Who Let These Banshees In(isherin)?
Finger food for thought...
Those Banshees are really in isherin, huh? Which, upon further research, I discovered is not a real Irish Isle. So if you’d like to visit, you’ll have to settle for Inishmore, Inisheer, Inishbeg, Inishodriscol, Inishfarnard, Inishabro, Inishvickillane, Inishtooskert, Inishmacnaghtan, Inishmacowney, Inishloe, Inishtubbrid, Inishcorker, Inishbig, Inishmaan, Inishlusk, Inisherk, Inishbarra, Inishtravin, Inisheltia, Inishnee, Inishlackan, Inishdawros, Inish Toirbirt, Inishturk, Inishbofin, Inishlyon, Inishshark, Inisheeny, Inishraher, Inishlyre, Inishgort, Inishbee, Inishgowla, Inishoo, Inishnakillew, Inishcottle, Inishdaff, Inishturlin, Inishquirk, Inishtubbrid, Inishnacross, Inishbobunnan, Inishilra, Inishkeel, Inisherkin, Inishcooa, Inishbiggle, Inishkea, Inishglora, Inishmulclohy, Inishmurray, Inishpat, Inishkeel, Inishkeeragh, Inishfree, Inishal, Inishcoo, Inishinny, Inishmeane, Inishsirrer, Inishdooey, or Inishtrahull instead. Feckin’ hell!
A n y w a y . . . here are some things you should watch and read!
On Screen
Eventually I’ll send Oscar predictions, but for now I’m still working my way through the nominees:
The Banshees of Inisherin, dir. Martin McDonagh
What in God’s name did I just watch? If two men, talk to each other, about not being friends anymore… does it pass the Bechdel Oscars test?? Is Banshees the founding entry to the “twentieth century Irish besties breakup” canon???
My review: personally, i would’ve stopped after the first finger.
I loved it. No notes.
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, dir. Laura Poitras
This documentary absolutely tore my heart open. I’ve always loved Nan Goldin’s photography, but I didn’t look up the movie before lumbering over to the Brattle on Sunday. I cannot remember the last time I cried that much in a movie theater — I mean two uninterrupted hours of sobbing — and still, the film made me laugh through those tears. The narrative is comprised of slideshows, interviews, and primary documents detailing Goldin’s life, art, and activism against the Sackler family for their perpetuation of the opioid crisis. It’s a must-see.
Everything Everywhere All at Once, dir. Daniel Scheinert & Daniel Kwan
Instant favorite movie. I haven’t been so immediately in awe of a film since I was a tween dipping my pinky toe into cinema, transfixed by movies like Little Miss Sunshine and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. EEAAO is one of those films that challenges our collective idea of what movies can do and be, and of the infinite worlds they bring to life.
Glass Onion, dir. Rian Johnson
I think the little Knives Out movies are fun! Janelle Monáe and Daniel Craig were wonderful. I thought it was too long and a bit predictable, but all in all a good time.
From the Bookshelf
¡Hola Papi! How to Come Out in a Walmart Parking Lot and Other Life Lessons, by JP Brammer
I listened to the audiobook for this sweet, thoughtful memoir and really enjoyed it! You might recognize the title from Brammer’s popular advice column, the style of which he emulates in his book. Each essay is at once an admission, a reflection, and an honest attempt at reconciling his past and present selves. If you've ever asked yourself a question and struggled to arrive at the answer, you’ll resonate with this book.
Someone Who Will Love You In All Your Damaged Glory, by Raphael Bob-Waksberg
If you enjoy Bojack Horseman, Charlie Kaufman films, EEAAO, or any media of a chaotic-cathartic-magical realism bend, you’ll probably enjoy Bojack creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg’s collection of short stories. A man’s life is upended when he finds a portal to an opposite universe. A group of friends receive world-saving superpowers, but they can only use them when they’re drunk. A young man fictionalizes a family tragedy for the stage and makes his sister watch. The stories are clever and fascinating, simultaneously funny and devastating, and well worth the read.
Time is a Mother, by Ocean Vuong
Another one that made me cry in public. I adored On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous and loved these poems, too. The title is fitting. Vuong’s poems rush backward and forward and pause, scanning and isolating moments in time like he’s pointing a TV remote at the world and rapidly clicking the buttons. I think often about the poem “Amazon History of a Former Nail Salon Worker.” It shows how a record of a person’s consumption can also be a map of their life, telling the same story in a different language. Take your time with this beautiful book.
Velvet Was the Night, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
I know I recommended a lot of sad things in this newsletter, but this? This is just plain fun. Romance meets mystery meets historical fiction in this soapy noir thriller set in Mexico City in the 1970s. When her next door neighbor goes missing, secretary and romance reader Maite is thrust to the center of a fast-paced, citywide game of cat-and-mouse between artists, dissidents, criminal enforcers, and corrupt politicians. Come for the mystery, stay for the melodrama!
Death in Her Hands, by Ottessa Moshfegh
I have complicated feelings about Ottessa Moshfegh, many of which Andrea Long Chu has already articulated far better than I ever could — this being the same Moshfegh famous for (1) writing the sad rich girl sleeps for a year book, (2) publishing a Brad Pitt redemption puff piece in the year of our lord 2022, and (3) persistently misgendering Demi Lovato at the book talk I attended for Lapvona. (“Oh right. Them.” — OM) I’m working my way through her older titles before I crack open her most recent release, which brings me to…
…Death in Her Hands, a Black Swan esque psychological thriller about an old widower named Vesta who is walking her dog in the woods when she comes across an unsettling note: “Her name was Magda. Nobody will ever know who killed her. It wasn’t me. Here is her dead body.” With little else to occupy her time, she becomes obsessed with solving the mystery of the woman in the note. I got a kick out of this bizarre little book — a quick and intriguing read for fans of mysteries, horror/thrillers, and Moshfegh’s writing style.
Those are the last of my book recs from last year, stay tuned for what I’m reading now :)
Odds and Ends
I made this apple cider donut loaf cake twice this week, I’m rewatching The Sopranos, and I went into Letterboxd and tried to mark as many movies as “watched” as I can remember having seen, which was a very valid reason, I think, to stay up past 3am.
Banshee puns that didn’t make the cut:
Forget about 20th Century Women (2016), we’re talking 20th Century (Irish)men!
Ban, she’s inisherin’
inish you w(er)e in <3
See you next week!