Once Upon a Time....in the Tarintino-verse

No Content for Old Men

with Matt Craig

In this week's newsletter: A review of the 1960s romp Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood, some comments on Sundance darling The Farewell and Apollo 11, then a deep dive into the streamable library of director Quentin Tarintino. I've got a "Subscriber Says" on deck and another DOUBLE "Trailer Watch" for the first peeks at Tom Hanks in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood and the sequel tapdance of Zombieland: Double Tap.

Word Count: 803 words
Approximate Reading Time: 3 minutes

Once Upon a Time...In Hollywood

DiCaprio and Pitt soak up the entire SoCal sun

So here's something about me. It might be kind of weird, or maybe it's a thing that everyone does and it's the most normal thing in the world, I don't know. You all will have to tell me. But when there's a movie coming out about some historic event I don't know much about, I don't do any background research beforehand. I don't want to know ANYTHING. Nothing.

Call it ignorance if you want. I just want to be swept up in the story in front of me. Sometimes it really works, like the emotional punch of not knowing Neil Armstrong lost a daughter before I saw First Man. Other times I come home from Bohemian Rhapsody, turn on the ol' Google machine, and find out that basically the entire third act of the movie is fabricated nonsense. Yuck.

Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood operates somehow on both poles simultaneously. Without spoiling this movie I will just say it is not too worried about the historical retelling of the Charles Manson murders. Let us not forget this is Quentin Tarintino at the helm, a man who wrote another movie ending with mercenary Jews unloading bullets into Hitler's noggin.

Yet its inaccuracy, or more precisely historical indifference, is what makes Tarintino's latest movie great. I currently have it perched atop the heaping pile of garbage that is the 2019 slate of movies, as the best I've seen so far this year.

The Manson murders are a backdrop to a world of his own creation. This world very much resembles 1969 Los Angeles, down to every tiny detail. Groovy cars, groovy clothes, groovy haircuts. For me, at 24 years old and willfully ignorant, the experience comes something else. Acquired nostalgia. I got the warm fuzzies about a bygone era that I myself did not experience. (Nor did Tarintino, at the age of 7 in 1969, no matter how often he says he went to the adult movies with his parents.)

This world also resembles Hollywood. As it was, as it is, as it always will be. People desperately pursuing stardom that is fleeting and even when achieved, does not satisfy, walking side by side with people who have nothing yet want nothing, content just to smile and take whatever comes.

Of course, it helps when one of those archetypes is embodied by Leonardo DiCaprio and the other Brad Pitt. Both are phenomenal here, possessing the rare combination of immersion into character and the primal magnetism of movie stars. It's not an exaggeration to say this is one of the highest wattage duos every captured on film together. Unlike many story-heavy Tarintino entries, the plot here comes a distant second to the character study of DiCaprio's fading TV actor and Pitt's stunt double. It's style over substance. And it works, because you just want to see these two actors and these two characters together doing literally anything.

Surrounding the two leads, the pop culture encyclopedia inside Tarintino's brain has exploded out across the screen. The actual Manson murders are an afterthought. Charles Manson has like 45 seconds of screen time total. Sharon Tate is window dressing. Instead, we get everything the lurid Playboy Mansion to the appearances of Steve McQueen and Roman Polanski to the numerous movies-within-the-movie.

But this world is not our world. It is Tarintino's. Pulpy, cool, crude, hilarious, and ultimately hyper-violent. Tarintino will not let us forget that HE is the star of the show, not DiCaprio or Pitt or even history.

In order to steal the spotlight back here, he's cranked up his already established one-of-a-kind abilities: 1) Creating crackling dialogue that absorbs a viewer for prolonged periods of time, 2) unveiling memorable minor characters, 3) ratcheting up tension to maximum levels while something banal and ordinary happens on screen, and 4) extracting humor out of gruesome acts of violence.

These elements carry the movie through its two hour and forty minute runtime (typical fare for a Tarintino flick) and make it feel about 30x shorter than the slow drip of 2015's The Hateful Eight (which is only seven minutes longer). Well, those elements plus the fact that THIS CAST IS INSANE. Every tiny role is filled by someone interesting: Al Pacino, Kurt Russell, Timothy Olyphant, Dakota Fanning, Austin Butler, Maya Hawke, and on and on.

It would be enough for the movie to be a good hang. Because it is a good hang, the type you will find yourself rewatching every time it pops up on TV or streaming for the rest of your life. But like most great movies, it is elevated by its ability to blossom under close inspection. One can simply enjoy it at surface level, or dive deep, and the deeper one dives the more they are rewarded.

Without spoiling the twist ending, it's difficult for me to say anything more. So go see the movie and drop me a note, so we can discuss further!

Subscriber Says

From Rebecca in Tulsa, in response to last week's recommendation of Lars and the Real Girl:

"Lars and the Real Girl is excellent. You once recommended the movie Her which I finally watched. I can not recommend Her. It seemed like a knock-off of Lars and the Real Girl concept but with modern technology. At least in Lars the people who loved Lars recognized that he may need some mental health support. All the characters in Her acted like it was perfectly normal to date an Operating System. Is this what we have come to? No one (except the ex) will tell Theodore that he needs to seek mental health help. Even the sanest character in the movie, Samantha, does not tell Theodore that he needs a mental health evaluation. I am with you all the way on your recommendation of Lars and the Real Girl but pass on the re-heated left overs of Her."

I really like the connection between the two! Never really thought about their similarities. I guess I never did because Lars is set in the "real world" and Her is supposed to be set in some futuristic society that is very similar to our own but not the same. Which would account for those cultural differences (I think they make mention of a large number of people who are using the AI companions, so it's more normal?).

The interesting difference between the two in my mind is that the main character of Her doesn't have the close friends or family he NEEDS that could support him and pull him out of his depression/delusion. That's what the movie is ultimately about, loneliness, told from the perspective of the lonely person. I found that to be fascinating. I really like both movies, but agree that if it were real life I'd much rather be in the position of Lars!! (And not just because that means I'd look like Ryan Gosling!)

Seen any movies recently? Reply to this email with your thoughts and opinions, good or bad, and we'll discuss in the next edition of the newsletter!

Something New

The Farewell (Theaters): The darling of Sundance hit theaters this past weekend, and for a movie that is 75% in Mandarin, it has done quite well at the box office (relatively). That could be because of the surprising serious actor star turn of Awkwafina in the lead role, or the authenticity of this semi-autobiographical tale from new filmmaker Lulu Wang. Or, in my case, because of the deep-seated cultural dividing line it raises. Who should carry the emotional weight of tragedy? Should each person "sit under their own vine" (s/o George Washington in "Hamilton"), as the West teaches, clearing all others of guilt? Or should the collective whole shoulder the burden, to protect the victim? Even after seeing the deeply personal and emotional movie, I still don't have a good answer.

Apollo 11 ($$): In honor of the 50-year anniversary, I finally got around to watching the docudrama about man's first trip to the moon from earlier this year. It's constructed entirely out of footage, much which is never before seen, and radio communications from the two-week adventure. No interviews, no narration. So it plays like a movie, except it hasn't been dramatized at all (check out the excellent First Man on HBO for that). Still, I can only describe the viewing experience as "harrowing." To see real life people in the midst of something so historic and demanding is so exciting you can't take your eyes away, even if it's presented matter-of-factly. It almost feels like it should be required viewing as a human being.

Something Old

Reservoir Dogs (1992, Amazon Prime): About 10 minutes into the movie's premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, I think every hot shot producer, agent, and entertainment journalist on the planet looked at each other and was like, "woah, the game has been changed forever." The confidence, the layered-expression, and the precision of this movie signaled a filmmaker who was different. Even the sheer concept! It picks up where most movies would end, AFTER the big heist, and grapples with the aftermath of the thieves, taking place in basically just two rooms. This was probably the fourth or fifth Tarintino movie I actually watched, but as soon as I did his whole schtick clicked for me.

Pulp Fiction (1994, Netflix): So most people, when their directorial debut blows up, they get a little defensive. For the first time, they have something to lose. Unless they are Tarintino, who always envisioned himself becoming famous. He went even riskier for his second effort at the ripe age of 31, telling the interconnected stories of a handful of wildly colorful characters inside of interweaving and nonlinear plot lines. The result is one of the most iconic films of all time. In fact, I really shouldn't have to "recommend" it to you because you've likely already seen this movie, or decided you're not going to. If you don't want to because you don't like Tarintino or think he's an enormous prick, my observed opinion would be that you are right. So good on ya. But this movie is great.

Something to Stream

Inglourious Basterds (Netflix): My personal favorite Tarintino movie and an underappreciated masterpiece, this movie sings with the crackling energy of all of his projects while spinning a narrative that can easily be followed upon first viewing. Linear, for once! This allows for huge build-ups in tension, and phenomenal releases. As always, Tarintino gets incredible acting performances, this time from Brad Pitt and Michael Fassbender and Diane Kruger....and of course Cristoph Waltz, who won an Oscar for his portrayal of a Natzi inspector. Lemme just say...the card game scene in the basement bar is one of the most brilliant movie scenes of all time.

The Hateful Eight - Extended Cut (Netflix): Ok now this is interesting. Because all of Tarintino's movies are too long and indulgent. I actually think Netflix did a good thing here, which was to add content rather than cut it down, then break it into pieces. Tarintino's movies are naturally constructed in "chapters," which work as puzzle pieces in much the same way episodes do for a regular television show. I've always kinda thought breaking each of his movies into these sections would be the optimal viewing experience. It definitely was for this chamber drama western, wherein a bunch of ne'er-do-well cowboys get snowed in together and, of course, end up killing each other.

Trailer Watch: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

When we heard we were getting a Mr. Rogers movie, we were all kind of like...why? The 2018 documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor? was everything we wanted out of a Mr. Rogers celebratory retrospective, and its historic returns at the box office prove it. But all it took was one photo of Tom Hanks dawning the iconic red sweater to change our minds. Hanks as Rogers is just *chefs kiss.* I really doubt this narrative film will uncover or explore anything that the documentary did not, but the combination of Hanks and promising director Marielle Heller (Can You Ever Forgive Me?) is enough to get me excited to see it!

Trailer Watch: Zombieland: Double Tap

My love for the original Zombieland (available now on Netflix!) has been well documented in this newsletter. But you know what? I also liked Now You See Me, a 2013 movie that also starred Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson. When the sequel came out, it was not only terrible, it ruined my ability to enjoy the original. I had similar fears for this sequel. At least from the trailer, I had nothing to worry about. The original stars are all back, and the additions--Zoey Deutch, Luke Owen, Thomas Middleditch--are exciting too. Same "great hangs bro" vibe. I'm all in, especially in a year where there haven't been any fun movies. Or least, fun movies that are actually good.