weekly digest: spring putting a new spring in my (new) step
the little bit that happened at Flick Filosopher from Monday, May 19, to Sunday, May 25
It’s the Tuesday after the Sunday-est holiday Monday I think I’ve ever experienced. I wondered if I should skip this Weekly Digest — even though I did post a couple of reviews last week and actually have some stuff to share for the first time in ages — but I thought, No. Dive back in like you mean it, and get on with getting back on track.
If you follow me on social media, then you’ll have seen that I did, in fact, have my knee-replacement surgery (which I mentioned was about to happen in my previous, er, Weekly Digest, back in March). It’ll be 11 weeks on Thursday. It’s a brutal surgery and I’m still in the early days of the aftermath — full recovery can take up to a year. But I’m doing well. I still have some numbness on the outside of my knee, and still don’t have full range of motion, but that’s all normal at this point. I’m able to walk longer distances without stopping, and at a faster pace, all the time. Still using one crutch outdoors but I feel like I won’t need that soon. The surgical team and the physios have been extremely pleased with my progress.
I’m also seeing some improvement in my mental health, which has taken quite a hit in recent years, for lots of reasons. I’ll be writing about that more soon, particularly in connection with how it has impacted my work. But I feels like I’m ready to ramp back up to a more normal pace. I’ve got a bunch of reviews almost ready to go, and hope to post some this week. I also want to get back to my regular streaming recommendations.
Thank you, once again, for your patience while I’ve been coping with all this. I truly appreciate your grace.
—MaryAnn
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new at flick filosopher, May 19–25
Final Destination: Bloodlines review: the curse of fatal death
The dorm-room philosophy of the 25-year-old series is still pondering how wild it is that we all die, how fragile our meatbag bodies are. Now with gory dismemberments and squishy impalements in IMAX! [read the review | cinemas US/UK]
Sinners movie review: bootleg vampires [pictured]
Wildly primal, big and bold, fueled by pain and rage, by community and family, throbbing with love and sex and joy, infused with magic. A sumptuously textured, unmissable howl of a passion project. [read the review | cinemas US/UK]
what I’m watching and bingeing
Doctor Who S02 of Ncuti Gatwa’s reign (Disney+ US; BBC iPlayer UK): I like Gatwa just fine as the Doctor, but this show simply does not speak to me like it once did; the meta aspects don’t work and the constant callbacks to old villains and monsters is hindering the telling of new stories; not sure that bringing back yet another supposedly gone-for-good baddie, as next week’s season finale will clearly do, is gonna help…
The Handmaid’s Tale S06 (Hulu US; Prime UK): vive la résistance! I love how this series toys with our sympathies: just when I thought I was starting to feel a little sorry for Serena… and boy, June can be a real bitch sometimes! wonderfully complex female characters here!
The Last of Us S02 (Max US; Now UK): finished! only 7 episodes? bummer (I have not played the game, and so I was Not Prepared)
The Pitt (Max US; not yet streaming UK): finished! exhausting and exhilarating new medical drama from ER vets John Wells (producer) and Noah Wyle (producer and star) is an absolutely brilliant near–real time look at a fast-paced hospital emergency room in Pittsburgh; each one-hour episode represents one hour in a single shift, and it’s smartly written, beautifully performed, and totally gripping
Veep (Max, Prime, Apple TV US; Now, Prime, Apple TV UK): I can’t believe I’ve never seen this show before, especially since I love Armando Iannucci’s The Thick of It; incredible writing in this anti–West Wing, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus is a comedy all-timer in the role; I’ve only just started and still have lots to go, yay!
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (Paramount+ [via Prime] US, Netflix and Paramount+ [via Prime] UK): I’m well into S03 now; this show has held up brilliantly…
coming up at Flick Filosopher…
globetrotting treasure-hunt adventure Fountain of Youth
Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning
French sibling drama The Marching Band
Wes Anderson’s latest confection, The Phoenician Scheme
Steven Soderbergh’s spy drama Black Bag
documentary Deaf President Now!
Cate Blanchett as a nun in historical drama The New Boy
science fiction satire Mickey 17
science fiction drama Companion
Ralph Fiennes and Stanley Tucci in papal procedural Conclave (finally)
and a lot more.
I have not forgotten about all the other reviews I’ve been promising here, but I’m keeping the list elsewhere for now so I stop torturing you…
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