

pattinase (abbott) said...

Oh, that's my favorite chair. I sit in all the time. Just didn't know the name.

Todd Mason said...

I believe Perry lost exactly one...but some sort of technicality allowed victory to be snatched...

Todd Mason said...

Hope Kevin and family are all well and/or getting better...

TNG improved markedly as Roddenberry had to step away. DS9 and VOYAGER were wildly uneven, with a few brilliant episodes and no lack of ungreat ones, ENTERPRISE (rather like the cartoon in the '70s) had a few good episodes but a less impressive track record. Have barely looked at the successors yet, but like some of the casting of some of them at least.

STAR TREK FRANCHISE TV SERIES (1966-2017)
Star Trek (1966–1969)
Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973–1975)
Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–1994)
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993–1999)
Star Trek: Voyager (1995–2001)
Star Trek: Enterprise (2001–2005)
Star Trek: Discovery (2017– )
Star Trek: Short Treks (2018–2020)
Star Trek: Picard (2020–present)
Star Trek: Lower Decks (2020–present)
Star Trek: Prodigy (2021–present)
and authorized fannish productions such as Star Trek: New Voyages (2004-2016)

TracyK said...

Re Perry Mason, we have only watched through Season 5 and he has won all the cases. Although in most of the TV shows, they never get all the way to the jury trial, he wins while the District Attorney is trying to establish the evidence. Sometimes the guest stars are fun.

Re the Star Trek TV series, we have not watched much of Deep Space Nine or Voyager and never watched anything after that except for the movies (some of which we will rewatch sometime soon). Deep Space Nine is interesting so far and I like all the main cast. I will look into FOR ALL MANKIND but we don't have Apple TV at this time.

Gerard Saylor said...

I finished Victor Gischler's latest fantasy novel and enjoyed it quite a bit after some time to get into it.
I know I finished watching a streaming series but I cannot recall what. Currently watching VAN HELSING on Netflix. It's a zombie takeover show except with vampires instead of zombies. Exec produced by Neil Labute who I always associate with movies about talkative rich people.
I took Boy #2 to the cat cafe in MKE on Friday and we also went to a bookstore. I lucked into seeing a used copy of Craig Davidson's latest collection of short stories which I didn't know existed.

pattinase (abbott) said...

I really miss bookstore browsing. I know lots of people can browse online but I like looking at the books. No bookstores within walking distance of me.