Author Topic: ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD - SPOILERS  (Read 4956 times)

Offline perc2100

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ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD - SPOILERS
« on: July 26, 2019, 12:27:01 PM »
OK, I wanted to set up another chat just for spoilers to talk about this brilliant film! 
First, did anyone else catch the awesome INGLOUROIUS BASTERDS reference?!  Hint, a certain Italian director that Rick Dalton worked with during the Italian montage in the 3rd act/Day shares a name with an Italian filmmaker that one of the Bastards uses for the big movie premier scene (who was indeed a fairly famous Italian film director)!  I was the only one in the theater that caught the reference, and LOL'ed quite a bit.

Also hilarious to me?  The seamless CGI of DiCaprio's head/face onto Steve McQueen's for the GREAT ESCAPE scene.  It really cracked me up to see DiCaprio-as Rick Dalton acting (a bit sketchy) in the role that McQueen perfectly kills!  Oh, and it cracked me up with Steve McQueen shows up at the Playboy Mansion to deliver a bit of exposition about Sharon Tate's relationship with Jay Sebring: QT knows how to write exposition impeccably, and that scene is no exception!

There will be criticism from some in regards to Pitt's character, Cliff, being the ultimate badass who seemingly handles Bruce Lee with ease.  Lee's entire scene, shooting-the-breeze with other stuntmen about how much of a killer fighter he is.  Lee brags about being able to easily beat Muhammad Ali w/Cliff laughing: ultimately leading to a no-injuries "fight" between the two that technically ends in a draw, but realistically ended with Cliff seriously taking down Lee.  Cliff's moves cracked me up, and the payoffs for that scene happen a few times, with the big one, of course, being the climax of the film

Every interaction with Pitt's character and the Manson family on the Spahn ranch was so fraught with tension my apple watch was telling me to take deep breaths at least a few times during the scene!  Knowing what really went down at the Spahn Ranch heightened the tension for me, at least, and I'm really curious to know how younger generations, or people less familiar with the Manson Family react.  Like I mentioned in my non-spoiler thoughts, Manson is hardly in the movie, only one scene (QT is wise, IMO, to not want to tackle such an iconic nut job too much) but his menace permeates the film, even in subtle ways, like an early scene of the Manson girls going through garbage looking for viable food - innocuous  on its face, but gave me a little bit of dread knowing who they were and what's to come.

And speaking of what's to come...

I can't believe QT Tarantino'ed the Manson Family.  Like, I was almost in awe while cracking up hearing them deliver Tarantino dialogue in the car plotting their murder spree.  For me, this movie pretty much ended exactly the way I thought it would, with the Family deciding to bring their murderous wrath to Dalton's household instead of Tate's (though I thought it would be out of revenge against Cliff's butt kicking at the Ranch and not as commentary on violent TV shows).  Every moment of that night was both incredibly tense and hilarious for me as I shook my head in disbelief that not only did QT decide to tackle a revisionist history of the Manson murders, but he did so in such an over-the-top but also funny way.  Hearing lines delivered by actual family members during the actual real life murders (for example, "I am the devil; and I am here to do the devil's work" delivered in both ONCE UPON A TIME... and the actual Tate murders by Tex Watson) seem dopey and even cheesy.  It wasn't until almost the last minute that I knew Brandy, Cliff's adorable pit bull, would play a role in the Manson Family murders, but the second I saw the label on her dog food read "good food for bad dogs" that implied "food for tough, badass dogs" I knew she'd be in on the fun.

And Holy. Freaking. Cow!  That ending played out so perfectly.  I never would've guessed how cathartic it felt seeing the Manson Family reduced to dopey hippies get torn up and beat to a pulp by Cliff & Brandy but there it was.  Watching Rick torch a would-be murderer with his flamethrower (!) was a nice touch, and an awesome potential "come back" for the actor.  The ending was beautiful, with Rick realizing the movie star and her friends next door know and admire who he is, even inviting him in for drinks after the ordeal.
I seriously need a "where are they now" card at the end, letting us know if Tate went on to win an Oscar, maybe Polanski never transgressed to underage girls, or maybe even Rick Dalton's career skyrocketed from the infamy of the Manson Family thwarting.  IDK, and maybe it's best for QT to let our imaginations run wild; I'd settle for another 3 hours watching these characters continue to hang out, grinding it out anyway they can in Hollywood.

Oh, and I almost forgot maybe the thing that really made me smile about this film.
This film essentially reduces Manson to a cultural footnote (at best).  Presumably no one knows about him, after the Tate murders were thwarted by Cliff, Brandy, and Rick it's a safe presumption the LaBianca murders didn't occur the following night, and Manson likely was only known to the prison personnel that dealt with him after he was likely convicted of the attempted murder of Lotsapapa Crowe & commanding the murder of Gary Hinman.  Seeing Manson reduced to practically nothing was exactly what that turd deserves, and the thought of the world never knowing of him is great.
Also, the thought that the 'Summer of Love' continued, at lest until maybe the Altamont concert death of December 1969.  The thought of the late 60's Hollywood party still raging on, not impeded or stopped due to the Tate murders in the Hollywood hills, makes me smile at what could've been, or what is in Tarantino's alternate universe where Tex Watson sounds like a dopey misguided hippy losing his testicles to an adorable but vicious pit bull.

This movie blew me away, mostly because it feels like such a departure (sort of) for Tarantino: and that seems weird when one tries to boil this down to a revisionist history of the Manson murders! 
« Last Edit: July 26, 2019, 12:52:48 PM by perc2100 »

Offline FBS

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Re: ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD - SPOILERS
« Reply #1 on: August 15, 2019, 05:57:09 AM »
Finally got to see this as it only opened in the UK this week.

Easily the best film of the year so far. A buddy comedy from QT??!! Whatever next
Seamlessly blends real life events into movie make believe without missing a beat. It is one heck of an immersive film. You can easily fall into the magic the Rick and Cliff bring on and off the screen.
It wouldn't be QT without some violence and when Hollywood bangs, it bangs hard. That ending is a rollicking good time.


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Re: ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD - SPOILERS
« Reply #2 on: Today at 01:54:36 AM »

Offline NCDS

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Re: ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD - SPOILERS
« Reply #2 on: August 15, 2019, 06:36:01 AM »
My aunt cracked me up at the end she said  "I hope he (Tarantino) has a good therapist" 

It was her first Tarantino film.  We enjoyed it.
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