Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino, July 26, 2019) Movie • Page 34

Booth is the most complex character. The suspected murder is part of that, as we aren't sure what to make of him. He has been loyal to Dalton, but when he gets fired the day of the Manson murders, what will he do? When the Manson acolytes initially warm to him, is he going to join them or help them in some way?

Tarantino has some history of making side characters more complex than the action you are following with the main one. John Travolta is just a dumb criminal who likes doing crimes, but the film ends up focusing on the morality of Jackson and Willis, who you think are gone when they disappear once Travolta starts his meeting with Uma Thurman. The bail bondsman in Jackie Brown is more mysterious as to his intentions than Jackie Brown or Odell Robbie, who have very defined protagonist and antagonist roles. Inglourious Basterds presents itself as a Brad Pitt film, but the meat of the story is with a young French Jew who seemed to be a minor character from the beginning. Rick Dalton is just an empty celebrity who wants money and fame, while Booth is struggling with the career ostracizing from his suspected murder and wondering what value he has as a stuntman who doesn't even do stunts but leeches off of a movie star.

 

God I can’t wait to see this again tomorrow. Also really made me wanna go watch old western tv. Any suggestions?

 

Can’t go wrong with Gunsmoke

 

The random narration is a recent motif of Quentin, he’s done this in Inglorious Basterds and The Hateful Eight too.

 

This movie reminded me of Jackie Brown way more than I expected. Just the tone, I mean.

 

can’t say i’m a fan, i liked it at the end but when it first came in and then never again it was very confusing lol

 

same, tonally there’s very much a kinship

 

It most certainly was not

 

you can literally watch Lancer haha

 

Other than Hirsch being in this I thought it was great. Definitely his best since IG, but I also enjoy H8 and especially Django more the most people here.

 

I thought it was pretty good. Not top tier Tarantino, for me though

 

As I get older and continue to watch film, it begins to feel more and more like the newest film of a major director is like a conversation. I can never have that sort of relationship with Kubrick or Fellini or Ozu because their films were installed as classics and it was incumbent upon me to get enough cinematic appreciation to fully grasp their work. With people like Quentin Tarantino or Paul Thomas Anderson or Wes Anderson or Sofia Coppola, it feels like I can chart my growth as a human being with the ways in which their work has evolved. These people are still older than me by a generation, but my awakening to exploring alternative cinema coincides with their beginnings in the film industry, and as I go from every film being a revelation to me to someone who views everything through its historical lens, these directors are also reflecting on their impact on cinema and what parts of their work has value and what they want to work on as they enter the second half of their careers.

With this film, and the newest works of those other directors, it feels very different than it was watching Pulp Fiction or Lost in Translation in high school. Not only do you compare the film to the director's filmography, but you are charting the ways in which they have advanced their style; what have they abandoned, what have they added, how do they do this differently as compared to how it would have been done before? It is a bit like watching a child grow up, as condescending as that may sound, but watching artists grow as they reach the level of icon and are put on higher and higher pedestals is fascinating. I don't know yet how it feels watching the careers of directors whose work comes after your commitment to cinephilia. Part of the difficulty in determining that is knowing who will end up with staying power. Jeff Nichols seemed like he would be the next major director after his first two films, but has since fallen off. It sort of exists with Greta Gerwig, who I first saw as a mumblecore actor long before she graduated to Baumbach films and eventually directing. Barry Jenkins sort of feels like another one, who is someone I tried to champion with the barely-seen Medicine for Melancholy before he truly blew up with Moonlight.

 

Bonanza
Rawhide

 

I definitely feel like my tastes have grown a bit since I first watched Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs as a teenager, Quentin (along with with some other directors) was the gateway. It’s cool to see a new film of his and be able to judge it through a different lens than I had when I was 16-17.

 

whatever happened with Cliff's wife it was distasteful and fucked up how Tarantino handled it and completely unnecessary to the movie
Brad Pitt like Jon Hamm shouldn't be allowed to be hot and have perfect comedic timing it's unfair, but he was hilarious and great in this
I wonder if Leo is self aware enough to know he's a lot like Rick Dalton, I can't tell my own personal problems with Leo may have tailored my hating Dalton or if we were supposed to
I don't know if Emile Hirsch being a short cuck makes it okay that he's in this but there was some satisfaction there
I wish Margaret Qualley and Dakota Fanning got more to do then want to fuck Brad Pitt and fuck Bruce Dern, but I thought they did a good job and Max from Better Things as the other Manson girl was a great choice and surprise
Lena Dunham showing up to say "I love pussy" was so distracting, as was Al Pacino playing a Jew
any time Austin Butler was on the screen I was like did Aaron Taylor-Johnson become hotter and also absorb Adam Driver's best features
when Margot Robbie put her feet on the seat I was like maybe Manson should kill her, I do love that Kate Berlant got to tease her
Brandy What A Fine Girl is about that dog right

I feel like the ending was the only way they could have done it but also making light of what happened that night is a little icky as great and hysterical as that scene was, I was also uncomfortable with this version of Polanski just being touted as a genius which I think the alternate history facilitates

 

I mean at the time, people did fawn over Roman like that.

 

yeah I know, but Tarantino, who has defended Polanski in the past , wrote the movie
admittedly there is no way he could have incorporated Polanski where I wouldn't be like he's a fucking piece of shit

https://jezebel.com/heres-audio-of-quentin-tarantino-defending-roman-polans-1822745916

 

I enjoyed this. The drunk lady next to me thought Pitt and Leo’s characters were real people and kept saying “I don’t remember this happening” and was super confused by the ending as I guess she thought this was supposed to be factually acurrate.

 

Yeah that is gross, which bums me out because Quentin is one of my cinematic heroes and I hate that he said that

 

@iCarly Rae Jepsen since we had similar issues before it came out, how angry do you think this will make me?

 

there wasn't that much in the movie itself that made me angry, more the behind the scenes of Emile Hirsch's presence and Tarantino being Tarantino

 

Shockingly, it's also one of the few times he actually issued a real apology for something he did/said.

 

How come he didn't show us Brad Pitt's feet

 

Brad Pitt murdered his feet


Allegedly

 

I mean...the foot stuff was so blatant it pretty much felt like “you guys are gonna get me about the feet? Take this! All the feet! And they’re DIRTY!”