Exclusive Mini-sode — Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

This was a wild ride to listen to.

Devon Wright

Very surprised by how unanimous your guys' takes were! Hardly a devil's advocate for good ol' Tentin Quarantino and his ability to pull a Seinfeld and make a movie about nothing. My second viewing really pulled it all together for me, the nuance of this film really is in the large spaces between the lines. It's so much more about what the characters are going through emotionally then narratively. But yes, it is QUITE indulgent, yet Quentin manages to spins his insecurities and tropes into a beautifully meandering tale about identity crisis and optimistic bliss. It's definitely not a shallow film that has simply stuck with me. Great episode, guys!

I agree that this movie wasn't great and with all the critiques here. There were scenes and moments that were really great but getting to them was not worth it. I would like to add that the Bruce Lee scene is unforgivable character assassination by Tarantino.

I know I'm late to this episode, mainly because I just discovered the podcast, but I do wanna point out that the scene before the massacre the intruders do make it very clear that they're about to go on a murder spree. This doesn't justify the high level of violence, even though it didn't bother me, but I do feel Tarantino does make it clear that these folks aren't good people. I do agree it is a film that is made for niche group of people, me being in that group. I really love the vibe of Old Hollywood and I couldn't be more happy to relish in it. I'd also suggest reading The White Album by Joan Didion which operates as a great companion piece.

Hayden Claborn

Awesome! We'll have to do more of these :)

Beyond the Screenplay

Interesting to hear your thoughts! I think this is definitely a movie where what people bring in to it will affect what they get out of it. Glad to hear you enjoyed it (for the most part) :) If I picked up on any of his self-referential moments I've since forgotten them. I probably don't have a deep enough knowledge of his other works to spot them all. —Michael

Beyond the Screenplay

This movie was made for me lol. I really agree with Trisha about being violence-averse. But this movie... I saw it coming that he was going to rewrite history, so I was looking forward to it the entire time. I thought this whole movie was him trying to "right" Hollywood wrongs. I suppose that what I enjoyed about this the most was that it was a love-letter to Hollywood. It was for Hollywood. He was inviting us to just LOVE movies again, and for me, it worked. I even found myself going, "Wow, I love these long scenes. How very Sophia Coppola of him." A note on the not featuring the Manson family all that much, and not developing the characters: I actually really appreciated that. Nowadays we beyond glorify people who do disgusting things - 
“yay serial killers, let's spend entire podcasts and movies and mini series following their crimes” - and I enjoyed the fact that he decidedly DIDN’T do that. And the way their asses were handed to them, for me, was perfect. She was friggin pregnant ): About Tarantino using this story in specific: I thought it was kind of a deep appreciation of Sharon Tate and Polanski. It was the revenge they deserved. I'm happy she doesn't get to kill the Manson family.. Just leave her alone. That's all I ever wanted for her lol. Just let her live her life and not have to deal with this at all. All that being said, I so did not love the male gaze throughout the entire film. So gross. During the car scene I leaned over to my husband and said, "Thiiisss scene here is a porno written by Quentin Tarantino." Not fun. At least he didn't sleep with her. Did you guys pick up on his self-references throughout the movie? Like to some of his specific films?

Even though I liked the movie myself, all of your points were super valid and got me thinking a lot. These mini episodes are a really cool idea, thanks so much!