Here's what I watched and read last week..
MOVIES
Sense and Sensibility (1995), directed by Ang Lee, is a very good romantic drama based on Jane Austen’s novel. The film has a killer cast, including Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, and Alan Rickman. And the cinematography is gorgeous. This is Ang Lee’s first English-language film. I also read Whitney Crothers Dilley’s chapter on the film in her book on Lee, which explores a variety of topics, including feminism and globalization.
Man with a Movie Camera (1929), directed by Dziga Vertov, is one of the masterpieces of documentary filmmaking. The editing and camera movement are amazing. It is no surprise that Sight & Sound ranked it as the eighth-greatest film ever made.
TV
Buffy, the Vampire Slayer. I very much enjoyed rewatching season two. There were a handful of episodes that felt more like filler. But overall, this is a strong season, especially the last two episodes, which are some of the series’ best.
Mr. In Between. We are watching the first season. This is a solid crime drama. In his book on The Sopranos, Dana Polan writes about the series as having a picaresque format: the small adventures of a criminal you root for. This is definitely the case for Mr. In Between.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents. I watched “Lamb to the Slaughter.” This is one of the classic episodes that Hitchcock directed. It was written by Roald Dahl. Hitchcock’s mixing of the macabre and humor is on full display.
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. This is my second time watching the series. Some of the topics they explore are mind-blowing, such as when Neil deGrasse Tyson explains the Cosmic Calendar. I hope they release Cosmos: Possible Worlds on Blu-ray.
BOOKS
King’s Ransom, written by Ed McBain, is a novel from his 87th Precinct series and was loosely adapted by Akira Kurosawa into High and Low (1963). I love the gritty feel of the novel, particularly the realism of the dialogue. I am planning to teach the novel next year for my writing course, comparing it with Kurosawa’s adaptation. I also read Matthew Bernstein’s excellent article, “High and Low: Art Cinema and Pulp Fiction in Yokohama.”
YouTube
If you love rock and metal music, I highly recommend Rick Beato’s channel. There are a lot of great interviews, especially his recent one with Billy Joel. One of the highlights of the series is “What Makes This Song Great?” Beato breaks down the song by isolating the audio tracks and analyzing the different sounds, techniques, and tones used during the recording. After you watch the video, you’ll hear the song in a new way. I also love his “rant” videos.
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