re: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood opening day check in thread ***Spoilers Inevitable***

I loved that Cliff went toe to toe with Bruce Lee. Cliff is a definite badass and somebody that in reality could whip Lees arse. Hell, we still debate that here. We had a 50+ page Lee vs Tyson thread awhile back. Lee was theoretically paired against Cassius Clay in the movie and Cliff being a badass knew Lee wouldn’t stand a chance.

Everything about this movie is total Hollywood. It’s a Fairytale set in Hollywood all the themes and circumstances surround Hollywood. Show me something that isn’t Hollywood fairytale. Manson? But he was actually real,... in Hollywood.

The more I think back on the movie, the more I like it.

Obviously better than 99.9% of movies that get a wide release and maybe I should just leave it at that, but (as with most QT movies) I’m left wanting more. Leo and Brad both did great jobs but their characters were really that interesting or memorable for me, nor was the setting, or really much at all except for the scene at the ranch.

It just feels like QT could make something on par with No Country For Old Men or something but he just doesn’t want to?

Did you not see the flashback?

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What did it add to the movie? How did it fit the plot?

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It's why he couldn't go with Rick to the set of the movie so he was forced to hang out on his own for the day. Also adds to his character of being maybe too much of a cowboy.

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they could have handled that as a beef between the two stuntmen. Maybe he fricked the other guys wife. Just seems like there should have been more to it. Did Leo help him get off and therefor a stronger bond between them?

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Perfect as it was. The guy "killed" his wife and Russell's woman wants nothing to do with him. That's plenty. It also gives Boothe a rep as a possible psycho.

The stronger bond was from Rick going to bat for Cliff again and again. You saw how hard he pushed Russell. You'd think his career depended on his buddy getting work.

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Obviously better than 99.9% of movies that get a wide release

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What did it add to the movie? How did it fit the plot?

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It's why he couldn't go with Rick to the set of the movie so he was forced to hang out on his own for the day. Also adds to his character of being maybe too much of a cowboy.

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And it's a nod to the Hollywood scandal of Natalie Wood's death. Robert Wagner still has people thinking that he was involved in her "drowning", and Christopher Walken was on the boat and had his own set of rumors. (Boothe's wife's name in the movie is Natalie... They made a point of her saying that.)

I think Freaux' interpretation is correct... this is a movie about growing older and getting replaced. There's always someone younger and hungrier than you, but Dalton here is seeing the Way Things used to Be get swept away under his feet. which is not all that different from now. A younger generation comes in with their own ideas, own values, and own heroes... and suddenly you're a relic of a bygone era before you even knew it.

Hell, a lot of those stories are true or based on something true. Steve McQueen was also a TV actor on westerns, but somehow managed to break out from that gerbil wheel and become a major star thanks to THE GREAT ESCAPE, and he gets to be part of the New Hollywood rather than be seen as an old relic. Clint Eastwood starred on Rawhide from 1958-63, and then got cast in A Fistful of Dollars thanks to a producer's help and... the rest is history. He was on his way to becoming typecast like Dalton, only to become the central figure of the new westerns.

Rick and Cliff's era is ending. Their old shooting ranch is now home to the Charlie Manson cult. Westerns are getting rarer on TV and the definition of masculinity is changing on them. Which is why the ending plays like fantastical wish fulfillment. Manson is often described as the End of the 60s. What if it wasn't? What if Rick and Cliff stopped Manson and saved the studio system? What if they stopped the inevitable tide of culture and history?

As someone who is being critical of the movie, to suggest it’s not one of the best wide release films of the year is patently absurd. Not talking about the indie movies you can only see at The Broad.

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And it's a nod to the Hollywood scandal of Natalie Wood's death. Robert Wagner still has people thinking that he was involved in her "drowning", and Christopher Walken was on the boat and had his own set of rumors.

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I thought the same thing, but it seemed odd that Tarantino would want to bring attention back to Walken after all these years, especially since Walken did him a big favor with his role in Pulp Fiction.