Bad Monkey
Certain movies become favorites. Watched over and over again. And back in the days of VHS watched so many times the tape become unplayable. But there are a rare few that you know will enter your personal pantheon from your first viewing. In fact they're so good that as soon as you finished watching it that first time you went back to the beginning and watched it all over again. The first movie I remember doing this for was Clue. My best friend brought it over on VHS thinking I'd love it. She was right. I asked her if I could borrow it and the second she left I rewound it to the beginning and watched it a second time. I almost contemplated a third viewing but I waited until the next day to do that. Swingers is another movie that I did this with. My friends and I rented it from Blockbuster Video and we went over to one of their houses to watch it. Since I was the one who rented it I took it with me when we left claiming I would return it right away but instead I promptly went home and watched it again. I watched it again for Vince Vaughn. Sure you could argue that Jon Favreau is really the star of that movie. I will violently disagree. This began my love of all things Vince Vaughn. His laid back laconic snark is an artform in itself. He's had some big hits here and there and quite a few misses, like I totally blocked out that he was in the Jurassic Park sequel... And yes, he will forever be beloved for Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, and his stepping in to play Freddy Funkhouser on Curb Your Enthusiasm after the death of Bob Einstein which gave him good television exposure. But for me around 2005 when Wedding Crashers came out I was kind of tired of the same old same old from him. And then Bad Monkey came around. At first I wasn't sure I was going to watch it. My mother was a huge Carl Hiaasen fan and anyone who has spent any time around books knows how memorable the cover for Bad Monkey is with that piratical primate... So she would have been onboard. And then it was announced Slow Horses was coming back earlier than expected and I decided to get Apple+ a little early and see what this show was all about. Well this show is about Vince Vaughn's comeback. And while he didn't actually go away, this is a roll that will forever define him. It plays to his skillset to such a level it's a masterclass in acting just watching him. He is perfection as Andrew Yancy. I mean, people might say that it was a given it would be so good because Bill Lawrence is behind it and he's brought us Ted Lasso, Shrinking, Scrubs, and Spin City to name just a few classics. But this is a vehicle for Vaughn. His snark is still there, he's still laid back, but he's talking a mile a minute, filling the air with his words and his humorous delivery all while being backed up by a stellar cast. And while people will bemoan that a second season couldn't possibly be as good because almost all the cast is dead... Well, I'm willing to trust Bill Lawrence and his three season plan. Because, trust me, if there's any justice in the world Vince Vaughn will be getting an Emmy off this show. It's a delicious and delightful mystery inside a mystery while you take in all that Florida has to offer, and that happens to be a lot of Tom Petty covers. But at the very end they use Tom Petty's own version "Leaning to Fly" and it's like coming home. And Vince Vaughn as Andrew Yancy is welcome in mine anytime. I even will admit to enjoying his slightly annoying ringtone on his phone...
In 2014 the BBC successfully moved to acquire the rights to Agatha Christie's estate. Since then they have made nine adaptations. I actually couldn't bring myself to watch John Malkovich as Poirot so I can't pass judgement on it, but of the rest, two are fabulous, one is acceptable, and the rest are too painful to watch. In fact I couldn't even finish Partners in Crime it was so bad. AND they're redoing it with Conchita's husband from 
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As a book lover I am intrigued by what books are touchstones with my friends. What book was their everything when they were growing up? Because everyone has some book that is the backbone of their personality and often they read it at a young age way before they should have. When discussing this with my British friends it's even more intriguing because there are books they read that were nowhere near as popular Stateside and some that were never even available here, and yes, I'm mainly thinking of Enid Blyton. Here everyone will talk about The Chronicles of Narnia, while there they're all about The Dark Is Rising Sequence. The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham is one of those books, loved overseas but overlooked here. The 1960s film adaptation, The Village of the Damned, was hugely successful, which is how it's known here. But just the film, not the source material. In fact, while this adaptation was put up on Acorn originally as The Midwich Cuckoos within a month they renamed it Midwich Cuckoos: Village of the Damned because apparently Americans are that ignorant. And at the moment I wouldn't really argue with that. The important thing was that two and a half years after it was released in the UK I was finally able to watch this stunning science fiction exploration of what life is like now starring Keeley Hawes. Hawes plays the gender swapped Dr. Zellaby played by the incomparable George Sanders in the film. Though gender swapping the role adds so much to the understanding of this adaptation and to the horrors of the story told as seen from a female perspective. Because while previous adaptations have focused on the malevolent children this one isn't just about that. It's far more about female autonomy and how these women are impregnated against their will, forced to carry the babies to term, even going so far as to show how the unborn children are able to take control of the women's bodies so that they are unable to have abortions, and then are forced to live in a police state where they raise "their" children. While I'm sure a lot of people out there are like, well, that's not likely to happen, we're not living in The Handmaid's Tale yet... I counter that the reason this is so powerful is that it is exactly a scenario that could play out. I mean, take away the alien aspect, and it's a government forcing women to bear children and then monitoring their every move. That is totally plausible and as more and more rights get stripped away, terrifyingly likely. What ups this version though is having Dr. Zellaby go from a Gordon to a Susannah. Having the interface between the government, the children, and the mothers be a mother herself adds another layer to this. Add in that she herself has a secret about how hard she handled becoming a mother, and well, the impact of this series is all that more powerful. And as for the children? Oh, they are still very much terrifying and deserve what they get, but at the same time it's interesting because while they are a hive mind they actually do have individuality as Dr. Zellaby points out to her granddaughter Evie that she has tastes in ice cream different than the whole, that there are predilections. They are really evil only as a whole and individually they could be good. So what does this show teach us? Mob mentality is real and dangerous and the government want to control us. Especially if we're female. I can't think of anything more spot on. Terrifying but spot on.
I get it, you haven't tried this show because you're intimidated. The lore of Dune is overwhelming. You went to a bookstore once and were like, I think I'd like to read Dune, you picked up the book, which is already pretty thick, you saw how tiny the print was and thought, I'll just watch Chalamet and Zendaya. Then you watched the Denis Villeneuve films and enjoyed them. Obviously the first part is way better than the second in spite of the infrared scene, but again, going further into this world is daunting and Austin Butler is dead. I am here to allay you fears. First, Dune: Prophecy is set about ten thousand years before the time of Paul Atreides. What does this mean? You don't need to know anything from the movies. I mean, obviously if you were paying attention the fact that technology has stagnated over a ten thousand year time period is fascinating with the ouster of "thinking machines" but seriously, you don't need to go that deep. That's for the uber nerds. This show works on many levels and even at the simplest level it is a stunning tale of court intrigue. You have three houses that are vying for dominance, the same three houses that the films concern; House Harkonnen, House Atreides, and House Corrino. Then there's the Bene Gesserit, a religious order of women who wants control more than the Houses and are willing to work in the shadows in secret and as advisors to steer the Imperium and control the galaxy. This is all neatly summarized at the beginning of the show, but again, you don't need to be in the weeds to enjoy this, because this could be any court scandal. Who has power, and who wants power, and who is willing to manipulate the universe to get it and who wants to upset the status quo and wrest control from those in power. Meaning, this isn't confusing at all, Dune: Prophecy tells a tale simply and well. Plus we have stunning costumes and actors drawn oddly from the stable of British actors who have appeared on The Witcher. Perhaps they have a love of court intrigue with an otherworldly aspect? I mean, obviously the draw is Oscar nominee Emily Watson, but there are so many British actors I love, especially the young actress from Steven Knight's 
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Way back in January of 2013 my Mom and I become obsessed with the reboot of Father Brown. It had just the perfect light touch. What's more it had Mark Williams. Which is actually how I heard about the show. Most people think of him as Arthur Weasley, a role to which even Father Brown did the occasional nod. I am not most people. To me he is Olaf Petersen, "I've been to Titan, I've been to Juno, I can name eight things that go in jars that you know!" Olaf, you didn't deserve to die aboard the mining ship Red Dwarf, but you will forever be missed. When my Mom's health started to fade a lot of shows we watched fell by the wayside. Which means that somewhere around season three or four we had stopped watching Father Brown. The one upside to this clear demarcation point in my life is that going back now and catching up on shows I used to love I have so many more episodes to watch. Because as my life was derailed Father Brown was chugging along. Last year when I went back there were eleven seasons to catch up on! It goes to eleven! I mean, technically it now goes to twelve, but at the time I picked the show back up there were eleven seasons and a hundred and twenty episodes. All those adventures with Father Brown, Mrs. McCarthy, Lady Felicia, Sid, Inspector Sullivan, Sergeant Goodfellow, and of course, Hercule Flambeau! And then the new characters, Inspector Mallory, Bunty, Brenda, and Mrs. Isabel Devine whom I hadn't even met yet! This is a show that's simply done and that's why it's so comforting. It's a place where time stands still. Literally. It was until the season nine final and their hundredth episode, "The Red Death," that it actually became a new year. Despite having previous holiday episodes and several big events having to have occurred simultaneously, like Sid serving time before actually committing a crime, time was immaterial until the arrival of Claudie Blakley as Mrs. Devine who somehow brought time with her. As each season since has been approximately a year. I know! It's shocking how time is now flying in Kembleford! If they're not careful they might actually catch up to Sister Boniface in the sixties! While each season of this show has been a delight and, for Mrs. McCarthy, a way to dabble in her own homegrown variety of McCarthyism, this current season was especially delightful. What set it apart you say? I like how the mysteries were more tailored to the leads. In previous seasons it's murder comes what may, be it a travelling circus or a cult. Now we have the crimes reflecting the interests of our leads. Mrs. Devine loves acting and we got a historical reinactment, a murder mystery play, and a radio drama. For Ruby we had a ballroom dancing episode. And for Flambeau, we had him appear to go straight. I mean, we knew it had to happen eventually... But even with a divinely Gothic episode, "The Horns of Cernunnos," and us FINALLY meeting Violet Goodfellow and the return of Blind 'arry, Lady Felicia took the cake. In her episode, a now undoubted classic, "The Sisters of Aeschylus," Dan Douche Scott, AKA John Hopkins from Midsomer Murders is murdered and Lady Felicia asks for a little help on her novel. Which is some of the best and most comedic acting that I have ever seen from Nancy Carroll. Lady Felicia doesn't understand similes! Oh, how I never want this show to end. These are my friends. I get them. I get their humor. BATS!
