STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces [Documentary]

The documentary is in two parts, with the first focussing on his rise as a standup comedian (great career advice – find your audience). The second is about him going from a highly anxious person in his 30s to a really happy person in his 70s. He talks about doing his life in reverse – with huge career success at the start, and not having a family until very late in life. You can just see how much he is cherishing absolutely every single moment with his child. It hit home for me how a very strong awareness of mortality has a way of transforming time with a child from a task to a treasure. Mortality knocked on my door through illness, for Steve Martin it’s parenting in his 70s – both sound like hard yakka with a three year old.

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Turn Every Page (2022) [Documentary]

I had to dive into this documentary by Lizzie Gottlieb. And yeah, it’s a total joy. Watching Robert Gottlieb and Robert Caro who have collaborated together since the 1970s, and obviously have a deep affection for each other but who also do an awkward half-hug when greeting each other, made me feel like a long-suffering wife who wanted to kvetch “just tell him you love him for goodness sake, who knows when you’ll see him again!”

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Days at the Morisaki Bookshop [Book]

Author: Satoshi Yagisawa

There is something so charming about how Japanese fiction tends to be quite short. There’s a rhythm to it, and a lack of posturing with flowery language. And as a result, I find it as calming and cosy as a warm blanket. This story, about a girl who hides away from the world at her uncle’s bookshop to nurse a broken heart, is the perfect starting point for a Nancy Meyers plot.

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Smithereens (1982) [Film]

A young woman who drifts around the early-80s New York punk scene, desperate to become somebody. She plasters the city with her stickers, chases a self-absorbed punk musician, and uses the people who actually care about her. It’s an unsentimental character study, and Wren isn’t made lovable. The film watches her self-delusion, ambition, and carelessness without softening them and without handing her a redemptive arc.

The story isn’t sweet, but the vibes are immaculate with the grimy East Village streets, club scenes, cheap apartments, and a post-punk soundtrack.

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(Everything in this library is sorted into a category by what it asks of you, not by genre or quality. Click on a category to find more of what you might like.)