<p>Directed by: Quentin Tarantino</p>.<p>Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Kurt Russell, Al Pacino</p>.<p>Score: 3.5/5 stars</p>.<p>A Quentin Tarantino movie release is a momentous occasion for the QT cult all over the world. And the latest from his stable, <em>Once Upon a Time in Hollywood</em>, supposedly his penultimate before he calls it quits, took its own sweet time to release in India. The anticipation around <em>Once upon a Time in Hollywood</em> is already the stuff of legend, but it is finally here, and you can all watch it this weekend, but does it deliver? Well, yes. And no. </p>.<p>Ever since <em>Pulp Fiction</em>, the controversial auteur has been in the news for controversial reasons galore. His movies earn cult status and the workings of a fevered, imaginative mind such as his have culminated in some of the greatest ever entertainers in the history of Hollywood. Rumours and wrangles also abound around the releases, and this time is no different. He’s had to defend some choices he’s made in the filming of this pastiche of all things Hollywood’s golden years, including some license he takes with Bruce Lee onscreen. </p>.<p>Now coming to the movie:<em> Once Upon a Time</em> tells the story of two characters in backlot Hollywood in 1969 - an ageing star, Rick Dalton, (Leonardo DiCaprio) who’s staring his own obsolescence in the face, and his lickspittle stunt double Cliff Booth, (a glorious Brad Pitt) who also serves as gopher, chauffeur, fixer-upper and confidante. Living next door to them is Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie), newly married to Roman Polanski. And somewhere in the Hollywood hills in a ranch, is the Charlie Manson cult, which history will tell you was the one that brutally murdered Sharon Tate on an August evening in 1969. </p>.<p>As Dalton comes to terms with his fading star, Booth hangs on to his meal ticket, but this isn’t a co-dependent mutually destructive friendship. Far from it. This is signature Tarantino in its homage to the unspoken brotherhood of macho men. And Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio work off of each other beautifully. Things take an interesting turn when loose and carefree Booth picks up one of the Manson hippies, Pussycat (a leggy Margaret Qualley), and worlds collide. This is a period piece that celebrates the cool factor of the then Hollywood, while intermingling history with Hollywood lore, including a sweet, sweet Steve McQueen (almost) surprise that had me grinning in delight. One word: Cooler! Like with any other QT flick, you are not required to be entirely up to speed in pop culture, but it helps.</p>.<p>Leonardo DiCaprio gets to display his histrionics in a dazzling scene where he hams up some dialogue delivery, goes into panic mode in his personal van, and then comes back to deliver a scene of such impossible perfection, that it boggles the mind. Wild, wild DiCaprio. And could Brad Pitt get any more magnificent as he ages? If Kool-Aid were Brad Pitt as he is now in a bottle, that would be one tall, cool drink made to order that we would all be drinking. Margot Robbie is sweet, but is there merely as the Sharon Tate connect. And the others serve as their characters were written. </p>.<p><em>Once Upon a Time</em> couldn’t be more technically sound. The QT trademark aestheticization of violence is there. As are dark, brooding driveways and desolate drive-ins that somehow get imbued with character. There are bare feet with high arches as well (duh). Guns get slung. Knives are brandished. Expectations are subverted. Dialogue does its levity thing. There’s insouciance and comeuppance and politically incorrect humour and flower children in a dizzying, kaleidoscopic, impossibly gorgeous collage. And a glorious climactic sequence featuring all of this, to top it all off. And yet, and yet… <em>Once Upon a Time in Hollywood</em> cannot surpass <em>Inglourious Basterds</em>. It comes close, but no cigar. Until the next (and possibly the final QT flick), <em>Inglourious Basterds</em> will dominate in QT's oeuvre. </p>
<p>Directed by: Quentin Tarantino</p>.<p>Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Kurt Russell, Al Pacino</p>.<p>Score: 3.5/5 stars</p>.<p>A Quentin Tarantino movie release is a momentous occasion for the QT cult all over the world. And the latest from his stable, <em>Once Upon a Time in Hollywood</em>, supposedly his penultimate before he calls it quits, took its own sweet time to release in India. The anticipation around <em>Once upon a Time in Hollywood</em> is already the stuff of legend, but it is finally here, and you can all watch it this weekend, but does it deliver? Well, yes. And no. </p>.<p>Ever since <em>Pulp Fiction</em>, the controversial auteur has been in the news for controversial reasons galore. His movies earn cult status and the workings of a fevered, imaginative mind such as his have culminated in some of the greatest ever entertainers in the history of Hollywood. Rumours and wrangles also abound around the releases, and this time is no different. He’s had to defend some choices he’s made in the filming of this pastiche of all things Hollywood’s golden years, including some license he takes with Bruce Lee onscreen. </p>.<p>Now coming to the movie:<em> Once Upon a Time</em> tells the story of two characters in backlot Hollywood in 1969 - an ageing star, Rick Dalton, (Leonardo DiCaprio) who’s staring his own obsolescence in the face, and his lickspittle stunt double Cliff Booth, (a glorious Brad Pitt) who also serves as gopher, chauffeur, fixer-upper and confidante. Living next door to them is Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie), newly married to Roman Polanski. And somewhere in the Hollywood hills in a ranch, is the Charlie Manson cult, which history will tell you was the one that brutally murdered Sharon Tate on an August evening in 1969. </p>.<p>As Dalton comes to terms with his fading star, Booth hangs on to his meal ticket, but this isn’t a co-dependent mutually destructive friendship. Far from it. This is signature Tarantino in its homage to the unspoken brotherhood of macho men. And Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio work off of each other beautifully. Things take an interesting turn when loose and carefree Booth picks up one of the Manson hippies, Pussycat (a leggy Margaret Qualley), and worlds collide. This is a period piece that celebrates the cool factor of the then Hollywood, while intermingling history with Hollywood lore, including a sweet, sweet Steve McQueen (almost) surprise that had me grinning in delight. One word: Cooler! Like with any other QT flick, you are not required to be entirely up to speed in pop culture, but it helps.</p>.<p>Leonardo DiCaprio gets to display his histrionics in a dazzling scene where he hams up some dialogue delivery, goes into panic mode in his personal van, and then comes back to deliver a scene of such impossible perfection, that it boggles the mind. Wild, wild DiCaprio. And could Brad Pitt get any more magnificent as he ages? If Kool-Aid were Brad Pitt as he is now in a bottle, that would be one tall, cool drink made to order that we would all be drinking. Margot Robbie is sweet, but is there merely as the Sharon Tate connect. And the others serve as their characters were written. </p>.<p><em>Once Upon a Time</em> couldn’t be more technically sound. The QT trademark aestheticization of violence is there. As are dark, brooding driveways and desolate drive-ins that somehow get imbued with character. There are bare feet with high arches as well (duh). Guns get slung. Knives are brandished. Expectations are subverted. Dialogue does its levity thing. There’s insouciance and comeuppance and politically incorrect humour and flower children in a dizzying, kaleidoscopic, impossibly gorgeous collage. And a glorious climactic sequence featuring all of this, to top it all off. And yet, and yet… <em>Once Upon a Time in Hollywood</em> cannot surpass <em>Inglourious Basterds</em>. It comes close, but no cigar. Until the next (and possibly the final QT flick), <em>Inglourious Basterds</em> will dominate in QT's oeuvre. </p>
