R-Rated; Things I've watched, read, bought, eaten and generally loved lately

A thought-provoking podcast, books, great jeans, lots of Cinema, a life hack and a swear-by herbal tincture

Three Nice Things

1. Love these bold, powder-coated picture lights by Mullan Lighting I found on Glassette. quite a fun extra for a special piece of art.

2. Love Petra Palumbo’s pieces and these new stripy tiles caught my eye. I love this jammy grape colour for something a bit different from the usual blues and greens.

3. Lastly a nightime ritual I love. My mum gave me a pot of this magnesium shea butter you rub onto you feet and/or legs at bedtime for relaxation and I not take it with me everywhere. Always nice to support a small organic brand too.

Mullan Lighting, Petra Palumbo, Sweet Bee Organics

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Watching

If you haven’t watched One Day yet what have you been doing?! I won’t go into that now; needlss to say I adored it and had a minor emotional crisis watching it. I’ve managed to squeeze in lots of Cinema lately which is honestly my hermit happy place. The combination of movie, no phone, no talking and sweet treats is my favourite way to spend a night quite honestly.

I really oved American Fiction with the brilliant Jeffrey Wright who I’ve decided is one of those actors I would go and watch in anything. Based on the 2001 novel Erasure, it’s a stereotype-challenging comedy that sees disenchanted writer and college professor ‘Monk’ reluctantly lean into what he’s consistently told the literary world wants from him as a Black author, penning a spoof novel under the pseudonym Stagg. R. Leigh, an imaginary gang-affiliated convict. Only the literary world doesn’t take it as a spoof, they take it as truth and it takes off in ways Monk couldn’t have anticipated, only making his outlook grimmer… It’s that toe-curling breed of comedy that’s so close-to-the-bone it’s barely satirical anymore and all the more hilarious for it. It touches on how judgement, stereotypes and differing values can play out in family and close relationships too with some really lovely moving storylines between Monk and those closest to him. The ending was just pitch-perfect too.

We also went to a preview screening of Dune Part Two and if you enjoyed being immersed into the wild, worm-invested world of Arakis the first time (I for one love a bit of sci-fi, the madder the better), this is just even bigger and better. It’s a long’un but pulse-racing and visually-stunning throughout; shot after shot is just ‘WOW’ and turns out a bald Austin Butler is a pretty gnarly baddie too. At the opposite end of the scale, I managed to squeeze in a screening of Jonathan Glazer’s holocaust drama Zone of Interest. One of those films I’ve heard so much about and do find it hard to put into words the haunting affect this film had on me and everyone else who’s seen it it seems. I think the most harrowing thing about it is how subtle it is and how much of what you do actually see is almost idyllic aestheticallyIt’s utterly gruesome without any obscene violence and all the more awful for what you don’t see rather than what you do. And yes the sounds and implications are… the worst. It’s the juxtaposition of all of this that’s so brutal and hard to stomach. I’m not really selling it am I but honestly it’s a must-see; important, unsettling, sickening and ruthlessly pastoral all at once if that’s even possible.

Lastly, if you’re in need of a low-brow/high-reward show (my favourite genre tbh), anyone who shares my penchant for series or movies based in and around an American high school or college (I think Clueless broke me and now they’re my achilles heel), HULU’s Tell Me Lies is now on BBCiplayer and, just like it’s central toxic relationship, had me wrapped around it’s little finger from episode one. One of my friend’s described it as ‘soft porn’ which is fair because it is *steamy*. I like that it’s all set in 2008 onwards too (exactly when I was at university) so the low-rise jeans, Blackberry texts, misogynistic culture and themed parties feel all-to familiar. It’s addictive and juicy but with a decent amount of grit and complex characters and has a great nostalgic sound track. I won’t lie, I’ve googled ‘when is Tell Me Lies season 2 coming out’ numerous times since.

Cleaning

Ok I know this is bougie but sometimes a little bougie never hurt and honestly spritzing this on my surfaces and skirting boards (not the marble though because vinegar) gives me inordinate amounts of joy. I was very kindly gifted this Diptyque surface spray but I’m so obsessed with it I will categorically be buying the refills forever more. It smells incredible and actively makes me want to clean which is worth a lot quite frankly.