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Thread: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino)

  1. #1
    In the belly of a whale Henry Gale's Avatar
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    Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino)

    Last 11 things I really enjoyed:

    Speed Racer (Wachowski/Wachowski, 2008)
    Safe (Haynes, 1995)
    South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (Parker, 1999)
    Beastie Boys Story (Jonze, 2020)
    Bad Trip (Sakurai, 2020)
    What's Up Doc? (Bogdanovich, 1972)
    Diva (Beineix, 1981)
    Delicatessen (Caro/Jeunet, 1991)
    The Hunger (Scott, 1983)
    Pineapple Express (Green, 2008)
    Chungking Express (Wong, 1994)

  2. #2
    In the belly of a whale Henry Gale's Avatar
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    HMMMM.

    What an odd movie, and somehow even weirder remembering Tarantino made it. Part of my mind spirals down that old fruitless hypothetical question of "What would people think of it if someone else directed this?" but honestly it's because it's the first film of Tarantino's that often feels completely unlike him, and I'm not sure if that makes it more or less interesting. If anything it feels like a Paul Thomas Anderson work where moments of it were workshopped with Edgar Wright or somebody. (And I realize the three of them know each other and have inevitably been mutually influential to one another.)

    So yeah.. I have a lotta, lotta not-quite-fully-formed thoughts and things to digest with this. For now I know I definitely didn't love it (which out of the gate is first for me with Quentin!) but it also has the feel of the type of work where maybe another viewing would crack open something totally new in it for me. So right now I am hopeful for that but otherwise mostly perplexed.
    Last 11 things I really enjoyed:

    Speed Racer (Wachowski/Wachowski, 2008)
    Safe (Haynes, 1995)
    South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (Parker, 1999)
    Beastie Boys Story (Jonze, 2020)
    Bad Trip (Sakurai, 2020)
    What's Up Doc? (Bogdanovich, 1972)
    Diva (Beineix, 1981)
    Delicatessen (Caro/Jeunet, 1991)
    The Hunger (Scott, 1983)
    Pineapple Express (Green, 2008)
    Chungking Express (Wong, 1994)

  3. #3
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    Quote Quoting Henry Gale (view post)
    For now I know I definitely didn't love it
    This as a bad sign, gents

  4. #4
    In the belly of a whale Henry Gale's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Irish (view post)
    This as a bad sign, gents
    Well I'll say this, if I'm going by initial gut reactions, this feels like bottom tier Quentin but in my more comprehensive and rational part of my brain I know this is probably a lot better than, say, Death Proof or Django Unchained, even if those movie's more instantly gratifying, crowd-pleasing flavours help better mask what they may not otherwise have going for them. Those movies are mostly dressing with little salad, and OUATIH feels like all salad. It may be better in the long run even if it doesn't taste as nice.

    Not to say it'll go the same way here, but it reminds me of when I first saw The Life Aquatic opening weekend, largely disappointed and dismissive of it, thinking it was largely territory Anderson had tackled before with slightly different characters and stylistic flourishes behind it. Then somewhere over time and multiple viewings later it became one of my absolute favourites of his. The difference here is it feels so unlike other current Tarantino works. It feels almost like a more natural film for him to have made between Jackie Brown and Inglorious Basterds, both for its more naturalistic style and history-bending antics. It's dialed down, at ease, but also nonchalantly anarchic. I'm not sure I expected (or in the moment realized) that.
    Last 11 things I really enjoyed:

    Speed Racer (Wachowski/Wachowski, 2008)
    Safe (Haynes, 1995)
    South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (Parker, 1999)
    Beastie Boys Story (Jonze, 2020)
    Bad Trip (Sakurai, 2020)
    What's Up Doc? (Bogdanovich, 1972)
    Diva (Beineix, 1981)
    Delicatessen (Caro/Jeunet, 1991)
    The Hunger (Scott, 1983)
    Pineapple Express (Green, 2008)
    Chungking Express (Wong, 1994)

  5. #5
    Guttenbergian Pop Trash's Avatar
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    Does this end the way I think it will end? If you mull it over i/r/t his previous historical films, I think you can figure out how this winds up. I kinda hope I'm wrong though.
    Ratings on a 1-10 scale for your pleasure:

    Top Gun: Maverick - 8
    Top Gun - 7
    McCabe & Mrs. Miller - 8
    Crimes of the Future - 8
    Videodrome - 9
    Valley Girl - 8
    Summer of '42 - 7
    In the Line of Fire - 8
    Passenger 57 - 7
    Everything Everywhere All at Once - 6



  6. #6
    In the belly of a whale Henry Gale's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Pop Trash (view post)
    Does this end the way I think it will end? If you mull it over i/r/t his previous historical films, I think you can figure out how this winds up. I kinda hope I'm wrong though.
    Well give it your best, potentially unknowingly spoiler-y guess and I can confirm or deny (or abstain if you wish). To be honest I had a few guesses play out in my head over time and it was pretty close to one of them, just not exactly the same sort of mechanics or how it got there and what it did with it.
    Last 11 things I really enjoyed:

    Speed Racer (Wachowski/Wachowski, 2008)
    Safe (Haynes, 1995)
    South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (Parker, 1999)
    Beastie Boys Story (Jonze, 2020)
    Bad Trip (Sakurai, 2020)
    What's Up Doc? (Bogdanovich, 1972)
    Diva (Beineix, 1981)
    Delicatessen (Caro/Jeunet, 1991)
    The Hunger (Scott, 1983)
    Pineapple Express (Green, 2008)
    Chungking Express (Wong, 1994)

  7. #7
    Quote Quoting Henry Gale (view post)
    Well I'll say this, if I'm going by initial gut reactions, this feels like bottom tier Quentin but in my more comprehensive and rational part of my brain I know this is probably a lot better than, say, Death Proof or Django Unchained, even if those movie's more instantly gratifying, crowd-pleasing flavours help better mask what they may not otherwise have going for them. Those movies are mostly dressing with little salad, and OUATIH feels like all salad. It may be better in the long run even if it doesn't taste as nice.
    Death Proof is his third-best film, silly. Love that thing.
    Last 10 Movies Seen
    (90+ = canonical, 80-89 = brilliant, 70-79 = strongly recommended, 60-69 = good, 50-59 = mixed, 40-49 = below average with some good points, 30-39 = poor, 20-29 = bad, 10-19 = terrible, 0-9 = soul-crushingly inept in every way)

    Run
    (2020) 64
    The Whistlers
    (2019
    ) 55
    Pawn (2020) 62
    Matilda (1996) 37
    The Town that Dreaded Sundown
    (1976) 61
    Moby Dick (2011) 50

    Soul
    (2020) 64

    Heroic Duo
    (2003) 55
    A Moment of Romance (1990) 61
    As Tears Go By (1988) 65

    Stuff at Letterboxd
    Listening Habits at LastFM

  8. #8
    collecting tapes Skitch's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting transmogrifier (view post)
    Death Proof is his third-best film, silly. Love that thing.
    I'm cool with that!

    Unrelated to that evaluation, Pulp Fiction is his least good film. Still good, just least good.

  9. #9
    Quote Quoting Skitch (view post)
    I'm cool with that!

    Unrelated to that evaluation, Pulp Fiction is his least good film. Still good, just least good.
    Great
    1. Reservoir Dogs
    2. Pulp Fiction
    3. Death Proof

    Very Good
    4. Inglorious Basterds

    Okay
    5. The Hateful Eight
    6. Kill Bill Vol. 1

    Meh
    7. Kill Bill Vol. 2
    8. Django Unchained
    9. Jackie Brown
    Last 10 Movies Seen
    (90+ = canonical, 80-89 = brilliant, 70-79 = strongly recommended, 60-69 = good, 50-59 = mixed, 40-49 = below average with some good points, 30-39 = poor, 20-29 = bad, 10-19 = terrible, 0-9 = soul-crushingly inept in every way)

    Run
    (2020) 64
    The Whistlers
    (2019
    ) 55
    Pawn (2020) 62
    Matilda (1996) 37
    The Town that Dreaded Sundown
    (1976) 61
    Moby Dick (2011) 50

    Soul
    (2020) 64

    Heroic Duo
    (2003) 55
    A Moment of Romance (1990) 61
    As Tears Go By (1988) 65

    Stuff at Letterboxd
    Listening Habits at LastFM

  10. #10
    Errand Boy
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    Quote Quoting Skitch (view post)
    I'm cool with that!

    Unrelated to that evaluation, Pulp Fiction is his least good film. Still good, just least good.
    I can't really understand that viewpoint. To me, it's like saying The Godfather Part II is Coppola's weakest movie.

  11. #11
    Reservoir Dogs (1992) warm
    Pulp Fiction (1994) spicy
    Jackie Brown (1997) spicy
    Kill Bill, Vol. 1 (2003) mild
    Kill Bill, Vol. 2 (2004) mild
    Death Proof (2007) mild
    Inglourious Basterds (2009) warm
    Django Unchained (2012) warm

    True Romance (1993) warm
    Natural Born Killers (1994) cold
    Just because...
    The Fabelmans (Steven Spielberg, 2022) mild
    Petite maman (CĂ©line Sciamma, 2021) mild
    The Banshees of Inisherin (Martin McDonagh, 2022) mild

    The last book I read was...
    The Complete Short Stories by Mark Twain


    The (New) World

  12. #12
    Guttenbergian Pop Trash's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Skitch (view post)
    Unrelated to that evaluation, Pulp Fiction is his least good film. Still good, just least good.
    QT's rankings tend to be all over the place (similar to Wes & PT Anderson), but hardly anyone denies Pulp Fiction's greatness.

    The cracks are finally showing in Reservoir Dogs for me, which it pains me to say, since I loved that damn movie as a kid. A recent rewatch was merely 'very good' instead of 'holy shit this is awesome' which is how I felt when I first watched it on VHS back in 1994.
    Ratings on a 1-10 scale for your pleasure:

    Top Gun: Maverick - 8
    Top Gun - 7
    McCabe & Mrs. Miller - 8
    Crimes of the Future - 8
    Videodrome - 9
    Valley Girl - 8
    Summer of '42 - 7
    In the Line of Fire - 8
    Passenger 57 - 7
    Everything Everywhere All at Once - 6



  13. #13
    collecting tapes Skitch's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Pop Trash (view post)
    but hardly anyone denies Pulp Fiction's greatness.
    I know, my opinion is not with The Collective. There are some here that agree with me though. Weve been down this road before. Again, not saying it's a bad film by any stretch, just my least preferred.

  14. #14
    Second star to the right [ETM]'s Avatar
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    I guess we're all over the place with this. For me, "Jackie Brown" is the one I just don't get.

    Sent from my Mi A1 using Tapatalk

  15. #15
    Moderator TGM's Avatar
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    Inglourious Basterds
    Kill Bill
    Reservoir Dogs
    Django Unchained
    Pulp Fiction
    Jackie Brown
    The Hateful Eight
    Death Proof

    Once Upon A Time In Hollywood needs to sit a little longer before I can place it just yet. Right now though, I’m feeling it’s either directly above or directly below Django for me.

  16. #16
    Administrator Ezee E's Avatar
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    Highly enjoyed it. It definitely fits the "once upon a time" feel, especially as the last scene plays in many different ways:

    [
    ]

    There's going to be a lot of analyzation of this movie. Bruce Dern's blindness, the time jump, the different looks of violence...

    I'd easily have watched a four hour version of this, as it kind of sweeps around from character to character just living their lives out in what their Hollywood dreams were hoping to be.

    WITH that, I've always found Tarantino to be a master of being able to build suspense, and even more masterful at the release of it all. There's simply not enough of it here for this movie to join his top tiers, but for the moments where it is intended, particularly the ranch scene, it is as good as the other movies.

    TOP TIER:
    Pulp Fiction
    Jackie Brown
    Kill Bill
    Inglorious Basterds
    Django Unchained

    MIDDLE (BUT STILL VERY GOOD)
    Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

    TARANTINO BOTTOM (Still good but....)
    Reservoir Dogs
    Death Proof
    Hateful Eight

    Barbarian - ***
    Bones and All - ***
    Tar - **


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  17. #17
    Administrator Ezee E's Avatar
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    Also, for those articles from a few months ago that criticized Tarantino for not giving Margot Robbie's Sharon Tate enough lines, they clearly didn't see the movie. Yes, her dialog is small, but her impact and importance to the character is as important as the other two main characters.

    Barbarian - ***
    Bones and All - ***
    Tar - **


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  18. #18
    Replacing Luck Since 1984 Dukefrukem's Avatar
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    Pulp Fiction is the perfect movie to me. The dialog, supplemented by the performances (and not the other way around) is just so good.
    Twitch / Youtube / Film Diary

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  19. #19
    Gut take: It's thrilling, but not too thrilling. Funny, but not too funny. Good, but not too good?

    Is it possible you're more likely to love the film the closer you are to Tarantino's age? There's a definite sense of nostalgia that didn't fully register with me, but still seems crucial especially in the longer sequences. Some of the shorter scenes were really great--still, others were kind of awkward.
    Last edited by Idioteque Stalker; 07-27-2019 at 03:17 AM.

  20. #20
    Administrator Ezee E's Avatar
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    You obviously have to have an idea of Sharon Tate/Charles Manson to understand about half the movie. I feel like anyone from the 50's/early 60's talked about how Sharon Tate was the most beautiful person on earth. There's a mysticism that I've almost gotten from her from hearing parents stories and others with how they talk about her. The movie nails it too.

    Barbarian - ***
    Bones and All - ***
    Tar - **


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  21. #21
    Super Moderator dreamdead's Avatar
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    The time went by breezily enough on this film, but afterwards Sarah and I were trying to decipher ways to trim the length. It felt like the peak of the film dramatically for us was during Pitt's ranch scene, as the film draws out that tension and keeps building it out. And while the catharsis during the final 20 minutes or so are nice, nothing really captures the ranch scene. And because the whole film is anchored to the Tate murders, I kept wondering what happens if you remove Robbie's Tate from the film after the first drive-up-the-driveway scene. While Robbie is solid here, her character doesn't really get that much to do and I don't know what we really learn about her beyond thinking that she was an up-and-coming actor.

    I do wish the film had, paradoxically, spent just a little more time developing out any other hippy character (even the hippy girl that rides with Tate) so that it doesn't read so simplistically: hippy = Manson follower. Have to think on it more, but I would put this definitely ahead of Hateful Eight and Django Unchained. Not sure it'd go any higher presently.
    The Boat People - 9
    The Power of the Dog - 7.5
    The King of Pigs - 7

  22. #22
    Moderator TGM's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Ezee E (view post)
    Also, for those articles from a few months ago that criticized Tarantino for not giving Margot Robbie's Sharon Tate enough lines, they clearly didn't see the movie. Yes, her dialog is small, but her impact and importance to the character is as important as the other two main characters.
    Reminds me of all the people last year who criticized Bohemian Rhapsody for supposedly glossing over the gay aspect, or for supposedly not covering Freddie Mercury’s heritage. Such ridiculous claims left me thinking, “you wanna know how I know you haven’t actually seen the movie you're criticizing?”

  23. #23
    Cinematographer Mal's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Ezee E (view post)
    Also, for those articles from a few months ago that criticized Tarantino for not giving Margot Robbie's Sharon Tate enough lines, they clearly didn't see the movie. Yes, her dialog is small, but her impact and importance to the character is as important as the other two main characters.
    I think I read that Quentin added some footage of her to combat that perception? Either way, this isn't a movie about Sharon Tate, so it doesn't concern me that she's a major player in the film or not.

    This is a buddy film film, and I have never enjoyed DiCaprio and Pitt as much as I do here. What a captivating pairing they are, even though they spend most of the film apart on sets and around Hollywood. In such an idyllic setting, there are numerous facets to these flawed, possibly dangerous men who get their time to shine one last time in this fantasy. I see this as not only an obviously revisionist film, but one that has much wishful thinking regarding their careers through flashback AND that finale. I can't wait to see this again.

  24. #24
    Administrator Ezee E's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Zac Efron (view post)
    I think I read that Quentin added some footage of her to combat that perception? Either way, this isn't a movie about Sharon Tate, so it doesn't concern me that she's a major player in the film or not.

    This is a buddy film film, and I have never enjoyed DiCaprio and Pitt as much as I do here. What a captivating pairing they are, even though they spend most of the film apart on sets and around Hollywood. In such an idyllic setting, there are numerous facets to these flawed, possibly dangerous men who get their time to shine one last time in this fantasy. I see this as not only an obviously revisionist film, but one that has much wishful thinking regarding their careers through flashback AND that finale. I can't wait to see this again.
    Interesting point regarding flashbacks. I'll have to look at Leo's flashbacks again, but can definitely see Pitt's being as much of a fantasy as the finale. A way that he shares it with people rather than what the truth actually is.

    Barbarian - ***
    Bones and All - ***
    Tar - **


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  25. #25
    Guttenbergian Pop Trash's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Ezee E (view post)
    Bruce Dern's blindness
    He's playing a real old blind guy that ran Spahn ranch. The Manson family basically took advantage of his disability, but Charlie Manson also had the Manson girls fuck him so he would let them keep living there. I haven't seen this yet (hopefully tomorrow) but the Manson stories are endlessly fascinating. How he was orbiting Hollywood, but could never quite break in, how "Squeaky" (who got her nickname from Spahn) Fromme attempted to kill Gerald Ford, Beatles obsession, trying to start a race war, the list goes on. About the only person who comes close in wacko California hippie lore is Jim Jones and (maybe) L Ron Hubbard. Having lived in California, I can definitely see how these type of cult leaders can grab ahold of imaginations around here. There's a lot of young people who run away from conservative middle America to California, only to fill their religious void with culty shit. Most of it is harmless new age stuff, but I can see how there's a darkside under the wrong people.
    Ratings on a 1-10 scale for your pleasure:

    Top Gun: Maverick - 8
    Top Gun - 7
    McCabe & Mrs. Miller - 8
    Crimes of the Future - 8
    Videodrome - 9
    Valley Girl - 8
    Summer of '42 - 7
    In the Line of Fire - 8
    Passenger 57 - 7
    Everything Everywhere All at Once - 6



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