I had a week off work last week. I still had to write a couple of issues of LiB (especially with the elections happening), but other than that we were free to go to the pub, meet friends for lunch, treat the dog to some extra long walks, and even venture into... CENTRAL LONDON!
And of course, we took the opportunity to get through some films that had been on our 'to watch' list.
Netflix's new sci-fi flick Stowaway was just okay. Despite the great cast, the pacing and tone never quite find their feet.
News of the World was much better. I read the book a few months ago and Nina just read it too, so that meant we were both 'allowed' to sit down and watch Paul Greengrass's adaptation. There's a lot of changes to the book and it's not perfect, but Greengrass and Hanks are so good at what they do, it makes for a very good 'Sunday afternoon on the sofa' type film.
British film Rocks is just beautiful. Absolutely mesmerising from start to finish. The cast is amazing, they shoot London in such an incredible way... Just go and watch it if you haven't already.
Another Round won best international film at The Oscars, but I was a bit cautious about seeing it, just because of the subject matter (four blokes getting drunk a lot). But this is not The Hangover. I read something somewhere about how it was about men and the idea of giving up control, and that was enough for me to press play as soon as I could. I'm glad I did, because I loved it. I can see why people might not enjoy it, but for me it touched on so many subjects and ideas that I think about a lot, and it did it in such a non-ponderous, non-pretentious and positive way, I definitely thought it deserved that Oscar.
One of my favourite things we watched over the past week though was a forty minute Netflix documentary about speed Rubix Cube solvers. I am a little late to Speedcubers actually. I saw a few people raving about it earlier in the year and then totally forgot about it. But then Netflix's algorithm did its job and wwe watched it over dinner one night and both loved it. If you don't shed a tear at this then we can't be friends :)
Elsewhere, I have been enjoying Van (brother of Casey) Neistat's YouTube channel. Start with this one and see what you think.
And I made Kenji's 'low knead' bread and was very happy with my first attempt. Bread is healthy if you make it yourself, right?
I did get off my arse and stop eating long enough to run a 10k in Crystal Palace Park this past weekend. An actual organised event with other people. What a time to be alive!
This Ted Lasso essay should be required reading for anyone who hasn't watched Ted Lasso yet (and everyone who has).
Music this week is a hour-long set by the Flying Mojito Brothers: