Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Post-release)

[Vivek]

First look at Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Written and Directed by Quentin Tarantino.

Synopsis: A TV actor and his stunt double embark on an odyssey to make a name for themselves in the film industry during the Charles Manson murders in 1969 Los Angeles.

Cast: Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, Margot Robbie, Burt Reynolds, Al Pacino, Dakota Fanning, Damian Lewis, Luke Perry, Emile Hirsch, Timothy Olyphant, Tim Roth, James Marsden.

In theatres August 9, 2019. (Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Tate-LaBianca murders)

 

[JoeG]

So excited for this as I am all of QT's movies. In just that one picture there's so much attitude and cool.

 

[PoopaPapaPalps]

I'm interested in any film by him, even if they turn out to be lackluster. However, I will always carry a torch for Sally Menke. She made his movies work in a way he wanted them to. It's such a shame that she left as she did, and knowing his films won't ever have that same...life, again.

 

[Kovnyn]

This one does not excite me in any way. I enjoy QT films (Death Proof is one of my favorites), but I've never rushed out to go see one. Quite likely, this one will be one I watch when it hits HBO, just like the last few. I will say, it's got a pretty impressive cast.

 

[Apollo]

Brad and Leo are definitely pimpin that late 60’s vibe

 

[0neiros]

That explains why my wife was licking my iPad.

 

[Vivek]

Release day scheduled two weeks early on July 26, 2019.

 

[Vivek]

DP Robert Richardson on A Private War and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood | Collider

Collider conducted a lengthy interview with cinematographer Robert Richardson (JFK, The Aviator) talking about the new film A Private War. The conversation starts off with them talking about the cancellation of FilmStruck. If you're a fellow cinephile I recommend reading the whole interview in the above page as it's worth the read.

Richardson has worked on films by Oliver Stone, Martin Scorsese, and Quentin Tarantino. He talked about Once Upon a Time in Hollywood which he is currently filming. You can read parts of that interview below.
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I don’t want to take up too much of your time, but I can’t wait for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. I was just curious how that shoot’s been going, and how it might differ from your previous collaborations with Quentin.

RICHARDSON: It’s a very close relationship right now, we’ve been through numerous films. I think it’s going to be, no jinx, but I think it’s going to be a fantastic film. It’s something extremely unusual and rare, it’s been going very well. It’s tumultuous of course, there are harder days than others, even when you have more days. I’m on day 89 right now, so when you think that you’re day 89, almost 100 days, and I just finished a film in 36 or 37 or whatever it was. It feels as if it’s supposedly luxurious, but you find it is not quite as luxurious as you would anticipate.

Also the caliber of talent on screen, that cast is just insane.

RICHARDSON: Insane, it’s beautiful. To work with Leo together with Brad …

Is it exciting to frame up a shot with two movie stars as huge as Leo and Brad in the same frame?

RICHARDSON: Yeah! It’s Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, contemporary versions. These are two massive stars, and talented, and Margot [Robbie] is also phenomenal and wonderful to be around. There’s a number of people that you’ll see within the film that haven’t had as much exposure, that are remarkable. We’ve got Dakota Fanning in the movie, and she is—man is she a powerhouse. It’s a great cast.

What’s the tone of it, because it seems like a really big piece that’s taking on a lot.

RICHARDSON: It does, and I think the tone of it is difficult to describe, because it’s very fresh. It oscillates between humorous, serious, spooky; it’s playful, it’s not easily describable, but it’s very, very Quentin. Of course Al Pacino was in it, you’ve got remarkable monologues, but you also have remarkable small set pieces. It’s going to be a tremendously unique film.

That’s great. You guys shot on 70 mm for Hateful Eight, is there anything special in store for audiences on this one, cinematography-wise?

RICHARDSON: Not in terms of lensing, we’re doing anamorphic 35, but we didn’t trespass into the 70mm realm for financial reasons principally. The budget, there are a hundred sets or something, so they needed to cut back somewhere, and the added cost of 70 is quite remarkable. And it also has tremendous limitations, like no zooms. And Quentin wanted zooms in the film, so it required us to go to the 35 anamorphic.

I also wanted to ask, this year marked the 15th anniversary of Kill Bill: Volume 1, and then of course next year is the 15th of Volume II. And I love both those films so much, and I’ve always been so impressed with how distinct each film feels, even though they were shot at the same time. I’ve always been curious, when you guys were shooting, did it feel like you were traversing a lot of very visually distinct territory? Did you have any idea that it would be split in two? Because it does feel like two different movies.

RICHARDSON: There was a point in which we knew that there was a possibility of taking this to two films, because we were getting so much footage. Harvey [Weinstein] had met somewhere I think in China, and said, “You should think ahead, whether this could be two films.” I don’t think Quentin was thinking it would be at that time, but it became more apparent as he went along that the length of the film was going to exceed what would make sense in terms of release. So he found what he felt intellectually and narratively would best support two films, and that’s how it happened. I always did feel that we had—again, some of what you see in terms of the very cinema approach, whether it’s the House of Blue Leaves, whatever it is, you’re going to find inside of [Once Upon a Time in Hollywood] a little bit of that.

Maybe not the massive time of a House of Blue Leaves, but the set pieces are unique, and they are also extremely personal to Quentin, in terms of his life in Los Angeles. Not his life in 1969—he was too young, but his life in terms of living and where he went, films that were important from that time period. I think that will be for many, people like you, like 2001 will be sitting there, and Romeo and Juliet you’ll see on the screen, it’s been there for eight months, that kind of thing. To be able to see these films, Ice Station Zebra, see them up on the Cinerama Dome, that’s what he did. He recreated the time period pretty accurately in terms of film, so for those who are film nerds, everyone will love it.

I cannot wait.

RICHARDSON: And the music, he stays very strongly inside of music tracks. I can’t give it away, but there is something that pushes this movie continually that came from the time period as well.

Speaking of film nerds, one last question if you’ll indulge me, next year is also the 15th anniversary of The Aviator, which to my mind is one of the greatest cinematography achievements in film history. What do you remember about that shoot and crafting such distinct and really ambitious visuals.

RICHARDSON: I’ll tell you a really short story. Originally [Scorsese] went to Janusz Kaminski to talk to Janusz about shooting the movie. And I’m not entirely certain why that was—I was on another film at the time, not sure that we were gonna be able to make it, and it didn’t work out for Janusz either. But Janusz said to me, “Bob, you’re shooting this movie? You’re getting an Academy Award.” I sort of giggled, but shooting the film, I never thought about that. But Dante’s work and Marty’s work, and the camera, he was so extremely specific about where that camera went, how it went. For example, there’s very little that wasn’t dictated well in advance. The set pieces were huge. I think it is a great film, and I was somewhat dismayed that Marty didn’t actually receive the Oscar for that particular film that year. There are other years I feel exactly the same thing, whether it’s Raging Bull—it’s like, how did that lose? But I do think that what he achieved in Aviator is remarkable, and Leo’s performance is astounding.

It is, yeah.

RICHARDSON: To see them together, he’s obviously done a number of films with him now, but to watch— Also, Quentin’s now done two films with Leo. It’s nice to see this movement between these two giants, different generations. I met Quentin when I was shooting Casino, he came to the set to visit Marty, and I obviously didn’t know him, I knew his work basically. But on a Sunday, Marty would play films that he owned, it was Raw Deal and T-Men. The only three people that went were myself, Joe Reidy, and Quentin Tarantino, sitting in a little movie theater that was made for all of us to watch dailies, and to also be able to watch films on days off that he brought in.

Because John Alton he wanted as an influence for me, as a cinematographer. The Anthony Mann aspect of that was not as important as the cinematography, but it was remarkable that was my first experience with Quentin was watching these two Anthony Mann movies, which we both deeply loved. Probably if we had seen those films today together, we would have entirely different conversations. We’d be on to Winchester ’73, there’d be so many different films we’d be doing with Anthony Mann, which of course drives us right back to the beginning of the conversation with FilmStruck!

I was gonna say, people can’t find these movies now, it’s really frustrating.

RICHARDSON: You’ve got to own them.

It’s really upsetting.

RICHARDSON: But Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, just so you know, I bought all the Wanted: Dead or Alive, I bought Fury, I’ve got so many films that are all about—Alias Smith and Jones, the entire Maverick series, Lancer. Because within this film, there is also a western television series.

That’s right.

RICHARDSON: I studied all those films.

So you got to shoot a Western TV series with Quentin inside of this new movie?

RICHARDSON: Yeah, we did. It’s already completed, that is fantastic. We shot it in the Universal lot, and we also shot it in another location, Melody Ranch, for a different one, for basically a Bounty Law concept. But yeah, it’s quite remarkable. Leo is quite fabulous in both of his roles.

Oh yeah, because Leo’s the actor as well, right? He’s the actor, so he plays the actor in the TV show, and then I guess the actor himself, too.

RICHARDSON: Yeah. And Brad plays his stunt man.

Man, I can’t wait. I’m very excited.

RICHARDSON: Their relationship is just so perfect.

 

[Vivek]

ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD - Official Teaser Trailer (HD) - YouTube

 

[Apollo]

What a great blast from the past!!

If this was released in the fall or winter, I would be rocking my “Starsky” sweater to the Premiere!

 

[Vivek]

ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD - Official Trailer (HD) - YouTube

 

[Apollo]

Just keeps getting better and better, gonna be EPIC!!

 

[JoeG]

Went to go see Brightburn last night and this new trailer for OUATIH was in front. Boy oh boy does it look good on the big screen. QT's films are obviously just made for it. Can't wait to see it!

 

[funboy1013xx]

wait... burt reynold's?? I know he started out as a hollywood stunt man... maybe vintage hooper footage?? and there HAS to be the actor name intro "and introducing burt reynold's"... just to pay respect..

 

[dascoyne]

I always say I’m not looking forward to the next Tarantino movie due to the premise (“Tarantino martial arts movie?”; “Tarantino western?”; “Tarantino WW2 movie?”; “He should stick to crime.”), but, damnit, I end up watching it and liking it a lot. I always feel like I’m done with the Tarantino style ... but invariably I find something original, unpredictable and refreshing in each one of his movies - whether it’s the meta structure/genre, subversive/unexpected/inspired casting or the delicious dialogue - usually all three.

Tarantino is one of the rare modern directors who isn’t afraid of building suspense off a very long, well-staged still shot. That alone makes him great, in my book.

 

[Vivek]

New Poster

 

[agent5]

Anyone know the artist of the poster above?

 

[robstyle]

wait... burt reynold's?? I know he started out as a hollywood stunt man... maybe vintage hooper footage?? and there HAS to be the actor name intro "and introducing burt reynold's"... just to pay respect..

Tom Holland (Childs Play and Fright Night) also started out as a stuntman. Irony here is he was actually doing stunts with Bruce Lee on Green Hornet. He also did some Twilight Zone episodes, Combat, and if memory serves Bonanza and Adam 12 among others.

 

[PoopaPapaPalps]

Saw it today, and though I liked it, I wasn't left with anything walking out the theater.

Of all of Tarantino's films, this is probably the slowest and most self-indulgent. Everything he loves is in here and, unfortunately, prolonged beyond I thought necessary in some spots. The chapter breaks are gone and the story's fairly linear, I just think it has some pacing issues; stopping and going, stopping and going. Just when something has my interest and fires on all cylinders, something else follows that isn't as strong. And it's typically driving. There's so many prolonged driving shots in this, it really could've done with half of them or just shortened them a bit. I also felt something like that for the use of recreated and inserted film sequences that weren't necessary.

Performances are great but I do feel Brad Pitt's segments aren't as interesting as DiCaprio's, and are mostly there for comedy (not that DiCaprio isn't comedic in this, Pitt's is more so). Robbie was an unnecessary casting choice. Someone of her caliber doing nothing but mostly walking and watching, felt a bit of a waste. Her casting and the ultimate use of her was just for a red herring.

There's something good here, I just don't think it should've been as long as it is. 20 to, maybe, 30 minutes cut from this would tighten up the pacing and give some momentum to the piece (I will always carry a torch for Sally Menke). It would've made the resolution, not any less cartoonish, but maybe less jarring for me after the long and spotty build up to it.

It was nice to see something mature in the theaters for a change. However, this just fell a bit short for me.

 

[Apollo]

A bit slow but it picks up.

Definitely a Tarantino film, I thought Brad Pitt stole the show