The film Agora has already led me to read more about the main character. Now, I saw Tesis (Thesis), another film by the writer/director involved. It is a Spanish film from the 1990s concerning a student getting a bit too close to her subject matter while doing a thesis on violence in film. It starts well and has a great atmosphere with good performances, though one character is a bit over the top. I did think it went on a bit too long and ended in a bit lame fashion. This tempered my enjoyment, but as a whole, it was a good film.
Winesburg, Ohio is a somewhat interrelated collection of short stories written by Sherwood Anderson, written in 1919, but talking about a small Midwestern town in the 1890s. Connected by young reporter, George, the town is filled with repressed unhappy souls, generally seeking for connections (often erotically tinged) that they cannot obtain. I'm not sure if there is any one person in the book truly happy. The stories are not of equal interest, but as a whole, I enjoyed them. A nice find among the "great works" of literature.
I tried to watch the second series/season of The Vice, but found the plots inferior, the characters not being used in good stead. The first set of episodes made me care too much about them to be able to watch them be poorly handled in such a fashion. I'm in the process of watching the third set of episodes of Doc Martin, and though earlier episodes were better (I do miss Mark), the drop-off isn't quite as bad. On the Caroline Catz front, the second set of Murder in Suburbia episodes also were pretty good.
Only the first half of The Girl With Green Eyes (so they say -- the film is B&W) since it was taped, and apparently I had accidentally set a reminder for the t.v. show Doc. This automatically changed the channel. Oh well -- a means to program two shows on different channels at once, harder to do these days, especially without DVR. The film was interesting but I'm not sure if there was enough going of for another hour (even minus commercials). Anyways, I reserved the book, which apparently is part of a trilogy. Will get back to you.
Doc was pleasant enough; it even had an unhappy aspect, a patient dying. Shows of this sort (see also, Drop Dead Diva, where she did lose a case eventually) do need a touch of unhappiness to keep them honest.