Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood
It's a full house, as Ashley, Benny, Garret, Matt and Mikaela review the new Quentin Tarantino movie. It's a 1969 nostalgia fest. Is it any good? Listen to our latest podcast and find out!
Criterion: The Blob
It's spooky season, so we're doing a special edition of our Criterion series! Will McKinley joins us to discuss the 1958 version of The Blob .
Ok, I’m impressed with most but not all of Tarantino’s films. I was 18 in 1969. The details of the film capture that time with authenticity. As someone who remembers that time vividly it’s impossible to understand how huge TV westerns were. Also implied in Rick Dalton’s angst is that Hollywood is changing. Westerns are on the way out. Easy Rider was released in 1969. Clint Eastwood is already a cult hero based on his Sergio Leone films a few years before. With no spoilers the Manson family was an twisted offshoot of the LA music scene. Manson does come across Tate because was looking for Terry Melcher, a music producer and son of Doris Day, who sort of agreed with Dennis Wilson of The Beach Boys to produce some demos for Manson. Overall I think it’s the best film Tarantino’s done in a good while.
ReplyDeleteAnd there so many little things that if you weren’t a boomer like me, you’d miss. Also, a cameo roll a great Damien Lewisb as Steve McQueen. McQueen was the guy Rick Dalton wanted to be. He started in a grade B sci Fi series, the Blob; then parlayed that into a Western TV series about a Bounty Hunter, then broke out in Movies with The Great Escape. Lots of guys wanted that. Only Steve McQueen and Burt Reynolds, and of course Clint Eastwood ever did.
Correction: the Blob was a movie, not series. A cheesy throwaway sci-fi aimed at teens. But McQueen brought a campy charisma that made it a cult favorite
ReplyDeleteAgain another feature; soundtrack. It was AM radio in 69 with FM beginning to penetrate. Everyone had the radio turned on in the car. Usually to a big pop station. The music is an dynamic and Central part of the film and at times sets mood and advances the story.
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