Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino, 2019)

Discussions of specific films and franchises.
Post Reply
Message
Author
User avatar
mfunk9786
Under Chris' Protection
Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 4:43 pm
Location: Philadelphia, PA

Re: Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino, 2019)

#476 Post by mfunk9786 » Thu Jul 25, 2019 12:07 am

I appreciate your concern, but as long as the projector and bulb have been correctly serviced, the 70mm is going to look brighter and richer than the 35mm, much like playing a DVD on a newer TV with upscaling did uh... more years ago than I care to admit. I promise it's not some rinky dink operation where they're blowing up the print in the back room of the theater. It's a dying art and one that you should support if you're lucky enough to be close to one of these three prints.

beamish14
Joined: Fri May 18, 2018 3:07 pm

Re: Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino, 2019)

#477 Post by beamish14 » Thu Jul 25, 2019 12:24 am

You'll see some more grain in a 70mm blowup, but the image clarity is still great, and the sound should be excellent. Even Roma, which was shot digitally,
is really incredible in 70mm, with the deep basses of the soundscape being just as good as anything you'd get with Dolby Atmos.

I'm looking forward to seeing a 70mm print tomorrow at the Arclight Hollywood. I don't know how many opportunities I'll have to do so after this run,
as most of them that survive their commercial exhibition (apparently, a number of Hateful Eight prints got shredded by inexperienced projectionists)
will likely be sent to archive houses afterwards.

User avatar
bearcuborg
Joined: Fri Sep 14, 2007 2:30 am
Location: Philadelphia via Chicago

Re: Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino, 2019)

#478 Post by bearcuborg » Thu Jul 25, 2019 10:22 am

tehthomas wrote:
Wed Jul 24, 2019 11:50 pm
Just an update regarding Chicago showings/35mm v 70mm projections.
Thanks for this update tehthomas, I may just check out the Music Box, rather than risk a lousy theater in Philadelphia.

For any Tarantino fans in LA, Amoeba Records has a limited edition LP sleeve for sale this Friday, it features some truly awful hand writing.

User avatar
mfunk9786
Under Chris' Protection
Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 4:43 pm
Location: Philadelphia, PA

Re: Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino, 2019)

#479 Post by mfunk9786 » Thu Jul 25, 2019 10:41 am

Unless someone who gets one of those vinyls quickly jots it down, it looks like the tracklist won't be announced until Saturday.

User avatar
tehthomas
Joined: Thu Sep 22, 2016 1:45 pm

Re: Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino, 2019)

#480 Post by tehthomas » Thu Jul 25, 2019 11:35 am

beamish14 wrote:
Thu Jul 25, 2019 12:24 am
You'll see some more grain in a 70mm blowup, but the image clarity is still great, and the sound should be excellent. Even Roma, which was shot digitally,
is really incredible in 70mm, with the deep basses of the soundscape being just as good as anything you'd get with Dolby Atmos.

I'm looking forward to seeing a 70mm print tomorrow at the Arclight Hollywood. I don't know how many opportunities I'll have to do so after this run,
as most of them that survive their commercial exhibition (apparently, a number of Hateful Eight prints got shredded by inexperienced projectionists)
will likely be sent to archive houses afterwards.
Thanks for the explaining this. Good to know that a blow-up isn't a bad thing.
I did read a pretty good article about how the Music Box handles 70mm prints, def an artform. If I do a second viewing in the theaters (highly likely), I will try my best to catch it on 70mm!

User avatar
jsteffe
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2007 9:00 am
Location: Atlanta, GA

Re: Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino, 2019)

#481 Post by jsteffe » Thu Jul 25, 2019 3:55 pm

It's been decades since I've seen a 70mm blowup, but I remember them looking significantly better than ordinary 35mm prints. The size of the frame, as mfunk9786 notes, allows for a brighter image, and the detail holds up better on a large screen. It can be a quite an immersive experience if done well. If you are lucky enough to live near one of those few prints, make it a priority to see it that way!

User avatar
mfunk9786
Under Chris' Protection
Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 4:43 pm
Location: Philadelphia, PA

Re: Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino, 2019)

#482 Post by mfunk9786 » Thu Jul 25, 2019 5:51 pm

OST tracklist, spoilertagged in case you want to go in fresh without knowing what songs are in the film:
SpoilerShow
01. “Treat Her Right” – Roy Head & The Traits
02. “Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man – The Bob Seger System
Boss Radio feat. Humble Harve:
03. “Hush” – Deep Purple
04. “Mug Root Beer Advertisement”
05. “Hector” – The Village Callers
06. “Son of a Lovin’ Man” – Buchanan Brothers
07. “Paxton Quigley’s Had the Course” (from the MGM film Three in the Attic) – Chad & Jeremy
08. “Tanya Tanning Butter Advertisement”
09. “Good Thing” – Paul Revere & The Raiders
10. “Hungry” – Paul Revere & the Raiders
11. “Choo Choo Train” – The Box Tops
12. “Jenny Take a Ride” – Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels
13. “Kentucky Woman” – Deep Purple
14. “The Circle Game” – Buffy Sainte-Marie
Boss Radio feat. The Real Don Steele:
15. “Mrs. Robinson” – Simon & Garfunkel
16. “Numero Uno Advertisement”
17. “Bring a Little Lovin'” – Los Bravos
18. “Suddenly / Heaven Sent Advertisement”
19. “Vagabond High School Reunion”
20. “KHJ Los Angeles Weather Report”
21. “The Illustrated Man Advertisement / Ready For Action”
22. “Hey Little Girl” – Dee Clark
23. “Summer Blonde Advertisement”
24. “Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show” – Neil Diamond
25. “Don’t Chase Me Around” (from the MGM film GAS-S-S-S) – Robert Corff
26. “Mr. Sun, Mr. Moon” – Paul Revere & the Raiders (feat. Mark Lindsay)
27. “California Dreamin'” – Jose Feliciano
28. “Dinamite Jim (English Version)” – I Cantori Moderni di Alessandroni
29. “You Keep Me Hangin’ On (Quentin Tarantino Edit)” – Vanilla Fudge
30. “Miss Lily Langtry” (cue from The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean) – Maurice Jarre
31. “KHJ Batman Promotion”

black&huge
Joined: Tue Dec 26, 2017 5:35 am

Re: Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino, 2019)

#483 Post by black&huge » Thu Jul 25, 2019 7:16 pm

bearcuborg wrote:
Thu Jul 25, 2019 10:22 am
For any Tarantino fans in LA, Amoeba Records has a limited edition LP sleeve for sale this Friday, it features some truly awful hand writing.
Same handwriting that was for the in-film Basterds title card and the actual Minnie's Haberdashery sign in H8. I actually like how uniquely bad his handwriting is.

User avatar
bearcuborg
Joined: Fri Sep 14, 2007 2:30 am
Location: Philadelphia via Chicago

Re: Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino, 2019)

#484 Post by bearcuborg » Thu Jul 25, 2019 8:44 pm

It’s my contention that only women have good handwriting. Mine looks I’ve been held hostage.

User avatar
HitchcockLang
Joined: Tue May 28, 2013 1:43 pm

Re: Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino, 2019)

#485 Post by HitchcockLang » Thu Jul 25, 2019 8:49 pm

Made it about halfway through the film before a power surge. I’m now sitting in a pitch black theater with a couple dozen increasingly unruly strangers.

So far I’m enjoying the more subtle approach than his last couple but it’s also low key enough that I’m hoping I don’t have to sit through the beginning again to see the end the first time.

User avatar
mfunk9786
Under Chris' Protection
Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 4:43 pm
Location: Philadelphia, PA

Re: Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino, 2019)

#486 Post by mfunk9786 » Thu Jul 25, 2019 8:50 pm

Man oh man, I'm sorry to hear that. How's your handwriting?

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino, 2019)

#487 Post by domino harvey » Thu Jul 25, 2019 8:57 pm

The first time I saw Kill Bill Vol 2, the reel change when Thurman drives up to Carradine’s hacienda for the finale was mid-projected with the frame split in the middle horizontally and the bottom image on the top. It took me a few minutes before I realized it wasn’t an odd stylistic choice and ran to the lobby to get them to fix it.

User avatar
HitchcockLang
Joined: Tue May 28, 2013 1:43 pm

Re: Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino, 2019)

#488 Post by HitchcockLang » Fri Jul 26, 2019 12:11 am

My wife did wonder if it was a weird sort of intermission but apparently the whole multiplex blew and they had to reboot all 22 screens.

They were able to get things going again after a while and even backed the movie up a minute or more so I know I didn’t miss anything.

Without getting into spoilers, I enjoyed it immensely and appreciated the subtlety, reminding me a bit of Jackie Brown just in its relative quietness and lack of violence. I kinda figured things out before the end, especially with all the comparisons I had seen people making to
SpoilerShow
Inglourious Basterds
but I enjoyed watching it unfold all the same.

beamish14
Joined: Fri May 18, 2018 3:07 pm

Re: Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino, 2019)

#489 Post by beamish14 » Fri Jul 26, 2019 1:14 am

Seeing this inside of the Cinerama dome and hearing the sold-out audience applause when the venue is shown on-camera was a rare and magical meta-cinematic experience.

I want to discuss this more when more people see this, but I'm really fascinated by the use of visual effects in this, which were supervised by the great John Dykstra.
In particular, one sequence
SpoilerShow
with Dalton mentally casting himself inside of The Great Escape is very reminiscent of Forrest Gump, a film that Tarantino is a huge admirer of

User avatar
Luke M
Joined: Thu Jul 12, 2007 9:21 pm

Re: Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino, 2019)

#490 Post by Luke M » Fri Jul 26, 2019 9:01 am

I saw this last night and I'm inclined to agree with a lot of what mfunk wrote. I really liked how this felt like a mature, subtle Tarantino. The kind of movie I wasn't sure he still had in him. I thought DiCaprio and Pitt both put in stellar performances that, especially the latter, shouldn't go unrecognized by the Academy.

I'm not sure I'm ready to call it one of Tarantino's best but I might get there. I think it'll hold up well on repeat viewings.

User avatar
aox
Joined: Fri Jun 20, 2008 12:02 pm
Location: nYc

Re: Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino, 2019)

#491 Post by aox » Fri Jul 26, 2019 9:38 am

So, this is more in the vein of Jackie Brown?

User avatar
therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino, 2019)

#492 Post by therewillbeblus » Fri Jul 26, 2019 11:00 am

aox wrote:
Fri Jul 26, 2019 9:38 am
So, this is more in the vein of Jackie Brown?
Yes and no. It's looser in structure and more of a "hangout' movie, but it reads as a synthesis of his outlook on film, the industry, and what this art can, and should, do. It's more theoretical than it appears to be, and I agree with mfunk’s assessments and would extend it to everything Kill Bill and onwards (and a case could be made for everything he's directed thus far) leading to this work as a culmination. Anything else (some spoilers, some not) I'm just going to spoilerbox to be safe.
SpoilerShow
So much of the film's runtime is spent in ambient moments, some seemingly aimless, some showing a truly threatening darkness or a vulnerability Tarantino often cuts from exposing us to in his films, and, expectedly, some purely entertainment. Towing the line between presenting non-flashy, deliberately paced moments of “reality” with love letters to movies and moviemaking, while peppering in catharsis intermittently or pasting a typically banal situation with “cool,” is all so well balanced that I truly didn’t know which way this was going to go until the credits rolled. Characters were less tough and more authentically flawed, dialogue was not as tight or full of bite, the coat of shine was stripped away just enough to wonder..

But then Tarantino exercises his preference, and his right to choose the fantasy, after making it blatantly apparent that he is not unaware of this choice, as all the parts within this bloated tale that seemed arbitrarily thrown together in the first two acts become crystal clear as calculated and necessary to complete the whole in the third and final act. Tarantino enlightens us, shoving his bravado down our throats, that he knows what he is doing and what he has been doing all along. No one can accuse him of not being self-aware in the past; all of his films show significant insight to his methods and intent. However this film achieves a higher level of comprehension through feeling, often in wordless (a real deviation from his norm), purely visual scenes that emit a poetic meditation on these thematic interests, allowing the audience to come to the conclusions naturally and on their own, a mature filmmaker no longer holding our hands until he grabs them and shakes us until we can't help but wake. Tarantino chooses moviemaking his way, and demonstrates his overarching thesis in the most profound avenues possible, by delivering on so many chekhov's guns, some we couldn’t have seen coming, and overextending the idea of deux ex machina and the self-fulfilling prophecy to achieve catharsis in a story that’s been so acutely perceptive regarding the lack of this catharsis present in everyday life. The absence of violence is used effectively too so that when the shoe drops, we’re catapulted back into the Tarantino film we know and love, from the atypical fever dream into another kind of more familiar dream, joyful and soaked in gratification.

If this isn’t his best film it’s at least his most intelligent and emotional in its self-reflexivity of his own work and of the power in the possibilities of movies. Tarantino artificially crafts unearned happy endings, laughs in the face of evil and, because he admits its existence in ambiance, “reality” too; not unfairly but because in the movies, he argues, anything is fair game. The final shot as the title finally appears indicates a solemnity in admittance of the facade and a considerate and honoring respect for the ability to do what he can with the medium, simultaneously holding both ideas, yielding a powerful impact that glistens with gratitude. The shot also validates the drives present in all of us real human beings to achieve the catharsis we want in life, to be noticed and cared for like Rick, to keep friendships despite life circumstances, to win, to realize our dreams and to have forces help realize them for us. Tarantino can't be god, but he can use the possibilities of cinema to to grant us what has been granted for him, and this final shot glistens with gratitude for that gift. As sad as I’ll be if this is really the end of his directorial career, it sure feels like the only way Tarantino could go out. It is by definition of its design his magnum opus, his thesis film, and his most heartfelt celebration yet of the art he loves.

User avatar
Finch
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:09 pm
Location: Edinburgh, UK

Re: Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino, 2019)

#493 Post by Finch » Fri Jul 26, 2019 12:50 pm

I prefer the "quieter" Tarantino of Jackie Brown (my clear favourite of his) to the "showy" Tarantino (though I do like Pulp Fiction, the Kill Bills and Reservoir Dogs a lot) so going by what those of you who've already seen Hollywood, I should enjoy this one a lot.

User avatar
mfunk9786
Under Chris' Protection
Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 4:43 pm
Location: Philadelphia, PA

Re: Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino, 2019)

#494 Post by mfunk9786 » Fri Jul 26, 2019 1:16 pm

It's really a wonderful blend of almost everything that came before it. But yes, it is much "quieter" than everything since Jackie Brown has been.

I slid back in here to report that the soundtrack album is out on streaming today (and presumably other formats blah blah blah) and it's an absolute blast. In lieu of dialogue from the movie (always drove me crazy that Tarantino would insist on including that), it instead has vintage LA radio ads and jingles (often with a good amount of amusing outdatedness or irony considering it's 50 years later - the tanning oil one is a hoot, as is the announcement for a local high school reunion), and DJ interludes. A dream album for playing in the car on a long drive.

User avatar
DarkImbecile
Ask me about my visible cat breasts
Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2013 6:24 pm
Location: Albuquerque, NM

Re: Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino, 2019)

#495 Post by DarkImbecile » Fri Jul 26, 2019 3:21 pm


Nasir007
Joined: Sat May 25, 2019 11:58 am

Re: Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino, 2019)

#496 Post by Nasir007 » Fri Jul 26, 2019 5:39 pm

I am not over the moon about it. Infact I don't quite know what to make of it.

But I agree with the assessment above that calls it a theoretical film. That is spot on. This is a film of ideas, not in that it is a philosophical movie. But it is built around an idea (or a couple of them). There is no plot to speak of at all. It can't really be summarized as it is just a collection of loosely linked scenes arranged across 2 different 24 hr stretches.

I would call this Tarantino's Haneke film. Specifically Funny Games. But really any Haneke film. Haneke doesn't so much makes films as he does treatises on the human condition. He dresses them up as stories and thrillers and what not, but his Cinema for real is a cinema of ideas.

Such is the case here to a lesser degree because Tarantino does not burrow as far below the surface as Haneke does. But there is a central idea here that Tarantino has built his film around. It is interesting but I am not quite sure it works as well as the critics seem to think.

I think if he wanted to go the route that he wanted to go, he could have done so even more powerfully. But as it stands, it is an interesting experiment. I don't know if I have a stronger opinion than that to offer yet.

User avatar
therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino, 2019)

#497 Post by therewillbeblus » Fri Jul 26, 2019 7:24 pm

Nasir007 wrote:
Fri Jul 26, 2019 5:39 pm
But I agree with the assessment above that calls it a theoretical film. That is spot on. This is a film of ideas, not in that it is a philosophical movie. But it is built around an idea (or a couple of them). There is no plot to speak of at all. It can't really be summarized as it is just a collection of loosely linked scenes arranged across 2 different 24 hr stretches.

I would call this Tarantino's Haneke film. Specifically Funny Games. But really any Haneke film. Haneke doesn't so much makes films as he does treatises on the human condition. He dresses them up as stories and thrillers and what not, but his Cinema for real is a cinema of ideas.

Such is the case here to a lesser degree because Tarantino does not burrow as far below the surface as Haneke does. But there is a central idea here that Tarantino has built his film around. It is interesting but I am not quite sure it works as well as the critics seem to think.
That is an interesting comparison, though I think that while the story is in part built around an idea, and very effectively so, it's also bursting with plenty of moments that break free of that idea, enough so to make it far more complex.
SpoilerShow
If it was simply built around the idea of exposing reality/banality and the facade of films and then breaking free to achieve catharsis, we wouldn't get scenes where Pitt fights Bruce Lee or where he kicks the Manson doofus's ass. Some of the driving scenes are long and appear absent of any "cool" vibe, while others seem specifically designed to ooze that artificial "movie cool" and then there are ones that feel like "real life cool" such as Tate and Polanski driving with the top down (I'd need to see it again to adequately deconstruct these, but while watching it something about the way each 'car ride' was shot felt like it was expressing a different vibe depending on its style). Tarantino doesn't seem to have any consistent signifiers or structured rhythm to when and where he chooses to indicate 'reality' vs. 'fantasy' but they're interspliced so seamlessly that while he's setting up his idea, he can't help but go for these 'badass' or 'spectacle' moments, making it a harder film to read but all the more interesting for the range on the spectrum of restraint and release Tarantino tows the line between.

To the point about the 'idea' though, and where I can see your comparison to Haneke, part of this idea is resisting cathartic moments at many turns to in part frustrate the audience's expectations of what a "Tarantino film" entails, before jumping in the pool of full-id in the finale. In reflection some examples of this: We never see Pitt kill his wife, Pitt doesn't accept the advances of the Manson girl, it turns out that George Spahn is actually taking a nap, while Pitt gets in a good ass-whooping we get a whole setup and watch Tex ride his horse back to confront Pitt only to watch Pitt driving away, and of course we never "get" to see the historical event of the Tate murder (Tarantino knows as much as we love his fantastical alternations of history, part of each of us wanted to see that happen). This suppression of id, of "Tarantino" moments, replaced with long scenes of 'day in the life' tasks, eventually stops with the surge of violence, and I don't know about your theatres, but the uproar of laughter and excitement throughout the final sequence in mine was so joyous it was like nothing I'd ever experienced in a threatre before (topping even Inglorious Basterds' packed opening night screening in '09, during the 'history-changing scene,' which was the most excited I'd seen an audience until last night). The audience wanted this catharsis more than anything, and proved Tarantino's entire 'idea' just by sitting in a packed theatre, our emotional reactions speak for themselves.

Nasir007
Joined: Sat May 25, 2019 11:58 am

Re: Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino, 2019)

#498 Post by Nasir007 » Sat Jul 27, 2019 1:07 am

therewillbeblus wrote:
Fri Jul 26, 2019 7:24 pm
Nasir007 wrote:
Fri Jul 26, 2019 5:39 pm
But I agree with the assessment above that calls it a theoretical film. That is spot on. This is a film of ideas, not in that it is a philosophical movie. But it is built around an idea (or a couple of them). There is no plot to speak of at all. It can't really be summarized as it is just a collection of loosely linked scenes arranged across 2 different 24 hr stretches.

I would call this Tarantino's Haneke film. Specifically Funny Games. But really any Haneke film. Haneke doesn't so much makes films as he does treatises on the human condition. He dresses them up as stories and thrillers and what not, but his Cinema for real is a cinema of ideas.

Such is the case here to a lesser degree because Tarantino does not burrow as far below the surface as Haneke does. But there is a central idea here that Tarantino has built his film around. It is interesting but I am not quite sure it works as well as the critics seem to think.
That is an interesting comparison, though I think that while the story is in part built around an idea, and very effectively so, it's also bursting with plenty of moments that break free of that idea, enough so to make it far more complex.
SpoilerShow
If it was simply built around the idea of exposing reality/banality and the facade of films and then breaking free to achieve catharsis, we wouldn't get scenes where Pitt fights Bruce Lee or where he kicks the Manson doofus's ass. Some of the driving scenes are long and appear absent of any "cool" vibe, while others seem specifically designed to ooze that artificial "movie cool" and then there are ones that feel like "real life cool" such as Tate and Polanski driving with the top down (I'd need to see it again to adequately deconstruct these, but while watching it something about the way each 'car ride' was shot felt like it was expressing a different vibe depending on its style). Tarantino doesn't seem to have any consistent signifiers or structured rhythm to when and where he chooses to indicate 'reality' vs. 'fantasy' but they're interspliced so seamlessly that while he's setting up his idea, he can't help but go for these 'badass' or 'spectacle' moments, making it a harder film to read but all the more interesting for the range on the spectrum of restraint and release Tarantino tows the line between.

To the point about the 'idea' though, and where I can see your comparison to Haneke, part of this idea is resisting cathartic moments at many turns to in part frustrate the audience's expectations of what a "Tarantino film" entails, before jumping in the pool of full-id in the finale. In reflection some examples of this: We never see Pitt kill his wife, Pitt doesn't accept the advances of the Manson girl, it turns out that George Spahn is actually taking a nap, while Pitt gets in a good ass-whooping we get a whole setup and watch Tex ride his horse back to confront Pitt only to watch Pitt driving away, and of course we never "get" to see the historical event of the Tate murder (Tarantino knows as much as we love his fantastical alternations of history, part of each of us wanted to see that happen). This suppression of id, of "Tarantino" moments, replaced with long scenes of 'day in the life' tasks, eventually stops with the surge of violence, and I don't know about your theatres, but the uproar of laughter and excitement throughout the final sequence in mine was so joyous it was like nothing I'd ever experienced in a threatre before (topping even Inglorious Basterds' packed opening night screening in '09, during the 'history-changing scene,' which was the most excited I'd seen an audience until last night). The audience wanted this catharsis more than anything, and proved Tarantino's entire 'idea' just by sitting in a packed theatre, our emotional reactions speak for themselves.
You have it exactly right. I will add some more examples.
SpoilerShow
DiCaprio when he has his nervous breakdown tells his reflection - I am going to shoot your brains out in the swimming pool. We prick up our ears because we know he lives next door to Tate. Then in the end we see DiCaprio in the pool, we feel tense. When the girl gets in there and starts shooting, we feel tense. In a way we wanted to see DiCapio to be shot in the pool. Not because we dislike him but because we were set up. Tarantino frustrates us the way.

When the Manson girls says we will cut off their cocks - in a way we want to see that. Because Tarantino can show that. And we all deep down like the lurid and the grotesque.

You are right, when Pitt goes to check on George, we almost want to see a rotting corpse. Again the touch of the lurid that we are promised but denied.

This is something Haneke does over and over and over in Funny Games. He constantly frustrates the audience. We are waiting for revenge, but he denies us that completely. The most devious of his ploys is the knife in the boat which he makes a point to highlight.

In the end, Haneke sticks to his thesis. He promises you something but completely thwarts it. Tarantino promises you something, looks like he will completely thwart it, then gives in for the schlocky finale giving you exactly what he said he wouldn't give you.

If I am expressing a reservation about something Tarantino did, it is only fair I offer an alternative. In my mind a more radical, more shocking and indeed more poignant ending might have been if something like the Hirsch character or some other stray side character, like DiCaprio's wife or somebody met Manson kids outside, spoke to them and changed their minds. And we had no violence at all. But that's just my current perspective.

But yeah, the central idea is subvert subvert subvert. And the greatest master of that of course is Haneke that is why I draw that comparison.

User avatar
mfunk9786
Under Chris' Protection
Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 4:43 pm
Location: Philadelphia, PA

Re: Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino, 2019)

#499 Post by mfunk9786 » Sat Jul 27, 2019 1:17 am

In a way I'm glad that last post is spoiler tagged because I never have to see it again

beamish14
Joined: Fri May 18, 2018 3:07 pm

Re: Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino, 2019)

#500 Post by beamish14 » Sat Jul 27, 2019 1:36 am

Part of what made me love this film so much is that it's a reclamation of Sharon Tate, a figure who has become synonymous with the underbelly
of the counterculture and become seen solely as a martyr instead of a talented actress on the cusp of bigger recognition. Every scene with Robbie
as her illustrates her vitality and life essence and asks us to reconsider who she was as a person and an actress.

The film's frequent driving scenes, beyond being appropriate for characters trying to navigate between studios, the San Fernando Valley, and the Hollywood Hills,
echo Jacques Demy's Model Shop, which Tarantino just programmed at the New Beverly. It's interesting to note that in both films, protagonists live
next to oil derricks and pursue women who are ultimately impossible to forge connections with.

Post Reply