First round of Yuletide recs. (It's a distraction from the recipient of my main assignment not having commented yet. I tell myself they probably were simply busy with the holidays, and it doesn't mean they hate the story, but you know how it goes with writerly fretting.)


Sense8:

No Matter What Temporarily Expedient Combination of Allied Interests: a great post canon Rajan pov take on the Wolfgang/Kala/Rajan OT3 and a story with plot that feels like a misisng episode, using the rest of the ensemble well, and wrapping up a lingering subplot.

Fairy Tales:

All that is gold: doesn't quite dethrone Cora and Rumple from Once upon a time as my favourite take on the Miller's daughter and Rumpelstilzkin, but comes close and is still very much its own thing.

British history:

terms such as would enter at a lady's ear: Joan of Kent and Edward the Black Prince, written in a tale that's just made for anyone in the mood for a romance between two people who already know each other really well, which also feels true to its historical setting.

Better Call Saul:

The Candidates: Kim's first meeting with Jimmy as they audition for the same job. Funny and very them.

Harlots:

A new dream: Amalia and Florence Scanwell as well as Josiah Hunt, Violet and Prince Rasselas disappeared between the end of s2 and the start of s3, never to be mentioned again. This Amalia-centric story offers an excellent take on what became of them.

Benjamin January Series:

A Woman's Weapons: in which Dominique and Chloe solve a case together. Last year, I received a great Dominique & Chloe team-up as a gift, and this one is just as lovely and intense an exploration of them, their dynamic, and the circumstances they live in.

Pride:

Gain our freedom as we learn: wherein, at some point post movie, Cliff visits London and has what he swears is not a date. Jonathan and Geffin provide support and advice.

If your day, like mine, needs brightening up, why not watch this fantastic Unexpected Dance Sequence from the movie Pride, which I reviewed here? Short version: fabulous movie about the irresistable union of London based gay activists and striking Welsh miners in the early 1980s. Stars a great many well known and not so well known British actors. Here's Dominic West as Jonathan shaking things up:



If you're wondering, the song is Shame, Shame, Shame" By Shirley & Company.

And while you're in a musical mood, have another Ron Howard interview about his new Beatles documentary. In this one, he compares their touring days to Das Boot, which cracks me up not least because it's...not wrong, in a way. Also the article promises Sigourney Weaver, her teenage self identified in one of the concert clips. I knew Meryl Streep had been at Shea Stadium, but didn't know about Ms Weaver screaming her heart out, too. Just goes to show: they always had great taste! :)

On the road again, so I won't get to see the new Elementary until this evening, in all likelihood. However, yesterday I did get to make an excursion to the cinema. A film that was released in Britain a while ago has just been released over here as well: Pride, starring a collection of familiar and not so familiar British character actors, set in the 1980s, and revolving around the irresistable union of London based gay activists and striking Welsh miners.

"They're hated by Thatcher, the tabloids and the coppers", argues Mark in the opening sequence about the miners. "Sound familiar? The only problem we've got and they don't is Mary Whitehouse, and that's just a matter of time."

Some of his fellow gays point out they got beaten up by miners and have no intention of supporting them now, but Mark manages to get a small group together, with the unwieldy name of Lesbians And Gays Support The Miners ("it's not a skiffle group!"), after some failed attempts finds a Welsh mining town where there's a union man, Dai, who's actually grateful for the support, and from then the story gets rolling. It's an ensemble tale all around, with both the gay and the Welsh characters (and yes, there are gay Welshmen, too) having their own stories. There's the expected culture clash comedy, but the film never laughs at, only with both sets of characters.

Sidenote: also Dominic West as the oldest of the London based gays, flamboyant Jonathan, has the time of his life winning the Welsh over with a disco dancing number that would make John Travolta pale with envy. Seriously, even someone in the cinema I was in applauded!

Gender-wise, there's balance, too, and also age and look wise, because since this is a British film, the female characters don't have all to be in the 20-40 thin and pretty range - in fact, there's only one major female character who fits that description, Faye Masye as Steph ("I'm the L in Lesbians and Gays Suppert the Miners"). Imelda Staunton rocks as the Welsh matriarch Hefina, Jessica Gunning ditto as Sian (who'll turn out to be inspired by these events to get her degree and go into politics), and a fabulous old actress (I think called Julie Barclay, but I may have read the credits wrong) all get as much screentime as the men. Oh, and while there is no big romance in the film - there a few established couples, some exes and some casual hook-ups, but the relationships given the most narrative weight are the friendships that develop - , there's equal opportunity snogging - m/m, f/f, m/f, all there.

Two actors cast against (recent) type deliver great subtle performances: Bill Nighy as Cliff, shy Welsh schoolmaster (if you've only seen Nighy in flashy extrovert roles, which is the case with me, this is especially striking), and Andrew Scott as bookstore owner Gethin, Jonathan's partner, who is originally from Wales and had no intention of going back at first. Andrew Scott's most prominent role to date being the incredible grating and annoying (to me) Jim Moriarty in Sherlock, it was amazing to see the contrast here, because Gethin is another low key character, and when he talks to Hefina on the phone for the first time and she identifies his accent, there is such a lot Scott does with his facial expression and voice intonation alone.

It's what usually gets referred to as a feel good movie, but not a dishonest one that pretends all goes well; after all, the audience knows going in the miners won't win against Thatcher. There are bigots who don't see the light among the Welsh. And since this is a story set in the mid 80s with mainly LGTB characters, three guesses which fear is hovering around the edges and encroaching more and more around several characters' lives. But friendship and two way solidarity still wins out, and quick googling tells me that the movie is actually pretty fact based, which makes it even better.

Best early 80s gag: "There are no gay artists on this label" says a reception woman when Mark is trying to organize a solidarity concert... and then the camera reveals a poster of label artist Elton John.

Shortest instantly recognizable cameo: Russell Tovey as Mark's ex.

Most obvious cliché still put to endearing use: The Welsh breaking into song. ("Breads and Roses". ) Because of course they do. Seriously though, that scene rivals with Jonathan's dance number as "why isn't this a musical already?", in a good way.

In conclusion: go and watch!