Movies: I didn’t think I wanted to see “Ferrari,” but plenty of my friends liked it, so I may relax my refusal and go…TV/Streaming: What got you through Christmas-New Year’s week? “Percy Jackson”? “Suits”? “Real Housewives”? For me it was “Reacher” and “The Spy Among Friends”…Music: Taylor Swift is a force for good in the world, but I hope the New Year brings us top-selling albums without her name on them…Books: I’m enjoying the recent novel “The Glutton,” by A.K. Blakemore, about a French Revolution-era peasant-turned performer…Sports: You’ve been watching college-bowl football games and NFL, but I’ve been watching Premier League and NBA.
Movies: “All of Us Strangers,” starring Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal, is my favorite movie of the year, other than “Oppenheimer”…TV/Streaming: “Maestro,” starring Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein, is now streaming on Netflix. I wish the movie had focused a bit more on what made Bernstein noteworthy — his conducting and composing…Music: Cher’s “DJ Play a Christmas Song” has helped reduce my traditional Scrooge-iness during this season, and now there’s an equally up-beat version by Kelly Clarkson…Books: I’m still stuck in my late-2023 fiction-reading binge: Henry James’s “The Outcry,” Willa Cather’s “One of Ours,” and, gulp, Proust…Sports: On Saturday, my beloved Arsenal play Liverpool.
Movies: Has Timothee Chalamet found his perfect role in “Wonka,” or has he merely become insufferable?…TV/Streaming: So psyched for the new season of “Reacher” which has finally arrived on Amazon Plus. Rickson rules!…Books: “One of Ours is the one Willa Cather novel I’ve never finished, and I aim to remedy that failing over the holidays…Music: I’m in a classical vein these days, to counteract all the holiday dreck I hear every time I leave the house…Sports: The Ohtani deal made by the Dodgers has everyone talking this week. But if his injuries worsen, he won’t be pitching anymore. He’ll be the most expensive DH ever…
