Sorry to Bother You

The Coup will probably be remembered as much for their creativity and controversy in album names and covers as their music. 1993's "Kill My Landlord"; 1994's "Genocide and Juice"; 1998's "Steal this Album"; and the untimely working cover for 2001's "Party Music" depicting the group blowing up the World Trade Center planned before the month of September. It's fair to say they certainly had a lot of creative ideas.

The same can also be said for frontman Boots Riley's debut as a feature director, "Sorry to Bother You": a film that features the same brand of controversy, social comment and humour for which The Coup are known.

Cassius "Cash" Green (Lakeith Stanfield) is a man without a job and living in his uncle's garage, though he does have a girlfriend. Desperate for work, he fakes a fabulous career history for a telemarketing job, naively unaware that the credentials for any low-level sales caller are irrelevant. Proving he can read English, he is told to "stick to the script" and start making calls.

But as anyone who has worked in cold-calling will tell you: it's tough. His failures prompt his booth neighbour Langston (Danny Glover) to suggest he adopt his "white voice": a voice projecting the confidence of a person who knows their life and source of income are successful and secure. Cue hilarity. And also cue Cash's discovery of his talent for selling, when taking on his "white" persona.

Soon head-hunted to become a "Power Caller", he is switched from calling Everyday Joes to Big Dick Willies, selling the manpower services offered by the blatantly sinister WorryFree to mass production manufacturers, as an alternative to exploitation of Chinese workforces. But on being invited to the circle of trust, Cash soon finds that WorryFree is as ironic a name as suggested; and has his moral conviction and penis size questioned by those close to him.

"Sorry to Bother You" is a film of ideas: the social comment on the current nature of zero hours contracts and commission payment and how they treat those party to them; the humour applied in the notion of race as a state of mind when the visual element is removed; the lush life promised in career progression at the cost of long hours and one's morality; and social media fame that quickly sees condemners become poster children. Riley tackles all of these with a tongue-in-cheek humour that provides the laughs, as well as addressing social problems with the nature of modern labour forces.

There's a lot going on here. Perhaps, at times, too much. Some aspects are explored in detail, while others are more readers' digest snippets of comment. There is a lot to digest, and the sides can interfere with the main courses (I must be hungry). Cash's girlfriend, artist Detroit (Tessa Thompson), is a woman with many layers to get through. A political activist and performance artist, she seemingly puts on her "white voice" to sell her art to rich investors, though this isn't explored enough, and as such leaves her character under-cooked and somewhat hard to swallow in parts (really hungry).

As such, "Sorry to Bother You" can feel somewhat like an album of separate songs, some better than others, rather than a complete whole as a film. Similar to "Office Space", scenes can work very well as comedy sketches, but may need to be fully-formed a little better. This perhaps is the result of Riley struggling to get the film project off the ground for a number of years; an idea he has been working on for some time, with The Coup's album of the same name coming in 2012.

But importantly, for the film's sake at least, Riley is having fun throughout, especially with the film's climax. Despite the serious subject matter, we are kept entertained; the laughs kept coming, without bogging us down in a law degree. Creativity and humour are the film's two strong points. The soundtrack's not too bad either.

For a first time director, this is certainly an interesting debut. Politics will always be close-to-hand for Riley in his music and now in his cinema, as seen with his comments on Spike Lee's "BlacKkKlansman" - a film with a similar plot device - and so he will always want to get his opinions across. Its success will also result in more faith from producers in the future; and with some more polishing of his methods, Riley's call to the film industry won't be bothering, but welcome.

Every 14 Days...(48)

Telephone the Queen: It's the 200th book spectacular! Yes, I have now made my way through two hundred books since starting this pointless venture back in 2010. But, two hundred books better-read, I am no more intelligent than I was when I was 28 years old...In 2011, I was 28 years old. Can you guess which of these four books was the magical 200th?

Yes, correct, it was that one...

Record of a Night Too Brief (Hiromi Kawakami)

This is something of an oddity. Three short stories from the definitely trendy (in Foyles, at least) Japanese author of "Strange Weather in Tokyo". I'm not quite sure if I can adequately account for the first, titular story, though I can confirm that the three tales get more comprehensible and better as they go.

"Record of a Night Too Brief" as the opener is essentially a stream of consciousness about an evening of peculiar events. I can't particularly say I remember much of it and the ever-changing and strange nature of the story left me switching the off button a fair amount. I, therefore, offer little in the way of opinion.

The second, "Missing" is still of the bizarre variety, though not quite as weird, but still definitely there. A sister's brother disappears, something of a trait in her family, leaving behind his fiancée. The second brother steps into the absent's shoes, though his spirit lingers on in his sister's universe.

Lastly, "A Snake Stepped On" is the story of a young woman working with an ageing couple in their shop. After stepping on a snake, she is visited by an elderly woman in her flat each night, claiming to be her mother, though is indeed the spirit of the snake. Again strange, but this is certainly the strongest of the trio.

Definitely more one for the hardcore rather than casual fan, as "Strange Weather..." is, I kept this one quite brief.

Days to read: 5

Days per book: 14.8

Iza's Ballad (Magda Szabo)

Not a huge number of Magda Szabo's works have been translated into English; and from those that have you'd believe her to be a woman who writes stories about intergenerational female feuding. That's based on the two I've read, anyway.

Written several years (like decades and that) before the more famous "The Door", "Iza's Ballad" is, for me, the stronger of the two tales where a younger woman deals with her frustrating relationship with an older woman. This time a daughter takes in her widowed mother, moving her to Budapest after the death of her father. But, while seemingly the ideal solution, the more the days pass, the clearer it becomes that it is indeed the worst possible scenario for both.

My gripe with "The Door" was that I didn't particularly like either character. Here, however, at least the mother is more likeable, but the exploration of both characters (and others) is well developed throughout, with the motivations and lack of an easy solution well worked.

Themes of selfishness, love, generational differences and the ambitions of a younger generation against their parents' are all covered, with Iza a woman who is so right about everything that those around her simply can't accept it.

Days to read: 16

Days per book: 14.8

Adrian Mole: The Wilderness Years (Sue Townsend)

With the third installment, "TrueConfessions of Adrian Mole", taking a more bootlegs and B-sides collection approach, it was nice to return to the good ol' fashioned diary format for this fourth look into the "growing" of Mr Mole.

Now nicely in his twenties, Mole sees his failed love life in Oxford transfer him to London where his love life is equally failed, though at least he is now officially qualified for his job as dish washer in a Soho restaurant.

It is a move back to the witty humour of the first two books, with the well executed comic timing from the diary format. And though Mole is now ageing physically, he is still 13 3/4 at heart.

Days to read: 9

Days per book: 14.7

Kwaidan: Ghost Stories and Strange Tales of Old Japan (Lafcadio Hearn)

Greek-Irish-British-American-Japanese man of unusual name Lafcadio Hearn is someone any Westerner studying Japanese culture will have come across. Moving to Japan in the late Nineteenth Century, he became a leading scholar of Japanese culture for English-speaking consumption.

"Kwaidan", is one of his most famous works, made into a notable film by Masaki Kobayashi. Offering a glimpse (and only that) at traditional Japanese ghost stories and folktales, this is somewhat an inconsistent and unusual collection of short tales and essays.

One thing that is notable is just how short some of these short stories are. They are mere anecdotes as opposed to stories, with little in the way of real storytelling and development. One gets a patronising tone throughout from Hearn, feeling fully aware that he is telling us about the story, explaining points along the way, rather than telling us a story. You get the sense Hearn wanted us to know that he had discovered them.

These two elements: the over-explanatory (to you, you simpleton) tone and lack of storytelling skill, don't exactly make this the most enjoyable read. However, enough of the stories are intriguing enough to make this a worthwhile collection, but it will probably require some further reading. Luckily, however, Hearn references his other works throughout, so you know where to go...He's like the BBC once a programme hits the end credits.

Yes, this was the book that was the magical 200th.

Days to read: 8

Days per book: 14.7