My Week in Media: April 2
Everything I read, listened to, and watched
Hi, friends,
Every week, when I sit down to put this together, I think, oh, i hardly read/watched/listened to anything this week. And every week, as I actually compile the list, I’m like, good lord, when do i actually sleep?
Reading
Adult
Death of Jezebel, by Christianna Brand
The Seat of the Scornful, by John Dickson Carr
My wallet is in Serious Trouble AGAIN after discovering the British Library Crime Classics imprint—as if the American Mystery Classics imprint wasn’t going to be ENOUGH to keep me busy for literal years?
I’ll hopefully get around to talking about Death of Jezebel more at length soon, but in case I don’t: It was originally published in 1948 but feels incredibly modern in so many ways, the characterization is fantastic, and the plotting of the mystery is… magnificent? I made a list of every single book Brand wrote, and will absolutely make a point of hunting them all down.
Carr continues to RULE, and now Josh is reading him as well—I particularly loved the romance in this one, though had Feelings about the very end, in that it felt very Grobbie Robbie from Dirty Dancing to me.
Comics, Graphic Novels, and Manga
Goldie Vance: Larceny in La-La Land, written by Jackie Ball and illustrated by Mollie Rose
Razzle Dazzle Unicorn: Another Phoebe and her Unicorn Adventure, by Dana Simpson
Fence: Rivals, by C.S. Pacat and Johanna the Mad
Watching
Movies
The Boys from Brazil
Franklin J. Schaffner, 1978
Based on a book by Ira Levin! Starring Laurence Olivier, Gregory Peck, and James Mason, with an assist from Baby Steve Guttenberg! Involves a plot to CLONE HITLER??
From my Letterboxd log: Truly a perfect Sunday afternoon movie: bonkers cast and bonkers storyline, but a sedate, process-y execution... and somehow it all makes sense that things come down to old man Laurence Olivier and old man Gregory Peck rolling around on the floor, literally BITING each other.
Dark Star
John Carpenter, 1974
Me, watching this movie: i really don’t see Red Dwarf happening without this movie having been made
Me, reading wikipedia during a commercial break: HAAAAAA I AM A GENIUS AND ALSO KING OF THE WORLD
Captain Voyeur
John Carpenter, 1969
you know you’re flirting with being obsessive when you’re looking up student films on youtube, who even am i anymore
Body Double
Brian De Palma, 1984
OH MY GOD WHERE HAS THIS BEEN ALL MY LIFE
Scattered thoughts at Letterboxd.
The Criterion Channel has a whole Erotic Thrillers series running this month and I’ve only seen five of them—including Body Double—and I am SO. EXCITED. to watch the rest of them. Was I aware that Bill Condon had made a Southern Gothic starring Eric Stoltz, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Judith Ivey? NOPE. Am I going to watch it ASAP, preferably TONIGHT? YUP.
Television
Mrs Bradley Mysteries: A pox on the house of BritBox, who have the first one of these streaming, BUT NOT THE REST OF THE SERIES. I know it’s got to be a rights thing, but WHAT. A. BUMMER., because it’s SUCH a joy.
No one needed to convince me of the general radness of Dame Diana Rigg, but the SQUEAL I emitted the first time she looked straight into the camera and broke the fourth wall was probably audible clear across town. Fantastic hat game. If you’re a Miss Fisher person and haven’t seen these, chuck it on your watchlist for sure.
Father Brown: This is the 2013 one, not the 1974 one. I suspect the 1974 one is more faithful to the source material, but I haven’t read the original stories so I’m engaging with it as its own thing. (Which I try to do anyway.) Be ready to suspend some disbelief about how NON-judgemental Father Brown is, especially for the time period.
Even with some very dark elements, this one falls into the Old People TV category—along the lines of Midsomer Murders, which is also set in a gorgeous locale that is inexplicably a Hotbed of Crime—and is largely soothing.
Still watching: Doctor Who (still Pertwee, still ridiculous); South Side (still great)
Last week:
Listening
Books & Language
A Way with Words
If Books Could Kill
Art, Culture, and History
Who? Weekly
All Songs Considered
Pop Culture Happy Hour
ICYMI
Maintenance Phase
Podcast Playlist
News
NPR: Up First
BBC: Global News Podcast
TV/Movies
Again with This
Blank Check
You Must Remember This
How Did This Get Made?
Unspooled
Office Ladies
Audiodramas & Actual Play D&D
Improvised Comedy & Gentle British Banter
Short Stories, Storytelling, and Audiobooks
The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman, by Agatha Christie (Classic Tales Podcast, ep. 818)
Let me know if you came across any gems over the course of the week!
Talk soon,
Leila
Argh, I hadn't realized that only the first Mrs. Bradley mystery was available. I remember how sad I was when I found out they only did one season, but at least I got to watch all of those episodes. And I'd been thinking about revisiting, if only because I am now more familiar with Neil Dudgeon from his Midsomer Murders role, so it would be a kick to see him here.
And I also just read Death of Jezebel, but I think you liked it better than me. The British Crime Library books are still pretty good! My most recent discovery via them is E.C.R. Lorac/Carol Carnac, whom I'm kind of obsessed with at the moment.
And we definitely put Father Brown on for comfort viewing. Related, am pretty excited that the second season of Sister Boniface is available on Britbox soon!
Just the COVERS of those British books... *chef's kiss*