37. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019, dir. Quentin Tarantino)
The contrast between DiCaprio's earnest, overly-desperate stressed out egomaniac and Brad Pitt's natural kiss-my-ass nonchalance would aleady be an intriguing pitch into their respective method and/or charisma, and it makes for perfect casting for a washed-up TV western actor and his faithful stunt double. The film is loaded with loving and nostalgic details from vintage L.A. and film and television culture circa 1969. Tarantino's most open love letter to his childhood roots, where what he was watching on TV is far more significant than details about his neighborhood, family, schooling, etc.
Since learning of the project, I was trepidatious. I frankly didn't believe that Tarantino has the necessary emotional maturity for the responsibility of reenacting the gruesome Manson murders. This trepidation continued through the film as I (we) waited dreading the inevitable. After Spawn Ranch (the most impressive sequence of the film), I started to relax a little, but I was still unspoiled on how exactly QT would twist the well-known historical facts (and obviously assuming that he would somehow). Luckily, Tarantino clearly lacked the emotional maturity to reenact the Manson murders, and instead went with a deliriously childish and exhilarating alternative.
The film still has some glaring flaws. Tarantino's version of Bruce Lee is total juvenile fetishized fiction, and there's some odd indifference to most women not named Sharon Tate. (My favorite example of this cold indifference is
WARNING: spoilers below
the treatment of Rick's wife at the end: "Gosh, honey, it must be a traumatic first night in our big American house, being attacked by ravenous hippies like that. Why don't you take a pill and go to sleep while I'll be next door partying with a better looking woman."
the treatment of Rick's wife at the end: "Gosh, honey, it must be a traumatic first night in our big American house, being attacked by ravenous hippies like that. Why don't you take a pill and go to sleep while I'll be next door partying with a better looking woman."
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