Saturday, February 11, 2017

BWAB: The Return

J: So here we are. At the Pig. On a delightfully sunny day in February. But no, global warming's not real.

M: Climate change, Jenna.

J: You're right. Climate change isn't real. Just something made up by the liberal media to distract us from... what... from profit?
Good one.

M: It's fake news.

J: You're fake news.

M: [laughs] I think we're too sober to do this. Or too angry. Or something.

J: I am too hurt!

M: [laughs] Aww! "Considers banana."

***half-hour drinking interlude***

J: We're approaching champagne levels...

M: You should write that.

***second drinking interlude***

M: Mmm, that's stronger than the last one.

***third drinking interlude***

"THE BEEEEEST OF BOTH WOOOOORLDS!"
M: Being bi is the Hannah Montana of sexual orientation. Aka, "the best of  both worlds!" Truth.

J: Girl, yes.

M: Also, why is it so dark? It's like we've been here for hours

J: Where did the sun go? I thought it was almost 3:00...

M: [laughs] It's almost 6!

J: So we've been gone awhile...

M: You type so well, it's beautiful.

J: I used to play piano, remember?

M: You did. Okay. I'm ready to talk about British things.

J: Yay! Crumpets! Tea! Accents! I'm so excited!

M: [laughs] Okay, so... Blog With A Brogue. We took an unintended year-long hiatus. Whatever. "Life." It happens.

J: I put that in quotes. I'm not sure why.

M: [laughs] But we're here now. And I have a lot of British things to talk about.

J: Is this champagne British?

M: I think by definition, champagne cannot be British.

J: Is our sparkling wine British?

M: Possible. [laughs]

J: So tell me, Meredith. What amazing British things have you seen lately?

M: Hold on to your troushers. Troushers? Troushers. I can't talk anymore! Trouuuuzerssss.

J: Yes, very nice.

M: So. Matt and I. Husband. Whatever. We're very into British murder mystery shows. Nobody does murder mystery as well as the Brits.

J: I freaking love murder mysteries. I'm clearly privileged and sheltered.

M: So. I have multiple recommendations.

J: Ooh! Do tell.

M: Okay. If you like P.D. James books...

J: Wait. Who, pray tell, is P.D. James?
Those bangs, though...

M: To be honest, I've only read one of her books. And I didn't love it. Although, the film interpretation of that book is, in fact, probably my favorite memory of all time. Or at least, one of the best films I've ever seen ever.

J: [makes multiple incredulous faces]

M: And that book is called The Children of Men. Did not love the book, but seriously watch the movie. Amazing.

J: Okay, okay, I agree. Saw the movie in France, was mind-blown. Amazing.

M: Life-changing. So, she has a detective series about detective Adam Dalglish. They were on Netflix, I don't know if they still are, but they are worth every penny at your local rental store, if not. Brits? Brits probably has them.

J: I would guess! Or they would order them for you. Or Liberty Hall has them. Or they might order them. Basically look around. Don't be lazy.

M: I really thought they were shaking hands!
M: Exactly. Secondly, if you're looking for something slightly more modern...

J: Wait, wait. When is this set? More modern? What now?

M: So... Dalglish is probably more late 80s. Midsomer Murders on PBS or from PBS is more late 90s.

J: Okay. So if you like British murder mysteries and you're feeling nostalgic for poor film quality, we have this excellent recommendation for you. Probably on VHS, don't worry about it.

He could be 27, he could be 17. We truly don't know.
M: Ah, Midsomer Murders is on Netflix. For sure. And it's much more campy, humorous, but nonetheless satisfying.

J: Our readers are all about satisfying British cop humor. So tell me more about this modern business...

M: Okay. Midsomer Murders. It was on PBS, we discovered it on Netflix. It's... well frankly, it's great. I highly recommend it, if you're into that sort of thing. However, if you're into something more... historic... more of a period piece, something which we have found to be mind-blowingly relevant to our current political climate here in America...
Look at us. We're wearing hats.

J: [nods knowingly]

M: I cannot recommend enough Foyle's War. I think it was on PBS? I'm not sure. It's more recent than Midsomer. It's also on Netflix. However, it's set during WWII and it explores lots of topics related to German immigration during WWII... basically it's a detective inspector superintendent... some super-large title... who investigates murders and what-not in England during WWII. It's f*cking brilliant.

J: That sounds a bit heavy. But relevant! And important.
BUT SERIOUSLY HOW OLD ARE YOU.

M: And! Best of all... as far as actors go, there's a lot of carry-over from Midsomer Murders, which we also enjoy very much.

J: Excellent suggestions! If you're looking for blatant and terrible distractions from our current political situation (and/or your life situation in general), I highly recommend Outlander, which is Scottish and has a plethora of innuendo and blatant sexy-times. I mean, there's nudity. For both parties.

M: That's all I keep hearing about Outlander! My boss keeps telling me how much she likes the Outlander series, and all I keep thinking about is all the sexy-times! I mean, she doesn't tell me about the sexy-times. But I bet she likes the sexy-times.

J: I mean, they're good sexy-times.

M: I'm all about good sexy-times.

Look at your man, now back to me. I'm on a horse. Old Spice.
J: Who isn't?! Also I will say, the costume designer and the set designer have done a truly fantastic job putting Claire and Jamie in the right atmosphere for sexy-times.

M: [laughs] It's all about the atmosphere.

J: And the innuendo. And the sexy red-haired Scottish man.

M: Yes, indeed.

J: Anyway, that one's nice.

M: I have one more recommendation! The Imitation Game.

J: Dammit! I have been meaning to see that!

M: It is not a happy movie, necessarily.
It's Benedict! How hard is that?!

J: [frowns]

M: But! If you need encouragement, it does have Bendyback Cumberpatch AND Matthew Goode.  Big fan of Matthew Goode.

J: You may or may not recall our Match Point post.

M: LINK.

J: Done.

M: But also! One of our other favorite Downton Abbey-ites, aka Allen Leech, also in... what was that terrible movie driving around in the car... there was only 3 people in the entire movie...

J: All I can think of is Retreat, which is a different three people....

Goode shade is the best shade.
M: Similar, but...

J: We'll find it.

M: In Fear!

J: We've got a lot of linking to do.

M: What am I talking about? Oh, I'm talking The Imitation Game. It's good. Kiera Knightly! She's very British.

J: "She's very British."

M: I mean, she is.

J: You're not wrong. But Outlander...
Very angry. And very Scottish.

M: [laughs] So, BWAB has a lot of recommendations. Because of circumstances, we have not had opportunities to coordinate our British media viewings. I was going to say "winter is coming," but it's not. But we will find time to watch things in the future for a more cohesive post for our viewers because our greatest concern is indeed our consumers of this fine, fine blog post.

J: That was a terrible run-on sentence. But I agree! I wasn't done either. I recommend Outlander as well as this fantastic snarky Veep-precursor called The Thick of It. It features a very biting...

M: Mmm...

Still Scottish, less angry, more scared.
J: Anyway... Peter Capaldi...

M: [intensified mmm]

J: Who SOME OF YOU may know as the latest iteration of Dr. Who. I will say that after he was initially confirmed and I saw a few episodes, I was quite disappointed by his performance and his overall demeanor. However, after viewing the whole season I came around. Also, if I had seen The Thick of It prior to watching the new season of Dr. Who, I think I would have been much more amenable to Peter Capaldi. He's quick and witty and angry and very, very Scottish.

M: Delightful! May I also point out that in addition to a young James MacAvoy, Foyle's War also features Mr. David Tennant.

J: [gasps] GO WATCH IT NOW. I love David Tennant.

I love you too, Jenna.
M: [raises hand] Oh! Also, so, the great part about Foyle's War is yeah, he's this big important detective-man, but he doesn't drive.

J: What now?

M: And so, his commanding officer appoints him a driver. As there's a war going on, this driver happens to be female. And she is f*cking great.

J: So it turns out that our main recommendation from this meandering sh*t-show of a blog post, if you've made it this far, is Foyle's War. Not sorry.

M: Seriously, so good. Disclaimer: I usually end up crying at the end of every episode. I mean, it's war-time and it's pretty f*cking intense.

J: [frowns] But David Tennant!

M: [laughs] But seriously, it's pretty good. If you want to watch something meaningful and something relevant, watch some f*cking Foyle's War. And read some Howard Zinn, g*ddammit.