Monday Musings: 'Feud: Capote vs. The Swans', 'Griselda's' OC Connection, Oscar Watch Update, (Watch) Apple TV+'s 2024 Lineup, Outlander Prequel, 'Priscilla' Comes To Max, Wine Tasting in Sedona 🍷
Another a'musing (and drenched) Monday
Greetings from Soaking Wet Southern California! 💧
We’re in the midst of a three-day superstorm in SoCal which makes it hard to get out and get things (like wine!), but super easy for binge watching. There are lots of TV nuggets to share so let’s get to it. Keep scrolling to see my adventures in wine tasting in stunning (and also wet) Sedona.
Review: Feud: Capote vs. The Swans (FX on Hulu)
My brain was already on bias towards this limited series because I knew I was going to love it. Mostly everything show-creator Ryan Murphy does outside American Horror Story (that whole series has become a horror after the fourth season) is incredible. Love American Crime Story anthology series (the assassination of Gianni Versace is one of my favorite limited series of all time) and loved Feud’s first season that told the story of the infamous feud between legendary Hollywood icons Joan Crawford and Bette Davis.
Photo: Naomi Watts as Babe Paley
After first seeing the documentary The Capote Tapes at the Palm Springs International Film Festival four years ago, I was obsessed with the story of The Swans which detailed the close relationships between Capote and New York City’s premier socialites. I read a few more books to take even a deeper dive on the scandal and have been waiting for this series ever since it was announced.
Photo: Demi Moore as Ann Woodward
Tom Hollander (he played Quentin in Season 2 of The White Lotus) stars as Truman Capote in what might seem like a cartoonish portrayal, but the real Capote was quite a character himself. He entrenched himself into New York’s high society while he was writing books like “In Cold Blood” and contributing to The New Yorker magazine.
Photo: Tom Hollander as Truman Capote
His close friendships with Barbara “Babe” Paley (she was married to the founder of CBS television William Paley), Lee Radziwill (Jackie O’s sister), Nancy “Slim” Keith (married to British banker Kenneth Keith, Baron Keith of Castleacre), and C.Z. Guest (actress who married Winston Churchill’s second cousin) and Ann Woodward (William Woodward Jr. was the heir to the Hanover National Bank fortune) were fuel for his writings, eventually leading to a destructive falling out when he wrote the Swans innermost secrets in a New Yorker article titled “La Côte Basque 1965” which was essentially an excerpt from his forthcoming book “Answered Prayers”.
Photo: Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press
What I love most about this series is seeing all these divine actresses who I adore and don’t get to see perform so much anymore take to the small screen together in this dynamite ensemble cast — Naomi Watts (Babe Paley), Diane Lane (Slim Keith), Calista Flockhart (Lee Radziwill), Chloe Sevigny (C.Z. Guest), and Ann Woodward (Demi Moore). Molly Ringwald also stars, not as an official Capote Swan, but as Joanne Carson, the second wife of Johnny Carson. The first two episodes are now streaming which get down and dirty into Capote’s riff with the Swans, something I wasn’t expecting so soon. There’s a lot of exposition in the writing (more telling than showing of what is going on), but they also don’t spend a lot of time revealing backstory so I as a viewer I excuse most of this, because the writing (even the exposition part of it) is still good.
Feud: Capote vs. The Swans and The Capote Tapes are both streaming on Hulu.
Did You Binge ‘Griselda’ on Netflix?
#MobWife aesthetic is trending on social media and perfect timing because Sofia Vergara has taken on the role of Colombian drug boss aka “The Godmother” in Netflix’s new series Griselda about the life of Griselda Blanco. For all my Orange County, California locals, Blanco was arrested in 1985 at her home in Irvine, California and sent back to Florida to be sentenced for drug smuggling charges. Here’s her OC mugshot…
Oscar Watch: The Holdovers
I’m slowly, as in snail-paced slow 🐌 , trying to watch every Oscar-nominated film like I did last year. I watched Best Picture nominee The Holdovers last night starring nominated actors Paul Giamatti and Da’Vine Joy Randolph. The film clocks in at two hours and 13 minutes, and you better believe I felt every one of those hours and minutes. Not that I would’ve taken anything out, but you know when you’re listening to an audiobook and you can listen at 1.5x the speed, yeah, I would’ve done that.
The acting was really good and I think that’s where The Holdovers will be strong contenders in this Oscar race. The story was a classic redemption story set at a boarding school which is often a likeable trope. There were plenty of heartwarming and often hilarious scenes. It was a nice story, but not mind-blowing, Best Picture of the year material.
P.S. I spent most of the movie asking myself, did Paul Giamatti have a lazy eye in Billions? At the end, you find out the eye is part of his character, but it was very convincing!
The Holdovers is now streaming on Peacock.
Apple TV+ release a trailer of what’s to come! It’s gonna be a great year at Apple!
Here are five series/films I’m looking forward to:
Presumed Innocent starring Jake Gyllenhaal
Franklin starring Michael Douglas
Lady in the Lake starring Natalie Portman
Palm Royale starring Kristen Wiig
Manhunt starring Tobias Menzies
Sneak Peek: Jason Momoa’s Super Bowl Ad 🏈
Sofia Coppola’s ‘Priscilla’ Comes To Max on February 23
‘Outlander’ Prequel Coming To STARZ
Outlander: Blood of My Blood has set its cast which will include Jamie Roy (Burning Little Lies) as Jamie Fraser’s father Brian and Harriet Slater (Pennyworth, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Belgravia) who will play his mother Ellen MacKenzie. The Outlander prequel will also take on the story of Claire’s parents who will be played by Jeremy Irvine (Mamma Mia!) and Hermione Corfield (Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation). You know who’s most excited about this news? My cat! No joke, she wakes me up in the middle of the night to turn on Outlander and then just quietly sits at the edge of the bed watching an entire episode.
Wine Tasting In Sedona, Arizona. 🍷
I found this little gem of a tasting room. I haven’t quite acclimated to Arizona wines yet, but I’m slowly building a palate for them. The key is to hit up a tasting room where you can try the best wines in the entire state instead of just tasting the wines from one vineyard. Tasting at Vino Sedona made for a lovely afternoon trying a red flight of mostly European varietals like Tempranillo, but even a surprise Malbec. I also went up to the Holy Cross Cathedral to catch some stunning views. Sedona is truly a magical place.