Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
(2019)Quentin Tarantino's latest all-star drama set in 1969 L.A. stars Leonardo DiCaprio alongside Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate and more.... More
Rick Dalton (DiCaprio) is a struggling former TV star, still struggling to make it in Tinseltown, alongside his former stunt double Cliff Booth (Pitt). But as Dalton's neighbour, rising star Sharon Tate (Robbie), will soon tragically learn, something more dangerous than the pursuit of fame is stalking Hollywood - a violent cult led by a charismatic figure promising the apocalypse...Hide
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Directed by Quentin Tarantino ('Reservoir Dogs', 'Django Unchained', 'Pulp Fiction')
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Al Pacino, Luke Perry, Timothy Olyphant, Margaret Qualley, Dakota Fanning, Kurt Russell, Damian Lewis
Written by Quentin Tarantino
Flicks Review
BY Daniel Rutledge Flicks Writer
The ninth film from Quentin Tarantino is a love letter to 1969 Los Angeles that serves up cheap thrills on top of deep and meaningful ponderings. It's quite a departure from the iconic filmmaker's intense last three movies, ambling along to its own groove, which may be harder to get on board with. But when you do, it's a particularly pleasurable groove that for some fans will make for Tarantino's most beloved work to date.... More
Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt are both firing on all cylinders as Rick Dalton and Cliff Booth, an aging partnership of actor and stuntman, respectively, whose careers are coming to an end. The roles are instant career highlights for both actors, but neither outshines Once Upon a Time in Hollywood's other remarkable achievements. This is an extraordinarily rich film, full of stunning, packed images that will be paused and marvelled at upon home release as fans explore all the myriad ways it pays homage to show business and the summer of '69. But it's also rich with themes and metaphors that enjoyably bubble around in your head days after you've watched it. Is it Rick or Cliff that better represents Tarantino as he approaches retirement in real life? Do both of them represent the medium of film itself? What's with the emphasis of filth on the bare feet?
For a lot of its runtime, this feels like a hang out movie. Its world is so well realised that it's never boring to hang out in, but on first viewing some of it seems pointless. Hints at an inevitable darkness are dropped along the way, before the film shifts gears and brilliantly moves into a more sinister phase around the two hour mark. But as it all ends with a typically shocking, violent and subversive climax, it shifts back to its chilled out self, somehow taking all the chaos in its stride.
There's an innocent sweetness to this film's sentimentality and nostalgia that only fully reveals itself at the very end, making for a wonderfully endearing aftertaste. It might not be as filled with electrifyingly great dialogue as most of Tarantino's films, but I cannot wait to have it age like a fine wine upon countless repeat viewings.Hide
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Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
BY Mriceguy nobody
No stranger to rewriting history, Tarantino takes on the Manson murders but it really is just a mere backdrop for what is a trip through the golden age of Hollywood with literal recreations of old film and television.
Starring Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio; a veritable dream team of Hollywood heartthrobs and neither of whom is a stranger to the Tarantinoverse. We have a snivelling DiCaprio as Rick Dalton, a fictional Hollywood actor famous for a Western... More television show who has now fallen from a leading man to taking on cameo villain roles. Pitt is Cliff Dalton, a cool, calm and collected stuntman for Dalton and he's never looked hotter. 55 years old for goodness sakes. Margot Robbie portrays real actress, Sharon Tate, but spends most of the film disconnected from our duo and the main plot—an ethereal angel floating throughout Hollywood, observing herself as the world sees her.
My favourite piece of cameo casting would have to be Timothy Olyphant as the stock hero in a Western opposite DiCaprio. No stranger to the TV Western, Olyphant takes up the literal reigns once again, having previously starred in HBO's Deadwood and a more modern Western in FX's Justified.
Tarantino lets this film bloat, with extensive scenes of characters driving from A to B. It's merely an excuse to explore 1969 LA and a bit of easy breezy fun but I reckon you could still chop this film up and still have room to breathe. For a film based around a cult of murderers it's a pretty relaxed affair. Tarantino is known for his use of violence and you might be forgiven for thinking he's lost his meanstreak here. But it does eventually escalate and boy does it escalate.
That all being said, the misogyny in this film is pretty hard to miss. And it's not just the treatment of Sharon Tate. Women are objects without agency; seen through a male lens as the camera traverses their bodies. Women are made out to be 'hysterical' and brutally murdered for laughs. Yes 1969 was a different time but this movie came out in 2019 and still fantasizes about a time of hyper masculinity where men where men and women were seen and not heard.
As lightly enjoyable as it was, for me anyway, this film serves as a jumping off point to learn about the real history of Hollywood and not a history romanticised or rewritten.Hide
BY arlomclean superstar
What I said to myself about half way through watching Tarantino's latest was "where is this going?" that feeling continued all till the ending and I honestly feel I got as much out of the trailer as I did the movie itself. Its well made and acted, so on paper good, but its completely bloated and has no actual narrative. Plus a few controversial elements make this one more off a miss then a hit.
BY Tina-Chai lister
Yes two great actors, B Pitt and L di Caprio, they have such amazing timing. A long movie and a number of laughs. The violence was over the top.
BY Oscarsm nobody
BY Jez nobody
2.5 hours of my life I wont get back. Seriously, what rubbish. Don't be blindly led just because its Tarantino. Worst movie Ive seen in years, and Flicks should be ashamed of giving it 4/5 rating.
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The Press Reviews
[A] richly evocative, conceptually jaw-dropping, excessively foot-fetishising, inescapably terrifying and unexpectedly poignant movie. Full Review
It sits at the mature end of Tarantino's work, bringing his tongue-in-cheek storytelling together with exquisite movie craft and killer lead performances from Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio. Full Review
This curious fairy tale may not be the truth, and it may prattle on too long. But when its stars align, and they let loose with their unmistakable shine, Hollywood movies do seem truly special again. Full Review
Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood is uneven, unwieldy in its structure and not without its flat patches. But it's also a disarming and characteristically subversive love letter to its inspiration. Full Review
It's entirely outrageous, disorientating, irresponsible, and also brilliant. Full Review
All the Tarantino hallmarks are here - the jet-black humour, fine-tuned dialogue, jukebox soundtrack and, yes, bare feet. Full Review
Tarantino luxuriates in bringing this prelapsarian heyday roaring back to life, and the effect is pure movie-world intoxication, laced with in-jokes and nibble-ably sweet period detail. Full Review
I was utterly swept up into Tarantino's Hollywood. And it was a glorious place to be. Full Review
For a film-maker who spends so much time lionizing his alpha-male leads and their supposed old-school values, Tarantino sure does take a coward's way out of his own story. Full Review
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