‘Are You Happy Now’ by Hanna Jameson

Having read and loved The Last by Hanna Jameson, I was really looking forward to this one. It’s a subject that feels all too familiar – a global pandemic (although mainly affecting America) – and a small cast of characters trying to live through it.

The book opens at a wedding and the start of a budding relationship when Yun and Emory meet for the first time. However, when a wedding guest simply sits down and can’t, or won’t, get up, this heralds the start of a terrifying phenomenon. Gradually, thousands of people fall victim to this mysterious illness or syndrome, simply sitting down without warning. Nobody ever recovers, and after two or three weeks, the ‘sitter’ dies.

Yun and Emory are trying to navigate this situation while at the same time trying to make their own relationship work, despite their various issues. Meanwhile, Yun’s oldest and best friend Andrew is in a failing marriage and when he meets dancer Fin, he realises that it’s time to stop the lies he has been telling everyone, including himself, his whole life.

I can’t say that I didn’t enjoy this book, but after looking forward so much to reading it, I have to admit I was slightly disappointed. The pandemic, or phenomenon is more of a backdrop to the main story here, which is the relationships between the four main characters. Unfortunately the parts about the pandemic were the most interesting to me by far. I do normally like character driven stories, but the issue here was that I found it difficult to really care about them. Yun and Emory were not particularly sympathetic, and while I don’t have to like characters to enjoy reading about them, I just found myself getting annoyed with their angsty self-absorbed outlooks. Andrew and Fin were more likeable and I did care more about them; however at least three of these four seemed bent on self-destruction and I found myself lacking patience.

That’s not to say I didn’t like the book, and it’s certainly not to say that I wouldn’t read more by Hanna Jameson, because I definitely would. But unlike The Last, the characters in this one just didn’t gel with me, so ended up feeling slightly let down.

‘Eight Perfect Hours’ by Lia Louis (audiobook)

Noelle Batterby is on her way home from a school reunion that didn’t go as planned because of a heavy snowfall. She is now stuck on the motorway for who knows how long (eight hours, perfect ones as it turns out), her phone is about to run out of power and she is worried about her mother at home. She wishes she hadn’t even bothered with the reunion – until Sam, the handsome American stranger in the car next to hers comes to her rescue, lends her his phone charger and they end up spending the rest of the night chatting in his car.

After that, he is gone out of her life, apparently forever. But life has different plans for them and Noelle and Sam keep finding themselves thrown together. There are problems though – Sam’s girlfriend Jenna, back home in America, and Noelle’s ex-boyfriend Ed, who has reappeared on the scene, not to mention her agoraphobic mother and a brother who’s still dreaming of being a huge rock star.

Will Noelle and Sam find their way to each other despite all the turmoil? Listen and find out! (Although if that synopsis doesn’t give you a clue, you’ve obviously never read chick-lit before.)

I really enjoyed listening to this book, even though I felt I knew how it would turn out pretty much as soon as it started. The narrator Emma Powell did a lovely job as Noelle, although I did feel that some of her other character’s voices were a bit off (primarily Sam, who was male and American). But I have no real complaints about her narration and would certainly listen to other books she reads in future.

Noelle was a great character who I rooted for throughout. I also liked her best friends Charlie and Theo, as well as her mother. I did not like or trust Ed, and I don’t think the reader/listener was meant to. I’m not sure how Noelle’s brother Dilly was meant to be received, but personally I was irritated by him. He was a a lazy waster who basically left everything up to his sister, and I wanted him to get his comeuppance.

Even though the ending was somewhat predictable, I liked how the book made Noelle into a fully rounded character; it would have been easy not to. It was very sweet and an easy listen, and I will look out for more audiobooks by Lia Louis.

Raymond and Ray (2022)

Raymond and Ray are half-brothers. united by a name and by their mutual loathing of their late father. However, they decide to honor their father’s wish that they dig his grave for his burial and journey together to do this. The physical journey becomes a metaphorical one as they both discover things about their errant dad, each other and themselves.

Shot through with plenty of humour and lots of tender moments, this film is an absolute joy. There were definitely a few surprises along the way and I wasn’t quite sure where either character would end up.

Ewan McGregor was fine as uptight, twice divorced Raymond, but Ethan Hawke absolutely shone as ex-addict, cynical saxophonist Ray, and for me he was the MVP of this film. A fine supporting cast do a great job as well, including Sophie Okonedo who is wonderful as a former nurse of the father and finds connection of a sort with Ray.

wan mcgregor

I expected to enjoy this based on the trailer, but it exceeded my expectations and I would definitely recommend this.

Sideways (2004)

I recently watched The Holdovers, starring Paul Giamatti and directed by Alexander Payne. I liked it so much that I decided to revisit Sideways, a film I remember enjoying a lot almost 20 years ago, also directed by Payne and starring Giamatti.

Giamatti is Miles, a frustrated wannabe author and unfulfilled teacher (much like his character in The Holdovers), who takes a week long vacation through California’s Napa Valley wine county with his best friend Jack (Thomas Haden Church), who is about to get married.

The film is a comedy and some parts genuinely made me laugh out loud, but there is a lot of pathos and poignancy here as well. Both men are unhappy with their lives so far, and both are searching for….something.

Virginia Madsen and a pre-Greys Anatomy Sandra Oh round out the main cast. There are a lot of similarities in style with The Holdovers, and honestly I loved every minute of this. I won’t be waiting nearly two decades to watch it again, and I would definitely recommend it.

Starman (1984)

I’ve watched a few films lately that I watched YEARS ago and enjoyed, and wanted to see if I would like them as much (or more, or less) than before. It’s been mixed – Frankie and Johnny was a letdown for me, but Sea of Love, Locke and Longtime Companion proved even more enjoyable second time round.

Starman falls into the category of even more enjoyable. Jeff Bridges, in an Oscar nominated performance, stars as an alien who comes to Earth and takes the form of a man who recently died named Scott Hayden. Scott’s widow Jenny (Karen Allen) is disconcerted, confused and angry but agrees to accompany the Starman on a journey to his spaceship so that he can get back to his own planet. Meanwhile, the authorities have got wind of the fact that an alien has landed, and are hunting him down.

I’m not generally a sci-fi fan, but this is so much more than a sci-fi film; it’s a film about grief, acceptance and finding yourself in an unfamiliar world. It’s also incredibly funny in parts, and Jeff Bridges is utterly brilliant as the Starman. (Although he’s brilliant in everything, so no surprise there.) Karen Allen is also on excellent as Jenny, portraying strength and vulnerability, amongst her confusion and bewilderment.

If you have never seen this lovely film, I definitely recommend it. If you’re not a sci-fi fan, it doesn’t matter. Give it a go, you (probably) won’t be disappointed.

The Holdovers (2023)

Briefly, this film features the always brilliant Paul Giamatti with Da’Vine Joy Randolph (in an Oscar, BAFTA and Critics Choice winning performance) and – in his screen debut – Dominic Tessa, as respectively, a cynical teacher at a high school, a cook in the student canteen and a disillusioned student. It’s the early 1970s and the three of them are the only people staying in the boarding school over Christmas and although the three of them have nothing in common, they have to find a way to get through the holidays together. In doing so, they discover each other’s hidden depths.

I loved this film – really loved it. It’s very funny in parts, very moving in others and the three lead roles are all cast and played to perfection. This is a very brief review, but essentially my advice is to watch it. And then go back and watch it again to catch everything you missed.

Sea of Love (1989)

I first watched this film probably early 90s, give or take. I remembered a few things from it – who the murderer was, the scene at the beginning where the police trick a load of criminals into entering a competition in order that they can be arrested en masse – and I remembered the scene in the restaurant where Pacino’s Frank Keller first meets Ellen Barkin’s Helen. Amazingly when I watched the film again recently, probably 30 years or so after the first time, my memories of those scenes were pretty accurate.

Anyhow, the story is that men placing ads in lonely hearts magazines (it’s the late 80s pre-internet remember!) are getting murdered and the police think that it’s a women who is meeting them for dates who is doing it. Detective Keller (Pacino in a role that was his comeback after a series of flops, and honestly he was brilliant in this) complicates matters by falling for their chief suspect Helen Kruger (equally incredible Ellen Barkin).

I loved this film as much as I hoped I would, and would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a good thriller. Pacino is mesmerising and his chemistry with Barkin is off the charts. It’s pretty sexy but never tacky (so basically what Basic Instinct was trying to be) and there’s not a dull scene anywhere. Mention to the always brilliant John Goodman of course.

Roman Holiday (1953)

I first watched this film over a decade ago after coming home from a city break in Rome. I fell in love with the film as I had fallen in love with the city – or maybe BECAUSE I had fallen in love with the city. I wanted to love it again, but sadly didn’t enjoy it as much second time around. I was oh so tired while watching though, which may have had an effect. Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck were as beautiful as ever, and had great chemistry and no doubt there was a lot here to enjoy, so the fact that it didn’t move me as much as I expected is more down to me I think, then the film itself. I probably won’t leave it so long before I give it another try. Meantime, if you like classic romances, give this one a go. You might love it.

Frankie and Johnny (1991)

This film came out in 1991 and it was probably around then that I watched it for the first time. Over 30 years later, I would have to say I don’t think it has aged particularly well. In essence, Johnny (Al Pacino) is a small time crook fresh out of prison, who gets a job as a chef at the cafe where Frankie (Michelle Pfeiffer) works The acting by the two leads is faultless, and the supporting cast are fine, but my main problem with this film is that Johnny’s behavior – which I presume the audience is supposed to see as incredibly romantic – is NOT OKAY. He basically becomes a stalker, and the scene where he turned up at the bowling alley where he knew she would be AFTER she had told him that she didn’t want to see him that night and needed a night with her friends, made me uncomfortable. His relentless pursuit of her was pretty creepy.

Also, no matter what had happened to Frankie in the past to make her mistrust men, she did not need ‘rescuing’ by Johnny, and him thinking that he can make the bad things in the past go away is arrogant and shows a lack of understanding.

Okay, so I got a bit wound up and in fairness there are some great scenes in this movie. Frankie’s workmates make for an entertaining supporting cast (although Nathan Lane as her neighbour is wasted) and the kiss against the backdrop of flowers – you’ll know if you watch it! – is undeniably lovely. But this is meant to be a romance and the hero, for want of a better word, in a romantic film, should not be making the viewer uncomfortable.

Longtime Companion (1989)

Another rewatch for me, and just as rewarding as when I first saw it. This film explored the AIDS crisis in 1980s America, by focusing on a group of friends, and scaling down the political aspect. An important, heartbreaking film made before Hollywood took up the cause in 1993, with Philadelphia (and in my own unimportant opinion, this film is streets ahead of Philadelphia). The feelings of friendship, love and despair among the characters is utterly believeable.