How has your week been? What have you been reading?
In terms of reading, I’ve done super badly this week. I don’t know what’s gone so wrong but I just haven’t been in the mood. I’ve not really slept well all week which hasn’t helped. Too tired to concentrate on the pages. But I’ve had a relaxing weekend. A relaxing but non-bookish weekend, unfortunately. Still, there’s been a lot of family time. My sister brought my niece over both today and yesterday which has meant lots of cuddles. Babies still kind of scare me but I’m getting used to it. Or at least less terrified to be left holding one. It’ll take small steps.
Normally, I like to match my TBT film with my Tuesday Review. Whether it’s thematically or by actor, I attempt to link them. This week? I’m so fucking exhausted this week I wanted to find the quickest film I could and bosh out a quick review. I don’t know what’s wrong with me but I have not been sleeping well. So, I picked the shortest film that I could find quickly on Netflix. And this was one I hadn’t seen for a while. Plus it stars Bill Pullman and it’s always a fun game trying to work out if he’s the Bill I think he is or not. He’s the one from Independence Day but not Twister, right? I don’t even know why I get so confused. He and Bill Paxton don’t even look alike. I just get confused because they have the same name. My brain is either just fucking with me on purpose or so stupid that someone having the same name as another person really confuses it. Which means having such a common name as Laura must be a huge mind-fuck for it.
It feels as if Melissa McCarthy and I have been here too many times before. Me wanting to believe that her latest film would be the one to give her the role she deserved. And, coming off the back of her amazing performance in Can You Ever Forgive Me? I was confident that she was on her way up. The Kitchen seemed like a great fit. Based on a Vertigo comic book miniseries about housewives taking their husbands’ place in the Irish mob. It’s an adaptation written and directed by Andrea Berloff and starring Elisabeth Moss and Tiffany Haddish. This was a film that was making so many promises about celebrating women that I had to believe that it would be perfect. But could it ever live up to our expectations?
With the release of every new Quentin Tarantino fims there comes the same old gender discussion. Is he a massive sexist who refuses to give women ay real place in his films? This time it all kicked off when people started complaining about Margot Robbie being given so few lines in Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood. Does Robbie get short shrift? Yeah. But it’s not as if the film was even from Sharon Tate’s perspective anyway. It was a film about a male friendship that skirted around the star’s tragic death. It wasn’t supposed to explore Tate’s life but give an image of her as a person. It was a fairy tale where she was the kind, sweet, and promising young woman who didn’t deserve to have her life taken from her so brutally. Robbie and Tarantino manage to prove who Tate was without words. I’m not here to say whether Tarantino’s treatment of women is positive or negative but, in this case, it seems like a needless argument. Besides, since when is the only indication of a strong female character the number of lines they speak? As someone who has trouble speaking up at times, I’d say silence isn’t necessarily an indication of weakness.
I’ll be honest, I’m not a Quentin Tarantino fanboy. Actually, no that’s not true. I love a bit of Tarantino but I do think he is a bit overhyped. Pulp Fiction is a great film but is it really one of the greatest films ever made? I don’t think so. Is it one of the most overrated films ever made? Quite possibly. Yes, it inspired a generation of filmmakers and spawned countless copycats. The problem is, in the cold hard light of day, Pulp Fiction just feels kind of juvenile. It’s one of those too cool for its own good kind films that everyone sensationalises. In Mean Girls terms, Pulp Fiction is Regina George. Pulp Fiction is possibly one of Tarantino’s most indulgent films. He, like Spielberg, is very good at standout scenes but, below the surface, it’s kind superficial. So, I’m always a bit wary of Tarantino. But, I have enjoyed his films more and more as the years go by. And I was excited to see what he would do with this film. It’s such an iconic time in history and Tarantino taking on the story of Sharon Tate’s murder was always going to be interesting.
I kind of forgot that there had been a load of backlash to Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla when it first came out. I think, by the time I saw it, I was just so relieved that it wasn’t dreadful that it was elevated in my memory. Even reading back 
Christ, it’s hot. I know there are countries out there who consistently have much hotter weather than this but this is the UK. We’re not built for heat. Especially as my office has no air-con and we’ve been told we’re not allowed fans. It’s been so gross. To put it bluntly, I’m sticky. So, I need to get this sorted quickly and go for an icy shower. I’m a bookish person. We aren’t built for Summer. And I promise you, I hadn’t intended to start this post by talking about how sweaty I am. I had something planned and everything. But the heat has melted my brain. So, here we are. At least I can clarify something today. I don’t hate The Beatles. No matter what I may have suggested in my review of Yesterday, I actually enjoy listening to them every now and then. I just think we need to change the narrative that they’re the “greatest band of all time”. Maybe they’re the most popular band of all time but the greatest is a different story. Yesterday wasn’t a film. It was Richard Curtis trying to get Paul McCartney to notice him. It was weird and kind of sad. So, I thought it was time to review a film that actually does a decent job of using The Beatles as a basis for a film.