Page 6 August 1, 2019 EL SEGUNDO HERALD
Entertainment
Check It Out
Film Review
How to Build a Hug: Temple
Grandin and Her Amazing Squeeze
Machine by Amy Guglielmo and
Jacqueline Tourville
By Kristen Morrell,
Youth Services Librarian
How to Build a Hug tells the story of Temple
Grandin and how her feelings about hugs inspired
her to design her very own hug machine.
Temple wanted to be held, but when a person
hugged her it felt like being stuffed into the
scratchiest sock in the world and led to her
kicking, screaming and pulling away. Temple
later attended a special boarding school that
allowed children with different abilities like
her to grow and flourish. She made friends and
excelled in art and science. She continued to
build things, showing her engineering strengths
through creations like model rockets and even
a lift for the school’s ski slope.
In the summer Temple continued to invent
and build things while she stayed at her aunt’s
ranch in Arizona. One day on her aunt’s ranch,
Temple saw a nervous calf get escorted into
a squeeze chute. She saw that the squeeze
chute helped to calm the calf down and so she
was inspired to invent her own hug machine!
Temple put her inventor’s cap on and went to
work sketching out a plan and gathering supplies
to build her hug machine. Temple was
proud of her invention and brought it home
to show her family. She used it any time she
felt nervous or scared and in need of a hug.
Temple Grandin was born at a time when little
was understood about autism. This book does
a wonderful job of highlighting the amazing
strengths of Temple and provides inspiration
to young girls interested in STEAM careers.
To check out How to Build a Hug: Temple
Grandin and Her Amazing Squeeze Machine,
or to browse more nonfiction books for kids,
please visit the library to apply for your free
library card. For more young reader picks and
staff favorites, stop by our Youth Services Desk.
Our friendly Youth Services Librarians would
love to help you find your next great read. •
How to Build a Hug: Temple Grandin and Her Amazing Squeeze
Machine by Amy Guglielmo and Jacqueline Tourville Kristen Morell
Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood
is a Glamorous Tale of the
’60s Gruesome End
By Morgan Rojas for Cinemacy
When watching a Quentin Tarantino film,
here’s what you can expect to see play out
in 35mm. You’ll find satire mixed with dark
humor, excessive violence, a large ensemble
cast of who’s who, and a killer soundtrack, to
name a few. His ninth (and possibly final?)
film, Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood, is
Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt in Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood, Courtesy of Sony Pictures
classic Tarantino in the best way possible.
There are just enough surprises to make this
3-hour cinematic experience stand out among
his infamous repertoire.
Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood is
a love letter to the Los Angeles of 1969.
The hippie movement was infiltrating into
the status quo, movie stars still carried an
air of mystery, and the Playboy mansion
hosted the most banging pool parties. The
times may be calling for peace and love
but Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio), a
washed-up TV western star in a midlife
crisis, feels that his best years are behind
him. His former stuntman-turned-personal
assistant, Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), echoes a
similar sentiment -- although he expresses
it in more controlled outbursts.
The duo’s woes are only one of the film’s
multiple parallel storylines. There’s Sharon
Tate’s (Margo Robbie) blossoming film career
and relationship with Roman Polanski (Rafal
Zawierucha), the rise of Charles Manson’s
(Damon Herriman) “family,” and other oneoffs.
Because the film is similar to Pulp
Fiction in some ways, fans of Tarantino’s
will appreciate his diversion from the traditional
linear storyline for a more inventive
and unique approach.
It’s undeniable that this cast is something
extraordinary. The dynamic between Di-
Caprio and Pitt is one of the most organic
relationships I’ve seen in a long time. They
achieve a certain soul-brother vibe that I can
only imagine occurs once in a great while.
Giving praise to the rest of the brilliant cast
would take too long, but some standouts
include Margaret Qualley as Manson flower
child Pussycat, Austin Butler as “the devil
himself” Tex, Al Pacino as the stereotypically
greasy Hollywood agent, and rising star
Julia Butters who plays an overly mature
child actor starring alongside Rick Dalton.
A near-perfect ensemble, many players here
have overlapped in previous films, the most
obvious being DiCaprio’s reunion with Robbie
(The Wolf of Wall Street), although their
shared screen time here unfortunately lasts
only a few minutes.
Perhaps it’s Tarantino’s own nostalgia
seeping into the script. Having grown up in
Los Angeles, the film feels very sentimental
and nostalgic of a time and place that holds a
special place in his heart. The local hotspots,
like Musso + Frank, El Coyote, Frolic Room
and even a loose reference to the theater that
he now owns, The New Beverly, all feel like
personal touches that Angelinos will fall in
love with when they see those landmarks
on screen.
There have been a lot of rumors swirling
around Tarantino’s ninth film. Some claim
it’s his last, others claim its sexist, but one
thing is certain: when the film premiered
at Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, it
received a seven-minute standing ovation.
Selfishly, I hope that Once Upon a Time in…
Hollywood is not Tarantino’s last film -- but
if it is, he has gone out on top. •
Morgan Rojas
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