What A Great Film!

What a great film!

Boy, I got vision and the rest of the world wears bifocals.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) dir. George Roy Hill

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. 

The Lady Emily Mystery series by Tasha Alexander. 

Lady Emily is a feisty amateur detective. A recent widow living in late Victorian England, Emily is a young, recent widow. She barely knew her husband before he passed away while on expedition in Africa. Too bad she soon learns he was murdered. It doesn’t take long for her to work on solving his murder.

This series is a fun trifle with many, many books. I’ve gotten through five of them so far. Sometimes the mysteries aren’t that great and the villains (and red herring villains) are all nasty with few redeeming qualities. The main characters are still fun and interesting. 

Emily soon falls in love her late husband’s best friend, Colin Hargreaves. He’s kind of James Bond-type agent for the Crown. This romance isn’t as slow a burn as the Deanna Raybourn series, and when the two are together they are the most darling, adorable couple. Too bad Colin can sometimes play the over-protective husband who’d rather Emily studied Greek than solve murders. She’s too stubborn and independent to be banished from crime solving, so it causes trouble between the two. 

Another series with a female detective heroine with a smart, sexy love interest. I picture Jenna Coleman as Emily and Matthew Goode as Colin Hargreaves. I just wish the mysteries were better. 

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. 

The Lady Julia Grey series by Deanna Rabourn. 

I’ve discovered this wonderful series about mystery solver, Lady Julia Grey. Set in 19th century England, we first meet Lady Julia as her husband lays dying. Turns out he was murdered. An inquiry agent - tall, dark, dreamy and moody Nicholas Brisbane is hired to investigate. Soon the two are bickering like lovers as they try to solve the crime together. The romance between these two is a slow burn (I’ve almost finished book two, but they don’t get married until book four) - both have a crazy amount of baggage. Brisbane has a mysterious background and Julia has a crazy, wacky family (besides the fact that her husband was murdered). 

I do like this series so far - the mysteries are pretty layered. Too bad I suspected who the killer was in book one from the beginning of the book, really. But there are lots of twists and turns to make things exciting. 

I know it’s set in the late 1800′s, but I do wish people wouldn’t treat Julia like she was a brain dead potted plant. I know women had few rights and were only good for getting married. But Lady Julia is a rich widow and has more freedoms than most. I just wish Brisbane, in particular, didn’t treat her like she was an idiot. Sure, sometimes she makes stupid choices, but she has good reasons. Brisbane will do anything to keep her safe - including take her out of the investigation.

I love a good detective series. I love a detective series featuring a female heroine and a smart, sexy love interest. It’s when they work together ala Nick and Nora Charles that these kind of books are perfect for me. Can’t wait to read the other books!

Matthew Goode and Vanessa Kirby were so electrifying as Tony Armstrong-Jones and Princess Margaret in The Crown (2016-).