{"id":32414,"date":"2019-12-13T08:55:52","date_gmt":"2019-12-13T13:55:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=32414"},"modified":"2019-12-14T04:03:19","modified_gmt":"2019-12-14T09:03:19","slug":"once-upon-a-time-in-hollywood-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2019\/12\/13\/once-upon-a-time-in-hollywood-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Once Upon a Time\u2026 in Hollywood (2019)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Quentin Tarantino has always been a connoisseur of Hollywood and the concept of filmmaking and storytelling. There\u2019s a certain peculiar magic that comes with creating a narrative and how it allows the creator to do whatever they want. With all of Tarantino\u2019s movies, he\u2019s paid tribute to ideas like Chopsocky cinema, gangster pictures, blaxploitation, and with \u201cOnce Upon a Time\u2026 in Hollywood\u201d he pays tribute to Hollywood and the one and only Sharon Tate.<\/p>\n

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Actor Rick Dalton gained fame and fortune by starring in a 1950s television Western, but is now struggling to find meaningful work in a Hollywood that he doesn’t recognize anymore. He spends most of his time drinking and palling around with Cliff Booth, his best friend, longtime stunt double, and personal assistant. Rick also happens to live next door to Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate — the filmmaker and budding actress whose futures will forever be altered by members of the Manson Family.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce Upon a Time\u2026 in Hollywood\u201d is one of the many films about the fa\u00e7ade and fantasy of Hollywood, punctuated by the excellent pop soundtrack. Much in the vein of \u201cStardust Memories,\u201d and \u201cThe Player,\u201d Tarantino allows the audience to bathe in the realm of La La Land and how it both makes and breaks artists. Leonardo DiCaprio is fantastic as the struggling actor Rick Dalton who is struggling anxiously to change and evolve as an artist as Hollywood\u2019s demand for different content require he either grow or fade in to obscurity. Much of \u201cOnce Upon a Time\u2026 in Hollywood\u201d involves Dalton trying to come to terms with the new Hollywood and how much the environment has changed. This is especially true in Jack\u2019s meeting with a young child star who prefers to remain in character during their entire introduction on set.<\/p>\n

Much of \u201cOnce Upon a Time\u2026 in Hollywood\u201d involves Rick Dalton and Cliff Booth trying to find a place in the changing face of Hollywood. Tarantino brilliantly brushes over the evolution from more serious and demanding work, the rise of kung fu Cinema with the sudden appearance of Bruce Lee (Mike Moh is incredible), and how much young Hollywood has changed its view of working in television and film. Tarantino goes as meta as possible, even casting so many prominent child stars and children of movie stars in small roles including Kurt Russell, Rumor Willis, Maya Hawke, Dakota Fanning, Harley Quinn Smith, and Austin Butler, respectively.<\/p>\n

Even stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt are able to lend considerable insight in to their performances as they\u2019ve grown and outlasted the image of the child star. \u201cOnce Upon a Time\u2026 in Hollywood\u201d is bold enough to be as controversial as it is funny, confronting the Manson Family inevitable crimes, and Sharon Tate\u2019s legacy. Thankfully Tarantino doesn\u2019t exploit the horrible murders and prefers to celebrate Sharon Tate and the life and potential she brought to film as a whole. \u201cOnce Upon a Time\u2026 in Hollywood\u201d is a wonderful glimpse in to the golden age of Hollywood as is dove in to arguable cynicism with almost no place for escapism. It\u2019s another of Tarantino\u2019s masterpieces, and one I can\u2019t wait to re-visit.<\/p>\n