I think “The Drama” is such a good film for our times — great acting, great craftsmanship all around. Robert Pattinson and Zendaya. We talked about it for days afterward. It’s marketed like a rom-com but it’s very much not. It’s on HBO Max. Can’t recommend it highly enough.
I read someone describing it as a Hollywood film with a punch and I have to agree. Great mix of dark comedy and an important topic that changes how the characters see each other.
Project Hail Mary (the movie) is excellent even after my third viewing. Its allegiance to the book and the exploration of a hopeful version of humanity under duress is a welcome diversion and who doesn’t like Ryan Gosling? It renewed my optimism which was very much on the wane.
It's on the best seller list, so some here may scoff, but Ann Patchett's Whistler is deeply humane and fun. Connect it with Tom Lake and the Dutch House and you have someone who captures what it's been like to be GenX better than anyone.
I just finished Richard Powers’ ‘The Overstory’ and think it’s one of the most impressive novels I’ve read for a long time. Remarkably sane for these times.
I read this book last year and, alas, I have to say that I found the second half plodding and much less interesting than the first. To each his own, of course.
I’ve seen three movies in theaters the last month or so - The Invite, The Odyssey, and The Samurai and the Prisoner. The Invite is the best of the three. Very funny, smart writing and excellent cast. At home, I recently subscribed to Mubi and have really enjoyed Fallen Leaves, Father Mother Sister Brother, and The History of Sound.
The Last Upheaval — Peco Gaskovski’s standalone prequel to Exogenesis! Got a sneak preview and can't wait for this dystopian suspense to hit the shelves in the early fall! Prelaunch starts next week…
New? As in, "New to me?" In search of a comfort watch, my wife and I wandered over to Acorn TV, which carries loads of Brit or Brit-adjacent content with all of those cute accents and expressions. We settled on "A Place to Call Home," which sounded as comforting as a blanket and mug of cocoa. Crikey! Now we're 4.7 seasons in and riveted by the murder, mayhem, racism, and sexual panic that was evidently afoot in a small town outside of Sydney in the decade after WW2. Wait, they dropped f-bombs back then? It's like Downtown Abbey, replacing perturbed glances with rounds from a shotgun. And it's great! But don't say I didn't warn you. The trigger warnings are literal in this show.
Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie! It's a low budget time travel adventure comedy set in Toronto about two hapless wannabe musicians determined to play a show at the Rivoli music club.
Movies: Flow, Triangle of Sadness, La Bete, Theater Camp, A House of Dynamite
TV: Scavengers Reign, of course Widow's Bay, and Jury Duty is a bit of a guilty pleasure
Music: not new, but I've been enjoying Alvvays lately. Also very much not new, but I've been going through the entire ouevres of Peter Gabriel & Kate Bush and man those two are fascinating artists
Books: The Extra, Vladimir, What's So Great about the Great Books?
Morir Saltando by Hesse Kassel - you'll know after the opening 14m track if you enjoy this chilean avant-prog, post-rock, hardcore album that sounds like the theme to an unstable revolutionary leader's inner monologue.
Pleasure Seekers by Takuya Nakamura - each track is break-beat fused with some new culture or genre.
Seeing is Forgetting by Elori Saxl, Henry Solomon - Top 2 ambient album of the year for me, with jazz and electronic backbone.
Philosophie du Soi by PAON - Glitchy Jazz Fusion Art Pop that sounds like a soundtrack to an bizarre metropolitan anime
Epiblast by Nana Rizinni - Jazz fusion with some drum and bass sensibilities that feels like those heads down seasons of life with a big reward at the end.
No Ritmo da Terra by Antropocena - Brazilian folk metal with african rhythm sections, bringing the spirits forth
Counting Sunsets by SUSS - ambient americana, my first time hearing this type of music, excellent to read to
HARD TO HANDLE by RADIOHOP - Brainfeeder-esque collection of beats
Ö by fcukers - favorite house album of the year produced by Kenneth Blume III
VOLUMES: ONE (SELECTIONS FROM MUSIC CONCERTS 2019-2023 BON IVER 6-PIECE BAND) by Bon Iver - Crazy vocal layering and autotune use that sounds like different songs than the recorded work
It isn’t new but recently got wide distribution - Nirvanna the band, the show (a tv series) and Nirvanna the band, the show, the movie (a film) are great. Start with the film. It’s a blend of mockumentary, gorilla comedy, and scripted comedy. I’ve been recommending it to everyone.
Siriously Sinatra on Sirious Radio. I listen to this in the car. It is not just Sinatra, but the Great American Songbook. Besides the classic vocalists of the past, I have discovered new (to me at least) outstanding singers like Laura Fygi, Veronica Swift, Matt Forbes, Todd Murray, and Tony Hadley, as well as the likes of already favorites of mine Stacey Kent and Seth MacFarlane.
Cool Machine is a superb finale to Colson Whitehead's brilliant New York/crime-fiction trilogy - really looking forward to hearing him speak in London in a week or so. Also loving The Burning Tide, the new book by the reliably excellent William Shaw.
So many great new LPs around at the moment. Recent highlights include Blue Lab Beats' 10th anniversary celebration, The Blue Lab Show; James Brandon Lewis's new quartet album, Omni; The Eight Gates, the terrific debut by drummer Lox and his amazing new-school fusion band (with a top line based around Leon Foster Thomas's steel pan); and in very different territory am enjoying Overmono's second LP though only played it once so far. Last night I got to hear new music by drummer/producer Mackwood during his/their headline show at Ronnie Scott's and that's jumped straight to the top of my list of most-anticipated new releases, though the album isn't due until January. And while it's no longer new, just still quite new-to-me, I keep going back to Salma, an extraordinary piece by the singer-songwriter Kianja. JBL will likely be well known here; Overmono are an electronic music duo; the rest are jazz-rooted artists but all are folding their own ideas and experiences and inspirations into their art without worrying about whether anyone else thinks it fits their preconceptions. I'm always up for listening to people so inclined.
I think “The Drama” is such a good film for our times — great acting, great craftsmanship all around. Robert Pattinson and Zendaya. We talked about it for days afterward. It’s marketed like a rom-com but it’s very much not. It’s on HBO Max. Can’t recommend it highly enough.
I really really loved The Drama but feel like they had just like...1-2 scenes too many emphasizing "the twist". Still, absolutely loved the finale.
I read someone describing it as a Hollywood film with a punch and I have to agree. Great mix of dark comedy and an important topic that changes how the characters see each other.
Project Hail Mary (the movie) is excellent even after my third viewing. Its allegiance to the book and the exploration of a hopeful version of humanity under duress is a welcome diversion and who doesn’t like Ryan Gosling? It renewed my optimism which was very much on the wane.
It's on the best seller list, so some here may scoff, but Ann Patchett's Whistler is deeply humane and fun. Connect it with Tom Lake and the Dutch House and you have someone who captures what it's been like to be GenX better than anyone.
I loved Whistler, Tom Lake and the Dutch House. I forgot to plug books. You might also like Elisabeth Strout's most recent, The Things We Never Say.
This isn’t necessarily new, but Mr. Inbetween from Australia is a highly entertaining three season series.
Great, original and seriously underrated series.
I just finished Richard Powers’ ‘The Overstory’ and think it’s one of the most impressive novels I’ve read for a long time. Remarkably sane for these times.
I read this book last year and, alas, I have to say that I found the second half plodding and much less interesting than the first. To each his own, of course.
I’ve seen three movies in theaters the last month or so - The Invite, The Odyssey, and The Samurai and the Prisoner. The Invite is the best of the three. Very funny, smart writing and excellent cast. At home, I recently subscribed to Mubi and have really enjoyed Fallen Leaves, Father Mother Sister Brother, and The History of Sound.
Silo - the adaptation of Hugh Howey's novel "Wool". It's on Apple TV+ and it's addictive.
Better read the book first imo
Love it!
The Last Upheaval — Peco Gaskovski’s standalone prequel to Exogenesis! Got a sneak preview and can't wait for this dystopian suspense to hit the shelves in the early fall! Prelaunch starts next week…
I can’t find anything about it! Even pre order info! Is there a link you can share for more info?
There are no links yet. The prelaunch is starting next week.
New? As in, "New to me?" In search of a comfort watch, my wife and I wandered over to Acorn TV, which carries loads of Brit or Brit-adjacent content with all of those cute accents and expressions. We settled on "A Place to Call Home," which sounded as comforting as a blanket and mug of cocoa. Crikey! Now we're 4.7 seasons in and riveted by the murder, mayhem, racism, and sexual panic that was evidently afoot in a small town outside of Sydney in the decade after WW2. Wait, they dropped f-bombs back then? It's like Downtown Abbey, replacing perturbed glances with rounds from a shotgun. And it's great! But don't say I didn't warn you. The trigger warnings are literal in this show.
Camp Miasma is one of the best movies of the year. And more people should listen to Dutch singer songwriter Lilian Hak, especially Lust Guns & Dust.
Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie! It's a low budget time travel adventure comedy set in Toronto about two hapless wannabe musicians determined to play a show at the Rivoli music club.
Movies: Flow, Triangle of Sadness, La Bete, Theater Camp, A House of Dynamite
TV: Scavengers Reign, of course Widow's Bay, and Jury Duty is a bit of a guilty pleasure
Music: not new, but I've been enjoying Alvvays lately. Also very much not new, but I've been going through the entire ouevres of Peter Gabriel & Kate Bush and man those two are fascinating artists
Books: The Extra, Vladimir, What's So Great about the Great Books?
Music:
Morir Saltando by Hesse Kassel - you'll know after the opening 14m track if you enjoy this chilean avant-prog, post-rock, hardcore album that sounds like the theme to an unstable revolutionary leader's inner monologue.
Pleasure Seekers by Takuya Nakamura - each track is break-beat fused with some new culture or genre.
Seeing is Forgetting by Elori Saxl, Henry Solomon - Top 2 ambient album of the year for me, with jazz and electronic backbone.
Philosophie du Soi by PAON - Glitchy Jazz Fusion Art Pop that sounds like a soundtrack to an bizarre metropolitan anime
Epiblast by Nana Rizinni - Jazz fusion with some drum and bass sensibilities that feels like those heads down seasons of life with a big reward at the end.
No Ritmo da Terra by Antropocena - Brazilian folk metal with african rhythm sections, bringing the spirits forth
Counting Sunsets by SUSS - ambient americana, my first time hearing this type of music, excellent to read to
HARD TO HANDLE by RADIOHOP - Brainfeeder-esque collection of beats
Ö by fcukers - favorite house album of the year produced by Kenneth Blume III
VOLUMES: ONE (SELECTIONS FROM MUSIC CONCERTS 2019-2023 BON IVER 6-PIECE BAND) by Bon Iver - Crazy vocal layering and autotune use that sounds like different songs than the recorded work
It isn’t new but recently got wide distribution - Nirvanna the band, the show (a tv series) and Nirvanna the band, the show, the movie (a film) are great. Start with the film. It’s a blend of mockumentary, gorilla comedy, and scripted comedy. I’ve been recommending it to everyone.
Siriously Sinatra on Sirious Radio. I listen to this in the car. It is not just Sinatra, but the Great American Songbook. Besides the classic vocalists of the past, I have discovered new (to me at least) outstanding singers like Laura Fygi, Veronica Swift, Matt Forbes, Todd Murray, and Tony Hadley, as well as the likes of already favorites of mine Stacey Kent and Seth MacFarlane.
Cool Machine is a superb finale to Colson Whitehead's brilliant New York/crime-fiction trilogy - really looking forward to hearing him speak in London in a week or so. Also loving The Burning Tide, the new book by the reliably excellent William Shaw.
So many great new LPs around at the moment. Recent highlights include Blue Lab Beats' 10th anniversary celebration, The Blue Lab Show; James Brandon Lewis's new quartet album, Omni; The Eight Gates, the terrific debut by drummer Lox and his amazing new-school fusion band (with a top line based around Leon Foster Thomas's steel pan); and in very different territory am enjoying Overmono's second LP though only played it once so far. Last night I got to hear new music by drummer/producer Mackwood during his/their headline show at Ronnie Scott's and that's jumped straight to the top of my list of most-anticipated new releases, though the album isn't due until January. And while it's no longer new, just still quite new-to-me, I keep going back to Salma, an extraordinary piece by the singer-songwriter Kianja. JBL will likely be well known here; Overmono are an electronic music duo; the rest are jazz-rooted artists but all are folding their own ideas and experiences and inspirations into their art without worrying about whether anyone else thinks it fits their preconceptions. I'm always up for listening to people so inclined.
Links:
https://bluelabbeats.bandcamp.com/album/the-blue-lab-beats-show
https://jamesbrandonlewis.bandcamp.com/album/omni
https://loxdrums.bandcamp.com/album/the-eight-gates
https://overmono.bandcamp.com/album/pure-devotion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEA-gqL3gEs