3 friends (@quaerentia @perishandfade @joel.a.bain) + 3 unrelated artistic masterpieces = insights for modern life (hopefully!)
Reading the feed…
The Masterpieces 1. Midnight Mass (Mike Flannagan, 2021) Midnight Mass is a 7-part Netflix series that came out in 2021, created by horror aficionado Mike Flanagan. Which, for many of us is not exactly the greatest selling point. But bear with this, since there was method in Sophie’s madness for suggesting we watch this. For the purposes of the episode, we focused just on the first two episodes: Genesis & Psalms (click image right for full list of intriguing episode titles). A remote island, cut off by weather and failed ferries to the mainland, is the setting, a small community that revolves
The Masterpieces 1. Leif Enger's I CHEERFULLY REFUSE (2025) We start with a very up-to-date masterpiece this time: Leif Enger’s 2025 novel I Cheerfully Refuse. Enger is perhaps not so well known on this side of the Atlantic, but he deserves to be. His writing is lyrical and evocative, and the world he creates for this novel is fascinating. It falls within the genre of dystopia but it wears that lightly. For example, we never discover the nature of the cataclysm that transforms the world, only that it has occurred at some unspecified moment prior to the story. The fact that Enger wrote it durin
The Masterpieces 1. Godzilla Minus One (2023) Godzilla Minus One is the latest in Japan’s long-running Godzilla franchise. But dispel all thought of dumb Hollywood monster-pics that revel in cheap thrills and facile redemptive arcs. This film, directed and co-written by Takashi Yamazaki, is surprisingly arresting. It is characterised by scores of unforgettable images, genuine seriousness in grappling with the legacy of historic horror, and, above all, a rich, affecting narrative. The protagonist, Kōichi Shikishima, is a survivor of the Second World War despite serving in one of Japan’s notorio
The Masterpieces 1. "Assassins", The Crown ep 1:9 (2016) Peter Morgan has made his name, despite his explicit republicanism, from dramatising the House of Windsor. First on stage, then in cinema, and more recently in Netflix’s blockbuster monolith, The Crown. The latter’s production values are spectacular, and certainly in the first two seasons (I confess I gave up in season 3 as it seemed to become more tabloidy), the synergy between script, actors and direction was impressive. Season 1’s penultimate episode (Assassins) was written by Peter Morgan, directed by Benjamin Caron, and was first ai
What happens when a young man battling Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (Matts Steen aka Ibelin) meets Guy Montag in Fahrenheit 451 and the joy riders of Gertler's 1916 painting Merry-Go-Round...
The Masterpieces 1. GODRIC by Frederick Buechner (1981) Frederick Buechner (1926-2022; pronounced ‘Beakner‘) was an American Presbyterian minister, theologian and, most notably for our purposes, writer. He was prolific in both fiction (15 novels), poetry and non-fiction. He was heralded in his lifetime for his brilliance and creativity, though inevitably, his books have perhaps not maintained their deserved popularity. The novel for which he is best known is surprising! A relatively short work, Godric tells the semi-fictional story of an obscure figure from 12th century Northumberland. Godric
The Masterpieces 1. The Yellow Wallpaper (1890) Charlotte Perkins Gilman (as she became after her second marriage) suffered intolerable hardships in the lead-up and aftermath of giving birth in 1885 to her only child, Katherine. Today, she would be swiftly diagnosed with severe postpartum depression, but of course in the 1880s and 90s, the concept was light years from a medic’s vocabulary. She was given a ‘rest cure’, a strictly policed form enforced solitude and passivity: confined to bed, barred from social interactions, limited diet, minimal mental stimulation (so little or no reading or wr
The Masterpieces 1. Black Mirror 3:5 "Men Against Fire" (2016) Black Mirror is both a phenomenon and an outlier, one that has gained cult status in some quarters (though perhaps there’s a generational divide there? You’ll need to ask our producer Owen for more on that. He has views…). It started life on the UK’s once quite edgy and adventurous Channel 4, the brainchild of journalist, arch-satirist and presenter, Charlie Brooker. He has either written, or prompted creative discussions for each episode, working with his producer Annabel Jones. Stripe’s commander Medina, played by the one and onl
The Masterpieces 1. Musée des Beaux Arts by W.H. Auden (1938) Wystan Auden (1908-1973) was British-American and one of the most celebrated poets of his generation. He would emigrate from the UK to the USA in 1939 on the eve of the Second World War (something for which many in the British establishment never forgave him). But before he crossed the Atlantic, he saw his role as a form of literary journalist. After witnessing something of the horrors of the Spanish Civil War, he travelled around Europe as many increasingly felt the inevitability of renewed conflict, a mere twenty years or so after
The Masterpieces 1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was first released in 2004 by French director Michel Gondry, having been written by Charlie Kaufman and Pierre Bismuth as well as Gondry (right, with Carrey). The cast is uniformly good, led by Jim Carrey (in a significant departure from his previous zany roles) and Kate Winslet (7 years after Titanic) with a number of others who were well on their way to much greater recognition: Tom Wilkinson, Mark Ruffalo, Elijah Wood, and Kirsten Dunst. The film is a quirky and charming story about love,
The Masterpieces 1. 'Baltimore' by The Tamlins (1979) Baltimore was the first big international hit for The Tamlins, a Jamaican reggae group founded in 1970 and renowned for their remarkable vocal skills. The original lineup was Carlton Smith, Junior Moore and Winston Morgan. From small beginnings in nightclubs, they became highly sought after by producers and singers alike for their rich harmonies and superb musicality, working with the likes of Peter Tosh in particular, as well as with Delroy Wilson, Pat Kelly, John Holt, and Jimmy Cliff. The original song was written in by the highly influe
The Masterpieces 1. Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony: 1st movement (Russia, 1877-8) Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic era, one who seemed to straddle the musical worlds of east and west. He wrote music on a grand scale for operas, ballets and symphonies. His turbulent emotional life is born out in the clear turbulence of his music. The 4th Symphony was written in 1877/78 after the excruciating breakup of his marriage that had lasted only one month. As Sophie explains in the episode, one thing that makes this work so special is that we have a record of th
