Pringles Scorchin' Potato Crisps Present:
Will & Harper & The Appeal & Conclave
Hello again!
I’ve really been dragging my feet on writing this first newsletter after the most recent presidential election, knowing that I don’t really have anything new or useful to add for a reading audience mostly comprised of people that I know personally and that, for the most part, agree with me. So instead of trying to articulate my feelings and fears, I want to open with a movie recommendation that feels very timely.
Will & Harper is a new documentary now streaming on Netflix about Will Ferrell and Harper Steele, friends and frequent comedy collaborators, embarking on a cross-country road trip. Will and Harper met while working at Saturday Night Live and created many classic sketches together (at one point we see that Will is saved in Harper’s phone as “Bob Goulet”). A few years ago, Harper sent an email to Will and many other SNL colleagues coming out as a trans woman.
Looking for a way to show his support, further cement their friendship, air out any questions or misconceptions about the transition process, and perhaps help educate a larger audience that might not otherwise see a first-hand trans perspective, Will suggested filming a documentary of the pair on a cross-country road trip, an activity that Harper used to do frequently, but now worries she might not be able to do safely.
There are great moments of levity, the kind of bits and inside jokes that you would expect from two comedy pals in new places and situations, but there are also plenty of heartbreaking moments of people throughout the country accidentally or not-so-accidentally misgendering Harper, all while wanting to revel in Will’s fame and get close to him. There is definitely a safety in Will’s presence and celebrity that most trans people just trying to go about their day don’t have, and you can see how disheartening it can be. Harper is so open about the struggles she faced in transitioning, how much she tried to fight it and tried to isolate herself from having to expose people to it. Trans people have been so vilified and dehumanized this election season or offered up as a niche group that should be “sacrificed” by liberals in exchange for more political power, and I hope a lovely film like this can make some people think a little differently.
Reading
Love is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time by Rob Sheffield - A bittersweet, funny memoir from the music journalist about falling in love with music and through music. Each chapter opens with a mix tape tracklist to set the scene. They chart the book’s progression from adolescence to falling in love, from marrying young to becoming a widower far too young. The discussion of grief is honest and insightful, like Sheffield’s heartbreak at hearing a new band or song that he knows his wife would’ve loved but that he can’t share wit her. I was also really moved by his reflections on how many people took care of him in that devastating time with a grace that he didn’t really expect and never knew how to repay.
The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai, Translated by Jesse Kirkwood - A cozy novel about the comfort and power of food, the beautiful complexities of how it’s made, and the love and care shown by the people who make it. The Kamogawa Diner is a nondescript little restaurant in Kyoto that is pretty much ignored by passersby, but those who know about it visit for a very specific reason. The father-daughter pair who run the diner also run what they call a “food detective agency.” Each chapter follows a different “case” with a client who seeks out the agency to recreate a beloved dish, either from a childhood memory or a specialty of a loved one who has passed. The process of how these “detectives” investigate the dish is just as fascinating as why the clients so desperately want to try that dish again.
The Appeal by Janice Hallett - I absolutely blew through this funny and surprising murder mystery about a charity appeal with questionable means and motivations and run by some mysterious characters. Told solely through emails, texts, voicemail transcriptions, and correspondence, this is the story of The Fairway Players, an amateur theater group in a small English village. When the granddaughter of their beloved director is diagnosed with a rare form of cancer that requires costly experimental treatment, the whole company rallies to raise money, but a new member of the group starts asking a lot of questions and seems to have distant ties to those involved in the medical treatment. Even just through emails, you get such a sense of all the members of this theater troupe and the very real archetypes and power dynamics at play.
The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett - I might have gone in with my expectations a tad too high because I wasn’t as keen on Hallett’s follow-up mystery. Recently released from a long stretch in prison, Smithy is looking to start over and vows to resolve a traumatic experience from his childhood - the disappearance of a beloved teacher. Through a series of voice note transcripts recorded from an old iPhone inherited from his estranged son, Smithy tracks down old classmates to check their memories of the field trip that Miss Iles never returned from and the children’s book author that she was convinced had planted secret codes in her books. While everyone tries to convince Smithy that he’s misremembering, he starts to think they are just trying to throw him off track. Like I said, it couldn’t live up to The Appeal for me, but if you like codes and puzzles, you might be into it.
Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum, Translated by Shanna Tan - Back to the cozy reads, this one about the comfort and power of books and communal spaces. Yeongju opened her independent bookshop in the residential Hyunam-Dong neighborhood of Seoul after burning out in her corporate career and ending her seemingly stable marriage. She wanted to return to her love of reading and take solace in books, but she also struggles with her desire to run a successful business and make customers happy too. This novel is really all about that elusive work-life balance. Her only employee, a young barista, is also at a crossroads after giving up on striving when he did everything he was “supposed to do,” and still couldn’t find a good job after college. Slowly other characters start to gather in the bookshop and bonding through their struggles with societal expectations and finding a purposeful but also joyful life.
Watching
Shrinking, Season 2 (Apple TV) - A widower completely unmoored by the sudden passing of his wife, floundering with raising his teenage daughter, and still expected to provide sound guidance to his clients as a trusted therapist. But, you know, also FUNNY! Probably the best joke-per-minute ration on TV right now. The whole cast is excellent. Jason Segel might have the least to do, but then he pulls out his Andre the Giant impression again, and he’s back on top of the leaderboard. Jessica Williams never misses, and Damon Wayans Jr. has just been introduced as a perfect love interest for her. Harrison Ford is having such a good time while being a grump, and they case KELLY BISHOP as his ex-wife. This show is also a shoo-in for the Emmy Award for Best Deployment of Ted McGinley.
Conclave - Not sure if Conan is interested in doing musical parodies at the Oscars this year, but if so, I would like to pitch, “We’ve got a great big Conclave, votin’ through the night / We’ve got a great big Conclave, votin’ til the smoke is white - CONCLAVE.” A well-made, mid-budget drama with great character actors and a compelling story? Spectacular! Give me 14 of ‘em right now. The pope dies suddenly, and Ralph Fiennes’s Cardinal Lawrence must oversee the selection process for the successor. Stanley Tucci and John Lithgow play two possible candidates with very different philosophies about the church and approaches to gaining favor. Isabella Rossellini plays a stern nun who puts on big glasses and logs into her computer. Give her an Oscar! As we learn more about various candidates, the movie explores the idea that the man who wants the job the most, may not be the right kind of man for the position.
Listening
Denitia, Sunset Drive - Some very classic country sounds plus a little Fleetwood Mac vibes. Great vocals and songwriting throughout the album. My favorites are the title track, “Good Life,” “I Won’t Look Back,” and this one that sounds like straight-up Dolly.
The Blue Nile, “The Downtown Lights” - Another new-to-me gift from the algorithm. This song is over six minutes long, and I wish it was longer.