WHAT I SAW LAST WEEK: 11th March

hello & welcome back to ✨WHAT I SAW LAST WEEK!✨ – the twp blog series where i talk about literally everything i saw in that given week with my own human eyes.

DUNE 2

yeahhhh baby! dune 2 !!!! went to see it in iMax!!! leicester square!!! the BIG ONE! i was at the front of the middle section too, so close i felt like i was IN the screen. which was nice bc obvs the first one came out mid-pandemic, i feel like i remember watching it at xmas? on the living room telly? not the same as iMax. it was nice to go see something and have it feel like a Cinematic Event(TM) – a spectacle!

i think it was interesting – the way they crunched parts of the story up to make it all a bit more streamlined. i didn’t hate it, i acc think it made more sense, story–wise less complicated etc. i j think the entire approach to futurity in both Dune the book and the two films is also sooooooo beautiful. the book is so specific and crunchy, like ofc they have that stillsuit nose tube tech on a planet where water simply doesn’t exist, ofc they suck the water out of peoples bodies when they die, ofc ofc ofc! isn’t that such a cool level of infinitesimal detail to go into on one specific choice like ‘no water on planet x’? i j rly rly enjoy the dedication to thinking a thought through to completion there. and then the FILMS! are soooooo austere and complete. the harkonnens have got such a cool weird un-human aesthetic. they’re like unreal donna haraway cyborg aliens that went to a kink club, bc there’s an element of fetish gear futurity to their outfits n look, but also like… what if they were also just like barbarous and bloodthirsty and powerful in a horrifying way. like, we’re supposed to fear them in a very real bodily recoil way? SHAVE OFF THEIR EYEBROWS! no – honestly, eyebrows are so expressive, when you remove them, it makes you psychologically more able to command authority bc ur less expressive, more firm. that’s why military and police helmets come down over the eyebrows !!! bc they don’t want the individual humanity to interrupt the pure state authority they’re embodying in that uniform.

i j love dune!!! loved the book, love the films, i think i’m j INTO scifi, bc anytime i read something that’s technically scifi, i’m like ???!?! wow, lov it. maybe putting things in the future makes it all feel like weirder things can happen bc it’s not set in our world rn as we understand it. it’s not limited by reality. ygm? so therefore, MORE BONKERs – and bonkers is what i’m always looking for from a story. as i’m typing i’m getting rly clenched bc i’ve never seen blade runner, and now i’m like…. i should watch blade runner shouldn’t i? :S ok watch this space

american fiction!

annoyingly, i sat down to watch american fiction on saturday night – immediately after recording the audio for the sunday text about diversity policy – my bf had started watching it without me n then turned it off bc he felt bad, bc he knew i’d love it (he he he), n about 5 mins in it dawned on me that this film was possibly a better critique and exploraiton of modern race relations (ok, given, in the US not the UK, but it’s not wildly unrelatable) than the whole ass text i’d j written. rather than being annoyed, i was actually really pleased.

i started writing that text bc i felt like i wasn’t done picking that particular scab, n then i sat down to write it – a day in and i was fuming with myself for even picking the scab again. such a frustrating thing to think about, write about, spend time on. i wrote the text n felt genuine anger, like i’d j wasted a week of my life on something that was technically beneath the dignity of my tie and attention – easy thought, i’d wrapped it up, i should be moving on and here i was circling back. now it’s over i’m like – o yeah, i can see the point in having written it, even if it’s j for the record. but while i was writing, i was bored of it all on an actual cellular level.

american fiction approached it as a subject that could act as an inciting incident – that’s why it did it better. inciting incident for dark comedy, satire, fraud narrative, imposter criticism. it was funny, excruciating – i had to yell at my bf to PAUSE IT!! halfway thru the judging room scene where monk has that painful conversation with sintara bc like… i just feel like i’ve been that person? i’ve been monk? and the thing is, they’re both right! or they’re both wrong. the terms of that conversation are so out of whack bc the actual source or head of the thing they’re discussing is out of earshot, and they’re tlaking around it, but they also can only have that conversation out of earshot – it’s j sooooo fucked up and weird and i needed a cig break to be able to emotionally handle sittin thru that. so good! i liked the ending, the way it was kinda discordant or not quite complete or resolved?? i’m GLAD it wasn’t resolved - hollywood happy ending resolution would be too neat and cutesy. inappropriate. the ending felt rly weirdly tender, like a raw open nerve, so much left unspoken – for someone else maybe? idk. i j thought this was so good. it’s rare i watchread/engage with somethign about race and feel like YEAH! this was great. the only other thing i can think of is paul beatty’s the sellout? n i read that sooo long ago, i can’t even remember what i loved about it (i trust that i loved it for good reason tho).

n like – the sellout isn’t rly parallel, there’s no ideological or even subject related overlap between the sellout and american fiction. but there is a vibe overlap. bc american fiction was soooo fluent in its own disdain. i related to the disdain, i enjoyed and got satisfaction from the disdain. the sellout also held onto that disdain, and – that’s what i fucking LOVED about them both. DISDAIN!! for the centrality of race as an open sore that everyone wants to be seen to be thinking about, but that somehow never approaches anything resembling resolution despite all that visible consideration. disdain is the only appropriate reaction to that situation. god, i love disdain!!!!!!

daunt books festival

did u kno – the second edition of London Feeds ITself is out now!!! reprinted by Fitzcarraldo Editions!!! here it is here god bless Jonathan nunn!! i’m so proud of being in this, bc even tho my essay is silly n frivolous (in a lovely good way, i love frivolity), there are some proper good writers n i’m rly honoured to be keeping them company with my silly essay about boys and the suburbs!

was over at daunt books festival last week, n did a panel with Jonathan & Ciaran Thapar n we did some readings (never done a reading before!!??) n then in a very bonkers twist, stayed to sign copies after the talk?? i don’t have a proper signature, i j write my initials and then draw a heart – bc i am a baby, honestly – very embarassing. but the talk itself was interesting and really fun, love having a chat and love chattin with clever interesting people specifically.

i made a tiktok !!!! about what i got up to thursday, including this panel talk, so u can watch it here on twp tiktok if u like! if u DON’T like, it’s also on ig. short form video content!!! it’s the FUTURE baby!!!

&, double bonus – i have an £80 daunt books voucher to spend, happy days!! gime ur book reccos, i’m goin SHOPPING!!!

ZM cardboard cutout lmao

GDLP’s fella sent me this pic, apparently the john moores people dropped it round as a lil bonus bit – love that it exist, love that i am looming large (not that large, it is not actually lifesize jsdkbfskbf) over their living room. soooo silly.

this is a great painting?

spotted along the canal – wish it wasn’t mouldy, i’d have yoinked it for my wall. something about the colour combo and the coincidence of running into a weatherbeaten painting on the street, the rain making a nice colour with the moss and gross gubbins. there are paintings everywhere for those w eyes 2 see !!! etc

ok – that’s all! lots of films this week? film club! film club! 2024 is the year od CINEMA!!! i am reading an interesting book this week, n i think i’ll be popping out of london for a gallery day trip this week too – so stay tuned, i think next week’s WISLW is shapign up to b prettyy grooovy. but catch u then bye bye bye bye lov u bye ! xxxx