Best Recs #6

Finding art amongst the madness

Hi readers,

I haven’t done this type of post since November, so I thought that it was time to reflect on some things that I’ve enjoyed over the past few months. Also, I needed some nice things to think about given how awful some of the international news has been over the same time period.

If there is anything that you have been reading/watching/listening to that you’d like to share, please do!

Thanks for being here,

Sarah

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Listening

Podcast: Kermode and Mayo’s Take

I first started listening to Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo when they fronted their film review show on BBC Radio 5 Live. Kermode’s take-down of Sex and the City 2 is still one of the finest film reviews that I’ve ever listened to (note: this is not hyperbole). In the first minute, Kermode uses the words: putrid, ghastly, and vomit-inducing, to give you an idea. Despite Kermode’s obvious exasperation at how the film was even made in the first place, there is humour within the review itself. A British dryness that I appreciate.

Anyway, I was curious as to what Kermode would have to say about the Melania documentary, mainly because you might not that be surprised to read that I have zero interest in watching it myself. Similar to his review of SATC2, it is a devastatingly open and entertaining take-down. Yet, in contrast, you can tell that Kermode hated not just every second of watching the documentary, but even just thinking and talking about it here makes him appear exhausted. His analysis of the music choices for the film are particularly striking, too.

Here’s a quote from the episode: “It’s like somebody making a documentary in which Eva Braun feels sad about war while Hitler invades Poland.” (Mark Kermode). 🎤 drop.

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Reading

Perfection, Vincenzo Latronico

Image: The Booker Prize

I probably wouldn’t have read ‘Perfection’ had I come across it in a book shop. The title tells me little, and that plain blue cover — what is it even about? I get nothing from the front of the book sleeve (FYI - blue is my favourite colour). Plus, it was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. I have read books nominated for literary prizes before (see below), but there is something that still intimidates me about reading literary fiction. (Does this book count as literary fiction? I don’t even know.)

Despite my hang-ups, I picked up a copy of ‘Perfection’ at a second-hand book sale in mid-January. I read it in two days. It is short at around 100 pages, so partly the reason for the quick turnaround, but it tells the story of two expats, Anna and Tom who live in Berlin. The choice of ‘expat’ is deliberate, I’m sure, rather than immigrant. And here, we learn that the couple live a privileged existence working remotely, sub-letting their apartment while they travel, and take recreational drugs with their friends.

That might not appeal to everyone. And the absence of any dialogue was strange, as though I was watching Anna and Tom’s lives through a bubble. However, this bubble-like quality felt apt when some reviews describe the book like a sociological analysis — how they live; how they interact and treat others; how they care for their plants (or pay other people to). It is a book that I will keep and return to, I’m sure.

The Artist, Lucy Steeds

Image: Waterstones

I borrowed Steeds’s debut (winner of a literary prize!) from a colleague and friend. It tells the story of a young man, Joseph who heads to the south of France to interview a reclusive artist. Set in the 1920s, the story combines insights from those affected following the Great War, along with the growing societal changes from the suffrage movement.

I wasn’t hooked initially; but I did enjoy the rich descriptions of the landscape and food (another character in a way). Plus, the relationships between each of the central and side-characters felt genuine.

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Watching

Netflix: Take That documentary

I went to see Take That in concert at Manchester Arena back in 1994. Wowzers. I was 11! And I also bought a mug with this image on it:

Image: Genius.com

I use the present tense because the mug sits at the back of one of the cupboards at my parent’s house. My mum thinks that it might be worth something by now.

Watching the three-part documentary on Netflix was like a time capsule to my pre-teens. Gary’s blonde peroxide hair! Howard and Jason’s backflips! Mark Owen’s ‘Junkie’s baddy powder’ t-shirt from the Relight my Fire music video! And Robbie’s dummy necklace!

Screenshot of Robbie stood in a field with one of those dummy necklaces. Like why?

I never knew that Gary Barlow had been hired by the then-manager, Nigel Martin-Smith before the auditions took place to create the band. But given that Barlow’s talent as a songwriter didn’t quite translate to having that special something required to be a solo artist, it made sense to build a band around him¹. One thing that would have added to the series was having sit-down interviews with the current members: Barlow, Mark Owen, and Howard Donald, rather than just using voice-overs.

Perhaps not a watch for everyone, but I enjoyed it!

Film: Wuthering Heights (and the soundtrack)

I first read the novel around this time last year and didn’t enjoy it. It was confusing, especially when the story is described as a love story. Was I reading the same book? Plus, everyone is horrible to one another!

That said, I’ll probably end up going to new film by Emerald Fennell, if just to compare Jacob Elordi’s hair to that of Tom Hardy’s from the 2009 adaptation.

Image: Amazon Prime video. Tom Hardy looking so young!

Another reason for my interest however, is the soundtrack for the film that was created by Charli xcx. It does appear that at least with the video for ‘Chains of Love’ she has entered her goth phase — although she has always had a touch of this in her styling, in my view.

Although when I recently rewatched the trailer, another artist came to mind who could have produced a cracking soundtrack for the same film: Alison Goldfrapp. Like Charli xcx, Goldfrapp would have created something surreal and mythical, but with a completely different vibe. And a touch of disco.

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Thanks again,

Sarah

1. To be fair to Barlow, he did have some success as a solo artist, too.