From the Editor
It’s been a great time to sit and watch stories.
While I’m more of an advocate for looking down at a book instead of up at a screen, I’m grateful that after what felt like a stretch of absolute slope, we are now inundated with more quality films and shows.
I’ve been diligently keeping up with House of the Dragon and was pleasantly surprised by Amazon Prime’s Elle, I’ve also been rewatching episodes of Avatar The Last Airbender on Netflix and Stargate also on Prime.
By now most of you (I hope) have already watched The Odyssey (if not, I implore you to do so). While the conversations around the film continues to divide people, I thought I’d re-include my story (below) from last week in case you managed to block out three hours to watch it, and can now compare your notes with mine.
Despite my obsessive film and show watching, I’ve still been reading, talking, buying books. In fact, I’ve launched the first volume of The Culturelist Library a collection of seven novels that have left an impression on me.
I’ve decided to make the reading experience of the once a week email you get from me as concise as possible. Not wanting to get rid of any of the usual bits and pieces I have below, I’m cutting down the intro and may have taken Earnest Hemmingway’s advice a bit too far. He said something along the lines of the best kind of writing is re-writing, but I’ve gone into Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch territory by murdering my darlings, a phrase which, ironically, was re-purposed by William Faulkner to the now popular “kill your darlings.”
All that to say, moving forward, intros will be as concise as possible to get to the good stuff.
Short attention spans and all that.
This Week on The Culturelist…
Elle Review: 6 Reasons the Legally Blonde Prequel Is Worth Watching
There’s a scene in Amazon Prime’s new series Elle, where our Elle Woods’ best friend from LA, Madison, is visiting her. Madison points out that Elle’s hair is looking flat, a little too Seattle. The two stare at their reflections in the mirror when Elle thanks Madison and says:
The Exhibition List: Art, Memory, and Movement
This week’s exhibitions explore how artists navigate movement, memory, and perception. From monumental sculpture and analogue photography to migration, home, and political histories, these five exhibitions reveal how art continues to reinterpret the spaces we inhabit and the experiences that define us.
82 Thoughts I Had While Watching Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey
I’ll be honest. I mean I always am.
The Culturelist Recommends…
I got my hands on a beautiful copy of The Sonnets and a Lover’s Compliant by William Shakespeare and have been delving into random pages, reading, looking up explainers on the various sonnets. It’s been a lot of fun.
This Week’s Quote…
Given my recommendation above it feels only right to include a quote from a sonnet that struck me as, funnily enough, it reminded me of a dilemma that Elle Woods is grappling with in the new Amazon Prime show Elle.
Sonnet 150
O, from what power hast thou this powerful might
With insufficiency my heart to sway?
This Week’s Question…
As mentioned, I’ve been watching a lot of films and TV lately. So I pose this question to you.
What film or show have you watched lately that’s surprised you because how good it was?
As always, thank you for your subscription to The Culturelist.
See you next week,
Maan Jalal