In Retrospect: Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

I ain't gonna be mad if this wins Best Picture.

I'm just so happy to watch this movie again. It's a love letter to the late 60s but it really does go beyond that. I know Quentin Tarantino is a huge fan of old Hollywood and very nostalgic of filmmaking during that era between the 60s and 70s, and he captured the essence of it brilliantly. I actually was a bit surprised to read this was Leo's first film in 4 years time after he finally got his Oscar, and while I haven't seen The Revenant this is gonna be a hard performance to top for me. There's been stories about aging movie starts who are a bit washed up but I like the fact it's not the main focus of the picture, but when it has scenes dedicated to it they pull it off flawlessly. I still say the best scene in the whole film is when Rick talks to his young co-star, I can't fully explain it though. The age of both these actors (in the world of the film that is), and just the interactions they share are a true highlight for me and the writing quickly gets to the core of both these people. And you better believe I am here for this bromance with Brad Pitt, when the movie itself flat out says he's kind of Leo's wife I buy it, I love it, Cliff is a complete badass dude and every scene he has is memorable. Margot Robbie is still a total sweetie and I am riding that hype train mercilessly for Birds Of Prey (PS. Tune in for that next week.)! I love the atmosphere it has in California, I love the complete throwback in every concievable way possible of the production and cinematography,and I didn't catch many of the other Tarantino film references until this viewing. I challenge one asshole out there to say they didn't like the ending of this movie, you gotta be one heartless sum'bitch to complain about the ending. I kinda want to talk about it so if you're not game for it, 4 stars, 8.5/10, go rent it immediately and have a blast. Now let us begin. I'm gonna be strictly honest with everyone, I did not and still do not know much about the Manson family murders, I might have watched a Biography channel documentary on it in like 2007 but I don't remember much. I was game to see the movie from the start but had no idea the route it was going to take, I had no idea we were going to see a Hollywood ending of this gruesome and horrifying case. It goes the way you really and truly wish those events did, and it is a happy ending but it breaks my heart regardless that such a thing occured in 1969. These dirty hippie bastards get all kimds of f***ed up and it is glorious! *Disclaimer: I actually have fondness for the hippie generation and this is all for laughs* Though personally I've never heard a more nut aching, blood curdling, shrieking cacophony of screams in the history of my life. I mean sweet baby Yoda lady, damn! But I understand the meaning behind it all, the movie is very much about death, Rick's career is slowly going out, the 1960s are rapidly coming to an end, someone attempted to murder a group of young people one of whom was seriously pregnant, and in fact there was a certain quote that really hit that home for me. I can't remember the exact quote but it essentially said the Manson murders was the death of the flower child hippie generation and movement. It didn't really persist into the 1970s, and I think Hunter S. Thompson said it best, "San Francisco in the middle 60s was a very special time and place to be a part of, but no explanation, no mix of word or music or memory can touch that sense of knowing that you were there and alive in that corner of time in the world. Whatever it meant.....We had all the momentum, we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. So now, less than five years later you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look west, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high water mark, that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.". And that I think was the handle. It's kind of a bittersweet movie the more you think about it. I believe the ending right before the film truly ends, was nothing less than a tribute to Adam West as Batman even though the 60s TV show was over and done by the time this movie started, it's the last voice you hear and it's a last hurrah of this time capsule we can all own a piece of. Just press play. I sincerely hope it gathers more acclaim and awards as time goes on, so don't fail me again Academy.