Just A Quick Hello.

Just a quick hello.

First time post. Just a quick wave to the universe. I’m a big fan of classic films, classic rock, classic TV, Doctor Who, all things British. Am a huge reader - mysteries are my true love - but add a romance and I’m lost. My current obsession is A Discovery of Witches by Deb Harkness - it has it all - suspense, mystery, fantasy, romance. I’ve read all the books and binged the first season of the show so many times. 

Anyway, I’m still new to this universe, but hopefully I can post my thoughts and dreams without fear. I’d like to watch them fly to the stars and see how how they can soar. 

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019). It’s the opening line of a fairy tale or fable and that’s what this movie certainly is. It’s a myth of what the 1960′s were like for LA, the movie business, TV, etc. It even has a happy ending - if only real life could have such a happy ending.

Leonardo DiCaprio is Rick Dalton, a former TV star that’s slowly fading into a round of guest spots on other hit shows. He’s in despair of his career and wondering how to recapture it - is the part in a Spaghetti Western the way to go? 

Brad Pitt is stunt man Cliff Booth. He’s Rick’s right-hand man, best friend, driver, dogsbody. They’ve got a great bromance going between them. Cliff tries to keep Rick out of trouble and keep his hopes alive. Meanwhile, Cliff lives in a trailer behind a run-down drive-in theater with only a dog for company. He’s got some nasty skeletons in his closet that may or may not be his fault. He’s a loyal friend that doesn’t seem to let it worry him that Rick’s golden ticket days are almost over - just like the 60′s. 

Margot Robbie is Sharon Tate. We meet her as she’s preparing to leave for Europe with husband Roman Polanski. She’s fun, girlie, giddie. She loves to party and dance to Paul Revere and the Raiders. She’s just loving life. If Rick’s on the way down, Sharon is on the way up. She even goes to a theater showing one of her films (Don’t Make Waves - in which we marvel along with Robbie and watch actual footage of the film with the real Sharon Tate). It’s a Sharon Tate that the world never really knew and it’s a refreshing sight.

The movie is a fairy tale with long takes of people driving through LA, just listening to the radio. And I’m ok with that! I could watch Brad Pitt or Margot Robbie drive around town listening to classic rock as the California wind flows through their hair. Seeing the vintage signs and buildings was a real trip. It’s a myth of what LA was - minus, I suppose, the smog and garbage, etc. 

It’s a pretty narrow fairy tale that really only focuses on the lives of three people. We don’t see what else was going on during that time - some mentions of Vietnam. No mention of civil rights, Nixon, the space program, etc. 

Also, this may be the first Tarantino film in quite awhile, without Samuel L Jackson. He’s not even doing the voice-over like he did briefly in Inglourious Basterds (2009). 

Is this the best Tarantino film? My heart always goes out to Jackie Brown (1997) or the Kill Bills (2003-4). But it’s still pretty good. It’s probably DiCaprio’s best work - it’s a real show part for him. There’re long scenes of him just acting in the TV show within the movie and you forget you actually paid to watch a different film. Brad Pitt’s refreshingly good and brings a sexy cool to the role of put-upon Cliff. Robbie does well as Tate, but doesn’t have much to do but be a shining bright 60′s star on the rise. 

As for Manson and his followers - we briefly see Manson (as he creeps on Jay Sebring), but we mainly meet the girls and Tex as they sponge off George Spahn and his ranch. They’re all as crazy as you’d think, (especially Squeaky played by Dakota Fanning) and you do get a sense of evil from the place. But if you know the history of Manson and the murders, the countdown to the end sends chills. I had a feeling a different outcome would come about - a nice fairy tale ending with the good guys winning and the bad guys ending up shot, stabbed, beat to death and/or torched in a pool. If you want a more in-depth view of Hollywood, Manson and Sharon Tate - listen to the riveting You Must Remember This podcast, Charlie Manson’s Hollywood. You learn all about Manson and his family, how he affected Terry Melcher, Dennis Wilson and others. You learn about Sharon, Sebring and Polanski and you learn about what really happened that horrible night of the Tate Murders. Some say that is what really killed the 60′s. 

The movie is a brief minute in the lives a few folks at the end of the 60′s. The end of the studio system - even the end of the hippie era. Some say the end of innocence before the jaded 70′s hit us with Nixon, Watergate, Vietnam, the economy tanking and all the rest of it. 

I’ve decided that in another life I was an artist/mystery writer/librarian/something that was married to either an aristocratic private detective (ala Lord Peter Wimsey) or a Chief Inspector from Scotland Yard (ala Inspector Roderick Alleyn) or wise-cracking ex-detective (ala Nick Charles).  I’d have my career, but I’d still be able to help solve cases with the hubby if time permits. Sometimes I’d be caught up in them - but we’d be able to work it out in the end. That would be the perfect life for me! (I’d love to be a mystery writer anyway.)

Yes, the picture is from Downton Abbey, but I’ve been reading a lot of Ngaio Marsh lately. I feel like Matthew Goode would be a perfect Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn and Michelle Dockery would be a great Agatha Troy. I think we’re due for a new Roderick Alleyn series (just like we’re in need for a new Campion and a new Wimsey series). Just sayin’. 

Airport 1977 (1977)

The second sequel to Airport (1970), this one is about a bunch of thieves that hijack the plain and end up crashing it into the ocean in the Bermuda Triangle. Jack Lemmon is the captain, Brenda Vaccaro his girlfriend. Christopher Lee, Lee Grant, Olivia De Havilland, Joseph Cotton, and Kathleen Quinlan are all passengers. Most work for James Stewart who owns the plane and is having all his artwork flown to a new location - hence the attempted art heist.

The heist is kind of cool, but never gets pulled off. I like the love story between Lemmon and Vaccaro - it’s very sweet. Lemmon can save the day any day. 

There’s a more melodramatic love story between Lee and Grant. Way too much screen time is devoted to this drama. She’s a lush who is cheating on Lee and she treats him like dirt. He’s just trying to do his job and she keeps heckling him. Eventually, Lee is killed trying to send up an emergency buoy (he plays the floating corpse very realistically). 

Another powerhouse is De Havilland. She makes a grand entrance and immediately tries to win a few hands of poker. She rekindles a love with Cotton and tries to get her friend {and maid} to have a relaxing trip. Unfortunately, De Havilland loses her friend by the end of the film. I could have used more of this plot line than Grant’s screechy histrionics. 

Eventually, the film turns into a commercial for the Navy as they try to raise the plane before it floods completely. 

Overall, this is my favorite Airport movie. It’s not as soapy as Airport (1970). I like the idea of this being a heist gone wrong. Too bad it then kind of turns into a Navy training film with no suspense - we know the Navy will save the day! 

If I could talk to younger me

If I could go back in time and talk to the young me, this is what I would say: 

1) Don’t let anyone bully you out of your dreams. Otherwise you’ll be left with no career and hating yourself.

2) Don’t let fear overrule your world. Move to a different state and stay there. Try new and scary things. Don’t be afraid to show emotion and be vulnerable. Don’t be afraid to fail - at least you tried. Don’t be afraid to be different. Normal is so boring.

3) It doesn’t get much better but it can always get worse.

4) It’s ok to be single. Some people just are.  And if there’s no happily ever after for me, that’s ok too. 

5) Learn to drive. Life is much easier if you can. Plus, folks won’t look down on you like you’re a freak. 

6) Save your money. Even if it’s a little bit a week. 

I wish I had done a lot of things differently. Hopefully, it’s not too late to change. 

Black Narcissus (1947) starring Deborah Kerr, Flora Robson, Jean Simmons, David Farrar and Sabu. A group of nuns are sent to open a convent and school in the Himalayas. Things quickly unravel. Directed by Michael Powell (who also directed The Red Shoes). Jack Cardiff won an Oscar for the excellent cinematography.