“The Hotel Nantucket” Review

I like to give myself challenges because I like the feeling of completing something.  I have decided to read all of the books that were nominated for a GoodReads Choice Award in 2022.  I started with the fiction category as that is the first category listed and picked The Hotel Nantucket as my first book in this challenge because it was the only one available as an audiobook that was checked in at my library.

“After a tragic fire in 1922 that killed 19-year-old chambermaid, Grace Hadley, The Hotel Nantucket descended from a gilded age gen, to a mediocre budget-friendly lodge to inevitably an abandoned eyesore -until it’s purchased and renovated top to bottom by London billionaire, Xavier Darling.  Xavier hires Nantucket sweetheart Lizbet Keaton as his general manager, and Lizbet, in turn, pulls together a charismatic, if inexperienced, staff who share the vision of turning the fate of the hotel around.  They face challenges in getting along with one another (and with the guests), in overcoming the hotel’s bad reputation, and in surviving the (mostly) harmless shenanigans of Grace herself — who won’t stop haunting the hotel until her murder is acknowledged.

One of the major things that stood out to me about this book was that we focused on a whole cast of characters.  There are a few characters that we focus more on, but this story is driven by the ensemble we are following.  All of these characters connect back to the hotel in some way, which I found very entertaining.  But, I also think there were too many storylines that I personally got lost with some of the smaller characters and their plotlines.  It reminded me a lot of the movie “Knives Out” with all of the moving parts between the staff and guests of the Hotel Nantucket.  I just think it was not for me at the moment of reading it with how lost I got at times.

This was also my first Elin Hilderbrand book that I have read.  I have seen a lot of her novels available as Book of the Month choices so I have always been intrigued to pick one up.  I think that Hilderbrand has a nice and simple style of writing that can bring any type of reader into her universe.  I have never been to Nantucket, but I felt like I was there thanks to this book.  It was the writing style that kept me reading and I can greatly appreciate that especially since I personally got confused with the cast of characters but that was all my fault.

I do not think I gave this book a fair chance when I was reading it.  While it was a fun story with an interesting batch of characters, I felt lost trying to keep up with everything that was happening.  I want to give this book another chance in the future but this is where I  stand with it at the moment.

Why TRIANGLE OF SADNESS Should Win Best Picture

Along with family trauma, “Eat the Rich” seems to be another common theme explored in media nowadays.  We have seen it in “The Menu”, “Glass Onion” and the one film that was able to grab a Best Picture slot “Triangle of Sadness”.

Set aboard a luxury yacht, Carl and Yaya — models and social media influencers — are surrounded by wealthy guests of all backgrounds and a crew that will stop at nothing to meet their needs.  When tragedy strikes the yacht, roles are reversed to see who can survive.

There is a lot of commentary out there about the top 1% of society and this film’s approach is to make it as a satirical black comedy.  It is broken up into three parts: Carl and Yaya, The Yacht and The Island.  Part One focuses on the relationship dynamics between Carl and Yaya.  Even though they are in the same line of work, Yaya gets paid more as a female model while also gaining a huge following online as an influencer.  We see how Carl is treated as a male model, feeling uncomfortable with the campaign he is doing and not getting front row seating when he is at one of Yaya’s runway shows.  But what this part focuses on is the relationship between the two.  After a dinner, Carl is expecting Yaya to pay the bill as she has promised she would pick it up the last time they went out, while Yaya automatically assumes Carl will pay for it as he is the man in their relationship.  Their conversation takes place in the restaurant, in the cab, and in the elevator of their hotel until it is (somewhat) resolved in the end.  This part of the movie not only introduces us to our protagonists, but establishes what they want out of life.  Both have a strong focus on the importance of providing.  Carl claims that he does not want to focus on gender roles when it comes to things like money because he wants them to be equals in their relationship.  But I think this is an excuse that Carl tells himself because he wants to be a provider for Yaya but cannot in their current moment in life.  He does not make as much money as her, which goes against the traditional standards the previous generation has gone through.  He feels bad that he cannot give Yaya everything that she wants to make her feel secure, so he gets in arguments with her about something as simple as paying the bill.  Yes, he wants to be seen as an equal to Yaya when it comes to their relationship, but the fact that he cannot give her the basics of her lifestyle means that he will never be good enough for her.  When Carl is able to provide something for two women in the third part of the movie, we see him feel better about himself and what he is doing because he is filling in that role as a provider.  This part not only establishes what Carl thinks of his relationship with Yaya, but Yaya herself tells us that she is only with Carl for the followers for both of them and how it can help both of their careers.  She is providing for them in a more untraditional way with the rise of social media and how fake relationships can boost sales or clicks or whatever is making them the money.  Yaya says she will stay with Carl until she meets a rich man that can give her everything she needs for the rest of her life.  Yaya, like Carl, cares about have things provided for — but instead of being the provider she feels comfort in being the providee.  There is nothing wrong with feeling comfort in knowing that your basic needs will be taken care of by your partner.  Her needs might not really all fall under the umbrella of being “necessary” but she deserves that feeling of being provided for just as much as anyone else.  We see both sides of what it means to have the feeling of knowing you are okay for the present and future, which plays into how their relationship ends up by the final part.

For Part Two, we are on the yacht, where Carl and Yaya have been invited for free in exchange for promotion of the trip.  We are introduced to the staff of the yacht, broken up into the staff that has more face-to-face interaction with the customers on board and those who are doing more of the behind the scenes work.  It is not surprising that it is mostly white, good-looking individuals that are apart of the customer satisfaction crew and people of color working away from the cruise-goers; they are even wearing white and navy shirts respectively.  Paula, the head of staff, make sure to tell the white-shirt employees to follow and accept any kind of offer the guests might ask, no matter how absurd.  If they follow every single request, there is a great chance they will end up getting a very big tip.  They end this meeting by chanting “Money! Money! Money!” because even those who are not seen as the rich that are on board, they still care about how much they will make at the end of their shift.  As someone who has worked a variety of customer service jobs, I understand the want of making people feel good about the service we are providing.  But I will also be the first one to tell you that the customer is not always right.  There are better ways of making sure all guests are satisfied, but having your only response be “Yes sir” and “Yes ma’am” is not what makes great service.  We see this when Vera, the wife of a Russian oligarch, insists that the entire staff take a break and go for a swim.  You can see how much Alicia, the young worker, is struggling to say yes as she is the first one to be asked to go in the hot tub with Vera; she was told she has to please the guests but she also has a duty to complete her work.  When you have money and power, you think that everyone will bend over backwards to make your life better because you have something they do not.  Whatever you are doing at that present moment is not as important as the request that they have of you.  After Alicia finally gets in the hot tub, Vera calls Paula over and makes the entire crew, both white-shirts and navy-shirts, stop what they are doing and take a slide down the blow-up slide the yacht has because they are all working so hard they deserve a break.  Because Paula has put in place this “Don’t Say No” rule, she also has to follow it and requires the crew to stop everything.  This includes the cooks, as they are preparing the dinner and cannot leave their stations in risk of the food going bad.  But the rich Russian lady wants you to go swimming so you must obey!  There is a lot of entitlement that comes with having the means to do extravagant things, but that does not mean that you always have to listen to them.  It is okay to say no to people in power because they are not always right.  You also cannot put people who work below you at such a risk of displeasing someone that it could get them fired essentially by the guest and not from you as the boss.  Rich people do not always need to have power, but unfortunately that is what our society has come to.  Vera sure is regretting making the entire staff do something at her whim by the end of this part though.

After tragedy hits the yacht, few characters are left stranded on a deserted island with little resources and no knowledge on how to actually survive.  Most of the people that end up on the island are the rich guests that have not had to do anything themselves in who knows how long.  Living a life of privilege does not always guarantee that you will get through all aspects of life.  You have access to more knowledge and resources than the average person to learn how to survive in the wilderness but you never take advantage of it because your daily life does not require you to utilize those skills.  Only one person, Abigail (who is part of the custodial staff on the yacht), can build a fire and catch the food and has to be the provider for everyone on the island.  One of the best parts of the movie is when Abigail realizes her power she has while they are all stranded on this island and makes all of the rich people and her boss say that she is the captain of the island.  And she has every right to because she is the only one that can keep them alive.  She knows that the power dynamics have shifted in her favor, something she has probably never experienced before.  When she crashed on the island, Paula was still giving her tasks to do because Paula’s only focus was keeping the guests happy.  But they are not on the yacht anymore — it should not be run the same way it was before.  The one with the most knowledge should be the one that is in charge, something we are not used to in society because money usually is what gets you power.  But just because you have the power when you deserve it does not mean you are immune to what comes with it.  Abigail runs the show at the beginning of their time on the island, but as everyone else is learning how to adapt and fend for themselves, she begins to feel threatened that her skills will no longer be beneficial to the group, therefore she will not need to be in power anymore.  They are all about to become the most equal amongst each other as the rich guests’ skills grow, and Abigail does not want that.  Even though she will still be the top dog, she will not have as much power as she once had.  Especially if there are threats to get them off of the island because she wants that power for as long as she can have it because if they leave that island, she will never have that same kind of rank again.  Power corrupts and it is why she can convince Carl to give her sexual favors in exchange for food for him and Yaya.  She knows the kind of grip she has on him and she will stop at nothing to keep that control.

There is time for change when it comes to how we view money in relation to power but also how we view power over those we find weaker than us, which is why it should win Best Picture.

This one is for the social media critics.

Why THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN Should Win Best Picture

After being quarantined for well over a year, myself and many others were itching to get out and spend quality time with our friends.  That is not the case for Colm though, as he no longer wants to spend any time with Padraic, leaving him unaware and confused on this sudden shift in their lives.  “The Banshees of Inisherin” explores the ending of this friendship in one of the funniest yet saddest movies I have seen this year.

Off the coast of Ireland towards the end of the Irish Civil War, drinking buddies Colm and Padraic reach a roadblock in their friendship as Colm abruptly cuts Padraic off, claiming he is too dull and wants to focus on creating something that he will be remembered for with the remaining years of his life.  Padraic, while perfectly nice, does not understand this new situation he is so quickly put in and continues to try to befriend Colm again, until Colm threatens to cut off his own fingers every time Padraic speaks to him.

From that basic description, it may seem weird how that could make a funny yet devastating picture.  What I love about this movie is how simple the premise is.  You do not need to have read a book beforehand or be a fan of a specific genre; you just need to be a person.  Losing a friend, whether by a fallout or changing of lives, is tough and hurtful.  You want to know what you did or if you could change one aspect about your relationship to repair it.  But sometimes, it is not anything you did — that person has just changed.  That is what Colm is trying to tell Padraic throughout the movie.  He does not want Padraic in his life anymore because his needs and wants for his remaining years are different than what they used to be.  Does Colm go about ending their friendship in the best way?  No, absolutely not.  It happens so abruptly to Padraic that when I watched I thought I missed a scene.  I think this quick ending of a friendship that sets off the whole chain of events for the film is to show us that when you only think of your own feelings, you are blocked from seeing how it can affect anyone else.  I do not think it was selfish of Colm to end his friendship with Padraic, but it was selfish how he went about it.  Your actions matter even if you think your feelings are the only ones that are important.

As Padraic is failing to come to terms with this major change in his life, Dominic tries to fill this void as he also does not have any friends.  Dominic’s father beats him in public as he is “troubled” and is seen to get on people’s nerves even though he means well.  Padraic and his sister Siobhan take him in for a temporary amount of time.  Both Padraic and Dominic are outcasted by people that mean a lot to them and are important in their lives and that is what makes them perfect for each other at this moment.  Others may be put off by their quirks and that is what drives them together.  Padraic does not really want to become close friends with Dominic as his main focus is getting Colm back in his life.  But Dominic is right there ready to become that person Padraic is looking for.  Sometimes, friends can be found during the lowest points of your life, and if you do not appreciate them when they show up and make an effort, you may lose your only chance to really get to know them.

One of the funniest scenes in the movie is when Padraic is trying to prove to himself that he is not just “dull and too nice” like Colm thinks he is.  Instead of ignoring what Colm is saying about him. he goes to the extreme and tells a music student of Colm who is visiting the island for a lesson that his father has been gravely injured and needs to leave Inisherin immediately.  Padraic is so desperate to make Colm see him in a different light that he drives anyone away who has a chance of taking his place as Colm’s friend.  Colm wants to leave something behind when he is gone — that being his music — and Padraic is ruining those chances because he cannot accept that his former friend no longer wants to be in his life.  Padraic thinks that his lie to the music student will prove to Colm that he is not dull that he is not afraid to proudly admit it when they are about to reconcile.  You should not compromise yourself and what you believe in just to impress one person after they have made it clear they do not want you in their life anymore.  Whether that be a break up or losing a friend, you are great as you and you do not need to change just to get someone to like you.

Throughout the movie, we are reminded that the Irish Civil War is taking place.  I was actually unaware that Ireland had their own civil war in the early 1920s.  The war was between the Provisional Government of Ireland and the Irish Republican Army over the Anglo-Irish Treaty.  The Provisional Government, who were in favor of the treaty, ended up winning but the way left more dead than their own War of Independence did and left their society divided to this day.  Having this war as the backdrop of this movie is used perfectly to represent the in-fighting between those who used to have a connection.  The end of the film really drives this point home, as Colm wonders if the war is over and Padraic responds with even if it is, it might be better if the things they were fighting about cannot be moved on from.  Based on all of the events these characters have been through, bringing their feud to a new head once death and arson are involved, we forget why they were really fighting in the first place.  Both sides are not forever affected by the constant battles and no one is left off better than the other.  No matter how much the anti-treaty forces kept fighting, they would never have the resources to take down their own government.  Padraic could keep fighting for his friendship with Colm, but Colm would never budge as his mind was made up and he had threats ready for Padraic in case he did not respect his request to not talk anymore.

“The Banshees of Inisherin” shows us that life can change quickly and without warning, but we should never compromise ourselves or those who remain in our lives to reach an unobtainable dream, and that is why it should win Best Picture.

This one is for those who need a laugh during a sad time.

Why EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE Should Win Best Picture

I’m sure if you told the original 36 member of The Academy that a movie that includes a universe where people have hot dogs for fingers is the current frontrunner for Best Picture, they would have probably been left speechless.  Current members of The Academy might also be speechless.  But there is so much behind the zaniness that is “Everything Everywhere All at Once” that makes it the perfect choice for Best Picture.

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” (which I will be abbreviating as “EEAAO” from now on) follows the story of Evelyn, Waymond and Joy Wang as their laundromat business is being audited by the IRS while their family is struggling emotionally.  During their meeting, Evelyn is greeted by Alpha-Waymond of another universe, telling her she is the only one who can prevent the multiverse from falling to Jobu Tupaki whose goal is to create a toroid singularity.  Evelyn and Alpha-Waymond are able to verse-jump to different versions of themselves within the multiverse, harnessing the powers of those other versions to defeat Jobu and save the multiverse.

Science-Fiction films occasionally get recognition at the Oscars but only when they are big budget films that can usually, on the surface, appeal to a general audience.  That on top of the categorization of being an “absurdist comedy” usually does not get a huge population of people to check it out.  But “EEAAO” is a different kind of science-fiction film, as it includes strong themes of family, the meaning of life, and valuing you at your current moment in life.  And because everyone can relate to something the movie is trying to portray, along with it being a little crazy, it is no surprise that it made over $100 million, becoming A24’s highest grossing film of all time.

But a lot of movies, especially recently, have explored the same themes.  Why is this on different?  I feel like one of the main reasons is because of this mix of genres it plays with.  It has your important family moments — Evelyn not fully accepting of Joy’s girlfriend or what Joy has done with her life, Waymond wanting a divorce as he is not feeling important anymore, the possibility of losing their business, and Evelyn still wanting to impress her judgemental father. There is so much that can be pulled out of this film aside from the fun antics of the multiverse and that is why everyone can love it.  We have all gone through something that our main characters — either their main forms or one of their multiverse forms — have gone through and really makes us think about our decisions.  The multiverse personas we see arise because of the decisions the main characters make at some point in their lives.  One of the major ones that stands out is Evelyn deciding not to immigrate to American with Waymond.  In this universe, Evelyn becomes a Kung-Fu movie star and Waymond a successful business man, but both end up alone.  It is when we see clips from this universe that show us how just because you are rich and successful does not mean you end up with the perfect for you.  These scenes are some of the most heart-breaking to me, and Ke Huy Quan’s performance is what sells it.  Do not be surprised if someone who loves this movie starts crying when you mention taxes and laundry.

I also love the idea that Evelyn of the main universe is chosen to defeat Jobu Tupaki because she is the one that is the least stable in her current life out of all of the other Evelyns.  She is “the greatest failure” and therefore the best one to save the universe.  I love this idea of the person who seems the least likely to do anything right is the only one who can do anything.  It takes the trope of The Chosen One — someone who is destined to do great things — and flips it to be more realistic.  I cannot connect to a character who is naturally born great on a deep level, but I can connect to the one that is a complete mess.  There is so much going on in our lives that sometimes it feels like we cannot do anything right.  I have felt like this many times in my life.  But seeing that feeling being used as a strength makes me feel validated as a person when I think everything around me is not going the way that it “should” be.  There is power behind not feeling like everything is in your control and that is the beauty of life and my personal biggest takeaway from the film.

The reason why these themes hit home for myself and many others is because of the performances.  Michelle Yeoh (Evelyn), Ke Huy Quan (Waymond), Stephanie Hsu (Joy) and Jamie Lee Curtis (Deidre, the IRS worker) have all won awards for their respective roles along with the whole cast walking away with the Screen Actors Guild award for Best Ensemble.  All of this recognition is very well deserved because you connect with the characters no matter what multiverse version was currently on screen.  It’s hard enough to play one character as well as the cast did, but the fact that they have to jump back and forth between completely different versions of the characters they are playing is a task.  And everyone does it to 110%.  My personal favorite of the bunch, Stephanie Hsu, uses her background as a Broadway actress to propel her first film performance to all new heights.  Quan’s performance also makes me cry every time I think about it and I cannot wait to (hopefully) hear his future Oscar speech this Sunday.

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” touches upon deep themes and meanings while keeping you entertained with the current trend of the multiverse by turning the idea on its head, and that is why I think it should win Best Picture.

This one is for the weirdos.

 

“80 for Brady” is Exactly What You Expect it to Be

80 for Brady is one of those movies that drew me in from the first trailer, as it looked like four fabulous actresses having fun in a crowd-pleasing film.  I did not expect to see people (mostly men) on Twitter complain how “older women should not have sexual thoughts as we are supposed to look up to them,” so I knew I had to be sat in the theater day one.  Were my expectations super high for this movie?  No, but I was pleasantly surprised with the result of certain aspects of the story.

Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno, and Sally Field are all delights in their roles; I looked forward to seeing each of them on screen.  However, each of their characters are a little bit on-dimensional — we have the smart mathy one, the flirty one, etc.  With that, each character is also experiencing and representing a different aspect of getting older.  There are so many things that go into the journey of aging that we are afraid to talk about and I think this movie is at it’s strongest when it focuses on those aspects.  Topics discussed include not wanting to know if a disease has come back, losing your significant other, trying to find love and standing up for yourself to your partner.  Even though I am not within the age range of the leading ladies, each of these topics hit me hard emotionally and you can feel the impact of those messages through the performances.  This is when the film is at its strongest.

The film starts to fall apart when they try to incorporate the ladies attending the Super Bowl.  Now, I did not go into this film expecting it to be realistic, but it was the parts where they try to get into the game and everything that happens during the game just did not do it for me.  Tom Brady also needed a few more acting lessons but the rest of the players were entertaining enough.  There is not much to say past that, but all the elderly folks in my theater gasping at every moment during the game as if they did not know what was going to happen kept me very entertained.

This is the perfect movie to put on when they boys are watching football with a group of girlies and a glass of wine, which is why I am giving this a Luvdisc on my Pokémon Rating System.