Category: TV

Tidy Tidbits: Reading & Watching

JWF 3 Comments

MEMOIRS:  OF GEOGRAPHY AND GENEALOGY

Mill Town:  Reckoning with What Remains by Kerri Arsenault

Kerri Arsenault (twitter.com)

Kerri Arsenault grew up in the small town of Mexico, Maine, adjacent to neighboring Rumford and home to an active paper mill.  Like the river Androscoggin that runs through the region, her memoir meanders along a nonlinear path.  We learn about her immediate family and her grandparents and great grandparents from Acadia. Almost all of these relatives worked in the mill and many died of cancer.

 Arsenault was one of the few of her cohort who left Maine and lived abroad, thanks to her husband’s military career.  Over many years, she sought to discover and document what toxic chemicals from the mill, dioxin being one example, were polluting the environment and leading to early deaths.  This quest for information and certainty (never arrived at) is a recurring thread in her detailed narrative.  

I found the first chapters somewhat overwritten. As I got further along, I appreciated her commentary on Mainers in general and the working class in particular.  Probably of greatest interest to those with Maine connections.  

Inheritance:  A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity and Love by Dani Shapiro

The author with her father (thecut.com)

Dani Shapiro’s beloved father died when she was only twenty-three.  Her mother died some years later, but was also gone when Shapiro sent her DNA for testing.  At age 54, the news that her father was not her biological father turned her world upside down. She felt forced to question many facets of her upbringing and her identity.  Raised an Orthodox Jew, her blonde hair and blue eyes were unlike other family members and drew comments. What she does with the information and how she tries to locate other relatives make for a dramatic story.  

I found her account riveting.  Most families have some secrets; the big secret in her family was overwhelming and initially devastating.  I predict an animated discussion when my book group takes it up next month.

ON THE SCREEN

As counterpoint to the ongoing societal strife, the Chief Penguin and I have been savoring gentler viewing options.

All Creatures Great and Small (PBS Masterpiece)

At the time, we watched the 1978 PBS version of veterinarian James Herriot’s memoirs.  I even read a couple of them.  I wondered if this new series would be engaging enough to hold my interest and was pleased when it did.  The setting is Yorkshire, England in the 1930’s. Newly minted Herriot arrives to become the latest assistant to Siegfried, an established vet with strong opinions.  Add in Siegfried’s hapless nephew Tristan, a housekeeper who nicely keeps everyone in line, sick animals and cantankerous farmers, and you have the makings of a lively drama.  A welcome change of pace!

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (Netflix)

Published in 2008, the historical novel of the same name was made into a movie in 2018. It’s set on the the island of Guernsey in 1946.  I had previously read the book and seen the film when it was released.  It’s a fun romantic story about a writer, Julia Ashton, who travels to Guernsey to research a local society that existed during the German occupation.  Her visit is prompted by a letter she receives from Dawsey, a local farmer who has a book she previously owned.  Some of the locals are quirky and suspicious of Julia’s motives, but her innate charm endears her to most.  The ending is predictable, the journey heartwarming and delightful.  Lily James sparkles as Julia.

CATCHING UP

The lifelong learning series we usually attend in the winter are virtual only and being offered for free.  This past week we watched three of the Global Affairs lectures, two given by former U. S. ambassadors.  One was on affairs in the Middle East, another on the issues facing President Biden, and the third about Covid-19—the vaccine effort, the international organizations playing a role in combatting it, and some insights behind the lack of preparation in this country. All were informative.

Screen & Page: More Viewing and Reading

JWF 1 Comment

This was another momentous week in U.S. history. For many of us, the fact that actions have consequences was gratifying. Now on to Joe Biden’s inauguration and the next step in dealing with the soon-to-be former president.

When not watching or reading the news, the Chief Penguin and I turned to other diversions, a feature film and compelling and engaging TV programs.

SWEET FILM

Sylvie’s Love (Amazon Prime)

Sylvie & Robert (npr.org)

This is a 1950’s love story about a young black couple.  Sylvie’s father owns a record store in New York and Robert, a talented saxophonist, works there one summer.  When his job ends, Sylvie and Robert part ways only to reconnect some years later.  How their relationship plays out will both tug at your heartstrings and make you smile.  The soundtrack is wonderful with jazz and many pop hits of the early rock ‘n roll era.  It brought back my own memories of that age.  

SOBER DISSECTION OF AN ASSAULT

Room 2806:  The Accusation (Netflix)

This is a 4-part documentary by a French director.  It peels back the layers of the 2011 sexual assault case brought by Nafissatour Diallo, a hotel maid, against Dominque Strauss-Kahn, head of the International Monetary Fund.  Against the backdrop of French politics and the expectation that Strauss-Kahn could be the next French president, DSK’s politics and personal life are carefully examined.  He’s a brilliant and successful economist with three wives and a reputation as a womanizer.

 Diallo, an immigrant single mother with one daughter, works hard at the Sofitel Hotel, and yet her life is scrutinized to an extreme.  New York City police brass and detectives are interviewed as are DSK’s lawyers, French and American journalists, and Diallo herself.  The series is comprehensive, probing, and ultimately damning.  It’s hard to view it and come away believing anything but that Strauss-Kahn was guilty of a sex crime.  (~JWFarrington)

PARIS CHIC

Emily in Paris  (Netflix)

This comedy about a young American woman in Paris is fun and frivolous.  Emily is a substitute marketer from Chicago sent to provide an American perspective to a French firm.  She doesn’t speak any French, is unsophisticated and overly direct, and sometimes just clueless.  I thought she might become tedious, but I’m enjoying her adventures.  Add in wonderful scenes of Paris landmarks plus a stunning wardrobe and you too might be hooked!

BOOKS IN MY STACK

For me, Christmas always means lots of new books and this one was no exception.  Here are a few of the titles I will be reading in the weeks ahead.

The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd (novel)

Divorcing by Susan Taubes  (novel, 1969)

Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell (historical novel)

Inheritance by Dani Shapiro (memoir and book club title for February)

Mill Town by Kerri Aresenault (nonfiction about the paper industry in a Maine village)

Escaping Reality: Reading & Viewing

JWF Leave a comment

AN APPALLING WEEK

Like many of you, we’ve been glued to the television news, avidly following the latest developments, and devouring articles in the paper and online media.

 Wednesday afternoon American democracy was severely tested with the Capitol building breached and ransacked by domestic terrorists. Early Thursday morning brought the official certification of Joe Biden as President and Kamala Harris as Vice-president.  The fact that the Congress ultimately did its job, its duty, was one bright light. Now we must endure the remaining days until the inauguration and fervently hope that that man in the Oval Office is contained and constrained.  And that through impeachment, or removal per the 25th Amendment, or censure, he suffers for the horrible consequences of his actions.  

When you feel the need to escape reality, here are some print and viewing options.

ESCAPING INTO FICTION

SPIES BETWEEN THE WARS

Death in Focus by Anne Perry

Some years ago, I read a number of Anne Perry’s Victorian murder mysteries, then I stopped following her work.  This new mystery, the first in a series, was perfect December escapism.  It’s 1933 and Elena Standish, a photographer formerly with the Foreign Office, is with her sister Margot in Amalfi, Italy.  There to take photos at an economic conference, Elena becomes involved with handsome, charming Ian Newton. When a man is found dead at their hotel, Elena agrees to take the train home back to London with Ian.  Their journey is interrupted, and Elena finds herself entangled in political events in Berlin.  

Elena is an intriguing heroine and equally compelling are her grandfather Miles, formerly of MI6, and her father Charles, a diplomat.  I look forward to the next book of her adventures. 

ARCTIC QUEST

Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy

Charlotte McGonaghy (theguardian.com)

This novel is Australian writer McConaghy’s first introduction to the U.S. market.  Living in a future when all mammals have disappeared from the world, Franny Stone sets out on a search to see the last remaining terns.  In Greenland, she convinces Ennis Malone, captain of the fishing vessel Saghani, to take her on as a crew member with the promise that finding these birds will lead them to fish.  As a reader, we know that Franny is driven to find the terns.  Her life has been tumultuous, impacted by suicide and violence, and, as her journey unfolds, the layers of her life are peeled back.  

There are flashbacks to her marriage, time in prison, and seemingly unremitting despair.  I found the novel quite bleak initially, but gradually became more immersed in Franny’s mission and then felt rewarded by the ending.  

SOARING INTO NONFICTION 

LIFE BEYOND EARTH?

The Smallest Lights in the Universe by Sara Seager

(exoplanets.nasa.gov)

Sara Seager is a fascinating and talented individual who sees things most of us never dream about.  Her memoir is a personal love story wrapped into a passion for stars and exoplanets.  Always feeling different, Sara was drawn to the outdoors and to the night skies.  She became an astrophysicist and a professor and married Mike who loved canoeing and being on the water. They had two boys.  When Mike died, Sara was 40, a widow who’d never mastered any of the mundane chores of daily life.  How she dealt with these challenges while continuing to achieve scientific greatness makes for an engaging and candid astronomy life story.  

ON THE SMALL SCREEN

IMMERSION IN INDIAN SOCIETY

A Suitable Boy (Netflix)

Lata & her three suitors (scroll.in)

Based on the very long novel of the same name by Vikram Seth published in 1993, this series opens in 1951. It’s several years since India gained its independence. A widowed, well-off mother is determined to find the right potential spouse, a suitable boy, for her daughter. Lata, a dedicated literature student, is not sure she wants to marry, but recognizes she has a duty to her family.  Three young men capture her attention, and she is attracted to each to a greater or lesser degree.  One is a fellow student, but a Muslim, not Hindu; another is a published poet; and the third is an ambitious businessman in the shoe industry.

Lata is the focus, but there are subplots around her cousin Maan who is besotted with a courtesan and his father’s political career as a government minister.  A look at Indian customs and society that will hold your interest!

RE-VISITING THE BRITISH ROYALS

The Crown (Netflix)

We have been spacing out our viewing of the ten episodes in Series 4 of The Crown and just finished the last one.  For many viewers, this season will be the first one they remember living through the events.  Here are Charles and Diana’s courtship and troubled marriage and also Margaret Thatcher’s tenure as prime minister.  

All the actors are excellent.  I found the portrayal of Thatcher especially poignant.  Her last few meetings with the queen are painful as Thatcher struggles to understand her political demise.  While the Brits may quibble, and probably rightfully so, about the series’ overall accuracy, The Crown is drama and as such captivating viewing. 

Note: Header photo of a Florida sunset ©JWFarrington.

Bingeing on Films & TV

JWF Leave a comment

To celebrate the departure of 2020 and to break the usual routine, the Chief Penguin and I indulged in several films. Then we continued our practice of watching one of several series in the evening. We began Thursday, Friday and Saturday with what we called Morning Movie Madness—a feature length film viewed after breakfast and after our sometimes morning walk.

FILMS

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)

Set in Chicago in 1927 during a studio recording session, this play by August Wilson focuses on Ma Rainey’s band members, and the anger, disappointment, and rage they experience as Black men in a white world.  One man is philosophical and still dreams, while another seethes.   Young Levee, a talented and conceited trumpeter, has ambition, but depths of resentment that erupt abruptly.  

Levee (nypost.com)

Chadwick Boseman is brilliant as Levee in his last performance, while Viola Davis is superb as Ma Rainey.  Although the setting is a recording session, there is little music and lots of conversation.  A serious play with relevance for today.

Mank (Netflix)

This is a dense film full of flashbacks. It’s based on screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz’s labored writing of the script for what became Citizen Kane, released in 1941. Orson Welles produced, starred in and directed that film and also received partial credit for its writing.  Kane, the character, is a composite of several moguls including William Randolph Hearst.  

Hearst, Louis Mayer, and Irving Thalberg are all characters in Mank, and this film lays bare the nasty politics and smear tactics employed by movie studios in the 1930’s.   I didn’t love this film, but appreciated the cinematography (shot in black and white) and afterwards, sorted out the sequence of events.  The Chief Penguin thought it was superb and considers it a strong Oscar contender.

On the Rocks (Apple +)

A full-page ad in the newspaper led me to this film by Sofia Coppola.  Laura, a young mother and writer, is stuck and feels unappreciated and ignored by her busy husband.  Her playboy father, played by Bill Murray, is lonely and wants attention. He encourages Laura’s worries and, wondering if his son-in-law is having an affair, involves his daughter in all sorts of tracking adventures.  It’s light fare and lightweight.  I’d call it just fair overall.

SERIES OFFERINGS 

Murder in Manhattan

The Undoing (HBO) 6 episodes

Jonathan, Elena, and Grace (express.co.uk)

Thanks to Cynthia for recommending this crime thriller.  It’s on HBO, but you can purchase it without becoming an HBO subscriber.

When Elena, the mother of an elementary student at a posh private school is murdered, suspicion falls upon oncologist Jonathan Fraser and his therapist wife Grace.  Their son Henry is a classmate of Elena’s son.  The series focuses on the Fraser family including Grace’s wealthy father (Donald Sutherland).  Did Jonathan commit the murder?  Can his brilliant lawyer save him?  Hugh Grant and Nicole Kidman play the lead roles.  I found it suspenseful and enjoyed the acting along with street scenes I recognized. 

Marriage Mart in Regency England

Bridgerton (Netflix) 6 episodes

Simon & Daphne (hellomagazine.com)

Using the romance novels of Julia Quinn as a jumping off point, Shonda Rhimes has created a series that is fun, frothy at times, bold, and always sexy with plenty of skin.  She has updated the hunt for an eligible male with a racially diverse cast (the real Queen Charlotte may have been mixed race!) and incorporated contemporary songs played in a classical style.  Randy men (rakes, some) indulge in the pleasures of the flesh while young women are expected to remain untouched and virginal until their wedding nights.  

The focus is on Daphne Bridgerton of a prominent family and Simon Basset, the enigmatic Duke of Hastings, who has just returned to London.  Simon has vowed to never marry, and Daphne wants only to marry for love. Together, they pretend to be attracted to one another to ward off suitors and ambitious mothers.  Daphne and her nerdy sister Eloise push back against society’s expectations. Eloise and another Bridgerton sibling even share a cigarette in the garden! 

The costumes are gorgeous and the ballrooms elegant, while Lady Whistledown’s scandal sheet is brought to life and wit with voiceover by Julie Andrews.  Overall, it is a definite change of pace from more staid historical dramas!  

Header image is Viola Davis as Ma Rainey (okayplayer.com)