“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” is already making waves about the brilliance of the movie.
Some are even hailing it as an undeniable masterpiece with incredible performances from both Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio.
And the reviews are officially in for “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ and it looks to be the best movie of the summer – maybe even the year.
Who doesn’t love a good summer movie? Back in 1975, Steven Spielberg invented the summer blockbuster with “Jaws.”
It was the most surprising movie of the summer because not only were there widespread rumors about on-set disasters, like for instance the shark “Bruce” not working, but Spielberg was also way over budget. Those kinds of “mishaps” largely signal towards the making of a terrible movie. Nevertheless, he pulled it off and history was made.
Make a movie about a bloodthirsty shark but then never show him? That wasn’t the original design of the movie. But in the industry there’s a term called “negative space” which can be as narrowly defined as not explaining a part of the plot OR it can be the powerful force of suggestion over actually showing it.
Quentin Tarantino does the powerful force of suggestion really well in “Reservoir Dogs” when Michael Madsen’s character cuts off the ear of rookie cop Marvin Nash over the music of “Stuck in the Middle With You.” You don’t actually see it but it was more brutal to watch that than to actually see him do it.
It’s the same thing with not seeing the shark in “Jaws.”
Speaking of Tarantino, his ninth feature called “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” starring Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, Margot Robbie and Al Pacino is set to hit theaters next week and the first reviews are in.
It’s currently rated as a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes and the consensus with 65 reviews reads, “Thrillingly unrestrained yet solidly crafted, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood tempers Tarantino’s provocative impulses with the clarity of a mature filmmaker’s vision.”
By all accounts, it looks like it’s a buddy comedy with Pitt and DiCaprio finally together for the first time.
Ed Potton of Times UK gave it 5 out of 5 stars and wrote, “This is a retro tour de force inhabiting a fully realised world of popular culture – TV, movies, pop music and yes, pulp fiction.”
Stephanie Zacharek of TIME Magazine, “Pitt and DiCaprio are marvelous together, and though neither are what any of us should call ‘old,’ their faces, once as flawless as airbrushed high-school portraits, have now achieved a more weathered perfection.”
Alejandro G Calvo of SensaCine simply wrote, “An absolute masterpiece.”
That’s just the tip of the iceberg; there are countless glowing reviews.
Here’s the trailer.
One of the most bizarre things about these reviews is that all of them have different interpretations of the nature of the beast. Some call it a buddy comedy. Some say it’s good-natured and endearing. But most agree that it gets incredibly intense in the third act.
Also, Tarantino and everyone involved say this is the closest film in terms of story structure and quality to “Pulp Fiction.” That is enough to get people off the couches and into the theaters.