It’s the biggest movie festival in the world and it’s located in Cannes, France. It’s the most coveted, hardest festival for a filmmaker to get their movie accepted for viewing during those two weeks.
The last time Quentin Tarantino went to Cannes was exactly twenty five years ago when “Pulp Fiction” first premiered to the world.
And you’re gonna want to see the first reactions when “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” premiered at Cannes on Tuesday night in France.
The movie stars Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, Margot Robbie, Al Pacino, Kurt Russell and Timothy Olyphant. Oh, and don’t forget Luke Perry also stars and this was the last movie he made before his unfortunate untimely death in early March when he suffered from a massive stroke.
One of the biggest signs that any movie is likely going to be great is when the studio decides to move up the release date. Conversely, if you see a studio push back a release date, it usually signifies the movie needs massive reshoots or re-editing.
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” was slated for an August release but Sony decisively moved it up to compete in arguably the toughest movie month of the year, July. That’s a good sign.
On Tuesday morning, Sony released the “official trailer” – they had already released a teaser trailer about two months ago – and this was coordination with the Cannes premiere of the movie.
Quentin Tarantino’s 9th film received a seven minute standing ovation following the premiere and critics were over the moon about it.
Freelance critic Jason Gorber tweeted, “ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD – Historically dubious, thematically brilliant, QT finds his form in film that could win Palme d’Or or be picketed by audiences, or maybe both. Thrilling, provocative, blackly comical, intensely unsettling masterwork.”
Chief film critic for the National Post wrote, “I laughed. I gasped. I wondered: What would Roman Polanski think? I begrudgingly agreed not to tweet out spoilers. Tarantino delivers an ode to Hollywood’s lost innocence, while cheekily suggesting it never had any to begin with.”
If you’re not familiar with the historical timeline; when Charles Manson’s posse murdered Sharon Tate and four of her friends, Roman Polanski was dating her and they were expecting a child in a few weeks. Polanski infamously fled the United States after he was convicted of statutory rape of a minor in the 1970’s.
Entertainment staff writer at Thrillist simply wrote, “I reeeeally liked ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD.”
Editor of Deadline, Joe Utichi, wrote, “Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood is so gloriously, wickedly indulgent, compelling and hilarious. The film QT was born to make. The world is a more colourful place in Quentin Tarantino’s twilight zone. Round two, please.”
A few needed to let it marinate before they came to an ultimate conclusion.
Kyle Buchanan of the New York Times tweeted, “There will be many, many hot takes to come on the new Tarantino but I don’t mind letting mine cool off on the counter a little longer. I know it’s more relaxed than I was expecting, and that DiCaprio is terrific, funny and poignant. The rest, I’m gonna mull over.”
And Alex Billington of FirstShowing.net wrote, “To be completely honest I’m not yet sure what to make of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Need to let this one marinate, don’t have an instant reaction. Most of the film is pretty good, I’m having fun watching them play around in late 60s Hollywood. Then the finale is HOLY F–K.”
The consensus seems to be Pitt, DiCaprio and Robbie are all amazing and the third act is funny, moving, touching and intense. That seems like an odd combination but all of them seem to agree. They also think this is his best work since at least “Inglorious Bastards” and maybe since “Pulp Fiction.”