Public service announcement: State of Play
It occurs to me that I've never mentioned this here, mostly because I was too busy getting ready to leave the country for a long time when we watched it. But back in May, I saw "State of Play" (the UK television miniseries that came out in 2003, not the U.S. knockoff big-screen film). And it is quite seriously the best story I've seen or read in a long, long time.
The writing is taut and funny and smart, the story is so gripping that it will run you over like a train, and EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER is FASCINATING. Even the throwaway ones. It's about politics and journalism and human relationships, so it's made for me in a way it won't be for everyone, but it's so good that even if you don't normally go for that sort of thing, you will want to give it a try. It's very definitely the best thing (teevee, film, book) I've ever seen out of the UK, and it's right up there on my "best-of ANYTHING, EVER" list. It really just doesn't get any better than this.
I should mention that I also watched the first two seasons of "Mad Men" at around the same time, and they are also brilliant. I can't wait for season three. But if you have to watch one or the other, please watch "State of Play" instead. In fact, if you have to choose between watching "State of Play" and watching anything else, WATCH STATE OF PLAY, DAMMIT. Run, don't walk to your video store. You won't regret it.
The writing is taut and funny and smart, the story is so gripping that it will run you over like a train, and EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER is FASCINATING. Even the throwaway ones. It's about politics and journalism and human relationships, so it's made for me in a way it won't be for everyone, but it's so good that even if you don't normally go for that sort of thing, you will want to give it a try. It's very definitely the best thing (teevee, film, book) I've ever seen out of the UK, and it's right up there on my "best-of ANYTHING, EVER" list. It really just doesn't get any better than this.
I should mention that I also watched the first two seasons of "Mad Men" at around the same time, and they are also brilliant. I can't wait for season three. But if you have to watch one or the other, please watch "State of Play" instead. In fact, if you have to choose between watching "State of Play" and watching anything else, WATCH STATE OF PLAY, DAMMIT. Run, don't walk to your video store. You won't regret it.