Cleopatra and Frankenstein, Bottoms, and The Before Trilogy.
Week 147.
Hello hello! I had a *very* good content week and I am excited to tell you all about it! Here’s a recap of my week:
Things I Read
Books
If you’re looking for a book to read, try this list of contemporary romance recs, this list of other fiction recs, or this list of non-fiction recs.
I net out sort of medium, but generally positive, on both of these books, but I have also been thinking about them so much in the days since I finished them, and I do love when a book has that effect on me. They both made me think a lot.
Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors: This is about a British woman named Cleo who is in her twenties, in New York City, when she meets Frank, a man who is 20+ years her senior. They hastily get married as her visa is about to expire, and then we follow them, their families, and their friends throughout the following year as that decision reverberates throughout all of their lives. I can see this being extremely polarizing. All of these people are a MESS. If you need to like the characters in order to like the book, this is probably not for you. The writing in this is just gorgeous, so many beautiful sentences that I would have underlined if I owned the copy I was reading. I’ve seen this on a bunch of “read if you like Sally Rooney” lists, and while I understand the comparison I also think her name gets thrown around a lot and nothing is ever as good. But I do think you’re more likely to like this if you’re a Sally Rooney fan.
My Last Innocent Year by Daisy Alpert Florin: Felt similarly about this one. This takes place in the 1980s at a college that is not called Dartmouth but is definitely Dartmouth. Isabel is a senior, and she has a confusing sexual encounter with another student and then enters into an extremely ill advised relationship with a professor, all against the backdrop of the Bill Clinton sex scandal. This touched on so many interesting themes— like consent and power and art and autonomy— but I never felt like it actually said anything about them. These are all topics that I have thought and read a lot about, both in fiction and non-fiction, and I don’t think this said anything new or even that deep. Once again the writing is this is so good, I will remember this more for the writing than for the plot. It’s under 300 pages and I read it super quickly, but at then I was just kinda like….okay and???? I liked this but I also wanted it to be better.
Articles
Listening to Taylor Swift in Prison: This is a really beautiful piece of writing by Joe Garcia, who has been incarcerated for over 20 years, about his relationship with music and love of Taylor Swift. This is such a good example of how important it can be for incarcerated people to have ways of maintaining connections to the outside world, and I hope it makes everyone who reads it think twice about policies that make it harder for them to do that. This piece is published in The New Yorker, and it got there because Joe worked with Prison Journalism Project, a non-profit organization that publishes art and writing by people who are incarcerated. I volunteered for PJP while I was in grad school and I think it’s an incredible organization doing really important work.
Things I Watched
TV
If you’re looking for a show to watch, try this list.
The Afterparty (AppleTV+): I found the second season of this to be a bit of a let down. I really liked season one but didn’t think this one was nearly as good. The basic structure is the same: it’s a murder mystery, and every episode is told from a different character’s point of view and in a different genre. This is such a fun and creative premise, and I had a great time with season one. Season two has some of the same characters, but it’s a new mystery and takes on new genres. I think to me is just felt sort of…half baked? Like a first draft. I was invested enough to want to know the ending, but the whole time I was just thinking about how season one was better. This sounds harsh…I still liked it and think this is worth watching if you want a fun murder mystery! The first season is just better than the second.
Movies
The Before Trilogy: This trilogy of movies, Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, and Before Midnight, is consistently on lists of the best romance movies ever made, the best trilogies ever made, etc. I’ve been meaning to watch it forever and last weekend I finally went for it. Oh…..my GOD. I loved these movies so, so much. Before Sunrise (1995) is about Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) who meet on a train and then spend a night wandering around Vienna together. I think this is the most romantic movie I’ve ever seen? There’s so many beautiful moments and conversations through it, they have incredible chemistry, I finished it and immediately had to watch the next one because I needed more of their story. Before Sunrise (2004) takes place nine years later, and takes place in real time over the course of ~90 minutes. It’s just the two of them talking again, but I was so in it and my heart was racing the whole time. Before Midnight (2013) is, again, nine years later. I loved these movies SO much, I cannot stop thinking about them, I cannot believe I waited this long to watch them. I said more in this Instagram post. This trilogy is instantly going on my list of favorite movies of all time, all three of them. If you’ve seen these or if you watch them now, PLEASE let me know. Comment here, call, text, send a carrier pigeon, I don’t care, I’m dying to talk about these forever. I rented the first two on Amazon and the third one is streaming on Max.
Bottoms (theaters): This movie RULES. It’s so hysterically funny, I laughed so much. Rachel Sennott (one of the funniest people in movies right now) and Ayo Edebiri (a STAR) play two unpopular high school girls who start a fight club at school. They frame it as a women’s empowerment thing, but it’s really just a ploy to help them hook up with cheerleaders. This is the funniest movie I’ve seen this year, the cast is incredible, I loved this so much. It clearly pays homage to cult classics like But I’m a Cheerleader and Wet Hot American Summer while also feeling so new and modern. Nicholas Galitzine plays a dumb football player, basically the opposite of what he was doing in RWRB, and he’s hilarious. Marshawn Lynch plays a teacher and had me cracking up. I can’t wait to watch this again and catch all the jokes I missed the first time. This is written and directed by Emma Seligman, who also made Shiva Baby, a movie I really liked in 2020. This has cemented them as a must see director for me, and I think Bottoms is going into the classic teen movie cannon. I will revisit this countless times. So good.
Things I Bought
You can read about my full skincare routine and favorite products here. If you need a sunscreen recommendation, try this list.
Shoe rack: I realized pretty quickly after moving into my new place that I needed something to deal with the shoe situation by my front door, but there is not a ton of space in my entryway so I needed something that didn’t take up a lot of room. This hardly takes up any space and just fits perfectly into a tiny lil corner. If you live in a small space or if you don’t have a ton of space near your front door this is perfect.
One Last Thing…
Oh I am obsessed. It’s so good. This sounds like the soundtrack to a teen movie from the early 2000s. It’s so FUN. I love all-american bitch, and love is embarrassing, and get him back. I can’t wait to scream this album at a concert. I wish it was longer! She’s so good.
That’s it for me! This week I’m going to watch the new season of Selling the OC and, unfortunately, the season premiere of The Morning Show.
TTYL,
Emily