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Fleabag (UK)

Series two of Fleabag just finished airing in the UK. So the caveat here is that I've only watched series one so far. But I love it.

I hesitate to call this a comedy. It is funny and vulgar and moving and at times deeply disturbing. And it is absolutely riveting television. How have I survived this long without knowing about the work of Fleabag's creator and star, Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Killing Eve, Crashing)? 

And since I'm already recommending a television show that I haven't finished watching, I'll also recommend an article about it that I haven't finished reading. The Guardian's culture writers have compiled a list of what to read, watch, and listen to after you have finished watching Fleabag. Liz Phair is counted among the cultural touchstones that vibrate on a resonant frequency with Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and for good reason. Phair's profane debut album, Exile in Guyville, struts with the same raw emotional honesty as Fleabag.

Fleabag covers difficult, intimate material without sugar coating or pulling punches. It's always funny and never cringey. But I will need a few more days to recover before I start series two.

Update: I've finished series two, and it stunning. I never binge-watch shows, but I binged-watched this one because the episodes flowed together so seamlessly. It's more like a play than a TV show. The complexity, intelligence, and emotional depth of the characters really comes through in the second series. These are interesting people doing interesting things. It's a year later, and Fleabag has matured.

There is a wonderful bit of criticism of series two over at FilmSchoolRejects.com, but please watch series two first, as article this necessarily discusses many of the plot twists.

A Face in the Crowd (1957)

I thought Paddy Chayefsky's 1976 film, Network, was the first and last word on the power and corrupting influence of mass media. But I've just seen Elia Kazan's A Face in the Crowd from 1957, and I'm awestruck. This film is 62 years old, and it remains an incredibly relevant criticism of mass media.

The film feels so modern, in fact, that I can't imagine what a 1957 audience would have made of it. Andy Griffith's performance is enormous, powerful, and frightening. I can't believe that he didn't receive an Academy Award nomination. The Eisenhower-era audiences seemed genuinely confused by this movie. And the critics were either nonplussed or panned it altogether. One notable exception being François Truffaut, who said the film is "a great and beautiful work whose importance transcends the dimensions of a cinema review."

My take is, yeah, what Truffaut said. This film is important.

In the second half of the film, Patricia Neal grows darker with every scene. Kazan lights her like a skeleton towards the end, her angular face often turns into the shadows or is half eclipsed by shadow. And Walter Matthau takes a turn as the educated cynic who knows exactly how this all ends.

This film is very much worth your time. The observations contained here continue to resonate over 60 years after its creation.

Summer of Rockets (UK)

I have been describing this six-part BBC Two drama as a "six and a half hour documentary about the creation of the pager," which isn't completely facetious. Set in England of 1958 when the cold war was beginning to heat up, Stephen Poliakoff's drama centers on the family of Samuel Petrukhin, a Russian jew in England who owns an electronics business that builds high quality hearing aids for high-profile clients such as Winston Churchill. 

This is a gripping story that builds tension and suspense around sometimes trivial and absurd plot twists. Sometimes it feels like a staid BBC drama and at other times it feels like a Monty Python sendup of a staid BBC Drama. But at the end of the day, it is well-written, well-directed, and well-acted. Which translates into the fastest six and a half hours of television that I can remember watching.

Cast standouts include the always wonderful Keeley Hawes (Spooks (MI-5 in the US), Ashes to Ashes),Lily Sacofsky (who I've never seen before, but I'll be watching out for), and the always entertaining Mark Bonnar (Castastrophe).

So take a chance on this one, really. 

I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson (US)

This is a Netflix sketch comedy show with recurring situations, much like That Mitchell and Webb Look. The brilliance of this show is that just when you think you understand the premise of a sketch, they amp it up and change direction. Honestly, I think they missed the boat by not calling this show "Well That Escalated Quickly."

Still, this is genuinely funny stuff. And I can think of no higher praise than to say, "This is the stuff that memes are made of."

Ghosts (UK)

Ghosts is a new comedy series currently airing on BBC One. The premise, which is established in episode one (no spoilers), is that a modern couple inherit a dilapidated English manor house that happens to be haunted by some previous inhabitants.

This is silly, light-hearted fare that's appropriate for the whole family. But it is so incredibly well done that it appears effortless. Give it two episodes to really get rolling. Then it is laugh-out-loud funny, especially on repeated watchings. Highly recommended.

Secret Scotland (UK)

In this travel documentary 4'11" comedian Susan Calman travels around her native Scotland uncovering the secrets behind famous historical places. 

Scotland is gorgeous, and this documentary is both beautifully filmed and genuinely informative. But the draw here is Calman's folksy presence. Her everywoman style serves as the perfect counterpoint to 1,000 year old castles and sweeping, majestic landscapes. The show moves at a wonderfully relaxed pace, and it will keep you grinning every step of the way. 

Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy (UK)

File Under: How did something this bizarre ever get made?

After an amazingly successful 10-year run as half of The Mighty Boosh, Noel Fielding's next project was Luxury Comedy, a showcase for his surreal, experimental brand of humor. This comedy takes many risks, and it certainly isn't afraid to fail. But when it works, it's mind-blowing.

My strong recommendation is to start with Series One, Episode Two: The Jelly Fox. Series one of Luxury Comedy is a psychedelic sketch show, while series two more of a surreal sitcom. When Luxury Comedy works, it blends the Noel's childlike surrealism, the amazing music of Kasabian's Sergio Pizzorno, and Noel's amazing art. All three hit their heights in this episode. The Jelly Fox skit, itself, is a wonderful peek at what goes on inside the the brain of Noel Fielding.

Cunk on Shakespeare (UK)

Diane Morgan's everywoman/journalist persona, Philomena Cunk, first premiered on Charlie Brooker's (Black Mirror, Dead Set) Weekly Wipe along with fellow man-on-the street character, Barry Shitpeas, where she would give her highly uneducated opinions on the news of the day. So popular were Philomena Cunk's appearances that she quickly had her own BBC specials which culminated in a five-part history of the United Kingdom, Cunk on Britian, which is a bit too much Philomena Cunk, even for me.

Easily my favorite Philomena Cunk BBC Special is Cunk on Shakespeare. Here Cunk explores the life and work of William Shakespeare, a man she clearly thinks is a bit fancy and hoity-toity for her liking. Armed with a something-less-than-elementary-school-level understanding of Shakespeare, she interviews experts and historians about the life and works of William Shakespeare in honor of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death.

This is mostly just a silly good time, with the occasional poke in the eye to the expert who might take himself just a little too seriously. Highly recommended.

Vanya on 42nd Street (1994)

Louis Malle's last film was an eye-opener for me. My friend & mentor, Larry, took me to the Music Box theater in Chicago to see an art film. I had seen art films before, but they were all older than I was. This was the first contemporary art film that I would see. Something whose value I could determine myself without its greatness having been previously established by critics and scholars.

Vanya on 42nd Street wasn't shown on the main screen, but rather on a second screen which had recently been added to the Music Box. It is a very small side theater built into an adjacent storefront off the lobby and decorated to appear as if you are outside in a courtyard. Aptly, it felt more like a private screening than a trip to the movies.

Vanya was filmed in New York at the derelict New Amsterdam Theatre on Broadway. This is pre-Disney Times Square complete with peep shows and drug dealers. Three years after Vanya on 42nd Street was released, Disney would renovate the crumbling, rat-infested New Amsterdam as the centerpiece for a redeveloped Times Square. Louis Malle's last film also fittingly documented the seedy Times Square of the 1970s, 80s and early 90s. As I write this the New Amsterdam is currently presenting Disney's Aladdin, "The Hit Broadway Musical." Tickets start at $115.

The film is a performance of Chekhov's play, Uncle Vanya. Louis Malle directs the film, Andre Gregory directs the play that was adapted by David Mamet. The story behind the film was that Gregory and talented cast were privately rehearsing and performing the play with no intent to ever perform it on the stage. It was an exercise of pure craft and interpretation, often performed in living rooms for a select audience of friends. Malle and Gregory decided to make a film of this extraordinary process.

I can remember falling into this film the way that one falls asleep when you are desperately trying to stay awake. Before you know it, reality has changed. You are in a different time and place. And the rules are different. The powers of these words and these actors are staggering. I remember Wallace Shawn's despair and Julianne Moore's radiance. I remember how moved I was by their performances. This film expertly pulls you under its spell. Then it occasionally shakes you awake so that you can marvel at what a potent and intoxicating brew they have crafted.

Great Canal Journeys (UK)

Husband and wife Timothy West and Prunella Scales (Fawlty Towers) glide into their later years by sharing their love of piloting canal boats through some of the most beautiful canals in the world.

This show is so relaxing and genuine. It's more like their personal home movies than a travel show. I haven't watched the later seasons, yet. But it was revealed early on that Prunella was beginning to suffer from dementia due to Alzheimer's disease. While it slows them up a bit, they push push on with their adventures in the most English manner imaginable.