This week’s round-up includes a review of the new “Wuthering Heights” film, returning to Westeros in Game of Thrones, working hard on not being a hypocrite to my own words and advice, and much more.

Film

Emerald Fennell‘s long-awaited (by some) version of “Wuthering Heights” has hit cinemas, and I expected to be far more critical of it due to all the talk online, but as it turns out, I rather enjoyed it. You can check out my full review at Dawn of the Tapes, but in a nutshell, it subverted most of my expectations and was an unapologetic explosion of toxic love with superb performances and a soundtrack that slaps.

I have also finally been able to watch Chloe Zhao‘s adaptation of Hamnet, and a review of that will be up in a couple of days, but initial thoughts are that it definitely captured the vibe of the book, had me weeping numerous times, and it’s quite clear to see why it has been nominated for numerous awards.

Television

Due to watching A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and reading George R.R. Martin‘s novellas, I decided it was time for a rewatch of Game of Thrones. I began watching the show sometime between the end of season two and start of season three, and I haven’t watched it again since it ended in 2019. I always thought I wouldn’t enjoy it as much, but man was I wrong! I have been bingeing two to four episodes most days, and it is just as addictive as I remember. What has surprised me though is how quickly Tyrion Lannister, portrayed by Peter Dinklage, became my favourite character this time around (I think that honour was once bestowed upon Jon Snow, played by Kit Harington). He is the most entertaining and interesting character, but he is also the easiest to back in fights and cheer for in successes. It took a lot of strength to tear myself away from watching the show this Sunday evening in order to write this Summary…

(Also, remember when we all went about saying Tyrion’s famous line, “I drink and I know things”? We were so cringe.)

Music

How epic was Bad Bunny‘s Super Bowl half time show!? In all honesty, I’ve not watched the whole thing, but I’ve seen many clips, and it looked and sounded fantastic. I’ve never paid much attention… well, none, truth be told… to BB’s music, but I did so in the past week, and although I understood virtually none of the lyrics (clearly didn’t pay enough attention in two years of GCSE Spanish lessons…), the sound and vibes are more than enough to enjoy. I’ve always thought of Spanish as the most interesting and romantic of languages, so he could be cussing and saying anything and I’ll still be there swooning and not understanding.

As mentioned above, the soundtrack to “Wuthering Heights” is so very good, specifically songs from Charli xcx, and even more specifically Chains of Love, which is placed perfectly within the film. She has also just released an album of original songs, also entitled Wuthering Heights, as a companion album to the film. I’m yet to listen to the full record, but I’m excited to get into it!

Literature

I’ve recently begun reading Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. It’s certainly been on my TBR for a long time, but I’m reading it now because I’m trying to make my way through all the Best Picture Academy Award winners over the past near-100 years and before the 100th ceremony in 2028, with the film adaptation of Gone with the Wind being one of them. I’m only a couple of chapters in, but so far I’m very much enjoying the pacing, the imagery and the characterisation.

I have also begun reading another popular book, The Secret History by Donna Tartt, as I’m trying to read books of the dark academia persuasion, a genre I am attempting to write a book in, though with a dollop of magic mixed in. I’m only a few pages in, so I’m hesitant to give any kind of early thoughts, but I’m sure I’ll have a brief review ready in two or three weeks.

I also finished A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, the collection of the three Tales of Dunk and Egg short stories revolving around the adventures of Ser Duncan ‘Dunk’ the Tall and his squire Egg, and not only was it a joy to be back in George R.R. Martin’s world, but to have a main character who is nothing but good and noble and has good things happen to them (after a few mishaps), is refreshing. The tales are written incredibly well and are so immersive that it’s a travesty that there are only three. Apparently Martin plans to continue the series, but for various reasons, I shan’t be holding my breath.

Gaming

I recently began playing Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. It’s a game I have been putting off purchasing/playing for a long time, as I knew it would probably be a game I’ll become obsessed with (any RPG with puzzles will have me in a chokehold), and thus far I am enjoying it immensely. The mechanics are relatively smooth, the story is interesting (we do love to take down facists!) and it’s also reigniting that old Harrison Ford crush that most people seem to get when they first encounter his films. It was also super fun to get to play a rendition of the opening scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark in the game’s preface!

I am also incredibly happy to see that a release date of May 12th has been announced for the next much-anticipated game from Supermassive Games, and the fifth entry in The Dark Pictures series, Directive 8020. The Dark Pictures is an anthology of interactive horror games (choose-your-own-adventure) that I absolutely love, and considering anything to do with (bad) aliens terrifies me, making one the antagonist of the newest game is both horrifying and thrilling for me! I both cannot wait to play and am dreading it!

Life

I have found myself watching less films and reading less recently, mostly because my head has been caught in a whirl of my own creations that I’m trying to get down on paper (or Scrivener, as it were). However, I have also found myself feeling sick and numb with fear at the thought of trying to write. The ideas are there, but so is the pressure to create something good. I’m trying hard to learn to let go and just write, as I don’t want to be a hypocrite to my own words, but damn. The Brain is a fickle little genius.

A Random Fact I’ve Learned

This is going to make me sound so dumb, but following on from my post last week about NASA’s Artemis program, I wondered why it was that they named the program Artemis, mostly thinking from a galactic perspective. Perhaps it’s because she shoots arrows, like we’re shooting people into space… then it fucking hit me… the space program created back in the ’60s was named Apollo… ARTEMIS IS APOLLO’S TWIN SISTER. I’ll say no more about this and I’ll thank you not to mention it in future, either.