We’ve been mostly staying indoors, cooking, eating and watching movies and videos for the past several days. Yesterday was a good one to stay in—it rained solidly all day long. No complaints; we can always use more rain around here.
We watched a film called Pride the other night. It’s based on the true story of a small Gay & Lesbian group from London that decided to show their support for the striking coal miners in 1984. One of their group was Welsh (Andrew Scott, who played Moriarty on Sherlock), so they picked at random a Welsh town. Naturally, the rural coal miners don’t know what to make of this busload of flamboyant supporters, and there is conflict about accepting their support, even though they’re raising both awareness and a significant amount of money. A small faction of the townspeople rise to the challenge. It’s a delightful film, reminiscent of Billy Elliot. One of the standout performances is from Dominic West (The Affair, The Wire) who plays a bleached-blond gay man who misses the disco days and takes an opportunity to strut his stuff at a hall filled with miners. It’s an amazing departure from his usual serious roles. The older women in the community are hilarious, and the finale jerks tears and heartstrings.
My wife has never seen The Wire, so I bought the boxed set and we’ve been binge-ing our way through it since Friday. Almost to the end of the first season. I’m getting a lot more out of it watching it this way. Making connections that I’d missed earlier. I’m delighted to discover that my wife, a very hard sell on most TV, is loving the show. I was amused to note that the actor who plays Major Rawls, the guy who wants McNulty’s badge for making him look bad before the Deputy of Operations, is the same one who plays Noah’s father-in-law on The Affair. So that’s twice, at least, where John Doman plays antagonist to Dominic West.
We also binged our way through the latest season of Downton Abbey, which breaks little new ground, but continues to amuse us, mostly because of Maggie Smith, whose dry wit and sarcasm enlivens the show. Poor Bates and Anna: I hope they resolve that storyline soon and allow them some modicum of happiness. And I also think it’s time they allow Barrows to redeem himself and find a happy course in life, though we thought it amusing that Lady Mary used his darker tendencies to wage war against a rude butler.
I watched the Christmas Doctor Who yesterday. At times it seemed to border on ludicrous, but once the truth of everything became apparent, I appreciated it more. I liked the guy who played Santa, and the battle of wits between him and the Doctor. I’m in the pro-Clara camp: I think she’s delightful. The “Aliens” humor was funny, and the character of Shona was worth the price of admission alone. Her dance through the hospital ward was hilarious, and her accent a delight.
