The Furniture: The Nest and Its Not-Haunted House

"The Furniture," by Daniel Walber. (Click on the images for magnified detail)

Don’t marry an investment banker!

This, as far as I can tell, is the central message of Sean Durkin’s The Nest. And it’s good advice! Rory O’Hara (Jude Law) is a Gordon Gekko without any of the charm, a stiff Englishman determined to perform his financial success in front of a vaguely imagined audience of the rich and powerful. His wife, Allison (Carrie Coon), is miserably along for the ride. It’s a period piece, but it’s laser focused on toxic aspects of our culture that certainly haven’t gone away. The ‘80s never ended, not really.

And so we watch as Allison and her two children are dragged from their house in the US, already their third home in 10 years, and across the pond to an enormous old mansion in Surrey. Rory’s determination to make it big back in the UK upends everything, from Allison’s equestrian interests to their daughter’s gymnastics. I bring this up because it’s one of our few glimpses at the life before, represented in wide spaces like the sun-dappled walls of the stable and the well-lit, colorful gym...

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Podcast: "Nomadland" and "The Nest"

with Nathaniel R & Murtada Elfadl

We're back for weekly podcasting now as the season revs up.

Index (58 minutes)
00:01 Virtual festivals pros & cons and blurry lines between film and TV
13:00 NYFF - Frances McDormand in Chloe Zhao's Nomadland
27:00 Ivory Coast's Night of Kings and the documentary Time
40:22 Sean Durkin's The Nest starring Jude Law and Carrie Coon 
49:00 Boys in the Band in brief
56:00 Wrap up: French Exit is soon! Eeeeeee

Related Reading:
• Nathaniel's Review of Night of Kings
• All posts on Nomadland
• Murtada's Review of Boys in the Band

You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. Continue the conversations in the comments, won't you? 

The Nest and Nomadland

Tweets: That sounds misérable and other observations

enjoy a curated sample of recent amusing or inspired tweets

my (60M) daughter (17F) has fallen in love with a guy she saw in the park (21M). he's at a barricade with 9 of his homosocial pals (21M-35M) & might die? i think i should save him but im also on the run from a beefy inspector (61M) since i broke my parole & became mayor. advice?

— class traitor tom branson (@combeferal) August 7, 2019

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Netflix in September: Black Panther, Breakfast Club, Mr Sunshine

Time to play Streaming Roulette. Each month, to survey new streaming titles we freeze frame the films at random places with the scroll bar and whatever comes up first, that's what we share!

Ready? Let's get right to it...

-God I loved this house.
-Me too.

The Keeping Hours (2017)
Hmmm. Carrie Coon (♥︎) and Lee Pace (♥︎) in a supernatural haunted house movie -- how have we not heard of this one? *does quick google search* ah, no theatrical release, that's how. Should we watch?

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Carrie Coon Joins "Infinity War"

By Spencer Coile 

As if Carrie Coon couldn't impress us more, she recently confirmed (via Twitter) that she will play a villainous role in Avengers: Infinity War. Coon will play Proxima Midnight, a member of the Black Order, as she works with Thanos (Josh Brolin) to take down the Avengers. Her character was introduced to the comic book series in 2013 and is said to be the most treacherous member of the Order. 

If you're a Marvel buff, this must surely be exciting news. But if only half of those words make sense to you (same), fear not! Marvel's latest will be out on April 27, so that we can all soak up Carrie Coon's villainous motion capture performance in all its glory.  (Great, now it looks like I have to see Infinity War now.)