Good Sunday Stack October 26th

Good evening and happy Sunday from London.

I’ve been going on what I call “friend dates” since I moved across the pond, mostly with friends of friends who I was connected to with a “so and so lives in London, you should reach out to them when you get there”. I think there was a time in my life I wouldn’t have reached out to these strangers out of some mix of anxiety, pride, and insecurity. Had I not outgrown those fears, I never would have gotten the beautiful half loaf of sourdough pictured below, the product of some pints enjoyed with my college friend’s friend from home.

Maybe it was the Guinnesses, but I remember walking home just beaming at the bread like I did a a new Percy Jackson book when I was in the third grade. I put it to good it too, making some cheesy eggs on toast the next morning and then for lunch just bringing some slices in a plastic bag and dipping them in spreads I picked up over the course of my day (raspberry jam from an Australian Coffee shop, hummus from Sainsbury’s).

On a quirkier note, I was on the bus home this week when I found myself chatting with an old woman who had exactly three bottom teeth. Having left my headphones at home by mistake that day, I was an easy target. Between her thick accent and reliance on her gums, I could only understand about every other word. Conversation came and went. Whenever it died, there’d be about 30 seconds of silence before I’d hear “eckschooze meee, did I tell you about x,y,z”. One of the last things she revealed was the list of hobbies she aspires to partake in, which included:

· Traveling

· Antiques

· Football

· Snooker

· Drinking

· Golf

· Television

· Art

· Music

· Dance

· Gardening

· Reading

· Holidays

· Religion

· Opera

· Calligraphy

· Sailing

· Languages

· Dressmaking

· Knitting

· Meditation

· Hairdressing

· Technology

· Geography

· History

· Bookkeeping

· Parties

· Christmas dinner

· Drama

· Soap Making

· Flying

· Deep Sea Diving

· Architecture

What I’m Watching

Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere

Scott Cooper’s Deliver Me from Nowhere starring Jeremy Allen White as The Boss is another music biopic in an over-saturated market that churns them out like a Ford assembly line, though not without its redeeming qualities.

Cooper largely steers away from the triumphant highs of recreating sold-out stadium shows, giving the audience only bits and pieces of hits like “Born in the U.S.A.” and “I’m On Fire” that Springsteen recorded in tandem with his brooding album Nebraska, the making of which is at the center of the film.

For the first hour, the script is cheesier than any slice you’ll find in Springsteen and my beloved New Jersey. It uses flashbacks as first as a storytelling device but by the end they feel more like a baseball bat you’re being beaten over the head with.

As it moves towards its climax, it finds a stride of sorts. Particularly memorable is a diner confrontation between Springsteen and his romantic interest, Faye (Odessa Young), that’s shot in a way anyone who’s ever argued with a significant other who’s given up will recognize themselves in one side or the other.

Cinematographer Masanobu Takayanagi (Silver Linings Playbook, Spotlight) should be proud, that scene and the whole film are beautiful to look at. Also noteworthy are the gorgeous mid-century modern houses and interiors and the gorgeous, hilarious Paul Walter Hauser.

Jeremy Allen White and his famously sad eyes are well cast for a Bruce Springsteen facing down his childhood trauma while emerging as an international superstar, but the movie is at its best whenever Jeremy Strong, who plays Springsteen’s manager Jon Landau, is on screen holding Bruce’s nascent career, well-being, and the movie together all at once.

Roofman

Channing Tatum stars in Roofman, based on the true story of Jeffrey Manchester, an army veteran turned kind criminal whose life condensed into film is worth two hours of your time.

Manchester robbed dozens of fast-food restaurants by drilling through their roofs, waiting for the staff to arrive, and gently ushering them into the walk-in fridge while he emptied the cash register. His victims often noted how polite he was, making him the subject of wide curiosity leading up to his arrest.

Refusing to stay out of public eye, Manchester escaped prison and set up a home for himself inside of a Charlotte Toys “R” Us, where he lived for six months.

Director Derek Cianfrance’s adaptation of Manchester’s life adeptly employs Channing Tatum’s unseriousness to create an endearing, brilliant, and idiotic character and an unserious – but delightful – movie. Tatum at one point delivers a hushed, “ah!” semi-feigning fear and it is among my favorite line reads of the year.

Kirsten Dunst is great as ever as Leigh Wainscott, the woman Manchester dated while living at the Toys “R” Us, and LaKeith Stanfield does what he does best delivering sensical dialogue while sitting outside of a trailer. Great supporting cast rounded out by Peter Dinklage, Jimmy O. Yang, Lily Collias, Juno Temple and Ben Mendelsohn, making for tremendously entertaining troupe.