Weekly Roundup! January 14th, 2024

Welcome to the inaugural edition of Weekly Roundup!, where we dive into the captivating world of films, books, and articles that caught our attention over the past week. 

Watches of the week

• Harry Potter
• Some Like It Hot (1959) - Dir. Billy Wilder
• Airplane! (1980) - Dir. Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker

As mentioned in my post On the return-to-work blues, we are continuing our holiday movie series saga this week with one that need no introduction, the Harry Potter series. With 8 movies, many over the 2-hour mark, this admittedly takes us over a week to finish. It's well worth it, as nothing is better to beat these sub-zero temperatures (in Fahrenheit) than getting under a blanket with a cup of tea or hot chocolate and being transported to a charmingly magical world. Although the later movies do get dark. Literally and figuratively. Something I never realized growing up watching the films, being only an avid Harry Potter fan and not yet an aspiring cinephile, was how excellent the adult cast is. In no particular order: Dame Maggie Smith. Gary Oldman. Alan Rickman. Dame Emma Thompson. Sir Kenneth Branagh. Helena Bonham Carter. Brendan Gleeson. Sir John Hurt. Dame Julie Walters. Bill Nighy. The list goes on. 

Next on the reel was a rewatch of the 1959 comedic masterpiece Some Like It Hot, starring Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, and Marilyn Monroe. V first introduced this movie to me a few years back, and honestly, at the time, it might have been the first black-and-white movie I'd ever watched in its entirety. It's become a cold-weather classic for us, rewatching every year when we need a lift in spirits. An interesting note — despite the film taking place in Florida, it was filmed at the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego, CA. 

Last up, another comedy and masterpiece from 1980, Airplane!, ensured we ended the week with our abs and cheeks sore from laughing. The movie is a great example of the right place, right time because in present society, I doubt Airplane! would have gotten off the ground. But maybe I'm overestimating people's sensitivity today in a world of political correctness and cancel culture. 

Airplane! and Some Like it Hot are in good company, sitting at #2 and #15, respectively, on Time Out's list of the top 100 comedy films of all time. 

Reads of the week

• The Call of the Wild by Jack London
• Waiting for Jolie by Dana Brown
• Dilettante: True Tales of Excess, Triumph, and Disaster by Dana Brown

For my reads of the week, the most significant was finishing Jack London's 1903 adventure classic The Call of the Wild. While a classic to almost everyone, the story of Buck and his unshakeable spirit as he transforms from pampered pet to tenacious sled dog in the harsh Yukon environment was, regrettably, unknown to me. It was a brilliant story, full of vivid imagery and parables of primal nature and the awakening of dormant ancestral instincts. I'm continuing my nightly reading now with his companion piece, White Fang. 

On the culture side, V shared a couple of interesting reads. The first, published in Airmail, is a piece called Waiting for Jolie where Dana Brown —former deputy editor at Vanity Fair— expounds on his attempts to get into Angelina Jolie's new clothing/fashion boutique, Atelier Jolie. While the story itself was intriguing, it was the way that Dana Brown writes that compelled V to share the article. 

Luckily, the other read V shared was Dana Brown's new book, his memoir, Dilettante: True Tales of Excess, Triumph, and Disaster. I have yet to purchase, but after reading the preview on Amazon, I was struck with many Ah-ha! moments and dots connected. If hotelier Ian Schrager and Studio 54, the infamous NYC restauranteurs bearing the name McNally, chef Geoffrey Zakarian, and fashion and publishing giants Anna Wintour and Si Newhouse are all mentioned in the first chapter, it will definitely be added to my reading list. 

Reader Recommendations:

Now, I want to hear from you! What movies, books, or articles captured your attention this week? Share your top picks in the comments below; your insights might just lead someone to their next favorite film or book. 

Stay tuned until next week!