What I Watched: Season one of the Citadel. I really wanted to love this show; instead, I gave it a solid B- grade with a side of meh. The actors are fun, starring Richard Madden of Game of Thrones fame (Robb Stark), Priyanka Chopra of married to Nick Jonas fame, and everybody’s favorite Negroni maker, Stanley Tucci. It was entertaining, but the lead character is rather a jerk, and the hooks were able to be seen a mile away. Still and all, you could do worse . . .
As per the Guardian: Citadel – this absurdly fun spy thriller is televisual crack.Prime Video paid $250m for this spy caper. Is it worth it? You betcha. It’s Mission: Impossible meets The Bourne Identity – with twists, turns and Stanley Tucci. What addictive bliss!
It is basically televisual crack. Twists, turns, explosions, old-fashioned fisticuffs, the deployment of outrageous gadgetry from Acme’s Deus Ex Machina range, torture scenes, new locations (the Alps, London, all over the States, Paris, Spain, Iran – I may have missed a few in my delirious, glassy-eyed state), are parcelled out in one long, glorious stream. And just when you’re thinking “I could do with a quiet moment right now”, up pops Lesley Manville having the time of her life as evil ambassador Dahlia Archer (a nickel for the name but they had to build the English Gloss generator from scratch for $17m) to deliver a precise, devastating speech, demolish a journalist or order someone’s brain stem severed while she clips roses or finishes a light breakfast.
This version of Citadel is the mothership – there are to be various spin-offs tailored to different countries, many of which have already started filming. I can only hope the addictive magic translates each time. Everyone deserves to have this much absurd fun.
What I Read: The delightful and engaging Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna. Here is the Amazon blurb, which doesn’t do it justice (it gave me a bookover from staying up way too late reading):
As one of the few witches in Britain, Mika Moon knows she has to hide her magic, keep her head down, and stay away from other witches so their powers don’t mingle and draw attention. And as an orphan who lost her parents at a young age and was raised by strangers, she’s used to being alone and she follows the rules…with one exception: an online account, where she posts videos “pretending” to be a witch. She thinks no one will take it seriously.
But someone does. An unexpected message arrives, begging her to travel to the remote and mysterious Nowhere House to teach three young witches how to control their magic. It breaks all of the rules, but Mika goes anyway, and is immediately tangled up in the lives and secrets of not only her three charges, but also an absent archaeologist, a retired actor, two long-suffering caretakers, and…Jamie. The handsome and prickly librarian of Nowhere House would do anything to protect the children, and as far as he’s concerned, a stranger like Mika is a threat. An irritatingly appealing threat.
As Mika begins to find her place at Nowhere House, the thought of belonging somewhere begins to feel like a real possibility. But magic isn’t the only danger in the world, and when peril comes knocking at their door, Mika will need to decide whether to risk everything to protect a found family she didn’t know she was looking for….
What I Listened To: Isaac Delusion — Let her go ft. LUCASV; Nation of Language – Weak In Your Light (Daniel Avery Remix); and Rose Rouge by St Germain Official, listened to in the Citadel, still as good as it was in the year 2000.
Thank you for playing Brain Drain! How are you, dearest ones? Darling DeadSplinterites, what’s going on? Please do share with us!
SG Goodman opened up for Jason Isbell this week and I didn’t know she wrote this song. (If you listen to Tyler Childers it may sound familiar.)
I just assumed it was his song. I like her original version even more.
Here he is with an artist I like, Father John Misty.
And here is a song in wish he name checks Jason Isbell.
The final season of Reservation Dogs has started. The first two episodes are as good as ever.
Really liked that Isaac Delusion tune @Elliecoo
I watched Good Omens 2. It was fine, the story line is cute but predictable. I enjoyed seeing the relationship grow between Crowley and Azariphale. But I find John Hamm so annoying. Cannot stand him. And he’s in this season much more than the first. If there is a season 3, and they set it up so there could be, I hope he’s not in it.
I read Lone Woman by Victor LaValle. This was so good I flew through it! Set in the early 20th century Adelaide Henry leaves her home in an all Black farming community in Southern California after setting fire to her house, along with the mutilated bodies of her parents. She sets out for Montana carrying very little, some books, a mysterious trunk, and a deep dark secret. While it’s technically in the horror genre there’s very little that even the most squeamish couldn’t handle. It’s about family ties, duty and responsibility, community and race in a western setting. I haven’t read anything yet by LaValle that I wouldn’t recommend.
I also read Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin. This is a very short and trippy novel. A woman is dying in a rural clinic. She carries on a conversation with a child at her bedside trying to determine what has happened to her. But we can’t be sure what is real and what is delerium. I liked it a lot.
I’ve been listening to the latest PJ Harvey Inside the Old Year Dying.
Inside the Old I Dying
For me, even John Hamm can’t take away the fun of Sheen and Tennant acting together. Glad you liked the tune!
For sure, they are delightful together.
thanks ellie 🙂 book ordered
so far my deadsplinter recommends book wins record is one for one…reasonably sure this will make two for two
didnt watch or read anything of note
and listening to aesthetic perfection
Oh oh oh!!! Please do report back on if you enjoyed the book. I even liked the title; I’m all for irregular things and people. Conformity is booorrring!
roger wilco….and likewise….between the title and the blurble im pretty confident this one will suit me just fine
(edit) it arrives tuesday….so ill probably chime in about it by next braindrain
Watched: Leverage: Redemption, Season 2. It’s about as good as season 1, which is to say not very good. I don’t know what the difference is between the original and this version, but the writing isn’t nearly as good, which makes everything downstream so much worse. Maybe it’s just a different set of writers. I don’t think it’s the absence of Timothy Hutton because Noah Wylie is a great actor and he has good chemistry with the other cast. Plus, they didn’t go with the tired, old plot point of a “will they/won’t they” romance, which I always thought made the original version of the show weaker. I’d really rather that Aldis Hodge had more episodes, because when he’s there the entire chemistry of the cast really amps up, but I know he’s got some other thing he’s doing. So, maybe it’s the combination of bad writing and Hodge being mostly MIA.
Listened: Kirk Fletcher
Good to hear your report; signed, your honorary strawberry cake 🍰 mom.
Oooh yes that book is exactly the light reading I’m craving @elliecoo
I’m stuck on book 3 of Red Rising. A favorite character died (think Amos) and their replacement hasn’t had enough time to prove themselves yet…even though I’ve already read the series and know that they will be a great comrade to the core team.
I’m watching S2 of The Lincoln Lawyer (Netflix). It’s feeling a bit like he’s got a harem going on and I’m finding that to be the opposite of charming. I like that his driver is a lesbian so their relationship has no layer of grossness to it (other than him giving her dating advice).
I started Transformers Rise of the Beasts (Paramount+). It hasn’t evolved far from the first ones. Instead of sexually objectifying Meaghan Fox on a motorcycle, it has a sexy female Ducati transformer who is constantly filmed upskirt style (camera on the ground aimed at her butt). At least Michelle Yeoh’s character is mostly in falcon form. I didn’t realize that Pete Davidson is the voice of the main transformer as I have managed to never hear that guy talk before… he leaned hard into his blaccent. How is that acceptable in 2023?
I hope that you like the book! Lincoln lawyer will featured in a future BrainDrain; I’m hoping that he gets over his fame addiction. @HammerZeitgeist
I started watching Justified: City Primeval.
I read a book about tai chi and its relationship to the I Ching.
I listened to Big Thief.
Big Thief, time to give them a spin. I bet the Tai Chi- I Ching book was good stuff.