Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019) | Ep. 111 - All The Right Movies

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:04):
All the old movies. I want to tell.
You. It's official, old buddy.
What it has been. What are you talking?
About. Man, you're Rick Dalton.
Don't you forget it. Here I come.
Smooth lead. You're damn right.
On July 26th, in a town of make believe, things are about to get

(00:26):
real. Charlie's going to dig you.
Damn it. Once Upon a time in Hollywood.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was released in 2019 as Quentin
Tarantino's ninth movie. The story of aging Western star
Rick Dalton and his stuntman Cliff Booth, the film is an

(00:46):
exploration of friendship and fame set to a backdrop of a
changing Hollywood and one of its darkest chapters.
My name is John and the evil sexy Hamlets with me are Westie.
Don't. Cry in front of the Mexicans.
And Matt? Perpetrators.
They were hippie. Assholes.
It's Los Angeles 1969, and ATRM are heading up Cielo Drive to

(01:07):
talk movie Cowboys and the Mansons.
But first, anybody order fried Sauerkraut?

(01:32):
Hello and welcome to All the Right Movies, Hippies and Has
Beans on Acid, Dipped Rollies and a podcast on classic and hit
films. That sums it up.
Beautiful. Yeah, I'm not even referencing
the film there. That's just a coincidence.
It is. This episode though, it is going
to be a trip. Oh, absolutely.
A huge. 1. Yeah.
It's DiCaprio and Pitch togetherat last as we explore the

(01:53):
Tarantino Tinseltown loving thatis Once Upon a Time in
Hollywood. You dig that?
Oh, I dig it, Yeah. Very much so.
Well, before we cruise down Hollywood Blvd., should we talk
about our own slice of showbiz on Patreon?
Yeah, let's go for it. Yeah, well, if you're a regular
listener to our ATRM Classic podcast, you can not support
what we do by becoming an ATRM patron.

(02:16):
Patrons get exclusive access to our bonus podcast double
feature, where we talk about movies that may not otherwise
get the ATRM treatment, and the Watch List, where we talk and
review more modern releases. And you'll get access to our
whole podcast archive full of bonus episodes and archive the
ATRM Classic episodes. More content in there now than a

(02:36):
double bill at the van. Nice drive in?
Absolutely. Yeah.
Lot of fun, lot of fun, lot of killing.
So to find out more and sign up,please visit patreon.com/all the
Right Movies. Or if you prefer, you can
subscribe on YouTube for all those benefits, or on Apple
Podcasts and Spotify for our archive.
Yeah, there you go. It couldn't be easier now, could
it? Exactly.

(02:57):
It's a bad deal you get from Marvin Schwartz.
That's what she of. Course it is Schwartz.
I think I said that right. Yeah.
Back to the here and now though,or rather early in 1969, and
it's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
Your pick, Westie. My pick.
So why did you put this one up? Because I think it really needs
to be talked about. It's a very divisive film and I

(03:18):
didn't think it was a divisive film and I think it's very
expansive. It's very self indulgent, but I
think it's self indulgent done right.
It looks beautiful. So I would just do it because of
that. To be fair, there's so much in
it to talk about. There's so many things that it
explores, there's so much scope,there's so much scale.
It's a very personal film. I think for Tarantino, he
doesn't really care if you like it or not, and I think that's

(03:40):
really important and it's got somuch in it, it almost puts me
off watching it. Daunting.
Yeah, it's really daunting. Like a massive Chinese meal,
Yeah. There's no way I can stop
halfway through this film. It's on and it's got to be on
for like the full runtime, whichI really love about it.
It's just so selfish you and it's so self aware and you know,

(04:01):
it's a great picture. And I think that's what
Tarantino wants this to be called.
He doesn't want it to be called a movie.
He doesn't want it to be called a film.
He wants this to be called a picture.
And it's fantastic. So yeah, let's dive into it.
Yeah, I remember when this was announced.
At the time, I knew it was Tarantino.
Obviously I knew what it was called, that it was set in 60s
Hollywood and that I had Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead.
And I was like, well, this sounds like the best film ever.

(04:23):
Yeah. Then it came out that it was
about the Manson family and the Ted Labianca murders.
And I kind of thought, Oh no, tobe honest.
So did I? Yes, I.
Had visions of, like, I shot Marvin in the face, that kind of
tone. And I thought, cutie, he's going
to end his own career. He's finally gone too far.
Yeah. And, and I saw it opening
weekend. Obviously, it's still Tarantino.

(04:44):
There was nothing to worry aboutin the end.
But all the way through, I had this sense of dread because we
know what's coming, or rather, we think we know what's coming.
I'll probably be saying that quite a lot on this episode.
We think we know what's coming. Yeah, same.
As well, do you remember this was announcing you had that
promo photo of Pitt and DiCapriojust in the outfit?
Like, I'm watching that. I don't even care.
I'm watching that. Exactly, it's All Star and as

(05:06):
with any Tarantino films, so much to dig into DiCaprio and
piss for the first time. Margot Robbie, Sharon Tate,
Pacino in there. Ridiculous.
I have a fantastic. And that period in LAA time of
change industry wise with New Hollywood coming along
culturally with the counterculture, anti war
movements and the Mansons. Obviously we'll be talking all

(05:27):
those things as well as analysing what we like, or maybe
we don't like so much. Maybe from a filmmaking
perspective, telling the story of how it was all made and a
tale or two about the real life events.
Nothing gruesome though, don't worry.
Yeah, but it's going to be massive, surely.
It's a massive film. Really daunting.
And Mass, I know what you're like, so don't cry for the

(05:48):
Mexicans. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
for you. Well, I mean, any Tarantino
film, it's worth talking about simply because I don't think
there's any middle ground with him.
Always films. It's very rare you get someone
go Tarantino. Yeah, that was all right.
Like Wesley says, this one is sodivisive, it puts people to
polar extremes. Maybe my big Tarantino opinion,

(06:09):
though, is that I've always preferred the latter part of his
career. Like, I know rest of our dogs,
Pulp Fiction, totally get by theravine.
I do really like them, but they've never quite hit the mark
in the same way for me. But you get to something like
this. And I think there's so much
going on here to unpack, so muchthat is a departure from his
earlier films. And that's what I really respond

(06:29):
to. It's always been up there for me
because it feels like this is a film he's been building towards
his whole career. I think it's very important for
him. I think the tone works for you,
but it's more of a traditional cinematic tone, isn't it?
Yes. So Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
was produced by Columbia Pictures, Boner Film Group and
Heyday Films, distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing and
released on July the 26th, 2019.Filmed across Los Angeles,

(06:53):
Hollywood and various locations in California, it was written
and directed by Quentin Tarantino and stars Leonardo
DiCaprio as Rick Dalton, Brad Pitt as Cliff Booth, and Margo
Robbie as Sharon Tate. Yeah, and a whole load of people
who were nobodies at the time. Yeah, but not for long.
Yeah. It's mental.
It's huge, yeah. We'll get into that.
Yeah. All right then, time to head to

(07:13):
the valley, shall we? Let's do it.
In 1969, the Hollywood dream is bursting as we talk the first
act of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
The way. We go.

(07:42):
Saturday, February 8th, 1969. Los Angeles was a time of
change, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood drops us right in the
middle of it. The moment we get to know our
three main characters in Rick, Cliff and Sharon are coming.
But first, the opening. Yeah, makes sense.
So we could help not in the movies, but on black and white
TV. Fading small screen star Rick

(08:04):
Dalton is interviewed about Bounty Law, where he stars as JK
Hill with his stuntman Cliff Booth.
Then we're with Rick as he headsto the Muscle and Frank Grail
for a meeting with Hollywood agent Marvin Schwartz.
Not Schwartz, no, played by Al Pacino.
We have a meeting with a very handsome cowboy man, and I don't
just mean you much. Thanks.
How was the opening, do we think?

(08:25):
Is that your son? It's a very playful opening,
which I really like. DiCaprio absolutely looks the
business in those opening BountyLaw moments, almost winking at
the camera. And I love the recreation of
those 60s types of interviews. Like it's a bit still that it's
a bit awkward. There's no need for the guy to
be sitting in the chair turning around to look into the camera

(08:47):
because it doesn't look natural at all.
But that's how the 60s kind of interviews were.
And I just love this instant sense of the two main characters
here. Rick, he looks tense.
He's nervously smoking. You can tell he's uptight about
this. But Cliff, just casual as you
like, completely comfortable here.
And when he starts laughing at Rick's in, he has fallen off a
horse in the past. To me, that almost feels like an

(09:09):
outtake, like that's Brad Pitt laughing.
It's not Cliff laughing. So it's a classic Tarantino
opening and any film that opens with A Wilhelm Scream in the
open a couple of minutes that has my attention.
Absolutely. And we're straight in with the
four three aspect ratio of a bounty law, black and white.
Yeah. Always think I kind of feel like
we're channel surfing and then stumble across this, which maybe

(09:29):
is the idea. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I think it's entertaining and pretty expertly sets up two key
aspects of the film, the settingand the core character
relationship. I think the bounty law clips are
really good. That feel really authentic to
me. That is a nice Wilhelm scream in
there. Lovely Dick Van Dyke reference
as well. Yeah, great.
And the interview portion works because it shows us the dynamic

(09:50):
between Rick and Cliff right offthe bat.
The first question is about Cliff, but directed at Rick.
Yeah. Rick's the one who wants to
talk, but Cliff's the one worth talking about.
Yeah. And then we'll go straight into
that opening credits montage. Treat her right by Roy Head
playing. Yeah.
Sharon Tay dancing on the Pan Amflight.
Tarantino's love for the period just leaps off the screen
immediately. Totally.

(10:10):
But never compromises the reality.
No. And that's something that
carries on for the whole film, basically.
Yeah. I think it's nice bit of
storytelling and clever, establishes the era and the
characters in just a few minutes.
I mean, Tarantino firing on all cylinders out the gate, yeah.
When's he not? He loves a big opening.
Because he does. Talking about Ortman's before
the film starts, the Columbia Picture Studio logo we see is 1

(10:32):
from 1969. When the film was set.
It wasn't recreated, it was from1969.
So the like the scratched and faded look is for real.
All right, I love it when studios do that.
Yeah, so do I. And Screen Gems, who were the TV
arm of Columbia at the time, they get a couple of the name
checks as well. Yeah, there's so much detail in
this film. We'll talk about a lot of it.
It's crazy. It's mind boggling.

(10:52):
It's ridiculous. If I remember it all I've got,
my notes are the most substantial I've ever made and
there's loads more that kind of fit in.
It's ridiculous. And there are a couple of
classic Tarantino pop culture references in the opening at
Ricks, because when Tarantino was scouting for locations, he
visited the home of Lee Van Cleef in LA.
Now Van Cleef had died in 1989, but his widow show Tarantino

(11:15):
around and he said it was like a60s time capsule and inspired
Rick's home in the film. So in the garage, Van Cleef had
a huge painting of his own face,which is why Rick Dalton has a
huge picture of his own face on his driveway.
That is funny. Huge painting of his own face
just. Problem with like breeze blocks
though, isn't it? They're really temporary.

(11:37):
I believe Van Cleef in The Good,the Bad and the Ugly wasn't he
Obviously. I mean spaghetti westerns. 1 of
Tarantino's biggest influences always have been, really, and
this film's no different. I've got one in mine garage,
there's no one's ever seen it. I'm coming round after.
This round it's ridiculous. And what we also see here is
Rick has a framed copy of Mad magazine with himself on the

(11:59):
front cover. Now Tarantino went to Mad and
asked them to create a cover in the style of Jack Davis, who was
one of their main artists in the60s.
Yeah, and then mad the released a special Tarantino inspired
issue with Rick Dalton on the cover.
Right, But that's some serious attention to detail though.
Don't like the specific art style?
Only Tarantino was asking for that.
Yeah. In interview as well, Tarantino

(12:19):
said that he designed that like with a guy with a finger rub his
nose and it was the last ever physical cover of MAD ever
designed. Oh wow.
By Tarantino. Yeah.
Wow, wow. Awesome.
So straight after that, we're inthere.
Pacino just turns over. It's wonderful.
Gina, Gina, Gina, facing the misty light.
Absolutely. Love it.
It's. A bit creepy, but wonderful.

(12:39):
He pulled it off. No one else could have.
Yeah, it's just for me. This is the sequence where you
realize Tarantino is in as a part of him.
And every single character in this whole film, it's like he's
talking to himself. Just little elements of it.
And I just love the uncomfortableness from DiCaprio,
how he's just stood as his way through it a little bit.
And he's just like getting the name wrong.
And then he's like, it's a good,it's a good picture.

(13:01):
And he said, like, he's really uncomfortable for some reason in
the way that Pacino talks about his screening room.
And he's just like, his wife's gone to bed.
And we love Westerns. And we're just sitting.
It's like, that's what Tarantinodoes.
He's got his screening room and he's like, and then I live
Havana. I bought a cognac and I watch 15
fists of McCluskey. What a picture.
Loads of fun. All the Kelly and let's not

(13:22):
split as you're right, 14 fists of McCluskey.
He sets fire to like 8 Nazis with a flamethrower and it's 7
minutes, 40 seconds into this film that was see that he's like
he's totally not stepping back from anything whatsoever.
He's totally setting it up. This lays out the whole film.
It tells you that Rick's a fading artist.
He's not going to make it. He's got to go to Italy or he's

(13:43):
going to fail. He's going to be this.
He's going to be terrible. He's going to be the bad guy.
He's going to be the comedy foil.
He's losing everything. It's an absolutely wonderful way
to start it because he's just taking the audience on a little
joyride. But you're learning so much.
It's like having a really good teacher at school and you learn
through playing and you don't realize you've learned
everything. It's like that.
You've learned the plot, but youdidn't.
You don't quite know how. You don't quite remember how

(14:05):
nobody's intimidated by everybody.
Everyone's just on the same level playing field and it's
wonderful to see. I love it.
Pacino is Marvin. Down goes you, down goes your
career. It's like he's just wandering
from heat. He's.
Absolutely nuts Pacino, almost like he doesn't know his lines

(14:27):
that well. And he's.
Brilliant. Yeah, but it is the same as
heat. But like, Tarantino's put this
lid on him and just like, stop, some erupt a little bit, but
he's great. He's like born to act, but you
know. Yeah, he's wonderful.
Narratively, in terms of Rick, it is a key scene After we've
just seen like the cool, calm and collected Rick and bounty
law, we now see kind of the realRick, slightly awkward, he does
stutter a bit. He gets Marvin Schwarz name

(14:49):
wrong and gets the reality checkabout his career and where it's
headed. And it's a bit of a trope in
Hollywood set films, the fading star getting a shot of
redemption. But I mean not with Italian
westerns normally. Not normally, not then anywhere.
And two, that thing that kind ofgets set up here as well and I'm
a fan of firstly, I like the cutaway kind of storytelling.
Tarantino uses something you seein animations quite a lot.

(15:09):
He doesn't throw out the film. But the first ones here when we
cut to Rick arrested for drink driving and Kurt Russells
narrations like that's a big fucking lie.
And how stunning are the cause? Unbelievable.
Yeah. Just really.
We talk more about the more as we go, but geez, like the
visuals for the film kind of in microcosm.
Huge, beautiful, really authentic looking and dripping

(15:30):
with nostalgia and. Everything is clean.
Yeah. You just want to be there.
It's like a painting. There's nothing wrong with this
sequence at all. There's nothing wrong with this
setting or this scenes. Nothing negative.
It's just a beautiful, beautifulplace.
It's a stunning looking place, absolutely, yeah.
And Tarantino said when he was writing the script, he was
picturing Al Pacino as Marvin, so always wanted him and he
accepted straight away. Of course he did.

(15:51):
And Tarantino said once he started shooting, he didn't want
to stop because Pacino and DiCaprio were just so good
together. And you can see that's electric.
I'd love to have been on that set.
Yeah, it would be great. Unbelievable.
It is great seeing them on the screen together.
I mean for Pacino towards the end of his career, small role
working with Tarantino but he knows it's been written for him
and no brainer to do it surely. Easy.

(16:11):
I don't even read it exactly. Yeah.
What I love about this scene andwhat this film absolutely nails
is all the films within the filmlook great, brilliant.
I definitely want to see the 14 FISA McCluskey.
I want to watch Bounty Law like every night I do 6:00.
Looks amazing. I don't know.
I don't know for that. Tarantino was inspired by a

(16:34):
Roger Corman war film called TheSecret Invasion, and Tarantino
obviously later said he worked it all out in his head anyway.
So it was directed by Paul Wendcost and starred Van
Johnson, Roth, Taylor, Salmony or Invern Alesi alongside Rick.
Yeah. Tarantino clearly had a whale of
a time writing and filming all these genre pictures.
Yeah, great. Setting a load of nutties on

(16:55):
fire straight away and obviouslysets up the finale really well.
Yeah, it does, yeah. Check I was flamethrower. 7
minutes in and you get the ending.
It's unbelievable. So the flamethrower wasn't the
CGI effect, it was real. As with everything Tarantino
does. To be fair, tall in camera,
DiCaprio was taught how to use it and the stunt as was set on

(17:16):
fire for real. The stunt coordinators was Zoe
Bell, who's from Death Proof andKill Bill and Robert Alonzo, and
they had to convince DiCaprio itwas safe and the stunt actors
were OK with it. Yeah, it does look crazy.
I've seen them all. Flaming fireballs.
And he doesn't look DiCaprio. I think he's having a great time
by the end of it. Yeah, I don't blame him.
That's acting job you want, isn't it?

(17:36):
Certain fire stuff. Especially not to.
Exactly. Yeah.
And that scene where Rick's being taught to use a
flamethrower and he says anything we can do about that
heat and the guy's like, Rick, it's a flamethrower.
Yeah. DiCaprio said that line for real
during training and Tarantino thought it was funny and put it
into the script. Yeah.
Brilliant. Yeah.
And. Another line that wasn't in the
original script was Cliff sayingto Rick, you're Rick fucking

(17:57):
Dalton, don't you forget it. Because Brad Pitt told Tarantino
about when he was a young actor in the early 90s and a guy who
he knew at the time used to say to him, you're Brad fucking
Pitt, don't forget it. And he said he gave him a boost.
So I was added to the film. Nice.
Yeah, I might start doing that to myself.
Doesn't sound quite as good. I think you've been crazy over

(18:17):
here. You're doing it so you can't
fucking bargain. But.
It. Becomes quite quite an important
line later as well. I think after he nails the
monologue that we'll talk about,Rick sees to himself.
Rick fucking Dalton feels quite powerful when he does it.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely. Yeah, it's great.
Yeah. And that's the opening to the
film. We've met Rick and Cliff and
Marvin, obviously. Should we meet Sharon Tate as

(18:40):
well? Let's do it I.
Think we should? The setup complete, we follow
Rick and Cliff into their daily lives.
We see what they get up to when they're not together and then
see how the other half live whenwe meet Rick's neighbor, actress
Sharon Tate, and follow her to aparty at Hugh Hefner's place.
Yeah. The Playboy Mansion or a trailer
on the grounds of a drive in. Which is better Matt do?

(19:02):
You know what? It's the drive in for me because
this is the only time I'll ever compare myself to Brad Pitt.
So I'm going to make the most ofit because this feels like my
life. I've finished work, I stick the
TV on and I feed the dog and that's it.
That's. My doing.
Mac the cheese in the pan, yeah.That's it.
That's my existence. I think this is just a wonderful
little scene because on the faceof it, it doesn't look like a

(19:24):
particularly pleasant experience.
It's pretty scruffy, but Cliff doesn't care.
He's so comfortable in his own skin and in his own life.
He's got all he needs. And then you contrast that to
Rick, who is living in a mansion, but he's just unable to
enjoy all the trappings of it and all the wealth that he has.
And you have to talk about Brandy here, Cliff's dog.

(19:44):
I mean, she is a very good girl indeed, this dog.
And Brad Pitt is so good, he caneven generate chemistry with the
dog. It's really funny when he's
telling her that he's going to throw food out if she keeps
whining. He doesn't want to, but he'll do
it. That's really funny.
And then when you cut back to her, licking her chops and
wagging her tail and excitement.I love that.
This is top five cinematic dogs here.

(20:05):
Brandy's amazing and some here with the film for me, and it
obviously sets Brandy up for theend, but this whole scene, it
just sums a part of the film's charm for me, which is just
spending time hanging out with these characters, all of these
little insights into the lives. Yeah, it's great.
It's excellent as well that he lives behind the drive in movie
theatre. So he lives behind the scenes.
Yeah, yeah, Lovely. I.
Think that's wonderful? Yeah, the contrast between Rick

(20:27):
and Cliff's lives, I think it's drawn out really well.
Rick's sitting with a tape recorder, which would have been
staying at the art at the time. Yeah.
To learn his lines for Lancer. He's trying to keep his career
afloat while literally floating in his pool.
Yeah, which is nice. Whereas clipping the trailer.
Yeah. Pasta straight from the pond.
And it's not the Ritz, but he seems perfectly content.
Yes, he's so happy. Yeah, yeah, Brandy's in there.

(20:47):
How much food does he give? Brandy Bulls tooth, 2 cans.
And there's some great visual storytelling, a great touches
that Rick's posters in his houseare all pictures from films he's
been in. Yeah.
So he doesn't love movies or hishistory.
He's just kind of getting what he can.
Yeah. And Cliff arrives at Rick's in
the Cadillac and then leaves in the beat of Volkswagen, which is
in the nice detail. It's a great detail, yeah.

(21:08):
Yeah, and he's like Niki Lauda down Hollywood Blvd.
It's unbelievable. Yeah.
Great character storytelling. Load of a visual from Tarantino,
Yeah. The Van Noise Drive in was a
real movie theater in the 1960s but was demolished in the late
90s. Tarantino had recreated it for
the film, and what we see is a combination of a life-size set
and miniatures. Well, screen shot it will follow

(21:30):
Cliff into the drive in and thenthe camera moves up and over the
marquee. I always.
Think that. Shot ends when you just get the
projector, like going into the camera.
Yeah, he keeps going. I keep forgetting about it.
It's like that. Uses that darkness.
Yeah, that was the. Miniature.
That would go over, obviously. It's brilliant.
Yeah, yeah. And in contrast to.
Rick, watch pictures of himself everywhere.
Cliff's got a huge picture on his wall of Anne Francis from

(21:51):
Forbidden Planet. Yeah, I think Tarantino is a
fan. I've heard him mention it a few
times in India. Right, Right.
Right. So as we've mentioned.
Cliff drives two cars in the film, and there's the story
behind both. The car he drives Rick around in
is a 1966 Cadillac Coupe Deville, and that actually
belonged to Michael Matson, and it's actually the same car Mr.
Blonde drives and Reservoir Dogs.

(22:11):
Reservoir Dogs it is. Isn't it?
Yeah. Great.
Yeah. No cop tied up in the boot this
time hopefully. Well, whenever I check do it.
There we go. It's too, and he gets a spare.
Out it's barn ranch, although he's going to eat cock just fall
at the back. And Michael Madison's in bounty
law as well, isn't he? How's the cameo?
Yes, he is, yeah. Yeah, I think the reason he's in
there is because he always said the Tarantino's I'll die in all
of your films because he dies inhatefully as well.

(22:33):
He said, well, I'll get you in where you don't die then.
That's the only reason, yeah. And then Cliff's.
Own car that's a blue 1964 Volkswagen Common Gear
convertible, and that was the car Tarantino's stepfather used
to drive when he was a kid in the late 60s.
I prefer. That one, you know it's
beautiful. Yeah, I it's.
Lovely, yeah. Well, Sorrentino say that the
shots in Cliffs car looking up at him from the passenger seat.

(22:55):
We're doing that way because that was how QT used to see his
own stepdad, right? Wow.
Which is speeding. Probably, yeah, it's very.
Personal this film, I think it is, yeah.
It's great. Oh yeah, it must.
Be personal. Yeah, then.
After that, we'll get the other side of the coin and we get to
go to the Playboy Mansion. Now this is just pure Tarantino
vibes for me. It's just so lavish.

(23:18):
But at the same time, we're justfocusing on these three
characters and Margot Robbies moves.
I'm so pleased we haven't got behind the scenes footage of
this like have on Pulp Fiction. You know where he's dancing.
But I'm sure. There'll be something somewhere
where he's buying the camera andhe's just doing the same things
I do this 100. Percent.
Like with these? Shoes off, if you could tell,

(23:39):
teams moving through and it's just exactly what's in his head.
And until it says the Playboy Mansion in the Playboy font,
which is wonderful. Don't make a big.
Deal out of it being the PlayboyMansion necessarily, that is
making a big deal out of it being so over the top.
But you do get some great cameoshere.
I say cameos. I mean, I'd love to say it's
Steve McQueen, but you get Lewisplaying McQueen, which I think

(24:02):
is a kind of a parody of McQueen.
I don't think he's trying to be exactly the same as him, and I
don't think that's what we're looking for all the way the
film. I think it is a Once Upon a
time. It is like a comic book version
of these people. Link Lewis does really well.
But again, is this scene necessary?
Of course it is. Is it drawn out and over the top
and lavish for no reason? Of course it is.

(24:23):
But does it have plot points? Of course it does.
And you learn about these three characters through other people.
And he married her and then moved to him and then that.
And he's like, oh, she likes, you know, small guys who have
got these. Yeah.
I never stood a chance. I love that delivery.
That's pure. McQueen, if he's going to nail
any of it's just when he smokes and obviously he's backlit, the

(24:43):
smoke comes up and he's like, yeah, I think that's absolutely
fantastic. But that crane shot, when it
comes in and it's just moving through everything, it's just
like. Unbelievable how much?
Ambition do you need? Because like this one scene in
any of the film would just be like, that's enough.
That's the middle. That's the party scene.
Let's get the crane in there. But he puts a crane in there
over a trailer to feed a dog. The same at the Playboy Mansion.

(25:07):
Absolutely love it. I love the ambition this film
and it really pays off it. Does some party?
Steve McQueen, the Mamas and thePapas, Connie Stevens and Jay
Sebring are already there. And then Sharon Chain and Roman
Polanski turn up. Yeah, I'm pretty sure you have
not. Didn't buy that Playboy Mansion
until 1971, which Tarantino would have known.
So it's there for atmospheric reasons, I think.
Right? But.
Sharon. Is like an instant delight.

(25:29):
Yes, she is life and soul the party.
But this scene hits differently on re watches because the first
time seeing this I thought was quite sad.
Seeing Sharon dancing, having a great time.
Yeah, thinking we know what's coming now knowing what is to
come. It's just a great party.
It's just a joy, isn't it? Yeah, yeah.
And it does look. Incredible.
That crane shot is insane by thepool.
Yeah, the fashions of the 60s and the costume design is just

(25:50):
an absolute treat. Ariana Phillips was the costume
designer. Her work is superb all the way
through. Oh yeah, everyone.
Even the extra somebody out of focus in the background still
looks amazing, yeah. Fantastic.
I mean, talent. He was clearly in love with the
period and knows the period. I find it all pretty
intoxicating because I love thatperiod as well.
Yeah, I'm the same, yeah. He's just in love with cinema.
He's just in love with that idealism of it, and this is it.

(26:12):
It's totally idealized and it's beautiful.
Yeah, it is. Yeah.
Absolutely it is. Yeah, and talking about the
costume. Design When we say Sherrod and
Roman Polanski on the way to theparty, she's wearing a snakeskin
coat. And it was based on an identical
cool of the real Sharon wore thepremiere of Rosemary's Baby, one
of Polanski's most famous films.Snakes getting caught, Yes.
Yeah. Another great crane shot when
the camera moves from Rick in the pool over the roof.

(26:33):
Yeah. And Polanski leaving the house.
Incredible. Yeah.
I guess all these crane shots are to illustrate the point that
in Hollywood everyone is small fry.
Why? Nobody matters, really, Because
it's such a big place. Possibly, maybe.
Or it's. Kind of like the dreamlike sense
of it, the Once Upon a timeness of it, the kind of looking float
between all of these sequences. And we've got access to all of
Hollywood. Yeah, very.

(26:54):
Fairy tale field, isn't it? Yeah, exactly.
And Damian. Lewis said Tarantino contacted
him about being in the film and told him.
I've always thought, man, you'd be a great Steve McQueen.
And the reason McQueen is there is because a lot of Rick Daltons
create is based on Mcqueens. And apparently, the night that
the real Sharon Tate was killed,Steve McQueen had been invited
long. But it changed his mind, right?

(27:15):
Yeah. J Sebing was a celebrity
hairdresser, He was Mcqueens hairdresser and he knew.
We invited him to Sharon Tates. That's a Neil Hirsch.
In the film, isn't it? Yeah, that's right.
Yeah. And McQueen was going to go
until he said he got an offer from a beautiful blonde woman.
Obviously, Obviously. Obviously.
But yeah, Steve McQueen. Was on the Mansions hit list,
apparently with Frank Sinatra and Liz Taylor.

(27:35):
Wow. Speaking of the Mansons.
It's around this time when we see them for the first time,
when the dumpster diving for food and Pussycat, played by
Margaret Coley, who no one knew then but everyone does now.
Yeah, sees Cliff and gives the peace sign.
The song they're singing is called I'll Never Say Never to
Always. It was written by Charles
Manson, of all people, who saw himself as a bit of a
singer-songwriter I saw an interview with.
Mary Ramos, Tarantino's go to music supervisor and she said

(27:58):
that the made sure the royaltiesfor using that song went to a
trust set up for the victims of the Mansons before the licensed
it. Oh wow, that's nice.
So that's a set up for our fairytale Playboy parties, a
Hollywood in transition and the fading and rising stars caught
in the middle. Time to talk about the guy
behind it all, do you think? Let's do it?
Absolutely. The director.

(28:25):
The director. Chair, for Once Upon a Time in
Hollywood, was occupied by the one and only Quentin Tarantino.
He'd already been a household name for 25 years by this point,
and this was his ninth feature film, coming directly after two
Westerns in Django Unchained andThe Hateful 8.
Yeah. A shift in.
Genre Matt slightly, just a bit,but still a Tarantino film or

(28:46):
through through. Tarantino, I think he's made
just such a great hangout movie and the plot takes such a
backseat at times because he just wants us to hang out with
the characters and he wants to luxuriate in this very specific
time period. There's like no hurry to this
film whatsoever. He just wants us to absorb it
all. And it's got such a great

(29:07):
atmosphere too. And it's one of those films
where you can almost inhale it off the screen.
You can all smell that summer air and I think that's a risky
strategy, making a film with such a relaxed vibe to it,
because you run the risk of being called self indulgent with
it. And obviously he does get that
criticism with this one in particular I think.
And that's fine, I get that criticism, but it just really
works for me because I do feel very much transported back to

(29:30):
the late 60s. Not just the costumes and the
soundtrack choices, but the feelof it, which is very hard to do
without coming across like a parody of something.
I think this never feels like a parody.
And yet, amongst that harmonious, like Summer of Love
vibe to it, there's still that tension whenever he cuts to any
of the Manson Family. It just adds a little shiver,
like, oh, yeah, this is in the background.

(29:51):
And as we've said, the top, the amount of times you think, oh, I
know what's coming now. Yeah.
But to make those two contrast and tones work, I think it
requires a lot of maturity. And I think this is what I
really enjoy about his later films.
There's a maturity to them. It's not enough for him to just
write, like, cool dialogue and characters anymore.
And I think this film really sums that up.

(30:12):
I agree. I think one of my favorite
things about Tarantino is his identity as a filmmaker.
You can spot his films way off always and there's a lot of
stuff he advertising with that. The attention to detail
referencing popular culture is second to none.
Cliff in his trailer shouldn't be interesting, but he owned his
cupboard and you know Tarantino's hand picked every
tin of food in there he has. Yet.

(30:32):
The. Soundtracks, classic Tarantino.
The visuals are as well. We'll talk about those in a bit.
But what I think is a bit more unique here is I think this
might be Tarantino's most personal film.
Like we've said, yeah, he was born in Tennessee, Tarantino,
but grew up in Los Angeles in the 60s and 70s.
So he knows this place and time inside out, and it shows.
The recreation of LA is like, meticulous, from the cause to

(30:54):
the clothes to the music, the buildings, all of it.
It's nostalgic, but never feels like a museum piece.
It feels vibrant, it feels alivewithout avoiding the shady parts
of Hollywood, the underbellies there as well.
And Tarantino fuses those two extremes together, I think
really well. It comes from every aspect of
the film making. I'm going to talk about all of
it, but I feel totally transported to the 60s watching

(31:16):
this. I think one of the great things
movies can do is provide escapism, and if we can take you
to another time and place and feel like you're there, that's a
special thing, I think. And Once Upon a Time in
Hollywood does that to me. The only thing is I kind of want
more. I want to see more of the world.
We'll get the parties and the sets and the cars, but I want
all of it. I want to see the pictures and
the writers rooms and the studioheads and the crazy directors.

(31:37):
Tarantino's take on all that with the real people as
characters. I'd have loved it.
But I do respect the approach and how he's made the film he
wanted to make, as he always does.
And yeah, you're right, some people do see this as self
indulgent. And yeah, I mean, isn't most art
kind of self indulgent? It has to be.
Yeah, you're making a point. Or sending a message that means
something to you. I see.
It's personal, and I'm all here for it.

(31:59):
And I think this is a film that only Tarantino could have made.
Yeah. The only thing is, I can't
believe he didn't put himself init.
I know he loves the cameo. Usually, yeah.
Didn't do the voice. Over him isn't.
I know. Yeah, I mean, I'm.
Exactly the same as you guys. But I think that what I get from
this is that he doesn't take it to the 60s.
He brings it to you, he presentsit and he's kind of gone.
You can come in if you want to. So just sit back and enjoy it.

(32:21):
And it is a cinema film. It is such a cinema film.
I wish I could watch this kind of monthly.
It's on again this month, right?I'll go again because like the
New Beverly plays that like on amidnight on a Saturday.
Like I think every month or every two months.
Amazing. Oh.
How good? Would that be his 35?
MIL print his personal print. Yeah.
It would just be such a wonderful joy just to be able to

(32:42):
do that. I think that's what he's made it
for because he brings the old LAto you and you get a leave there
and walk away, as Sharon Tate did when she left her screening,
kind of you walking on air. You know, if you watch a really
good film, you leave the cinema and you feel like you're part of
that world. There's no better feeling for me
than that. And I think that's what he does.
And every single element of thisis Tarantino.

(33:02):
Every single element of this is so carefully put through his
sieve of like creativity. But he does that especially well
with the dialogue. And to deliver that dialogue,
the cast that he's built here isjust stupidly good.
It's. Ridiculous.
I for talent is beyond compare, not only for new talent, which

(33:22):
we'll talk about, I mean Austin Butler, Margaret Crawley, but
he's bringing back Luke Perry and you see that in the credit
and you're thinking, what's he going to do with Luke Perry?
What's he going to do with Timothy Olyphant?
Yeah, what's he going to do with?
These guys, but it's just, it's joy to be often.
There's never been, but he's wonderful and I totally buy him
in that role. He totally works.

(33:43):
Luke Berry coming back, the guy who was in the war with the
England. Yeah, of course he was.
Look at him. It's it works perfectly.
His eye for detail and his senseof self worth.
A thing comes across in this. It's not self indulgence, it's
self worth. And he knows what he loves and
he believes in what he loves. And he puts that in front of you
and says if you don't like that,I don't care.
And that's the best thing I get out of this film.

(34:04):
He makes what he. Wants to make, doesn't he?
Of course he does. Yeah.
And gets the best out of fuckingeverybody.
He does. So Tarantino.
Was planning to make the film with the Weinstein Company
because all of those films sincePulp Fiction had been produced
by companies owned by Harvey Weinstein.
But since the outcry that led tothe Me Too movement, Tarantino
severed ties with Weinstein. Yeah, well, of course you did.

(34:27):
There's a Tarantino interview with Charlie Rose around Pulp
Fiction time where he's, like, the hottest film maker in
Hollywood. And he says any film he makes is
always influenced by his life personally at the time.
So at the time of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, he was on the
fringes of the Harvey Weinstein scandal.
And I wonder how much of Tarantino's writing of what
happened to Sharon Tier, just him wishing he could go back and
do some things differently. Maybe.

(34:47):
Maybe. Yeah.
Possibly, yeah. Possibly.
So Tarantino. 'S next film was up for grabs
and pretty much every studio wanted it.
Tarantino took it to David Hayman, who want Hay Day films,
and they pictured round with Sony getting the right stuff to
agree into any $100 million budget.
Yeah. Blockbuster numbers, then.
Yeah, I know David Hayman produced every Harry Potter

(35:08):
film, so I wonder if that's why Tarantino approached him.
He knows how to work a huge budget, right?
Yeah. Yeah, maybe.
And also Tarantino got total andfinal cut on everything from
script to Hayman to final edit and you got. 25% of the first
dollar back end as well, which is a huge amount.
Yes, it is 1/4 and then. Apparently, after 20 years, all

(35:33):
the rights to the film will passback to Tarantino.
Mental How many directors ever could basically just tell the
studio this is the deal, this iswhat you're signing?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Not many, yeah.
Tarantino wanted. The film to look 100% authentic,
so hired Barbara Ling as the production designer.
He'd not worked with her before,but she also grew up in LA in
the 60s and knew the setting. She worked on some 60s set films

(35:55):
before, like The Doors, and she brought in Nancy here, who she
called the greatest set dresser in Hollywood.
I can't argue with any of that. It all looks incredible.
This is what you spend 100 million on?
Yes, absolutely. You just recreated four blocks
worth 100%. Yeah.
It was also a production designer on Batman and Robin,
Barbara Ling. Not sure if that was a factor in

(36:16):
torrenting your decision. Is that why it's not in?
Me notes just missed that bit out the doors.
That's fine. But the production design work,
it is just like, wow, as good asit gets.
Yeah, production. Design of Batman Robbins
actually brilliant. It's everything else is wrong.
Once Upon a time in. Hollywood, but yeah, on that as
well. And lots of the places.

(36:40):
That Tarantino wanted to featurein the film had been torn down,
so Barbara Lane had to recreate a lot of it.
So we've mentioned the Van NoiseDrive in, but also Tarantino had
wanted to feature Pandora's Box because that was a famous club
on the Sunset Strip, which had been demolished, and Ling had it
recreated in a restaurant calledJoseph's Cafe.
It was. A famous hippie hangout in the

(37:01):
60s. I think Pandora's Box.
It was actually gone by 1969. I think 6667, it got demolished,
right? So a bit of anachronistic at the
Playboy Mansion, right? Yeah.
And then? Near the start of the film, we
see a huge mural of James Dean stone and giant.
And that wasn't a recreation, but it was based on the fact
that building walls in 60s LA were often decorated with murals

(37:22):
from classic movies. Yeah, we're.
Seeing that scene we talked about with the Manson girls,
they walk right past that mural.Yeah.
Great shot of that. Yeah, fantastic.
Yeah, and in. Recreating 1960s Hollywood Blvd.
Ling spoke to all the vendors who owned the premises and
arranged with them to change thefacades back to how they'd
looked 50 years earlier. She said that after filming,
most of them actually chose to keep them as they were because

(37:43):
they preferred them that way. Nice.
Yeah. A free Barbara Lee makeover for
your shop? That's a bad deal, Is it?
Yeah. Replacing the neon, yes.
Thanks very much. And then to shoot the bounty.
Law feature we talked about. Ling had a whole western set
created. It was painted to look at it's
best when shot in black and white, because that's what the
old TV shows he used to do back in the day.

(38:04):
Yeah, it's got all the grey. Tones, doesn't it?
Like all the dogs in the background?
I love that. Yeah, it's brilliant.
I think Tarantino said one of his proudest moments in his
career was how authentic bounty law looks.
It does look, really. Good.
Looks fantastic, really does. Have you seen?
Behind the scenes footage of Hollywood Blvd. during filming.
Yeah, it's mind blowing. The lengths that went to clothes
shops fitting that were fashionsfrom the time.

(38:25):
Coffee shops decorated outside and inside, even though we don't
see inside benches with ads on for TV shows playing that night.
There's news stands full of like, magazines from the time.
Hundreds of extras walking around with the clothes and the
haircuts of the time. Like everywhere you turn.
It's 1969 and Tarantino was loving it, obviously.
In the middle of the street, he said he.
Sucks. He's walking down.

(38:46):
Hollywood Blvd. Smoking Hans Land does huge pipe
Amazing. I mean, why wouldn't you, to be
fair? The only thing?
That's not authentic to the 60s.It's amazing.
And staying on that. And keeping things authentic and
classic. There was a no phones rules for
Timothy Olyphant, who plays James Stacy, who was spoke about
who starred in Lancer and said Tarantino had strict rules on

(39:09):
the set. Mobile phones were banned and
anybody caught using one would be immediately fired, he said.
At one point you're in filming, the crew members phone went off
and they just took off running in the other direction, didn't
come back. Imagine getting chased down
Sunset Strip by Tarantino smoking handle and that pipe.
Crazy. Imagine.
Upsetting somebody who's got this big of a vision, though,

(39:30):
just because your phone went offlike it's never gonna happen, is
it? That's got to be heartbreak.
And that I'd run away as well. Yeah, but he's all over a set.
Tarantino, wasn't he? Have you seen when he has his
crew chant? We love making movies.
Yeah, after. The end of every shot, I think,
or the start of every. That's on the behind the scenes.
Stuff. Yeah.
It's like us. Before every episode we chant.
We love making podcasts, don't we?
Yeah, we do. Yeah, absolutely.

(39:51):
Ray, you're chanting well beforewe end on.
QT it's time for our first ATRM Patreon question.
So as well as all the great benefits we highlighted at the
start, another perk of becoming an ATRM patron is we will answer
your questions on the show. Time for the first of those now,
and it comes from Berg Swenson. Hello, Berg.

(40:12):
Hello, Berg. So Burke says hello gents.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood became my favorite QT film after
a single watch, which was when expected after so many great
hits. Beyond an amazing cast and
storyline, what struck me was how authentic the production
design was. What other films do you feel
have done an exceptional job of creating authentic settings?
Then Burke says thanks as alwaysfor all you do.

(40:35):
Oh, blessing. Thanks, Matt.
Thank you, Burke. Thanks for the question.
Yeah, yeah. Yes, you're welcome.
Burke But what do you think, Matt?
I was really inspired by this film to go down to similar veins
or American Graffiti came to mind.
I don't often give George Lucas a lot of credit on this, but I
do think his recreation of that time period is Immaculate and
the soundtrack's amazing. Brilliant.
Yeah. Similar vein, I'll say Licorice

(40:56):
Pizza, Paul Thomas Anderson, theway he recreates the 70s just
toward he takes into that periodand then kind of the opposite of
that really, in terms of torrent.
But I'd also say Inside Llewyn Davis just that 1961 five of
Greenwich Village. I mean, that film feels so cold.
It's set in February I think andit's grey that.
Feels grey. But it looks.

(41:18):
Amazing. At the same time, I think it
nails the aesthetic of that brilliantly, yeah.
Yeah. They said, well, let's bring the
mind for me into that DiCaprio film.
The Aviator has great attention to period details set in the
30s, forties, 50s. I wouldn't call this authentic,
but the Lord of the Rings trilogy it's.
Authentic Middle Earth. It's exactly the same as I
imagined it. Like a just huge.

(41:38):
Set stunning work to create Middle Earth.
Not a real place, but it kind offeels like it is when you watch
it, yeah. I also say.
Grand Budapest Hotel by Wes Anderson, which is a visual
feast with it's perfect crafted yeah huge colourful sets really
is and one always comes to mind for me for great production
design. It's probably 2001 Space
Odyssey, Yeah, the dawn of man through the three million year
cut to the future all still looks incredible and with light

(42:00):
years ahead of its time in 1968.So I'd probably go for that.
Yeah, I mean very. Much The one that blew me away,
that I didn't realize until much, much later was Full Metal
Jacket. Oh, yeah, That's in London.
All of it. Yeah.
Crazy. Yes.
What? Vietnam, the gas plants, yeah.
Yeah, that totally, totally. Blew me mind.
Like all of it. Zodiac, I think really sticks
with me to set that period I think down to that is amazing.

(42:22):
And the way that the mix of CGI with the production design as
well, I think it's really, really good.
Really good. But the one that's always going
to win for me is Blade Runner. I've never seen anything like
that. And just walking through them
streets and you just think that's just incredible.
Yeah, world. Building and that's the whole
thing. Is just mind blown, I haven't
seen anything like it since. Well, Tarantino was nominated
for Best Director of the Oscars that year for Once Upon a Time

(42:43):
in Hollywood, and the film was nominated for Best Picture.
Do you? Know.
Who and what won that year? I think.
It was so it was Parasite, wasn't it?
And Bong Joon Hall one director?Yes, Correct.
On both counts, Matt. Yeah, Parasite, the first
non-english language film to winthe top prize of the Oscars.
Yes, it was. Yep.
Yeah. As for Tarantino?

(43:03):
Though, and his work on Once Upon a Time in Hollywood still
crazy and impressive after all these years, These years.
Lovely. Yeah, very much so the.
Cast Quentin Tarantino. Was already a Hollywood legend
by the time he made Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and he
assembled a cast to match. We're going to be talking about

(43:26):
Brad Pitt as mysterious dumb manCliff Booth and Margot Robbie as
rising Hollywood starlet Sharon Tate.
We're going to start with the falling star, though.
Yeah, Yeah. Absolutely.
So. Leonardo DiCaprio is Rick
Dalton, an actor struggling to stay relevant in a changing
Hollywood. The story follows Rick as he
navigates the ups and downs of his career, leans on loyal

(43:46):
friend and stunt double Cliff Booth, and ultimately finds
himself face to face with the family on August the 8th, 1969.
Yeah, he is Rick fucking Dalton Westie.
He sure is. And I won't forget it.
How was LDC? That's all lead.
That's fantastic. I mean.
Somebody has to lead this, right?
And who's going to, at this point, 2019?
And I think DiCaprio has been ina lot of ensemble pieces, but

(44:09):
this is just slightly above everybody else, I think, and he
nails it. This is just, for me, one of the
best performances, not just one of the best DiCaprio
performances. I think this is miles better
than The Revenant. I'll put that out there that he
won the Oscar for great. I really do think this is far
more layered, far more nuanced, the stut as he puts in the depth
he puts into this character, thesense of like complete

(44:31):
hopelessness that he puts into this at some points, the
bromance he's got with Pitt. Their connection is just so
important and it really, really works.
But what gets me every single time is the middle of this film
where you're watching DiCaprio be a bad actor.
So you're watching a good actor be a bad actor, then be a great
actor, then just be DiCaprio acting as a good actor.

(44:52):
He hits them 3 levels seamlessly, but you never once
think, oh that's Leonardo DiCaprio, you think that's Rick
Dalton. I think he just totally owns the
character. He becomes the character.
You want a lead man in this film, you want to be him, but
you want to be Cliff. You do not want to be Rick at
all. Then he wants you to want to be
him. Throughout the whole film, he

(45:12):
actually wants to be himself, which is why the posters are on
the wall, which is why he tries so hard and he's a failure to
himself. Therefore he's a failure to us.
But at the end, he's the one whokind of brings everything
together. Such a great performance, such a
great character, and I don't think I've seen DiCaprio better
than this, to be honest. Yeah, I kind of agree.
I remember when the film came out, everyone was talking about

(45:32):
how great Brad Pitt is. Yeah, I don't disagree.
And we'll talk about him. Yeah.
Yeah. But the more I watch this, the
more I think DiCaprio is just incredible.
I think he's a great flawed character.
Firstly, Rick based on Steve McQueen like I mentioned, but
seems to represent a whole generation of actors who
probably found themselves out inthe cold and a bit irrelevant
with the emergence of New Hollywood in the late 60s.
Yeah, he's massively insecure. He's pretty selfish, not always

(45:55):
endearing traits, but I think wedo like Rick, Yeah.
I. Certainly do without feeling
too. Sorry for him, Yeah.
I don't quite know why either. I kind of put my finger on it,
but I think it's it's Dicaprio'sperformance.
He doesn't pull at the heartstrings.
He just, it's just very honest. It's in the quality of.
The writing, but it does also come from DiCaprio.
I think the new ones he brings to a role is one of his biggest
strengths as an actor. He does that here.

(46:17):
You bring so much pathos, so much depth to Rick and it is
really layered. Much is because of the details
in there, but because that's thecharacter.
Rick's an actor. So DiCaprio has to play Rick not
just as a person, but when he's acting.
Yeah. And by the nature of the story,
like you said, Westie, the quality of Rick's acting is up
and down like a yo-yo. Yeah.
And. DiCaprio portraying that
sometimes within the same scene.I mean, he looks every inch the

(46:41):
Hollywood legend he's kind of become for me, definitely.
I think we're kind of expect excellence from him and when we
get it, we maybe take it for granted a bit.
I definitely did first time I watched this film.
And I mean, he's almost always top notch, but this is up there
with Dicaprio's best. Yeah, same.
Very much agree. This is my favorite kind of to
cap your performance. You know, he can do the very
intense stuff like the Revenant very well, but then he does

(47:03):
comic roles like this and I think that's where he really
excels. And that's absolutely true of
the character here. Like a lot of this performance
comes out from to cap your hit in the comic beats like when
he's talking about easy breezy to Trudy and he just starts
breaking down into your. So that'll be you in 15 years.
That's. Really funny.
And the other thing I really like about DiCaprio is that

(47:24):
apart from like a couple of early roles in this create like
Titanic, Romeo and Juliet, he always plays against his looks.
Like he's really handsome guy, obviously, but he makes Rick
Dalton here an absolute physicalwreck.
Like he coughs and split as his way through this film.
I think it's really funny when he's in that makeup trailer,
first thing he does face in the bowl of ice water, because he's
not. Knackered from the night.

(47:45):
Before the smoking and coughing and smoking, all the.
Time just spluttering everywhere.
He's all into pieces really and we're twitching a little bit,
but what's really fascinated me is the little stomach that he
brings to the character, becausethat stomach is only there when
he's Rick in person. When he's acting, that stomach
disappears, which I think is such an interesting little

(48:05):
nuance that he brings to it. So it's a very funny
performance. He fills it with this
ramshackle, broken down charm, alot of vulnerability.
He takes his ego completely out of this.
It means it absolutely is one ofmy favourite to cap Your rules
as well. I think he's just fantastic in
this. Yeah, that's that.
Is only the only sober as well, if you've noticed.
Yeah, very nice. Yeah.
Yeah, it's very much. Like a eagle thing, Yeah.

(48:27):
Well, Tarantino hardware was DiCaprio before in Django
Unchained and only ever wanted DiCaprio to play Rick Dalton.
Apparently DiCaprio took a 25% pay cut to sign up, but you
would one. Yeah, no pay cuts for.
QT 25% of the back end gets 25% for next.
Year, yeah. Massive pay cut for you, pay off
for me. Watching.
Flyers getting printed to put inwindows.

(48:49):
Nobody's going to look at the Flyers.
That's my 25% there. And that's what I've said.
Tarantino took a lot of inspiration from Steve McQueen
in writing Rick because one of the roles that set McQueen on
the way to Hollywood stardom wasATV Western in the 50s called
Wanted, Dead or Alive. That was about a bounty hunter,
and that became Dalton in BountyLaw.
And Tarantino said that when he was writing Rick's back story,

(49:12):
he wrote the first few chapters of a biography by Rick Dalton.
Of course he did and he called that the man who would be
McQueen and he said to cup your reading.
That was one of the things that convinced him to take the part
the. Man, who would be McQueen?
What title that is? And the opening?
Shot of the film is Rick as JK Hill ripping down a poster that
says wanted dead or alive. Yeah, surely intentional.

(49:34):
Definitely. Could Rick have been?
McQueen though, how would you have been in The Great Escape,
do you think, Matt? I mean, I love the clip of him
in there. It is absolutely seamless.
And it's interesting because Rick has so much anxiety about
himself as a person. But when you see him in those
film within film moments, he looks great.
And you think, you know what? I would watch him in The Great
Escape. Imagine him in the tower and his

(49:55):
Fern on his second. Is there anything we can do
about that here? It's a fire Rick.
I like the way he swaggers. Off after he's finished his
little speech in the Yeah. Yeah, I mean.
Staying on the great. Escape scene as well.
Robert Richardson, the DP said shooting the great escape scene
check this out. Wasn't that hard.
I disagree. Looks.

(50:15):
Really hard, Yeah, I disagree. Robert DiCaprio addressed in
copies of the same clothes McQueen wore and the shot
against the green screen. He said the biggest challenge
was making sure that the shot was the same height and that the
light and match perfectly. And the visual effects team,
they had to remove McQueen from the original footage and
composite to Caprio on top, which took months apparently,
and then grade the footage. Looks the same exactly it looks.

(50:37):
Great, doesn't it? Yeah, it looks amazing.
Do you know who the effect? Supervisor was and Once Upon a
time in Hollywood, I don't. Not fortunately.
It was John. Dykstra, 2 time Oscar winner,
supervisor on the original Star Wars.
All right, yes. So he knows a thing or two.
Yes, he does. He does tie.
Fighters in there, it would be amazing a.
Couple years later in The EmpireStrikes Back, as you would

(51:01):
Richardson. That was quite hard actually.
And Rick is also based on Western TV stars who lost out in
the change to New Hollywood. Ralph Meeker, he was a talented
TV actor. He got left behind in this
change. And Pete Ewell, who was an
alias, Smith and Jones, but he was a bipolar alcoholic who
committed suicide, sadly. Oh, really?

(51:22):
And Tarantino said DiCaprio tookaspects of both of them to play
Rick and said if Rick was offered deliverance, he would
have turned it down. Yeah.
I mean, I don't. Blame him.
Yeah, Ned beat his part. No thanks.
Skip that. Reynolds.
Yeah, go. On then.
To his performance. As Rick Leonardo DiCaprio was

(51:43):
nominated for Best actor at the Oscars but lost out to any
tigers, Joaquin. Phoenix Joker.
Joker. It was Joaquin.
Phoenix for Joker as far as we're concerned, though,
DiCaprio was Rick. Hilarious at times,
heartbreaking at others. Pretty good stuff from Leo, one
of his. Best.
Yeah, in hindsight, absolutely perfect, really.

(52:05):
The second male lead is Brad Pitt as Cliff Booth, Rickston,
double driver and all round handyman, where with Cliff as he
fixes Rick's TV antenna, has a scrap with Bruce Lee and then
another with the Manson Family. As you do, as you do.
He's a good friend though, isn'the?
Map sure is he tries. He tries.
How's Brad Pitt as Cliff Booth? I just don't think.

(52:27):
He's ever had an easier gig in his life as he Brad.
Will you turn up and just be yourself to be the coolest
person around? Yeah, sure.
That's fine. I can do that.
Like he just brings that naturalaura of cool that he has and
it's the interesting contrast. Rick is the movie star, but he
has no movie star Christmas. He's a bag of nerves shredded by
self doubt. Cliff is the guy in the
background. Nobody knows him, but he's got

(52:50):
all the confidence in the world and nothing fears him.
But he brings an edge to the performance as well.
Underneath it all, underneath all the good humour, underneath
all the Palin around with Rick, all the dependability that he
brings, there's that sense of heshouldn't push this guy.
The mystery of what happened to his wife, possibly made-up story
fighting with Bruce Lee. And even if it's not true, the

(53:11):
aura that Pitt brings means you believe it anywhere that it
could happen. And it means that when he erupts
at the end of the Madison family, you absolutely believe
he has it in him to face them all down.
He can face anybody down. I think it's just tailor made
for Brad Pitt. I think he's really, really
great. Very watchable, very funny, very
charming. I think I.
Think Tarantino was always hard talent for writing double acts

(53:31):
in his movies? Vincent, Jules, Clarence and
Alabama, Django and King Schultzall great.
Yeah, And Rick Dalton and Cliff Booth are right up there,
definitely. There's 2 friends.
Who care about each other are totally by it.
I don't doubt for a second that Cliff would defend Rick and his
wife from the Manson family. Yeah, I don't doubt that Rick
would grow was really a Cliff ofroll on a set or defend him
against rumors about killing hiswife.

(53:52):
But what's great is how that allworks when they couldn't be more
different. Rick spending his life
pretending to be the guy that Cliff actually is to get people
to care about him. Yeah.
But nobody cares about Cliff, which is really interesting.
Yeah. Yeah.
And Rick seems to have a costumechange every scene.
Cliff, double denim and then that champion T-shirt with the
Hawaiian shirt. That's all he wears.
Yeah. And then just white.

(54:13):
Denim at the end, isn't it? Yeah, and.
Unlike Rick, Cliff doesn't change one iota.
At the start Marvin calls him a good friend and Cliff says I
try. Then at the end Rick says you
are a good friend and Cliff saysI try.
No growth, no ark, just Cliff. And I think that's why we.
Like him, just Cliff, it's quitenice to see somebody who was

(54:33):
just happy with his lot. That's kind of the whole point,
isn't it? To be content?
Yeah, I think so, yeah. And Cliff is.
Definitely that and Brad Pitt. I've said this before about him,
but I think he's a better supporting actor than he is a
lead sometimes and this kind of backs that up for me.
Great chemistry with DiCaprio. He pulls off that double denim
without breaking a swear and that kind of loose devil may
care Stoner vibe. He does that great.

(54:55):
Cliff's like an older version ofFloyd from True Romance and my
favorite pit performance in anything.
Oh wow. It's certainly up.
There for me. I mean, he's just having lots of
fun sitting in the sidecar here,isn't?
He it seems like Robin. 'S got the lead role in Cliff is
Batman, but he's just not. He's just.
Happy to be. Bruce Wayne for a little bit,
he's just retired and there's a lot of talk as well.

(55:17):
Whenever we talk about this film, there's always been these
discussions of like, what if youswap them round?
So I think they probably would be able to pull it off, but I
don't think it would have the dynamic that it's got because
they really do. We need each other to reinforce
each other's characters. And I think they did that in
real life. I think they used that when they
were acting off each other. They used elements of it.
Like we've said, you know, you're Rick fucking Dalton was

(55:38):
oddly, we're putting that in. We need to put this in.
We need to put this in. And I think they they were just
so close outside of the film, which developed the relationship
inside the film. And I think it really works.
He's fantastic as a stuntman, very believable.
Love of the way he gets on that fucking roof.
It's great. What's the sound effects are
like? Doesn't need to take.

(56:01):
His top off, but I'm happy that he does.
That's wonderful. Why not?
You know it's eye candy for. Everybody, it's just fine.
Just enjoy it. Gloves on.
Lighten a cigarette with it and then you get that great
flashback. He's just, again, he's got
nothing to prove, nobody to Panda do.
He's happy in his trailer. He's happy with his dog and he
just cares about raking. He cares about Branny, and I

(56:21):
think that's about it. You realize at the end that the
relationship's over and the splitting up and they're just
going to have one more drink andI'm going to have one more
party, and that's the only way to say goodbye.
It's pretty heartbreaking. But then you realize in that
goodbye, there's actually a new start and that you'll see him
again tomorrow. Bring bagels.
It's all he's bothered about. And he just sells.
It, I mean, we spoke about, you know, the other films that he's

(56:44):
done, but he's kind of steered away from that real serious down
the line, 12 Years a Slave kind of thing and just went, look,
I'm doing this because I'm having a lot of fun now.
And I think this is the first time we've seen Brad Pitt as
Brad Pitt having fun as Brad Pitt.
You see electric on screening isfantastic.
So perfect, perfect combination with the character.

(57:04):
I think they're both absolutely fantastic together and I want to
see more. We never will, but I want to see
more. Yeah, I'd love to.
Well, Brad Pitt and Cutie had work together, of course, on
Inglourious Basterds. We've talked all about that.
So get stuck into it. Yeah.
Yes, we have. And he was first.
Choice to play a Cliff apparently though Pitch said no
at 1st and Tarantino discussed the part with somebody else.
Wow, do you know who that was? Not a clue.

(57:26):
Can't imagine who would be well get.
This it was Tom Cruise. Tom Cruise.
Wow, how? Would that have been we're
taking them 40? 5 minutes to get on that fucking
roof. To be honest, I.
Mean it would have worked if it was Tom Cruise, because Quentin
Tarantino knows what he's doing.So what does Cruise?
Yeah, they both do. We could just go.
Eh, what's John Travolta doing in Pulp Fiction?

(57:48):
Well, you'll see, you know, he knows what he's doing.
I'd love to see. Cruz in the Tarantino film.
I would, yeah. I would have loved to have seen.
That as like a film within a film.
Like Cruz was the stuntman on bounty law.
Yeah, yeah. That would have been awesome
because like Cliff. Broke his leg or something so he
had to have a stand in. Something like that really would
have worked. But yeah, we shall see.
Maybe next time. Well.

(58:08):
Changed his mind a few months later, apparently.
So we do get the Leo and Bradshaw, which turned out
pretty well didn't. That's good.
Very much, yeah. And.
Tarantino said that a few years before making the film, he'd
been making another movie, and one of his actors asked him if
he could get a part for my guy. And his guy turned out to be
somebody who was once a stunt double, but now his personal
assistant. And Tarantino knew the stories

(58:30):
about Steve McQueen being close with his stunt double.
But Eakins and Burt Reynolds being close with Hal Needham and
he thought if I ever make a movie about making movies, that
relationship could be a unique win.
And it was. Yeah, Buddy King's did the
famous motorcycle jump on The Great Escape, didn't he?
Did, yeah. Yeah.
And. Hal Needham on with Reynolds as
well. Was that not a documentary that
came out like called Bandit? Yeah.

(58:52):
And came out of 2016. You would have seen that before
this? Maybe.
Possibly. Yeah.
Well. He was on Smoking the Bandit.
Yeah, yeah. He broke 56 bones and broke his
back twice in his career. Hal Needham, apparently.
Wow. Dedication there.
So Avan, I've not even a stuntman.
Well, yeah, McQueen. 'S all over this.
And that's not the last time I mentioned Burt Reynolds either,

(59:12):
right? For.
His performance as Cliff, Brad Pitt was nominated for best
Supporting Actor at the Oscars and won, beating out heavy
hitters like Tom Hanks, Anthony Hopkins and Al Pacino.
Wow. And for us, Brad Pitt is very
well cast as Cliff. Oh yeah, the.
Best supporting actor in every single way.

(59:33):
The final cast member we're discussing in depth is Margot
Robbie, who plays Sharon Tate, arising star in Hollywood
shifting world. We follow Sharon's story as she
embraces her newfound lifestyle and fame, and thankfully turned
out to be just fine at the end. Yeah, the girl from Valley of
the Dolls W Tate. Yes.
How was Sharon Tate and Margot Robbie playing her?
Which one is she in? Valley of the Dolls.

(59:58):
The one the dead, dirty. Movies the dead dirty movies
yeah, stop by the. Posters don't know who you are.
I think she's just an absolute joy in this.
And Margot Robbie for me, is in no way a negative actress.
She never brings anything negative to a role which is just
this real positive light. She's just has this real
charisma and a real like sense of self worth which she brings
to Sharon's life. And I think it's a celebration

(01:00:19):
of our life, not spotlight on a death.
And I think that's really important for Margot Robbie to
portray that and not but little it in any way.
I think when she's watching Tateon the screen, it's just a
really wonderful moment. It's really emotional because it
maybe she did that and have thatrecognition, that reassurance

(01:00:40):
from strangers and she just walks out beaming.
Even just the little lines of dialogue, even when she's
because she's just so caring, brings people in and every time
somebody turns up, she's happy to see them.
She's just this ray of light. She's this ray of sunshine.
She's got such a warmth. Gives the hitchhiker.
A lift, yeah, And they. 'D hug each other.
Yeah. Good looking Big Sur.
And it's like, good looking youradventures.

(01:01:01):
And then she goes one way, the hitchhiker goes another.
She's just not a problem with that whatsoever.
Yeah. And Robbie absolutely nails
that. She shines without it being over
the top. She's not fighting for any
screen time. There's no pretensions here.
There's nothing where she's saying I'm an overcoming actress
and I want this and I want that and I want to be part of this
and would it be good of this? I don't think she brought
anything to Tarantino and said Michelle would do this.

(01:01:22):
She's just read it on the page and went, I can do that, Yeah.
But what she's done is she. Brings more to it with a
character and with a style. Even just walking down the
street, she looks great. It's a joy.
It's just perfectly done. The character is perfectly
portrayed and every single scenejust has this consistent bar and
it's consistently high with limited screen time.

(01:01:42):
She absolutely shines and she's incredibly memorable as the
character. Yeah, a bit.
Similar to how I undervalued DiCaprio the first time I saw
this film. I think I did the same with
Margot Robbie. Yeah.
Mainly because thinking I knew what was coming, she wasn't in a
quite as much as I expected. Yeah.
Did you distance? Yourself from her when you were
first watching it called. Yeah, like I don't really want
to get involved with her becausethis is going to be a
heartbreak. Yeah, I think you're probably.
Right. Yeah, I think I probably did.

(01:02:03):
Now. I think she's really good.
Yeah. I mean, Sharon doesn't have a
huge role in terms of driving the plot.
She is secondary to the main narrative going on her own Rick,
then Cliff. What I like, though, in both the
writing and the acting, is that it's very respectful to the real
Sharon Tate and that it does present here positively in
pretty much everywhere. Yeah, I think where Rick
represents the jaded, kind of tired part of Hollywood, what

(01:02:24):
the industry does to people, that it's worst, Sharon
represents what it does at it's best.
She's like the dream factory personified.
I think Tarantino uses her to represent what's good about
Hollywood, but it's also saying specifically about Sharon Tate.
Look at what we lost. Yeah.
I saw an interview with Robbie where she said that when she did
research into the real Sharon, it became obvious that she was
an Angel on this earth, as she called her.

(01:02:46):
And that comes across Sharon's like, a beacon of light for
everyone around her. She's like the poor stuff on the
thing, just light radiating fromher.
And who better to play a rising movie star than Margot Robbie at
that time? But her best acting performance,
maybe, but it's not that kind ofrole.
It's a role for a movie star. She has to exude charisma and
look great without saying much. And she does.

(01:03:07):
And you know someone's good looking when they can put on
those huge jam jaw specs Sharon does in the cinema.
They still look good. She's the.
Only. Person with absolutely manky
feet, I would let them put up inthe cinema.
That's the only person anyone else but God's green earth is
out the. Door.
It will be disgusting, I think. Tears is very deliberately
written here by Tarantino in thesense that no, she doesn't have

(01:03:28):
any kind of Arc, not even that much of A character, to be
honest. And I know that's a problem for
some people, and I understand it.
But the point is, Sharon Tate represents something more than
herself here. She represents all the joy in
the world and all the innocence of the time that sadly got
ripped away. So in that respect, and we all
know Robbie is a very gifted actress and she's capable of
outstanding performances. All you need for Robbie is for

(01:03:51):
her to exemplify that. And it's not just because of,
you know, the way she looks, butshe has such an innocence to it
as well. Like so many scenes in this, She
literally just dances through the scenes because she's just
filled with Joy, Dev, Eve. And there's so many moments
where she's just beaming from E&E because she's so happy.
And that's the point. The film doesn't need an in
depth exploration of what Ted was like as a person.

(01:04:14):
It's what she represents, and Robbie represents it perfectly.
Yeah, it's that. Lifestyle, isn't it?
Without sounding derogatory, what she's got to work with here
is a music video performance. Yeah, that's it.
You're in a music video, basically, and you've got to do
all of this with a couple of lines of dialogue, but you make
it seem. Much more than that, doesn't
she? Course she does.
She does. She's great.
She's really great in this amazing performance.

(01:04:35):
And Tarantino said that when he was writing the script, he was
only thinking of Sharon Tate andnot about which actress might
play specifically. But just about the time you
finished the script, he receiveda letter from Margot Robbie
telling him she's a huge fan andwould love to work with them one
day. He said it was kismet, Yeah.
Well, I thought that Margot Robbie heard he was casting a
film starring a young blonde beauty and thought fancy my

(01:04:57):
chances. He had to be honest.
I'll give this a bash. Why though?
And out of respect for the tiered family, Tarantino
contacted Sharon's younger sister, Deborah, to let her know
he was making a film with Sharonas a main character.
And Deborah said, understandably, she didn't like
the idea at the time. Until she met with Tarantino and
spent time with Robbie and she realized Sharon was in good

(01:05:18):
hands and she even lawned them some of Sharon's jewelry and
Robbie Warwick when filming the play by mansion scene.
Wow. Tarantino didn't contact Roman
Plantsley directly, understandably, but allowed a
representative of his to read the script to let him know he
had nothing to worry about, right?
Yeah, Deborah here. Was only 16 when Sharon was
killed, right? And she was on the set for a lot

(01:05:38):
of filming, apparently. I mean, 50 years and she'd seen
her sister. I can't even imagine how that
must have felt. Yeah, but yeah, I don't blame
Guarantino for not contacting Polanski directly though.
Right kind of worms. I would have just said.
Like it one of the skywriter or something, Nothing to worry
about. You have no dialogue.
Don't worry. You throw a ball for a.

(01:06:00):
Dog at some point, that's it. Margot Robbie.
Was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars
that year, but it wasn't for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
It was for Bombshell, if you recall that.
Oh yeah, right. Oh yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah though as Sharon.
T8 We think Margo Robbie puts ina very good supporting turn and
captures the spirit of somethingHollywood lost maybe definitely

(01:06:21):
does more than. Necessary really absolutely
shines, so that is the. Holy Trinity of our main cast.
We've talked about Al Pacino already, and we'll be talking
more about the huge supporting cast as well.
But in our leads, Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Margot
Robbie, 3 performances that complement each other and the
film very well. That's really.
Well, yeah, all the right. Movies will be back shortly.

(01:06:50):
Thank you for supporting us by listening to this episode.
Sponsors. Thanks for listening to.
Our sponsors. Now back to the show.
The middle heading into the middle.
Active Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and things are
starting to take shape. We're going to be looking at the

(01:07:12):
scenes and ricks and Dicks on the center of TV Western Lancer.
But first, it's more from Cliff and Sharon.
Yeah, Yes, it is. So having.
Established our main characters and their struggles.
We get two big scenes almost back-to-back.
Yeah. We join Sharon as she visits the
cinema to watch her new film TheWrecking Crew.
But not before Cliff has a memorable running on the set of
the Green Hornet with a martial arts movie legend.

(01:07:35):
Yeah, Westie, which would you prefer?
A trip to the Brewing Theatre ora fight with Bruce Lee Theatre
please. I'm not clipping.
How would you get on with them? I mean it's.
Wonderful, isn't it? What a great scene this is.
What did you do to my fucking cat?
That's great. Brilliant.

(01:07:55):
We'll get there. That's all I think about when I
think of this whole secret. So.
For me. I totally forget that this is
one shot for the most part. Yeah.
Yeah, it's one continuous shot up until he gets thrown into the
car. Yeah.
Which is good because Pit disappears and obviously the
real stuntman comes in to grab Mike Moore and throw him off the
screen. But up until that point, I mean,
there's a lot of pressure on everybody and it's unnecessary

(01:08:18):
pressure because it doesn't needto be one shot.
It doesn't need to. Between it doesn't.
Need all this. It doesn't need this
extravagance, but you just don'trealise how extravagant this
shot is and I think it's a really impressive performance
from Mike Mono. There's a bit of controversy
around it. The real take away from me
watching this again is the dialogue back and forth is
fucking hilarious. It's called manslaughter.
Anyone kills anyone? That's.

(01:08:40):
Fucking brilliant. And Kurt Russell and Zoe Bell
are absolutely wonderful in this.
It's just just great. They will fucking deal with it,
Randy. It's fucking excellent.
And he's like, whoa. And what I've got to think about
this is like the controversy surrounded it is like, right,
OK, fair enough. But it's a flashback, yeah.
It. Exists in Cliff's memory of it.
So Cliff doesn't like Bruce Lee,so he's going to exaggerate how

(01:09:03):
much of a Dick he thinks he is and the fact that the whole
film's a fairy tale anyway, thisis a flashback of a fairy tale.
So to try and take this seriously and go, he's totally
misrepresenting this since memory misrepresenting that it's
not, it's just a stuntman. I'm going to fight with Bruce
Lee, but in his head he's a bit of a Dick, so he's embellished
it. And I think you look at the way

(01:09:23):
Lee's portrayed in Sharon's flashback when he's teaching her
very differently. Yeah, Yeah.
That how that's. Crosscut and he's wonderful in
that very, very differently done.
I mean, Cutie's talked about this.
It's like he just goes look, my fucking hell.
That's the whole point. But this scene for me is an
absolute standout. I think it's pit is wonderful.
Everybody matches him. That's pure direction from

(01:09:43):
Tarantino. Everyone in the background is
not wasted. The smoke when they need do, the
look when they need do the reactwhen they need do.
It's just a wonderful scene. I mean, considering what
happened in the climax, it's pretty surprising.
This is going to be probably themost controversial scene
portrait. I do get that because he is
portrayed as a bit of a loudmouth who can't back his
words up. But the quality of the
filmmaking, it's kind of beyond question, I think.

(01:10:06):
I think Mike Moore, who plays Bruce Lee is really good.
He's really good. He's clearly got the moves.
His line deliveries good where he's like, my hands are
registered as lethal weapons is quite funny.
Yeah. And the 1st 2 minutes being one
shot is really good. The whip pans between Cliff and
Bruce's are talking to each other.
We get close-ups, mid shot, slowzooms, all in one shot.
And I agree, Wesley, this is probably the best I've seen Zoe

(01:10:26):
Bell as Janet when she comes in ranting and raving a Cliff.
Get your shit and get fuck fuck.Get off the lot it.
Is a divisive. Scene I know the points to said
Cliff up was a great fighter forlater on I also wish Bruce Lee
came across a little bit better and if he had this would have
been definitely up there as one of the best scenes in the film
yeah so we've talked about. Mike Moore.

(01:10:48):
And he was a Taekwondo, a black belt, an actor.
And he'd actually auditioned to play Bruce Lee several times
before for other productions, but it always been rejected.
Tarantino auditioned him severaltimes and said he was impressed
with how much more knew about Bruce Lee.
So he ended up getting the part Nice.
He played. Ryu in a web series version of
Street Fighter as well. Mike Moore, right?

(01:11:10):
Should have got a fireball in there on Cliff.
Wins third, Chad. Yeah, after the.
Film came out. Bruce Lee's daughter, Shannon
Lee criticized how her dad was portrayed in the film.
She said Bruce would have avoided fights in real life, and
the film makes Amount to be an arrogant asshole who was full of
hot air and perpetuated the Hollywood image of her dad as a
stereotype. Yeah, I mean, from her point of

(01:11:32):
view, I do see what she means. Yeah, although Tarantino
released a novelization a coupleof years after the film came
out, and apparently in that, Bruce comes across a lot better,
right? It's made clear that Cliff can
fight, but it's no match for Bruce Lee.
Okay. That's probably the.
Version out of prefer to see in the film, I think.
To be honest, I think so. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Well, what do? We think of Cliffs with a memory
on the board. Did Cliff kill his wife?

(01:11:54):
I. Love that ambiguity of it
because I might be wrong. I'm obviously no expert, but the
harpoon gun that he's coming, itdoesn't look loaded, right?
So I don't know what. The suggestion is there, and
then you hear the sound of the way of hitting the board.
So it's left up to our imagination what did happen.
But on that, Tarantino did writea whole chapter of a book,
obviously, because he did. Because he did called.

(01:12:15):
Misadventure. That experience, what happened
on the board, and he gave it a Brad Pitt to read.
But he said he'll never tell anybody else the truth.
Yeah, I think I prefer it left mysterious.
Yeah, miles better. Yeah, another thing without
harpoon as well, if it just cut from that and then cut a yellow
barrel. That would have been great for

(01:12:37):
me, that scene. On the board, it's already kind
of reminiscent of the whole Natalie board tragedy.
Yeah. And then Cliff's wife says her
sister is called Natalie, which I suspect isn't a coincidence.
Apparently it was the actress just came up with Natalie just
randomly. Oh, did she really?
Wow. Yeah, Tarantino said that.
And he said it just she just said Natalie.
Don't quite know why she said it.
Oh wow. I thought it was a game drop.

(01:12:58):
No, it wasn't. Apparently.
All right. Cool.
So the other scene. Before going on here, which is
Sharon Cohen in the cinema, it'ssuch a sweet scene.
Yeah. Like, it's hard to believe it
comes in a Tarantino film. It's that nice.
I love the fact she's not being a Dick about trying to get a
freebie here. She's not pulling the hole.
Don't you know who I am? I can tell you she's been really
nice about it. And I think that's one of the

(01:13:19):
most important elements of the film that Sharon is, as Robbie
kind of said, she's practically a St.
And when you watch her watching herself just beaming and so
proud of what she's done being up on screen and how delighted
she is to hear the audience laughing at her slapstick, it's
such a charming moment for her. But what I think is really
important is that's the real Sharon Tate where you're

(01:13:39):
watching up there. Yeah.
Genuinely love the fact that Tarantino respected her memory
enough to not have Robbie recreate the Wrecking Crew
because they could have done like they did with The Great
Escape, but they didn't play it the real thing instead.
So decades after those horrific events, Sharon take and still
have a moment to shine. I actually find it quite move in
that decision and it doesn't bother me one bit that it's

(01:14:00):
clearly not more go Robbie up there.
It's just far more important than Sharon did, gets more than
her legacy is just, you know, a victim of a murder, and she gets
a moment to shine here. I think that's really important
in one of the most respectful things Tantino could have done
in the whole film, I think people.
Forget she was an actress because of what happened.
I think people do. Yeah, he's reinforcing.
That like, you know, she was a talent and yeah, the innocence

(01:14:21):
from Robbie in this whole sequence is fantastic.
Like a child. Can I please get in?
Is it OK? Yeah, it's.
Like a little short kind of fromnowhere.
And it is the most joyous part of the film.
We said earlier that Sharon kindof represents Hollywood at its
best. And this is that moment,
beautifully shot when we're watching Sharon watching
herself. And it is quite sweet when she
wants to get in for free just because she's in the film, just

(01:14:41):
because she wants to be trapped.Like she's famous.
That's what it's about. And she just like a Bond girl,
like when she starts mimicking the martial arts moves as well
that she's learning. Yeah, it's great.
And you're right, Matt is. A classy torch.
How they don't replace Sharon Tay with Margot Robbie in the
Wrecking crew. I mean, we lost the whole
Hollywood career. We don't need her raise from
what would you actually have as well exactly?
Not quite as classy a touch feetout on the chair.

(01:15:04):
Obviously. Tarantino's favorite.
Really dirty Yep. Converse.
Is sick honey? Although this might not be as
odd as it seems, Deborah Tate said that the real Sharon would
go everywhere she could, barefoot.
Like even to restaurants and going out places like that.
So this apparently is a pretty accurate portrayal.
Because our feet were dirty. That's the inspiration.
For the whole film. Exactly.

(01:15:24):
Yeah, about time you couldn't believe his look.
You heard that He's. Like, right, okay, so there's a
stuntman and an actor. Tarantino said the inspiration
for the scene came from something that had happened to
him years earlier at the same place, the Fox Brewing Theatre.
After True Romance came out, Tarantino was on a date in the
went to the cinema. He told the manager he'd written

(01:15:45):
the film, but the manager didn'tbelieve him.
I mean, why would you? His death thought started
backing him up and some other people recognized him and asked
for their pictures with him. Right?
Nice. Yeah, probably.
The man just said, who are all these people coming round?
And Tarantino's date was like, they're all his fans.
I'll say you're more than a date, isn't it?
That's amazing that, I mean, Reservoir Dogs would have been

(01:16:06):
out then as well, so a cinema manager in LA should probably
have known who he was, yeah. Yeah, probably.
Yeah, yeah, to be fair, wouldn'thave been a problem.
With Born Cinema with you guys, would it?
No, we let anyone. In anyway too much effort to.
Argue that's get in man fine. There's another scene.
Around this time where Sharon goes to a bookstore and buys
Thomas Hardy's Test of the Durbivals as a gift for Roman

(01:16:26):
Polanski in real life, Sharon Tate bought Polanski the book
and told him it would make a great movie and she wanted to
star in it. In 1979, he directed Tess
dedicated to Sharon. Yeah, that was apparently the
last time Polanski saw her alive, when she gave him that
book. Oh, really?
Wow, so. A couple of big Hollywood scenes
there, showing different sides of Tinseltown martial arts in

(01:16:47):
one feet out in the other. So both very Tarantino.
Hand in hand. Both things.
With Cliff having a. Shown with his physical prowess
and showering her love of life, we're back to Rick and the set
of TV Western Lancer cast as a villainous cowboy.
Caleb Descartes 2. Rick goes through the whole
gamut and was struggling with his lines, having a trailer

(01:17:09):
meltdown, being told what's whatby an 8 year old, then
delivering a performance for theages.
Amazing. He has quite the time.
West Ape he does. How's this all go for you?
Descartes 2. The one I'll go straight for
when he forgets his lines. I love the way that it's just
set and you've got the camera set and you've got position 1

(01:17:31):
and you know where you're going with it.
And when he messes it up, it's just at the right time.
It's exactly where you don't expect it to happen.
And I'm pretty sure that was down DiCaprio.
But the me favorite thing from this is how honey he is, how he
over plays it, how he's the heavy, how he's just, you know,
he forgets the line and then repeats the line back and then

(01:17:51):
he said player can't pick it hard out.
So. Frustrating with himself, it's
just the way he's just leans on the table.
He's just trying to win pause onthe scene.
But my absolute favorite from this I think came from Robert
Richardson, whether just the reset the track and the track
comes around past Elephant and stops and they can't really he

(01:18:13):
loses it and they're like right,OK, yeah, let's go again
position 1 and it comes back andadded that squeak in post
because the tracks not supposed to go that way kind.
Of squeaks on the. Way back, which is hilarious.
Nice. I think it was the editor who
suggested let's just put a little squeak on the track.
It's like a sigh from the machinery.
It's like the sigh from the camera.
Go on. If I go to start again,
wonderful performance here. As we've said, this is DiCaprio

(01:18:36):
acting badly, but really well. It's just endlessly watchable
this sequence. It's great, great.
And how good does? Lancer look, it was great.
It's great. Yes, that's right.
You talking? About West here, the saloon
table where the camera moves around the back of Johnny
Madrid, the shore. Caleb, what a shot that is.
Yeah, it's great. And DiCaprio is.
Incredible where he's like, I ain't going to hurt her.

(01:18:59):
I just want her to play the film.
How good that delivery? Great, but then Rick forgets.
His line and DiCaprio has to snap back the stuttering, Rick
asking for help and then back toRick being Caleb, but not as
good because he's kind of lost his confidence, starts
overacting his ass off. He's whooping like Rick Flair
and then right in his face. It's hilarious.
He does all that so well. DiCaprio, you almost don't

(01:19:20):
notice how good he is. Yeah.
And then following this, you getthe scene of Rick Few.
You sit himself in the trailer, which I think is just such a
funny scene. The edits are great, jumping
about and I just think is the bit of art imitating life here.
Has DiCaprio seen someone do that or done it himself?
Possibly. Imagine.
It's very plausible. And let's face it, we've all
been there to some degree. We've all drank, ate whiskey

(01:19:42):
sours, done something stupid andthen been raging at ourselves
the next morning. It's the way he.
Talks to himself? Yeah.
How many? Times did he?
You couldn't just stop at four? Yeah, I'm fucking, you're a
fucking, you're a fucking miserable drunk.
So brilliant. Yeah, we always.
Have a break in the middle of our episodes, don't we?
Yeah, Westie always mutes his mic and turns his camera off,
and I always imagine this is what's going on on the other

(01:20:02):
side. But you gotta let yourself down.
For all those God damn people. I look at myself.
In the mirror, I'm like, if you don't nail that ranking, I'm
gonna blow your fucking head offin the pool.
But DiCaprio is. Fantastic again when he's like,
make himself a promise he going to quit drinking, then straight
in with the snifter. So funny.

(01:20:23):
But not just the acting. The editor Fred Ruskin deserves.
I mentioned the jump cuts are like dynamite.
Yeah. Definitely elevated what I've
seen. Yeah, and this.
Whole idea of Rick forgetting his lines.
It wasn't in the original script, DiCaprio suggested to
Tarantino, and he initially wasn't sure because he'd written
a Lancer to be a film within a film, but he did agree and
because there was nothing written, this is all improvised

(01:20:44):
by DiCaprio. Some.
Improv that. It's a great improv, yeah.
I think there's some taxi. Driver there as well when he's
told himself in the mirror, you don't get these lines right, I'm
going to blow your fucking brace.
So funny. In the pool.
He has to mention. The pool, even to himself.
Yeah, yeah. So look what I've got.
But even the. Forgetting the lines, that was

(01:21:04):
old DiCaprio as well. It was all his idea and he said
right, do it where you forget itand do it where you don't.
And the one where you forgot it they kept in.
Lovely. It works.
Great. Yeah.
And so I think this means when Rick finally nails the scene,
it's a genuine moment to try andform.
And we've mentioned it, but the way DiCaprio can just go
between, I'm a bad actor in thisscene, I'm a good actor.
No, I'm Rick, not being an actorat all.

(01:21:26):
And the way he jumps between thebutt nailing it, he brings so
much genuine menace to this bit.It's very much like his Django
and chain character. That's the kind of intensity he
brings. It is, yeah.
But the scene still feels a little bit like ATV performance
at the same time, and it really blurs the line between am I
watching an episode of ATV show being made or an actual episode
of ATV show. I mean, I think Decapito's

(01:21:48):
performance, I think we've all been seeing it first few and it
seems quite superficial, but it's not the so much nuance
going on here. And you're genuinely delighted
from that. It's gone well, like because
you're laughing at him earlier, but he's not a joke of a
character. You want him to succeed.
So when he nails it and truly compliments him to the point he
starts crying the best sentence has ever seen, you just feel so

(01:22:09):
victorious for him. Definitely do.
I mean, DiCaprio was knocking out great performances left,
right and center. Now it's crazy.
Surely the briefly I, from Tarantino to DiCaprio must have
been playing this how you would if you were playing Caleb,
because he's brilliant. Yeah.
When he's like, OK, messenger boy, deliver my message.
Yeah, great. If anything, he's too good.
Yeah. Yeah.
Surely. When that episode of Lunch I

(01:22:29):
went out, Dalton blew the rest of the cast off the screen.
But. You've all.
Seen them episodes where it's like, how good was he in that?
Yeah. Where did that come from?
Yeah, when someone. Comes in for a minute, I show or
something like this, yeah. Definitely.
And Trudy? Fraser, we'll have to talk about
the scene with her and Rick, surely.
Yeah, yeah. But.
That's just wonderful when he's just kind of sitting next to
you. She's got this big biography of

(01:22:50):
Walt Disney. It doesn't eat lunch before a
scene. Yeah, it's absolutely great.
And he's just thinks. She's far more professional than
I ever was or I ever will be, and he's completely.
Out of his. Depth.
And he's just like, do you mind if I sit next to you and read my
book? The stories.
Talking about, you know, the guywho can't used to break their

(01:23:13):
horses, now we can't do it anymore.
And basically his story that he's reading hard, he's halfway
through it. We're halfway through the film.
It's very kind of reminiscent ofwhat we're already going
through. But she is absolutely wonderful.
She's great. Totally.
Totally steals it. Great, great scene that you just
think he's just going to sit next to this young girl and
she's just going to be, oh, it'sRick Dalton and oh, my God, I

(01:23:33):
can't believe it. Then she stays in character and
he doesn't. She knows the guy's name and he
doesn't. And they correct them about even
knowing anything. And he's thinking, I'm really
going to have to read the scriptagain here.
But yeah, a really, really funnymoment.
And it sets up everything that comes after it.
I think it's fantastic. How?
Good, Julia, but as is Trudy. Julia, but as?
Yeah. She's so good, she's brilliant.

(01:23:54):
She's so funny, sensational. Stuff for married a child
actress, Yeah, she's lecturing. Look at how to be an actor.
And he's just sitting there looking really confused.
What are you? 12 I'm eight.
Call it a pumpkin. Puss, it's like the next few.
Years. Keep an eye on the Oscars
because I think there'll be something coming, possibly.
Yeah. And.
Tarantino said that when he writes, he often asked the TV on

(01:24:14):
for some background noise, and when he was writing this scene
between Rick and Trudy, the sitcom was playing called
American Housewife featuring Julia Butters.
And in the episode which was happened to be playing, she
delivered a monologue that Tarantino loved, so he got her
in to audition for the role on the back of that.
And she was apparently partly based on Jodie Foster as well,
as she was in some kind of smokeas a child actress.

(01:24:36):
OK, not a bad person to take off, is it?
Technically not. And it cuts the.
Taxi driver, yeah. He knows what he's doing.
Doesn't he? He does, always.
Did. Yeah.
So, Trudy. Fraser was created by Tarantino,
but Lancer was a real TV show. It was on between 1968 and 1970,
so fit the setting of the film. As we've said, Timothy Olyphant,

(01:24:57):
he plays James Stacy, who was Johnny Madrid Lancer.
Luke Perry plays Wayne Maunder, who was Scott Lancer, and this
is actually Perry's last role before he passed away.
And Nicholas Hammond plays Sam Wanamaker, who directed the
pilot of the show in real life. Wow.
Nicholas Hammond. Do you know how else he played?
No. So get this, In the 70s version
of The Amazing Spider Man, he was Spider Man.

(01:25:20):
Wow. Really.
Wow. OK.
I vaguely remember that. I love that I've been watching.
That recently, actually I'm not done just.
Yet. Oh, wow.
OK. And he was one of the von Trapp
kids in The Sound of Music. Friedrich von Trapp, Then here
he's like Hell's Angel. Yeah.
He's nuts. He's great, yes.

(01:25:43):
And we're through the middle section of Once Upon a Time in
Hollywood. A movie star fight, a movie star
watching her own film and a movie star meltdown.
Yeah, and pretty difficult to pick out the one that's the most
Hollywood it is. Pretty difficult, all on the
same level. Yeah, and a scene there that.
Created one of the best memes inrecent history, I think.
Yeah. The crew.

(01:26:08):
Quentin Tarantino had a vision for Once Upon a Time in
Hollywood, crafting a love letter to 1960s Los Angeles, but
he didn't do it alone. Robert Richardson as.
Director of Photography played ahuge role in that visual style,
and the musical choices throughout were crucial as well.
We'll talk about all of that, but we're going to begin back
with QT and the screenplay. Lovely.

(01:26:30):
So behind the descriptive Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was
Quentin Tarantino himself, his 12th feature screen writing
credits that's made-up of the 9 he directed, plus True Romance,
Natural Born Killers and From Dusk Till Dawn.
Yes. Once Upon a time.
In Hollywood Door, Westie. Yeah.
How was Tarantino the writer? I mean how is?
Tarantino, the writer, I mean, it's just a visionary, isn't he?

(01:26:51):
From the page to the screen. And I think reading this would
have been a very, very exciting prospect and a very exciting
thing for people to do. I know Kurt Russell was quoted
as saying like, 5 pages and he was doing it.
Yeah. Obviously he did the same when
he was a kid, you know, because he was through the whole system.
Yeah. Yeah, he did, yeah.
To me it feels. Like, it would have been very
exciting to read and it would have been quite a substantial
screenplay. There would have been a lot in

(01:27:11):
there that ways. Yeah.
That's not in the finished film.To me, this is the most of
Tarantino's films where it feelslike a huge collection of
things. This feels like the sequences
are like short films within themselves.
Like you said about, you know, Sharon going to watch yourself
in the ranking crew, that could be a short film if you cut it
out. Are these sequences too long?

(01:27:32):
Did he overwrite them? Is he looking for something over
the top to get the point across?Could this have been shortened?
Do we need the Playboy Mansion just to set up the dynamic
between the three? I don't know if we do, but he
does. And I think that's the point.
There's not enough screenwritersout there who'll put it down on
the page and say this is how I want it to look, this is how I
want it to be, this is finished.This is for the reader, not the

(01:27:54):
viewer. And he's always said that.
He says when he writes a screenplay, you write it for the
reader first, then he takes it and creates something for the
viewer off the back of that. And to me, this really makes
sense and he's having fun in thewriting because you can tell
this is all written down and he's put the exposition and he's
put the narrative and he's put the plots in, in the middle of

(01:28:14):
these huge stories, these huge sequences, these huge elaborate
moments. So for me, it's it's a perfect
script. You can't make this, I think, to
be about an hour and a half. You could tell it's exactly the
same story with exactly the samebeats.
But it's the way he embellishes that and adds fat to it.
It's a real buffet of a film. And he would have got that
absolutely nailed on the page. The film is just a snapshot of

(01:28:40):
what's in his brain, and I thinkthe script would have been a
slightly bigger snapshot of that.
Believe it or not. I think he's reigned it in a
little bit when it came to the film, but not the screenplay.
I think it's wonderful. It's just a wonderful, wonderful
realization of the time, a wonderful love letter cinema.
I think it's great well as. The directing, and there's a lot
in the writing, I think that is kind of quintessential

(01:29:00):
Tarantino. Lots of pop culture references,
Lords of Thing, as in a dialogue, characters just kind
of hanging out. He loves all that.
And as is always the case with Tarantino films, I'm never
bored. No, I love the concept, the idea
of creating a fairy tale setting, the closest thing we
have to a fairy tale land in Hollywood.
And the end of the film comes asa surprise first time round.

(01:29:22):
But he tells us what he's doing from the start.
It's called Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Obviously you're
Sergio Leone not as well, but you're telling us this is a
fairy tale. The first time I saw the film, I
was probably a little bit disappointed with how light on
plot that is because you don't normally get that with
Tarantino. And now I would love to see more
of that world like I mentioned. But taking it for what it is, I

(01:29:43):
think the writing is fantastic. I mean, this isn't a
conventional 3 out story. He's writing it as almost like a
time capsule to take us to that period.
And I think that's why he takes these D to us, to the set of
Lancer or the Spawn Ranch that we'll talk about.
He's immersing us like, in the world, and what makes it
interesting is that it's a worldthat was changing at the time.
Hippie movements, the counterculture, the decline of

(01:30:05):
Western's New Hollywood, It's all there in the background and
kind of personified in the foreground in Rick, who's
terrified of becoming irrelevant.
There's loads of vulnerability in Rick, something we hadn't
seen much of, if at all, in Tarantino's characters before
this. It feels quite a bit more mature
than that stuff, I think, from that point of view, emotionally,
yeah. Yeah.

(01:30:25):
I mean, it's not the most tightly constructed plot you'll
ever see, but maybe that's the point.
The Hollywood's famous for writing propulsive narratives.
But the truth of the real Hollywood is that it's a place
with people the same as anywhereelse.
I mean, having been there his whole life, Tarantino
understands that as well as anyone.
I'm not saying this is his best piece of writing, but it might
be the one that shows the most growth as a writer without
losing sight of what made him singular in the 1st place.

(01:30:48):
Yeah, I think it's quite a special thing, the writing here.
And it definitely gets better onre watches for me.
Yeah, I think this. Is the one that turned up from a
screenwriter to an author. You can see why he thought.
About doing it as a book. Yeah, yeah.
Well. One of the interesting things
about Tarantino, I think, is that underneath all the violence
and bad language he puts in his films, he's almost put heart in
it. At the same time, like Pulp
Fiction, he writes in such a waythat Jules and Vincent can walk

(01:31:11):
off together at the end of the film.
Yeah, because they are favorite characters, despite the fact
Vincent is actually being killed.
Kill Bill is about reuniting with her daughter Django in
Changes by rescuing his enslavedwife.
And so this is just a love letter to this period of
Hollywood, like he's been sayingto the people who were there but
never quite got the critical kudos.
Like Vick's a good actor, but he's just never given the right

(01:31:31):
material. But all he really needs is his
best friend alongside him. So it's a love letter to male
friendship as well. It's a love letter to the people
who were behind the scenes and never quite got their moment to
shine. It's a love letter to Sharon
Tate. And you can tell this person he
means something to Tarantino. We'll, we'll talk about the wish
fulfillment of the end and when we get there.
But he's not written that because, oh, that'll be cool.

(01:31:54):
It's the way he really wishes life had turned out.
Yeah, that's the romantic in him.
It's by far. And we're the most romantic
thing he's ever written. And it shows that underneath it
all, he's a massive softy. He's got such a soft heart for
this period of time and these people and what they represent,
it's the most. Genuine thing he's ever written,
I think. I think so.
Yeah, yeah. And it's.
Heartfelt, but I agree. And Tarantino.

(01:32:14):
Said the first thing he came up with was the ending for the film
and then he worked his way back from there and created the plot
the lead to the third act. He originally planned to write
it as a novel and spent five years doing that before
realizing he had a lot of ideas of how we thought the story
should look. Yeah, I.
Think of all his stories, to me,the only one that's about
Hollywood as the only one that isn't a film would have been
quite a gutsy choice. Yeah, it would have been.

(01:32:38):
That. Doesn't seem very Tarantino,
does it? No, no.
No. So his previous film was The
Hateful 8 and he had a problem with that because the script was
leaked online before he started filming, which almost led him to
scrap in that movie. So to avoid the same happening
here, he didn't send the script out.
Instead, he sent an e-mail to all major studios telling them
to send one representative to his agent's office in Beverly

(01:33:00):
Hills to read his Manson Family script.
Each person had to sign a heavy NDA, read the script in front of
them and they couldn't make notes.
Wow. Read.
In front of them. That's so stressful at all.
What do you think of it? Yeah.
What are? You.
Laughing at. I mean, I don't blame.

(01:33:20):
After what happened on The Hateful 8, I'd have it under
lock and key as well. Yeah, well, for his work as
writer of Once Upon a Time in a Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino was
nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars.
Lost out yet again to Parasite, written by Bong Joon Ho and Han
Jin Won. Yeah.
By sounds of it, though we do like QT's writing here.
Oh, I love it. Yeah.
I love it. Moving from the.

(01:33:42):
Screenplay. Let's talk about the music.
Not for the first time with a Tarantino movie, Once Upon a
Time in Hollywood doesn't feature an original score.
It's soundtracked by many periodspecific pop songs.
Yeah, but the music For you, Howeffective is the soundtrack?
Hugely effective because what stands out of me is he uses the
music in a slightly different way to how he normally does,

(01:34:05):
because they aren't necessarily the kind of scenes in this way
hit you with a big choice over the top of it.
I think probably the stand out in that sense is when he uses
Out of Time to set up the third act, which the lyrics of that
song combined with, as we've been saying, what we think we
know is going to come first timeout.
It just makes you take a bit of a deep earth like he would go.

(01:34:25):
But what's interesting me is howmuch of those other songs, they
are records being played by the characters or the songs on the
radio playing in the car. So many of the songs in this are
diechedic. They're heard by the characters.
They're not played over the top of them.
And I think that's part of the reason this film nails that
sense of time, because the songs, it doesn't feel like I'm
listening to a soundtrack. I feel like I'm listening to the

(01:34:47):
time radio station. Like a radio station.
It's laid into the world. It's not on top of it, it's laid
into it. So it may not have the kind of
iconic needle top Tarantino gives in Pulp Fiction or
Reservoir Dogs, but I think it'sjust cleverest use of music
instead. Yeah, the.
Music's right up my street over the End.
The Raiders, the Box Tops, MitchWriter in the Detroit Wheels.

(01:35:11):
That's my running playlist from when I was 21.
They just all happened to be on this soundtrack as well.
Yeah, just needs the Count 5 in the sonics.
So I do love the music, but I think the way Tarantino uses it
is what's interesting. The radio was, like on a radar.
The song lyrics tell us what's happening on the screen in front
of us, often around showering. And the radio DJs, they tell us
what's happening around us in the wider world.

(01:35:32):
We get our first proper look at showering, which is on the way
to the Playboy Mansion with Polanski in the car.
Radio plays Hush. Yeah.
She's the best girl that I ever had.
Slow, more close up to showering.
That stuff works great. QT went for the Deep Purple
version of a cooler shaker. Probably for the best.
Probably for the. Best, yeah.
At that time when we. Have Bobby Candy get mentioned
by DJs on the radio as well. And in the third act, Out of

(01:35:54):
Time by the Stones. You're right, man.
It's almost the whole song. I love it.
But baby, baby, baby, you're outof time.
As we're looking at Sharon, thinking we know what's to come.
That was massive. For the first time I saw it.
Yeah. Amazing.
Jagger making me sick to my stomach.
Yeah, not for the first time, but bang after bang out on the
soundtrack and thematic relevance as well.

(01:36:14):
I'm not sure you can ever look past Pulp Fiction as Tarantino's
greatest soundtrack. Yeah, but this is probably my
favorite of his I. Immediately.
Went out and bought this, I bought the record.
When you put this on, it feels like you're playing a record, do
you know what I mean? Some albums you buy and you put
on, you're like, that just sounds the same.
It's not, there's not, there's no texture to it.
This you put on, you don't skip anything.

(01:36:34):
It's got all of the adverts in the middle of it, the
soundtracks, absolutely brilliant.
It's all part of it and you justfeel like you're transported yet
again. He's done it in the soundtrack,
he's done it in the script, he'sdone it in the film.
And what I get from this, I'm not going to reel off all of the
amazing songs because you guys have already touched on it.
And I mean, it is an incredible soundtrack, probably top five.
Your top five got about 500 entries.

(01:36:58):
I love the Bounty Law soundtracks as well.
He's obviously got them off the CBS library.
The 14% McCluskey, that soundtrack's fantastic.
It hogs back to The Dirty Dozen kind of thing, and the glorious
bastards kind of vibe that all works within it.
But watching this and I rememberit vividly.
Mrs. Robinson, Right? I must have heard that song
4,000,000 times. Simon and Garfunkel, my dad used

(01:37:20):
to play it in the car. I heard it in this film and it
sounded totally different. Wow.
It had a different identity. It had like a life to it, a
vibrancy to it, a reason to it and everything that I listen to.
And a Tarantino soundtrack just seems to be elevated somehow.
And I think he can take any songand put it on a soundtrack to
any of his films and completely elevate it.

(01:37:41):
Like, you never can tell. The Chuck Berry song, whenever I
hear that again, it's never as good as Pulp Fiction.
It's never as good as when you're watching it.
And that's what he does, you know?
And like California Dreaming, itdoesn't have the Mamas and Papas
version. It's the Joseph the last year of
version. And it's like, yeah, I love
that. Yeah, but totally works.
And you listen to it and you're like, but out of context, I
wouldn't listen to that version.It's not that good, but it is.

(01:38:04):
And that's what he does. The soundtracks, that's why I
love them so much. And yet it is for me as well,
John. I think it's probably my
favorite Tarantino soundtrack. I think he.
Might be the best at using songsin films.
It's it's too. Close to Scorsese for me it's
too close Scorsese. 'S up there as well, so in 19.
69 The most popular radio station in Los Angeles was KHJ
Boss Radio in Tarantino. Listen to it himself as a child,

(01:38:27):
and he managed to get hold of 14hours worth of tapes from
listeners who'd had recorded thestation back in 1969.
And those were the tapes he usedto select the soundtrack.
Yeah. And you know, when Charles
Manson turns up at Sharon's, Yes.
He says that he's looking for Terry.
Yes. So that's Terry Melcher, who
lived at 10050 Cielo Dr. before Sharon with a guy called Mark

(01:38:49):
Lindsay. Yeah.
They were the producer and lead singer of Paul Revere and the
Raiders. Right.
Which is. Presumably.
Why, they're on the soundtrack five times.
Well, they play them in the. House, don't they?
Yeah, they do, yeah. Paul Revere and the Raiders,
Yeah. Yeah.
Depending on what you read, Manson had a few more of what
happened at Yellow Drive. He was trying to sort of race
war by pinning the murders on the Black Panthers.

(01:39:11):
I was one. And according to some, one of
the things which sent Manson offthe edge and turned him into a
killer was when Terry Melcher turned down the chance to sign
him as a musician. Yeah.
And Terry Melcher. Was the son of Doris Day right?
Wow. All that just from Does Terry
live here? That's Tarantino.
Yeah, you don't get Oscars for hand picking pop songs to score

(01:39:33):
your film, but if you did, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood might
have been in contention. Do you think?
I think it should have. Basically invented the category
for it. Better than parasite?
Put it that way. A long time Tarantino
collaborator was behind the camera on this one, with Robert
Richardson serving as director of photography.
This marked their 5th feature film together after Kill Bill,

(01:39:55):
Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained, and The Hateful 8.
Those sun drenched LE visuals then Westie.
Yeah, what? Do you make of?
Robert Richardson's work, Yeah. I mean, is there any?
Flaws here, no. Not that I can see.
Not that I can see. And I've really looked.
He's just such a talent. Richardson and that he's
absolutely invisible and most good DPS are.

(01:40:17):
He has a style, but you really need to look for it mostly that
top really contrast, the really bright top light that bounces
off a table predominantly. And if you look any glorious
bastards, that whole opening sequence is basically lit from
that table light, which kind of bounces around the room.
And it's in here as well when Cliff and Rick are in the bar.
And it's just that incredible light on the table from kind of

(01:40:39):
no way. It's not motivated.
There's no practicals there, butthe thing that strikes me about
how rich and vibrant and beautiful this film is, is that
Tarantino has asked them to empty your toolbox, not pull
anything out of it, Fucking empty it onto the table, put
everything in the line and use everything one after the other.
We've got car shots, internal external, low tracking shots,
overhead shots, crane shots, dollies, crash zooms, black and

(01:41:02):
white colour, 35 mil, 16 mil, 8 mil.
It's just ludicrous how much work he's got to do here.
And everything is seamless. Yeah, it's all seamless.
Then car tracking shots are better than I've seen in most
action signals. Fantastic.
Yeah, just the way the shots are.
Free and just the wide angles that he uses, the way he's
sticking to Tarantino's vision. For someone to have a vision and

(01:41:22):
say I have a vision that covers absolutely every shot that's
available with every single lensthat you've got in your toolkit
with three different types of film and black and white.
I mean. I've really got nothing else to
say about it. I think it's just a master
class. It's a work of absolute genius
because you don't go, Who's the guy who did this?

(01:41:43):
Tarantino. Like you always said, if you
want to make a film, you don't need to know what a 16 mil lens
does. You just need to find someone
who can do it and you need to tell them how to do it.
He's a master of telling them how to do it.
And Robert Richardson is a master of listening and then
delivering how to do that the same as everybody else on this
crew. And for me, that's the thing
that sticks out because that's the thing that I'm a try to most
making visuals, saying visuals scene, beautiful cinematography,

(01:42:06):
Every single shot works, every single scene works, every single
frame is a masterpiece. It's beautiful.
It. Is, I think this is one of the
most incredible looking films. You could see.
Maybe Tarantino is best looking.Yeah.
And it's like across the board. We talked about the production
design, the costume design, which is next level.
And Robert Richardson matches it.
Yeah. It's the way they capture that
golden California look full of nostalgia.

(01:42:28):
It's like being inside a memory sometimes, rather than watching
a film. It's the way he handles like
you're saying, Wesley. The shifts and visual styles.
Beautiful wide shots of Spawn Ranch one minute and then gritty
16 millimetre looking footage for Bounty Law the next.
Yeah. The driving shots are amazing.
All of the recurving shots from the rig position on the back of
someone's car. Yeah.
Yeah, a few of those remind me of A Clockwork Orange, but

(01:42:49):
that's kind of from the front. Yeah, yeah.
Loads of crane. Shots, there's loads more and
all immerses. You're kind of in the world, A
world that sadly doesn't exist anymore.
Like those shots in the third act of the neon signs of bars
and cinemas coming on one by oneat dusk.
Yeah, that's Cinerama. As well.
It's not there anymore. That's beautiful, that
brilliant. Yeah, if you.
Think they're kind of preservingsomething that's gone.

(01:43:09):
I mean, the obvious thing might have been to go full retro, like
film grain desaturation. But Richard gives us this kind
of vivid vibrancy. Yeah.
It feels both real and heightened at the same time
somehow, which I guess is nostalgia.
I mean, nostalgia usually lives inside our heads, but Robert
Richards and captures it on the screen as well as anything I've
seen. Yeah.
So it's pure eye candy. It's a feast as visual glory

(01:43:31):
telling as well that enhances the themes around like fading
glory and changing times. I think Richardson's work he has
possibly is best with Tarantino.With Tarantino, yeah.
Yeah, it's. Just so cinematic.
I don't think I've seen another film with this amount of Korean
shots where every single one of them is stunning.
Like the way it constantly pullsback to reveal the Hollywood

(01:43:51):
Hills and the landscape. Like they all bathe in that
incredible sunlight, which then Congress so well to the dead of
night in the final act. And how dark that is, as we've
been seeing the way the camera moves and those scenes where
Cliff is weaving its way throughtraffic at high speed.
But then the way it does move inthe spawn ranch because the
stillness of the frame winds up the tension instead, where it

(01:44:13):
captures like the emptiness at the edge of the frame.
Every choice works. And also just again, to mention
the production design and the costumes because the colours
just pop off the screen here. It's so resplendent to do.
Or maybe. A Pulp Fiction that way a bit.
We kind of look Technicolor without being Technicolor.
Yeah, it's got that. Vibe to it, yeah, I think my
Tarantino, said Richardson. As well as I want to preserve

(01:44:33):
the feeling of Hollywood, but I also want to preserve how
important it is to capture it onfilm.
And I want people to say how beautiful a 35 mil negative can
look because this is my personalprint, so I want the print to be
as good as the film. So he's even paying homage to
like what it's printed on, whichis why it looks so good.
It's a love like that through. And through isn't it absolutely
all the way? Through yeah.
So on top of that, Richardson said Once Upon a Time in

(01:44:55):
Hollywood was one of the most complex films he shot, as we've
said, due to Tarantino wanting to create an authentic look.
The shot mainly on 35 mil film. They were going to shoot on 70
mil like the shot Hateful 8, butthere's too many crash zooms,
which is an impossible 70 mil too, too difficult.
So that 35 mil but it still looks massive.
It still looks like 70. And they also shot Super 8 which

(01:45:16):
was popular format in 1969. And for the black and white TV
scenes, use 16 millimetre actor Chrome film to recreate the look
of the 1960s television, which is really contrasting film.
It looks great. Wow.
Yeah, he's won multiple Oscars, Robert Richardson.
But you said one of the highlights of his career was the
Muscle and Frank Grill scene where he shot Leonardo DiCaprio,
Al Pacino and Brad Pitt all within the same frame.

(01:45:36):
Yeah. Yeah.
Some content for your shot, isn't it?
He was nominated for an Oscar for Best Cinematography for his
work on the film about Richardson.
Do you remember what won that year 19?
17 won that year. I remember that.
It's Deakins. It was.
Your Man with Steve Roger Deakins for 1917.
Yeah, but again, some brilliant work from Robert Richardson here

(01:45:56):
for us in hindsight. He should have got the Oscar, I
think. Big call.
I think so. So Tarantino.
Was a visionary at the helm as always, but he had some
exceptional talent backing him up, mostly himself.
His own screenplay and carefullycurated soundtrack are great,
and in Robert Richardson's Golden age cinematography it's a

(01:46:17):
1960s Hollywood loving across the board.
Oh yeah. Definitely the end, the 3rd and.
Final active Once Upon a Time inHollywood sees Tarantino
shifting gears and driving us towards his alternate history
climax. The infamous night at Cielo Dr.
where everything changes is coming.

(01:46:39):
But first we're off to Spawn Ranch for some family time.
Yeah. You could call her.
That, yeah. So.
After a couple of near run insurance between Cliff and
Pussycat, he finally picks her up and takes her about where she
came from. And that's somewhere he's
familiar with Spawn Movie Ranch.Yeah, like so much else though,
things have changed. A bunch of God damn hippies have

(01:47:00):
taken over. Tensions are rising.
Where? State they are how?
Does spawn ranch? Go for you, there's too many.
Bare feet for me, everyone. Everyone.
Especially when it cuts that sitting room and they're all
watching TV and it's all just feet.
That's my worst nightmare. It's like a horror film again.
It shows the great transition from old Hollywood to new

(01:47:21):
Hollywood, that this place is dying, the hippies are taking
over, that there's no more westerns.
And it's really good character development for Cliff here,
because we didn't really get anyemotional insight into who he
is. We know he cares about Rick, of
course he does, But he's actually takes his time here to
go and check on George, and he knows he can look after himself.
He knows he can kind of take these people out.

(01:47:42):
But still, for us, it's because we're know the Manson Family,
we're know what he's getting into, and he doesn't.
He could die here. He's a secondary current, and we
could lose him here easily because we're thinking this is
going to now tie into the ending.
All that was running through my head at this point.
But Tarantino plays this with somuch tension in the frame, so

(01:48:03):
wide. It's very Hitchcock you when
he's walking up to that house, it's very psycho.
It's very like Texas Chainsaw Massacre or all of a sudden.
And then we're just talking about George's sleep through
there. You still don't believe her.
Yeah. Great from Dakota Fannin as
well. I think she's wonderful in this.
Yeah. And then there's that shot when
he opens the door, that lightingthe way Richardson lights, that
is just outrageous because it looks dingy, but it's beautiful

(01:48:25):
at the same time. And I think it's really great
from Bruce Stern as he as well. It's like he comes from nowhere
and absolutely nails it. Really elevates the sequence
because he's just frustrated andhe's given up and he's let them
take over. Cliff just kind of understand
why he's at what you're doing here so well.
I can't see anymore. And again, that's just a nod to
old Hollywood not being on television.
Nobody's seeing it. It's all gone.

(01:48:45):
So his eyesight's gone. Again, a great nod to it.
And then when he comes out and leaves, when he gets back to
that car and there's a knife in there.
Did you do this? And he's just.
He's awful, He's horrible. It's violent, but it's not.
Tarantino level of violence, yetthat when he drives away to me
was like this bombshell for the ending, it's like, Oh my God,

(01:49:06):
they've avoided it now what on earth is going to happen later
on? Great, great definition of
Cliffs character, great set of attention.
But again, to get to that point,it's just fantastically done.
It is. I think it's like a master class
intention building. Yeah.
The first time I saw this in thecinema, you could hear a pin
drop for the whole sequence. Yeah, I think most people will
be out there in a flash, Rick. You wouldn't see him for dust,

(01:49:28):
but it works perfectly there. It's Cliff.
I totally buy that he'd go to the house to check George is
there and the tension as he's heading up there is like through
the roof. We are Paul Revere and the
Raiders again, Mr. Sun. Mr. Moon plays on the TV as
Cliff moves towards George's room.
It's perfect for that moment. At that point, we've no idea.
George could be fine. He could be not there at all.

(01:49:48):
He could be a skeleton in the bed.
Yeah. It's like Schrodinger's cat or
something. And Bruce Daniels.
George is always a treat, obviously where he's like, it's
Cliff Booth, John Will Booth. And the tension.
Doesn't drop until we see Cliff drive away, but somehow it's
still funny without bursting thebubble of tension, which is
really impressive from Tarantino.

(01:50:09):
I think it's pretty when Pussycats hands on hips like
he's napping. It's nap time.
But the highlight for me. Is definitely Cliff beating the
crap out of Steve Grogan, one ofthem families, murderers.
Anytime one of the Manson clan gets a kicking is a treat.
Yeah. And the girls are all like,
heartbroken as well. Yeah.
It captures. The total, like, bizarreness of

(01:50:30):
the Mansons and man used to be really tense and funny at the
same time. I think he's got a few, but this
is one of Tarantino's great sequences for me.
Yeah, completely. Great.
One of the elements I love aboutthis film is how can change Torn
so quickly and particularly on this day that the events are
happening because you've got thecomedy of Rick on Lancer, the
charm of Sharon in the cinema, and then Cliff on Spawn Ranch,

(01:50:52):
which is for me the closest Tarantino's come to make in a
horror film. And I've all said a way you can
tell a horror movie is working as if the scenes in broad
daylight are just as scary as the night time scenes.
And that is absolutely true. If there's that slow realization
that Cliff is very much outnumbered, he's miles from
anywhere. It's deadly silent and no one

(01:51:12):
knows where he is. Your stomach sinks when all that
starts, Like hit. Yeah.
He's in so much trouble and he doesn't realize it.
And then that shot of the Manson's just slowly coming out
of the shadows of the various buildings.
It's so unnerving. And I also think it's it's
finest moment in the film because Cliff, he never loses
his school and he faces everyonedown because he can't put.
All the same, you can tell his hackles are raised and he wants

(01:51:35):
to get the hell out of Dodge outof.
Great. I think it's one of Tarantino's
very best scenes. And then from it's one of the
best, before there were famous Saints I think you'll ever see,
like Margaret Quali, Sidney Sweeney, Austin Butler and Mikey
Madison. It's crazy all in the same
scene. It's insane.
The real spawn. Ranch was owned by George Spahn,
who had been used by Hollywood as a Western movie set in the

(01:51:55):
40s and 50s, but a fire destroyed all the old film sets
in 1970. Tarantino said he wanted an
exact replica to be created, butalso wanted to feel like the
Texas Chainsaw Massacre. As we've said, Barbara Link
found location 20 minutes from the real ranch and her team
recreated did it from old photographs.
Yeah, so George Spahn let the Manson Family move in in 1968 in

(01:52:16):
exchange for doing labour and sexual favours, apparently,
Right? He was about 80 at the time.
George Spahn. Wow.
In terms of the films, just whenyou think the production design
couldn't get any better, we get a Spawn Ranch.
Yeah, it's some creation now. As we've said.
George Spahn is played by Bruce Dern, but the first person cast
was Burt Reynolds. He attended script readings but

(01:52:36):
passed away before filming started.
Tarantino said the last thing Reynolds was doing before he
died was learning his lines as George.
Wow, that would. Have been brilliant.
That wouldn't. It would have been amazing.
And Bill Paxton, he was supposedto play James Stacy from Lancer,
but when he passed away, TimothyOlyphant was cast, right?
OK. Right, I'd love to see.
Paxton in there as well. I've seen Paxton.
Yeah, and Bruce Lee's. Lying the Cliff, saying you're

(01:52:59):
pretty for a stuntman, but apparently came from Burt
Reynolds. It was his idea, right all?
Right. That's what they tell me.
So the Mansons. As we see them in the film are
all based on real family members, and some of the main
ones are Charles Manson, obviously.
He was played by Damon Harriman and Leonard Dunham, who plays
Catherine. Gypsy, Cher.

(01:53:20):
Yeah. Damon Harriman was cast because
he'd also played Manson in Mindhunter.
Mindhunter, yeah. David Fincher's.
Crime series, right? Yeah.
Of all the people. To be typecasters.
I know, that's it now. No more, no more roles for you.
And. Pussycat is played by Margaret
Quali, who we've been talking about, and based on two Manson
family members, Ruth Ann Moorehaus and Catherine Lute

(01:53:43):
Singer, and she was known as Kitty Cat.
Yeah, apparently. Morehouse would lure men back to
spawn Ranch, a bit like Pussycatdoes in the film, right?
I think she's. Really good Margaret Quali,
she's great. That lit by.
Cheaters a couple of times kind of became a trademark that.
Yeah, it has, yeah. And Jennifer Lawrence actually
auditioned to play Lynette Squeaky from but lost out to
Dakota Fanning. And Sidney Sweeney plays Diane

(01:54:06):
Snake Lake. Yeah, apparently Squeaky was
given that nickname because of the noise she'd make when George
Bond touched her, which is more than I ever wanted to know.
Thanks. Could have done.
Relieving that out, to be honest.
Really. Good.
Sorry guys. And snake.
Was the youngest family member. She was only 14 when she joined
the Mansons, right? And then?

(01:54:28):
Victoria Pedretti, she plays Leslie Van Houten, nicknamed
Lulu, and James Landry Herbert plays Stephen Clem Morgan So.
Apparently Macaulay Culkin auditioned for a part right?
Which I presume must have been Clem, right?
Imagine Cliff beating the hell out of Macaulay Culkin.
Ladies. Loads of traps.

(01:54:52):
There's there's in the. Family as well that we'll talk
about shortly, but how mad is itseeing all these people who
weren't well known at the time but who've gone on to be like,
huge stars that shot early on from Cliff POV when the bus
pulls away and suddenly reveals Margaret Crawley and Sydney
Sweeney sitting there. Yeah.
It's crazy. Yeah.
Yeah. And they all have their own kind
of characteristics as well to make some individuals as part of
the family. Yeah, yeah, it.

(01:55:14):
Does they've got an individuality?
Do them, yeah. You want to see kind?
Of more of it, don't you? Yeah, well, no.
But yeah. The squeaking No.
Definitely not. Well, no.
Tarantino and the. Custom director Victoria Thomas
devised a unique audition process to cast the Mansons.
They encouraged the actors to improvise and create art that
the Mansons might have made well.

(01:55:34):
Mikey Madison, who plays Susan Atkins, created a painting and
wrote a poem about Charles Manson.
She said she knew she had the part because when she went for
the callback, her painting was hanging up in Tarantino's office
of Massive cool move that. Isn't it?
Yeah, will be brutal if he. Didn't cast her after that I'm
keeping the painting but you cango painting was class he
probably. Swabbed it for.
Everyone's painting and everyonewho went back in which ones that

(01:55:57):
just hang it up. She'll take the part.
Yeah, I think Vic. Thomas does deserve a mention
for this incredible casting. Yeah.
And Ariana Phillips, just the Mansons, based on real
photographs from the time. So this must be pretty much how
Spawn Ranch and the Mansons looked.
Yeah, based on the recreations, I would never.
Have said that that ranch was a recreation No I.
Wouldn't have felt so either that spawn.

(01:56:18):
Ranch and a real introduction tothe Mansons.
We've not seen the last of them just yet though, have we?
No, unfortunately not. We've arrived.
The climax where the Mansons turn up?
Yep. Tarantino mixes things up
though. The family arrive on Cielo
Drive, but instead of targeting Sharon Tate's house, they go
after Rick's after recognizing him for playing JK Hill.

(01:56:41):
Ridiculous. They picked the wrong house on
the wrong night. Cliff and Brandy are waiting.
Yep. What were we still worried
about, Matt? It all turns out fine, doesn't
it? God.
Exactly. And the first time you see this,
the way the tension just raised its head, it's so effective

(01:57:01):
because it's been such a lock upuntil now.
You're just hanging out with Rittencliff.
And then you feel you just brought back down worth with a
very big bump. That realization of shit, this
is that night with these people and we all know what happened,
which therefore makes that senseof relief when you realize where
he's taking this now and they'vegot it wrong.
It's so effective. And you can relax because you

(01:57:23):
think, oh, thank God, he's not going there.
And what I get from this is a sense of genuine kind of anger
from Tarantino. He really wishes this had
happened. Don't we all?
We all do, obviously, but you can tell he almost takes it
personally and it is kind of uncomfortable seeing this
violence being dished out to them.
But it's also kind of funny at the same time, the fact that

(01:57:44):
Cliff is tripping out of his mind.
So does he even think any of this is real?
Does he know what's going on? I think that's the.
Point, isn't it? Yeah, exactly because it's.
Not contrast of the danger he's in, but how funny he thinks it
is. Like you are a horsey, really
funny. I love the pay off with Brandy.
You can see, you know what we'veseen earlier, She's controlled
with just a hand movement and then the click of his tongue and

(01:58:05):
you just think, yes, this is great.
This is what what the deserved. But if I could go back in time
and see your film again for the first time with no prior
knowledge, it might be this one.Just for that scene of Rick
striding out of the garage with the flame Thor.
First time I saw this I lost it for about 5 minutes I was just
helpless with laughter. So the whole thing, it could be

(01:58:27):
ridiculous, but it works so wellbecause underneath the OTT
violence and the dark comedy, there's a genuine honesty to
this. You think, yeah, this is how it
should have gone down and I really wish I could have done.
Yeah. The way the build up to the
night with the montage and Kurt Russell narrating where everyone
is and what time it is, that works really well.
That's. Brilliant, yeah.
Builds up this sense of. Dread because we think we know

(01:58:49):
what's coming. Yeah, and somehow still funny.
Rick's in the film called Kill Me Quick Ringo, said The gringo.
Ridiculous. Really funny when the mansions
first turn open, the cars makinga racket and Rick looks out the
window when he's like bunch of God damn fucking yeah.
And. Then storms out in his tiny
room. Very.
Quantum. I love the whole.

(01:59:11):
Thing and there's more than I can talk about.
I'm a huge fan of the Mansons talking in their car at the
bottom of Seattle Drive. Yes, I'm a master.
Fan Austin Butler's text. Where he's like, he either said
that or I'm a liar. Yeah.
You calling me a liar? Yeah.
He's fantastic as always. And how good is Mikey Madison as
Susan Atkins? Believable.
She's a charisma. Volcano.

(01:59:33):
William Shatner. Yeah, no surprise she went on to
be an Oscar winner. Yeah, and then You Keep Me
Hanging On by Vanilla Fudge kicking in as the Mansons
approach the door for a version.That that's a needle.
Drop and a half yeah, and just about every that filmmaker in
the world would surely than a parallel editing trick like
Silence of the Lambs huddles thinking the mansions were at
Sharon's door. And it turns out with Rick's

(01:59:53):
cuties. Above all that though.
But yeah, this is what we all wish it happened.
Obviously when these bastards turned up.
I'm not intended sure why Rick turns Atkinson the fried
Sauerkra when he's got no idea what's going on.
But I'm here for it, yeah. It's just a wonderful.
Sequence, isn't it first time I'd seen it.
I was waiting for this moment tohappen and then when it did
happen, the first thing I thought to myself was this is a

(02:00:16):
Quentin Tarantino movie now thisis a Quentin Tarantino film
because nobody else could even touch this to this degree of the
how acceptable this violence is.Then none of us have really
touched about on how violent this really is.
Massively. It's horrendous.
Hitting the head off the fireplace, off the table and
it's just the corner of the fireand it's bang, bang, bang.

(02:00:36):
A tin of dog food in a face smashes our nose in a dog
ripping his balls off basically,and then ripped her into bits.
But you're there for it. Like John just said, you're
there for it. Somebody set on fire in a
swimming pool, like set on fire.You can tell it's real.
It's all in camera. It's horrendous.
And we'll stay on it and we'll see the corpse and we're quite
happy to see the corpse. I think that's Tarantino giving

(02:01:00):
the finger to any single critic and just said these movies are
too violent because they're going to be punching the sky at
the moment that this happens, watching this film, and it's
going to be gone. Is it too violent now?
Yeah. Yeah.
You wanted this to happen. You're happy it's this violent.
You're happy we can do this in cinema, aren't you?
And they're going well, Yeah, actually, which is really,
really Quentin Tarantino for me.The minute that Cliff walks away

(02:01:22):
with Brandy and just holds that shot and then the car comes up.
Oh, it's great. It's fucking so good.
It's just like, wow, that that'stension again.
And like you said, just Rick Maker margaritas.
I kind of get more of that. I kind of get any more of it
just shaking. He just wants it now.
And just drinking it straight out of the mixer as he's walking
back. Fantastic sequence, fantastic

(02:01:42):
ending. I can't get enough of it, but I
can't watch it by itself. I need them other two hours, 10
minutes. Yeah.
Yeah. To really, really make this, I
appreciate how good this sequence is.
Absolutely. Yeah.
So as we know. Tarantino changed his history
here, but there are still a lot of references to the real events
that transpired. Firstly, don't worry, we're not
that type of podcast. We're not going into any detail

(02:02:02):
on the brutal and horrific stuffthat happened.
Yeah, because. It is genuinely horrific, not
the kind of thing you expect to hear on a movie podcast.
So we'll leave that. No, it's not going to.
Happen so. On the day, though, Sharon is
visited by her friend Joanne, who brings her baby.
This is Joanna Pettet, a Britishactress who was Sharons friend
and did visit her on that day. And she's played by Rumor Willis

(02:02:23):
in the film, who was daughter ofDemi Moore and Bruce Willis.
Yeah. Nice.
She was in the original Casino Royale.
Joanne Pettet, also apparently Deborah Tate, who we talked
about, she called Sharon that day and wanted to visit her that
night, but Sharon said no because she was having friends
over. Right, Okay.
Grateful for small. Mercies for 16 year old could
have been there. Escape, yeah.
And Steve McQueen. Well, I wish she was.

(02:02:44):
There, Yeah. You would have sold them out.
Yeah. Captain Hills and the car.
The Manson's turnip in was a recreation of their real Ford
Galaxy. Steven Butcher was the Picture
Corps coordinator and he was given access to the Manson's car
and recreated it, right down to having the same dents.
Wow. Yeah.
Also, the truck from FBI, the show that Rick's in, Butcher got

(02:03:05):
his hands on the very truck fromthat episode of FBI.
So it's the real thing that we see.
I love that episode. Of FBI, It's great, Brad Pitt's
voice. So I love that shot Kill.
Number. 2. I don't think we were talking.
About a pitcher called coordinator before either, no, I
haven't. But you kind of have to on.
This yeah, he did a pretty good.Job and never will again.

(02:03:25):
And the four? Manson family members all the
same for that went to Sharon's saw Charles, Tex Watson, Susan
Sadie Atkins, Patricia Quinwinkle, played by Madison
Beatty, and Linda Kasabian, played by Maya Hawk, daughter of
Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawk. Yeah.
Yeah, then the. Kasabian was the only one who
didn't go to jail for the murders.
Apparently she did try to stop them on the night and then

(02:03:47):
testified against the others afterwards to put them away.
That's right. So that's why Tarantino had to
drive away in the car presumably, right?
Nice. And there were four.
People inside Sharon's house whowere killed by the mansions
Sharon Jay Sebrien, Abigail Folger, played by Samantha
Robinson and Voytek Frykowski played by Costa Ronan.
But there was also a fifth victim.
Stephen Parent was sitting outside Sharon's house when the

(02:04:09):
mansions turned up and Charles Watson shot him.
Yeah, there's. No reference to him in the film
at all. Stephen Parent, but Abigail
Folger was daughter of Peter Folger of the Folger Coffee
Company. She was.
She was pretty well known at thetime as well apparently, right?
We also see Abigail at the pianosinging Straight Shooter by the
Mamas and Papas, and this is because when the police arrived
the next day, they found the sheet music to the song on the

(02:04:30):
piano right. And Michelle Phillips.
Of the Mamas and the Papas apparently had a thing with
Polanski when he was with Sharon, which I guess is why
she's at the Playboy party near the start, Right?
OK. Wow.
Voytek. Frykowski, he did sleep on the
couch, like shown in the film, and he was walking by Charles
Watson, pointing a gun in his face.
When he asked who he was, Watsonsaid I'm the devil, and I'm here

(02:04:52):
to do the devil's business, which is aligned Texas in the
film. It is, yeah.
Holding that. Yeah, but the delivery of it is
excellent, but terrifying when you know that's what he really
said. Yeah, it is.
And then the following night, the 10th of August, the Mansons
went to the home of a businessman called Leno Labianca
and murdered him and his wife Rosemarie, who was the same 4
plus Leslie Van Houten and Manson himself.

(02:05:14):
Linda Kasabian said Manson wanted to show them how it was
done. Well, for that, Manson and the
four family members went to prison in 1971.
Four of them were never released, and Leslie Van Houten
was released after 53 years. Right.
Was it worth it to be Evil bastard for a couple of days?
No, of course not. No bloody hell.
So anyway, back to some. Nicer stuff, please.
Yeah, the creativity behind the film because he changed it.

(02:05:37):
Tarantino left the end and out of the script that he gave to
people, the only people apart from Tarantino who knew from the
start what would happen with Tarantino, DiCaprio, Pit and
Robbie and Robert Richardson didn't even know until like
midway through production to allow him to prepare for it.
Didn't know until I've got to prep for the end what happens.
I think he also let. Everyone, Polanski's

(02:05:57):
representative read the ending, right.
I mean, that's a bit he's going to be concerned about, so you
kind of have to. Yeah, of course.
Yeah. And there's a couple of other
actors with Tyson Tarantino who show up in smaller roles.
Rick's Italian actress wife, Francesca Cappucci.
Oliver Renko Russell says her name.
Yeah, it's great. She's played by.
Lorenzo Izzo, and she's the wifeof Eli Roth, famously 1 of
Tarantino's film maker buddies and the girl who sells Cliff the

(02:06:20):
cigarette dipped in acid for $0.50.
That's Pearla Heaney Jardine, and she played Bebe the Bright's
little girl in Kill Bill volume to Oh wow, nice.
Yeah. And away we go.
Off his. Box When the man sits you can't
even put the lights on. You know, it's amazing licking

(02:06:41):
the dog. Food.
It's when he tries. The dog food, he's, I'm really
tempted. Yeah, he is tempted.
Yeah, he is. And then it's all.
Over Cliff leaves in the ambulance, Francesca just goes
back to bed somehow and we get Rick left alone for the final
moments. What do we think of the Den?
You more I. Find it very, very poignant, and
not just because Rick is being accepted as a real hero and he's

(02:07:03):
in the Hollywood circle now, butbecause this is how that night
should have ended. And the tragic thing is we all
know how it did. And the music suddenly becomes
very melancholic and gentle. You get another one of those
incredible crane shots. And I just think it's so
notable. It's only now we get the title
on screen because, yeah, sadly, this is only a fairy tale.
I think this moment is the most heartfelt thing Tarantino's ever

(02:07:25):
done. And in terms of his punch on for
change in history, this slams 1000 times better than it did in
Inglorious Basterds. I totally agree, I love it as a
final scene. It's funny when she asked Rick
if everyone's OK and Rick's like, well, the hippies aren't,
that's for goddamn sure. And with the crane shots.

(02:07:46):
Over Cielo Dr. obviously, as we have to, and it's one of the
best ones we get. Miss the Langtree by Maurice
Shaw playing us out and the logocomes over the screen.
It is perfect way to end. Yeah, except for one thing.
OK, right. So, Rick.
Standing there alone on the drive, he has hello off screen.
Turns around to see Jay Sebring at the gate.
Yeah. Why or?

(02:08:06):
Why is that not Sharon standing there?
Yeah. I cannot fathom it as a
storytelling choice. We've not seen them together.
The whole thing's been set up since the first act, and the
dialogue doesn't even need a change.
Sharon going all the flame through our from 14 Fist of
McCluskey. How awesome would that be?
Yeah, I said. This is about the end of In
Glorious Basterds, and the only reason I can think of is that
Tarrant, he was done it to piss me off.

(02:08:29):
It's mad or. Am I wrong?
Is it better this way, Wesley? I don't know.
I think it's good. That she's on the intercom and
she's asking what's happening from the safety, from the safety
of a house and he's coming out and try and play the big guy and
find out what's wrong. She's heavily pregnant.
For her to investigate somethingthat was could be bad news.
That's not her character to do and never has been throughout
this film or throughout this fairy tale really.
It does make more. Sense he'd be the one that goes

(02:08:51):
out. You're absolutely right.
Yeah. It's just seeing them together
we kind of need it, don't we? Yeah, I guess.
So yeah, I know what you mean. Yeah, we do though.
Get another scene where to cap you and Robbie share the screen
on the flight back from Italy. Rick has served a cocktail by
stewardess at one point. We only see her arms and hear
her say it enjoys her, but that's Margot Robbie nice.

(02:09:11):
Yeah. She made a name in America
playing in a stewardess in the TV show called Pan Am Margot
Robbie. So with all the references to TV
in the film, I guess that's why they did it, which is a nice
touch of. So makes sense, yeah.
And with. That we fade to black and an end
credit sequence featuring Rick advertising Red Apple
cigarettes. So we are in the Tarantino
verse. Here we are.
And the Rick put you just. Cardboard cut out, I've got a

(02:09:33):
double shit. These cigarettes taste like.
Shit. That's for the climax.
Once Upon a time in Hollywood, Tarantino flips things on its
head and gives us the fairy talewe wish we'd got.
Absolutely. 100% absolutely. Reception and awards.
So that's the tale behind the fairy tale and Once Upon a Time

(02:09:55):
in Hollywood open cinemas on July the 26th, 2019.
As for how it performed, well, our own Hollywood historian Matt
is. He had to tell us.
So crunch those numbers, Matt. Okay, so production budget of
about $90 million. The film took $392.1 million
globally, so a huge hit. And it did do well at the

(02:10:18):
Oscars, who was nominated for 10overall, winning two, which, as
we've said, Brad Pitt for best supporting actor and Barbara
Lane and Nancy here for best production design.
I mean, so well deserved that. Well deserved.
Yeah, well. Deserved.
Nothing for. Best Picture card coordinator
for Steven Butcher even been good.
Shame. The picture card coordinator.
Awards, Yeah. To promote the film.

(02:10:39):
And the run up to its release, Tarantino curated and presented
a swinging 60s movie marathon 'cause he did.
Yeah, films that. Influenced Once Upon a Time in
Hollywood. It was broadcast on TV and 80
couldn't Reason was a selection of Columbia Pictures.
Classics included Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice, Easy Rider
and The Wrecking Crew. Nice.
The. Wrecking crew, of course.
Yeah, an Easy Rider. Rick calls text Dennis Hopper,

(02:11:02):
doesn't he? He does, yeah.
That's really funny. Hey, Dennis Harper, get out of
here. However, China refused to give
the film a certificate rating, meaning couldn't be released
there, and they said the reason was the depiction of Bruce Lee
in the film and said that if Tarantino took the scene out
entirely that give the film a certificate.

(02:11:22):
Obviously, Tarantino refused, sothe film didn't release in
Chinese theaters, right? Yeah, I think, Shannon.
Lee raised the original complaint, and I wonder if
that's why Tarantino kind of made amends in the novelization,
like we talked about. Yeah.
Accepted. The portrayal of Bruce Lee could
have been a bit better, Maybe, yeah.
Under the critics. Then Rick Dalton's nemesis to
see what they thought of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

(02:11:44):
Yeah. We'll start with Roger, of
course. Of course, the score from
rogereber.com. What do you think?
I'm going to go pretty. High and this is a love letter
to cinema and these guys love cinema, so I'm going to see high
praise, so I'm going to go full marks for that one.
I'll go all three. You're right, Westy.
Four stars over four yeah wow and Brian Talarico said Lee had

(02:12:05):
an ambitious Once Upon a time inHollywood is the product of a
confident film maker working with collaborators completely in
tune with his vision they are that's what we've.
Said. Isn't it fantastic?
I think a lot of. Confidence has never been a
problem for Quentin. Definitely.
You know what? He could do by himself.
He's confident in the video store, for fuck's sake.
Pi travel as a. Rolling Stone game very close to

(02:12:25):
top marks 4.5 out of five and said all the actors in roles
large and small bringing their Agames to the film. 2 hours and
40 minutes can feel long for some.
Ah, you wouldn't change your frame.
Neither would I. Except for the one I talked
about with Sharon at the end. An Empire magazine gave the film
four stars out of five, with IanFreer saying if it's not top

(02:12:48):
draw QT. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is
at once an engaging buddy comedy, an intoxicating faction
fiction mash up, gorgeous filmmaking and a Valentine to
the movies that delivers geek Nirvana.
Right. Valentine to the.
Movies from QT. All these films are about a bit
though, yeah. Pretty much, yeah.
And then on Rotten Tomatoes today, the film has a big 86%

(02:13:11):
critics approval rating. And it may be surprising, 70%
from audiences just feel a bit low.
But then on IMDb 7.6 out of 10. As far as audiences are
concerned, it's the lowest ratedQT film on Rotten Tomorrow.
It is very divisive. Though that's what we're saying,
it is divisive it. Really is, yeah.
You love it. I hate it.
There's. No middle ground with this
whatsoever. Yeah, so.

(02:13:31):
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood with a success on its release,
big return to the box office straightened Quentin's back
pocket. Pretty much unanimous critical
acclaim, not so much from audience as our China maybe, but
still don't know OK on the wholeif they got a chance.
To see it, I think it would havebeen different, yeah.
Sequels and influence there wereno.

(02:13:54):
Sequels to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and it's unlikely
there ever will be. However, that hasn't stopped our
page ones fantasizing about 10. Nice.
Time for our. Finally, a TRM pager on question
and it comes from Tim Bruce Lee.Hello, Tim.
Hello, Tim. So, Tim.
Says QT would never do a sequel,but the ATR M boys are another
story. That's true enough, Tim.

(02:14:15):
Yes, we are. Using Rick Cliff.
And Sharon, what real life eventof the 70s, eighties, 90s
etcetera would you have them revising the sequel?
And Tim says thank you for making me healthy.
I always found walking and running boring, but when I
became a patron and had access to all that material, I haven't
missed a day in 18 months. Amazing.
Become a patron, get healthy. There you go.

(02:14:37):
Running every day. For 18 months.
Forrest Gump. Forrest Gump.
I just felt like being a patron.And Tim like RPR.
Guy with that praise, thanks. Yeah, too, right.
Yeah, but Matt, any? Sequel ideas?
So what I would do? For sequel is I'd have Rick
decide that he wants to embark upon a music career better than

(02:14:57):
the Green door he does early on in the film, and he wants to
spend no expense. So he relocates to London, 1970
Abbey Road. Cliff is obviously along for the
ride. Shounds.
They're doing back and vocals and when they're there they see
all the tension that's going on between The Beatles and they're
just sorted out. It takes Paul and John out,
teaches them the value of friendships.

(02:15:18):
Or, you know, let George have some more songs.
Cliff tells George, I know what it's like to be overshadowed all
the time. Be your moment to shine will
come. And then he just reminds Ringo
he's Ringo fucking star Sharon. She takes York on the girls
weekend away. She's not hanging around causing
tension. Chills her out.
Chills her out. There you go to stop The Beatles
breaking up and because the timeabove the Manson family, John

(02:15:40):
and York or decide to live in London instead of moving to
America. John Lennon lives.
Brilliant. That's.
Awesome, there you go. He wouldn't want that.
I certainly would. Yeah, yeah.
I mean, Tim's right. Tarantino wouldn't do a sequel,
but I'd love it if he did more than probably any of that film
he's done. I'd love to see this LA again.
I'd love to see these three characters again.
Yeah. And if you are listening, QT my

(02:16:01):
idea, it's not a good match, to be fair.
But mine's a trilogy. So 3 films where we move through
part of Hollywood history and like US culture with Rick, Cliff
and Sharon. So film one.
Obviously we've got new Hollywood counter culture, The
Mansons. Great film. 2/5 to 10 years
later, mid to late 70s and now Rick Cassidy with the movie
brats and the rise of the blockbuster.

(02:16:22):
Right. So how does he fit into that?
OK, Spielberg's in there. Koblas in there.
Scorsese. Yeah.
I'd love the city. Tarantino's version of Lucas.
And set to. A backdrop of political activism
and the Vietnam protests, the rise of feminism, Watergate,
maybe. That'll be pretty cool, yeah.
And then film 3, the 80s and more change for Rick to deal

(02:16:42):
with the rise of the action * Arnold's in there, obviously.
Obviously. The development of.
CGI so I and Jim's in there. The advent of home video.
Rick struggles against all thesethings, set to a backdrop of
like consumerism, evolving, the rise of MTV and politically, the
end of the Cold War, Reaganism before the Berlin Wall.
And then Part 3 ends. Early 90's, the arrival of

(02:17:04):
Tarantino, playing himself, playing himself.
In the video store, obviously. Yeah, exactly.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Elaborate is.
Like, yeah. And it ends with.
Tarantino being direct, like, you're so perfect, I could have
wrote you myself. Yeah.
And he cast Rick in a film abouthis own life called Once Upon a
Time in Hollywood. Manner as hell.
Tarantino finally devours himself like a snake.

(02:17:26):
And. The Tarantino Trilogy.
And Rusty. I did have a couple.
But that's just kind of stolen me.
Main 10? Really.
I had once. Upon a time in New York.
So the go in New York late 70s and Rick and Sharon have got a
part and it's going to be kind of the grimy streets.
New York bring all that back. Cliff goes and be the stunt

(02:17:49):
double and then somebody walks up and asks Rick and Sharon for
the autograph and it's Mark Chapman and the guns behind him.
But Cliff gets there first in case he's facing with A10 of dog
food. And then we'll see John Lennon
and you're going to walk out theDakota Hotel in the background.
So it's. Prevented yet?
Another assassination. That's fine.
I think we should do all. These.
Yeah, great. In a Series A.

(02:18:09):
Netflix series Yeah, 10 episode just go Once Upon a time, but
Tarantino has. Actually talked about what
happens to Rick after the eventsof the film mean he obviously
thought about this and he said that after fighting off the
Mansons, Rick stock rose in Hollywood.
And he did have some success. He starred in a couple of low
butchered studio features and became a bigger name on TV.
He's not doing Land of the Giants or the Green Hornet

(02:18:31):
anymore, but he's now on MissionImpossible as the bad guy, and
it becomes his episode and Tarantino said, and he's going,
OK, well, that's a relief. No good.
Is it a relief? Yeah.
Apparently Tarantino. Submitted the fake filmography
for Rick to IMDb. They declined it.
How much time does? He have on his hands.
He just goes all. In doesn't He, all of it doesn't

(02:18:52):
sleep. As for the influence and legacy
behind the film though, how do we think we've seen the impact
of Once Upon Slime in Hollywood since 2019?
I mean, we've seen it, I've definitely seen it, but I think
it owes more to its influences itself.
You know the likes of easy right?
I've mentioned getting straight to that.
Elliott Gould Rome come from 1970, which is fantastic.
Arizona Raiders, the Western is great.

(02:19:13):
Kiss the girls and make them die.
Hammerhead, if you haven't seen them, they're fantastic.
But after it, the only thing that's touched on it that's come
close to it and it stars Pitt and Robbie.
Can you guess what I'm going to say?
Yes, Go on then Babylon. Absolutely.
And that arcs back to the, you know, the golden era of
Hollywood. The really try there.
And you know what? Nobody else got it.

(02:19:34):
But I absolutely fucking love. That's a great film.
Really. Unofficially.
Brilliant and flew under the radar.
So if you want to say anything close to this and you haven't
seen Babylon, go to that one, because this is kind of based
before where this one came from.And for me, Babylon is the only
thing that's close to this. Yeah, I'll.
Take a shout in terms of influence.
I mean, it's not Pulp Fiction, is it?

(02:19:55):
How could it be? No, but still, I think it has
had an impact. In effect.
I think it breathed new life into the period piece genre for
a while. Nostalgic without being overly
sentimental. I mean, nostalgia now is a very
powerful force across culture and especially in Hollywood.
Constant reboots. Reimaginings.
Films referencing previous filmsin the same series but Once Upon
a time in Hollywood shows film makers how to do that how to do

(02:20:18):
nostalgia and still be original.It's showcasing on at the films
TV shows the music of that period without just doing the
exact same thing. Yeah, no doubt that some people
taking a new interest in that aswell.
And I think it definitely on as the memory of Sharon Tate.
Any respectful. A nice way.
Yeah. If you're talking revisionist
history storytelling in Hollywood, I think this is kind

(02:20:39):
of the benchmark. And any future film makers who
are thinking about rewriting real life events will surely
look upon Once Upon a Time in Hollywood to see how Tarantino
did it. Yeah.
Yeah, I have. Babylon Down as well.
I think this and Wolf of Wall Street just before really
propelled Margot Robbie into thebig time where she is now, where
she's an absolute A Lister. But it's legacy for me.

(02:21:00):
There's like a sense of finalityto this, a sense that he's
saying something here, that he'sbeen building his entire great
watch. And that's its legacy for me.
In a way. It's the ultimate Tarantino
statement ended on this. Well, no sequels.
To Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and unlikely there
will be, but the legacy and influence of the film and its
revisionist take on history thatmay be seen in the working with

(02:21:20):
our film makers. Yeah, yeah.
Definitely watch. Papa, all the right movies.
Ranking. And we've completed Once Upon a
Time in Hollywood. Now it's time for the Tinseltown
tally, where we each rate the film out of 10.
Westie. Your choice.
So what do you think your summary and score for Once Upon

(02:21:42):
a Time in Hollywood? Yeah, I mean.
There was reason I put up. This is just to talk about it
again and to make sure that all of us were on the same page,
which I know we are. But it was just to dive into it
and I have it down and to say we've talked about it and talked
about it with such adoration as we have.
I didn't realize how divisive itwas.
I didn't realize there's people out there who it's his worst
film. It's really self indulgent.
It's really pretentious. There's always an audience for

(02:22:04):
that and that's fine, but on theother side of the coin, there's
always the audience for really appreciating that, really
appreciating the honesty and thehow genuine the film is, how
passionate it is, how wonderful it is.
It takes the boxes on every conceivable level of me.
The acting's amazing, the writing's amazing, the crew,
every single one of them, incredible.
The casting is just a lesson. Everything works from start to

(02:22:26):
finish. There's not a frame I would
change. There's not a scene I would.
Put differently, nobody else could have made this film apart
from Quentin Tarantino. It's completely original.
It's completely fantastic. It's completely wonderful.
It's a complete den. Oh, massive.
Wonderful. Yeah, it's Tarantino, isn't it?
It is a. Bit, yeah.
One of Hollywood's most distinctive voices for me, and I

(02:22:47):
think Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, is maybe him.
It is most personal from the setting.
His hometown in the Pvt. grew upas a child, referencing all the
music, the TV shows, the places that he knew, the character
writing. It's there, too.
I think Tarantino sees a lot of himself in Rick, which is one
part of the reason that character feels so rich and so
alive. Yeah.
The other reason for that is Leonardo DiCaprio at his

(02:23:09):
brilliant best as all the rest of the cast.
Brad Pitt's performance for me probably is best.
Margot Robbie is a joy whenever she's on the screen and the
supporting A list casting Kurt Russell, Al Pacino and Bruce
Stern are fantastic. And another joy is in the what
at the time was C listed best actors playing the Mansons all
great, but Austin Butland, MikeyMadison both outstand out

(02:23:30):
moments for me. Yeah, and it looks.
Incredible. Robert Richardson, Barbara
Liang, Nancy Haig delivered world class visual work.
This version of LA, it looks like a great place and it even
chews up and spits out the Manson Family, which can only be
a good thing. Yeah, not for everyone, I know,
but it is in the top tier of Tarantino's work for me, and I'm
going 9 out of 10. Nice.

(02:23:51):
And Matt? To finish us off your summer
against Score for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, please.
Very much like Wesley, it was fascinating to see how divisive
this is in the comments on the film because, yeah, as he said,
some people say it's as best, some people say it's as worst.
And I'm not staying on the fence, but I do get both sides
of the argument for this one. But I'll just think back to the
first time I saw this, and I felt so knocked out by

(02:24:13):
particularly how unexpected and funny the ending is and how much
of A relief it was. And it's never really dipped
from there for me. I love the recreation of the
period, from the soundtrack to the costume design.
I'm just so happy to just hang out with these characters,
particularly DiCaprio, I think given maybe his most underrated
performance. But above everything else, it's

(02:24:34):
the genuine warmth and emotion Iget from Tarantino here and not
together with the time period, the set and what he's seeing
here. That's why this feels like the
ultimate Tarantino film for me, the one where it feels like
that's what he's been building towards his entire career and
he's seeing something. And to try and criticize his
film I'd be really nitpicking. And honestly I can't.

(02:24:56):
I genuinely just love this film.I'm on that side of the fence.
This is also a 10 for me. I think it might be his best
film. Wow.
How's that? Nice hot takes from Matt.
Hot take. Random, yeah.
Well, we. Also put this out there to our
very own Manson family or ATR MP.
Your Charlie Manson. Matt, the Madison family, OK,

(02:25:17):
that's fine. Very nice.
So some of. Their thoughts, Liam Moore said.
I've watched it more than any other QT film and I love QTI
think it's his finest work. The time period, the subject
matter, the soundtrack and the stellar cast.
When 2 cameo performances like Kurt Russell and Bruce Dern
explode off the screen in a movie this great, it must be
great. 10 out of 10 QTS magnum opus.

(02:25:40):
Yeah, nice. You agree with you, Matt.
Yeah. And he loads his.
QJ does Liam eat us? Yeah.
It wasn't all positive though. No and Mark Shufflebottom said
overblown and self indulgent. Nothing wrong with the
performances, just too much filler which the over the top
ending can't overcome, right? He wasn't alone in.
Calling this self indulgent mark, I do get that.

(02:26:00):
Totally get it. Totally get it.
I like the indulgences sometimesI don't with Tarantino.
This one I do if it's. Unintentional self indulgence.
It's awful. If it's intentional, fine.
Yeah, I think that's the. Divide line.
Yeah, yeah. And to count, Kyle said it can
be a tough watch if you're looking for typical structure
and purpose driven story, but ifyou just go with this, it's a

(02:26:22):
great world to hang out in. Yeah, 1 of Dicaprio's most
enjoyable roles. Him having a meltdown in his
trailer is worth the runtime alone.
It is hilarious, batshit crazy and full of characters that no
one can do. Like UT Yeah.
One that we'd. Argue with that, would we?
No. No.
Arguments that definitely not. So positive leaning but mixed
from our patrons and all together they read the film as

(02:26:44):
or what do you think I would attend it.
Yeah, it's going to be. All over the place.
I think it is about fair. It was. 90 Wow.
OK, good score. Yeah.
And if you want to cast your vote and get your overview read
out during the ATRM PH1 gang, yes, please do.
It Yeah, the Mudson family. Don't let that put you off
though. In total, like it was Once Upon

(02:27:05):
a time in Hollywood. 38 out of 40.
Great score. Nice.
And that is? Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
hopefully hasn't made you want to pick up any dumpster driving,
hitchhiking hippies. Try not to.
If it has, take your flamethrower just in case.
Just in case. Yeah, keep it in the boot next
time. Out back and to the left, Luke,
Westy and Matt are getting theirconspiracy boards out as they

(02:27:28):
talk all of us to own Kevin Costner and JFK.
Yeah, more than its history. Possibly a.
Little bit of it, probably. Yeah.
Well, we'll see. We'll see.
It's going to be massive. That one, yeah.
Well, in the. Meantime, to find out more about
becoming a patron, supporting what we do, and accessing our
archive and bonus episodes, please visit patreon.com/all the

(02:27:48):
Right Movies. You can also sign up on YouTube
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because that helps us out a lot.It really does.
Thank you guys. If you don't think we are.
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Just don't leave a review. Yeah, don't bother.
One or the other. Socially.
You can keep up with all the Right Movies on Twitter or X

(02:28:08):
where we are at 80 right movies.We post threads on there that
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We are on YouTube, like we said youtube.com/all the Right Movies
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(02:28:29):
Right Movies on Blue Sky at All the Right movies.com.
We have a movie group on Facebook which is full of lots
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So you should go and join that. It is and.
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features and great articles is at all the right movies.com few.
It's a lot. Yeah, we're all off now.
To neck, eat whiskey sours and see what does really happen when

(02:28:52):
Wesley turns his camera off. Should just stick with phone.
Could just stick the phone, comeback for.
JFK signed up as an 80 or in paper and not and thanks for
listening. Yes, thanks very.
Much guys. Thanks everyone.

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Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019) | Ep. 111

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019) | Ep. 111