This week, I’m simply imagining that I am sitting in the pub with someone, just nattering about stuff -movies, books, telly programmes - that I’ve enjoyed over the last little while.
It’s not something I do much anymore but it’s always nice, isn’t it? To try to instill your enthusiasm for something you like into somebody else, particularly if they’re completely trashed.
So pull up a stool, what are you having?
So pull up a stool, what are you having?
For a long time now, I’d been longing for a TV programme to hook me in. Since Sopranos, West Wing, etc passed on, I’ve been a bit adrift, searching for something that I would enjoy coming back to every week.
‘Downton Abbey’ surprised me by doing just that. I never thought it would be my kind of thing but, every week, I was back, settled on the couch, waiting eagerly for it to start. It was lovely to look at and (although I know nothing about it) it seemed well-informed on its subject matter. Plus it did something unexpected - which is always a good thing – it portrayed the relationships between the upstairs folk and the downstairs folk as being so much more personable and human that I would ever have imagined. I was sad when it ended, I look forward to more of it next year.
After it ended, I even mourned its passing with a wee ditty, you’ll guess the tune.
Downton, where all the lights are bright
Downton, where all the servants fight
Downton, we’ll be here waiting for you…
Um…
On the polar opposite, I also got myself into ‘The Walking Dead’ on FX on the back of some positive advance word from Stateside. It’s comic book Zombies stuff and I’m sticking with that too. The acting is sometimes a wee bit wooden (and I don’t just mean the zombies) but the production looks great and the gore and mayhem are done in a rather no-holds-barred way which I really like. The ‘Downton Abbey’ following may not all find a totally comfortable home here.
Movies? Just last night, I watched a little movie called ‘Frozen’ which I really liked. Thanks to the wonderful Sarah Pinborough for mentioning it. It’s a nervy American film about three young people who get stuck up a mountain in a chair lift. My son and I found that it built to some fine tense moments and was an entertaining 88 minutes. Perhaps not for the faint-hearted.
Reading wise, I spent quite a bit of time with a novel called ‘The Passage’ by Justin Cronin. This is a huge book, an end-of-the-world, vampire saga (yes I seem to be wrapped in horror related things at the moment). I liked this a lot but with a couple of reservations. I can’t give anything away but there is a plot point in the book which seriously disrupted my reading of it – having settled into the setting and pace of the book, the gears were crunched-down deliberately and hard and I, for one, found it unsettling. The end, too, lost me a little bit but generally it was a big book which I rushed home to read and that’s a good thing.
I’ve been re-reading some original Sherlock Holmes too. It’s ages since I have been near any – perhaps not since I was a teen. They’re really great, very readable and involving. Give ‘em a go.
I also read ‘Let The Right One In’. Having fallen in love with the film (blogged about it here), listened to the soundtrack, got the tee-shirt (kidding) I thought I should read the book which started it all off. It’s a good book but it’s also a prime example of a film improving on a book, in my opinion. Now the American version is in cinemas… I hear good things about ‘Let Me In’, it’s got a good pedigree… but I think I’ll stick with the original for now.
How about you? What are you enjoying this last month or so?
‘Downton Abbey’ surprised me by doing just that. I never thought it would be my kind of thing but, every week, I was back, settled on the couch, waiting eagerly for it to start. It was lovely to look at and (although I know nothing about it) it seemed well-informed on its subject matter. Plus it did something unexpected - which is always a good thing – it portrayed the relationships between the upstairs folk and the downstairs folk as being so much more personable and human that I would ever have imagined. I was sad when it ended, I look forward to more of it next year.
After it ended, I even mourned its passing with a wee ditty, you’ll guess the tune.
Downton, where all the lights are bright
Downton, where all the servants fight
Downton, we’ll be here waiting for you…
Um…
On the polar opposite, I also got myself into ‘The Walking Dead’ on FX on the back of some positive advance word from Stateside. It’s comic book Zombies stuff and I’m sticking with that too. The acting is sometimes a wee bit wooden (and I don’t just mean the zombies) but the production looks great and the gore and mayhem are done in a rather no-holds-barred way which I really like. The ‘Downton Abbey’ following may not all find a totally comfortable home here.
Movies? Just last night, I watched a little movie called ‘Frozen’ which I really liked. Thanks to the wonderful Sarah Pinborough for mentioning it. It’s a nervy American film about three young people who get stuck up a mountain in a chair lift. My son and I found that it built to some fine tense moments and was an entertaining 88 minutes. Perhaps not for the faint-hearted.
Reading wise, I spent quite a bit of time with a novel called ‘The Passage’ by Justin Cronin. This is a huge book, an end-of-the-world, vampire saga (yes I seem to be wrapped in horror related things at the moment). I liked this a lot but with a couple of reservations. I can’t give anything away but there is a plot point in the book which seriously disrupted my reading of it – having settled into the setting and pace of the book, the gears were crunched-down deliberately and hard and I, for one, found it unsettling. The end, too, lost me a little bit but generally it was a big book which I rushed home to read and that’s a good thing.
I’ve been re-reading some original Sherlock Holmes too. It’s ages since I have been near any – perhaps not since I was a teen. They’re really great, very readable and involving. Give ‘em a go.
I also read ‘Let The Right One In’. Having fallen in love with the film (blogged about it here), listened to the soundtrack, got the tee-shirt (kidding) I thought I should read the book which started it all off. It’s a good book but it’s also a prime example of a film improving on a book, in my opinion. Now the American version is in cinemas… I hear good things about ‘Let Me In’, it’s got a good pedigree… but I think I’ll stick with the original for now.
How about you? What are you enjoying this last month or so?
Oh, before you start... I believe it’s your round?
