Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

In 1969, Hollywood legend Judy Garland died of an accidental barbiturate overdose. With her death and with Midnight Cowboy soon becoming the first X-rated film to win Best Picture, it was the end of the so-called Golden Age of Hollywood and the birth of a new, less innocent era. A new, edgier actor named Al Pacino, who appears in this film as a Hollywood agent, made his debut that same year. And Sharon Tate, the actress and model who was married to Roman Polanski, was murdered (along with her unborn baby and guests) in her home by the Charles Manson gang.

This is the setting for the newest film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. It is quite unlike his previous films. Controversial and a little goofy, sure, but fantastically acted and more or less engaging.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt are the two main stars here, and they are the best part. DiCaprio is Rick Dalton, a fictitious actor going through a bit of a midlife crisis as he realizes he might have peaked and his acting talent might actually be minimal. He's got a slick leather jacket and a cool necklace, but he's a mess, constantly drinking, smoking, and married to the idea that he's a has-been. Pitt is Cliff Booth, his stunt double who these days essentially makes his living by driving Dalton around and taking care of his other errands. While they live in different economic worlds, they rely on each other and have tremendous loyalty. Their stories essentially split into two as Dalton goes to film a guest appearance on a pilot as the heavy opposite real-life James Stacey, who is played here by Timothy Olyphant. In this sequence, which some might find superfluous, DiCaprio screams, weeps, and seems to be having as much fun as he ever has had as an actor.

While Rick is busy filming, his old buddy Cliff is roaming around the streets of Hollywood, where he runs across a young cohort of followers of the real-lie Charles Manson, who appears briefly here stumbling on Polanski's property. (Manson is played by Australian actor Damon Herriman.) This real-life event--the murders at the hands of the Manson Gang--looms large over the entire story, though the film itself is essentially Tarantino's love letter to the movie business.

One undeniably positive aspect of Once Upon A Time in Hollywood is the cast. DiCaprio and Pitt are fantastic together. They both essentially came of cinematic age around the same time, and it's nice that they work so well together. Accents are not DiCaprio's strong suit, but it doesn't matter. His work here is among his finest. Robbie hits all the right notes as Tate, although there has been considerable criticism about her lack of screen time and how much she is given to do. The appearances of veterans like Pacino, Bruce Dern, and Kurt Russell are also enjoyable. But the breakout star is Mike Moh, who portrays Bruce Lee. Lee is rather braggadocios on set, and Cliff, who finally gets some work as a stunt man on the set, is not impressed in the slightest. A fight breaks out between the two, and it's one of the best parts of the film. (It should be noted, however, that Lee's daughter has strongly objected to the way her father was portrayed.)

Other conflicts appear throughout, particularly in what is likely its most notable (and perhaps controversial) scene. It shoots out of nowhere and feels like Tarantino being Tarantino but for all the wrong reasons. But it is Tanatino, and it's also a fairy tale, one that drags on too long. It's his first post-Weinstein film, and part of the deal he negotiated with Sony was to have final cut over the finished product. That was unfortunate, because a lot of what's included has no place being there. We've seen a lot of this stuff before from this director; do we really need to see it all again?

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Deadwood: The Movie

"Welcome to fucking Deadwood."
-Al Swearengen

Calamity Jane is as drunk as ever, missing her lover and still idolizing Wild Bill Hickock, the legendary cowboy shot and killed in the first season of HBO's Deadwood. Jane is so intoxicated that it is rather difficult to comprehend anything in her series of unusual inaudibility. According to series creator David Milch, Jane was a historical figure known for being too offensive, even for the men of the famous camp. In the film, as she mumbles on about Bill, that almost uncanny yet undeniably pleasant tune from a long-ago cancelled series begins. We're back in Deadwood, a town of saloons, muddy roads, and hungry pigs.

HBO has a long list of iconic shows, some more divisive than others, to be sure. But for about three decades, they have been a powerhouse of television art. Ask someone to name an HBO show, and surely you will hear The Sopranos, The Wire, Sex and the City, Game of Thrones, Girls, and Boardwalk Empire, among others. But Deadwood, which first aired in 2004, was abruptly cancelled after three seasons. Despite fans' hopes, the show's return never materialized. "Deadwood is dead," actor Ian McShane told Jon Stewart in 2006. It was dead, that is, until now in the form of a nearly two-hour made-for-television film to update audiences on the (at times) appalling characters of the show.

It's 1889, and South Dakota is celebrating statehood. The celebration includes the lawless town of Deadwood, the real-life mining camp of the 19th century. One by one, familiar characters walk back onto the screen, most of them rather unostentaciously. They're all grayer and greyer, as it were. An unmistakable example of the former is Doc Cochran, played by Brad Dourif in one of his best roles. His hair is now completely white. Of the former, there is McShane as Al Swearengen (himself a real-life figure), the saloon owner with terrible disposition and a pin-striped suit, now suffering from years of abusing his body with too much alcohol. The back and forth between Doc and Al during the medical examination if full of archaic language that Milch strives to resurrect from the past. It can be quite challenging to follow at times, so pay close attention and bring your dictionary. It's like Shakespeare but with the word "cocksucker" muttered every paragraph.

It's kind of remarkable that HBO was able to reunite nearly the entire ensemble, but most of them are here, including Anna Gunn, Molly Parker, Dayton Callie, John Hawkes, Paula Malcolmson, Robin Weigert as Calamity Jane, Jeffrey Jones, Keone Young, and others. My favorite is William Sanderson as E.B. Farnum, the scheming yet honest hotel manager and titular mayor of the town. E.B. must have moved up at least slightly in the world by 1889, and yet he's still costumed, well, modestly, to say the least. He has a humorous scene attempting to use a public telephone, whispering asides to himself about how he must act while switching to a thespian's projection of his voice to the "person" in the telephone box. Also returning to Deadwood for the celebration is George Hearst (Gerald McRaney), the real-life figure who at this point in the story is a U.S. senator (and father of William Randolph). His antagonist, Sheriff Seth Bullock (yet another figure from history and played by Timothy Olyphant), is there to make sure Hearst doesn't make too much trouble. Bullock still more or less has that cool strut, the one in which his arms are still and legs barely seem to move. He's a family man now, and an older one.

The film's story features essentially low stakes. Hearst wants to buy land belonging to Charlie Utter (Callie). Utter declines. And that's about it. Unfortunately for Hearst, everyone in town seems to hate him, with some wanting revenge for his past actions. They'll team up against him, and that includes the unique alliance between Bullock and Swearengen, who at one time had much more animosity towards each other.

For me, I was never quite as in love with Deadwood the series as much as everyone else was. I thought the first season was mostly fine, but I simply couldn't get past the first half of the second season. Fortunately for me, there are numerous flashback scenes from the show sprinkled about, bringing me up to speed. Deadwood the movie is very much like the show: quite interesting at first but requiring more and more patience as it moves along. There is certainly a lot more talking than your average Western, but that helps make it unique. The acting, though, is top notch, particularly Olyphant and McShane. The film itself is what it is, but that's probably what the fans want, providing as much closure as they will likely ever get.

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