My Cultural Life - Ghosts of the Past

What's Up? 

Christopher Nolan's masterpiece The Odyssey has come in for criticism from the far right for casting Lupita Nyong'o as Helen of Troy; apparently arseholes, um Nazi historians are angry that it's 'historically wrong' to cast a black actor in this role, despite Helen of Troy being a made up character who isn't at all historical. In fact, black casting has been increasingly in the news over the last few years, with white supremacists getting angry about black people playing mermaids, Shakespearean characters, even er... black people. White supremacists don't want black or brown people cluttering up any of their entertainment.

The thing is, I get it, sometimes. I don't get why people [read: arseholes] get annoyed about fictional characters being portrayed by actors of a different colour, because that is simply racism and shouldn't be tolerated. I do, however, take issue with history being... ahem... blackwashed. I also almost take offense at the idea of people casting non-white people in roles where there simply wouldn't be a non-white actor because they're worried about the backlash. This doesn't happen very often, mind, it's not like I rage at the casting of a black actor the way some Reform spokespeople rage about black actors appearing in a large number of adverts on TV. I understand why they say things, I just don't think it's an argument that is worth getting into - mainly because it's difficult to try and make an argument against it without sounding like a racist.

In fact, the only thing I've seen in recent years that annoyed me was the fantastic Wicked Little Letters and the casting of Anjana Vasan as an Indian women police constable in a true story from the 1920s. Not only were there no women police officers then, there most assuredly weren't any Indian ones. It doesn't matter how good Vasan was as Gladys Moss, it simply wasn't historically accurate and I'm sorry, but that spoilt it for me. We rail against the establishment for rewriting history, yet we allow filmmakers to distort the past to appear to be 'woke' and, of course, by appearing to be 'woke' they then get accusations of being woke from people who are racist rather than sticklers for historical accuracy. I could have lived with the changing of Jesse Buckley's character's Irish husband (in real life) into a black West Indian, but having a woman - whatever her race - as a police constable 30 years before the first women police officer was unnecessary and is just an open goal for racists and Reform voters.

When you get actual historical inaccuracies like this, it makes it so much easier for arseholes and racists to attack something like The Odyssey for casting a non-white person in a fictional character's role. I mean, there's even been annoyance about a Bostonian actor playing Odysseus and a bunch of white English and American actors playing Greeks. Also, don't forget that Leonard Bernstein's family were not only happy with Bradley Cooper playing him in a film, they praised his performance, despite the actor not being Jewish or gay, this didn't stop a lot of wankers raging against it... 

Oh For Fuck's Sake...

So, the other week, the wife was at work when a colleague said she'd been to the cinema the night before and seen a film called Backrooms. When she was asked what it was like, she said, "I wouldn't watch it again" and then added, "It had a really crappy ending." Now, I think that is a relative description, because I'm sure someone, somewhere will watch it again and also probably think the ending was great. That same person, or even persons, might think this is a great film and who am I to argue with them. After all, it's all a matter of taste...

Backrooms is about a place - possibly another dimension, or a decaying echo of the past recorded on a different level of consciousness. Or it's just a fucking awful film using a slightly off-kilter direction and sound scape to make the viewer think they are watching something strange, and, boy, is it strange, but not in a good way. Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Clark, the owner of a discount furniture store whose marriage has fallen apart, he's drinking, living in his own store and seeing a Norwegian shrink about his issues. He discovers an interdimensional doorway, in the store's basement, which leads to a never ending series of yellow rooms, each with odd things in them. He's also convinced there are other people there, people or things. Renata Reinsve plays Mary, his psychiatrist who also has had a strange life, which is touched upon. She goes in search of Clark and ends up in this weird yellow world. Very little happens; she's saved from a giant mutant pirate version of Clark by 'scientists' and then doesn't know what is going to happen. The end. That's one hour and 45 minutes of my life I'm never getting back. 2/10

Southern Gothic

I was about 30 minutes into The Skeleton Key when I realised that I'd seen it before, but a long time ago. There were things that just rang bells - John Hurt and especially Peter Sarsgaard - who rarely plays the good guy. The main problem I had with this 'Saturday night' movie was it had a lot of promise but fell a little flat as far as the scares were concerned. This was a hoodoo thriller with an enormous twist at the end that, to be fair, I'd forgotten about, but didn't exactly make me think I'd watched anything other than a relatively generic 'ghost' story. Kate Hudson wasn't bad as the girl uncovering wonky doings in an old southern mansion, but I felt she was exploited a little because it was Kate Hudson and getting her baps out was possibly expected. It was okay, but had some massive plot holes and an obvious red herring. 5/10

Ancient Reeves

When we discovered that Holidays in the Danger Zone: Meet the Stans was 23 years old it put so much into perspective. George W was still US President; it was only two years after 9/11 and the people on the first of the two episodes we watched were all talking about the recent fall of the Soviet Union. Oh and Simon Reeve looked like he'd just recently been born... The first of these two 2003 documentaries featured Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, both bleak and unforgiving countries that had much of their soul and culture ripped away by the Soviets, but had grown to be more trusting of Russians than anyone else. I said to the wife, it would be fascinating if Reeves were to revisit these documentaries in the next few years to see how much has changed.  

The second part of this two part look at the Stans features Uzbekistan and Tajikistan and these are two far more scary countries than the first two. In 2003 Uzbekistan was more like the old USSR and there was a real feeling of jeopardy for Reeves and his crew, while Tajikistan, which was one of the poorest countries in the world when this was made, was a contradiction in terms, with a country full of very rich drug barons side by side with people on $5 a month. However, while the Tajiks were poor, they were incredibly hospitable towards the film crew and towards westerners in general, whereas none of the other countries were. It was an interesting look back on a past that probably is no reflection on these four countries in 2026 - but we may never find out.

Triple Bollocks

Oddly enough, most of the reviews I read about Triple Frontier said very much the same thing as I will say about it; it starts very well and then pretty much loses it about halfway in. A group of ex-CIA operatives go on a private mission to rid South America of one of its worst drug barons and steal as much of his money as they can and keeping it for themselves. Starring Oscar Isaac, Ben Affleck, Charlie Hunnam, Pedro Pascal and some other bloke, it literally lost its way and the way it was written, with Affleck's character acting like he was written by two people who didn't know what the other had written. The story was an example of how everything that can go wrong does go wrong and by the end I just couldn't wait for it to finish. 4/10

Dragon Lanced

Yawn... This week's House of the Dragon was on TV on Monday night. There were more dragons in it and some other stuff. It seems to be a race to the bottom: which monarch is worse than the other? While the old regime, or what's left of it, goes around being shits to the poor people of Tumbleton, the new incumbents in Kings' Landing are weeding out insurrection by being horrible to everyone, thus fostering more insurrection, I've no doubt. Basically, if you're not a royal or friends with one you are cannon fodder, unless you are Aegon, who is having to sift through shit and kiss the feet of his underlings to ensure he's not killed for being a cock. Oh and Matt Smith's daughter has undergone a drastic transformation as she tries to keep her wild dragon in check.

Spaceba Comrade

Anna Maxwell Martin has no problem looking her worst for whatever role she's playing. She does vile horrid bitch so well, you wonder if any of her real life friends actually like her, for fear she might knife them or something. In the For All Mankind spin-off series Star City, she plays a Soviet hatchet woman, who is in charge of security and ensuring that sedition doesn't happen and if it does, making sure that whoever does it doesn't do it again. Rhys Ifans plays the head of Star City - the Russian NASA - although he's not allowed to really be in charge and the CCCP don't want anyone knowing who he is or what he's done. This first series seems to be set in 1969, telling the story that was happening in the background of the first season of For All Mankind; it's a little disconcerting because all the Russians have colloquial English/Irish accents, but all the writing is in Russian, but it's suitably bleak and harrowing as we get to know, in the opening episodes, the main players in this alternate history alternative view...

Cartoon Bollocks

While England were being knocked out of the World Cup, we decided to watch the 2024 remake of Road House, the film which originally starred Patrick Swayzee, who was replaced in this by Jake Gyllenhaal - showing just how far this one time A list actor has fallen. I only really wanted to see this because it had the fabulous Jessica Williams in it, but her role was less substantial than you would have thought, given she was the owner of said Road House and Gyllenhaal's employer. The thing is, for the opening hour this wasn't a bad movie; it was most definitely not terribly serious, but it was fun, then Connor McGregor was introduced and it took a significant turn for the worse. It really was comic book stuff, with staged fights, dodgy villains, over the top action sequences and corny dialogue and while it was a far better way of spending the evening - I could have been watching my first full game of the World Cup - I think I would have preferred a visit to the dentist (which I needed). 4/10

Sweets For My Sweet

Just last week I was saying how, for such a short series, they manage to cram so much into Sugar and while this week was no exception, it did feel like this was one of those 'filler' episodes, despite a lot happening. John manages to subvert the crooked cops from what they thought they were doing, while doing some introductory research into the cactus guy who seems to be working with the dodgy senator from the first series and spend an entertaining evening with Charlotte (who I still think is more than just a potential love interest). The interesting thing about Charlotte is she's played by Laura Donnelly and it's quite a remarkable transformation from the woman who made her name in such things as Outlander, The Nevers and Werewolf By Night - it's taken me four and a half episodes to realise this. It's still a classy TV show even if this week felt - oddly - like it was not going anywhere, even if it covered a lot of ground.

What's Up Next?

I suppose this coming week is going to be dominated by what Andy Burnham does in his first week as PM and how many minutes the press are going to give him before they start digging the knives in. Burnham might not be as left wing as some of us would hope for, but he does seem to be a step in the left direction - at the moment. I'm being quite reticent about his anointment as Supreme Leader and hope that he has the balls and the backbone to stand up to the likes of Trump and even the Clacton Fuhrer, who is apparently either neck and neck or behind Count Binface in the polls. Oh we can pray and keep everything that can be crossed crossed. As I said to the wife, anything less than an increased majority is going to be seen as a massive defeat for the Fag Ash Fuhrer and a defeat would be the end of him and likely the end of Reform. I'm betting Kemi is praying for a miracle.

TV has more of the above, while films is a dwindling resource - I still have about 40 to watch, the problem is finding the motivation to watch them, or a willing wife who will put up with some of my choices...

As the heatwave finally wanes and we're faced with a week of actual old skool summer - but still no rain - will I manage to keep my shorts on?

My Cultural Life - Food, Glorious Food

What's Up? 

Laila Cunningham, that's what. In a week dominated by massive right wing twats, this Reform candidate for Mayor of London has to be one of the most awful people I have ever seen on television. Shouty, offensive, immovable, not prepared to allow others an opinion and absolutely full of the most rancid bullshit I've ever heard spouted from a would be politicians mouth.

She appeared on Newsnight on the day her Fuhrer resigned from parliament only to call a by-election so he could stand in it again, as some kind of parliamentary publicity stunt, which appears to have backfired. The Clacton Fuhrer has done this to postpone a Parliamentary investigation into the awful lot of money he was gifted before he decided to stand as an MP in one of the most deprived and racist areas of Essex. None of the other major political parties are running, so the Clacton Fuhrer's Nige versus the establishment gimmick is now Nige versus Count Binface - seriously; if you haven't been watching the news then maybe you should because if you think the UK's future fascist dictator is a decent man, you'll soon be educated into seeing how wrong you are, or maybe how nasty and racist you are for thinking he's a decent man.

Anyhow, back to Cunningham, who is an attractive woman until she opens her mouth, then you can see her for all her nasty, self-interested, whataboutery viciousness. Jeez, she literally took over Newsnight, talking over everyone, shouting at them, trying to change the narrative away from her boss's behaviour by doing that old right wing playbook attack of 'But what about blah?' She refused to answer any questions, which suggests she'd make a great minister, but instead of staying placid and even tempered she glared and scowled at the other guests - a Times journalist and Hannah Spencer of the Green party, who at one point actually started laughing at Cunningham (who claimed the Clacton Fuhrer was one of the most honest people she'd ever met), before half-heartedly apologising. If the Reform candidate had a knife, Spencer would have been stabbed to death.

Perhaps this is why Reform is popular (amongst the idiots of society) because they're just shouty angry imbeciles who reflect the anger of ignorant racists across the country? One thing is sure, if Cunningham becomes mayor of London, then expect all manner of purges from foreigners to freedom of speech. Reform is no longer just the Clacton Fuhrer's platform for hatred, there are other far worse nutters in that party. Be afraid, be very afraid...

Just Glorious

You will laugh. You will wipe away tears. You will wonder how a television programme could be so absolutely fucking wonderful. The final season of The Bear is one of the greatest seasons of television I have ever watched; it is almost televisual perfection. I'm slightly lost because there won't be any more. I remember season four coming in for a lot of criticism; apparently it wasn't as good as other seasons, but that's bullshit. It was a season that gave us some meat to flesh out these bones we'd grown to like without really knowing much about them outside of the kitchen (from hell). This final season, of which seven of the eight episodes take place over one day, was the soup that came from all that stock; it was the real lamb in the authentic kebab; it was the finished dish. From the disasters of their building falling apart around their ears to the denouement, which will fucking break you in two with joy, this has been so emotional. Watching Richie become the absolute boss of a maître de to Sydney finally coming of age; to Sugar discovering how to be happy again to Carmy realising that as much as he loves cooking, his life belongs somewhere else now...  

Fuck, this was so good... Let me tell you something; back in the 2000s, there was this dodgy Indian restaurant called Pooja; it was on the edge of a run down industrial estate in Wellingborough and had questionable migration issues. It was the best Indian restaurant I've ever eaten at and they did a dish called Aloo Baingan - a potato and aubergine curry - and it was and will probably always be the best thing I have ever put in my mouth. Pooja closed down and we then moved away from the area and I will never have that experience and that taste again. I have the memory of it and I will have the memory of The Bear, because both have been so very important to me in my now long life. If you get the chance watch this TV show, mainly because you will never, ever, get the chance of eating the Aloo Baingan I loved so much.

LA Law

There's a constant problem with something as good as Sugar and that is writing a review every week that doesn't spoil it for people who aren't up to speed with it. I can wax lyrically about how it's a love letter to film noir or how our protagonist is just the nicest guy in LA, or even how he can wander into the most dangerous of situations and yet hardly ever feel threatened, but without specifics it's difficult to tell you what it's about. This week answered a question and also left us in a weird situation of wondering just what this season is about given Danny Moon's brother is no longer missing... Yet, it also feels like we've barely scratched the surface of that particular thread while expanding in other directions of this surreal and dreamlike detective series. Colin Farrell oozes class, his supporting cast all do exactly what is expected of them and yet one wonders if the current main story is just a garden path for a bigger, wider reaching, real story. Superb.

In this week's second episode of the double bill, a major question appears to be asked - is there a red herring hidden in one of the subplots or is something wider reaching going on under John's nose. We also discover that life outside of Earth's atmosphere is peaceful, with a code of ethics and the core principle of 'thou shalt not kill,' which, of course, makes John's life as a PI, on Earth, all the more ironic and interesting. There's a lot going on in this series, which considering it's made up of eight less than half hour episodes is a lot of bang for your buck, yet it manages to satisfy you every week.

Ruling

Rhaenyra's now in charge and by God she's going to do a good job, except it's a lot tougher than she expected. King's Landing is in a mess, the crown has no money, there's no food, people are making demands of her now she's queen and she doesn't really know what to do unless it's what a Targaryen always does, which is go mad. There's a bit of subterfuge afoot as James Norton's character appears to have pulled a fast one on Matt Smith and yet again I couldn't wait for it to be over so that we're closer to the end of the series. Remind me, why am I watching this? Oh, I'm talking about House of the Dragon...

American Idiots

I have to say that American Animals wasn't exactly what I thought it would be; it's a curate's egg of a heist film because it's part documentary, part docudrama and a wee bit strange, especially when the real life crosses over into the adaptation. Barry Keoghan and Evan Peters are the two main stars; the former plays art student Spencer, while the latter is sports scholar Warren. Between the two of them they come up with a plan to steal rare and priceless books from the college library in what, on paper, seems like a walk in - walk out - no one gets hurt - easy raid, but we're talking about two college kids with their two equally not criminal friends who plan to do a robbery that doesn't really go according to plan and ends up with them getting into a lot of trouble. Despite it's very strange tone, this felt a little over long and the thing I was most impressed with was Keoghan's American accent in this 2018 movie, given the film he made this year, where he was supposed to be a Yank, his Irish accent kept slipping through. 5/10

Deadend & Pulverise

I can't remember what I wrote originally and I can't be arsed to go back two years to find out, but on rewatching Deadpool and Wolverine all I can safely say is there's about 20 minutes of this film that were enjoyable, the rest... not so much. The problem with Deadpool films (and there's only been three) is when it's funny it's great, but then it isn't. It's a funny concept that loses itself when you try and add a story to it. The character and therefore the movies work as comedy vehicles and because of the fourth wall breaking, reverential dialogue and sleazy sex jokes adding a story, however slight, renders it moot.

My biggest problem with this film is it simply isn't very good, at least it stops being good once it goes on its quest and then it's Mad Max with dodgy villains and loads of unnecessary bollocks - in this case, all the Deadpools and why they're targeting 'our' Deadpool. That was one of the many things in this film that made no sense. While we're on the subject of nonsensical, what about the reason for this specific Wolverine being the worst one? What I struggle with the most is how it made so much money at the box office; it would have made a great half hour one-off episode on the Disney+ channel. Why the relatively poor choice of defunct heroes? Jennifer Garner's Elektra felt like a real barrel scraping moment; Wesley Snipes as Blade felt clever, but he only really had one decent line. Channing Tatum's Gambit had his moments, which is why he's been resurrected for the upcoming Avengers movie and Chris Evans as a foul mouthed Johnny Storm simply wasn't on screen long enough. 

I did have a few LOL moments, but the majority of them were in the opening 18 minutes, the moment Matthew McFadyen appeared it quickly went downhill and Emma Coren's Cassandra Nova was nihilistic without really having a reason to exist. It was simply lots of stuff put together with barely any glue to hold it together; in fact giving this a 5/10 feels like I'm over rating it... 

Goodbye Blackberry Way

The true story behind the creation, development and hyper expansion of a mobile phone doesn't, at first glance, exactly make you think 'great movie material' but Blackberry is considerably better than you might think. Jay Baruchel plays Mike Lazaridis - the man who developed the groundbreaking mobile device and Glen Howerton as Jim Balsillie, the man who took the nerds and turned them into one of the most lucrative companies the world had ever seen, even if how he did it broke a few rules. This is a funny and yet gripping film about a bunch of nerds who create something so big, both culturally and financially, but be allowed to be mismanaged by a clever and utterly dislikeable man. It's been on Film4 just recently and will probably hang around for a while, so it's worth checking out if you get the chance. 8/10

Fiction Stranger Than Truth

Season two of Jack Ryan has been a little more complicated than season one, but it still has been quite compelling, even if some of it feels forced... The main story is about a corrupt Venezuelan president who is up for re-election while being involved in some dodgy mining business in the jungle... or is he? This is a real globe trotting series with Jack in Venezuela, London, New York and everywhere in between. John Krasinski has added a beard to his repertoire and Wendell Pierce's Jim Greer has a heart condition, but it's essentially loose cannon genius analyst Ryan uncovering some dodgy dealings which, this time, result in the death of one of his close personal friends. While this series appears to follow directly on from the last, there's noticeable missing characters - such as Abby Cornish's girlfriend and doctor. This time around there's more action and double crossing, but it begins to feel a little ... grey by the time we get to the final few episodes. This has not been as good as the first series, even if it has had some truly shocking moments; however it's still quality TV and has a slew of guest stars, such as the late Anthony Head, Neil Stuke and Noomi Rapace.

What's Up Next?

I'm having a headache with Facebook at the moment. I don't know if it's just not working very well for PC browsers any longer; if my PC simply can't handle all the extensions I've got (none of which seem to do what they claim to do) or if my PC just needs replacing with something newer and quicker - which opens a can of worms I really don't want to go anywhere near at the moment, but will probably have to at some point.

The tennis will be over by this time next week and the World Cup down to its final couple of matches (but the Scottish football season will kick off just as next week's blog is hitting the real world) and the bleedin' Commonwealth Games will be starting - there's no escaping sport sometimes...

We have some old TV to watch; a couple of very early Simon Reeve series that we haven't been able to find (until now), the usual next episodes of stuff we're ploughing through and the usual 'whatever we watch you're going to hear about' stuff.

As always...

My Cultural Life - Loads of Grief Dragons

What's Up?

I do wish people would apply logic to some of the nonsense they hear and believe. We're currently in a strange situation that I like to call Schrödinger's Russia - where the former Soviet Union is simultaneously struggling to win the war in Ukraine while likely to attack other, well-armed, European countries by 2030. How does that even work?

Apply some logic here; we've been told in recent weeks that Russia is now not winning the war with Ukraine; that the country is running out of money, food is scarce, the people are losing faith in Putin and they're beginning to seek a way out of the war that has lasted over four years. Yet we're also told that the UK has to spend more money on defence because NATO believes that in 2030 Russia is likely to attack the UK. What with? Empty food cartons and bad language?

Remember Edwin Starr? He was the guy who said, 'War, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing, say it again...' Okay, 'War, what is it good for? Making defence contractors loads of money, shit loads of money; that's what it's good for and that's what is going to happen'. We're being gaslighted into believing that we're headed for a war that by the logic applied to the two narratives is going to happen but can't happen because Russia can't afford it...

26 years ago, the world was safer than it had been for a century, someone flies some jet planes into the Twin Towers and suddenly 25 years later we've got a warmongering leader of the free world and Europe is so scared that this orange Shitler won't help us we're having to forsake welfare and road fixing to ensure that we have enough weapons to fight a threat that simultaneously is and isn't there...

You couldn't make this shit up if it wasn't already made up. The largest corporations in the world are arms manufacturers and like our anything but philanthropic billionaires, they want more money to create more things to kill people and pile huge sums of money into the media to convince us that our freedom is at risk from a country that can barely afford to feed itself any longer.

A Comic Book Tale

Probably the film pick of the week (it's only Tuesday when I write this) has to be the short but almost perfectly formed People Places Things from 2015, starring Jemaine Clement, Regina Hall and Jessica Williams. It tells the story of a moderately successful graphic novelist whose marriage falls apart - without any real warning - and how he bounces back from it with the help of his twin 6-year-old daughters, one of his students (because he teaches to supplement his income) and her mother, who he ends up dating. It's genuinely funny, touching and awkward, with some great performances and a simple idea well executed. If this ever crosses your path, grab hold and give it a watch, it's really good 8/10 

Game of Tears

After last week's bloodbath, this week's House of the Dragon was all about grief and becoming queen of the world. It seems they've upped the dragon count in this series, the big buggers are never off the screen. Matt Smith goes around chewing up the scenery and Rhys Ifans makes a quick reappearance before being separated from his body. Again, the lack of empathy or interest in most of the characters means that I didn't really give a shit about any of them, nor will I as the series goes on, although I'm slightly intrigued by the Targaryen cousin who has managed to tame her own wild dragon and now hasn't got a clue what to do... 

Not Over

Welcome to Wrexham has been renewed for THREE more seasons, taking it through to 2029 and making me feel a little silly to suggest this would be the last. That's not to suggest there wasn't an air of finality about it, but perhaps I just misread disappointment as an ending. The finale of season five was about failure and took us full circle back to the end of season one when Wrexham missed out on a play-off out of the National League by one point. The biggest problem I have is because anyone who has watched this programme now follows the club's progress, nothing feels interesting when there isn't something to celebrate at the end of it.

Sweet Smells

Sugar is a joy to the eyes. A love letter to LA through a skewed lens and the eyes of an alien whose superpower is being nice to people. Colin Farrell is an A list actor who makes this 'hard boiled detective' series such a wonder to behold. As he searches for the brother of upcoming prize fighter Danny Moon, his search takes him to the seedier parts of the sprawling city, into a place where danger doesn't recognise nice people. Sometimes this show puts detective work in the background, but this week it really is the backbone of an episodes that ends with a massive shock and the question of how John Sugar is going to keep his secret if this pans out the way it should. Excellent stuff, the highlight of my week.

Over and Over Again

A film that has sat on the FDoD for almost a year is the 2025 lo-budget sci-fi thriller Redux Redux - a multiverse story about a vengeful mother travelling to different realities to murder the serial killer who killed her daughter. I've got to be clear about this movie; it has some dodgy acting, there are huge plot holes in the story - from how she manages to move the machine that transports her from one reality to another, to how come many years haven't passed given how many versions of her daughter's killer she's offed and the fact she has to wait a week to kill him to steal his wages to ensure she can continue to kill him... But, apart from those things and the slightly naff Terminator style soundtrack, it's actually not a bad film; it keeps you tuned in and it has an interesting twist, so all the faults tend to fade out. 6/10

American Nazis

It's funny how a film that's almost 30 years old can be contemporary and topical, but American History X is both. Made in 1998 and starring Edward Norton, it's the tale of a white supremacist who ends up doing time for killing two black hoodlums trying to steal his car and gradually discovers that his racism is misplaced, so on his release he tries to change his brother from following the same path as he did. It is a vile, violent and depressingly tragic movie that feels like little has changed, maybe it's even got worse in the USA. The acting feels a little forced, maybe the script is a little too polished, but in general it's a visceral and unpleasant high quality film. 7/10

Love and Grief

I was convinced less than ten minutes into Miss You, Love You that it must have originally been a play and while I haven't yet confirmed that by the end of it I was convinced it had to be. The reason is because it's largely a two hander about a women - Allison Janney - whose second husband has just died and the man who has come to help her through the initial process of the funeral - Andrew Rannells - who just happens to be the PA of her son, who won't be attending the funeral. It all sounds rather depressing and funereal, but despite the huge amount of words and exploration of the two principle characters' psyches, it's actually quite an entertaining film. This doesn't pan out the way you think it's going to and there's two stories behind the façade that we eventually learn about. What this movie really is about is grief, not just for a dead loved one, but also for a lost childhood, a failed romance and the sacrifices that are made to make other people happy, even if they make you unhappy through doing them. 6/10 

The Boss

This is going to be a short week because it's Quiz Night on Friday and therefore our week of viewing is cut short. To finish this week off, we decided to finally start watching the final eight episodes of the truly magnificent The Bear, and what an opening two parts we were treated to. The opener - just 17 minutes long [short?] was the aftermath of the final episode of season four - when the clock ran down on their time and uncle Jimmy's time ran out. This, like so many other of the season openers, was stupendous as Chicago is hit with a series of torrential rain storms that show up what a terrible state the restaurant is in from a building's point of view and while I know nothing about this final season, I can guess that this entire season is going to take place over just one day. 

As everything is ruined by the drains overflowing, Syd and Carmy have to try and come up with a way of keeping the restaurant going even though they have no money and Jimmy is going to pull the plug. The staff are all frantically looking over their shoulders as unemployment beckons and Richie - who has been involved in a car accident - seems to have become some kind of organisational guru and is the only member of the team who can see the light at the end of a shit-filled tunnel. As usual this is extraordinary television; arguably the best thing on the small screen.

Dragon Slayers

It's been ten years since Joe Hill's last novel (the execrable The Fireman), so I didn't have a lot of hope for King Sorrow, a book about an imaginary dragon brought into this world to deal, initially, with some bad people from the other side of the tracks. Unlike his father (Stephen King), Joe seems to shy away from prolific and for once having taken almost a decade to write this tome (it's almost 1000 pages long) it seems to have paid off, that's because King Sorrow is a cracking read. It's set in his father's universe, with nods to a number of his books from The Dead Zone to one of his short story anthologies. This story is set across 30 years of a group of six friends' lives and ties the dragon they summon to a number of actual disasters. It would be fair to say that much of Hill's writing is massively influenced by his father and that isn't such a bad thing; this particular story is split into five 'books' and each one is different from the previous in the way the story is told. It is the best thing Hill has ever written - but there was a very low bar, to be honest - and I think you can excuse the dodgy set up and the less than convincing conclusion, but you also have to realise that this is a story that not only has a dragon in it, but also trolls, magic swords, imaginary serial killers and a truly evil tech bro.

What's Up Next?

More of this offensive World Cup, that's for sure. Why offensive? Well, given how corrupt FIFA is and its seemingly obvious desire to ensure that as many teams it wants progress to the latter stages as possible, you can almost excuse all the new rules placed to hinder the game rather than progress it... Look, I hate any international football competition that has FIFA's grubby mitts any where near it. They should not exist; there should be a new world footballing organisation that has the best interests of the game at its core, rather than that Trump loving snake oil salesmen Infantino spouting as many lies as his 'good friend' the orange Shitler...

Anyhow...

The Bear will be concluded; there will be more Sugar (possibly a double bill) and more overwrought dragon nonsense. Our viewing will not be governed by the shite football competition nor the other people hitting balls around on grass with bats or rackets. RAH!