Fall-apalooza

After a long dry summer, the past week brought buckets of rain and a torrent of television. There's new seasons of the Great British Baking Show, Amazing Race, and Traitors, a fabulous new show about middle-aged women, Youth, by Sharon Horgan, and a completely wackadoo reality show set in Willy Wonka's factory. Saturday Night Live also started back up last week and friends, I am worried. The vibes are off and I don't know what the hell's going on. I have forgiven this show much over the course of 3 decades. Is a divorce finally imminent? We shall see...

Here are some other things.

📺 East of Eden (Netflix)
I knew this would be good but it's even better than I thought. I predict all the acting awards for pretty much the entire cast (Martha Plimpton slays it!) and the cinematography is, of course, sweeping. But the real winner here is Zoe Kazan, who adapted the book for the screen. At 680 pages, that was no small task and the result is masterful. She knew just what to cut without sacrificing story.

🎥 Cuba and the Cameraman (Netflix)
For almost 50 years, Jon Alpert and his camera went back and forth to Cuba, documenting the everyday lives of 3 families as their existence ping-ponged between revolution, communism, blockades, and embargoes. He also happened to catch the attention of Fidel Castro early on, and captured one of his first interviews by a foreign journalist. This is a remarkable piece of work and should be much better known.

🎥 Blue Jean (Hulu)
An engaging, darkly lit little movie featuring British lesbians, teenage basketball players, that girl from The Testaments, and the baffling practice of beans on toast. Seriously, Britain, why?

That's it! Finishing a lot of books today so I can be more literary next time. One month until the midterms...

xoxo,
Carla