I'm Doing One Of Those "Cool Links" Posts
I have things I can recommend!
Hey everyone,
Hope you're all doing well. Lately, I've been really into these Substack newsletters that have a bunch of links and recommendations in them. So, since it's Easter Monday and I have some free time, I thought I'd give it a shot myself. Below are some links/things I've come across recently that I think are pretty cool.
I’ve been a fan of Sarah Polley since “Take This Waltz” but it’s taken until last year and her latest film “Women Talking” for me to become truly acquainted with her life story and personality. I enjoyed her press tour in support of Women Talking’s Oscar campaign so much I felt compelled to purchase her collection of memoirs, “Run Towards The Danger”.
Polley is a wonderfully personable author. She deftly unfolds complicated childhood trauma and adult travails with steadfast honesty and earnestness. Personally, the standout essays were the book’s first and last. The first explored Polley’s background as a child actress, the death of her mother and the crippling stage fright she developed midway through a lengthy theatrical run of Alice Through The Looking Glass as a young teen.
The last essay covers more recent events and helps explain why audiences haven’t heard too much of her as of late. Whilst contracted by Sony to write an adaptation of Little Women (which eventually fell under the stewardship of Greta Gerwig), Polley suffered a concussion which took her years to recover from. In retelling her experience, Polley beautifully communicates the disorientation and hopelessness the illness shrouded her in but it’s the corny, frustratingly American advice she receives from a specialist physician that shows her a path through the confusion and towards her former self.
I’ve had a special fondness for video games made by one person ever since playing Mike Bithell’s “Thomas Was Alone” made an indelible impression on me as a lonesome teen. Madison Karrh’s “Birth” has some similarities to Thomas given that both are largely the creation of one person reckoning with ideas of loneliness and friendship.
But “Birth” is more personal, more tailormade. Karrh’s fingerprints can be felt in the distinct art style and macabre premise. In Birth, the player is tasked with exploring their new town and solving puzzles to slowly build themselves a friend out of spare body parts strewn about the area.
At a time when the adaptations of “The Last Of Us” and “Super Mario Brothers” are taking up quite a bit of the cultural conversation, it is nice to be reminded of the smaller, more individual side of games and the wide variety of experiences available within the medium.
Freevee’s “Jury Duty” is like a lightweight version of Nathan Fielder’s madness. A reality show where the subject isn’t in on the joke, Jury Duty purports to be a documentary with unprecedented access to the guts of the US Judicial process. The truth is the show’s about a fake trial that one of the jurors, Ronald Gladden, believes is real. The other jurors, as well as the judge, bailiff, lawyers and witnesses are all in on the joke, and the show is designed to slowly torture and test Gladden.
The cast maintain exceptional commitment to the bit and all have very well developed personalities and schticks, it’s a real triumph of improv, somewhere between sitcom and prank show, I highly recommend giving it a shot.
Long-time readers might recall I made my own Wordle knock off last year by the name of Filmle. I closed up shop on Filmle a good while ago and kinda fell out of love with the deluge Wordle spin-offs that have since popped up.
Occasionally though, a novel concept shine through and grabs my attention. Contexto.me is a fun little game where you have to guess the day's "secret word". You can make as many guesses as you want, and the website will rank your guesses based on how similar (as judged by an AI) they are to the actual secret word.
My advice for anyone trying the game for the first time is to first guess very broadly and when you have a good sense of what the top word might be, don’t confuse synonyms for words that appear in similar sentences. For instance, if “snake” is a high ranking word you might be tempted to guess words such as serpent, reptile or traitor but the actual secret word might be “spider”.
Paul Schrader’s Very Paul Schrader Days in Assisted Living
I really enjoyed this article about Paul Schrader, the writer/director, and his move into assisted living to stay close to his wife, who has Alzheimer's. It’s a beautiful glimpse into Schrader as a family man and a regular person. I’ve really enjoyed Schrader’s increased late period output and the piece gives lovely context to how he works and even teases a new collaboration between himself and his American Gigolo star Richard Gere filming later this year.
Thank You Mario But Your Princess Is In Another Castle - the Mountain Goats
The Super Mario Movie is dominating the box office so why not take it as an opportunity to enjoy this playful, unreleased song by the Mountain Goats. It's written from the perspective of Toad, trapped deep in the bowels of Bowser's lair as he passes the time trying to cling on to hope before being rescued by his saviour Mario. Lead Goat John Darnielle has a real charming way of introducing the song as seen in the video above.
Banshees Of Inisherin Prop Auction
Lastly, I saw that there’s an auction this week of props used in “The Banshees Of Inisherin”. The lots are too rich for my blood but it’s still worth a browse through the catalogue to appreciate the genuine antique pieces collected for and used in the film. I’m particularly partial to the green “metamorphic table chair”, I think it would be a pretty cool stand out piece in almost any home.
Thanks as always for reading, I’ll write again soon, bye for now.
Gavin