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

My question, does the younger generation know the details of Charles Manson and his family? Anyone who does not would be totally lost and bored with this movie. The beauty of the movie is the Manson family and Ceilo Drive. Ironically, I don't think the word Manson is said the entire movie. There are references to Charlie, but that's it.

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does the younger generation know the details of Charles Manson and his family?

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With the current obsession with serial killer podcasts, I'd guess that most people are familiar with Manson.

The period of time between Pitt laughing at Tex’s ‘I am the Devil’ line and DiCaprio exiting the shed with the Flamethrower made the meandering of the first 2 hours totally worth it.

Since I'm already about halfway there, I'm assembling a Cliff Booth ensemble for Halloween.

Just got out and I havent read any reviews.

I absolutely loved it. Probably the best QT movie behind his two classics.

The only con I have is Dicaprio and his over acting. In stuff like Django its fine, but this movie was much more subdued, and at times it was out of place.

Everything else was just magnificent.

-I know nothing about Sharon Tate other than the fact that she was killed by the Manson Family. Ive never seen a movie of hers, and I probably couldnt pick her out of a lineup, but my god, Robbie was absolutely stunning. She is a gorgeous lady, but she was shot and framed like an angel. Every nuance was graceful, and just full of hope. There arent many women in a movie that has ever been as gorgeous as Robbie in this film.

-The setting. Im a 80s baby, so I dont have any experience with the 60s, but the background was worth the price of admission itself. The way the city was framed. Every location had its own character. The cinematography from the car scenes, to the ranch, to the final shot. Excellent in every way.

-I loved how Tarantino got out of his way in this film. His last few movies have suffered from dialogue. Too many monologues, and the writing just seemed to be Tarantino trying to fit his style into a certain type of movie, but in this one, it was perfect. Every character big or small had an impact. All were written perfectly.

-Inglourious Basterds. That movie set this stage for Hollywood. Knowing that QT has no problems with rewriting history for his films made the viewer be on the edge of their seats for the entierity of the Manson scenes. Booth going into the Ranch was chilling. Not knowing if he would make it out because of the twisted mind of QT, and it was the same at the end. Who would die? Tate? Would the main two characters live or would Tarantino go against the grain and have them be the names in his Manson Family murders? It was tense up until the end.

-The finale. QT just took me on a ride. From jumping up in my seat and yelling yes when Booth, Dalton, and Brandy did their thing on the pieces of shite. I was so freakin pumped. The good guys win....Then at the very end, you see the camera pan over the Polanski house and you see the three come out of the house to meet Dalton, and its just haunting. I broke down. fricking senseless.

-The one thing I noticed was the way Tarantino portrayed Hollywood. Dalton, Booth, and even Olyphant's character were all on their last legs. The might be stars or possibly big stars(depending on the pilot in Olyphant's case), but that didnt matter. The represented the bad side of Hollywood. Then you had Tate and the little girl in the show. They were young, beautiful, hopeful. They were seeing their dreams come true, but its just an awful cycle. When the city is done with you, you are just thrown out no matter how big you used to be, or how much the public still remembered and loved you.

I probably have more, but its late and Im tired. I loved the movie. The best Ive seen this year, and one of the best of the decade.

Nice post. Summed up how I felt about it better than I could.

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Olyphant's character were all on their last legs.

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WARNING - this rambles, baws, but that happens when you discuss a QT flick.


I don't know if you mean this to be intentionally ironic or not (just can't always tell on here), but James Stacy (Olyphant's character) was 32 at the time of Lancer's pilot.

Now - QT did play some games with the timeline - Lancer premiered in the Fall of 1968 - OUATIH clearly focuses on 2 days in 1969 (although we see glimpses of other days) - the first day being the day that Rick was filming his scenes as the heavy in Lancer's pilot (they heavily edit and mix up the plot based on the original, although Sam Wanamaker did direct the pilot - for example, the Mirabella Lancer character didn't appear in the show).

Now - flash forward to why I'm not sure if you're ironic about the "last legs" Stacy had already married and divorced Connie Stevens and was married to the 11 years younger Kim Darby (famous as the titular character in the Star Trek episode Miri and the female lead in the original version of True Grit opposite John Wayne, an older character, but strongly resembling our Trudy/Mirabella as presented) at the time of Lancer's pilot. They divorced in 1969. He had a motorcycle accident which killed his girlfriend at the time in 1973, resulting in the loss of an arm and a leg.

His friends in Hollywood started creating roles for him such as Vietnam double amputee, etc., so he could return to work.

Olyphant (perhaps intentional on QT's part) is 50 portraying a 32-year old. This is somewhat jarring.

Compared to Rick Dalton, a more composite character, Dicaprio's apparent age isn't as relevant. Even if based on a range of folks like Burt Reynolds (who was in his 30s during the period), Ralph Meeker (who was pushing 50), Ty Hardin and Steven McQueen (both pushing 40), Leo was convincing enough as a still valid star, but whose best years may have been behind him and whether a hard 40 or his actual 45 isn't as relevant.

Of course, leading men looked significantly older back then - whether it was the lifestyle, the sun exposure, the drinking, the smoking, what have you, that Malboro Man look is a tangible image those of us who can remember even snippets of that era can verify.

Slow burn, but loved it. As a huge Marvel fan, this was a much needed respite from CGI blockbusters that I didn't know I needed.

***SPOILERY***







-Loved Brad (and the dog) in all their scenes, Loved the open-ended boat/annoying wife scene. Side note: only QT can take 10 mins feeding a dog and the audience not lose interest.

-Outside of DiCaprio's usual unnatural accent, I thought he was great. He made me feel like he was a real fading star, even tho Leo is an actual A-Lister. His breakthrough scene as the Heavy felt real, his realizing he's still a worthy actor. But as much as QT likes to feature real fading stars, I'm surprised he didn't actually use one here for Leo's role.

-Bittersweet love-letter to Sharon Tate. Watching her day enjoying herself at the movies, knowing what was coming, was sad.

-What was missing most from the first half of the movie was QT's signature tension. But the Manson Ranch and the final act more than made up for it.

-So many great (1st time QT movie) cameos and QT regulars. It was like a fun easter egg hunt. The Luke Perry cameo was sobering tho.

-Seeng (surprisingly talented singer) Manson walk up to that record producers house, only to realize he no longer lives there references the theory that his not getting a breakthrough in the music industry is what helped put him over the edge.

-The detail of physically changing L.A. into late 60s, early 70s L.A. was fantastic. From the old fast food signs to the cars to the clothes. It was a beautiful recreation.

-Tarantino's foot-fetish has evolved into dirty feet. Dude is shameless.





Loved this movie. Personally, I'd only put QT's Pulp Fiction & Basterds above it.

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really have no idea why people are saying this is his best since Pulp Fiction or RD or some of this other ridiculous stuff I've seen online.

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Because it is.

It’s top 5 at worst for his films.

Pulp, RD, basterds Jackie Brown, And Once upon a time in whatever order you choose.