April Culture Review

It’s the first monthly culture review!

This month is a bumper edition with a real mixture of commercial, cult and classic content which I think sums the style of this blog up pretty perfectly.

Film and TV

I Care A Lot (Dir. J Blakeson), Streaming on Amazon Prime
The film stars Rosamund Pike doing her smile of steel, playing a similarly intelligent, manipulative character to the role she played in Gone Girl. Marla Grayson, a scammer, takes advantage of the most vulnerable people in the community: the elderly within the care system. She becomes their legal guardian, signing over all her victims assets to herself and cashing in when they die. The film builds steadily and what starts as a simple, grossly fail-safe con ends up with life and death stakes and the presence of a highly organised and insidious crime racket. Everyone is monstrous, so you don’t know who you’re rooting for and this frees you up to just roll with the story and see what happens. There is an examination of privilege and how much Marla, and her accomplices get away with because they are white, well-educated and know how to manipulate the system to do wrong, while legally remaining right. It gets bloody and brutal but still retains a Hollywood glossy aesthetic which is keeps it a slick and satisfying watch.

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Below Deck Mediterranean Seasons 4 and 5, Full series available on HayU through Amazon Prime
Now I have watched A LOT of Below Deck over the last few months but Seasons 4 and 5 of Med are the BEST of the bunch. Below Deck, like all reality shows is at its best when things are going wrong and with a cast that changes every season, it is only once every few seasons that you get the perfect amalgamation of characters for chaos to ensue. Season 4 is God-tier viewing, it starts with Chef Mila, who thinks its a good idea to serve dry nachos, sprinkled with pre-grated cheese on a multi-million dollar luxury yacht. The guests hate the food, the crew hate the chef, Captain Sandy is on top form trying to manage the situation, with her signature namaste hand gesture and the nachos will never not be iconic.

Streetwalkin’ (Dir. Joan Freeman, 1985) Clips on YouTube
This is a quintessential Midnight Culture watch! A B-Movie that offers a snapshot in time of the sort of New York I am obsessed with, seedy neon lights, dirty dancefloors and all-night action. I stumbled across this while listening to the Out For Blood podcast, they featured a snippet of the trailer audio and as soon as I heard the film’s tagline ‘She dropped out of high school this morning, tonight she’s a Time Square hooker’, underscored by the synth-y 80’s title song, I knew I had to do a deep dive.

The film is a mash up of genres, it feels like a chick-flick rammed into a late-night action movie, slammed into a bloodcurdling thriller. There’s violence and exploitation but also moments that wouldn’t look out of place in a John Hughes’ movie like Cookie, the protagonist, trying on multiple outfits or painting her toenails before heading out for a night of hooking. It is absolutely the sort of film that only works at one in the morning; the characters are drawn with the broadest strokes, the fight choreography looks like it has been lifted straight out of Street Fighter II Turbo and it culminates in a Western style chase and shoot-out. It’s chaotic, campy, sleazy fun!

Books

Dancer by Colum McCann
I devoured this book in about three days. It is based on the story of world-renowned ballet dancer Rudolph Nureyev. Although inspired by real-life, the scenes and events in the book are fictitious and the novel spans from post-war Russia through to the late 1980’s. Through changing narrators, the novel reaches across cities, depicting the Soviet East, the liberal West, Paris, New York and London. We meet pop culture icons like Andy Warhol and ballet superstars like Margot Fonteyn and there is a truly tender story between Nureyev’s housekeeper and the shoemaker who makes all the ballet shoes for the dancers of the Royal Ballet. Some of my favourite sections explore the queer community in New York, in the late 70’s/early 80’s. The narrative attaches itself to the men who partied and played with Nureyev, offering a further exploration of how Nureyev straddled the worlds of both classical ballet and bath houses. It is a fast-paced and eclectic read for anyone interested in art vs the artist, queer narratives and absorbing prose.

Podcasts

Out for Blood : The Story of Carrie the Musical
This podcast charts the ill-fated development and production of Carrie the Musical and its cult status as the biggest Broadway flop in history. The podcast is packed full of trivia and interviews with the original cast of the 1988 production who have some truly fabulous, stagey anecdotes. The musical was choreographed by Fame legend Debbie Allen and starred an exactly 50/50 British and American cast, for what reason, we will never know? My stand-out anecdote is one of the cast members interviewed talking about Gene Anthony Ray (Leroy from Fame) and the cast ‘throwing shapes’ in an underground bar of a Straford-upon-Avon hotel! (I imagine it looked something like this, but in a beige function room and without the applause or adoration!) The whole process of this show being made sounds beautifully bizarre and if you like musical theatre, all things 80’s and cult fandom, this podcast is a must-listen!

Sentimental Garbage
The mini series of Caroline O’Donoghue’s podcast Sentimental Garbage, ‘Sentimental in the City’ is a season by season deep dive of the landmark TV series, Sex and the City but analysed and discussed like the ‘Great American novel it truly is.’ Each season is divided up into different themes and key moments from the season. It doesn’t dwell for too long on what is wrong with Sex and the City as there are plenty of other places that do that, and although we can absolutely acknowledge that the show is not as sex positive as it would like to think or as diverse as it should be considering it is set in Manhattan, it is a truly joyful listen if you have at any point been a fan of the show. Feeling inspired, I binge watched several seasons again to watch those iconic scenes and fashion choices play out in real time.

Music

Tuck Everlasting, Original Broadway Cast Recording
I have not been able to stop listening to this soundtrack, since hearing one of the songs on a Daily Mix on Spotify. The musical is based on the book Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt which I was obsessed with as a child. I used to borrow the audio tape from the library and for the week that I had it, would listen to it on repeat, so this was a meeting of two loves: the novel and musical theatre. The music is folky with beautifully layered harmonies and lilting, sometimes haunting melodies. My standout songs are ‘Live Like This’, ‘Top of the World’, ‘The Story of the Tucks’ and ‘Time Quartet.’ There is also a sequence in ‘The Story of Winnie Foster’, that is so poignant, it makes my heat swell in my chest. The show touches on mortality/ immortality, family, and what makes a life worth living.

Dela by Johnny Clegg and Savuka
This song is four minutes of pure sunshine! It makes me want to move and sing along at the top of my voice. I am also convinced that Bridgerton stole the ‘I burn for you’ line from this song! For those fellow 90’s kids, you may recognise the song from George of the Jungle. I recently re-watched the movie courtesy of Disney+ and have to say it has aged immaculately. Normally you’re waiting for a moment that it is sexist, racist or homophobic in these old films, but George of the Jungle is faultless and I would recommend it as a wholesome, nostalgic watch and to listen to Dela in its original glory.