Just a few weeks this week

Prologue

This is an intentionally browseable set of weeknotes regarding things I “beheld” over the previous “week”¹.

These “weeknotes” support two purposes - recommendations to the handful of people who read it, and also giving me somewhere to look if I’m trying to remember if I watched something or not. Or, well, in the case of the last entry in this post, to give me somewhere to look to see if I wrote up what I watched.

Depending on how my exploration of Hugo² themes is going there will be a Table of Contents at the top, or below this line, that you can use to navigate to the bits you’re interested in.

So, it having been a couple of months or so, rather than a couple of years or so, what have I enjoyed recently…

Hit Man

A romcom of a sort. A surprisingly lovely film about a hitman who isn’t. If you’ve followed my weeknotes at all you’ll know I like “nice” films, weaved between something ground-breaking or thought-provoking or revolutionary, just something well done that isn’t completely comfortable but also isn’t life-changing. Hit Man firmly fits that definition, well made, well acted, just a good film - especially surprising considering it was written and produced and starred the same person.

If you trust me, and if you want to smile for two hours… while maybe thinking sporadically about the morals and ethics of the characters… do make time for this on Netflix.

After you’ve watched it, do read this article that inspired it.

Anyone But You

A very very loose adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing - like Shakespeare’s plays, I like the “a fun film that knows it’s a film aspect” of this. Don’t expect art, but it really is a pleasant film that will make you smile. As with most romcoms, having been in love, or especially being in love, will definitely help.

Knight - The Warrior and World of Chivalry

An Osprey book from Robert Jones, who has been a Visiting Research Fellow at the Institute for Medieval Studies at the University of Leeds, and has academic credentials, but this book is exact rather than dry.

I didn’t really give this book a fair try, too many in my “to read” pile, and I was mainly looking for ideas and words. I would have liked more pictures and diagrams and explanations of some references, but overall this was very well written, and a comprehensive summary of the rise and fall of the knight. As an online review put it “As one would expect with Osprey the book is very well illustrated, in this case with a large number of illustrations from medieval documents as well as a good selection of photographs of surviving equipment (although in one or two cases the photos could have been nearer to the topic they illustrate).”

Mainly this covers the military aspect but there’s quite a lot of material around the context of the knight in their society. It’s out of print now so if that subject interests you do scour eBay.

Remember The Titans

A film from the turn of the century about how an American Football team, playing high school football, manages to bring a town together previously divided over race issues.

Overall… I don’t know, I liked it, but it’s one of those films that leans into the tropes, keeps the progression of ideas and characters fairly simple, so whether it works or not depends on execution. And it’s well made and well acted, which makes the cliched “unity through sports” plot-line work. Some of the ideas felt under-developed, the relationship of the two main coaches, and their daughters, for example.

Probably for fans of American Football only - and if you watch it, do check out the Wikipedia details for the real events it was based on, and how different they were.

Fantastic Four - First Steps

Good enough, much better than some of the superhero films I watched last time. This has a relatively simple structure, which is maybe a good thing and a symptom of a Marvel film set in another multiverse, away from the baggage of everything else. Enjoyable, hit the right notes in the end… it was maybe a little flat in parts, and it took a while for the family to gel, but enjoyable overall. And, for me, the standout laughs came from Mole Man, I hope he reappears in future.

Celebrity Traitors

As a fan of the British version of The Traitors I thought celebrity traitors was a bad idea, maybe even a terrible one; but I was utterly impressed with this series. As always with this kind of show - with all due respect to the players - a lot of that success comes down to casting and design choices, and the celebs are thoughtful, varied, and competitive without being too, well, bitchy, or trying to hog the limelight.

And, as always, the “Uncloaked” show is a genuinely interesting insight into how people feel about the show, and how they react to it. I mean it’s not as though they go heavily into analysis, and they have celebrity guests rather than psychologists or game-play analysts, but it’s still thoughtful. Also - something that I enjoy about “double blind” games where moves are hidden from other players - the reveals are great value, showing how easily we can fool ourselves, or be fooled by others.

For more analysis, although I think it’s unfairly cynical about the participants and underplays how immersive that kind of environment can be, do check out the Celebrity Traitors specific episodes of The Rest Is Entertainment.

Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning

The plot was bobbins, as per the penultimate film in this series. To the extent where this could/should actually be a truly bad film, a “so bad it’s good” monstrosity.

But the whistle-stop tour around former members of the cast worked better than expected, and the acting was excellent all around, giving absurd lines a gravitas they didn’t deserve, or actors would “pop in” and just steal a scene, in the best way.

But it did mean most of the film was spent wondering how it was filmed, rather than wondering how the characters would navigate the peril. The stunts were as impressive as ever, but I think that well has run dry, and should be left alone for a while.

As with Marvel, and Doctor Who, increasing stakes or unremitting peril just gets tiring after a while… arguably The Fast and Furious suffers from this as well. A fitting end to the franchise I think, for all kinds of reasons.

Losers: Stone Cold

An episode of the Losers series on Netflix, a surprisingly interesting review of significant players in the sport of Curling. Firstly, Al Hackner, a legendary player who executed a shot so impressive in The Brier, Curling’s equivalent of the SuperBowl, that the shot is now known as the Hackner Double. And also Pat Ryan, whose team was on the receiving end of the Hackner Double, went on to invent a new way of curling, which was both incredibly successful and particularly boring. But the changes the sport was forced to make as a result of that innovation arguably led to it becoming an Olympic sport.

The episode really brought out the personalities involved through framing and editing, and didn’t feel like it over-simplified anyone involved.

Anna Karenina (2012 film)

One of many, many adaptions of the book - this one is particularly well acted, and wonderfully stylised, making the most of cinema as an art form - so using figurative depictions of characters and events and relationships. For me this worked really well, although I found myself enjoying thinking about the choices made for the film, rather than just enjoying the film.

In the unlikely event that you’re using my comment to decide on whether to watch a thirteen year old film, do just jump in, you’ll know in a few minutes whether it’s for you or not.

Chad Powers

A series based on a comedy sketch by a former NFL quarterback, so it shouldn’t work. But as per other media mentioned here such as Hit Man above, Glen Powell carries it well, and there’s a lot of good choices made during the show that make it work - on the relationships between characters and the decisions they make. The tone is all over the place, but in a good way that I think makes its unlikely scenario feel realistic.

There’s a trailer here, but I assume “comedy sketch by a former NFL quarterback” is all you need to know to decide if this is for you or not.

Interview With The Vampire

The recent TV series, rather than the film from 1994 - which I must watch at some point. This is imaginative harrowing drama, I think some of the best I’ve seen - and I’ve always got time for any media that explores a fantastical subject seriously. Really impressive for the first two series, I’m already looking forward to the third.

If you’re in the UK, do watch the BBC version rather than the Netflix version.

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