🧟♂️ Sunday Shuffle #7
TV/Movies/Books recommendations and reviews...
Greetings from Newcastle.
With the amount of stuff I’m watching at the moment, you’d think I didn’t work, write, read, or ever leave the house. Weirdly enough, I’m balancing it all at the moment. As the weather has taken a definite turn for the autumnal, I’m enjoying my lounge and granting myself some entertainment, guilt-free, when everything else is crossed off the list.
Welcome to the Sunday Shuffle.
All platforms mentioned below are the UK version, unless indicated otherwise. Amazon links are affiliate links so they may (at no extra cost to you) give me a small commission from any purchases made, which will helpfully contribute toward my writerly running costs.
📺 The Jinx Part 2 - Now TV. Who can forget that chilling first season? It was years ago that I watched it, so when I saw they’d followed it up, I had to check it out. If you don’t know anything about the Robert Durst murders, check this docu-series out. It is fucking wild. The things rich people can get away with. Until they can’t.
📺 The Walking Dead - Disney+. I reached the end of season 11 and what a send-off they gave the show. Overall, the whole show suffered from bloat. There were seasons that could easily have been trimmed down by several episodes each. But we got a series based on a comic that its creator, Robert Kirkman, had intended to be “the zombie movie that never ends” (quoted by Pallotta on CNN Business, 21st October 2016). So we got that. Until the comic ended. Then the show ended. But all the new spin-off shows have dropped - and they are much more compact, 6-episode seasons. I have to admit, folks, I felt the old heart-strings being tugged as we closed in on the end. I’m glad I came back to the show after a years-long break. The final stretch kind of feels like its own thing, in a weird sort of way. And the message is excellent: if there really was an apocalypse, if you try to revive the world the way it was, you’re doomed to have all the same problems - the greed, the corruption - that we see in our time. So if we had a chance to reconstruct society, why wouldn’t we try to do it better this time?
🎞 The Untamed - Tubi. This is a weird one. I’m not so sure this is even a recommendation. It’s a bit like the videotape from The Ring - I have to get someone else to watch it, in order to lift the curse. I enjoy a good foreign language film, and an old girlfriend got me into Mexican films when she brought Amores Perros over. Last year I watched Possession for the first time, and I’d heard this movie was similar to it. And thematically, it is… but there is also a notorious scene from Possession that The Untamed really runs with. The director of The Untamed cites Possession as a major influence on his film. Not one to watch with the kids around, this movie has a fair bit of sexual content in it. And some of that content is nuts. Drama, horror, mystery, commentary on fucked-up relationships. And that’s all I’m saying on this one. Watch it for free on Tubi, if you haven’t seen it already, then report back to me. And if you have watched it, I’m keen to gather your thoughts, so I can try to order mine.
📺 Currently Watching: The Walking Dead: Dead City - Now TV.
📺 Currently Watching: The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon - Now TV.
📺 Currently Watching: The Righteous Gemstones - Now TV.
📘 Currently Reading: Picnic at Hanging Rock, Joan Lindsey.
📺 Currently Watching: Celebrity Masterchef - BBC. My youngest has taken a real liking to Masterchef. He enjoys baking and helping out in the kitchen. This is maybe the only reality show I can bear to watch because it involves skills. But the show-runner’s definition of celebrity is questionable, I have to say.
If you have recommendations or comments, and you’re reading this in your inbox, you can reply just like any other email, and if you’re reading this via the Substack app or on my website through a browser, remember to hit like and drop a comment - and feel free to forward this and share with friends you think might like it.
Best wishes and bad dreams,
Jack
I can't believe it's a week since your last Sunday Shuffle, Jack! I was reading that one with Poppy cuddled up, home for the weekend after her first gruelling 5 fraction radiotherapy treatments completed. Today, same thing, Poppy (and Teddybear!) cuddled up with me, but niw Poppy is home to stay. She had her final RT fraction on Friday and she was allowed home. The 7hr + round trips have left me wrung out, and emotionally, I'm seriously fucked up, but she's really doing well! Everyone at the amazing Royal Dick School of Veterinary Studies and the Hospital for Small Animals, has been beyond wonderful. Now, its keep everything crossed the inoperable brain tumour will start to shrink, and she can enjoy her best possible life, for as long as possible. Vert scary stuff! But, hopefully it'll work. I'll keep you posted, and thank you so much for your support and kindness.
Well, another intriguing Shuffle, today! We seem to have similar tastes in the weird and eclectic stuff we enjoy watching, so I'll definitely be checking out your latest recommendations. Especially the new Walking Dead spin offs. I loved the original series - until it lost me off, around the same place you gave it up for... well, more dead than walking! Darling Dixon has been a favourite character, so that's one I really want to get into. I'll revisit the original series first though and refresh my memory. Rather a lit has happened since I was there, last, so it's a good idea to have a refresher course! I'm sorely tempted to go right back to the beginning and start at Season 1, but in the interests of watching anything else, I might just rewind to Seaon 9. I'll let you know how I get on!
Interestingly, you mentioned your Gothic reading plans for your Whitby bookfest reads, and it got me thinking, it's years since I read some of the books you mentioned. I have been doing too many 7hr+ road trips to Edinburgh for Poppy, and for some reason, listening to my usual choices of music gave actually been too upsetting. Hence, exploring Audible. I found an awesome version of The Woman in Black, read superbly by Paapa Eisudu (sp?) My sincere apologies, I need to open the app to check that spelling, and don't want to lose this message in the process so I'll update this soon, if I haven't got the taleted gentleman's name right! It was brilliant, extremely atmospheric and haunting. I loved it, and anything that took my mind of Poppy and worrying about her situation, had to be good! Which it is. I highly recommend it for anyone who (for whatever reason) can't physically read the book themselves.
Another wonderful find on Audible was a mash up of the seminal and glorious Jeff Wayne musical adaptation of War Of The Worlds, with the actual book by H G Wells. Sublime, and definitely the best of both 'Worlds' for me. The expanded story reminded me how creative and far sighted the book was, and the added impact of the familiar soundtrack, especially adapted for this Audible Original, was beyond description. Obviously, I loved both, but this is possibly the best of its kind - the music enhances the dialogue, rather than intrudes on the telling, and the cast is wonderful It just really, really works. Perfect for long road trips or sleepless nights when you still need a story, rather than watching a film or something on telly! It's fair to say I'm an Audible convert.
Reading material will give you a smile, I hope... I finally got your stunning Victorian Vampire Chronicles collection up and running! And I'm loving it. I'm currently around 105 pages in to Book II, and thoroughly swept away in your creation! It has everything - atmospheric, ambience, compelling storytelling and superb characters. Dr Blessing is dark, complex and absolutely fucked up - which is perfect, as it lends such an unknown quantity to where the story can go. I love the string, kick ass female characters especially Mary - she's almost a Victorian 'Kill Bill' lead. Feisty, capable and as far removed from the bland, subservient females who litter tales from her era. I'm absolutely loving these stories, Jack and thrilled to finally be exploring this universe! And, so excited to hear you have imminent plans to bring us more! I can't wait!
Other than this, I've been binge watching Jack Osbournes Night of Terror series, as well as delving back into his Portals to Hell. Some episodes are definitely better than others, but overall, I do love his approach to the paranormal- definitely a believer, but not blindly accepting, and not guilty if trying to turn a random noise or event into a massive moment. The inclusion of other Osbourne family members in the investigation process is cool, as I'm a lifelong Ozzy/Black Sabbath gan, and got really into their original NTV show when it was first shown. They do a podcast series too, by the way, so it's almost like enjoying a continuing Osbourne family visit except for the fact Jack and Kelly are grown up, now. So I am enjoying all things Osbournes, and will keep digging out more episodes. There are several on discovery+, which I finally activated as it's part of my Sky subscription, but there are episodes on Really and Breeze, too, I think. Definitely a better paranormal investigations set of series, with minimal American bullshittery, and genuinely interesting locations, some of which are notorious as well as extremely sinister places.
I worked my way through all the Alien franchise, and am swithering about going back to Predator - I've had the reboot Predator recorded for ages, but haven't seen it yet. As the chances of me seeing Alien:Romulus in the cinema are slim to none existent, unfortunately I won't get to experience it on the big screen. I'll have to wait for it to hit Sky or grab a disc at some point. Oh, and getting back on my Audible soapbox for a second, Tim Lebbon has penned a superb Alien spin off that's been glorious to listen to. The actress they found who plays Ripley sounds so much like Sigourney Weaver, I actually thought it was her. Very good indeed, especially for any fan who still needs (another) Alien fix.
Well, apart from trying to catch up with the new series of The Vouce (which isn't doing much for me, unfortunately, except Sir Tom Jones is always wonderful) and having a documentary from Sir Brian May about the plight of badgers and their culling, I want to fit in this weekend if possible I think that's about it, for my Shuffle! Oh, a brilliant Sky documentary I caught a bit of at 2am also awaits, about David Chase and his making of the wonderful Sopranos. I will watch that soon. I'm still regularly revisiting Tony and the crew in New Jersey. I can't ever get enough Sopranos! I'm about three quarters of the way through Season 5. Again. If you got air miles for watching the Sopranos, I'd be off in a Lear jet to a far flying destination. Several times over. Never mind, some of the best things to revisit simply don't age ;-)
Looking forward to the next Sunday Shuffle, Jack, it's always a blast to see what you're getting into and get some inspiration!
Enjoy your Autumn explorations of all things weird and wonderful... xXx