Culture Week in Toronto and Stratford

It was a very enjoyable week that included a terrific book talk with one of my favourite thriller writers and a 2-day escape to the Stratford Festival to see 3 plays. I had to squeeze in my TV and movie addictions in the remaining available time:

Live on Stage at the Stratford Festival

Rocky Horror Show This wonderful musical has never been presented with more life and spirit. Great performances abound from all the major characters. The dance sequences are spectacular and the stage settings are great fun as we experience a rainstorm, bumpy car rides, a Transylvanian castle, mad scientist’s lab, etc.

An Ideal Husband This Oscar Wilde play is a little more serious than many of his comedies as it deals with a politician’s ethics as he is being blackmailed for using insider information to enrich himself. Beautiful costumes and terrific sets and set changes that are so magically done that the audience applauds.

The Music Man This wonderful Meredith Wilson musical from 1957 is given new life by a black leading man who manages to bring real soul to the part. Incredible dance numbers accompany each big show stopping number. Virtually every song is melodic and memorable. A tremendous salute to a simpler time in a simpler place (small town Iowa at the turn of the century).

Here’s what the NYTimes had to say about both the musicals:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/25/theater/rocky-horror-show-the-music-man-stratford-festival.html?smprod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share

Big Screen

Ocean’s 8 (feature film, 1 hr 50 min); delightful caper flick starring Sandra Bulloch, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Mindy Kaling, etc. Richard Armitage (Berlin Station, Strike Back) is the villain. James Corden makes a very humorous appearance as an insurance investigator.

Missionary Impossible: Fallout (feature film, 2hrs 27min); non-stop action as Ethan Hunt fights to stop an anarchist from destroying the world with a nuke. Great music and effects. Tom Cruise looks awfully good for a 59-year-old. Rebecca Ferguson, Michelle Monaghan, and Vanessa Kirby are the three femmes fatales. Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Alec Baldwin and Angela Bassett are all involved. Henry Cavill is big and muscular as the CIA agent Ethan is forced to partner with.

Book Talk

Daniel Silva at the Beth Tzedec. This wonderful evening at one of Toronto’s biggest and most beautiful synagogues featured a terrific interview with Silva conducted by the Toronto Star’s books editor and attended by 1000 admiring fans. Silva has written 18 novels featuring art restorer/Mossad agent Gabriel Allon as the hero. The novels are fast paced but also great character studies. They deal with situations torn from the headlines of terrorism, Russian espionage, etc. As a bonus for attending the Silva session, we all received copies of The Other Woman, his latest novel.

The Other Woman novel by Dan Silva; we’re back in the world of intrigue with Gabriel Allon and the Mossad. I have dived into the latest novel and am devouring it as Gabriel fights to clear his name after being framed by the Russians for murdering a defector.

Audible.com

Kompromat by Stanley Johnson We couldn’t resist ordering this comic political espionage novel when we found out it had been written by Stanley Johnson, father of Boris. Johnson has published 25 various fiction and non-fiction works and was an EU diplomat for much of his career.  The novel is a hoot to listen to as the narrator, Richard Attlee, manages to do a myriad of accents representing all the countries in the European Union plus Russian, American, Australian, etc. The novel deals with Russian interference in both Brexit and the US election. It is extremely silly in its farcical elements. Who would believe a US presidential candidate cozying up to the Russian president and having a listening device implanted in his body as a result? A real roman a clef that has great fun with all the politicians involved. Johnson pokes fun at his own son Boris as he describes his extreme ambition to become Prime Minister. A rollicking satire of current events.

My usual addictions

The Affair HBO

Dietland AMC

Preacher AMC

Succession HBO

Pose FX

Younger Streaming

Animal Kingdom Streaming

Queen of the South Bravo

Colony Bravo

Outcast HBO

The 100 The CW

Nashville W

All of the above are available on demand for catching up with your viewing.

Streaming

I Feel Pretty (feature film, 1 hr 30 min) This very silly movie stars Amy Shumer as an overweight young woman who bonks her head and becomes delusional about how ravishingly attractive she is. Cringe inducing comedy ensues. Kind of an interesting companion piece to Dietland  which is a much darker comedic look at issues of body image and fat shaming.

Blockers (feature film, 1 hr 30 min)Extremely silly teen comedy with a great cast (Leslie Mann, Ike Barinholtz, John Cena) that unfortunately is built around a painfully unfunny plot about parents trying to prevent their daughters from losing their virginity on prom night. Ouch! I’m still cringing with embarrassment for all the actors involved.

Junun (feature film, 54 min) This documentary from director Paul Thomas Anderson (Phantom Thread, Inherent Vice, The Master, There Will be Blood, etc.) is mesmerizing as it shows a collaboration between an Israeli composer, an Indian band and Radiohead musician Jonny Greenwood filmed in a historic fort in Jodhpur, Rajahstan, India.No narration, interview questions, or captions. Very little dialogue. The focus is on beautiful photography of the area and the power of the music.

Netflix

Binged on Seasons 1 & 2 of Bonus Family, a wonderful Swedish series about the joys and sorrows of blended families. Touching and funny.

Comic Relief

I am still glued to my political satirists including Stephen Colbert, Trevor Noah, Jim Jeffries, Samantha Bee, Sacha Baron Cohen (Who is America), and returning from hiatus tonight on HBO, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.

Moment of Zen

I’ll be recording my Sunday morning ritual, CBS Sunday Morning, today as we are headed out to meet longtime friends for breakfast.  I find this show both soothing and inspiring with its gentle profiles and human interest stories. Be sure to stay tuned for its final moment of nature to get your week ahead off to a great start.  It will make you feel happy to be alive.

Closing Words

It should be a great week to stay up at our place in Thornbury for our usual golf, mahjong, etc.  A dear friend’s band is playing at one of the local concert halls and we will attend a dinner there as well.  Stay cool and hydrated wherever you are.  Warm hugs to our friends who are dealing with medical issues.  Enjoy the week ahead.

 

Good weather for bingeing ahead…

This magnificent summer keeps simmering on. We’ve enjoyed lots of time around our pool and fire pit as each day and evening have been glorious. We’ve seen lots of longtime friends and enjoyed many terrific meals along the way. We’re hoping we get to participate in our scheduled golf this week, but if the rain that is forecast actually comes, we will be happy to have the rain on our lawn and garden.

Streaming

Tully (Feature film, 1 hr 35 minutes) What an interesting film this dramedy is! Charlize Theron plays a mother of two who becomes completely overwhelmed when her third baby comes along and she finally accepts her wealthy brother’s gift of a night nanny. The nanny is almost too good to be true, relieving the exhausted mom of the need to interrupt her sleep, cleaning the house, baking cupcakes, etc. The final part of the film takes a surreal twist that will leave you wondering what is real and what is fantasy. Totally original concept here.

Beirut (Feature Film, 1 hr 40 minutes) So boring! Surely Jon Hamm’s agent could have found him a leading man role in a more compelling film than this. The plot revolves around a former diplomat being lured back into the field to try and arrange an exchange for a captured US friend. Much better espionage/terrorist fare is readily available for TV in such series as Homeland, Counterpart, Deep State, Berlin Station, etc. PS English rose actress, Rosamund Pike is utterly wasted as Hamm’s local handler in Beirut.

Special Alert: Premiering Tonight on Bravo

Killing Eve (From BBC, 8 episodes in Season 1) Sandra Oh stars as an MI6 backroom analyst who jumps into the field as an operative to try and capture a female Russian assassin. Delightful black humour as the assassin begins to stalk her pursuer. I loved the first season of this series which is totally unique and original with surprising turns in plot and character. John Doyle of the Globe and Mail gives this series an enthusiastic review:

Killing Eve is a killer of a thriller and the unmissable summer series

Jodie Comer and Sandra Oh in Killing Eve.

BBC AMERICA

It’s here at last, one of the best, most acclaimed and sizzling series of the year. It’s here late and Canadian Sandra Oh is already Emmy-nominated for her starring role in it.

Killing Eve (Sunday, Bravo, 9 p.m.) is made for BBC America and made its debut there in April to sensationally good reviews. Presumably, Bell Media/Bravo got the rights but held on to it to replace The Handmaid’s Tale when that series ended. Such is strategy in Canadian TV.

Well, it is here and is it unmissable, a killer of a thriller with loads of dry wit and two brilliant performances. It has a unique tone, fun but anti-conventional, and a lot of you are going to love it.

 

Based on the Villanelle series of novellas by Luke Jennings, Killing Eve is adapted by Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who acts as an executive producer and writer of several episodes. In broad structure it’s a cat-and-mouse spy that might feel familiar. There’s a coolly efficient assassin murdering people in various European countries and an MI5 agent from Britain is tasked with finding the killer, stopping the murders and, if possible, figuring out what’s behind the killing spree.

Here, however, the assassin is a woman, Villanelle (Jodie Comer) and she is as evil as all get-out. Also stylish, versatile in her modus operandi, multilingual and fiendishly clever. What emerges immediately, as we see her flit about Europe from Vienna to Paris and Tuscany, is that she genuinely enjoys killing. Takes enormous pleasure in it. It delivers spasms of peak bliss. And this is not a matter of revenge against the patriarchy or such. This woman is just formidably cruel, a sinister sadist, fabulously well-dressed, who really likes inflicting pain. Would she help an elderly woman carry heavy garbage down the stairs? No, she just grins and smirks at the thought of the pain.

Meanwhile in London MI5 officer Eve Polastri (Oh), a down-to-earth woman with a slight tendency toward flaky humour, is wishing and hoping she gets to do real spy-catching work. Mostly she does mundane tasks and her skills as a criminologist are unrecognized. Along comes the Villanelle case.

Oh is already Emmy-nominated for her starring role in Killing Eve.

 

What is truly notable here is the jaunty tone and its integration with scenes of brutal murder. The MI5 we see here is like an office where the staffers are hungover from someone’s birthday party and the last thing they want to see is the glum boss who runs the Russia desk (Fiona Shaw) turning up with a difficult case to solve. But she does and all she’s got is a case of murder and the victim’s extremely drunk girlfriend in custody. How Eve handles all of this plays out as part farce, part brilliant detection and part common sense. The flavour of it all, meant to keep the viewer off-balance, is delicious.

It’s not giving away much to say that, initially, Eve messes up, big time. Then something happens that puts her and Villanelle on a collision course, and what a course it is to travel.

It’s important to note that Killing Eve isn’t merely great, addictive drama because roles usually given to men are made-to-measure for women here. The series has an emphatic visual impact, shifting from one gorgeous place to another but subtly taking us inside those places where something very rotten is going on. It could be human trafficking. It could be drug trafficking. There are beautifully made short scenes, icily confounding, that make this more than a thriller set in glamorous places.

Further, there is a wicked sense of humour at play. Eve is flaky but self-aware and whip-smart in her understanding of her own weaknesses. And, as it happens, so is the cool assassin Villanelle. These are two very layered characters engaging in something that only they understand.

There is fine pacing, too, as it seems like an adrenaline-fuelled thriller at first but then locates its rhythm in the ordinary and mundane. There’s a superbly chosen soundtrack, which anchors the Euro-trash music-video feel and, at the same time, it pauses to savour food and wine and the sheer pleasure of indulgence.

It’s a heady mixture, difficult to cook to perfection but here that is achieved. You can see why Oh got the Emmy nomination. She’s inhabiting fully and enjoying the weirdness of the character. Comer should have been recognized, too. Killing Eve is at once light, searing, goofy, funny and macabre. The must-see drama of the summer.

Continuing on Bravo

Picnic at Hanging Rock (6 episodes) I must confess, this series has turned into a total snooze fest for me. I’ve lost track of whether the agony is actually over yet. So disappointing, and strong evidence of why long form storytelling isn’t always a good thing.

Queen of the South (Season 3, 13 episodes) Suspense continues as Teresa continues her climb to the top of the drug trade in Texas.

HBO

Outcast (Season 2, 10 episodes) Bat shit crazy comic book based story of demonic possession in a small town.

Netflix

Bonus Family Netflix Original Series in Swedish with English subtitles. (2 seasons of 10 episodes per season). This delightful comedy series chronicles the ups and downs of blended families as children go back and forth between parents and step parents have to adjust to parenting someone else’s children.

How it Ends Netflix Original Film (1 hr 40 min) What an oddity this film is. There is some kind of cataclysmic event that has happened on the west coast of the US. A man (played by Theo James) tries to make a cross country car trip from Chicago to Seattle to find his fiancée and his future father-in-law (played by Forest Whittaker) accompanies him. So weird, as the two men keep encountering people out to steal their vehicle, gas, etc. over and over again.This post apocalyptic film is very lame and ends with a whimper.

The Women’s Balcony (Israeli feature film in Hebrew with English subtitles, 1 hr 36 min). This very sweet comedy chronicles what happens when an unscrupulous ultraorthodox rabbi takes over the congregation of a conservative Jerusalem synagogue after the women’s balcony collapses injuring the rabbi’s wife and causing the elderly rabbi to have a breakdown. The women of the congregation begin to rebel when they realize the young rabbi is instituting reforms that diminish their roles in the synagogue.

Showcase

Suits (Season 8, God knows how many episodes there will be). Mike and Rachel are gone; Rachel’s father takes over the firm; Katherine Heigl is now an unscrupulous partner. There is some sort of totally uninteresting corporate maneuver going on and I no longer care what happens to anyone on this show anymore. The work wardrobes of all the major female characters are hilarious as they appear in one outlandish cocktail outfit after another. As god is my witness, I will never watch Suits again!

Streaming

Younger (Season 5, 12 episodes) Oh how I love this delicious NYC based comedy as we watch Liza continue her astonishing masquerade as a 40-something passing as a 20-something in order to survive in the millennial dominated publishing world.

Animal Kingdom (Season 3, 13 episodes) Uh oh…Smurf (played ferociously by Ellen Barkin) is out of jail and she is mightily pissed off at her boys who have been exerting their independence. Smurf is extremely scary even when she’s not angry, so watch out….

W

Nashville (Season 6, 16 episodes) This show is about to ride off into the sunset with its series finale airing this week. All the storylines will be tied up and the melodrama will finally end.

HBO

Succession (11 episodes) Oh my, the Murdochs must be hating this story of a media dynasty seething with familial angst as the founder (Brian Cox) suffers a stroke and the family fights to succeed him.

The Affair (Season 4, 10 episodes) Curiouser and curiouser as each major character gets their own story arc and we have the story told from each character’s perspective in turn.

AMC

Preacher (Season 3, 13 episodes) Bat shit crazy comic book based series about supernatural goings on in the bayous of Louisiana.

Humans (Season 3, 8 episodes) The war between Synths and Humans comes to an explosive end. Many questions remains answered.

Comic Relief

We need our political satirists more than ever with Vlad and Trump showing off their bromance to the world. Colbert, Noah, Samantha Bee, Jim Jeffries are all performing a public service as they force us to laugh at the daily madness.

Closing Words

It’s finally overcast and drizzly today in Thornbury. It may change people’s plans to spend time outdoors, but I, of course, never have a problem finding a way to catch up with reading and viewing indoors. We are off to Stratford this week to see three shows, which include 2 musicals: The Music Man and Rocky Horror Picture Show; and the Oscar Wilde comedy, An Ideal Husband. We will stay overnight in a B&B with longtime friends and plans include a picnic on the Avon River and dinner out at our favourite spot pre-theatre, Keystone Alley.  Full disclosure here:  if I don’t concentrate on musicals and comedies at Stratford and Shaw, it becomes a very expensive nap for me, especially the post-lunch matinees.

Enjoy the week wherever you are and especially warm vibes go out to my friends dealing with medical issues.

Oops, I forgot my laptop…

OK, full confession.  In my haste to leave TO last week for a complicated morning before heading to Thornbury, I absent mindedly left my computer behind.  Hence, I am writing this blog from my husband’s gigantic desktop computer which is decidedly different and actually has a mouse (which I haven’t used in many years).  Anyhow, here goes:

Art in the City

Banksy Art Installation on Sterling Rd.

I may have overdone my intake of street art in the past week. From the heights of Agnes Varda’s film Faces Places (which is about taking street art to the villages of France and which really is a work of art), I watched the Academy Award nominated documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop (YouTube 1 hr 27 min) which is an introduction to Banksy and his fellow street artists. They are part of a tradition of outlaw street art. The current Toronto exhibition is controversial because Banksy is not associated with it. His former manager has organized it against Banksy’s wishes. It is very much in the capitalist tradition charging steep admission fees and even containing a gift shop to monetize Banksy’s work selling souvenirs in the form of gift bags, hats, knick knacks and posters. If you have a strong curiosity about street art, by all means go, but others may find it a little underwhelming. Interesting venue and I did enjoy the audio guide featuring the voices of the exhibition’s co-curators. I give it a meh rating.

On the Big Screen

Book Club Be afraid, very afraid of this romcom that is neither romantic or comedic. You will never get this 1 hr and 44 minutes of your life back. I went to see it because it’s playing at the rep theatre that is within walking distance of my home, and because so many of my friends found it amusing.  A totally implausible premise of 4 “older women” finding romance late in life. The Mary Steenburgen/Craig T Jones couple has the least amusing storyline, and,  horror of horrors,  it ends in a dance number. It made me shudder as it reminded me of the grand finale in Finding Your Feet, (1 hr 51 min), yet another film about older people finding love by dancing their way to happiness. Jane Fonda (who is 80 to Don Johnson’s 68 in real life) looks amazing except for her hands which appear to belong to a 90-year-old. Candice Bergen is a bit sad and pathetic as a pudgy judge who signs up for an online dating service. Diane Keaton is simply ridiculous as a nincompoop who falls in love with an airline pilot and moves to Arizona because she is bullied by her two nincompoop daughters. Unbearably lame storylines all. I hate films that have such contrived plots and characters.

Streaming

Chappaquiddick (1 hr 40 minutes) This dark film paints an extremely unflattering view of the Kennedy family and their circle as it tells the story of the Chappaquiddick tragedy. Jason Clarke is wonderful as a deeply flawed Ted Kennedy and Kate Mara brings the sad figure of Mary Jo Kopechne to life.

Netflix

Sacred Games (a Netflix Original series from India, but dubbed from Hindi into English and then subtitled as well, 8 episodes) I can’t believe I watched the whole thing. Mumbai is rife with corruption and gang violence and apparently only 1 Sikh officer is principalled enough to fight for good. Sartaj Singh, the honest cop says, “there’s no place for an honest man in India.” Addictive for me, but perhaps not to everyone’s tastes! Our hero is a bit overweight and not handsome in the usual sense.

Here is an article from The Daily Beast about the show which will give you more of a sense of its plot and locale:

Netflix’s Groundbreaking First Original Series from India Is a Bold, Bloody Thrill
‘Sacred Games’ twists and turns into a fascinating—and addictive—saga of gangsters vs. cops, set against the cultural conflicts and history of Mumbai.

On paper, Sacred Games, Netflix’s first Indian original series, sounds like any other network crime drama: there’s a mysterious gangster with a storied past, an honest cop fighting corruption in the force, and a determined young government worker hoping to make a name for herself; its story focuses on an intricate, high-stakes game between gangster and cop.
What makes the show different, however, is the fact that it’s Netflix’s first foray into Indian television. Set in the dense urban center of Mumbai and with mostly Hindi dialogue (a few exchanges do take place in English), Sacred Games is both distinctly Indian and a refreshing take on a genre long overdue for a facelift.
The show transcends the familiar gangster vs. cop cat-and-mouse chase, often the only saving grace of certain crime thrillers (ahem, True Detective), by enriching it with the fascinating cultural history of India from the 1960s onward. Sartaj Singh (Saif Ali Khan), a lowly police inspector and reluctant participant in his boss’s corrupt schemes, receives a cryptic phone call one night and is unwittingly drawn into a game orchestrated by gangster Ganesh Gaitonde (Nawazuddin Siddiqui).
A drug dealer and all-around thug, Gaitonde is wanted for scores of murders in Mumbai and leads Sartaj on a wild goose chase that ends with the inspector storming Gaitonde’s hideout. In phone calls, Gaitonde makes frequent references to Sartaj’s father, himself a respected policeman, and presents riddles threatening the end of days for Mumbai. After a final meeting face-to-face, in which Gaitonde boasts of his ashwatthama (or immortal) status and claims that all of Mumbai will be destroyed in 25 days, Gaitonde kills himself, leaving a stunned Sartaj to piece together the rest of the puzzle.
That may sound like season-finale material, but it all takes place in the series’ first episode. Subsequent episodes show Sartaj’s attempts to unravel Gaitonde’s mystery, with tantalizing flashbacks from Gaitonde’s past spliced in to reveal more and more about the murderer’s backstory. Born into the Brahmin caste, Gaitonde saw his mother killed in front of him after his father caught her with a lover. He fled to Mumbai, where, after a disastrous stint in a vegetarian hotel/restaurant, he joined the ranks of a prominent drug gang, killed the head dealer, and created a ragtag gang of his own in a quest to conquer Mumbai.
Foiling Sartaj’s efforts to unravel Gaitonde’s mystery is his corrupt boss, Parulkar (Neeraj Kabi), who officially removes Sartaj from the case, leaving him to conduct the investigation alone. And then there is Anjali (Radjika Apte), an intelligent and passionate RAW agent (India’s equivalent of the FBI) who’s determined to prove herself to her colleagues through her own investigation into Gaitonde’s past.
Sacred Games is strongest when it fully embraces the uniqueness of its setting; Mumbai is rife with culture and conflicts that fit intriguingly into the narrative. Flashbacks show the struggles of Gaitonde and other lower-caste members to get rich, oust local crime bosses and pay off officials, all while under then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s brutal “state of emergency.” Tensions between castes are prominent in all eras the show takes place in, as well as religious conflicts; a bereft Muslim woman searching for her son is forced from a police station; one officer says her son is not missing, he likely joined al-Qaeda or ISIS instead. Sartaj’s religion—he’s a Sikh—becomes the butt of several jokes, primarily by Hindu characters. These tensions, while fraught with violence, add yet more complexity.
Sacred Games recognizes that Indian history makes for rich backstory—and amazing television on top of that. It’s these glimpses into India’s past struggles as a nation, and its eventual growth into one of the most populous countries in the world, that gives Sacred Games the edge it needs. India’s history and class relations, are, of course, far more complex than the scope of Sacred Games can explore in full, but they’re welcome additions to the crime thriller genre nonetheless.
Not that the show must rely solely on its Indian background for intrigue; a compelling cast of characters and a captivating story keep it from falling flat. There’s still plenty of story left to churn through, too; Sacred Games is an adaptation of a popular novel of the same name by Vikram Chandra—nearly 1000 pages long, the first eight-episode season of Netflix’s adaptation only covers a small portion of the story.
With enough twists and turns to keep even the most weathered crime show veteran entertained, all while taking a fascinating glimpse into the complex culture and history of India, Sacred Games is long overdue, and proves that good crime dramas can take place anywhere. This sentiment can seem a little trite, but at a time when xenophobia is all too rampant, a show like Sacred Games is a reminder that thoughtful, complex portrayals of nonwhite people can occur across all genres—and make for damn good television, too.

The Kissing Booth (a Netflix Original film, 1 hr 45min) As much as I hated Book Club for its completely contrived unfunny broad comedy, I loved this teen romcom about a girl in love with her best friend’s brother. Great soundtrack too!

Alex Strangelove (a Netflix Original film, 1 hr 39 min) This sweet film is somewhat similar to Love, Simon as it’s a coming out film about an adolescent boy with incredibly supportive friends and family. Touching and delightful. Great soundtrack too!

Amazon

Goliath (Season 2, 8 episodes) I did finish the entire second season of Goliath despite the fact that I’m not a huge fan of Billy Bob Thornton. Great picture of LA corruption and crime.

PBS

Brimstone and Glory This breathtaking one hour 7 min POV documentary from Mexico is about the annual pyrotechnics festival in Tultepec. Featuring a tradition of the burning of the bulls where villagers run alongside exploding model bulls risking extreme injury to participate in this ritual. Jaw droppingly spectacular. Just this past July 42 people were killed in a series of explosions in this one industry town where many of the villagers make fireworks in their own homes. After the most recent deaths and injuries, the local government has called for a halt to fireworks production while an investigation takes place.

And all my other shows…

C.B. Strike (HBO), Pose (FX), Preacher (AMC), Dietland (AMC), Colony (Bravo), Queen of the South (Bravo), Picnic at Hanging Rock (Bravo), The Affair, Succession (both HBO), Nashville (W), Humans (AMC), Younger (TVLand), Animal Kingdom (Streaming), Sharp Objects (HBO).

New Show Alert

Just watched Whistleblower on CBS. Very much a 60 Minutes type show that focuses on stories of corporate malfeasance. Terrific first episode on a chain of dental offices in the US that manages to maim and kill and Bristol Myers Squibb that pays doctors to overprescribe its products.

Comic Relief

Jim Jeffries,Samantha Bee, John Oliver, Stephen Colbert, Trevor Noah all make me laugh at the events of the day.

Moment of Zen

CBS Sunday Morning is about to start and I eagerly anticipate its soothing and inspiring segments on pop culture, human interest, current events, etc.

Closing Words

It’s been another beautiful weekend in Thornbury where we saw good friends, entertained our younger son, and had some terrific meals.  The week ahead contains golf, mahjong, a rousing game of Trivial Pursuit with my fitness ladies and then a trip back north to Thornbury.  Shout out to my friends facing serious medical issues.  Enjoy another beautiful week, wherever you are.

Weekend in Toronto…

Although I love spending most summer weekends in Thornbury relaxing by the water, this has been a very special weekend in the city. We spent Friday evening in the home of a very generous patron of the arts. He hosted an evening in his home where we enjoyed the music of a string quartet that he sponsors along with some friends of ours. The music was divine and we were wined and dined in splendid style in his penthouse apartment with a rooftop terrace. We spent Saturday evening exploring our old haunts in the Bloor and Bathurst area, dining at the last remaining schnitzel house in the area, Country Style, and then seeing the documentary film Always at the Carlyle at the HotDocs theatre.

House Concert

The Eybler Quartet. What a treat to listen to a string quartet playing chamber music in a private home setting, which is the way chamber music was originally performed. Three of the quartet members perform with Tafelmusik and the fourth member performs in Boston. They performed pieces by Haydn, Beethoven and some of their lesser known contemporaries. The four virtuoso musicians performed with incredible energy and spirit. George and I subscribed to the Toronto Symphony for many years but never experienced musicianship at this level at such close range. A very special evening.

On the Big Screen

Always at the Carlyle (2018 documentary 1 hr 32 minutes). George and I have had an infatuation with the Carlyle Hotel in NYC since we spent a memorable evening there in the 1970’s listening to singer/pianist Bobby Short in the Cafe Carlyle. The documentary is very affectionate in its compilation of interviews with incredibly loyal staff and clientele. It depicts the grand hotel as a symbol of a level of service and elegance that hearkens back to a more genteel age. There are interviews with George Clooney, Harrison Ford, Elaine Stritch, Jeff Goldblum, Piers Morgan and numerous other famous and not so famous guests. There is touching archival footage of JFK and Jackie, Princess Diana and Will and Kate. It is a glimpse of a rarefied style of life that few ordinary people get to experience.

Here’s what the Globe and Mail had to say:

‘Always at the Carlyle’ Review: How This NYC Hotel Became a Timeless Hot Spot

Doc on famed, expensive Gotham-deco stop for one-percent recruits a who’s-who of celebrities to pay tribute to an institution

Peter Travers May 10, 2018 4:14PM ET

We know what you’re thinking: Why see a movie about a posh Manhattan hotel that most of us could never afford to stay in even for one night? It’s not just the fascination of watching how the one-percent lives; it’s because this storied 88-year-old hotel, filled with impossibly glamorous ghosts from the past, radiates an elegance that seems like an anomaly in this shallow age of Trump-style glitz. The POTUS has been spied on the premises, only to be overheard saying, “This place is a joke.” Unless style, sophistication and grace make you double over in laughter, that’s just more of his typical #FakeNews.

Always at the Carlyle, the dazzling, sometimes hilarious and surprisingly emotional documentary from writer-director Matthew Miele (Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf’s, Harry Benson: Shoot First!), is not some advertorial to persuade suckers to blow their stash on the chance to rub elbows with kings and rock stars. It’s a look at the hard work of maintaining refinement in a world that increasingly fails to see the point.

Miele takes us right through those revolving doors on Madison Avenue, letting a host of boldface names – George Clooney, Harrison Ford, Wes Anderson, Sofia Coppola, Anthony Bourdain, Roger Federer, Lenny Kravitz – weighing in on why the hotel is the Gotham-deco lodging of choice. The former Han Solo is a particular hoot, claiming to be amazed at the luxury on view when he paid $1100 a night for a room with a peeling radiator. That’s a far cry from the opulent splendor afforded Prince William and Kate Middleton on their first visit trip to New York in 2014 when the Carlyle – a favorite of the Prince’s mother, Diana – became a must stop.

Still, it’s the institution’s staffers, many of whom have been serving their guests for decades, who provide the most delicious fun. Pay close attention to long-time concierge Dwight Owsley, bellhop Danny Harnett and Tommy Rowles, who’s been tending bar at Bemelmans for half a century. Named after Ludwig Bemelmans, the artist who drew the Madeline books for children, the hotel’s in-house drinking establishment has become a global attraction just to see the Bemelmans drawings on its walls. And the Café Carlyle, where singer-pianist Bobby Short entertained sophisticates from 1968 until his death in 2005, is still a haven for performers; Alan Cumming talks of breaking the rules by posing nude for an album cover outside the Cafe’s doors.

Wickedness, in fact, remains an integral part of the Carlyle mystique – famous for its discretion, the staff insists that nothing will be revealed. Still, the doc lets more than a few naughty details sneak through about such favorite guests as Jack Nicholson, Mick Jagger and Naomi Campbell. And what of those alleged secret tunnels through which Marilyn Monroe was reportedly swept before arriving at JFK’s 34th floor suite after his 1961 inauguration? If only those walls could talk.

Happily,
in this movie they do, thanks to Miele’s personal touch that blends a scrappy, playful
style with unfakeable affection. And the gifted director of photography Justin Bare
lights each room and glittering interviewee with the burnished beauty befitting
an iconic subject. In the end, Always at the Carlyle not only captures the intangible essence of a
one-of-a-kind hotel but the soul of a
time and place, a piece of Manhattan that literally and figuratively reaches
for the stars. The Carlyle is more than a hotel made of brick and mortar – like
this indispensable movie, it’s the stuff that dreams are made of.

Thursday Night Movie Group

I started a movie group this past winter with my Florida neighbours and we watched Loving Vincent, The Florida Project and Isle of Dogs. So far in Thornbury with my local friends, we have watched The Band’s Visit, Queen of Versailles, The Big Sick and now Faces Places (Visages, Villages 2017 1 hr 34 minutes) . This documentary film is about a project led by renowned French film director Agnes Varda and her colleague, photographer/muralist J.P. As they travel through rural French villages turning photos of the villagers into large murals, the two unlikely partners form a real friendship. The movie is incredibly touching and positive as it shows the power of art to enrich lives.

Binge Watched

La Foret (Netflix 6 episodes) I can’t understand why people in crime thrillers insist on going into the woods where terrible things happen to them! Anyhow I did watch this miniseries about three teenagers who disappear in the woods and the unravelling of what happened to them. Many twists and turns in the script kept me watching. Incredible surprise ending!

Goliath (Amazon Prime Season 2, 8 episodes) Despite not being one of Billy Bob Thornton’s biggest fans, I got sucked into this one on a friend’s recommendation and managed to watch 6 episodes in one day. Insanely entertaining. Corruption in LA as lawyer Billy goes up against big business, a drug cartel and a ruthless politician.

New Programming Alert Tonight

Sharp Objects (HBO 8 episodes, debuts tonight) Adapted from a novel by Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl), and starring Amy Adams and Patricia Clarkson, a reporter confronts violent incidents from her past when she returns to her hometown to cover a murder.

Here’s what the Globe and Mail had to say:

Sharp Objects is gripping, grim and unsettling

Published 24 minutes ago

Amy Adams (center) and Patricia Clarkson (right) in Sharp Objects.

Anne Marie Fox/HBO

Anyone who watched and admired HBO’s Big Little Lies, and many did, noted the emphatic style that Canadian director Jean-Marc Vallée brought to it.

The manner in which he contrasted the soaring vistas of Northern California with the tight spaces in which the characters mainly existed. The elliptical way they perceived reality, from the numerous scenes of characters watching through car windows and seeing others in mirrors. The technique and flair he brought to it was subtly key to the intensity.

Well, Vallée isn’t directing the second season of that show. Instead he’s done another miniseries mystery.

Read more: Jean-Marc Vallée dives deeper, and darker, into prestige TV with new HBO limited series Sharp Objects

Sharp Objects (starts Sunday, HBO, 9 p.m. ET), heavily promoted by HBO, is a murder mystery but not really about cops finding a killer. It’s mainly about a self-destructive, damaged female reporter doing the leg work. She’s played by Amy Adams and this strange, very slow-burning production belongs almost entirely to Adams and Jean-Marc Vallée.

Based on Gillian Flynn’s gothic murder-mystery novel (published years before her Gone Girl), Sharp Objectsis a summer indulgence of sorts, but far from light. In fact it’s a strain at times: opaque, disorienting, with a very dark erotic charge, and at times a descent into hell. It’s admirable in many ways but vexing as it pokes away at the layers of deep, perverse debasement of its central character.

That’s Camille Preaker (Adams), who is dishevelled from the get-go, barely hanging on to a job as a reporter at a city newspaper. Why she’s mostly drunk, chain-smoking and seems to live in the same clothes, day after day, goes unexplained for a long time. You just know there’s some fierce hurt there and it isn’t a failed romance.

Her editor (Miguel Sandoval) tells her to go to tiny Wind Gap, her hometown, because a young girl has gone missing. The previous summer there was another missing girl, found murdered. He tells Camille to visit, portray the town and dig around. Wind Gap, in Missouri and with a population of 2,000, is a dying town. Industries have failed but the town clings to hope (there are strategically placed political posters for Bill Clinton and Barack Obama to give you an economic backstory) and it has its little local aristocracy, of which Camille’s mother Adora, (nicely played by Patricia Clarkson going into Tennessee Williams-gothic mode) is one.

Camille’s ragged path into the town’s heart and the mysterious murders of two young women goes through Adora and Camille’s half-sister Amma (Eliza Scanlen), the latter reminding Camille of herself. Part of the slow-burning quality is the drop-by-drop revelation of the twisted mental state of a teenage girl trapped in a small town, her sexual presence an energy force that disorients her and disturbs many men.

Not that it is easy to get the picture. Vallée uses every possible film and editing technique to blend the past and the present. A character opens a door and enters a room, but is actually entering time past. Camille looks down a familiar back alley from her youth and the viewer isn’t sure if we’re seeing the present or the past. You need your wits about you watching this one.

The only thing that is crystal-clear is that Camille has major demons in the baggage she carries around. You may wonder at first why she wears the same jeans and sweatshirt all the time. And then you figure out there are scars, literal and figurative, that are being hidden. Long ago experiences, that might be a dream or distortion, seem to haunt her but, at the same time, arouse her. There is an awful lot of deep-layered female self-hate and doubt under the surface here. This is very much an intensely female-centric mystery. The showrunner is Marti Noxon, and there’s a team of mostly women writers, including Gillian Flynn, and the story is, eventually, firmly fixed on three generations of small-town women, as the male characters fade into the background.

Adams is excellent and there is already Emmy talk about this performance. But she is almost matched by Sophia Lillis as the young Camille, who enters the drama often, as sharp memories cause Camille to confront the young woman she was. There’s trauma there, in what happened to Camille as a teenager and what drove her to endless drinking as an adult. Vallée lets the trauma twist in the wind for ages, carefully unsettling the viewer with the confusion of past and present.

Sharp Objects is gripping enough but requires patience. It’s non-linear in structure, and be prepared, because while it’s a murder mystery on the surface, it’s about the exploitation and manipulation of women and the self-damage that results. Summer popcorn entertainment, it ain’t.

Still watching

CB Strike, The 100, Animal Kingdom, Preacher, Pose, Humans, Colony, Younger, Queen of the South, Nashville, The Handmaid’s Tale, The Affair, Succession, Picnic at Hanging Rock, Deep State, etc. It’s been an exhausting summer. The Sunday night offerings alone are almost impossible to keep up with.

Comic Relief

My favourites have been on vacation this past week, but I’m looking forward to the return of Samantha Bee, Jim Jeffries, Stephen Colbert, Trevor Noah, and Bill Maher.

Inspirational Fare

As always, I look forward to my Sunday morning ritual of CBS Sunday Morning and its

fascinating segments on style, popular culture, current events, etc. Informative and inspiring.

Closing Words

Monday we are headed to an installation of graffiti art by the street artist Banksy (Subject of the 2010 documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop). Wednesday we have a family birthday celebration for George at the brand spanking new Black Angus restaurant in our apartment complex. We will head back to Thornbury for mahjong, golf and relaxation for the remainder of the week. Warm hugs go out to all my friends who are dealing with medical issues. Enjoy the week wherever you are.

Heatwave for Canada Day!

It was a very busy week with golf, mahjong, fitness, bookgroup and gourmet group get togethers. On top of this George was away golfing in Cape Breton, so I had to amuse myself somehow! (See comments on A Very English Scandal which took up 3 very entertaining hours of my time).

As for this very hot weekend, Canada Day Weekend is a very big deal in Thornbury. My children gathered here for the big parade on Bruce Street and the fireworks both in the town of  Thornbury and at the Georgian Bay Club.

Streaming

A Very English Scandal (3 episode miniseries from BBC/Amazon) Starring Hugh Grant and Ben Whishaw, this is the true story scandal of Jeremy Thorpe, former head of the British Liberal party, who incompetently attempted to have his former lover killed and was tried for the crime. It is sheer bliss from beginning to end.  Hugh Grant is magnificent! (OK, I even thought he was magnificent in Mickey Blue Eyes).

Younger Liza’s secret has been undone and her boss is terribly angry with her.  Now she’s dating her real life husband (Christian Borle), a down on his luck writer, and her boss is both jealous and angry.  Very tasty!!

Animal Kingdom Oh my, it’s getting Shakespearean! Deran gets to know his father Billy, the heroin-addicted scumbag, played excellently by the rat-faced Denis Leary;  Deran and J cruelly evict one of Smurf’s tenants to protect their money laundering scheme; Craig uncovers a secret that sends him to Smurf; Nicky must decide whether she belongs in the Cody family or not.

Netflix

Secret City (12 episodes from Australia) Starring Anna Torv (Fringe) and Jacki Weaver (Animal Kingdom).  I binge-watched all 12 episodes!  Beneath the placid facade of Canberra, amidst rising tension between China and America, senior political journalist Harriet Dunkley uncovers a secret city of interlocked conspiracies, putting innocent lives in danger including her own.  Kind of an Australian Homeland!

Maktub (1 h 40 min) This comedy from Israel is the biggest Israeli blockbuster since 1986.  After Fauda and The Band’s Visit, I am now addicted to Israeli film and TV. Steve and Chuma, two criminals, are the sole survivors of a terrorist attack at a restaurant in Jerusalem.  They decide to change their ways and become flesh and blood angels.  They go on a journey of wish fulfillment for people who write requests on paper and put between the sacred stones of the Wailing Wall.

To Each Her Own (1 h 35 min) This comedy from France is extremely silly but entertaining on a hot summer day.  Simone plans to inform her conservative Jewish family in Paris that she’s a lesbian, but as she proceeds with coming out she finds herself attracted to a man.

AMC

Dietland (10 episodes) This black comedy/mystery is strangely hypnotic.   Plum Kettle (Joy Nash) is a ghostwriter for the editor (Julianna Margulies) of one of New York’s hottest fashion magazines.  Struggling with self-image and fed up with how she’s treated by her boss and society, Plum (who is plus-sized) sets out on a wildly complicated road to self-awakening.  At the same time, everyone is buzzing over news reports about men, accused of sexual abuse and assault, who are disappearing and meeting untimely, violent deaths.  Warning:  this series is addictive!

Bravo

Handmaid’s Tale Only 2 episodes left to go; in this one Offred faces a gruelling challenge alone as she recalls her life as a mother; Serena and the Commander deal with the fallout of their actions towards Offred.

The CW

The 100 Now in its 5th season, we have watched the young people grow up from their initial characters on the mothership. Clarke’s determination to protect Madi puts Bellamy in an impossible position.

W

Nashville Corny beyond belief, but I can’t look away. All the storylines are being tied up in the final season of this series which is now in its sixth year.

HBO

Succession (11 episodes) Loosely modelled on the Murdochs, Succession follows a dysfunctional American global-media family.  Starring Brian Cox, Hiam Abbass, Kieran Culkin, Matthew Macfadyen, Alan Ruck, etc.  Blackly humorous!

The Affair Now in its 4th season, this noir series follows the consequences of an affair between a writer and a small-town femme fatale.  Now we’re in sunny California, but life is far from sunny for everyone. Dominic West, Ruth Wilson, Joshua Jackson and Maura Tierney star as the main characters.

Comic Relief

Stephen Colbert, Trevor Noah, Jim Jeffries, Samantha Bee, Bill Maher and John Oliver all try their hardest to make us laugh at the events of the day. I also enjoy James Corden and Seth Meyers whose high points I always watch on YouTube.  James Corden’s week in London is especially joyous (look especially for the Paul McCartney Car Pool Karaoke);  Seth Meyers A Closer Look segments are hilariously on point.

Moment of Zen

CBS Sunday Morning is my treat to myself every Sunday as I write this blog.  I love its incredibly informative and inspiring segments.  The moment of nature at the end always makes me grateful to be alive.

Closing Words

Last night we enjoyed the fireworks on the Tomahawk Golf Course and tonight we are looking forward to seeing the fireworks at the Georgian Bay Club.  The kids are here in Thornbury and we’ve been lazily floating around our pool to stay cool.  We just returned from the main street parade with Canada Day cupcakes for everyone to enjoy.  Stay cool wherever you are, and sending healing vibes to my two friends who are in hospital and all other friends who are dealing with medical issues.