February has flown by on gales and storms. I've been really busy, performing two feature sets for Fen Speak and (Sm)art Festival, which were wonderful. I also applied and got a new job, turned 34 and spent too many hours lost in Hyrule. Phew. As a consequence of all this real life business, the things I have consumed have been limited.
Books
- 52 Ways to Read a Poem by Ruth Padel- I read this as I wanted to improve my close reading of poetry. This book is incredibly useful for that, with 52 poems analysed in terms of the language and form. It tends towards the academic, and I wasn't always convinced by the readings but I found it clear and a useful resource to improve my own reading.
Films
- Moonfall- All you need to know about this film is one of the main characters receives a phone call early on where the caller id is simply 'NASA'. A very, very stupid film. I quite enjoyed the experience of watching it.
- Little Joe- A sterile, strange twist on a body snatchers film. It will make you fearful of plants. The strange, dissonant music, the off centre shots and the deliberately false acting combine to create an unsettling atmosphere of barely contained threat.
- Prospect- Very much the anti Moonfall, this is a low budget science fiction film that has more world-building, style and ideas than films five times it's budget. It throws you in with no explanation and part of the delight is picking up on the details of this world and understanding it. It's tense and beautifully shot, with some amazing core performances. I absolutely loved it, seek it out if you can.
TV Shows
- The Book of Boba Fett- I've never seen a series so disinterested in it's main character, to the point where he barely features in two episodes out of seven. There's some good ideas buried in here but it got lost under the weight of the wider Star Wars universe. It suffers from the Marvel problem of being a stepping stone onto other stories instead of focusing on a single story.
- Cobra Kai- Series 4- There's one episode of this series that is 80% montage and it is great. Cobra Kai somehow makes 80's cheese work again, whilst having believable characters and satisfying arcs. It's an entertaining watch that knows exactly the right tone to strike.
That's it for now. Maybe I'll read more than one book this month, who knows?
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