What I watched: 2021

Key: (B) = book | (F) = film | (T) = television series | (P) = podcast series | (TH) = theater performance | (M) = musical performance | [R] = reread/rewatch/relisten | (Tk) = talk

• December
• 31
• Started watching Mare of Easttown s01 on Apple TV T Complex, and bloody, and reaaly intriguing.
• 28
• Watched Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold on Netflix F So clear-eyed and, as John Naughton remarked, “She always looked so fragile. And yet at the same time she was tough as nails.”
• 26
• Watched 14 Peaks on Netflix F Very well made, and gripping despite knowing it all worked out in the end.
• 25
• Watched Hell or High Water on Netflix F Jeff Bridges does not make a very believable crusty old fuck, but it passed the time.
• 24
• Watched Don't Look Up on Netflix F I found it very funny and acute, and was very glad there wasn’t a happy ending.
• 23
• Finished reading The Promise by Damon Galgut B Booker winner, given to me by a friend because I was born there. Clever writing, but in the end didn’t do too much for me.
• 20
• Watched Wind River on Netflix F Pretty good, and would have been a lot better if I had been able to hear more than one in five words of dialogue.
• 19
• Watched E stata il mano di dio on Netflix F Absolutely delightful in so many ways.
• 16
• Watched Unforgiveable on Netflix F Wow. Very bleak, very dark, and very good. Lovely open-ended ending, and Sandra Bullock is just great.
• 14
• Watched An Inspector Calls on Netflix F With no series on the go, we watched this classic. So strange, and utterly delightful. Very fine performances from Alastiar Sims and a young Bryan Forbes
• 13
• Finished watching Occupied s03 on Netflix T An attempt at redemption?
• 12
• Finished watching Sneaky Pete s03 on Amazon Prime T Things got pretty complicated, but then it all worked out, mostly.
• November
• 20
• Finished watching Black Earth Rising on Nertflix T Deeply disturbing and very absorbing, a good demonstration of the complexity of it all.
• 20
• Saw The French Dispatch at Cinema In Trastevere F Truly glorious, and jam-packed with delights that whizzed by.
• 14
• Started watching Sneaky Pete s03 on Amazon Prime T Still fun, though I have forgotten much of the previous shenanigans.
• 12
• Watched The Harder They Fall on Netflix F The old Manichean struggle, between evil and eviller. Great soundtrack, great stunts, great fun. But bloody.
• 01
• Saw No Time to Die in the cinema! F Delightful, and didn’t seem all that long.
• October
• 31
• Started watching Black Earth Rising on Netflix T So intelligent. Harriet Walter, John Goodman, amazing young black woman whose name I do not (yet) know.
• 29
• Finished Hap and Leonard s01 on Amazon Prime T A little bit too much blood and gore, but still entertaining.
• 18
• Started watching Hap and Leonard s01 on Amazon Prime T Swamp gothic delight.
• 17
• Finsihed watching The Little Drummer Girl on iTunes T High drama, very enjoyable, even though I didn't entirely follow all the plot twists.
• 14
• Finished watching Shtisel s03 on Netflix T What a thorough delight, and I am happy to hope that everyone lives happily ever after.
• 01
• Started watching The Little Drummer Girl on iTunes T Very gripping. BBC, Le Carré, works for me.
• September
• 27
• Started watching Occupied on Netflix T Rather good; should be fun, in an apolcalyptic kind of way.
• 26
• Started watching Defeated on Netflix T Round up the usual tropes, and lots of rubble for realism.
• 23
• Finished watching Hit & Run on Netflix T Pretty good stuff, although I want to know how the cops got there so quickly. Do I care about a sequel? Not sure.
• 18
• Finished The Human Factor by Graham Greene B Beautifully crafted book about mundane spying and, in the end, love.
• 13
• Started reading The Human Factor by Graham Greene B Looks like fun
• 09
• Finished watching Bosch s07 on Amazon Prime T Too noble for his own good. What next? Bosch PI? Maddie the Rookie Cop?
• 08
• Started watching Shtisel on Netflix T I cannot believe the stunt pulled.
• 06
• Finished watching The Kominsky Method s03 on Netflix THappy endings all around, except the wrong Mom is still alive.
• August
• 30
• Finished reading The Idiot by Elif Batuman B Luscious, laugh out loud funny, and a great glimpse into a different view of the world.
• Finished reading Spy Hook by Len Deighton B I dunno. Very complex and pretty unsatisfying.
• Finished reading The Salt Path by Raynor Winn B Sweet and, er, life-affirming?
• 14
• Watched Shirley Valentine in iTunes F Very sweet, and only a little dated, really.
• 07
• Started watching The Americans s03 on Amazon Prime T Oh, those crazy Russians.
• 03
• Finished reading Rules of Civility by Amor Towles B Maybe not quite up to _A Gentleman in Moscow_, but very, very good. Deeply absorbing.
• 02
• Started watching Midnight Diner s03 on Netflix T So good. Why don't I find it sentimental? Because it is Japanese?
• 01
• Finished watching The Americans s02 on Amazon Prime T Didn't see that coming, and possibly neither did the story editor.
• July
• 25
• Finished watching High on the Hog on Netflix T Very well done, and thoughtful.
• 19
• Started reading Rules of Civility by Amor Towles on Kindle B Entrancing, and a bravura opening.
• 18
• Finished watching Midnight Diner s02 on Netflix T Very happy to discover there's a third series.
• 15
• Started watching Bosch s07 on Amazon Prime T Still very absorbing.
• 14
• Finished watching Lupin s02 on Netflix T Excellent. But what is he running from, in the end? Another series?
• 14
• Finished reading The Corrections by Jonathan Frantzen B Blimey; what a sage. So engrossing, so well made.
• 4
• Finished reading Monterey Bay by Lindsay Hatton B Somewhat overwritten, but interesting as far as it went.
• June
• 27
• Finished watching Call My Agent s04 on Netflix T Is this the end? Possibly not.
• 12
• Started watching Lupin s02 on Netflix T Still very entertaining.
• 10
• Started watching High on the Hog on Netflix T Very thoughtful and well made.
• May
• 30
• Started watching Shtisel s02 on Netflix T Totally engaging.
• 29
• Started watching The Kominsky Method s03 on Netflix T Still very good, but why’d they kill off Alan Arkin?
• 27
• Started watching Halston on Netflix T OK, but not wow.
• 27
• Started reading The Screaming Sky by Charles Foster B Lyrical, and yet down-to-earth.
• 26
• Finished The Arrest by Jonathan Lethem B OK, but by no means excellent.
• 16
• Started reading The Arrest by Jonathan Lethem on Kindle B Weird.
• 09
• Watched State of Play on Netflix F Most of the usual tropes, but gripping nevertheless.
• 02
• Watched Concrete Cowboy on Netflix F Occasionally a teeny bit mawkish, but on the whole extremely fine.
• April
• 27
• Finished This is a Robbery On Netflix T Well done, even though ultimately lacking closure. Will we ever know for sure?
• 25
• Watched two episodes of This is a Robbery on Netflix T True crime podcast with pictures that owe a lot to Errol Morris. Extremely absorbing.
• 24
• Started watching Samurai Gourmet s01 on Netflix T Very strange, very Japanese, rather fun.
• 11
• Watched The Spy Who Came in from the Cold on iTunes F The crucial unanswered question is how much did Leamas actually know.
• 08
• Started watching Shtisel on Netflix T Rather interresting.
• 04
• Watched Operation Finale on Netflix F Beautifully done. Malkin and Eichmann both deserve awards.
• 03
• Watched Seaspiracy on Netflix F Polemical, naïve documentary that actually had a useful final message.
• 02
• Started watching Tokyo Stories: Midnight Diner on Netflix T Rather entertaining and very funny.
• March
• 28
• Watched The Guernsey Potato Peel Pie and Literary Society on Netflix, over two nights F Very sweet and rather satisfying.
• 26
• Finished re-watching The Night Manager on iTunes T So very good.
• 14
• Started watching News of the World on Netflix T Rather good, tropes notwithstanding. Seldom seem to manage a movie in one night.
• 13
• Started reading The Anarchy by William Dalrymple B Complex and very interesting. Bastards.
• 12
• Started rewatching The Night Manager on iTunes T Still very compelling, and so glad my memory is shot to pieces.
• 09
• Finished A Man Called Ove on Kindle B with a speck of dust or something in my eye.
• 04
• Finished watching Le Bureau s05 on Apple TV T Best thing in a long, long time, despite an ending that was altogether far too fluffy.
• 02
• Started reading A Man Called Ove on Kindle B Recommended on the strength of Amor Towles and Anthony Doerr; charming.
• February
• 26
• Started watching The Americans s01 on Prime T Tosh?
• 23
• Started watching Jack Ryan s02 on Prime T What’s not to like? Excessive use of force?
• 20
• Watched White Tiger on Netflix F Not too bad, overall, but God, the press of humanity.
• Finished reading Single & Single by John Le Carré B Absorbing, different, lots of tradecraft. But how did Tiger end up in Turkey?
• 16
• Finished watching Jack Ryan s01 on Prime T Satisfying conclusion.
• 11
• Started watching Call my Agent s01 on Netflix T
• 08
• Finished watching Bridgerton s01 on Netflix T Everyone lives happily ever after, except, possibly, Viscount Bridgerton, who in any case is an ass, mostly.
• 04
• Finished watching Bonfire of Destiny on Netflix T Everyone lives happily ever after, unless the bastard who got away returns to make life miserable for everyone in season 02.
• 02
• Finished watching Lupin on Netflix T Season 02 needs to happen soon.
• January
• 31
• Watched The Dig on Netflix F And I don't give a toss what the pedants say, it was wonderful, especially the unspoken dialogue and the strange, unacknowledged flashbacks.
• 22
• Started watching Le Bureau s05 on Apple TV T I’ll be bereft by the end of this season.
• 20
• Started watching Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan on Amazon Prime T Like, is there anyone else’s Jack Ryan?
• 17
• Watched Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom On Netflix F Very fine, and very stagey. Viola Davis is magnificent.
• 15
• Finished watching Le Bureau s04 on Apple TV T So good. So sad that I know s05 is the end.
• 13
• Started watching Lupin on Netflix T Very entertaining.
• 10
• Watched Midnight Sky on Netflix F Great spaceship, but otherwise? Meh.
• 09
• Finished watching Ethos on Netflix T Strangely affecting, even though nothing much happens. A second series will be good, I hope.
• 09
• Finished reading The Quest to Conserve Rare Breeds: Setting the Record Straight by Lawrence Alderson as pdf B Interesting and repetitive. Shaky on methane, IMHO.
• 07
• Started reading The Quest to Conserve Rare Breeds: Setting the Record Straight by Lawrence Alderson as pdf B Not thrilling, and interesting.
• 06
• Finished reading Corduroy by Adrian Bell B Lovely account of farming in Suffolk in the 1920s, not too romaticised.
• 04
• Started watching Bridgerton on Netflix T Well, rip my bodice; What have we here?
• 02
• Watched Bombshell on iTunes film F And very good it was too, although the beast still lives.