Once Upon a Time in... Hollywood (Movie Review)

It should be noted about Quentin Tarantino's movies... every film is completely different from the others. From a heist film (Reservoir Dogs), a World War 2 movie (Inglorious Basterds), Spaghetti Western (The Hateful Eight), to a race car movie (Death Proof), it is impossible to compare one movie to another beyond the style of direction. Having followed The Hateful Eight, in what might be considered (production and visually speaking) his best film to date, Once Upon a Time in... Hollywood is a feast for cinema buffs. 

Hollywood movies about Hollywood have always held a special place in the hearts of cinephiles, from Sunset Boulevard, All About Eve to Sullivan's Travels, but always appreciated for the theater attendee who has practically seen it all. For the mainstream crowd rushing to theaters this weekend to see the next Quentin Tarantino classic, billed as his ninth movie (of which Tarantino said multiple times that he would only do ten movies in his career), I suspect they may find this movie a bit of a let down... considering the fact that this movie was clearly written with cinephiles in mind.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt

That said, this qualifies in the genre of Hollywood movies about Hollywood. Leonardo DiCaprio plays actor Rick Dalton, a faded television actor who, in 1969, realizes he is officially a "has-been." Hoping to achieve fame and success, he agrees to star in a series of Spaghetti Westerns over in Europe, a transition many actors at the time were more than willing to make in order to pay the bills. Brad Pitt plays Dalton's stunt man, Cliff Booth, a handyman with no illusions or expectations who lives every day based on what the stars (or the Fates) dictate. Along the way (as foreshadowed in the beginning of the movie), Rick and Cliff will have a brush with members of the Charles Manson cult, providing bloodshed for those with a violent expectation level from Tarantino's movies.

The entire story could have been dramatized in less than an hour but leave it to Tarantino to create a movie that stretches two and a half hours, with multiple scenes that dramatize the inner workings of Hollywood circa 1969, and maintain your interest. While I have yet to find myself looking at the clock while watching any of Tarantino's movies, including those that stretch over three hours, this is the first film that concluded without me wishing there was an additional half hour. A number of the scenes (such as Sharon Tate's visit to the local theater to watch herself on the big screen in The Wrecking Crew) could be removed from the final print and the story would have flowed without any noticeable scenes missing that are intricate to the story. This creates a disjointed method of storytelling, unlike the style of Pulp Fiction, and requires better scripting in the plot. (Tarantino is a good writer, but even good writers learn to write a four-hour movie, throw half of the pages away, and revise the remaining material. Here, Tarantino kept scenes in that should not have been included as intent and purpose is not clearly defined.)

But make no mistake: this movie was made for cinephiles. The opening scene demonstrated a 1950s television western complete with Andrew McLaglen and John Ford technique, stock music from the CBS library, and the Wilhelm scream. (If you do not know what the Wilhelm scream is, I recommend you check this out for amusement: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_scream). A movie poster for the 1949 Roy Rogers western, The Golden Stallion, can be seen hanging on the wall in more than one scene... a nod to Tarantino's insistence that director William Whitney was one of the best directors ever. The scene with Bruce Lee reciting his philosophy and the often-rumored "No one kicks Bruce Lee's ass" ends with a Mexican standoff is a joke only Bruce Lee fans will appreciate. Practically every 30 seconds there is a nod to vintage pop culture in the form of visuals, impersonators, references to television programs, movie posters, and billboards and music on the radio. The majority of these cultural references (such as DiCaprio insulting hippies by calling one of them Dennis Hopper) may go over the heads of most in the theater watching the movie. Cinephiles "in the know," however, will find many of these brief vignettes both hilarious and exceptional. Not as mini-movies but as scenes of cinematic brilliance.

There is not a bad performance throughout, as expected from any film directed by Quentin Tarantino. Brad Pitt as Cliff Booth and actress Margaret Qualley as Pussycat stand out above all others. Leonardo DiCaprio may have just given his best performance in a motion-picture. (DiCaprio is DiCaprio in every movie he stars in but for half of this movie you will find yourself forgetting he is DiCaprio.) The special effects to mimic 1969 Los Angeles, along with replication and alteration of retro television programs, screen tests and movie posters is top notch -- money well spent and deserving of acknowledgement. This may not be a superhero blockbuster but there should be an Oscar nomination for best special/visual effects.

Mike Moh as Bruce Lee

Knowing all of this in advance before going in to see the movie will help assure your enjoyment in a movie that is a feast for cinephiles, and an entertaining romp for others. But who can hate a movie created with a passion for old movies... especially one that features Tarantino-alumni Tim Roth in the closing credits if for no other reason than to acknowledge that his scene ended up on the cutting room floor? 

The Lion King Reigns Supreme

Superheroes aside, Disney’s live action remake of The Lion King is (to date) the best film of the year. It is pleasing to know that a film not populated with product placement can still entertain us – even if we already know the story. Director Jon Favreau no doubt used the original 1994 animated movie as the storyboard because the majority of this movie is a scene-for-scene remake.

The cinematography is gorgeous, filmed on location in Africa, with computer-generated characters so lifelike that the technicals would have been impressive if we had not seen the same special effects applied in Jungle Book (2016), also directed by Favreau. So flawless that to even seek defects in the computer animation is futile.

The story remains the same: A lion cub prince is tricked by a treacherous uncle into thinking he caused the death of his father, the king of the jungle, and flees into exile in despair. Running away from his problems and trying to forget the disastrous day proves fruitless when his past returns and in adulthood discovers the responsibilities of assuming the throne. Along the way he makes friends who were considered outcasts, finds love and seeks retribution. There are so many parables in this movie that every child can find a different moral... and that is what makes films like these worth watching.

The movie does contain a number of upgrades from Timon’s personality to the ever-familiar songs performed by today’s recording artists. A humorous tip-of-the-hat nod for Disney’s Beauty and the Beast is so obvious that you cannot miss it. The big question, however, is whether a generation that grew up with the immortal story of the Circle of Life will bring their children along and whether a new generation discovers the wonder and beauty that is The Lion King. If you never saw the original movie, I recommend you check this new rendition out before it leaves the theater.

Library of Congress Needs Your Help

Here is your chance to help the Library of Congress. For a little more than a year Cary O'Dell of the library's National Recording Preservation Board posted scans of photographs that remained unidentified. This is not an uncommon situation among many libraries and museums across the country where photographs are preserved and digitized, but lacked proper identification. 

Cary's idea was to post dozens and dozens of unidentified photographs on the library's blog and ask people to help identify people from the world of film, television and music. They had a success rate of over 50 percent but there still remain a few unidentified. The following two links have some of these photos so take a moment and see if you recognize any of the people in them. Small note, though. Make only suggestions if you are definite. There is no shame in saying you do not recognize anyone but the library really needs 110 percent identification. Guesswork will only add confusion.

https://blogs.loc.gov/now-see-hear/2018/05/who-am-i-part-3-of-3/

https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2018/05/mystery-photos-who-am-i/

Actor Paul McGrath has been identified on the right.
The woman on the left remains unidentified. 

Bill Scott, Forest Ranger

One of the more obscure radio programs of the 1940s is Bill Scott, Forest Ranger. For years I have had four episodes, each 15-minutes in length, and very little was documented to help assist in learning exactly how many episodes were recorded and broadcast, who the cast was, and other information. One thing I was certain of, however, was that I enjoyed listening to them. 

So imagine my surprise when, a few years ago at a recorded sound conference in San Antonio, Texas, a slide show seminar focused on preservation of this obscure Mark Trail-style radio program. The central hero is Ranger Bill, affectionate name of Bill Scott, ranger of the Beaver Dam National Forest. Along with his niece, June Cameron, they meet two boys named Sam Freeman and Joe McGuire who, while employed as dishwashers in a summer logging camp, get lost in the woods, fight a forest fire, and participate in many tense adventures while at the same time educate the listeners on the importance of forestry and forest conservation. 

Produced by the radio staff at WNYE and the Board of Education of the City of New York, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, and state conservation and forestry departments, a total of 16 episodes were recorded for the purpose of syndication.

The program received a special citation at the Tenth School Broadcast Conference on October 28, 1947. The contest judges commended the programs for their effective combination of "exciting" forest drama with practical conservation messages.

The programs were written by Bill Bergoffen of the U.S. Forest Service, produced by many of the student actors in the New York City's School Radio Workshop, under the skillful supervision of Van Rensselaer Brokhahane, production manager for station WNYE. 

Syndication was a means in which the episodes would be duplicated on transcription discs and then sent out to radio stations across the country to air during their convenience. Supposedly premiering over WTAW in Bryan, Texas, in April of 1947, the program was also heard over KWSC in Seattle, Washington in the summer of that year. Initially only six episodes were recorded but it quickly became apparent that the reason so few stations agreed to air the programs was because six episodes were not enough. So a year later an additional ten episodes were recorded including a four-part adventure. This second run began in January 1949 over WEBQ in Harrisburg, Illinois, and Lafayette, Louisiana; WWHG in Hornell, New York and WCMD in Denton, Maryland, in the spring of 1949; WRHP in Tallahassee, Florida in the summer of 1949, and WHA in Madison, Wisconsin; and WABE in Atlanta, Georgia, in autumn of 1949. You get the idea.

Students at Beckley College rehearsing a Bill Scott, Forest Ranger
radio drama at WCFC, circa 1947.

The Texas A&M Forest Service Radio Broadcasts Collection presently features over 27 hours of digitized wildfire prevention radio public service announcements from the late 1940s through the 1950s. The collection, spanning over sixty 16” radio transcription discs, was digitized to commemorate the 100^thanniversary of the Texas A&M Forest Service in 2015.

Now you can listen to all 16 episodes of Bill Scott, Forest Ranger, from the Texas A&M website, along with other intriguing syndicated radio programs including The Singing Woodsman and the Sons of the Pioneers, Tales of Texas and Smokey Visits the Stars. The latter program featured a number of Hollywood celebrities including Clint Walker, Bing Crosby, Dinah Shore, Dale Robertson, Hugh O’Brian, Roy Rogers, Barbara Stanwyck, Broderick Crawford, Ward Bond, James Arness, Danny Thomas, Dick Powell, Raymond Burr, Michael Ansara, Andy Devine, George Montgomery, James Garner and others.

You can visit the website through the link below and listen to all these programs for free. Whether you enjoy country music from the Sons of the Pioneers, stories of the Texas Rangers, children's programs such as Bill Scott, Forest Ranger or simply want to hear a bunch of vintage public service announcements with Hollywood stars (television stars to be exact), there is something for everyone to listen to. 

http://www.vanessaattia.com/TFSbroadcasts/?q=node/3