Photo by charity shopper via Creative Commons
I’m on a wave on good watching.
Dramas, documentaries, and comics, too!
Power to readers & writers! thinkers & feelers!
As the Writers Guild of America continues to strike, I urge you to remember why writing matters, not just in books, but in movies, television, music & more. The world turns on words. Please read, write & acknowledge writers — with compensation, attribution & appreciation.
Here are six shows worth watching * (all written and produced prior to the strike):
1.
Turn Every Page: The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb
A documentary about the 50-year relationship between two literary legends: writer Robert Caro and editor Robert Gottlieb.
Caro is the author of The Power Broker (a Pulitizer Prize-winning biography of Robert Moses, a city planner who dramatically transformed New York in the 1900s), along with numerous volumes on Lyndon B. Johnson. Gottlieb is the ever-patient editor of these massive tomes.
Now in their late 80s and 90s, the two still feud over semicolons and bicker about commas while also sharing deep respect and appreciation of the other.
This 2019 documentary is a loving celebration of book culture and a serious look at the future of books. It features a behind-the-scenes look at New York’s rare book business and the dedicated people who keep books alive.
The movie is produced by Parker Posey (a quirky actress I enjoy; even after all these years, Best in Show is my favorite comedy).
3.
Painkiller
This six-part drama series is the show you don’t want to watch but really need to see.
Focusing on the effects of the opioid crisis in America, the show examines the evil manipulations of Purdue Pharma, the pharmaceutical company (and Sackler family dynasty) that created OxyContin and strategically pushed it on the public.
The story is based on the New Yorker article by Patrick Radden Keefe, The Family That Built an Empire of Pain, as well as the book by Barry Meier, Pain Killer: An Empire of Deceit and the Origin of America's Opioid Epidemic.
4.
The Mustang
Based on a true story, this 2019 movie focuses on a prison inmate who participates in a rehabilitation program centered around the training of wild horses. Written by Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre, Mona Fastvold, and Brock Norman Brock.
5.
Living
Not much happens in this quiet movie about an ordinary man, and yet, so much transpires. Bill Nighy, the elegant Brit with a witty reserve, carries this thoughtful drama.
The movie has quite a lineage; it is based on a screenplay by Kazuo Ishiguro, adapted from the 1952 Japanese film Ikiru, which was partly inspired by the 1886 Russian novella The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy.
How did I not know of this wonderfully odd comedian? Gabriel Rutledge, who lives in Olympia, Washington, is just what I need right now: unusual, unexpected, funny.
* I watched these programs on Netflix, Amazon Prime, and YouTube. Please note that streaming availability is always changing.
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