2025 in lists: Television

Posted on 6 September 2025 by andyq

A work in progress. 

Television

    • Squid Game, Season 2: I can’t believe that so many people all around the world watched such a violent show in Season 1, which purported to say something important about the gap between the rich and poor, and the nature of human survival, but didn’t, really. It was fascinating to watch, culturally, and the characters, language and rhythm were quite interesting. But season 2 is a strange watch, so violent, and without moving the story along much. I will be resentfully watching Season 3 when it comes out. 
    • Missing You: I was drawn in by seeing this was, for a time, the #1 show in Australia in Netflix and also because I liked Rosalind Eleazer’s acting in Slow Horses. And the first episode had lots of promise with interesting characters and the promise of a decent thriller. But then none of the characters acted in a way that I felt was authentic. It was basically a thriller with lots of plot points and mysteries, and moving the characters around a chess board, feeling by the end, hollow. 
    • Black Doves: A spy who falls in love with someone she hasn’t done a background check on; an assassin who falls in love with someone and then continues to put them in danger: it makes for OK television but didn’t make sense to me. But I let myself ignore these plot problems and then found I really enjoyed this. 
    • Prime Target: I don’t know why we’re watching so much ludicrous TV and cinema these days. It started off entertainingly enough but then seemed to lose control of the story and writing and I lost interest. They somehow made Leo Woodall into the least engaging and attractive of his characters so far, and while I love Sidse Babett Knudsen, from Borgen, even she couldn’t save this for me.
    • Adolescence: Watched this, as apparently the rest of the world is doing as well. It’s harrowing and disturbing, amazing acting and great TV-making, though not necessarily enjoyable. But art is not always supposed to be comfortable. 
    • Severance, season 2: I think this may be my favourite TV show since Six Feet Under. The ideas are so complex and well-developed, it’s way more than entertaining: it’s engaging and challenging. Love the actors so much and the production design. So fantastic. 
    • White Lotus, season 3: I could write an essay on why I disliked this season, but instead I’ll summarise it as: I didn’t find the characters engaging, I found the storytelling sensationalistic and simplistic, and I hated all their publicity telling me what a genius Mike White is when he produced a poor, overhyped season. The music was doing the work, always telling us exactly how we were supposed to feel. I may just avoid the next season (and the hype). 
    • Ripley: Beautifully filmed in black and white, and a reminder of all the things I love about Italy, I’ve always liked Andrew Scott (from Sherlock and Fleabag). And I liked all the characters, but when there was a two-hou film of the story, it really felt like this was drawn out. A scene of sinking a boat, which might have been a fleeting moment in a movie, took up about a third of one episode! 
    • Invisible Boys: An adaptation of a book about four young gay men growing up in Geraldton, Western Australia. Glad I pushed past the first episode, and the series didn’t always land with me, but all in all, I was impressed.
    • Hacks, Season 4: I really did love the first season, and the premise of it all. It was fun and enjoyable TV. But the start of this season was so boring and repetitive. Deborah being cruel and vindictive to Ava. For four episodes or so. And then she wasn’t. But it still didn’t really go anywhere for me. The greed of network TV and entertainment conglomerates is no surprise, and mostly, the growth in the characters is so … small and gradual, I don’t really enjoy it. Not sure if I’ll watch Season 5.
    • Poker Face, Season 2: What a strange ride. I love Natasha Lyonne so much and her character on Poker Face, and Rian Johnson, who does the Knives Out series usually creates such fun puzzle stories. And I loved the concept of a heroine who is a human lie detector. But the shows were so variable! The ones in the middle were so flat and lifeless (and repetitive) that I almost gave up on finishing the season, but it roared back with two final episodes which were pretty great. 
    • Squid Game, Season 3: Like the rest of the world, I found the first season so compelling. Dark and gripping, it introduced me to a different culture and world, and felt like it had something to say. The surprises of the first season were: what would happen to everyone? And: how far would the show go? Unfortunately, knowing the answers made this show nearly unwatchable for the next seasons . The level of violence turned it into a horror movie and I saw no moral lessons or ambiguity. The creator said it does, but I beg to differ. Don’t let your kids watch this.
    • The Bear, Season 4: Last season was roundly criticised but I didn’t mind it at all, it just wasn’t as good as the highs of the previous seasons. This season I loved. I love the characters, I love the storytelling, I love the acting most of all. I found it touching and real. 
    • Murderbot: The critics don’t seem to like this, but I loved it. Short, sharp episodes, good storytelling and fun retro-Star Trek design. I always like Alexander Skarsgård and I liked the characters and conceit. What does it mean to be human?
    • Dexter Resurrection: I loved the first season of Dexter so much. That sense of place! Cuban and Latino Miami. And great storytelling: dark, funny, original and compelling. I lost track of Dexter along the way and heard about the terrible ending. And watched Dexter: New Blood and was quite charmed by it and to be introduced to his son. So, we were completely pumped to watch this new season of Dexter and my god, was it good. The sense of place of New York City. A lot of the original characters doing cameos, plus new ones who were so charismatic (Peter Dinklage! Uma Thurman!). So, yes, I freaking loved this season. It was so good!
    • Somebody Somewhere, Season 1: Thought I’d check this out after Jeff Hillier won an Emmy for his work on the show, and we thought it was interesting and charming, with a slow pace, and the writing not quite sharp enough compared to what we’re used to. 
    • Smilla’s Sense of Snow: I just read that Australia got the world premiere of this. I read the novel years ago and remember loving it. They’ve updated it for 2025, and I absolutely loved the vibe of Nordic noir and thriller with a half-Danish, half-Greenlander heroine, who is spiky and poetic. The plot goes crazy by the end of it, but we did like this a lot and I really loved the actors. 
    • Slow Horses, Season 5: I thought the first episode of the season was a dog’s breakfast but it’s picking up. 
    • Madam: The idea of a businesswoman trying to run an ethical brothel in small-town New Zealand interested me, and I’ve always found Rachel Griffiths magnetic. It’s based on a real story and the slice of life material did interest me: casual details of the sex industry and the madam’s son, severely disabled, and played by a severely disabled actor – these felt true. It also felt like I was being introduced to an incredible stable of Kiwi actors.  The problem was when it was trying to be a TV series. I’ve always found accidental drug-taking lazy storytelling. Trying to set the series up for a second season felt forced. Giving Mack, the main character a love interest was also cliché, handsome and natural as he was. So, ups and downs, but 10 x 25 minute episodes, it went by quickly. 

Documentaries and Reality Television

    • Great Pottery Throw Down, Season 8: This looked like it was going to be a good season and boy, was it. Maybe the most talented group ever, the right final three, and unusually, my favourite maker won! Loved this season. 
    • Hack Your Health: The Secrets of Your Gut: I think this is a really interesting issue, gut health and microbes, but I can’t say that the arguments are done very well here. Cute animations with felt and wool are engaging but I’m not sure they really get the points across. It seemed they wanted to talk about shit, literally, but without much more of a useful message. 
    • Survivor, Season 48: My god, I’ve watched a lot of Survivor, but I found this season engaging and entertaining and was happy with the winner. 
    • ABC’s The Piano: The conceit is marvelous. Invite amateur pianists (and musicians) from around Australia to play at a public piano, while Andrea Lam and Harry Connick Jr watch, hidden, and then choose one per episode to perform in a special concert. Amanda Keller is a wonderful host: warm, personable, human and emotional. And the producers really zoomed in on the human interest stories and the emotions, making some great TV. Husband and I were bawling our eyes out watching the final episode. 
    • Culinary Class Wars: Korean reality TV shows have epic sets and a cast of 100 and a rhythm all to their own, and this was a great way to get to know Korean cooking before we holiday in Seoul in a few weeks. We’ll hunt down some of those chefs. 
    • Great British Bake-Off, Season 15: I’m late to the party. 15 seasons late. But I saw the first two episodes of this season on a plane, and was hooked. It’s such well-made, jolly TV. I love the regional British accents. The diverse cast. And while the bakers are better than me at what they do, they’re at the level where I’m inspired by their cooking (rather than, say, the current season of Australian Masterchef, where the cooking is too skilled, and I don’t find the dishes attainable).
    • Survivor, Australia vs the World: I was doubtful but as a long-time Survivor fan, living in Australia, I thought I better watch this. But how silly it was. No strategy. No storytelling (what did we learn about the contestants?). And production just seemed to hand the prize over from episode 1 to the eventual winner. We can SEE you handing over the idol, and the advantage. And it was not a result of skill or strategy that everyone wanted to work with her and hand her the prize: it was fame. 
    • Project Runway Season 21: There’s so little fashion in this show. It’s all about the drama. There’s no need for new judge, the Roach, to be so aggressively cruel. I hate the cliff-hanger endings each episode. I’m mostly bored but last episode, where they asked designers to reinterpret the American West, and then punished the two non-American designers who don’t know the American West. That’s just nasty and jingoistic. Don’t bother putting them on the show if you’re going to treat them so badly. I managed to watch it to the end, but I don’t plan on watching another season. 
    • Great British Sewing Bee, Season 11: A few friends are great fans of this, and I find it not as enjoyable as its counterparts in baking and pottery, but we’ll watch it through…

Posted in Television | Leave a comment

2025 in lists: Musicals, theatre, concerts, books and exhibitions

Posted on 6 August 2025 by andyq

A work in progress (at least during 2025) …

Musicals and theatre

  • Hamlet Camp, Carriageworks: A kooky idea with engaging pros telling the story. I loved the autobiographical poems that opened this, our friend Claudia provided a wonderful different energy to the production, and the evening was both skilfully and carefully created and chaotic! Absolutely loved it. 
  • Jesus Christ Superstar, Capitol Theatre: An incredible cast assembled to sing the shit out of this old musical, with the orchestration and direction making it feel contemporary. It’s jarring to compare this music to Lloyd Webber’s other musicals: songs here that have been in my head for decades. But the staging was pretty hectic, and I would have liked to here more variation in the singing (I think only Paynter, as Jesus, gave us some quiet moments). Great to see the production so well received. It’s an entertaining show. 
  • Ghost Quartet, Hayes Theatre: I was pretty speechless after this. Wonderful music with unusual harmonies and crazy, complex and effective storytelling, with a powerhouse cast of four people. How I loved this. 
  • Feeling Afraid As If Something Terrible is Going to Happen, Sydney Opera House: Written by Marcelo Dos Santos and performed by Samuel Barnett. One-person shows always engage me: they need to have every line, word and pause in place to propel the story. This exceeded my expectations: sharp, dark, funny and beautifully constructed. A hit of a past Edinburgh Festival, I’m glad I got to see it here in Sydney! 
  • Hadestown, Theatre Royal: Wow. I had no idea. I did remember it winning the Tony Award for best musical and my husband saw it and loved it, but I somehow didn’t pay attention. The music, storytelling and staging: all amazing. Brought to life by a stellar cast. I really, really loved this. 
  • An Evening Without Kate Bush, Bondi Pavillion: It’s surprisingly hard to find information on the history of this cabaret show by Sarah-Louise Young but I think she premiered it at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2023. It is a pretty fun show, and I do love Kate Bush, though don’t know her work all that well. I felt there was a lack of spark in the audience reaction and the performance that night.
  • Candide, Opera Australia: I love Leonard Bernstein’s music but I have to admit to being a bit apprehensive to see a 2.5 hour production of a Broadway operetta. But it was made as accessible as possible, with Australian accents and settings, lots of humour and a fast pace. Annie Aitken as Cunegonde was my favourite. What a voice. And what an acting triumph during ‘Glitter and Be Gay’. I thought Lyndon Watts’s microphone should have been turned up during this opening night performance, so as to somehow match Cunegonde. He got overshadowed. And for both Candide and Maximilian to be so gay, it was a little odd, on top of the totally bonkers story that jumps all around the globe. 
  • Guys and Dolls, Opera Australia: There’s no doubt that the Fleet Steps, with a view of the Opera House, on a temperate Sydney night, is one of the most beautiful places in the world to see a show. And that’s the formula: Sydneysiders flock to see one of these musicals or operas, and hope that it doesn’t rain. But changing a show to a spectacle, adding fireworks as during this show at a random point, and miking the performers loud enough so you can hear them, takes away from the shows, except for their most spectacular parts. The performers can feel swallowed by the stage. Any subtlety in the dialogue or quiet humour is lost. After seeing 4 or 5 of these, I think this will be the last one, no matter how much I enjoyed the orchestra and some of the cast members (Annie Aitken was the standout for me).
  • No Love Songs, Foundry Theatre: Interesting to check out the new performance space at the Star (which is in receivership, what’s going to happen there?) This show was apparently a hit at the Edinburgh Festival, and they Australianised it and are putting it on here with two great performers, but I wanted to like it more than I did. Sure, it felt truthful and honest, but I found it hard to enjoy or appreciate watching an immature relationship founder, post-natal depression and a suicide attempt, all set to music. 
  • Kimberly Akimbo: Tony-award winning and well reviewed, I was looking forward to this. But while a main theme, progeria, was something I’m unfamiliar with, it was surprising how cliché and weird the rest of the musical is. The descent into farce is so ridiculous that it’s not funny or enjoyable. While I liked the orchestrations and a few of the songs, others were too familiar. Singing into a video camera not only hearkened to Rent but the sing-songy conversational vocal line was pretty much the same. I’ve heard the song about trying to be and fighting expectations of being a ‘Good Boy’ so many times in pop songs, and worse, the trope of a child whose lost a parent to disease or accident (or a parent whose lost a child) is just too prevalent these days, years in fact. Great actors, some pleasant songs, and surprisingly, a dog of a story. And not a good dog.
  • Garry Starr, Classic Penguins, Grand Electric Ballroom: It really was interesting to see how the naked male body is considered shocking and comical at once, and while the audience got used to it, in some ways, for many an arse and arsehole are inherently funny. Garry Starr is a wonderful clown and brought this energy and joy to this clever production. It really was a lot of fun. 

Concerts and performances

  • Tom Odell, Sydney Opera House. I wasn’t familiar with Odell’s music but we always trust our friend Steven, when he asked if we wanted to come. Backed by the Metropolitan Orchestra, these pop songs were given incredible orchestrations and Odell is a real artist and musician: his voice is a beautiful instrument – emotional, powerful and with its own character. Loved the concert. I am now a fan. 
  • Alok, Enmore Theatre. As interesting as seeing  Alok, a trans-feminine South Asian stand-up comedian and storyteller, was the audience and how supportive they were. Which made it weird that some of Alok’s routine seemed to presuppose an audience that included non-queer and possibly non-supportive people. So, those lines fell flat for me. An interesting, and all in all enjoyable night. 
  • Japanese Breakfast, Sydney Opera House. I don’t know their music that well but what I’ve heard, I like. Michelle Zauner has an amazing voice. It’s clear that the songwriting and musicianship is tops. I found in person that the music and concert was not straightforward, in a good way. Like, they weren’t simple and easy pop songs, but quite a bit more, with a punk and experimental attitude. And I love that the lights didn’t work (the light show); it made the concert feel more intimate and lo-fi, like at a small venue, or a university show. 

Books

  • Alice Munro’s The Progress of Love. See my review here.
  • Superman, Son of Kal-el, Volumes 1, 2 and 3. My pal James loves comic books and recommended that I check these out. I do find it amazing that we live in a time where the son of Superman, in an apparently popular series, has a boyfriend with a Japanese family name (I’d say Japanese-American, but he’s from a fictional island called Gamorra, where his mother was the President …) 
  • Ronald de Sousa’s Love: A Very Short Introduction. See my review here.
  • Copenhagen Tales, edited by Lotte Shankland. See my review here.
  • James Loxton’s Authoritarianism: A Very Short Introduction. See my review here.

Exhibitions

  • Yayoi Kusama at the NGV. I am so glad I went to Melbourne to see this exhibit. She’s a fascinating artist with fascinating work, and work that goes far beyond her well-known work and very accessible work. Amazing. 
  • Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams, Seoul. A beautifully presented and conceived exhibition that allowed me to appreciate Dior as a designer and fashion house. Most fun was seeing the delight of the mainly women attendees, audible gasps of pleasure on seeing dresses they liked, and I could see in their eyes that they were imagining what they would look like in them.

 

Posted in Book, Concert, Exhibition, Theatre/Show | Leave a comment

Come dine with me: Restaurant Evett, Seoul

Posted on 19 July 2025 by andyq

When we travel, we try to choose at least one special restaurant, and since our trip to Seoul coincided with my 56th birthday, I was excited to choose Restaurant Evett. I follow a winner of Masterchef Australia, Nat Thaipun, on Instagram, and saw that she’d been invited to be part of a special event there. And soon after, there was an article on Australia’s ABC news about the young Australian chef, Joseph Lidgerwood, from Tasmania, who had cheffed around the world and settled in Seoul in 2019, and opened Evett, which collected a first Michelin Star in 2020 and a second in 2025. And then we saw him on the Netflix show ‘Culinary Class Wars’!

I found it interesting that the show classified him as a Western chef, and the booking site, Catch-Table, and Google Maps both call it a Western restaurant, when Lidgerwood is so clearly committed to using Korean ingredients and techniques. Sure, it’s fine dining, but fine dining isn’t automatically Western.

We’ve eaten at a number of Michelin Star restaurants or their equivalent and it is fun to make comparisons. Some restaurants present the menu beforehand, and some after, but I think Evett is the only restaurant we’ve been to that maintains an engaging mystique. The menu has a drawing, by each of the chefs responsible, of an ingredient used! And then lists them.

The staff did explain each dish as it was brought out, but I thought this was fun to not focus on the names of the ingredients but just try to *taste* them. The other innovation, which I took advantage of, was offering a pairing with the menu of Korean drinks, instead of the usual Western wines. A number of them were collaborations between the restaurant and the producer, and it was exciting! A first shoju was infused with apricot, I think, and then carbonation, so that it was a sweet sparkling drink, like champagne. Another shoju was of lotus blossoms and another of plum (I think). This one below was milky!

The meal was anything but stiff and formal. Starting with an amuse-bouche, a cracker with smoked horse mackerel, yuzu, soy crème fraiche and flower petals – hanging from a tree!

This dish came served in a dish was shaped like a Gat, a traditional Korean hat, with a crust the same colour as the ceramic.

… which when cracked revealed abalone and radish in a creamy (possibly liver) sauce.

Every dish was a delight and told a story and introduced me to a Korean flavour, texture or ingredient. This was really what I wanted from a dining experience like this and I sure got it! And as I expected, from a restaurant of this quality, everything was beautiful. The setting was beautiful. Each dish or vessel was beautiful. The glassware was beautiful.

It’s a beautiful space and the staff are uniformly charming. Special thanks to Yannis, the Greek-French sommelier who was generous with the drink and a joke.

The restaurant is in the Gangnam area and we would have liked to explore it more. I’d sort of expected it to have more of a village and neighbourhood type feel to it, but the part that we saw was massive, with skyscrapers and a freeway that was 8 lanes across. We did manage to arrive early enough and were lucky enough to grab a drink at the bar Zest, named to the World’s Top Bars, and the highest rated bar in Seoul. We could taste why the bar is so applauded. Apparently they’re good friends with Evett.

Can you tell I’m filling space so I can fit in some more photos? I didn’t take notes properly, so I can’t give you detailed descriptions of the dishes, sadly, but they were superb, each one, honestly.

I’m guessing this was the Red Tilefish, but what was special to me was the various vegetables that I couldn’t quite identify and were so interesting and tasty and delicate.

It was so great to try the famous Korean Hanwoo beef, which is compared to Wagyu. It was so rich, like tasty fat barely held together with flesh. The jus with black garlic was super-intense. It was served with a small portion of rice, with an explanation of why the rice was special. I love when a chef takes something that is considered humble and shows me a new level. They served the beef with a kimchi sherbet, which neither of us loved, but we certainly don’t mind being challenged! And it was appropriate to serve Korean beef with kimchi!

So, after many dishes and courses (I’m counting seven so far and I don’t think I missed taking photos of any), the dessert courses were served. These were especially yummy.

Though again I’m sorry I can’t tell you exactly what they were.

This one though, with a dish of ice, had a slice of melon on top with a delicious jelly set in it. And then underneath, it was like a trifle, with Korean flavours. Super yummy.

Almost there … As I was facing my husband during the meal, I didn’t see what was going on. He noted that Chef Joseph wasn’t cooking but instead directing the proceedings (including telling diners where the toilets were; you normally do not get this level of personalised service!) and he also noted what a nice camaraderie they all seemed to have. Stevie knew what was coming; I didn’t. We were invited up for a last course, where we got to see the kitchen up close, toast a marshmallow at the grill, and hand it back to the chef, where he put it in a spoon, with a delicious sauce and dressed it with flower petals.

Then we were able to take a photo with Joseph (he’s tall!) which was very welcome and THEN, we were presented with a print of the drawings in the menu. I was so charmed by this. We’re going to frame it and put it up in our apartment as a reminder of such a special experience.

Two signature sesame oil caramels served on the most beautiful container of seeds and flowers.

And for my birthday, I received a special treat, a seaweed cake. I believe it was mochi on the outside, around an ice cream centre and cake. They really know how to make you special. Thank you Restaurant Evett and Chef Joseph and his team. We will always remember this meal.

Posted in Food n' Grog, Review, Travel | Leave a comment

2025 in lists: Movies

Posted on 6 July 2025 by andyq

Stay tuned…

Movies: seen on TV, probably on a streaming service, or on an airplane

  • The Substance: There seems to be a difference in opinion. Husband absolutely loved this one. I found it well-made in parts but simplistic and disliked the camera’s voyeurism over the younger persona. And then was just grossed out, and not in an enjoyable way. But husband absolutely hated …
  • Anora … and the characters and thought there was no story at all, just a lot of yelling, whereas I found them interesting and engaging, and even when I felt uncomfortable, I didn’t mind being uncomfortable. 
  • The Holdovers: I remember the buzz about this film and so had expectations. But I found it a cliché.
  • How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies: I was also interested in the buzz about this film. The pace is so different than a Western story that I wondered if the mostly terrible characters would ever get their redemption. But they do, and I quite liked it in the end, though it shows a part of Thai society that is poor and tradition-bound that I suspect is unfortunately very common in east Asia. 
  • Waiting for Guffman: A blast from the past. How I loved seeing Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara. And a very young Parker Posey. Fun and silly. 

Movies (seen in the cinema)

  • Conclave: Wow, it takes us to February to see a movie in the cinema. Ralph Fiennes is incredible, such gravitas. I found it amusing that they made a thriller out of the selection of the new pope, but it worked, and the images were beautiful. I’m glad we saw it on the big screen. Ludicrous ending but I’m happy we saw this.
  • Emilia Pérez: I was totally in for the first, say, 20 minutes. It’s bonkers and Zoe Saldaña is fantastic. The Busby Berkeley style song and dance number about gender confirmation surgery was nuts and entertaining. But then I kept falling out of the film because of many reasons: Selena’s terrible accent in Spanish. And I love her in Murders in the Building but she seemed totally miscast. And because of using the Mexico drug cartel murders as a plot device. And the ludicrous plot developments. 
  • Fantastic Four: First Steps: I remember the Fantastic Four well from my childhood, so I should have been more excited about this than I was. But it was a good date night. Love the design of the film and sets, the retro-futuristic look, and the actors are fantastic. The story is ludicrous as with most superhero films, but if you just give in to that, it’s fine. Husband loved it. I thought it was a 7.5 out of 10. 

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Book Review: Lorrie Moore’s The Collected Stories

Posted on 15 June 2025 by andyq

The Collected StoriesThe Collected Stories by Lorrie Moore
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I think I was in university when I first discovered Lorrie Moore, reading Like Life (1990) and then liking it so much that I read Birds of America too (1998). Oddly though, when I bought her ‘The Collected Stories’, shortly after its publication in 2008, I never tackled it (it’s a big book after all; there’s a boarding pass in it from when I must started it on a flight to Moscow). So, it’s strange to count that 17 years have gone by before I grabbed it from the shelf again and finally read it through. Seventeen years!

It has been a strange experience reading the book from the perspective of middle age. And I read it strangely too. The book starts with four new stories and then has stories from four books, from the most recent (1998) to the oldest (1985). I’m not sure why I disliked the new stories so much that I ended up jumping to the oldest stories and reading them first and then moved towards the newer ones.

I sense that part of why I was fascinated by her writing in my university years and hitting 30 was almost in an anthropological sense. This was what life was like for bitter middle-aged women in America! Their partners have affairs, constantly. They are always going through divorce and get through the bitterness with wordplay and jokes. People in middle age are always making jokes.

But now, in middle age, I can see that most people that I know are not like Moore’s protagonists and that there is much that I dislike about them. The jokes come across as a way of hiding or avoiding emotion. While the people are always betraying each other sexually and having affairs, I honestly can’t discern why any of them would be together in the first place. They never seem to like each other or care for each other. And I also found it frustrating that they all speak in such similar voices. A male character is described as being a basic guy and not very thoughtful, but his thoughts, as described by Moore are as poetic and witty as the other characters. Most characters regularly engage in witticism and wordplay.

I also found myself struggling with a common tool, the story (or part of a story) that culminates in a revelatory metaphor or image. I remember as a young man, and as a young writer, that I was impressed with them the first time around. But now, I’m not so sure. Take the end of ‘The Jewish Hunter’:

‘If she had spurned gifts from fate or God or some earnest substitute, she would never feel it in that way. She felt like someone of whom she was fond, an old and future friend of herself, still unspent and up ahead somewhere, like a light that moves.’

This is flashy writing. She would never feel like she was a person who had spurned gifts from fate? Instead, she feels like someone, not herself, but a friend to herself, still … unspent. A light that moves? Honestly, I don’t get it. Especially the strange but banal ‘light that moves’.

The last story that I read in the whole collection was probably the strangest, ‘Like Life’, told often in dreams, a sort of dystopian world where it is illegal ‘not to have a television’ and there is a large group of poor and unemployed and sick who sell flowers. In the end, the protagonist’s romantic partner, who is actually more affectionate than most of the men in the collection but also has more threat and aggression is revealed to possibly be a serial killer. And then it was clear to me that Moore’s stories may not at all be aspiring to be a reflection of life at all but instead exaggeration, distortion and jokes, or perhaps a mood or a place inside your head.

And while I did feel at odds with the immense praise included on the covers, or indeed, in the reviews I’ve seen, including here, I also note that Moore is a beautiful writer, and a skilled writer. Her descriptions are original and engaging. And when the stories are emotional and the characters are connected together and care about each other, I was affected. I cared too. The stories about a woman character caring for her mother (and the one with the trip to Ireland) are wonderful and the stories about parents dealing with the illness of a child are beautiful and tragic. I found ‘Joy’ to surprise me in that not a lot happens in the story and yet I was moved and delighted.

And then I also realised that these stories work better for me with a good break in between. The wordplay and wit in smaller doses are amusing, charming and funny, rather than relentless. The characters, with time to breathe, may not be so similar to each other as I thought (or I can forget about the ones from the previous story and allow the new ones to exist in their own territory).

It is a little mundane to say that I didn’t like some of the stories much and I liked a few a lot. I recognise that Moore is a talented and powerful writer, who cares about politics and the human condition, and it gives me insight into the ways we can use humour and wordplay to create distance, as defence, to hide hurt, to relieve anxiety and stress, but also to lift our spirits and connect us. I’m glad that I read Moore’s collected works and as with any author, I can see that some aspects of her writing will work for some readers and some won’t, and sometimes it will depend, as it did for me, on what stage of life I am at, what kind of life experience I have had and how much and with which characters I can connect with.

View all my reviews

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Book review: Alice Munro’s The Progress of Love

Posted on 10 January 2025 by andyq

The Progress of LoveThe Progress of Love by Alice Munro
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’ve decided to get all of Alice Munro’s work and go back and read them all … eventually. Previous to this one, I finished ‘Something I’ve Been Meaning to Tell You’ from 1974, and have skipped ahead by two books to 1982 and ‘The Progress of Love’. My new way of reading Alice Munro is to read a story, and then go to the excellent blog ‘Mookse and Gripes’ where I can read some excellent reviews and analysis by two of their writers. The blog tells me that ‘The Progress of Love’ was just before Munro started publishing her better-known work. Myself, I’m surprised at what a difference I found between these stories and the previous ones, which I can’t say I liked as much. Pretty much immediately, from the first story, I was back in the Munro world that I knew and admired.

What I love about these short stories is that they give me a complex view on the characters, and then going backwards and forwards in time, these moments are illuminated where decisions are made that perhaps change everything. There are profound moments of hope, disappointment, expectation. And I feel a sense of wonder and emotional weight, where I may or may not understand or relate to what is happening, but it feels interesting and significant.

What I didn’t like or connect with is realising that Munro’s careful descriptions of the characters’ wardrobes and clothes are lost on me, as I just can’t picture what she’s talking about nor would know what she’s trying to say, by telling us that the characters are wearing those clothes. She often seems to comment on her women’s characters’ shape and waist size, which is uncomfortable. And after the news from last year of how she was already a bad mother (prioritising her writing and career over being a good mother) and then wouldn’t show any empathy or sadness that her daughter was sexually abused by her partner, I have to say that any stories that explicitly deal with relationships between mothers and daughters are uncomfortable to read now.

Still, I think Munro’s stories are mysterious and masterful and this collection is an excellent example of that. I’m glad to have read it.

View all my reviews

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2024 in lists: Musicals, theatre, concerts, books and exhibitions

Posted on 31 December 2024 by andyq

Musicals and theatre

  • An Evening With: The First Ten Years, Hayes Theatre: What a night! Chockful of Hayes Theatre’s most talented and established performers in a celebratory concert and cabaret.
  • & Juliet: This was awfully fun, and we had to see it when it came to Sydney! I mostly left with admiration for Max Martin’s songwriting! Husband LOVED it and it was a great night. 
  • Tell me on a Sunday: A little-known one-woman show by Andrew Lloyd Webber, I found the orchestration and story pretty old-fashioned, and a depressingly male view of a young independent woman (breaks up because of being cheated on, hooks up with a Hollywood producer who treats her as a trophy wife, gets involved with another cheater, and then a married man). But Erin Clare has it all: a beautiful voice, acting chops and physical beauty. She’s a dynamo and made the show enjoyable. 
  • Reuben Kaye’s Apocalipstik at the Enmore Theatre, part of the Sydney Comedy Festival. This man is witty, intelligent, funny and political, in all the right ways. The last time we saw him was at the Seymour Centre, a small venue, and he hugged everyone coming in! So, I love his … personal touch … and glad to see him playing to such big audiences these days!
  • No Pay? No Way!, Sydney Theatre Company: An Australian adaptation of an apparently classic Italian comic play, I didn’t expect to enjoy this as much as I did: fantastic performances, cracking dialogue, and very, very funny. So glad we saw this. 
  • Ride the Cyclone, Hayes Theatre: I wanted to like this more than I did, as it’s Canadian and the cast were very charming, but I found the story a bit shambolic and silly. Still: not a bad night out. 
  • Patti LuPone: A Life in Notes, Sydney Recital Hall: I found it as entertaining to hear the crowd’s adoration for her, mostly old queens like me, but some straight women too (and no doubt other genders and sexualities). I also liked the way she sang to all the people around her, including those up at the sides. She’s a legend. And a trooper. I expected to not like ‘Ladies who Lunch’ as much as I did, because I’ve heard it so many times. But she’s done it so many times, she singing and acting up a storm with each word, perhaps each syllable. 
  • Dracula, Sydney Theatre Company: Kip Williams’ production of Dracula with the formidable Zahra Newman playing ALL the roles, I was blown away. This is modern staging and techniques that bring classic material to life. I suddenly understood the old myth of Dracula is more than comic books and the Count on Sesame Street, but an exploration of our battles between our darkest desires and conventionality.
  • Little Women, Hayes Theatre: Beautiful songs and amazing performances: Shannen Alyce Quan and Lawrence Hawkins were standouts to me. And I liked the modern set (or lack of set). I somehow wasn’t engaged in the storytelling, which seemed old-fashioned and young, but one of the things I love about Hayes is that they put on interesting older musicals to allow us to see the merits and drawbacks!
  • Golden Blood, Sydney Theatre Company: How great to see diverse playwrights nurtured and promoted, and I’ve certainly never seen a play about Singaporean (k dealers, gang members, orphans) before. 
  • Titanique: I really didn’t expect that I would love this show as much as I did but it is seamless, absolutely hilarious, beautifully acted with a cast who seem like they’re having a ball (and each have exquisite singing voices). I think I’ll come back and bring friends. 
  • Dear Evan Hansen: I loved seeing this on Broadway so much, but would I like the Australian version 7 or 8 years later? The answer is YES. I think the music is amazing, the storytelling in the songs complex and it still feels contemporary and alive. The Aussie cast were great and we saw Lawrence Hawkins, the understudy, playing Evan and what a star he is. I’m usually not glad to have the understudy but this time, I was very happy. 
  • Oscar: We see ballet so seldom, I don’t even have a category for it here. I’m glad we made the effort to get to this ballet commissioned from Christopher Wheeldon. A ballet with gay love and gay themes showed me images and shapes I’d never seen before. Weirdly we had homophobic people in the row in front of us who talked uncomfortably over various scenes, and looked at their phones often during the performance. Sigh.  
  • August: Osage County, Belvoir: I can’t say enough how blown away I was by this. The writing of the play is complex and funny and dark and emotional. The acting was a tour de force. Absolutely amazing. 
  • The Wharf Revue: The End of the Wharf as We Know It: Since arriving in Australia, more than two decades ago, my Australian political education was the Wharf Revue. Silly, insightful and witty, I’m glad to have caught the last show … ever. It’s funny that sometimes I have a stronger impression of the imitations of the politicians (like Amanda Vanstone and Angus Taylor) than of the politicians themselves. 

Concerts

  • The Human League, Enmore Theatre: I discovered that I knew fewer of their songs than I thought, and I thought Phil Oakey was quite shouty and they didn’t have the mikes high enough on for Susan Ann and Joanne. But I adored hearing ‘Human’, ‘Fascination’, ‘Don’t you want me?’ and ‘Together in Electric Dreams’ live. And what a specific demographic. All 50 to 60 year olds, and a smattering of their kids.
  • Rickie Lee Jones, the Factory: I last saw Rickie Lee 8 years ago at the same venue. I think this one had an even better vibe: the crowd loved her. Her voice is as unique and strange as ever. And those songs! What a songwriter. I find it strange that with such a different life experience to me, and yet I find her musical so touching emotionally. I cried when she sang ‘Horses’. 
  • History of House with the Soweto Gospel Choir and DJ Terminator: Completely unexpected, in a spiegeltent, with classic house music and other house-adjacent music being sung by the Soweto Gospel Choir on top of beats from DJ Terminator. Wow. 
  • The The, Sydney Opera House. I was obsessed with The The as a 16 year old and would not have believed that I would see them nearly 40 years later. Matt was in fine voice and the new songs were also great. I really enjoyed this. 
  • Troye Sivan, Something to Give Each Other Tour, Sydney Opera House Forecourt. Still a bit blown away with how good this was. A no more spectacular setting possible. The crowd was young, dressed up and ready to party. The videography was great, matched with choreography in big, graphic shapes that could be seen from the highest steps (where we were, sitting comfortably on chairs). Troye and his team know how to show images and make beautiful music. 

Books

  • Robertson Davies’ The Deptford Trilogy. A Canadian classic that I’d never read. The reason, I remembered, as a young, cocky university student, was that I was interested in reading about more contemporary experiences, and these books, stretching back to World War I, didn’t appeal. But what did I know? Coming back to the books now, I was simply delighted by the storytelling and characters and the shifting points of view. While the book cover touts a mystery to be solved, I wasn’t driven forward by that anticipation: I was just enjoying the story. I can’t return the book to the friend that lent it to me without recording one of the sentences here that made me laugh: ‘You’re all mad for words. Words are just farts from a lot of fools who have swallowed too many books.’  And now that I no longer live in Canada, it was a pleasure to revisit the Canadian cities and towns, from Peterborough where I went to university (and where Davies was a newspaper editor) to Vancouver, where I was born and where the English theatre troupe plays in during their tour.
  • Stuart Barnes’s Like to the Lark. Vulnerability in poetry lends itself to the free-verse confessional, so it’s a wonderful juxtaposition (for me, at least) to see such playfulness of form matched with the open heart and a deep pool of emotion. Of course, there’s much more in this collection, and I think the other reviews here do the work justice. It’s engaging, innovative and a very contemporary voice. Bravo, I say.
  • Sharon Olds’ Stag’s Leap. 
  • Thomas Kevin Dolan’s ‘Little Fag: A Journey of Self-Acceptance and Healing‘.
  • George Orwell’s Animal Farm: A friend, James, gave me this as a gift, as it’s his favourite book. It was a strange experience reading it as I knew so much of it already from popular culture, but I don’t think I’d actually read it before. It is a chilling reflection of politics. While it may have been portraying Stalin, Trotsky and Lenin, current world leaders are using the same techniques of control and corruption.
  • Josh Stenberg’s nibs & nubs. My pal, Josh, has published his first poetry collection. Find it here.
  • Edith Wharton’s House of Mirth. Because I loved two of Jennifer Egan’s books SO much, when I read that this is one of her favourite books, I thought I’d give it a try. About a woman trapped by social conventions and expectations during the Gilded Age, it is beautifully written, and while it is set in such a different time, some themes seemed as relevant today: the social machinations and cruelties, the expectations on women. I found it a timeless disturbing trap, the way Wharton’s heroine internalises values that don’t serve her, and in the end, I found it a depressing read because of it.
  • Michael V. Smith’s Queers like me: Many, many years ago, I spent a season in Vancouver hanging out with two other young gay writers, Michael and George Ilsley. I love that we all went on to have books published and I love that Michael is still writing honest and intimate poetry like in his latest collection.
  • Rebecca F. Huang’s Yellowface: Read my review and some comments here.
  • Gina Chick’s We Are the Stars. Stevie’s best friend. It’s an amazing book and story and fascinating to how Australia has been discovering what an extraordinary person Gina is.
  • Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko: I enjoyed this so much. The early parts have the power of fable. The writing is beautiful. The storytelling is amazing. And highlighting the terrible prejudices and oppression faced by Koreans in Japan, a story that needed to be told. And now we’re watching the TV series!
  • Alice Munro’s Something I’ve Been Meaning to Tell You: I did write a review, mainly to say that it’s interesting to be able to read each Munro story and then check out online what others think of it too. This says how deep and complex her stories are, and as an old friend asked, can you really review Munro? Or just go back to the stories and learn more.
  • Kenneth Morgan’s Australia: A Very Short Introduction: As my pal James is getting one of these published (on authoritarianism), I thought I’d check out a few. This was an interesting and digestible summary of the land I’ve adopted as home.
  • Han Kang’s The Vegetarian. I wanted to read why Kang has been so lauded, and I found out why. This book was short, dark, intense, moody and affecting. I didn’t love it because it was uncomfortable to read, and I tend to like books that sweep me away (and possibly uplift me) but I respected the book very much.

Exhibitions

  • The Art of Banksy: “Without Limits”. I’m so glad I got off my (sometimes) lazy arse and took myself to this exhibit. I’d read a lot about Banksy over the years and seen various images, but never really paid that much attention. I think he’s a really interesting artist, capturing movement and gesture, and most of all, protest, primarily in stencil-based images. And I admire that he’s travelled to Gaza and Ukraine, making art there, and funding a boat to rescue refugees in the Mediterranean. 
  • Dark Spectrum: As part of the Vivid Sydney lights show, they opened up an underground space, and filled it with a light show and soundtracks. The disused tunnels from the underground train system are quite cool, but there are parts that were most recently car parking, and that’s not so cool. And strangely, the lights look better through videos than in person. Oh well, it got us out of the house. 
  • Thin Ice, Virtual Reality, Australian Museum: I’ve only had snippets of VR before, so 20 minutes of a recreation, by Tim Jarvis, of Shackleton’s Antarctic trek, with a strong message about climate change, was incredible. Really. 

 

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2024 in lists: Television

Posted on 28 December 2024 by andyq

Television

    • The Crown, Season 6. We finally finished the last season of the Crown. While I appreciated the acting, particularly of Elizabeth Debecki and Imelda Staunton, it all felt a little too intrusive to me, the fact that many of the people portrayed are still alive, and the series is proposing stories about them which may be true (or not at all). Couldn’t miss watching it after watching and enjoying the other seasons, though. 
    • Fellow Travelers. Familiar with gay history, while I was looking forward to this show, I was also apprehensive. Would they get parts wrong? Could they tell such complex social histories well? I was very impressed all in all, with a real jigsaw puzzle of timelines that worked, and the two lead performances, which were compelling (and of course, they were very handsome). We really enjoyed this. 
    • Berlin. I watched 3 episodes and they were so bad that I wondered why House of Paper (Casa del Papel) was so good. But I remember: a great premise, magnetic characters, suspense and smart storytelling. None of which Berlin has. Of note: weird music video sequences with the characters excessively happy and mugging for the camera. Or Bruce, flirting with Keila, and saying he likes to ask himself whether his female objects of desire shave their pubic hair. Or not. WTF? 
    • Deadloch. We were superfans of Iceland’s Trapped and the amazing series ‘The Bridge’ so a Tasmania-set parody, with not just similar but almost exact recreations of the suspenseful and mournful music, the red herrings, the partnership between opposites, the quirky minor characters: all of this delighted me at almost a subconscious level. A good thing, since I also found the farce too much: that most characters spoke with the same voice and the same slang; that nearly all had an obsession with talking about genitals, shit and lesbians. That the episodes were a bit too long and that the characters’ quirks overstretched beyond farce to bloody annoying and utterly illogical. But overall: quite amusing. 
    • Boy Swallows Universe. The last episode was so weird and implausible that I had to look up what others were saying and they agreed (including a review of the book, which explains why they put it in the TV show). But it wasn’t so bad that it cancelled out a fair bit of enjoyment: a real sense of place, a milieu that I was unfamiliar with, some cracking Aussie dialogue, and great performances. The juxtaposition of a boy’s adventure tale with such violence of gangland mafia and drug addiction and dealing was jarring though.
    • Everything Now. Somewhere around 1991, I saw the movie ‘Flirting’, an Aussie coming-of-age story, and I loved it. The awkward main character and the sophisticated love interest, played by Thandiwe Newton. So, I always remembered her. Her daughter, Ripley Parker, only 23, is the creator and main writer of ‘Everything Now’, which I watched initially to check out the lead actor, Sophie Wilde, since she came for a reiki treatment! And I love the show. It’s like a more sophisticated and real version of Sex Education. The performances are amazing and the script complex. I thought it was really, really good TV. 
    • Sex Education, Season 4: I really did enjoy the early seasons of this show. I was charmed by the characters and happily shocked by how frank and open the show was about issues around sex and identity for young people. But this season, there are new characters and they and the old ones EACH get a storyline and the formidable Gillian Anderson spends the whole season in post-natal depression. It was a series of issues more than stories – bullying, transgender identity, religion and queer identity, asexuals, post-natal depression, sibling rivalry, sex counsellor rivalry, coercive behaviour, the cost of top surgery, adoption, a cancer scare, disability and accessibility, addiction, the loss of a parent. I was bored and disappointed. 
    • Expats: Having loved Lulu Wang’s gentle and moving film, The Farewell, I was primed to see this, in a setting that I’ve observed but not seen portrayed on TV: expat life in Hong Kong, with Filipino maids and wealthy Westerners. I loved parts of it, especially the feature-length episode focusing on the maids. Such diversity portrayed: different cultures, different languages and different classes. But I didn’t love all the series. 
    • Three Body Problem. Having read the book, the first one at least, I was very curious how they’d adapt it (and I loved Game of Thrones). Like the book, the science part is so complex that you just have to go with it. But I’m glad they tried to humanise the story, as I found it mighty impersonal and mental in the book. And like the book, it was disappointing to watch eight episodes with little resolve or idea of what’s going to happen next. 
    • Supersex. We thought that this would be like the Spanish series, Veneno, unapologetic about sex and sexual identity and infused with Latin passion. And some of the actors are very charismatic, including the lead. But I found this series more and more tawdry. So much focus on the brother, an unlikeable violent drunk, and a message becoming clear that straight male sexuality is pretty much uncontrollable: we lost our patience and liking for this. 
    • Baby Reindeer: Did that really just happen? I kept asking how this was brought to TV, how the writer would show not just his traumatising experiences, but his host of bad decisions. But I read Netflix asked if he wanted to do it, based on some of his stage shows, and he is an artist, a confessional artist. A harrowing watch and I think useful for the world, to see the sexual assault of a man and the aftermath. It’s quite a trick though: with the word ‘comedian’ in the description, you’d think it would be funny, but there was really nothing funny about this. 
    • Mary and George: Julianne Moore was amazing and Nicholas Galitzine held his own but this series didn’t grab me as much as it should have. A dark time, the early 17th century.
    • Star Trek Discovery, Season 5: I really only watched this because husband likes Star Trek, but even he didn’t find this season very good. The characters are one-note and often preachy, and they seemed to spend a lot of time telling each other how great they were. And these random new characters! Meh. 
    • This is Going to Hurt: I’m late to this party but had read great reviews and was pulled in from the first episode. It had a constant tension about it, like The Bear, only in a hospital rather than a restaurant. And instead of pretty food, it was gory, graphic medical scenes. I think I was shocked to figure out that the biggest discomfort for me as a viewer, worse than seeing the failing, underfunded health system and life-and-death scenes was how Adam, the protagonist was so unlikeable, that sharp, dark British humour covering up vulnerability, grief, honesty and often kindness. Overall, quite an amazing show. 
    • Hacks, Seasons 1, 2 & 3: We missed the Hacks phenomenon when it started but after numerous recommendations from friends, we checked it out. I really love it. TV is filled with odd couples, but I’ve never seen a combination like this. The episodes are short, sharp, funny and engaging. 
    • The Sympathizer: When the book came out, it was one of my favourites of that year. How would they turn it into a TV series? Very, very well, I discovered. Loved the lead. Loved Sandra Oh. Loved Robert Downey Jr chewing the scenery. Loved the design of it all. And like the book, it reminded me that I really didn’t know much about the Vietnam War and its aftermath and found this story and education complex, gripping and amazing. 
    • Drops of God: A look at the cultures of two of my favourite countries, France and Japan; a story about taste and tasting and the pleasures of degustation; a family drama; a mysterious contest: there’s a LOT here in this series based on a manga. I liked it for the most part. It was entertaining and unusual. 
    • Pachinko, Season 1: Having just read the book, I thought I’d check out the TV series, and it keeps enough of the book that it is recognisable but really changes things up to make it an epic TV series. I’m obsessed with the acting in this, and the sad, beautiful music. Bring on Season 2. 
    • Pachinko, Season 2: Still moving along nicely. Some harrowing emotional scenes. I find I can’t watch this show quickly. It’s too intense. 
    • Shōgun: Similarly, I’m loving the scope and scale of this. It has the mythic qualities and political rivalries of Game of Thrones, but was based more on an idea of reality. Loving it. 
    • Only Murders in the Building, Season 4: Much as I love the three leads, as some of the guest stars, this season was TOO MUCH. As most of the guest stars from previous seasons were still featured, to then add big celebrities to the mix, from Ron Howard and Eva Longoria to Melissa McCarthy and Kumail Nanjiani, made the season overstuffed.
    • Slow Horses: What a discovery. Those scenes between Gary Oldman and Kristen Scott-Thomas! I loved the first season, being introduced to the characters and concept. Found the second season not as engaging but loved the third: I love the character of Standish and am glad she gets something to do, and they fleshed out the other characters nicely. But I wasn’t as charmed by Season 4. Still, I do like those show a lot and am glad they’re making another season (or two). 
    • My Brilliant Friend, Story of the Lost Child: Having read all the books, and watching the first three seasons, of course I had to watch the last. But my reaction was confusing. I remember welcoming being drawn into a world that I’d known nothing about: political, historical and cultural. I remember a number of moments in the other series where I was really drawn in and fascinated, particularly by the central friendship. But I found the last series hard to watch and hard to connect with: watching the feminist author build part of her life chasing a mendacious philanderer, the violence that the characters inflict upon each other, rebellious children. I had to watch it, of course, for a sense of completion but am still a bit confused by it, particularly since many critics loved it. 
    • The Sticky: While I loved the concept of this and to see a TV show set in working class Québec, I found this a little too slapstick and don’t think there’s enough material to stretch it into a 2nd season (which is why the end was so unresolved).

Documentaries and Reality Television

    • Queer Eye, Season 8: We’ve been faithful watchers of this reboot from the beginning, and while husband cried pretty much every episode, I was unmoved. I didn’t fall in love with the heroes as I usually did, and I often disagreed with various decisions. I used to love Tan’s fashion advice but have somehow become bored with it. Karamo’s therapy: shout it out! shake it out! doesn’t work for me at all. So, I’m likely to take a permanent break from this one when it comes back without Bobby (who did all the heavy lifting anyways).
    • Great Pottery Throw Down, Season 7: British reality shows astonish me. In North America and Australia, people are generally after fame and making monetary deals, and the winners get $$$ and merchandise. So, to see a group of nice, interesting, kind people, doing what they love, in front of quirky judges, for the chance to win … a ceramic trophy and a bunch of flowers, is such a down-to-earth and humble experience. And I love Rose, the kiln technician. It’s got to be one of the most positive representations of transgender people on TV, because it doesn’t focus on her identity. She just does her work, brilliantly, while everyone treats everyone else with respect, kindness and support. 
    • Blown Away, Season 4: I’ve always loved this show, as the material is so beautiful and it’s a pleasure to learn about what makes a great piece. This season, with a new host, has the most breakages and the largest pieces yet. It’s harrowing!
    • Great Canadian Pottery Throw Down, Season 1: As a Canadian playing with clay, already a fan of the pottery throw downs, and from Vancouver, where the series was filmed, this was a LOT of fun for me to watch. 
    • Physical 100, Underground: When I was a kid in Vancouver, Canada, they used to have a show called ‘Battle of the Network Stars’, where they’d take attractive actors from the current popular shows and have them compete in athletic races, like a school sports day. I liked it. Those were the days I discovered superhero comic books, and there was this interesting framework about whose particular powers or attributes would allow them to win battlers against others. Flash forward to 2024, and this is what I remembered watching this Korean athletic competition. There is something interesting about seeing contests between firemen and secret service agents and weightlifters and wrestlers, and a category not known when I was a child: crossfitters. It’s also really interesting to see the Korean culture. I don’t think this show would work in the Western world: the egos and competition would be unpleasant to watch. But these Korean athletes, at the top of their game, often, are so humble, and kind to each other. At the same time, episodes could really drag on. We were glad when it was over.
    • Survivor USA, Season 46: I’ve always found the storytelling in this series outstanding, so much so that while I didn’t really fall in love with many of the players this year, I still loved the story.
    • Masterchef Australia, Season 16: A new set of judges after Jock’s sad demise and we’re still watching. I didn’t watch every episode, but tuned in, and still found the show inspiring for my own cooking, and enjoyed watching everyday Aussies cooking up a storm.
    • Great Pottery Throw Down, Season 4: I love this show and have even convinced husband to watch it with me. We were behind in watching them, and what a lovely surprise this was. The first season with Siobhan, I found her extra charming, and being filmed in lockdown, the potters had a special bond. They were a really lovely and talented bunch and a joy to watch. 
    • I am: Céline Dion: I did expect, as a documentary, that this would tell the story of Céline Dion, but as I read somewhere, the makers expect you to know her story already. So, this is a story of Céline Dion suffering from Stiff Person’s Syndrome. I frankly didn’t love it. 
    • The Boyfriend: I knew something about gay culture in Japan so was fascinated to see how far it has come. A gentle look at mostly young gay men living together in a reality TV house, with the possibility of romance, I found the contrast so stark between Western reality TV with the participants wanting to be celebrities, and these men who seemed quiet and modest and unassuming and somewhat tortured. I only watched the first two episodes and the finale, but I think I figured out all the important parts!
    • Hollywood Con Queen: A quick three-parter, three hours, and while The Guardian found it terribly boring, I found it fascinating to be hearing directly from someone who my husband clearly says has a narcissistic personality disorder (rather than the sociopathy that Harbinder is accused of). How audacious the scam was, how needy and crazy the perpetrator: I thought it made for gripping viewing. 
    • Ali Wong: Single Lady: Does comedy go under reality television? I remember Wong’s previous specials as making me laugh more. I’m still shocked and pleased that she goes THERE. Speaking openly about sex and desire, Asian-American identity and desire, the body and its horrors. But this one was too sharp for me. Everything seemed to be about how unlikable and demanding she is OR her sexual partners being not right for her.  
    • Survivor USA, Season 47: How did they manage to fit in another season of Survivor this year? Regardless: I love it. It’s unusual that the person we wanted to win from early on actually won, and this was a surprisingly enjoyable and entertaining season.
    • Dessert Masters, Season 2: Watching pastry chefs at the top of their game, making desserts that make me salivate, is enjoyable, and I found this season to have a lighter tone than the last, or perhaps I’m getting used to it. The contestants are game to participate, supportive of each other, and have lots of tricks up their sleeves.

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2024 in lists: Movies

Posted on 24 December 2024 by andyq

Movies: seen on TV, probably on a streaming service, or on an airplane

  • Maestro: First film of 2024. Choices are always to be made in telling someone’s complex life but I enjoyed this interesting telling of the famous composer and conductor and found Carey Mulligan and Bradley Cooper watchable and magnetic. 
  • Saltburn: Some critics are apparently asking, ‘What was the point?’ but I couldn’t keep my eyes from the screen. This was never boring. 
  • Good Grief: A fan of Schitt’s Creek, I really wanted to like Daniel Levy’s debut film, but it asks too much of a viewer, to feel for these characters and to explore grief when we’re given so little to work with: pretty images of Paris, tons of pornographic signs of wealth, a sad, sad soundtrack, and various themed songs. The dialogue rang false to me, though the two sidekicks did their best with what they were given. 
  • Nuovo Olimpo: A romantic, nostalgic film, set in Rome, about a short, passionate gay romance and then decades of melancholy. I loved it. 
  • No Hard Feelings: Jennifer Lawrence and Andrew Barth Feldman: I kept waiting for the movie to fall apart but I thought the acting perfect and charismatic and that the film was very, very funny. I needed a light film to watch during a Sydney heatwave and this was a good one. 
  • A Haunting in Venice: And why not? A Hercule Poirot mystery set in a murky, wet and atmospheric Venice, with a wonderful cast. I liked the intrusions of the supernatural and most of all, Venice. And that moustache. 
  • The Lobster: Whoah. I liked Poor Things so much, I thought I’d check out the Lobster. Amazing premise. Hilarious scenes and to start with, some sharp satire, I thought. But then it totally loses it’s way when I was hoping for a strong finish. 
  • Tár: As usual, Cate Blanchett is magnetic. And what a story. A cerebral entry to the world of classical music, to start with, and then … a story that takes the typical story of an abusive, powerful womaniser, and makes him a her. Raising interesting questions along the way. 
  • Talk to Me: Horror films aren’t my thing but I’d heard about how successful this Australian film was, and I think Sophie Wilde, the lead, is an amazing actor. And I loved this: a good premise, good storytelling, creepy as hell. 
  • American Fiction: I knew the basic premise, about writing and publishing and identity politics, so I did not expect such an engaging, human story about one charismatic Black family. I really, really loved this film.  
  • Deadpool: We saw this in advance of seeing Deadpool and Wolverine, and while I can see the appeal, I didn’t *love* it. It was better watched in parts.
  • Argylle: I thought this was going to be a spoof of a spy movie starring Henry Cavill, rather than a spoof of a spy movie with a major focus on a woman who writes spy novels. I kept waiting for it to make me laugh or intrigue me or interest me and husband noticed I was just not that into it. 
  • But I’m a Cheerleader: Hearing this was a cult queer hit, I was profoundly disappointed (and bored) by this simplistic satire of a gay conversion centre. No shade, complexity or wit. I thought the gays were supposed to have good taste. 
  • May December: Such material to work with and I found much of the film intriguing. But dramatic music and pretty images (and analogies about monarch butterflies) seemed to sometimes substitute for better storytelling. 
  • Past Lives: Saw this in the cinema when it came out but watched it again on TV with husband. I love it. It’s a very understated film, filled with emotion, about how we connect with people, and our past and present, and the different worlds and cultures that can live within us, simultaneously. 
  • The Iron Claw: As a boy, I remembered seeing the Von Erichs wrestling on TV and there was something electric about them. So, I remember afterwards reading about the many tragedies that struck the family. A film about the family was somewhat hard to watch though Zac Efron, bursting out of his body with muscle, gives a soulful performance. 
  • Will & Harper: I found this engaging, emotional and often hilarious. I valued the chance to spend time with an older trans woman who has transitioned late in life and I can’t help but think how important this film is. I hope it reaches many people.
  • Gladiator: As preparation to see Gladiator II, and I’d never seen it. Russell Crowe had a ton of charisma, I liked the classic story and the soundtrack, and yup, I was entertained. 
  • Opponent: The snowy environment of northern Sweden and refugee hotels is so quiet and still and yet filled with the tension of a Iranian refugee and his family, waiting to be approved, shuttled from room to room, and the protagonist, played by the amazing Payman Amadi, struggling with his sexuality and his role as a father and husband. Quite interesting. 
  • Dune, Part II: Beautiful filmmaking and great acting, though I found three hours a little long on the small screen and I kept forgetting the myth and storyline. Luckily, Husband has read the books. 

Movies (seen in the cinema)

  • All of Us Strangers: A good first pick for a film seen in the cinema for 2024. Though is this categorisation silly. I basically hived off movies from television and theatre, because we saw so many last year, but then most of those were on streaming services. In any case, I thought Andrew Scott’s acting was so beautiful in this. Paul Mescal is always watchable. And Claire Foy and Jamie Bell: also fantastic. An interesting melancholy meditation on loss and feeling you never fit in. A slow pace, like Haigh’s Weekend, and I got mixed up with the plot, perhaps getting so emotionally involved, I sort of drifted off into what I wanted to happen then what the story was telling me. 
  • Next Goal Wins: My mate Tom from England, who is a sports fan, booked in for this and then couldn’t make it to Sydney to see it. So Stevie and I saw it at the outdoors cinema on the Harbour, with a meal beforehand at the specially built restaurant! Couldn’t have been a more spectacular setting to see this fun film. The story and plotting was shaggy, but we enjoyed it just fine (I see pretty mediocre reviews though; honestly, most films I just want to generally be entertained so am less critical than I used to be). 
  • Poor Things: I don’t think I’ve seen a similar film and I couldn’t take my eyes off it. Everything about it – the sets, the music, the odd filming techniques, the acting, the costumes and particularly the script, the funny wordplay of a baby’s brain become adult – I loved it. Still a bit speechless. The weirdest hero’s journey ever.
  • Deadpool & Wolverine: With mediocre expectations, having watched Deadpool, and not loving it, we saw this in 3D at the Imax cinema, and I thought it was amazing. A funny, tight script, great pacing and I was really, really entertained. That is one ugly dog though. 
  • Gladiator II: I was so entertained by this. Usually, with a film with action scenes, say, a superhero film, I roll my eyes occasionally at the script or the excess CGI or activity. But I was fully engaged with this: the spectacle and actors and I thought Paul Mescal had great presence and charisma. 
  • Wicked, Part I: We were huge fans of the musical and I thought, how can you go wrong with this musical and that cast? Any expectations were surpassed. They turned the magic of the stage into the magic of the movies. Those voices could not be more pretty. The crowd scenes and dancing. The expanded songs. It was incredible. 

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Alice Munro’s Something I’ve Been Meaning to Tell You

Posted on 5 October 2024 by andyq

Something I've Been Meaning to Tell YouSomething I’ve Been Meaning to Tell You by Alice Munro
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’m slowly buying all the Alice Munro collections that I haven’t got on my shelf (except for the collected works, as I reckon all those stories will be in the other books). I started with this one, and I started reading it and knew that I had read it before, but long ago. So, it was interesting to think of how little I would have understood of the world at the time compared to decades later, and how I would have missed the complexities of the infidelities, untruths, withholding information and betrayals. I also think it’s interesting how Munro’s work is so loved that it can change the way you read it. Online, there are blogs (very good ones) that discuss EVERY story, and I found it useful and pleasurable to read a story and then read others’ interpretation. This also taught me that it’s not a great idea to read them before going to bed and to not read a complete story in a single sitting! With one of the stories with a very unreliable narrator, I knew that something was wonky in the telling of the story but didn’t realise it was mostly in her mind, until it was pointed out to me by the blog (mookse and gripes, it’s very good). Anyways, now to start the next!

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Postscript (28 Dec 2024): First of all, check out this very, very negative review in the New York Times, perhaps before they had bylines for the authors. What a pan!

And the next book that I am reading by Munro is The Progress of Love (1974). I can’t yet articulate why but I’m responding much better to this collection then Something I’ve Been Meaning to Tell You (1986). I mean, it’s true. Twelve years can make a difference and perhaps Munro’s writing improved or perhaps just became closer to my sensibilities, born in 1969. I’ll report if I figure it out!

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