Above: Peter Bradshaw (The Guardian’s film reviewer) reviews Netflix’s Pretend It’s A City. Somehow this series completely passed me by until a few friends recommended it to me which doesn’t say a lot for Netflix’s algorithm. I love Fran Lebowitz, documentaries, New York and Martin Scorsese. If you haven’t watched it yet, it’s a great lockdown blues antidote.
And now: an article about a dead dog. Yeah, I know I’m not selling that. But, trust me. This is something written about someone who loved a dog, but it’s not sanctimonious or sappy. It’s very honest and all the better for it.
And now: a film starring Freddie Starr. Ok, let me explain. The Squeeze was directed by the great Michael Apted, he of the 7 Up series of documentaries. Apted died in the first week of January and so I hunted down this gritty crime thriller to watch. It’s very much in that 70s London-based gangster genre (think Long Good Friday). And although Freddie Starr has a decent-sized role in it, I still managed to enjoy it quite a bit.
We also watched the documentary Time. A lot of people’s film of the year last year (or at least top 3), Time is the story of Fox Rich, the “indomitable matriarch and modern-day abolitionist” who is looking after her family together while fighting for the release of her husband who is serving a sixty year sentence for armed robbery. It’s a very powerful and beautiful film, almost impressionistic in the way it’s shot and edited. And with great music.
Album of the week (maybe the month?) is definitely Bicep’s new one. Been waiting for this for months and it doesn’t disappoint: