Tag: Michael Madsen

  • ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ is no Family portrait

    ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ is no Family portrait

    Lena Dunham, Margaret Qualley, and Brad Pitt in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

    “You expected Charles Manson at the very least, didn’t ya?” – Randall Flagg

    July 26 of 2019 brought us the latest film from a very interesting auteur. This self-taught professional has a vast knowledge of foreign and exploitation films that serves him well in providing homages and commentary. It’s funny, thrilling, and well-acted, one of his strongest efforts yet. Brad Jones really did do a great job with Another Cinema Snob Movie. Oh right, a new Quentin Tarantino movie also came out.

    Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, I am unhappy to report, is a letdown. Treating its subject matter in a very ill-conceived manner, it represents how a diverted focus can mar so much potential for greatness.

    It’s 1969 and Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) is an actor sliding into irrelevance. He keeps employed in western TV shows here and there, but he’s not seen as the leading man material he once was. His stunt double and best friend Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) is finding his own employment difficulties. After a while, they’ll need to consider their options in how to best move forward to reinvigorate their careers.

    On a parallel track is Rick’s neighbor Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie). Yes, that Sharon Tate. Which means Charles Manson (Damon Herriman) and the Manson Family are around too. Cliff runs into them when picking up Kathryn Lutesinger (Margaret Qualley) and giving her a ride back to the ranch. Things don’t go quite so smoothly there, giving the cult a new target.

    As has come to be expected of him, Tarantino has assembled a very impressive cast that can rival any Avengers lineup. In addition to those mentioned, there’s Kurt Russell, Lena Dunham, Damian Lewis, Dakota Fanning, Michael Madsen, Al Pacino, Bruce Dern (subbing in for Burt Reynolds, who died before he could film his part) and Luke Perry (who died not long after filming; does this movie have a curse or something?). There’s certainly more to be on the lookout for, and they’re all wonderful to watch in action.

    Had this movie been entirely about Rick and Cliff, it could have been great. The two men succeed in their parts and play off each other superbly. How it handles showbusiness in this era is also interesting, presenting a (b-)side of pictures that rarely gets explored on this level. The attention to detail in the recreations is fabulous. But to the film’s detriment, that isn’t the only story being told here.

    The treatment of the Manson stuff truly does ruin things. Tate and the Family really should have been dropped entirely, or at least replaced with fictional analogues. It’s going to be hard to discuss this without verging on spoilers, but to say that what happens in the movie wasn’t what happened in reality is a colossal understatement. 

    Robbie is fine as Tate, but overqualified for the role. A lookalike actress who does reenactments on ID channel shows would’ve done just as well. Same goes for the Family, though they actually do consist of a couple actors who have impersonated their parts before. 

    The events of the ending are where things really go off the rails. What happens there does use these figures, but ultimately they specifically are entirely irrelevant and should have just been replaced with invented stand-ins. But as is, it’s not a thoughtful presentation of the matter. In fact, it can be read as downright insulting to the victims of the Tate-LaBianca murders and probably does as much a disservice to the events as The Haunting of Sharon Tate did. Not only that, but it completely invalidates earlier scenes that were meant to be poignant. All impact those parts were supposed to have is promptly stripped away and renders them as utterly pointless.

    Then there’s the depiction of Bruce Lee (Mike Moh), which also should never have been included. In this film, he’s an absolute jerk who then gets into a fight with Cliff who handles him with ease. I can somewhat understand wanting to demonstrate Cliff’s military training, but why couldn’t this have been done with a fictional character? There has to be a better way to build him up without tearing down someone who means so much to so many.

    Lastly, places where the writer/director gets in his own way stick out quite a bit. There’s a part when Rick is shooting with a child actress (Julia Butters) where he, ignoring the script, places her in danger. However, she was prepared for it and thus Rick is vindicated (never mind that there was no way for him to know that). This really feels like an awkward defense from Tarantino on the Uma Thurman situation. And the displays of his rather infamous fetishes are just shamelessly blatant (though we see DiCaprio’s soles probably as much as the ladies’, so I suppose equal opportunity is some progress).

    A proper examination into one of the most horrific crimes in recent history Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is not. Whatever real-world tragedy Tarantino decides to exploit next (9/11?), he ought to exercise some better judgment.

  • ‘The Hateful Eight’ is not a Ten. But it is highly entertaining

    ‘The Hateful Eight’ is not a Ten. But it is highly entertaining

    Samuel L. Jackson in 'The Hateful Eight'
    Samuel L. Jackson in ‘The Hateful Eight’

    “I’ve heard people say that
    Too much of anything is not good for you, baby” – Barry White – Can’t Get Enough of Your Love

    As expected, we’re reminded that The Hateful Eight is the 8th Film from writer/director Quentin Tarrantino at the outset.  168 minutes later (182 if you choose the 70MM Roadshow version, complete with intermission), it ends.  Those who are the die-hard fans of the director who stormed out of the South Bay of Los Angeles with his first film Reservoir Dogs will lap up and love every second of it.  But for some, the Barry White  lyric above may be the best capsule review of The Hateful Eight out there.

    Eight people.  Well, more, but eight central characters.  Six Chapters.  In the bitter cold of a Wyoming winter, “Major Marquis Warren” (Samuel L. Jackson) is a bounty hunter stuck on a lonely road.  He has three corpses with him that are worth $8,000 if he can get them to Red Rock.  A stagecoach comes upon Major Warren with a driver named “O. B. Jackson” (James Parks) and another bounty hunter who paid for a private ride.  “John Ruth” (Kurt Russell) is known as “The Hangman” because unlike most bounty hunters, he doesn’t kill his targets.  He has his latest target, “Daisy Domergue” (Jennfer Jason Leigh) in custody and it turns out she’s worth $10,000 in Red Rock.  She has a date with the hangman.

    Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Bruce Dern in 'The Hateful Eight'
    Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Bruce Dern in ‘The Hateful Eight’

    After some discussion, Major Warren joins the party and the stagecoach moves on.  It is being chased by a blizzard that will prevent them from going on through to Red Rock.  But before they can get to Minnie’s Haberdashery, their shelter from the storm, they are joined by “Chris Mannix” (Walter Goggins) who claims to be en route to Red Rock to become the town’s Sheriff.

    When they finally get to Minnie’s, the titular octet is completed as they meet “Bob the Mexican” (Damian Bechir), “Oswaldo Mobry” (Tim Roth), “Joe Gage” (Michael Madsen) and “General Stanley Smithers” (Bruce Dern).  They arrived on an earlier stage.  Bob is running the place as “Minnie” (Dana Gourier) and “Sweet Dave” (Gene Jones) are on the other side of the mountain, visiting her mother.

    Tim Roth in 'The Hateful Eight'
    Tim Roth in ‘The Hateful Eight’

    As in any film from Tarantino, there are layers within layers, twists and turns and the need to purchase fake blood is what Beldar and Prymaat Conehead would describe as “mass quantities.”  Who will die?  Who will be the victim of the goriest death of the movie?  Who is double-crossing whom?  Can the brutality rise to a level above that of a dancing man using a straight razor to slice off a victim’s ear?  Above that of a truly frightening crime lord being sodomized while wearing a ball gag?

    The dialogue, as always, is superb.  The tension level has ebbs and flows but the viewer will definitely move to the edge of the seat more than a few times.  There are surprises.  The problem is not with the usual elements of a Tarantino flick, but with the excessive amounts of them.  The Hateful Eight is a terrific 130 minute movie being stretched out in an attempt to make it a much longer Western epic.  It is an homage to the giants of the Western genre, with a soupcon of tribute here and there to others.  Why else would they be on the way to Red Rock, were that not the central location of most of Blazing Saddles?  In the final analysis, The Hateful Eight is very entertaining, will be beloved by the QT fanbase but isn’t as awesome as it could have been.