5 min read

August: Dog Days

The Thursday Murder Club, Sexy Beast, The Friend, & New Music by MJ Lenderman
August: Dog Days
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"The essence of optimism is that it enables a man to hold his head high, to claim the future for himself and not abandon it to his enemy."– Dietrich Bonhoffer, German Lutheran Pastor, Resistance Fighter, Anti-racist, executed by Nazis 1945.

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BOOKS: "The Thursday Murder Club" Series by Richard Osmon

I wanted to hate this series. (Richard Osman's smart guy author photo did not alleviate my immediate concerns.) But reviews were extremely positive so I had to see what the noise was about. I expected to be let down, but the writing won me over. These novels are fun and full of heart.

Don't get me wrong. These are cozy mysteries on vitamin-enriched smoothies. There are plenty of unlikely coincidences and the character Elizabeth seems to have superhero-like connections, but all is forgiven when the characters and the emotions feel real. What Osman does best is manipulate readers to suspend their disbelief long enough to care about his characters. The mystery will take care of itself.

Publication dates: "The Thursday Murder Club," 2020; "The Man Who Died Twice," 2021; "The Bullet That Missed," 2022; "The Last Devil To Die," 2023; and the fifth book in the series is planned for release in 2025.

Osman also has an upcoming new series beginning in 2024 that begins with the novel "We Solve Murders." A new novel coming along this quickly might indicate that he now has a writer's room of his own. I have no direct confirmation of this, but he might have caught the dreaded James Patterson disease which, though not fatal to celebrity writers, may damage the brains of expectant readers.

Richard Osmon with the fingers-on-the-face author thing.

Osman started out as a comedian. He was then hired to write scripts for numerous TV producers. Those jobs led him to be produce television game shows and from there he became a game-show host for a show that he pitched. That show, "Pointless," ran for 1300 episodes before he supposedly retired, though he still hosts that show on the weekends and continues to produce other television.

In interviews, Osman describes dragging the first Thursday Murder Club novel through a gauntlet of story editors, line editors, first readers, etc. Then actually taking their suggestions. I believe that's why his characters are well-defined right from the beginning and the prose is smooth, even sweet at times.

There is a Thursday Murder Club movie in production produced by Steven Spielberg for Netflix, and written and directed by Chris Columbus.

Helen Mirren plays ex-spy Elizabeth, Ben Kingsley is retired psychiatrist Ibrahim, Pierce Brosnan portrays a former union activist Ron, and Celia Imrie takes on the role of the retired nurse Joyce. The big guy in the center of the above photo is Osman.

SCREEN: The film "Sexy Beast" starring Ben Kingsley directed by Jonathan Glazer

After a calm evening of reading cozy Brit mysteries. maybe you crave a shot of hard Brit crime. Here is one of my favorite Ben Kingsley movies. It was released in 2000 and it still kicks and is funny as hell. This film inspired a new British gangster TV series. It opens with the perfect blasting-sun summer scene.

"Total Film" rated it the 15th best British film.

If you want to see the 2024 spinoff TV series "Sexy Beast" now playing on Paramount, please help yourself. I would, but I have to wash my hair. In the meantime, do not miss this film. There is something here that amazes.

BOOKS: "The Friend" by Sigrid Nunez

This book won the National Book Award for Fiction. In 2024, it was ranked #68 in the "New York Times" list of best 100 books of the 21st century. I am reviewing it again because there is a new movie based on this book approaching release.

This book has a magical quality. It is both realistic and dreamlike. If you are fortunate to glimpse the clockwork of this novel, you may believe as I do that it is a complete spiritual gift. Ingrid Nunez has claimed in interviews that she did not know where the book was going until it got there. I believe her.

The upcoming movie based on this novel was written and directed by the duo Siegel & McGehee. It stars Naomi Watts, Bill Murray, Sarah Pidgeon, Constance Wu, Ann Dowd, Noma Dumezweni, Felix Solis, Owen Teague, and Carla Gugino. It will screen in the Gala section at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival in September.

I hope they find ways to make the film of this cagey and sublime masterpiece work on as many levels as the novel. No matter, at the very least, the movie will introduce more people to this fine book.

MUSIC: New Album "Manning Fireworks" by MJ Lenderman

"Joker Lips" off the new MJ Lenderman album "Manning Fireworks." The San Joaquin Valley sounds like this.

One comment read: "It's like throwing Beck and Uncle Tupelo / SunVolt into a blender....good stuff." That's it right there.

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