Dec 14, 2019 Once Upon a Time, T-Mobile Nearly Merged With DISH. December 14, 2019, 09:00:00 AM EDT By Motley Fool. The multistate lawsuit seeking to block T-Mobile (NASDAQ: TMUS) from merging with Sprint (NYSE: S) is currently underway. The case is the final hurdle that the two companies need to clear in order to close the $26 billion merger that will. Once Upon A Time - Mobile 920 Dawes Road, Mobile AL 36695 Phone Number: (251) 633-9173. Jul 26, 2019 Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Synopsis A TV star and his longtime stunt double make their way around a changing industry in 1969 Hollywood. Read Full Synopsis.
Updated August 15, 2019 15:28:56
A full quarter-century after Quentin Tarantino snagged a Palme d'Or for his second feature, Pulp Fiction, the director returned to the Cannes Film Festival with his ninth, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: a reverie set in the Los Angeles of 1969, in the historical-revisionist mould of Inglourious Basterds.
It's as rich in intertextual reference and period detail as you'd expect of the fanboy-auteur — and as self-indulgent as you might fear (especially if you watched his last film, the turgid Hateful Eight).
While Tarantino may not have taken home the Palme this time around, his film was without a doubt the hottest ticket in town, with punters jostling for position in lines that began to snake down the Croisette hours in advance of the premiere.
Originally touted as Tarantino's 'Manson family movie', Once Upon a Time is actually more of a mid-life crisis movie.
Leonardo DiCaprio plays Rick Dalton, an ageing TV cowboy whose alcoholism does not pair well with his growing suspicion that he's just not destined for movie stardom after all — that he's more 'has-been' than Steve McQueen.
His closest pal and drinking buddy is his long-time stuntman Cliff Booth (a character modelled on Hollywood daredevil Hal Needham, who frequently doubled for Burt Reynolds on screen), played by a leathery-looking Brad Pitt.
Cliff has been finding it hard to get work lately, primarily because he's known around town for killing his wife and getting away with it — a situation that both Rick and the film seem sympathetic to.
Tellingly, Cliff's wife only features in one brief flashback: she's shown lounging in a deckchair, whinging at Cliff as he stares off into space.
Both men sense that showbiz ain't what it used to be, and that there might not be major roles for them in this budding 'New Hollywood'.
It's worth pointing out that Tarantino, whose career is intertwined with that of the Weinsteins, is himself a middle-aged man working in the industry during a period of substantial change.
Perhaps Once Upon a Time can be read as speaking to some latent anxiety around remaining relevant.
On the cusp of a downward spiral, Rick is buoyed by the sight of his new neighbours: Roman Polanski (Rafal Zawierucha), fresh from Rosemary's Baby, and his wife, the beautiful and famously ill-fated starlet Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie).
'I could be one pool party away from starring in a new Polanski movie,' Rick drunkenly reasons.
The Mansons, meanwhile, lurk at the fringes of the narrative. They make their first appearance early on, while Cliff is driving Rick home from set: a rag-tag hippie girl gang parades past the car, clutching the fruits of a dumpster-diving expedition.
One of them (Margaret Qualley) flashes a peace sign at Cliff, and he responds in kind. Oh, the irony.
Of course the promise of violence hangs over the film (this is Tarantino we're talking about), becoming weightier as it moves towards the historical date of the Tate murders.
But Once Upon a Time is relatively light on the ultra-violence so closely associated with the director — who spends most of the generous 161-minute runtime crosscutting between his main characters as they go about their daily lives.
Rick rehearses lines with his tape player and contemplates making spaghetti westerns in Italy (career advice from an agent, played by Al Pacino).
Cliff drives around town doing odd-jobs before going home to a dingy caravan, where his pitbull eagerly awaits her dinner.
Sharon parties at the Playboy Mansion and bops along to records in her Cielo Drive home.
In short, not much really happens. (Until it does.)
Tarantino seems more interested in showing off his lead actors — who take clear delight in hamming it up for him — and his loving recreation of Los Angeles landmarks (like Musso & Frank's and El Coyote) than he is in building dramatic tension.
This wouldn't be a problem, except for the fact that Rick and Cliff are unlikeable knuckleheads, and Robbie's Sharon is a free-spirited bimbo. These are not people I want to spend the day with. They're less offensive (as gendered stereotypes) than they are simply boring.
It's when members of the Manson family appear — grubby, shrewd, and menacing — that Once Upon a Time perks up, and acquires some of the mystique demanded by the subject matter.
It's enough to make you wish that Tarantino had made the Manson-centric movie he initially announced instead.
Once Upon a Time In Hollywood is in cinemas from August 15.
Once Upon A Time Tv
Topics:arts-and-entertainment, film, film-movies, comedy-film, drama, director, actor, popular-culture, western-films, united-states, australia
Once Upon A Time - Musical Cot Mobile
First posted August 15, 2019 02:30:52