Hamish started with the music and, via the band themselves, eventually settled on these terrorism themed selections.
READ: The Zero (2006) by Jess Walter
The Zero is a brilliant novel about 9/11
Brian Remy is a brilliant creation and his shattered consciousness is a superb storytelling device
The moments of rejoining scenes between gaps also inspire some great blackly comedic moments. Brian’s baffled questions were interpreted as humorous, wise or merely rhetorical
In the Q&A at the back of the book Jess Walter explains how he wanted Brian Remy to be an unwilling hero, and wanted him to feel how most people felt after the attacks: confused and frightened, a helpless person with good intentions.
Nothing makes sense: torturing suspects, sleeping with his girlfriend's boss, wandering a vast warehouse for processing scraps of paper, mysterious figures handing him envelopes etc.
In less capable hands this could easily have gone awry but Jess Walter pulls if off and, in doing so, created a mesmeric, harrowing, funny, provocative, and brilliant tour de force.
There was a lot of positivity about The Zero:
Hamish praised its prescience,
Keith the memory loss,
Robin was fascinated but also frustrated,
Tristan described the style as a brilliant storytelling device, Nigel was blown away by it,
Roland acknowledged the brilliance but also found it a struggle,
and Nick listened to an audible book with awful narration so felt unable to rate it fairly.
Nick - / Tristan 7.5 / Nigel 9 / Keith 7 / Roland 7 / Robin 7.5 / Hamish 8
LISTEN: Nocturnes (2020) by Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus
Opening song, I Carry The Sun, is a real charmer and not what any of us was expecting given how Hamish described them, via their record company, as nutters and that they feature on Maconie’s The Freak Zone.
The more ambient fare was also well received although Tristan found it a little deflating.
WATCH: That Obscure Object of Desire (1977) directed by Luis Buñuel
That Obscure Object of Desire tells the story of Mathieu (Fernando Rey), the frustrated, unrequited, ageing rich Lothario, and Conchita (played alternately by Carole Bouquet and Angela Molina). Conchita’s teasing behaviour ultimately results in a beating from Mathieu and it is this that convinces Conchita that Mathieu truly loves her and is a worthy partner. This after spurned him numerous times for buying her lavish gifts including houses.
The recurring backdrop of terrorist violence and bombings are never explored.
All of us found quite a bit to enjoy and appreciate in this film, all except Robin who was fuming. Robin described this as the worst film we have ever watched and it made him really angry. He likened the scenes in the train compartment to a sketch on The Two Ronnies. Ouch. Take that Luis Buñuel. There’s our most memorable HBG moment of 2021 right there.
Endorse it
9/11: Inside the Presidents War Room (BBC iPlayer)
Deceit documentary (All4)
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019) dir by Quentin Tarantino (Film - Netflix)
The Curiously Specific Book Podcast
Victorious Festival (Portsmouth)
Free Fire (2016) directed by Ben Wheatley (Film - Prime)
American Psycho at 30 (Radio about the Brett Easton Ellis book - BBC Sounds)
The Devil All the Time (2020) dir by Antonio Campos (Film - Netflix)
You Were Never Really Here (2017) dir by Lynne Ramsay (Film - Amazon Prime)
The Dead Don't Die (2019) dir by Jim Jarmusch (Film - Netflix)
Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell (Book)
The Art of Self-Defense (2019) dir by Riley Stearns (Film - Netflix)
Bad Trip (2021) Dir by Kitao Sakurai (Film - Netflix)
