Round-Up

By Wendy

Animal Kingdom: Mediocre Australian movie where a teenager, J, has to move in with his grandmother after his mother ODs on heroin. His uncles are career criminals, and one's a total lunatic. J gets sucked into crime because to say no to the lunatic uncle is dangerous. The teenager barely talks, and his family barely talks to him. Periodically, they ask him if he's okay, but they know he isn't--and don't actually care. I watched it because I like the actress Jacki Weaver, and she got an Oscar nod for this performance, but I didn't think she was particularly good.

1899. The standard description of this TV series is that it's about a bunch of immigrants on a boat. That's accurate, but it's accurate like "Dorothy Gale goes on a trip and meets some people" is accurate. I loved 1899. Found it fascinating, spooky, odd, and very well-done. I was bummed to see that Netflix didn't renew it for a second season, because it was clearly heading in an interesting direction.

Pine Gap. Australian TV show in which a bunch of Australian spies have to navigate dealing with their official ally, the US, versus their largest trading partner, China, while both countries bully them. Pretty good.

Secret City. Australian TV show in which a bunch of Australian politicians have to navigate dealing with their official ally, the US, versus their largest trading partner, China, while both countries bully them. I guess it's an issue in Australia! Pretty good. Jacki Weaver is very good in this one, and the lead, Anna Torv, is excellent. She comes across as Cate Blanchett, if Blanchett were a regular human with warmth.

Give Unto Others. Donna Leon's 31st entry in the Brunetti series, and it's bad. I guess 31 is a lot to ask.

All I Did Was Shoot My Man. Not one of Walter Mosley's best, but still well worth reading, as his books always are. A reforming bad guy tries to undo some of the wrong he's done in the past, but it ain't easy. Is it even possible?

Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine Jan/Feb 2023. An anthology of mystery-type short stories, many of them good. I love this series--four issues a year, cheap paper, some terrible writing, some excellent, and old-fashioned charm (or the charm of being old-fashioned).