How is everyone doing? I figured most of us are craving for bits of our “old” lives, hence why I decided to go on with my regular editorial scheduling, bringing you my favorite cultural recommendations in terms of books, movies, documentaries, videos, exhibits and more. Obviously, everything I will mention in this month’s post will be accessible from home, the place where we should be most of the time for the sake of everyone’s health and for the sake of worldwide health systems.
PFEW. Saying all this makes me feel like a broken record, but alas… here are all the things I loved during March 2020:
BOOKS
This book was everywhere on my Instagram feed ever since it launched. There were multiple interviews with the author which I saved in my TBR folder because I wanted to read the book first. And my God, I basically inhaled the 300+ pages in 3 days, it was that good! It’s an amazing book about relationships, desire, human needs, trust, despair, disappointment, sex, societal influences, labels and so much more.
Invisible Influence by Jonah Berger
I knew I would like this book the moment I saw it. It explained simply and scientifically how most of our decisions are actually triggered, inspired or influenced by members of the society around us. We aren’t really that free and independent in our choices as we would like to think, but I believe that if we are aware of the factors influencing us, then we can truly better understand why we do certain things/ buy certain objects/ crave a specific lifestyle. Super good read.
The Course of Love by Alain de Botton
I love everything Alain de Botton writes and this book made no exception. I found its story very compelling and its structure very useful in providing constructive explanations and reasoning into the story. I think it’s a fantastic read for anyone who wants to better understand oneself and who wishes to have an equally emotionally intelligent relationship with their romantic partner.
A Man called Over – Fredrik Backman
Building unlikeable characters which you end up loving by the end of the book is no easy feat, but Backman does a particularly great job at this. I laughed out loud a few times, deeply felt the tearjerking moments and overall tried to empathize a lot with Ove and his way of living. A delightful read to hopefully put into perspective the life of elders around us.
MOVIES/ DOCUMENTARIES/ SERIES
L’Amica Geniale (back with season 2!) – HBO
I have been feverishly looking for new episodes ever since I binge-watched the whole first season on New Year’s Eve a couple of years ago. I think this show captures the books, the spirit of Naples and the rivalry and the friendship between Elena and Lila is so damn brilliant that it’s impossible to peel your eyes from the screen. The locations are superb, the colours are divine and the overall show is a true gem.
I have no idea how The Night Manager has not been on my radar for longer, considering that it aired in 2016. I started watching an episode with my mom and the whole story felt very compelling, however, we felt there was a lot of context missing. After 35 minutes I realized we were actually watching the last episode of the series *facepalm*. Needless to say, we went back to the first episode and completely binged the whole thing in 24 hours. I still have some questions about how realistic the whole scenario presents itself, but hey, it’s a series, not a science doc. Really great series, a fab pic for James Bond types of action fans.
This animated anthology was recommended to me by some friends, and after about a year, I finally got to it. This type of genre animated productions are quite a rare sight on my regular schedule, but I am happy to introduce some variety now and then. There are 18 episodes in total, none longer than 20 minutes and they can be watched in any order because they are each standalone productions by different teams of artists. My favourite stories were: Three Robots, When the Yogurt Took Over, Zima Blue and Alternate Histories, and my favourite animation style was definitely the one in Good hunting – there were some breathtaking city scenes in there.
Film vs Digital – Mango Street
The work that Rachel and Daniel from Mango Street put out every month on YouTube is exceptional. In one of their most recent videos, they played with a roll of film which changes certain colours (their explanation is way better, trust me!) and the results are JAW-DROPPING! The video is not per se comparison of film versus digital – it’s more like a celebration and ode for both.
A taste of New York – Film Spektakel
This might be one of the most dizzying videos I have ever seen. But it’s a good dizzy, a New York kind of dizzy. The video is made out of perfectly sliced and edited pieces of footage from iconic New York locations and it’s truly a gem.
Some good news with John Krasinki – YouTube
In case the world needed more reasons to adore John Krasinki, he is now doing a weekly show on YouTube, with, you guessed it – good news! It’s crazily uplifting and I recommend you watch the second episode too (if each week will get topped up like this I will be forever stunned!).
OTHER
Design a wig – Victoria and Albert Museum
I didn’t think I would enjoy so much this little fun and mindless game, but I found myself totally captivated by this wig design process. I guarantee you will create some abominable and hilarious 18th century-inspired wigs!
This website is a source of endless fun. You can explore fashion designers starting from the colours they used in their shows, you can browse through the catalogs of hundreds of art museums or you can marvel at iconic paintings grouped by chromatics. You can also travel digitally to impressive landmarks such as Machu Picchu, the Roman Colosseo, the Pyramids, and many more stunning sights.
In case you get bored, you can now venture into the Vatican Museum and gaze at the Sixtine Chapel as long as you want. And if this doesn’t sound like music to your ears, perhaps the Met Opera or the Berlin Philarmonic can help you through their streams.
#isolationcreation – Instagram
This is a hashtag and a movement started by the amazing Jamie Beck. She has been creating one stunning photograph (usually of still life) every single day of quarantine and now there’s an entire community of artists posting their daily creations under this hashtag. In case you also need to see uplifting, beautiful and thought-provoking art in your feed every day, I suggest you have a look at this #.
Tussen Kunst en Quarantine – Instagram
This is a Dutch account (which got massive) highlighting home creativity through hundreds of submissions of art-inspired compositions. In case you’ve doubted it – now it’s the perfect time to nail your Girl with a pearl earring gentle twist and mystery 😉
I hope you have enjoyed these recommendations, I hope you saved some and obviously, I hope you and your dear ones are safe and healthy.
Until next time,
Laura
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