Bryant and May and the Bleeding Heart by Christopher Fowler

A new Bryant and May 'Peculiar Crimes Unit' mystery is always eagerly awaited by fans of Christopher Fowler's British crime series and this one lived up to the anticipation for me. 'Bryant and May and the Bleeding Heart' (2014) showcases Arthur Bryant, the more eccentric detective of the venerable old pair. Bryant always meanders to the solution by studying ancient London archaeology and myths and consulting his extensive network of psychics, witches and warlocks and other arcane researchers and experts. This mystery somehow brought together New Resurrectionists (grave-robbing medical students) and missing ravens from the Tower of London. The PCU is now under attack, or management reform, by an MBA-wielding young woman who spouts lines like, 'I've objectivised an agenda for an informal intracommunicational face session... I'm here to discuss administrative flexibility and workforce incentivisation, bringing you up to speed on the public interface components of your skill sets.' (39) To which Bryant reacts just as we all wish we could in that kind of meeting,
'Bryant tapped at his hearing aid. 'I'm sorry,' he said loudly, 'I think this thing's on the blink. I can see your lips moving but all I can hear is rubbish.' (40)
Wonderful satire of this kind of management style and the usual arcane London history and archaeology plus smart, unconventional, but highly successful characters make this a perfect mix for fans.

Resurrectionists (1847), by Hablot Knight Browne.

Growing old: The Best Exotic Quartet, er Marigold Hotel-like Movies and TV Shows

I've been borrowing lots of DVD's from the library for the last few weeks, probably because the TV shows I watch are between seasons so there's not too much to watch if you like scripted comedy/dramas like me. I noticed a trend lately in my borrowing habits. The trend could be called:

If you liked 'The Best, Exotic Marigold Hotel' (2012), try these DVD's:

'Quartet' (2013), like 'Best Exotic MH', features lots of famous, older British actors. In 'Quartet' they play retired showbiz types and opera singers who are now in a home for retired musicians and the setting is a country house-turned-nursing-home set in the English countryside. The hotel in 'Best Exotic etc' was a dilapidated hotel in India run by an idealistic, but somewhat impractical, young Indian man played by Dev Patel, the star of 'Slumdog Millionaire.' You might also like 'Slumdog' if you haven't already caught that Academy Award-winning 2008 hit, although it has nothing to do with the aging British actor in bittersweet film theme that I'm enumerating here. In any case, 'Quartet" and 'Marigold' are often mentioned in the same breath because they are so similar in theme and casting as well as being released within a year of each other. The other title often confused with 'Quartet' is 'A Late Quartet' (2013) also about aging musicians. Patrons often come to the Reference Desk and ask for the 'Quartet' movie or the 'Marigold' movie so we know the three movies get confused very easily.
Continuing the theme, 'Waiting for God' is an early 1990's UK series about two feisty old people in a retirement home who question the authority of the youngish bean-counters who run the home for profit. Each episode is less than an hour and I'm enjoying the first season now.
'New Tricks' is a current BBC TV series about an unsolved crimes unit made up of old, retired police detectives who are curmudgeonly and eccentric, but always get their man.

By searching our catalog for the subject heading 'Retirees -- Drama', I see in the catalog that we have a British TV series called 'One Foot in the Grave' and a movie 'Is Anyone There?' both involving retirement or retirement homes. I have not yet taken either of those out, but I am really sensing this is a big trend in movies at least in the U.K.

Related subject headings to use in our catalog are...

Older people.

Eccentrics and eccentricities.

Retirement communities.

Television comedies -- Great Britain.

Video recordings for the hearing impaired.

DVDs.

England.

Retirees -- Drama.
Musicians -- Drama.