Good evening. It is I Gigi the parti poodle returning to the blog after my most unfortunate grooming mishap. My wound required six stitches and my novelist had to put ice on it for three days. She insisted on putting ice on it for five. I found that to be a bit extreme. I must say I was most embarrassed to have that wretched Maltese introduce my blog last week, but upon having to take medication to heal, I did not believe I was in the right frame of mind with which to face my audience. As you can imagine, I was not pleased with the photo that furry little menace put up, what with me only half groomed and wearing that retched blue cone of shame. I appear a bit like Two-Face from the Batman comics with the present state of my hair. It’s monstrous. It is a good thing it was Halloween on Tuesday. Since I’d been healing for a week, I was able to bark non-stop at the costumed revelers who came to our door asking for treats. It lifted my spirits immensely. Now that I am almost fully healed, I will return to preparing my next story. During this short interim, my novelist has been most gracious to pen a short essay on the classic television show Moonlighting which is now streaming on Hulu, and this week she has three films she is recommending viewing all which are presently on streaming services. So, without further ado, here is my novelist.

STREAM OF THE WEEK #1: THEATER CAMP (2023)-HULU

This week’s first pick is a funny irreverent look at a kids’ theatre camp and the wacky people who run it. The story starts out with the founder of the camp AdirondACTS Joan Rubinsky (Amy Sedaris) and her business partner Rita Cohen (Caroline Aaron) going around recruiting kids for their camp. During a performance with some of their die-hard camp goers there are strobe lights which cause Joan to have a seizure. While Joan is in a coma in the hospital her adult son Troy Rubinsky (Jimmy Tatro) takes over the camp. Troy, who is knowledgeable about business but has no interest in theatre whatsoever, finds himself a misfit amongst the misfit theatre kids. The staff, including two long-time former theatre camp stars Amos (Ben Platt) and Rebecca-Diane (Molly Gordon) who easily relate to the kids help run the theatre part of the camp while Troy comes to find AdirondACTS is in financial dire straits.

As Troy struggles with his mother’s financial jeopardy, he meets Caroline Krauss (Patty Harrison) a young businesswoman. She represents the firm Barnswell Capital who owns the neighboring upscale lakeside camp nearby. Krauss tells Troy Barnswell Capitol wishes to buy AdirondACTS and help Troy and his mother Joan avoid foreclosure. But third generation technical director Glenn Winthrop (Noah Gavin), a secretly talented performer warns Troy that Caroline may be more ruthless than she seems and tries to help Troy earn money for the camp to keep the bank at bay.

In the meantime, Amos and Rebecca-Diane prepare to write the major play for the summer, Joan, Still, a musical biography about their beloved camp founder. The two have a complicated relationship. When they were kids in the camp Rebecca-Diane fell in love with Amos who came out to her. They both auditioned for Juilliard together and neither ended up attending. As they cast the show and proceed to finish the script, Amos finds Rebecca-Diane growing more and more distant.

STREAM OF THE WEEK #2: SWEET VIRGINIA (2017)-HULU

This week’s second pick is an independent neo-noir film set in a small town in Virginia. The story centers around former rodeo star Sam Rossi (Jon Bernthal) who is suffering from long term injuries from the sport. He inherited a small motel from his brother, which he runs between his drug addiction and late-night rendezvous with the married Bernedette Barrett (Rosemary DeWitt). Then one evening a peculiar triple homicide occurs at a restaurant outside of town where Bernedette’s husband, the café owner, and the young husband of Bernedette’s young friend Lila McCabe (Imogene Poots) inexplicably occurs. The killer, a young unstable man named Elwood (creepily played by Christopher Abbot), happens to be staying at Rossi’s motel as the mystery behind the murders begins to unfold. Although the film starts out a little odd (why does the owner of the café keep the door unlocked while the place is closed and he’s having a meeting and why is there still money in the till) it starts to pick up and turns into an interesting and tense little sleeper.

STREAM OF THE WEEK #3: EMILY (2022)-SHOWTIME

This third pick is a thoughtful and gorgeous looking film from writer director Frances O’Connor. No, this is not a true biopic as it is considered a reimagination of how Emily Brontë came to write her landmark classic novel Wuthering Heights. In fact, it is believed by scholars that Emily Brontë never fell in love. And yes, I might have preferred a film that was more historically accurate and had the lead look more like Brontë really looked (light brown hair and cornflower blue eyes as we can see in the painting by her brother Branwell completed in 1834). But that said, as a story it works and is a true pleasure to watch.

On her deathbed, Emily Brontë (Emma MacKey in a terrific performance) is asked by her sister Charlotte (Alexandra Dowling) how she came to write her novel Wuthering Heights. We then go back through Emily’s would-be tumultuous young adult life. After the death of the Brontë sibling’s mother, Emily struggles with grief and trying to find a way to gain her father’s respect. Emily, Charlotte tells her, is known in the village as “the strange one” due to her lack of social skills. Emily, in real life, was thought to have been an INTJ and we introverted NTs are terrible at social skills but tend to excel in areas we are gifted in and have a passion for. Meanwhile, her father Patrick Brontë has brought in a new curate William Weightman (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), to his church, a young pious and conflicted man who does not know what to make of the Brontë family, especially the brooding young Emily.

Emily is encouraged by her father to become a teacher like her sister Charlotte and goes off to teach with her at an all-girls school. But Emily’s introverted nature does not lend itself well to the job and she ends up returning home not knowing what to do with her life. But she turns out to find solace and newfound delight in spending time with her troubled brother Branwell (Fionn Whitehead) who after deciding to passionately pursue studies at the Royal Academy of Arts quits, returns home, and chooses to try writing as a career. Branwell encourages Emily to write and live a passionate life which brings unexpected joy into her otherwise dour world. But when their father catches wind of their spiraling hijinks, things take a turn for the turbulent.  

MY BOOKS

You can check out my books Chicane and all five installments of the Musicology book series Musicology: Volume One, Baby!, Musicology: Volume Two, Kid!, Musicology: Volume Three, Twist!, Musicology: Volume Four, Sweetie! and Musicology: The Epiquad on Amazon in Kindle and Paperback editions. You can also check out Musicology’s web site at www.musicologyrocks.com and vote for who you think will win Musicology!