Stay True: A Memoir - Hua Hsu (July 23) - Loved this. It won’t surprise you to hear that I’m not Asian American, but that didn’t stop me utterly relating to Hsu’s incredible writing. A great coming of age memoir. (A)
Space Odyssey- Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke, and the Making of a Masterpiece(Aug 23) - Way more entertaining than it has any right to be, given that it’s also very detailed and quite nerdy. So many stories and nuggets I hadn’t heard before. I listened to this as an audiobook, but could see myself going back and reading the hardcopy just to take notes. (A)
Lean Impact- # How to Innovate for Radically Greater Social Good (Aug 23) - A bit of a ‘work read’, but I don’t mind a work read if it’s interesting and inspires me. This didn’t I’m afraid to say. The content itself is solid (although it never really fully delivers on what it promises and there’s a lot of padding), but the tone is so flat it really is a grind to read. No variation, no wit, no personality. Even ‘work books’ need personality. (C-)
Foe by Iain Reid (Aug 23) - Saw that it had been made into a film, so decided to give some fiction a go after a long time of not reading much at all. Loved it. Reid has a great, spare style, but it’s not miserable or dry and even though not loads happens it still manages to be a page-turner. Looking forward to the movie now. (A)
Twentieth-Century Man: The Wild Life of Peter Beard (Aug 23) - A lot of fun and fascinating. What the Washington Post called ‘essayistic digressions’ in its review are indeed quite distracting and do (fancy literary term alert) ‘go on a bit’, but overall it’s a great biography even if you have no idea who Peter Beard was. (B+)
Cosmic Scholar: The Life and Times of Harry Smith (Sep 23) - Another great biography of someone who I had never really heard of before. A very sympathetic, well-researched and obviously loving portrait of the artist/filmmaker/anthropologist/mystic/eccentric who doesn’t get enough attention these days. (A-)
Films
Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game (July 23) - I really enjoyed this. It’s ‘feel good’ in the best sense of the word, and it tells a story I didn’t know before. The meta-ish ‘behind the scenes’ elements don’t always land perfectly, but the performances are so good, it doesn’t really matter. (A-)
Oppenheimer (July 23) - I got quite excited in the first half an hour, when it looked like Nolan might be going down a more expressionistic, emotional route… But then it turned into three hours of men talking at each other in a series of rooms (not sure why everyone says you have to see this on a large screen when it’s mostly men in rooms talking). Cillian Murphys’ performance is good, but it’s so (purposefully) emotionless, that it’s a huge relief when Matt Damon turns up and has an actual personality. Poor Florence Pugh and Emily Blunt, bringing all that talent to the hysterical/drunk/needy woman role (when there were plenty of women involved in the development of the atom bomb). I saw Nolan talking about how Citizen Kane inspired the non-linear biographical narrative in Oppenheimer… Hmmm. (B-)
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (July 23) - A ridiculous amount of fun. I love this franchise anyway, but this made me grin all the way through and the last sequence was spectacular and made my palms sweat. I want to go back and watch it again, You should see this one on a massive screen. (A)
Showing Up (Aug 23) - I will know what I think of this film in about three months I think. It’s one of those that needs to settle first. I maybe shouldn’t have watched it on an iPad on a plane, but sometimes needs must. I think I enjoyed it. It is a Kelly Reichardt film, so it is very slow and ‘plotless’, but Michelle Williams is mesmerising, and the whole film is quite touching and poetic. (B+)
No Hard Feelings(Sep 23) - This was just okay, Needed a much funnier, tighter script to justify its existence though. The scene where the kid sings Maneater is great though. (C-)
Extraction (Sep 23) - I watched it in 45-60 minute chunks while Zwifting on the Wattbike. What can I say? These are mindless, daft, popcorn movies that require zero concentration. And sometimes that’s exactly what you need. (C-)
Past Lives. I was blown away by this. Beautiful looking with an incredible script; and just the overall ‘style’ of it is so assured and modern and yet feels traditional somehow, like a classic film you just discovered. One of the best films of 2023. (A+)
TV
The Bear, Season 2 (July 23) - It’s going to be the best TV show of 2023 by an absolute mile. I watched ‘Forks’ twice. Brilliant. Great soundtrack too. (A+)
The Man Who Played With Fire (July 23) - Docuseries about the 1986 assassination of Sweden’s Prime Minister… Which also happens to include Steig Larsson. If this had been more than four episodes I might not have watched it all, but my wife was away for a week, so I needed something to binge and this did nicely. The main protagonist loves himself a little too much though. (B-)
Somebody, Somewhere s1 (July 23) - Had no idea what this was going in (recommendation from a friend), but after the first two episodes I was in. It’s one of those slow-ish, bittersweet comedies but it never gets schmaltzy, and it’s sometimes just downright filthy. Looking forward to series two. (B+)
Platonic (July 23) - There aren’t enough good comedies around (films or TV series) so this was a really nice surprise. It’s not great, but it gets better as it goes along and Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen are very, very good (especially Byrne - her physical comedy and her timing are just spot on). (A-)
Full Circle (Aug 23) - Watched this because Soderbergh, but also because Claire Danes. Unfortunately it’s not as good as it should be with all that talent around it. The story is just a little too convoluted and not quite as smart as it thinks it is. (B-)
100 Foot Wave Series 2 (Sep 23) - Might have enjoyed this even more that series one. The second season expands the focus a little bit to take in a few more locations and surfers, but it remains in love with its subject and does a great job of capturing the beauty and the danger of what these remarkable people do every day. (A)
Somebody, Somewhere s2 (Sep 23) - Even better than the first series. Went a bit heavier on the pathos this time and I loved it. (A)
Jury Duty (Sep 23) - Rightly the big word-of-mouth hit of 2023. The last episode where they show how it was all done was almost as good as the series itself. If you haven’t seen it, don’t read anything beforehand, just go in cold. (B+)