How Television Saved My Life

What can I say about You can't take it with you directed by Frank Capra starring James Stewart, Jean Arthur and of course, Lionel Barrymore? It's a delight, that's for sure, and somehow someone compared it to Romeo & Juliet. Well, more of a screwball comedy version if anything.  James Stewart plays Tony Kirby (what a name) who's in love with Jean Arthur's Alice Sycamore. The pair seem to get along quite well, while their families don't. The Kirby's are a rich high-brow banking family who are intent in buying an entire area that houses a lot of families. One of those families are of course the Sycamores' who are much established in the area, or at least, the grandfather played by Lionel Barrymore is. He's the sort of gentleman who stopped working when he found out he wasn't happy with his job, instead pursuing things that did make him happy, which is what his family lives by. The Kirby's by contrast care more about their name, bes...

I love romantic comedies, though, most of them suck. Yes, there's been less and less memorable ones out there. This is of course excluding last years Crazy Rich Asians , which was a total pleasure, but in a different way, as it was one of the first romantic comedies out there with a predominantly Asian American cast (recently Always be my Maybe came out on Netflix ALSO). Romantic comedies usually become low budget affairs, or Hallmark movies where one is a ghost living in a house and the lead female is trying to sell said house. Yes , it's not a good market in general. I'd heard of Long Shot a while back, and was hopeful, the buzz was good, and all in all, the critics I admire boasted about it being one of the funniest rom-coms they'd seen in a long time. They weren't wrong! The unlikely pairing of Seth Rogen and Charlize Theron feels so very  natural, and earnest and sweet. Besides the fact that the film is really  fucking funny. Theron plays Charlott...

Somehow I found myself having seen the mini-series with Matthew MacFadyen and Haley Atwell first, and it's really worth the watch as well, but this version is of course shorter  and splendid. Emma Thompson and Anthony Hopkins, besides James Ivory directing - a really good combination. I've always enjoyed A Room With A View (not the newer Andrew Davies version, no), which like this has a young Helena Bonham-Carter in it as well. It's based on one of E.M. Forsters novels. Howard's End is about two sisters Helen (Helena Bonham-Carter) and Margaret Schlegel (Emma Thompson) who get entangled with a family called the Wilcox. Mrs Wilcox becomes friendly with Margaret and upon her deathbed bestows her  home, much beloved to herself - Howard's End to Margaret. This in itself is frowned upon by the children of Mrs Wilcox and her husband played by Anthony Hopkins. This is not what the film is really about, but more about whether or not two people with such opposing views...

We've got to talk about Stranger Things Season 3! It came out on Thursday, 4th of July; a stark contrast to the darker previous seasons all based in autumn. This season focuses on summer and the aesthetics of being a teenager - sneaking into horror films, kissing (not that I ever experienced that myself), and the usual wackiness that happens when a monster starts to go Body Snatchers on the small town Hawkins. But this isn't for the one's who've yet to see series 3 - no - it's for the nerds (like me) who binged the whole goddamn thing and are now sitting in ennui with conspiracy theories.  So, for the ones who've yet to sit down with it. Go see it, it's fun and colourful and really funny, besides mixing up the dynamics somewhat spectacularly. New additional characters add more fun and just the throwbacks and homages are stellar. 10/10 - sit on your butt and watch the shit out of that. SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT So, Hopper died. That's a...

Instead of focusing on the downward spiral of Game of Thrones , which honestly would never live up to the hype when the source material dried up. Characters have made a lot of mistakes, yet, it's not until we need  them dead that they're gone, like Thanos snapping, but without the impact. Oy again, let's not talk about Game of Thrones! Let's talk about a female lead Tuca & Bertie an animated Netflix show by  Lisa Hanawalt  (producer of BoJack Horseman) with Tiffany Haddish (Tuca) and Ali Wong (Bertie). Tuca and Bertie are best friends; Tuca is the free-spirited, messy sort of person, while Bertie is the responsible one of the pair trying to establish herself as an adult. It also feels frightfully relevant as they are thirty-somethings still trying to figure out life. Relatable, much? I guess. Besides figuring out life the show also takes up topics that any chick  can relate to (yes, pun intended). It's just good to see a show that's about female relatio...

Honestly, I'm not really going to talk about the film or what it's about. Anyone who's seen Infinity War kind of knows already know that this is the continuation of that plot thread, like stuff happened. Lots of stuff. What I really want to talk about is how the Marvel Cinematic universe has been a huge part of my life for 11 years, and how it does feel like the end of an era. No one believed that it would succeed and reach the level that it did back in the day. Iron Man opened the doors, then Avengers really held those doors open. Every time one headed to the cinema to see one of the films it became an event . Not all of them were top tier, but the quality started to become consistent. The directors were given the chance to be creative and diverge from the typical formula - like Guardians of the Galaxy that many despaired at before the film even got out. Look how that turned out? It opened for Thor: Ragnarok. Of course, some aren't very memorable, while others a...

Photo: Amazon I love to find new things that I feel define  an era of my life, especially, when I need it the most, as if it's speaking to me. Phoebe Waller-Bridge's Fleabag isn't for everyone, of course, but it's certainly something everyone will enjoy. We follow Fleabag,  or we presume it's her name,  or a nickname, or a state of mind (one can never really be sure), but she seems to be a confident woman who owns a café that doesn't seem to be doing so well - turns out she might not be doing so well either. She's got a smart and successful older married sister - her sister's arsehole of a husband -  a father who's emotionally absent and together with her bitch of a Godmother (played by Olivia Colman, hello, oscar winner). It's very dark, but funny and self-aware as hell. Besides, obviously, some sort of commentary on the state of women of late. Fleabag doesn't have her shit sorted, and she's at the start of her 30's, it feel...