Don't know where to begin. The writing / directing were excellent. Di Caprio and Pitt were dynamic when they had to be and believable.
Loved how QT framed this story...and used his Inglorious Bastards as a template.
But I guess if you're of a certain age, roughly 60+, or if you grew up with hippie parents, experienced any of the hippy trips, colors, sounds....this movie is for you. QT captures the feel, the vivid colors and feel of the times...and it's a flashback!
In my case, I had just graduated from RU in 1968 and headed out west to CA where I was going to grad school and pursing a hot blonde from San Jose who lived in 1967-68 in East Brunswick. Though I knew there the odds were against me (she had a boyfriend who she married in 1969) I went for it ..,
After losing the girl, I wound up in a blues band … G'd Only Knows headed by Boogie Bruce Engelhardt - whose best friend was Barry Melton (the Fish) from Country Joe and the Fish. Barry played Woodstock in 1969. August 1969. The month before the US put men on the moon. The war in Viet Nam was still raging..
Against that my group had an offer to open for Deep Purple...but we turned it down because we believed we should receive more $, PR ...who knows (bad decision). Regardless this digression brings me to Crazy Richard our blues harp player. Richard was bright (went on to get a Ph.D. from Claremont)...but nuts. He often spoke it lyrics from Dylan...
One day in 1969 he confided in me that he was "on the lamb". "From what"? I asked. "Manson"!
He lived on the Spahn ranch with Manson and the family for a while. Apparently Manson wanted Richard's truck and he refused. So he left. Then a couple of months later (still before August 1969) Richard penned an article under an pseudonym for Argosy (a men's adventure magazine) that detailed the underbelly of the beast.
Fade out. Fade in: to 2012. I contacted the hot blonde again...we connected and we've been together ever since. I made contact with Barry the Fish Melton, when our common friend Bruce passed away. Barry told me that he had actually been in a movie "Zachariah: The First Electric Western" that was shot on Spahn Ranch a couple of years after Manson.
In 2013, I contacted Crazy Richard, who was now a guru living in Marina Del Rey (upscale area on the water in SW LA area) and set up a jam. My son was there as was Connie (the blonde)...and we jammed on blues from Brights Lights Big City to Stormy Monday. Richard acted strange, anxious, unnerved and seemed disassociated from reality at times. So we took a break and went to a Chinese restaurant in Los Alamitos. He was still jittery. Too much acid ...not enough Rock N Roll.
Whatever those were the last times I heard from or contacted Barry, Richard. Couldn't attend Bruce's funeral...though I was asked if I wanted to come up (Santa Cruz) and perform.
The movie stirred a lot up in me. I can't tell you all the thoughts were good or great...but the movie resonated with me and is still "humming". To quote Jacqueline Suzanne Once Upon A Time in Hollywood...is not enough. See it...and then watch it again. There's a lot of detail that will open your eyes and feed your soul...if you're of a certain age or background. If not, think of it as a vacation from the Corona Virus isolation to a another troubled time.
MO
Loved how QT framed this story...and used his Inglorious Bastards as a template.
But I guess if you're of a certain age, roughly 60+, or if you grew up with hippie parents, experienced any of the hippy trips, colors, sounds....this movie is for you. QT captures the feel, the vivid colors and feel of the times...and it's a flashback!
In my case, I had just graduated from RU in 1968 and headed out west to CA where I was going to grad school and pursing a hot blonde from San Jose who lived in 1967-68 in East Brunswick. Though I knew there the odds were against me (she had a boyfriend who she married in 1969) I went for it ..,
After losing the girl, I wound up in a blues band … G'd Only Knows headed by Boogie Bruce Engelhardt - whose best friend was Barry Melton (the Fish) from Country Joe and the Fish. Barry played Woodstock in 1969. August 1969. The month before the US put men on the moon. The war in Viet Nam was still raging..
Against that my group had an offer to open for Deep Purple...but we turned it down because we believed we should receive more $, PR ...who knows (bad decision). Regardless this digression brings me to Crazy Richard our blues harp player. Richard was bright (went on to get a Ph.D. from Claremont)...but nuts. He often spoke it lyrics from Dylan...
One day in 1969 he confided in me that he was "on the lamb". "From what"? I asked. "Manson"!
He lived on the Spahn ranch with Manson and the family for a while. Apparently Manson wanted Richard's truck and he refused. So he left. Then a couple of months later (still before August 1969) Richard penned an article under an pseudonym for Argosy (a men's adventure magazine) that detailed the underbelly of the beast.
Fade out. Fade in: to 2012. I contacted the hot blonde again...we connected and we've been together ever since. I made contact with Barry the Fish Melton, when our common friend Bruce passed away. Barry told me that he had actually been in a movie "Zachariah: The First Electric Western" that was shot on Spahn Ranch a couple of years after Manson.
In 2013, I contacted Crazy Richard, who was now a guru living in Marina Del Rey (upscale area on the water in SW LA area) and set up a jam. My son was there as was Connie (the blonde)...and we jammed on blues from Brights Lights Big City to Stormy Monday. Richard acted strange, anxious, unnerved and seemed disassociated from reality at times. So we took a break and went to a Chinese restaurant in Los Alamitos. He was still jittery. Too much acid ...not enough Rock N Roll.
Whatever those were the last times I heard from or contacted Barry, Richard. Couldn't attend Bruce's funeral...though I was asked if I wanted to come up (Santa Cruz) and perform.
The movie stirred a lot up in me. I can't tell you all the thoughts were good or great...but the movie resonated with me and is still "humming". To quote Jacqueline Suzanne Once Upon A Time in Hollywood...is not enough. See it...and then watch it again. There's a lot of detail that will open your eyes and feed your soul...if you're of a certain age or background. If not, think of it as a vacation from the Corona Virus isolation to a another troubled time.
MO
