What I watched: 2023

Key: (B) = book | (F) = film | (T) = television series | (P) = podcast series | (TH) = theater performance | (M) = musical performance | [R] = reread/rewatch/relisten | (Tk) = talk

January

• 30
• Finished reading Kingdom of Shadows by Alan Furst B Very compelling and, possibly, even a hint of a happy ending.

• 27
• Started watching The lying lives of adults on Netflix T Very Naples, very intriguing and quite watchable.

• 26
• Started reading Kingdom of Shadows by Alan Furst B Skipped the previous two, on review, and this one is again cracking.

• 24
• Finished reading The Tourist by Olen Steinhauer B Very convoluted, and gripping. Something to be said for the central premise, that you only believe what you have discovered for yourself.

• 21
• Watched Lou on Netflix F Alison Janney conquers all in epic Oedipal-ish struggle.

• 20
• Started watching Spiral s06 on SBS T Hello again, old friends. It's been a while.

• 19
• Finished watching Wednesday on Netflix T No expense spared in the FX department, and rolicking good fun. Also, friendship > romance.
• Started reading The Tourist by Olen Steinhauer B Pretty gripping cloak and dagger stuff in which nobody is quite what they seem.

• 18
• Finished watching Slow Horses s02 on Apple TV T Addictively good, so trailers for s03 very welcome.

• 08
• Finished reading Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr B Blimey. An absolutely thrilling read.

• 01
• Started watching Slow Horses s02 on Apple TV T So good

February

• 27
• Started watching Gangland s01 on Netflix T Fine French lowlifes.

• 25
• Saw A Quiet Girl at the cinema F And yeah, I got something in my eye, what’s it to you?
• Watched Sharper on Apple TV F Great fun, and very satisfactory twists.

• 21
• Finished watching The US and the Holocaust by Ken Burns, on SBS T Unable to take more than an hour at a time, but so worthwhile to make it to the end.

• 17
• Started watching Deadwind s02 on Netflix T Not much has changed.

• 15
• Finished watching The Lying Lives of Adults on Netflix T Entertaining, in a mostly unresolved kind of way, and the ending caught me unawares.

• 12
• Watched The Banshees of Inisherin at the cinema F Funny and very disturbing.
• Started watching The US and the Holocaust by Ken Burns, on SBS T Very disturbing and not in the least bit funny.

• 05
• Watched Citizen Kane on Apple TV F Prompted by In Our Time; holds up so well, and so much more to see.

• 01
• Started reading The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David and David Wengrow B Truth stranger than fiction?

March

• 30
• Started watching Night Agent on Netflix T National differences in this sort of thing are fascinating.

• 28
• Finished watching Deadwind s03 on Netflix T More holes than a machine-gunned corpse, but entertaining enough.
• Started reading The Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri B Surprisingly good, though I don't know why I should be surprised.

• 25
• Watched The Sense of an Ending on SBS F Rather fine domestic drama with Jim Broadbent doing a great job.

• 12
• Watched Luther: The Fallen Sun on Netflix F Very silly, veering into Bond territory.

• 10
• Watched All Quiet on the Western Front on Netflix F War is hell. And tedious.

• 08
• Finished watching Ganglands s01 on Netflix T Absurdly entertaining.

• 07
• Started watching Engrenage s07 on SBS T Everything’s going to hell.

• 06
• Saw Empire of Light at the cinema F So good, and all the better for having been in Margate in January. Olivia Colman is simply astonishing in the way she inhabits the character.
• Finished watching Deadwind s02 on Netflix T As usual (by now) pulled a rabbit from the hat in the final episode, the bastards.

April

• 30
• Started watching Treason on Netflix T and immediately binged a second episode, which tells you something.

• 27
• Started watching Spiral s08 on SBS T Feeling sad this is the end.

• 23
• Started reading Freekeh by Ruth Nieman B Dreadful writing, might be some worthwhile anecdotage.

• 22
• Watched Ghosted on Apple TV+ F Entertaining mayhem, and nice to have a hero who knows his amaranth.

• 17
• Watched Ferry on Netflix F Strange to focus on such an unlikeable character’s back story, but it worked.

• 15
• Watched Tetris on Apple TV+ F Great fun, rather like Tetris.

• 10
• Started watching Transatlantic on Netflix T No expense spared.

• 04
• Fnished watching Spiral s07 on SBS T Good people doing bad things for good reasons.

May

• 28
• Finished reading Blood of Victory by Alan Furst B Maybe not quite up to scratch, but gripping nonetheless.

• 19
• Started watching Queen Charlotte on Netflix T Yet more fine tosh.

• 15
• Started watching Diplomat s01 on Netflix T Eminently silly, and failing to name Rufus Sewell all episode drove me mad.

• 14
• Finished watching Transatlantic on Netflix T And they all lived happily ever after.

• 02
• Finished Treason on Netflix T Rather good, and satsifying conclusion.

June

• 24
• Finished watching Ganglands s02 in Netflix T Utter mayhem, and utterly enjoyable.

• 18
• Finished watching Queen Charlotte on Netflix T Quite touching, in the end, but whatever happened to Reynolds?

• 16
• Started watching Granglands s02 on Netflix T I’m not sure I have a clue what is going on.

• 15
• Finished watching The Diplomat s01 on Netflix T I'd love to see the script for the final episode where s02 is **not** greenlit.

• 10
• Finished watching Engrenage s08 on SBS T End of an era, and a satisfying end it was too.

July

• 29
• Started reading Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan B So well-written, spare but full of detail.

• 27
• Saw Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning I at Cinema Trastevere F Very entertaining, worthwhile, though I see no need to revisit the franchise.

• N/D
• Finished reading Christ stopped at Eboli by Carlo Levi B Beautiful, insightful, respectful, compassionate, illuminating.

• N/D
• Finished reading Prince of Tides by Michael Mewshaw B The Great Truth Teller maybe didn’t always tell the truth.

• N/D
• Finished reading Beach Music by Pat Conroy B Entertaining Southern Gothic, with Rome. It was there, and one is enough.

• 01
• Finished reading A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon B Very sensitively done, and very humane.

August

• 28
• Started watching Rough Diamonds on Netflix T Oh, those Belgians.

• 22
• Finished reading Weatherland by Alexandra Harris B [Engrossing, entertaining, informative](https://www.jeremycherfas.net/blog/weatherland).

September

• 30
• Finished watching Derry Girls s01 on Netflix T I see now why the buzz was so loud.

• 18
• Started watching Derry Girls s01 on Netflix T Worth waiting for.
• Started watching Lincoln Lawyer s02 on Netflix T More of the same.

• 17
• Finished watching Lincoln Lawyer s01 on Netflix T So many loose ends.

October

• 22
• Watched The Pigeon Tunnel on AppleTV F Errol Morris' documentary about John le Carre. Did we learn anything?

• 21
• Saw Obsessed with Light at the MAXXI F A documentary about the dancer Loïc Fuller, which I would never have chosen myself and which I enjoyed thoroughly.

• 19
• Watched The Burial on Amazon Prime F Very satisfying, justice done etc etc

• 17
• Watched Fair Play on Netflix F Couldn’t care about any of them.

• 10
• Finished watching Derry Girls s02 on Netflix T Brilliant.

• 05
• Started watching Lupin s03 on Netflix T A bit too extravagant?

• 04
• Started watching Inside Man on Netflix T Strange and compelling. What would I do?

• 02
• Watched The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar on Netflix T Very entertaining.
• Started watching Derry Girls s02 on Netflix T Goes from strength to strength.

• 01
• Finished watching The Lincoln Lawyer s02 on Netflix T Always thought there was something fishy about her.

• 07
• Started watching Lincoln Lawyer on Netflix T Fun, although the car worship seems out of place these days.

• 05
• Finished watching Rough Diamonds on Netflix T Oy Vey! Albanians gonna get revenge?

November

• 29
• Started watching Slow Horses s03 on Apple TV T As good as it ever was.

• 28
• Saw Napoleon at the Nuovo OlimpioF Spectacular, exciting but, somehow, never that gripping.

• 27
• Finished watching Inside Man on Netflix T Blimey! That was tense, and interesting, and gruesomely entertaining, and moralistic.

• 25
• Watched Still On Apple TV F Good documentary about Michael J Fox and his Parkinson's, making excellent use of his films.

• 23
• Started reading Billy Phelan's Greatest Game by William Kennedy B I barely remember Legs or Ironweed, but this sucked me in from the first sentence.

• 22
• Started watching The Crown s06 on Netflix T Still very entertaining.

• 20
• Finished watching All the Light We Cannot See on Netflix T In the end, rather good.

• 17
• Finished reading Red Gold by Alan Furst B There's something to be said for the banality of it all.

• 11
• Started watching All the Light We Cannot See on Netflix T It isn't the book, but it is very good

• 08
• Started reading Red Gold by Alan Furst B Thank heavens he explained what happened at the end of ...

• 06
• Finished reading The Night Visitor by Alan Furst B Not his best, by a long stretch. And the ending?

• 01
• Started watching Lessons in Chemistry on Apple TV T Entertaining tosh.

December

• 25
• Finished watching Reacher s01 on Amazon Prime T And all those who deserved to lived happily ever after

• 10
• Started watching Reacher s01 on Amazon Prime T A cartoon.

• 09
• Watched Greyhound on Netflix F Tom Hanks saves the fleet, beset by stormy weather and U-boats