Although I acknowledge TAR is not for everyone (very long and an unlikable character) it was the best movie I've seen in a very long time. Such a complex look at genius and what we sometimes tolerate from those who seem to have it. Blanchett is amazing-in every scene over a 2 hour and 40 minute movie. And the direction and screenplay is brilliant. So too the supporting cast.
Also enjoyed SHERWOOD, (Britbox) which almost left me in tears. And that it's based on a true story makes it that more poignant.
Not enjoying this season of SHETLAND. After a bit, the seasons tend to run together. I really did prefer the earlier seasons where they didn't drag on for so many episodes. There doesn't seem to be enough plot to justify 8 hours of it.
PBS' MAGPIE MURDERS was a great first episode.
Trying to read a novel, but I keep putting them aside. I think years ago, when there wasn't so much similar fare on TV, it was better reading. I'm trying to read FORSAKEN COUNTRY by Allen Eskens. I also have the Mary Rogers, memoir, SHY, but that looks awfully heavy to hold at night. Also THE IT GIRL, by Ruth Ware.
Lovely weather the last two days. I think we have a couple more good days before the shoe drops.
Oh, my one-year followup mammogram was okay. Now I can breathe for a while.
21 comments:
Haven't seen Tar yet. The length for that type of film would probably play better on tv. The only movie I saw this week was The Stranger on Netflix. A Australian crime film with Joel Edgerton and Sean Harris. It was good if not great. Have caught up with The Patient, Handmaid's Tale and A Friend of the family. Like the first two episodes of Magpie Murders and The Peripheral.
I have read all the Allen Esken books except the new one and have liked them all. I finished a reread of The Zebra Striped Hearse by Ross MacDonald. Probably my third if not fourth reading of it. Finished American Demon by Daniel Stanshower a true crime book about Elliot Ness and the Cleveland torso murders. Am now reading The Shadow Murders by Jussi Adler-Olsen.
Lots of new books out that I have requests in for at the library including ones by Ian Rankin and John Connolly.
As Patti said, a couple of decent sunny days before the weather drops in a few .
And the Lions. 1-5. Fumble on the 1 yard line. Incredible.
Great news about the mammogram. Being able to breath okay again without anxiety is a plus.
Great weather this week, but a tad chilly. The girls went camping this weekend (probably for the last time this year) and appreciated huddling around the camp fire.
Week three of radiation is now history. I'm still not glowing. Another plus.
Once again, no TV this week. Perhaps it's just too much effort to push the remote button.
Reading: Finally finished Hall & Flint's THE BLIND SPOT, way more effort than it was worth for what is supposed to be a classic SF tale. Another SF classic, A. Merritt's DWELLERS I THE MIRAGE (my FFB) read much better. Two mysteries this week: Lee Goldberg's latest Eve Ronin novel MOVIELAND (very good) and an early John Creasy Department Z novel DEATH STANDS BY (originlly published in the 30s, complete with international intrigue, and evil mysterious supervillain, and a new weapon of mass destruction -- pretty typical for Creasey's Department Z). John Burke's THE HAMMER HORROR FILM OMNIBUS collects four movie adaptations (THE GORGON, THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, THE REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN, and THE CURSE OF THE MUMMY'S TOMB -- you'll probably read all about if on my Short Story Wednesday post). Neil Gaiman's THE NEIL GAIMAN READER collects 59 of his imaginative stories, ranging from slight to "oh, wow!" -- highly recommended. Currently reading Sax Rohmer's QUEST OF THE SACRED SLIPPER, another somewhat creaky book (I must be in a creaky mood); later this week I'll tackle John Crowley's FLINT AND STONE
I've decided that I am very boring. My typical day has me driving Jaack to school, going to radiation, sleeping, reading, more sleeping, more reading, trying to figure out what to eat, more sleeping, more reading, mixed in with the occasional shopping trip. I do make my bed every morning -- a highlight. If it wasn't for the fact that I read your blog, nobody would ever consider me one of the cool kids. **sigh**
Have a great week, Patti!
So glad your mammogram results were good, Patti! And I keep hearing that TAR is great. I need to see that...
I would see TAR on a big screen. I think it would make a difference. She needs to be bigger than life. I think it is getting a wider opening this weekend.
Jerry-is the sleeping from the radiation? Probably yes. Is it making you sick too? How many more weeks do you have? We are all boring by now.
Thanks, Margot.
Yes, the radiation. Plus, I find it difficult to sleep more than two hours or so at a time since Kitty died; too many memories rush in. No sickness yet, nor on the horizon. Thanks for asking.
Three and a half years after Phil's death, I have just begun to sleep seven hours without waking. So it takes a long time. Of course, Trump, illness of my own and Covid isolation probably exacerbated it. I don't wake up as full of fear as I did. After the election, it might begin again.
I liked the first MAGPIE MURDERS too, but the second episode less so. Interesting that Lesley Manville and Claire Rushbrook play sisters, as they did in SHERWOOD. They seem so very different and hard to accept them as sisters (in this, more than SHERWOOD). Manville really is everywhere lately, and she is always so good.
Today is our anniversary and we celebrated Saturday night with our last concert of the year, The Mavericks at LIU's CW Post campus on Long Island, the lovely Tilles Center. They are such an acletcic group. Some list them as country, but NOT. a mixture of rock, country, pop, various Latin, etc. Great stuff. We stayed at the Marriott for the night. Weather has been cool to seasonal. He has a very snarky sense of humor and I think it is definitely worth reading.
I don't think anyone can be surprised the Yankees lost to the Astros, but the New York Giants starting at 6-1 is a major surprised, especially as there are no superstars. It's been a team effort from the start.
We liked SHERWOOD too, and found SHETLAND somewhat disappointing. I have to say the same about the final season of BORGEN, which left a bitter taste for much of its length, despite the somewhat upbeat try at the end. Oil drilling in Greenland just did not grab me like the Danish politics.
Backstrom is a Swedish cop created in a series of books by Leif G.W. Persson. There was (surprisingly) an American series in 2015 starring Rainn Wilson (we never watched it), but no Swedish series until 2020, when a 6 episode first series ran, starring Kjell Bergquist as Evert Backstrom, a nearly infallible (and often insufferable) cop who only deals with homicides. There is a second series that came out this year We're watching series one (on Acorn).
A few years ago we watched (on PBS Masterpiece and some PBS stations) the Italian series THOU SHALT NOT KILL, about a brilliant Italian cop, Valeria Ferro, in Turin. Her personal story is that her mother just got out of prison when the series started, for killing her father, which remains a question (did she or didn't she?) for much of the series. Now we started a German series called NORDIC MURDERS (very confusing title), also on PBS Masterpiece. It has a somewhat similar premise - A former prosecutor killed her cheating husband using the gun of her daughter, a police Inspector. Now she is out of jail after 6 years and back on the island in the Baltic where it happened, on the North Sea right near the Polish border. Her daughter wants little to do with her, but her 13 year old granddaughter wants to get to know her. This time it is from the mother's point of view, and the daughte rhad little to do in the first episode.
Also watching DOC MARTIN's final series on Britbox.
Finished the Michael Robotham book, reading the David Milch memoir and several short story collections. After reading that list in the Washington Post recommending small press collections, I found John Weir's Grace Paley Prize-winning collection, YOUR NOSTALGIA IS KILLING ME: Linked Stories, in the library. This is kind of dark, as the first section is called "AIDS Nostalgia."
Jerry, you'll always be one of the cool kids as far as I'm concerned.
Not sure if George will get to post today, as they are driving home from visiting their daughter in Boston.
I've read all the Allen Eskens books too, and have the new one from the library.
I see I forgot to mention the very interesting premise of BACKSTROM. Backstrom's young neighbor, a Boy Scout, brings him a skull he found on a remote island. It is that of a woman and has a bullet hole in it. But a DNA analysis reveals that the woman was killed in the tsunami...fifteen years earlier.
I too was disappointed in the second Magpie. It is too hard keeping the fictional and real world straight. And I have never felt Rushbrook was a strong actress. I think DOC MARTIN must be on ACORN because I couldn't find it. So true about BORGEN. I really should dump HBO for the few things I have liked on it. And Apple. Then I could justify buying ACORN.
Sorry. Yes, DOC MARTIN is on Acorn.
Jackie was having the same trouble with MAGPIE. It may have seemed clever to them to use the same actors in both parts in different roles, but it was definitely confusing. Pund's assistant was the gay lover who inherited. Daniel Mays was the dumb cop in the book and the obnoxious cop in "real" life. etc.
My family was able to take a quick trip to visit my mother in IL. We were there about 27 hours and that is much better than not going. Next weekend we take another
I've not seen SHERWOOD but the miner's strike sure has some long lasting impacts in the UK.
I've been listening to the second mystery in the BAD AXE COUNTY mystery series by John Galligan. Set in western WI and with the type of protagonist where the author created her so the reader will scream at her to get her head out of her ass.
I tried out a Stephen King audio, THE OUTSIDER, and it did not suffer as much from King Bloat. Narration by the always excellent Will Patton.
Very glad to hear about the mammogram results. I am sure that is a relief.
I haven't read anything by Allen Eskens, but I have his first book to read. I am still reading ANNA KARENINA and made a little progress on that this weekend. But I want something else to read at the same time and have not settled on anything yet.
I am interested in SHERWOOD and hope to try that soon. Tonight we will be watching STAR TREK: DISCOVERY (third season), starting STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS, and going back to the beginning of CSI (the original program). Soon we will give SHERWOOD a try.
I am not that fond of SHETLAND, but my husband loves it, so I watch it with him. I like the characters / actors but parts of the stories are too intense for me. We are only in Season 6 now.
Very glad, as well about the clean bill of health. And thanks for the tip on TÁR..it looked interesting.
Likewise (as noted there) glad to see "Ed Gorman Remembered" on the NoirCon book page; in case you missed he comments: Comments
Kate Laity
A lovely remembrance.
Todd Mason
It is. Bill Crider, one, when fortunate, had an opportunity to meet, at the many conventions he'd attend if not elsewhere. Ed, for most of us, was most likely to be met virually, through his writing, including on his bog and in email (I first read his work, interviewing Algis Budrys, in SCIENCE FICTION REVIEW magazine in 1978, not very long before Ed co-founded MYSTERY SCENE with Robert Randisi).
Sorry to say I never saw it and the link seems to have disappeared. I only saw a few minutes of it.
I seem to prefer Vera to Shetland nowadays. I like it finished in 90 minutes. But SHERWOOD was well worth your time. I scurried to the library and got THE LISTENING ROOM.
I was able to get into the site without my pass. I wish I could print Ed's piece here but it won't let me right click it on. Never mind. You all know Ed.
Will Patton is the best audiobook narrator for me. His voice is soothing.
I thought Bad Axe was only in Michigan but perhaps it runs across the water.
Sent along via email as well..
“Ed Gorman Remembered”
by Patricia Abbott
You can easily find out about Ed Gorman’s amazing career on multiple sites. This is a more personal remembrance. During the decade I knew Ed Gorman, it always seemed possible that one day, I’d run into him at a conference or a bookstore but that never happened. Ed was not one to frequent such places according to those who knew him. But he was more than available on his blog until shortly before his death.
Five years after his death New Improved Gorman, the site where Ed and some of the crime-writing/reading world interacted on a daily basis, is still available to peruse. You can learn much about him there. You can also learn much about crime fiction.
Ed Gorman’s final posts are indicative of what he did so regularly on New Improved Gorman: promote his friends and in many cases, introduce newcomers to his world. His last two posts in the summer of 2016 interviewed Max Allan Collins and reviewed a book by Bill Pronzini. Ed died a few months later of a disease he had been battling for years.
It amazes me now that busy, successful writers like Ed Gorman and Bill Crider managed to post every day or even more often on their blogs. Ed’s posts were a good introduction to the crime fiction genre. In 2006, there was a vibrant blog world. A site called CrimeSpot (the creation of Graham Powell) collected blogs dealing with crime fiction and updated itself almost hourly as new posts appeared. Long before Facebook, people publishing crime stories or interested in them were able to interact through this truly wonderful resource.
One of the first interactions I had with Ed was when I commented on my blog that the only Western I had ever read was Lonesome Dove. He promptly sent me two of his Westerns, which changed my idea of what Westerns could be and I still read them today.
In 2008 I began a feature on my blog called Friday’s Forgotten Books. At first I solicited book reviews (Bill Crider was the first person I asked) but eventually crime fiction bloggers began to post them unsolicited and send me the links or sent the review directly to me. For a few years, Ed posted a review of an old book nearly every week. But eventually he asked me if I would be willing to post his review on my blog. So, a day or two ahead of time, he sent it to me. I was never sure why he wanted them on my blog but I was glad to have them. His reviews were always interesting, insightful, and very much “Ed.”
Ed was kind to me in other ways. He asked me for stories to publish in two of the anthologies he published with Martin Greenberg (Prisoner of Memory, 2008; Between Dark and the Daylight, 2009). This was heady stuff for a newer writer. Ed immediately treated people as if they belonged to the clan.
I am so grateful for the years Ed was a part of my life. In the pre-Internet world I would never have met him. Even if “meeting” has a different meaning now.
***
Patricia Abbott is the author of the novels Home Invasion; the Anthony- and Macavity-nominated Concrete Angel; and the Edgar- and Anthony-nominated Shot in Detroit. Her short story collections include Monkey Justice and Other Stories and I Bring Sorrow and Other Stories of Transgression. She won a Derringer for her flash fiction story “My Hero.” The author of nearly 200 stories, she lives in Detroit.
Scott Cupp's remembrance of Bill Crider also worth reading:
https://noircon.com/bill-crider-1941-2018-by-scott-cupp/
Hooray for the good mammogram results, Patty! I haven't seen Tar yet, but the hubster (a classical recording engineer who has worked with many a conductor in his lifetime) and I are looking forward to it.
BTW, to revisit the notion of the collapse of Warner in the face of its rapacious new owners:
Warner Bros. Discovery to Write Down Up to $2.5B in Content, Development Costs
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, Warner Bros. Discovery reported that it plans to incur between $2 billion and $2.5 billion in write-offs from content and development alone—amid total restructuring costs that it expects to run as high as $4.3 billion. (TheWrap)
Warner Bros. Discovery has been engaged in what it has called a “global strategic review of content” since the WarnerMedia deal closed, canceling projects, nixing development and shelving unproductive library content. In its first quarter after the deal closed, it disclosed an $825 million writedown on content, and a substantially similar number is expected in its Q3 report. (THR)
Warner Bros. Discovery said it anticipates $800 million to $1 billion in costs related to layoffs throughout the company, and another $400 million to $700 million by consolidating facilities. (Reuters)
Since April, the company has let hundreds of employees go through multiple rounds of layoffs. In August, about 70 people were cut from its crown jewel, HBO—14% of its staff. Earlier this month, more than 80 workers were let go from Warner Bros. TV studio. Cuts are expected at the film studio next month. (LA Times / Company Town)
For the third quarter of 2022, WBD estimates it will incur $1.3 billion to $1.6 billion of restructuring charges. (Variety)
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