Very disturbing indeed.
We watched Hallow Road with Matthew Rhys and Rosamunde Pike last night, a very well-done, creepy thriller with fab acting from both. 2/3 of the movie are set in the car, with both of them on the phone with their daughter. Recommend.
Also, another episode of the HBO show Neighbors — more mind-boggling drama, this time involving a former senator. Wow. People are cray.
Lastly, a fabulous new documentary (also on HBO) about bowlers. Greatly enjoyable, even though I myself only bowled for maybe 4 years or so in my yout’.
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When I saw this title in our TV guide screen thingy, I first thought it was some sort of documentary on a Din Tai Fung opening in the Midwest.
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I’m only very randomly hep to modern acronyms, and kept thinking it needed an M & an A, à la Dan Savage’s creation 
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I’d love to know what you’re talking about. His humour was edgy to be sure, but what he brought that I found fascinating was a reflective angle in which he was less concerned about the subject because his attention was to the form. I’m not excusing this (he was as careless about other perspectives as many cishet white men are) but the approach felt different than the bullying that is part of other standup.
However, if you are referring to the allegations from other female comedians, that was depressing AF. This has really be the depressing thing even if I was aware (as a woman) how prevalent this was, it still is sad. I really enjoyed his work in ways I know I need to rethink. At least Gervais was troubling to me for much longer than he was to others-- his humour was mostly bullying, but only worked when directed at celebrities. And with Louis CK I heard the rumours earlier but even then had started to go off him because there was a sense that he was doing something with his ostensibly “I know what women struggle with” humour that felt somehow self-aggrandising and silencing (“aren’t I great for noticing?”) and which now also looks like an alibi.
It took both of us into the evening to remember what on earth we’d watched last night.
Turns out we binged all of Vanished with Kaley Cuoco. Entertaining enough to do so, but the cinematic (and I use this term in the broadest sense possible) equivalent of a glazed donut.
A sweet indulgence that is entirely forgettable. Once we remembered it, we also hated the ending 
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I finished watching both seasons of The Artful Dodger on Hulu. It was very entertaining. David Thewlis was great.
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Trying to get through second season of Drops of God but it’s a struggle. Pretentious and just trying to hard to find a plot line. Watched the second to last episode of Acapulco also on Apple and I have to say that I have found that show delightful and funny and heartwarming. Nice entertainment.
And finished up the evening on hdclump watching Great British Menu and two final welsh chefs battling it out to go to the banquet. Great cooking and none of the ridiculous challenges on American cooking shows and less well known chefs, but very hardworking and talented.
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Last night I saw Ellen Kuras’ 2023 film Lee about war correspondent Lee Miller. She was born in the US and began her career there as a model but moved to Paris in the 1920s to pursue a career as a photographer. She began her photography career as a fashion photographer but WWII broke out so she was hired by British Vogue to cover the war. Her most notable assignments were covering the nurses and the cattle trains that transported the Jews to the Nazi concentration camps. Both stories were difficult to watch. I would love to know more about her (how her war experience affected her, what direction her career took after the war, etc.) but it’s a two hour movie so they just focused on a specific aspect of her career. Kate Winslet did a wonderful job of portraying Lee Miller and I have now been inspired to learn more about this incredible woman.
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Watched the second episode of Rooster. Marginally better than the first. H likes it, so I guess I’m stuck with it.
We tried watching Blue Moon with Ethan Hawke. Great cast n 'at, but I was starting to get irritated and annoyed by his endless monolog about 10 min in. I thought he was never going to shut up.
He still hadn’t by what felt like an hour into the movie, so we turned it off. Nope.
Tried a new (to us) show on Prime last night - Sprung. Really liked it. It’s from the guy who made My Name is Earl and has a similar ensemble quirky vibe. Martha Plimpton is a trip!
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It grew on me especially when Richard Rodgers showed played by the excellent Andrew Scott. I googled and Ethan Hawke was playing someone who was 5 ft in real life so they had to do a lot of camera work for that!
He showed up before we bailed. Couldn’t save it for me.
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I just finished watching the first season of Malpractice on Hulu. I thought it was excellent, and highly recommend it. It started as a malpractice case and turned into a huge conspiracy. There are only 5 episodes. I am looking forward to watching the second season, which is also 5 episodes, with a different cast.
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So here’s a few shows I’ve watched that might not be accessible to you (I’m in the UK) but do keep an eye you. The yanks have learned about Taskmaster, after all:
Dinosaur : Set in Glasgow, Dinosaur follows autistic palaeontologist Nina (played by co-creator Ashley Storrie) as she deals with challenges and upheavals to the routine she prefers (in S1 her sister is getting married to someone the family doesn’t really know; in S2 there is a development on the story of Nina’s romantic and professional life). It is funny and sweet. There is something really lovely about this not being about what it means to live with a disability, but living life and what that looks like from the perspective of an autistic person. On BBCiPlayer now.
(Relatedly, there’s a short film called Mind My Mind (Floor Adams, 2019) that is a very sweet and funny depiction of an autistic man’s innerworkings as his brain makes sense of a budding possible romance.)
Also on BBCiPlayer, We Might Regret This just dropped its criminally sort second series. It’s really an excellent show about a Canadian tetraplegic artist/actor Freya (played by show creator Kyla Harris) who has moved to London to live with her boyfriend (older, divorced, son possibly just as close in age if not closer). In S1 she explores hiring her somewhat chaotic best friend as her carer. The show becomes an exploration of intimacy and care and disability, but again, in ways that don’t make a person’s sole character trait “disabled”. S2 is fab as relationships are all further explored (if for TOO LITTLE TIME-- can you tell how angry I am?).
Continuing with BBC delights: I’m enjoying The Other Bennet Sister, an adaptation of the novel by Janice Hadlow that decides to take a closer look at Mary Bennet from Pride and Prejudice. It’s good fun and a nice way to recover a character that had been largely maligned in the books as dull and pedantic. (Yes, maligned might not be the right word, and maybe I’m already responding to a perspective that makes some of the characterisation seem unfair if not bullying. It’s very enjoyable and has people I like to see: Ella Bruccoleri (I’m partial to her for reasons I cannot explain), Richard E. Grant as Mr Bennett and Ruth Jones as Mrs Bennett. Five episodes have dropped and I’m not sure how the next five will arrive (in one go or one per week) but I’m looking forward to continuing.
And hurrah: Last One Laughing UK (Amazon, yes, I know…) has just started. I’m glad they split up the delivery because I consumed the first three episodes without even stopping. S1 was fantastic and S2 is continuing the momentum. I imagine it would be fun, even for those of you who don’t know the comedians tasked with trying to make each other laugh-- with the last one standing the winner. It’s just so good.
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We just started the 20th season of TM 
And still haven’t found the champion competitions anywhere, either. SADZ!
Other Bennett Sister released on BritBox on May 6.
thanks for the tip. LOL-UK S01 was a blast! looking forward to series 2.
We’ve been watching both Love Story-JFK Jr & Carolyn Bassett and The Last Thing He Told me. One episode left in Love Story and, although we’ve essentially enjoyed it, we’re kinda done with the melodrama of their relationship. Thoughts?
We liked the first season of The last Thing. He Told Me but are finding the second season (at Rp 3) very slow and wish it would get where it’s going. Did a quick search and didn’t see anything here on either show. .
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