New Film Review: Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD



Going in I am fully aware I may have my Tarantino blinders on.
I mean if I was going to post my top 5 working Directors I would go with:
J.J. Abrams
Spielberg
Wes Anderson
Jean Marc Vallee
And of course Tarantino.
I like Tarantino because he takes life and looks at it at other angles. He takes ones perception of characters and shows us what we think we know and then gives us a backstory that may or may not change our perception.

So for the first time in four years Tarantino released a full length film which he also wrote.
There are a lot of stories here in this film:
-DiCaprio plays Rick Dalton a washed up 50's early 60's movie star who is trying to find his place in the TV world in the late 60's early 70's.
-Pitt plays Cliff Booth who is the stunt man for Rick Dalton. However as jobs for Dalton are drying up, Cliff Booth pretty much becomes Dalton's Personal Assistant and Life Coach
-Margaret Robbie plays Sharon Tate, who we follow around Hollywood, she is in her glory she is happily pregnant  and her film with Dean Martin is a hit in the theatres.


All three of these story lines bounce around a lot just as Tarantino did with Hateful Eight, he bounces to back stories and then to the present time. This leads the film to seem kind of choppy and almost nonsensical, and at 2 hours and 45 minutes you often think this is looooong where is it going???!!!
The film is often funny; often frightening; sometimes a little sad. Yet with all being noted it struggles to come together...and in a strange way it does at the end, it just may take a little to long to get there.
As for the end. Like in Inglourious Bastards, Tarantino takes a true story and twists it to make it...maybe turn out the way he or we would like it to end up. He pretty much does that here...No Spoilers.
Some critics have problems with the violence and the twist of history. IT IS TARANTINO IT IS WHAT HE DOES!!!!! It is a story. They question the violent and I do mean violent end of the film ...again IT IS TARANTINO!!! People understood the almost comic version of the violence and were laughing in the theatre.
Some people have problems with using the Sharon Tate story. Tarantino spoke to the sister of Tate and screened the movie for her. She loved how it showed the joy that Sharon brought into the world and she was happy people saw that and not just a victim of psycho killers.


Well I have gone on too long. Is it one of Tarantino's best? No. But it is vintage Tarantino, putting you in a place and time, and playing with the story, using odd camera angles and colors and music.. What pushes this film through is the performances by all three leads, I hope they are remembered at Oscar time.


4 stars out of 5 for Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. I think you will hate it and find it weird, long, and boring yet disturbing; or find it so different you will love it. I just barely loved it, mind you most of Tarantino film I could give 4 1/2 or 5 stars. but still I get it...at least I think lol. It is still tense and disturbing.

I end with a tip of the hat to the final performance here by Luke Perry. RIP.

From the shadows as always thanks for your time

New Film Review: The Lion King

THE LION KING 2019

When I did my review of the recent Aladdin remake I noted I went in thinking it was a money grab. I was wrong. Was it necessary? No. However it worked, with new twists and two talented leads.
Now as I watched the new Lion King.....I must say...it is a disappointing money grab.
Not much to say here...If you pay for this film, unfortunately you will see the same story you saw in the 1994 animated version, The Circle Of Life involves your uncle killing your dad.
There are problems here:
-They put the film in the hands of Jon Favreau. Which was a good move by Disney, because he did the re-imagining of Jungle Book. Jungle Book kind of worked, but what it had going for it was it had one human in it as the lead to show personality. Here, there are no humans, and all our attention is on these computerized animals who show no personality on their faces. I swear half the characters here sound like they are just reading their lines, just bad voice work. Plus often the computerized animals mouths do not come close to the movement of the lines they are speaking. It does not work.
-Think about the violence in the animated movie. Now think about it with animals that look real. THEY GAVE THIS A PG RATING!!!!!!!!!!! NOT PG13??????!!! This is no lie during the Mufasa death scene there was a lot of people crying. Kids were being escorted out of the theater by their parents because of the violent scene. I was nosey wondering if they bailed on this, so I snuck out and saw a mom talking to a crying boy telling him "honey you know it is a happy ending". I bet he will sleep well tonight mom.

Any positives?
I thought when the animals, when not talking, looked amazingly real, even their motions looked amazing. To be honest young Simba looks really cute. The landscapes were beautiful also. So at least thumbs up to Favreau for that.

2 stars out of 5 for Lion King 2019, for the look and the story, even though it is the same it still works....more violently but it works. Now I know what I note here will not matter. However I am saying...it is the same story with little changes. wait for home viewing if you are on the fence. I still do not understand why they just did not do a film of the Broadway stage show which is amazing. Kind of like what they just did with Cats. I think it would separate the versions in a smooth manner, while introducing to many who did not see the show to something different.
But...what do I know....I just sit in the shadows.


From the shadows as always thanks for your time.
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Top 6 Films I look Forward To See For The Rest Of The Year

With six months down and six months to go, here are the six films I am most looking forward to see, picking one for each month. Now I could be wrong, I could be fooled by hype or the trailer. I mean these films could be awful. However....I have to go with six and here they are!

1    July 26th
ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD



Why? It's Tarantino, often imitated never duplicated!!! Enough said.




2   August 16th
THE INFORMER



There are a good many films coming in August:
Good Boys
Blinded By The Light
Racing In The Rain
Brittany Runs A Marathon
But I went with The Informer....

Why? The story looks real good. It stars Joel Kinnaman one of our best actors. Throw in Common; Rosmund Pike;  and Clive Owen....I am in!!!!




3- September 27th
  JUDY



In September comes:
It: The Second Chapter
The Goldfinch
Downton Abbey
But I went with JUDY

Why? The return of the underrated Zellweger. For a film buff, the story of Judy Garland is got to be at the top of your list.




4- October 4th
 THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW

Not much competition on October, a slow month in the theaters, I went with The Woman In The Window.

Why? No trailer released yet. However if it is as good as the book, and Amy Adams...I am in!!!!!!!!!!





5  November 27th
  KNIVES OUT



November brings:
Frozen 2 (Could be over done)
Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood
The Good Liar
However I went with Knives Out.

Why? Who doesn't like a who done it? Look at that cast????!! That's Don Johnson!!! I hope it is done right.




6- December 20th
STAR WARS THE RISE OF SKYWALKER





Why? Do you have to ask? The trilogy ends. JJ is back in the Directors chair to fix the mess of the last film. Oh and Lando is back!!!!! Cannot wait!!!!!!!!!!


Well there are six films I look forward to seeing. One per month. They could be really bad for all I know...but here is hoping I am right.

See you in the shadows!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks as always for your time.