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Jesters_folly (230 KP) rated Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) in Movies
Aug 26, 2019
Contains spoilers, click to show
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is the 9th film by Quinton Tarantino. Set in 1969 the film follows Rick Dolton, an actor whose career is on it's way down and his stunt double and friend Cliff Booth. Although this is a Tarantino movie it is not an action movie but more of a ‘slice of life’ movie with some action scenes.
Like all Tarantino movies, when there is no action, and there is very little action, the film crawls at a slow pace with lots of set up, dialog and driving meaning that nothing much happens for the first hour and a half. This time is used to set up the characters and the three intertwining time lines; The main one with Rick and Cliff, one that follows Sharon Tate and one that follows the Manson family.
As with most Tarantino film’s the narrative isn't linear with a lot of Rick’s back story being told by flashbacks and clips from films and T.V. shows, both real and fictional.
I have said that this is not an action film but it does have a few violent scenes, including people getting burnt with a flame thrower. The film culminates with the Manson family's murder of Karen Tate and Roman Polanski, however, as with Inglorious Bas****ds the film goes off on a different tangent from what really happened.
There are a few ‘meta' moments in ‘Once upon a time in Hollywood’ including a moment where Rick is reading a book that is echoing his life and other moments where Rick and Cliff interact with other real actors, most of whom don't play themselves (partly because some of the real actors are dead) creating and oddly unreal atmosphere.
Like all Tarantino movies, when there is no action, and there is very little action, the film crawls at a slow pace with lots of set up, dialog and driving meaning that nothing much happens for the first hour and a half. This time is used to set up the characters and the three intertwining time lines; The main one with Rick and Cliff, one that follows Sharon Tate and one that follows the Manson family.
As with most Tarantino film’s the narrative isn't linear with a lot of Rick’s back story being told by flashbacks and clips from films and T.V. shows, both real and fictional.
I have said that this is not an action film but it does have a few violent scenes, including people getting burnt with a flame thrower. The film culminates with the Manson family's murder of Karen Tate and Roman Polanski, however, as with Inglorious Bas****ds the film goes off on a different tangent from what really happened.
There are a few ‘meta' moments in ‘Once upon a time in Hollywood’ including a moment where Rick is reading a book that is echoing his life and other moments where Rick and Cliff interact with other real actors, most of whom don't play themselves (partly because some of the real actors are dead) creating and oddly unreal atmosphere.
Rickstrong23 (216 KP) rated Reservoir Dogs (1992) in Movies
Feb 17, 2018
So low budget great script and great actors boom
So this movie i seen on a vcr hadnt heard nothing about it hadnt seen other movies by quinton Tarantino and blew me away i instantly watched again and started telling everyone i knew about how bad ass it was.and set out to see others by him directed written i couldnt get enough ...still cant
John Fitzsimmons (9 KP) rated Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) in Movies
Jun 20, 2020
I love Tarantino as much as the next guy. This movie was fantastic. The acting was on point, and the fight scene with Bruce Lee was BRILLIANT (don't let anyone tell you different). I loved everything right up until the climax. I'm down with ultraviolence and gore, but that final scene was just not enjoyable for me.
Peter G. (247 KP) rated Lucky Number Slevin (2006) in Movies
Sep 24, 2019
Unexpectedly good film, as I was expecting a poor gangster movie clone.
This is a very twist and turn revenge thriller with a massively high body count and influenced by both Tarantino and Hitchcock although it is a little predictable in execution.
Hartnett was the new rising star at that moment in time and shows great promise alongside *Sir* Ben Kingley and the always great Morgan Freeman, worthy of anyones time!
This is a very twist and turn revenge thriller with a massively high body count and influenced by both Tarantino and Hitchcock although it is a little predictable in execution.
Hartnett was the new rising star at that moment in time and shows great promise alongside *Sir* Ben Kingley and the always great Morgan Freeman, worthy of anyones time!
KalJ95 (25 KP) rated Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) in Movies
Dec 30, 2019
Love letter to Golden age of Hollywood. (2 more)
Chemistry of the cast carries the film.
Hilarious, tense and moments of sheer genius from Tarantino.
OUATIH is very simply put; A love letter to the golden age of Hollywood. It spans through the 1960's of Hollywood's obsession with Westerns, whilst focusing on the friendship of an ageing irrelevant actor, and his no nonsense and loyal stuntman, all set to the backdrop of the infamous Manson murders.
That alone sounds like a cocktail only Tarantino could blend, and a runtime of almost three hours unbelievably isn't enough to immerse me into the plot. It just feels second nature to what the film wants you to focus on, which is the friendship of Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt). Their chemistry is the forefront and heart of OUATIH, bringing hilarious and ludicrous moments every minute their on screen together.
The Manson family and Sharon Tate's brief film exposure do serve their point with the overarching storyline of Rick's dying career, but they don't make you care as much. That being said, the moments of pure madness, especially in the grand finale, really do keep you biting your fingernails. Remember, this is Tarantino, its bound the get a bit bloody.
The 9th entry in Tarantino's outstanding catalogue is by far not his best work, but it's a really sweet and sentimental love for all things cinema.
That alone sounds like a cocktail only Tarantino could blend, and a runtime of almost three hours unbelievably isn't enough to immerse me into the plot. It just feels second nature to what the film wants you to focus on, which is the friendship of Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt). Their chemistry is the forefront and heart of OUATIH, bringing hilarious and ludicrous moments every minute their on screen together.
The Manson family and Sharon Tate's brief film exposure do serve their point with the overarching storyline of Rick's dying career, but they don't make you care as much. That being said, the moments of pure madness, especially in the grand finale, really do keep you biting your fingernails. Remember, this is Tarantino, its bound the get a bit bloody.
The 9th entry in Tarantino's outstanding catalogue is by far not his best work, but it's a really sweet and sentimental love for all things cinema.
Veronica Pena (690 KP) rated Inglourious Basterds (2009) in Movies
May 19, 2020
Contains spoilers, click to show
I've come to the conclusion that I don't particularly like Quentin Tarantino and this film is no different. There are many parts of this film that just seem to be screen fillers and don't provide much to the story whatsoever. It seems like an overload of so many characters, it feels like he's trying to tell 5 different stories at the same time and it's not working that well.
Additionally, the worst part of this film is the ending. Shoshana should've been recognized and I feel it was a huge failure to not have Landa know what she did. After everything he did to her family and all that she'd been through, he deserved to know. I also didn't really understand his plot, nor Brad Pitt's. This film feels very messy to me and not cohesive in the slightest. I don't know what it is about Tarantino but the more I watch, the more I dislike him.
Additionally, the worst part of this film is the ending. Shoshana should've been recognized and I feel it was a huge failure to not have Landa know what she did. After everything he did to her family and all that she'd been through, he deserved to know. I also didn't really understand his plot, nor Brad Pitt's. This film feels very messy to me and not cohesive in the slightest. I don't know what it is about Tarantino but the more I watch, the more I dislike him.
Erika (17788 KP) rated Inglourious Basterds (2009) in Movies
Feb 2, 2019
This is the film that introduced the gift that is Christoph Waltz to the general theatergoer. Waltz is magnetic, and every single scene that he's in is so well-acted and tension filled. Who knew that eating a strudel and cream was so menacing?
The film is a tad long, but is completely enjoyable. There's definitely no absence of violence, which is typical Tarantino, but I don't mind it, since they're killing Nazis.
The film is a tad long, but is completely enjoyable. There's definitely no absence of violence, which is typical Tarantino, but I don't mind it, since they're killing Nazis.
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) in Movies
Jul 31, 2019
The film Tarantino was born to make
ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD is the film that Quentin Tarantino was born to make and it is his Masterpiece.
Your enjoyment of this film will be in direct correlation with how you reacted to the previous statement.
Lovingly set in Hollywood of the late 1960's, OUATIH tells the tale of 3 performers in LaLa Land who's stories are undercut by - and eventually intersect with - the growing dread of the Hippie CounterCulture of the time and, specifically, the Charles Manson cult that would erupt in violence.
Leonardo DiCaprio stars as fading Cowboy star Rick Dalton who has been relegated to guest starring villain roles on TV and is contemplating a move to Italian "Spaghetti" Westerns. This is DiCaprio's strongest acting job in (perhaps) his career and one that showcases his range as a performer - and he nails it. His Rick Dalton is a real human being. Sometimes confident, often times at odds with himself, and filled with self doubt. It is a bravura performance, one that I am confident we will be hearing a lot more of come Awards season.
Ably counterbalancing him - and providing the strong core to this film - is Brad Pitt's Cliff Booth, Rick Dalton's stunt double, who is just trying to live day to day. He is the quintessential Hollywood/California "whatever" dude who blows with wherever the wind blows him - including into questionable places. This is Pitt's strongest performance in (perhaps) his career as well - and if Pitt wasn't there to provide the strength and core to this film than DiCaprio's performance would be seen as cartoonish and over-the-top, but this counterbalance is there, which strengthens both performances. I'm afraid that DiCaprio will win all the Acting Awards accolades (his part is much more flashy/flamboyant), but I think Pitt is every bit as good and I would LOVE to see his name called during Awards season.
There are many, many actors making extended cameos in this film, from members of the Tarantino "stock company" like Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern, Kurt Russell and Zoe Bell to newcomers Timothy Olyphant, Emile Hirsch, Margaret Qualley, Dakota Fanning and Al Pacino - all have a scene (or 2) that (I'm sure) each actor saw as "delicious" and their willingness to go along with whatever Tarantino wanted them to do is apparent on the screen.
Faring less well is Margot Robbie in the underwritten role of real-life actress Sharon Tate who met her death at the hands of the Manson cult (this isn't a spoiler, it's a footnote in history). Her role is tangential to the main story of the DiCaprio/Pitt characters and it feels...tangential. Robbie does what she can with the role, but she is under-served by the script and direction of Tarantino.
So let's talk about writer/director Quentin Tarantino. A self-described "movie buff", Tarantino spares no detail in showing the audience the sights and sounds of a bygone era - Hollywood in the days of transition from the studio system to a more "television-centric" system. His visuals are wonderful and you spend the first 2 1/2 hours of this 2 hour, 45 minute film meandering through scenes/scenarios/people that are filled with mood and atmosphere and REALLY, REALLY GREAT music, but don't really seem to go anywhere. I was (pleasantly) surprised by how little violence/blood is involved in this and I give Tarantino - the director - credit. For he plays with audiences expectations of him, this movie and the actual, real-life events of this time. While this film is an homage to specific time, it is undercut by an impending sense of doom that keeps you on edge. It is the journey, not the destination that is the joy of this part of the film.
But, when all these disparate storylines/scenerios/characters and events eventually collide, the final 15-20 minutes of this film is quintessential Tarantino - exploding in violence that is horrific, bloody - and damned funny. It is an auteur in full control of his faculties and he controls the items in his "play-set" superbly to bring this film to a very satisfying climax for me.
But...this film is not for everyone. Some will LOVE the first 2 1/2 hours and HATE the last 15-20 minutes while others will LOVE the last 15-20 minutes, but wonder why they had to suffer through the first 2 1/2 hours. For me, I LOVED IT ALL. It is one of the very best Writer/Directors of our time operating at the top of his game - driving some "A-List" actors to career-best performances.
And that's good enough for me.
Letter Grade: A
9 (out of 10) stars and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
Your enjoyment of this film will be in direct correlation with how you reacted to the previous statement.
Lovingly set in Hollywood of the late 1960's, OUATIH tells the tale of 3 performers in LaLa Land who's stories are undercut by - and eventually intersect with - the growing dread of the Hippie CounterCulture of the time and, specifically, the Charles Manson cult that would erupt in violence.
Leonardo DiCaprio stars as fading Cowboy star Rick Dalton who has been relegated to guest starring villain roles on TV and is contemplating a move to Italian "Spaghetti" Westerns. This is DiCaprio's strongest acting job in (perhaps) his career and one that showcases his range as a performer - and he nails it. His Rick Dalton is a real human being. Sometimes confident, often times at odds with himself, and filled with self doubt. It is a bravura performance, one that I am confident we will be hearing a lot more of come Awards season.
Ably counterbalancing him - and providing the strong core to this film - is Brad Pitt's Cliff Booth, Rick Dalton's stunt double, who is just trying to live day to day. He is the quintessential Hollywood/California "whatever" dude who blows with wherever the wind blows him - including into questionable places. This is Pitt's strongest performance in (perhaps) his career as well - and if Pitt wasn't there to provide the strength and core to this film than DiCaprio's performance would be seen as cartoonish and over-the-top, but this counterbalance is there, which strengthens both performances. I'm afraid that DiCaprio will win all the Acting Awards accolades (his part is much more flashy/flamboyant), but I think Pitt is every bit as good and I would LOVE to see his name called during Awards season.
There are many, many actors making extended cameos in this film, from members of the Tarantino "stock company" like Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern, Kurt Russell and Zoe Bell to newcomers Timothy Olyphant, Emile Hirsch, Margaret Qualley, Dakota Fanning and Al Pacino - all have a scene (or 2) that (I'm sure) each actor saw as "delicious" and their willingness to go along with whatever Tarantino wanted them to do is apparent on the screen.
Faring less well is Margot Robbie in the underwritten role of real-life actress Sharon Tate who met her death at the hands of the Manson cult (this isn't a spoiler, it's a footnote in history). Her role is tangential to the main story of the DiCaprio/Pitt characters and it feels...tangential. Robbie does what she can with the role, but she is under-served by the script and direction of Tarantino.
So let's talk about writer/director Quentin Tarantino. A self-described "movie buff", Tarantino spares no detail in showing the audience the sights and sounds of a bygone era - Hollywood in the days of transition from the studio system to a more "television-centric" system. His visuals are wonderful and you spend the first 2 1/2 hours of this 2 hour, 45 minute film meandering through scenes/scenarios/people that are filled with mood and atmosphere and REALLY, REALLY GREAT music, but don't really seem to go anywhere. I was (pleasantly) surprised by how little violence/blood is involved in this and I give Tarantino - the director - credit. For he plays with audiences expectations of him, this movie and the actual, real-life events of this time. While this film is an homage to specific time, it is undercut by an impending sense of doom that keeps you on edge. It is the journey, not the destination that is the joy of this part of the film.
But, when all these disparate storylines/scenerios/characters and events eventually collide, the final 15-20 minutes of this film is quintessential Tarantino - exploding in violence that is horrific, bloody - and damned funny. It is an auteur in full control of his faculties and he controls the items in his "play-set" superbly to bring this film to a very satisfying climax for me.
But...this film is not for everyone. Some will LOVE the first 2 1/2 hours and HATE the last 15-20 minutes while others will LOVE the last 15-20 minutes, but wonder why they had to suffer through the first 2 1/2 hours. For me, I LOVED IT ALL. It is one of the very best Writer/Directors of our time operating at the top of his game - driving some "A-List" actors to career-best performances.
And that's good enough for me.
Letter Grade: A
9 (out of 10) stars and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
Barry Newman (204 KP) rated Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) in Movies
Feb 1, 2020
Got to be one of Tarantino's worst movies, 2 hrs 40 minutes and literally nothing happens till the last 10 minutes. It looks great and has a typically diverse QT soundtrack but is basically one big long rambling boring ego trip. There must have been at least 30 minutes of screen time consisting of Brad Pitt just driving around Hollywood . Pulp Fiction it most definitely isn't. Hugely overrated and almost certainly wouldn't have been made if it were anyone else but Tarantino.
Jesters_folly (230 KP) rated Let Me Make You A Martyr (2016) in Movies
Jun 15, 2020
Contains spoilers, click to show
Drew Glass returns to his home town to reconnect with his stepsister & lover June and to right the wrongs of his past.
Let Me Make You A Martyr starts off as a slow paced ‘Tarantino’ esq. film. The story is mostly told by Drew, parts of the film are shown out of sequence and follow two story lines which converge around an hour in.
The film has a very dark tone and features themes of drug use, violence, people trafficking and rape although most of the violence takes place off screen or on the edge of the screen, giving just the hint of what is happening, and that’s the thing about ‘Let Me Make You A Martyr’, it’s not an action film. It has the feel of something from Tarantino but with a much slower pace. The violence is almost subdued, being of screen or shot through a filter.
Like a Tarantino move ‘Let Me Make You A Martyr’ goes from talking to silence and back to talking and, as the film goes on you notice that there are a lot of musings about death and the afterlife. Death and the afterlife are themes that runs throughout the film which even has a killer called Pope (Played by Marilyn Manson).
If you want a fast paced action film then ‘Let Me Make You A Martyr’ is not for you and the films ending is possibly not what you’d expect from a revenge movie, leaving off with at least one question but, if you can handle a dark, slow, sometimes non liner film then give ‘Let Me Make You A Martyr’ a watch.
Let Me Make You A Martyr starts off as a slow paced ‘Tarantino’ esq. film. The story is mostly told by Drew, parts of the film are shown out of sequence and follow two story lines which converge around an hour in.
The film has a very dark tone and features themes of drug use, violence, people trafficking and rape although most of the violence takes place off screen or on the edge of the screen, giving just the hint of what is happening, and that’s the thing about ‘Let Me Make You A Martyr’, it’s not an action film. It has the feel of something from Tarantino but with a much slower pace. The violence is almost subdued, being of screen or shot through a filter.
Like a Tarantino move ‘Let Me Make You A Martyr’ goes from talking to silence and back to talking and, as the film goes on you notice that there are a lot of musings about death and the afterlife. Death and the afterlife are themes that runs throughout the film which even has a killer called Pope (Played by Marilyn Manson).
If you want a fast paced action film then ‘Let Me Make You A Martyr’ is not for you and the films ending is possibly not what you’d expect from a revenge movie, leaving off with at least one question but, if you can handle a dark, slow, sometimes non liner film then give ‘Let Me Make You A Martyr’ a watch.