Hi all. Ho ho ho — we’re almost into December. Crazy right? The year is almost done. Just a few days ago, Rudolph and his pal showed up to eat at our bird feeder. Perhaps these two are getting ready to lead Santa’s sled. 🙂 Usually we take the feeders down at night so they’re not emptied, but these deer came early to get a snack. The birds and deer are hungry these days with the snow on the ground, and it’s only 10F /-12C outside. Brrr.
This coming week, we’ll start our long road trip south to Southern California with our two dogs in the back. We have a couple audios lined up … since my husband prefers nonfiction we have Al Pacino’s new memoir Sonny Boy and a history titled The Stalin Affair: The Impossible Alliance That Won the War by Giles Milton. So we’ll see how these turn out as we travel over hill and dale.
Meanwhile I’m sure some are starting to make their favorite books of the year lists. Usually I put my list out in early January because there’s still some last minute reading to do! But I like seeing everyone’s lists. And now let’s chat about what’s releasing in December.
In books, British author William Boyd has a new novel titled Gabriel’s Moon (due out Dec. 3), which sounds good, about an acclaimed travel writer in 1960 who gets caught up doing spy errands for MI-6. He’s a reluctant spy and has a full life going at the same time. I haven’t read Boyd since his 2006 novel Restless, so I’d like to test out his writing again.
Else-wise, I’m a bit on the fence about a few other novels due out. There’s Amanda Lee Koe’s folk-tale-y novel Sister Snake (due out Dec. 3) about two estranged sisters, one in New York the other in Singapore, who happen to have been born as snakes in 815 China. They share their secret and attempt a reconciliation after one is attacked in Central Park. Hmm sisters as snakes?
Or there’s Weike Wang’s novel Rental House (out Dec. 3) about an interracial couple who face pressure from their parents and in-laws on vacations to Cape Cod and the Catskills. As they share rental houses with their families, racial, cultural, and class tensions come to the surface. Uh-oh sounds like trouble. I wasn’t a big fan of Weike’s 2022 novel Joan Is Okay so I hesitate a bit with this, but authors probably should have at least two chances, right?
Or there’s Lily Tuck’s short novel The Rest Is Memory (due out Dec. 10) about the real-life story of a resilient Polish Catholic girl who’s sent to Auschwitz that looks quite powerful, though I don’t think I could stomach it right now … but I put it out there for others.
On the screen in December, so many releases will descend on us in addition to all the fun holiday cheer to watch. Currently I’m taking a break from watching any dystopian and society collapse kinds of things, but I will just mention the 6-episode miniseries based on the 1949 pandemic novel Earth Abides by George R. Stewart, which starts Dec. 1 on MGM+.
Both Lark at Lark Writes and Kathy at Reading Matters had good things to say about the gripping novel, which they presciently reviewed before the recent pandemic! I think I need to read the classic tale instead of the series … but sometime when things are rosier.
Next up, Keira Knightley, Ben Whishaw, and Sarah Lancashire star in the British 6-episode spy-thriller series Black Doves (starting Dec. 5 on Netflix). It looks like an action-packed kind of thing set at Christmas in London. It might be sort of crazy judging from the trailer but due to the cast and setting I will at least check it out.
Also a quick mention about the series Dexter: Original Sin (starting Dec. 15 on Paramount+ & Showtime) for Jinjer at The Intrepid Angeleno who was a fan of the crime/drama show when it aired from 2006-2013. It is back now as a prequel, which they were recently filming on Jinjer’s street (see link above)! I didn’t see the original — perhaps the plot about a vigilante serial killer was too spooky for me.
But I’m also curious to see the big upcoming movies, which include The Return (due out Dec. 6, rated R) starring Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche in a retelling of Homer’s Odyssey. Fiennes was recently the pope in the movie Conclave, as well as Macbeth in a film, now he’s Odysseus, so he’s filling some big shoes these days. I was surprised to learn he hadn’t won an Oscar over the years.
The Return is an epic tale that was filmed on location in Greece, so there’s plenty of sights to see while witnessing those harsh days surrounding the time of the Trojan War.
Meanwhile Amy Adams is back in the black comedy Nightbitch (out Dec. 6, rated R), which should be good about a woman who decides to be a stay-at-home mom only to find that domesticity drives her a bit wild, lol. It’s based on the 2021 novel by Rachel Yoder, which was really well done and a five-star read for me.
The movie looks a bit darkly humorous and gets the point across, though I’m not sure it will compare to the book, which seemed to have some depth to it along with the humor. Still the movie is its own thing and I will see it sometime. I’ve been patiently waiting for Yoder’s next book.
Also the Maria Callas movie starring Angelina Jolie, which I mentioned last month, will be available on Netflix starting Dec. 11. It follows the opera singer’s life during her last years while she was living in Paris, which in real life sounded quite sad. I’m not sure how much it gets into.
And there’s a new Count of Monte Cristo movie (out Dec. 20) with French actor Pierre Niney as Edmund. I kid you not. That classic tale has been done five times before as a film and once as a TV series. What more can they squeeze out of it? I sort of prefer the old Richard Chamberlain movie version, circa 1975, lol.
But let’s move on. Timothee Chalamet, who’s been Willy Wonka and Paul in Dune, will now be transported to being a young Bob Dylan in the biopic A Complete Unknown (due out Dec. 25, rated R) back when Bob was with Joan Baez and switching to an electric guitar was a big deal for the folk singer and his fans.
That’ll be all right, but I probably won’t see the Nicole Kidman movie Babygirl (out Dec. 25, rated R) about a female CEO who starts a torrid affair with her young intern. It seems too 50 Shades of Gray-ish to me, though it might get her an Oscar nomination apparently.
But I’m curious to see the epic historical drama The Brutalist (out Dec. 20), starring Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones, about a Hungarian-Jewish architect who survives the Holocaust and emigrates to the United States, where he struggles to achieve the American Dream … until meeting a wealthy client.
It sounds really good, but it’s 3 hours, 35 minutes long, and I thought Oppenheimer was long at 3 hours. So I think watching it at home maybe over two nights will probably be best in order to take breaks. The movie was filmed in Budapest and Tuscany, and Brody once won an Oscar you might recall for his portrayal in the 2002 war drama The Pianist.
Finally I’ll mention the movie The Room Next Door (out Dec. 20) starring Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore as friends who get back in touch just as one is deciding whether to pursue assisted suicide since she is terminally ill. It seems a sad film to open around the holidays, but it has its wider release in January. With these two actresses surrounding such an important topic, the movie will likely be well worth exploring. It is set in New York City and is based on the Sigrid Nunez novel What Are You Going Through.
And lastly for music in December, I like to listen to holiday tunes primarily during the month, but there’s also singer-songwriter Angel Olsen’s new album titled Cosmic Waves Vol. 1 as well as Lucinda Williams’ new album covering the Beatles Abbey Road (both are out Dec. 6). Lucinda is a hero of mine.
That’s all for now. What about you — which releases are you looking forward to this month? Enjoy this busy holiday season.
