Star Wars VII Trailer, Out Today

Here’s something fun. Last night I saw a murder-mystery film that I thought sensational. As I’ve made abundantly – and unpleasantly – clear in the past, I’m not a fan of the genre. But this is all kinds of interesting.

Sleuth. With a script by Pinter (in my estimation one of the very finest writers for the movies), directed by Kenneth Branagh, with Michael Caine and Jude Law. In its deeper reaches it is about misogyny and the fear some men have of being controlled by women. I’ve heard that’s a thing. Full disclosure: there is a patch that veers briefly into melodrama and you have to look at Mr Law in a wet tee-shirt. But my lord it’s fun, funny, ridiculous, and hugely entertaining.

Over and out.

Any other Stinque Anglophiles (AKA Downton Abbey fans) watching Peaky Blinders on Netflix? I’ve only watched the first episode of Season 1 but I thought it was terrific. It’s great fun to see a somewhat different side to the elegant post-WW1 England we see at the abbey. Here we get a taste of the Birmingham slums. Hoping to binge on the five remaining episodes of Season 1 this weekend. Season 2 is also now available.

I loved all of J.J. Abrams work until he retroactively destroyed the Star Trek universe. Now I’m dreading the new Star Wars. Will not watch.

On the plus side, The Clone Wars teevee series is on Netflix, and it’s beyond awesome. So much better than Episodes I through III combined.

@Dave H: Thanks for the tip. I’ll have to check it out.

If you like that genre, then I strongly recommend Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries about a 1920s Australian flapper who solves crimes and runs around being glamorous. The sets and costumes especially are mind-blowing in their opulence. Seasons 1 & 2 are streaming on Netflix, and they’re currently filming Season 3 in Melbourne. Each episode is as rich and densely packed as a feature film. Plus, Aussie accents! It’s “Meese Feeshah” to them.

@¡Andrew!: I was so excited to see Season 2 is available. Thanks for putting me onto Miss Fisher.

@¡Andrew!: Abrams’ first Star Trek was pretty, but less than it could have been. As soon as I left the theater after “Into Darkness” I ordered the blu ray. Plots holes, Khan, say anything you want, but it had a tribble in it. I am 8 years old. I loved it.

@Dave H: did not want to like Peaky Blinders, did not. But I do. On S1 EP4.

@Benedick: So Caine plays the Olivier role and Law plays the role Caine played in the original movie? Must check it out.

/gym jammin’/

RML, you may enjoy these:

Au4:

Everyone is Everyone And Everything is Everything

Ministry:

So What

Sonic Youth:

Teenage Riot

Cross the Breeze

@Benedick: I couldn’t find Sleuth on Netflix, and sadly my local video store unexpectedly went tits up a few months ago. Sounds great and would love to see it.

@Dave H: @¡Andrew!: OMG, both of you thanks for the tips. Mr. SFL and I have been watching all of Dexter very slowly on the Flix of the Nets (and I’ve been sadly thinking of sweet baked and her love for that show when it aired in real time), and as we are now on Season 7, I’ve been trying to figure out what to watch next. House of Cards has been intriguing me. I refuse to watch Orange is the New Black for reasons that are innumerable.

@SanFranLefty: I love House of Cards, and I was prepared to hate it because I was sure it wouldn’t measure up to the British series. I hate to say these words, but I. Was. Wrong. Frank and Claire are spectacularly wicked.

@Mistress Cynica: I didn’t trust the new version until they fulfilled the promise of the original with the subway scene. Although the new credits were way cool from the start.

@SanFranLefty: If you’re into dark police procedurals, watch The Fall. Gillian Anderson (Scully!) and Jamie Dornan (soon to be known to American audiences as Christian Grey, though he’s a far, far better actor than that casting suggests) star. The first series is on Netflix and the second series is airing now, so you can find it on shady streaming sites.

@SanFranLefty: @mellbell: I’m trying to get as many people as possible on to “Justified”. Some great character actors with great cracker-by-way-of-Shakespeare dialogue. I think the dude who plays Raylan was in Friday Night Lights.

I also got hooked on the first season of Fargo over the last several weeks. I can’t stream anything because of the rubber band-width over here, but I can order me up shows on iTunes and leave them downloading for several multiples of hours. Fargo has Billy Bob Thornton, the guy who plays Holmes to Cumberpatch’s Sherlock, and a bunch of other Names and is really, really funny/dark/good. The Coen brothers are attached to it.

@Benedick: Was Sleuth possibly a dinner theater production that I would have gone to with my father on the recommendation of his best friend sometime in the mid- to late 70s, involving audience participation? Absolutely the only time my dad ever took me somewhere by myself as a kid, let alone to something “arty”. Fishin’ and baseball games up until that time. It was good, I felt so growed up and such.

@Beggars Biscuit: Don’t know about FNL, but Timothy Olyphant was previously known as the sheriff in Deadwood, and before that, a drug dealer in Go.

Justified is one of those series that takes a season to warm up. If you’re impatient, start with Season 2. It’s masterful.