Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: Exploring Tarantino’s return
PARIS (BBC): Lights, camera, action! The first reviews are in for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, the latest movie from director Quentin Tarantino, following its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival yesterday.
The filmmaker’s ninth effort, a typically flamboyant take on 1969 Tinseltown prior to the Manson murders, has so far received glowing praise from critics, with The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw deeming it “entirely outrageous, disorientating, irresponsible, and also brilliant”.
It has also drawn comparisons to Tarantino’s 90s pop culture landmark Pulp Fiction, 25 years on from its release at the festival.
Here are six talking points from the reviews and its latest trailer, dropped amid the glitz and glamour of the film’s debut screening. The pairing of two of Hollywood’s most high-profile leading men appears to be an inspired partnership.
Rick Dalton, played by DiCaprio, is a failing cowboy actor and alcoholic, whose best friend, Cliff Boon - a long-time stunt double - is brought to life by Brad Pitt. Together the pair are said to deliver “killer” performances, “dripping with self irony and pleasurable chemistry” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“It’s hard not to think back to the energy of the previous best pairing in a Tarantino film, John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction,” added Time Out. As a “spectacularly detailed nostalgic splatter collage of a film” paying homage to the lost era of Hollywood, a number of famed movie industry names are dramatised on the silver screen.
Rafal Zawierucha plays director Roman Polanski, while Margot Robbie dominates as his wife Sharon Tate, in the months prior to her tragic murder by the Manson family. Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, a Manson disciple who later tried to assassinate US President Gerald Ford - Dakota Fanning.
Prior to the film’s release, speculation mounted that the film would revolve around the murderous impact of cult leader Charles Manson upon Hollywood. In 1969, his followers, known as the Manson Family, killed nine people, including the heavily pregnant Tate, while Polanski was filming abroad.
One of Manson’s young followers, Susan Atkins, stabbed the actress to death and scrawled “PIG” on the home’s front door with her blood. The murders sent shock waves through the US film industry and has traditionally been credited with bringing a bloody end to the 60s counterculture free love generation.
Lamar Odom would ‘love to be with’ Khloe Kardashian
NEW YORK (GN): Lamar Odom would still ‘’love to be with’’ ex-wife Khloe Kardashian, despite having been unfaithful to her throughout their marriage. The former NBA player was married to the ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians’ star from 2009 until 2016, and despite having been unfaithful to her several times throughout their marriage, sources have said he’d still like to rekindle their romance. An insider said: ‘’Lamar would still love to be with Khloé. There’s no beef between [them] at this time. He’s always had love for her and her family.’’ Lamar, 39, is set to talk about his relationship with Khloe in his new memoir ‘Darkness To Light’, which hits shelves on May 28, and sources claim Khloe is yet to read a copy of the tome. Speaking to Us Weekly magazine, one source added: ‘’He’ll talk about their relationship in the book, his regrets, the highs and the really lows. [Khloe] hasn’t read the book.’’ The comments come after Khloe, 34, recently said there is ‘’no bad blood’’ between her and Lamar, and she still thinks he’s an ‘’incredible person’’. She said: ‘’We speak every now and then. There’s no issues. There’s no bad blood. There’s no anything. ‘’It just didn’t work out and I think he’s an incredible person and I just want the best for him. But there’s no negative anything.’’
However, it may be a while before Khloe is ready to give it another shot with Lamar, as she recently said she’s sworn off dating for a while following her split from Tristan Thompson - with whom she has 13-month-old daughter True - after he allegedly locked lips with Jordyn Woods.
Asked if she’d put herself on any dating websites or apps, she said: ‘’No, I’m not on anything. I don’t care to be. I’m so in love in True, and being with her, and enjoying every moment.
‘’I know that probably sounds like the typical answer but I’m working. I’m working on myself - mind, body, soul, that other cliche.
‘’I’m just happy and I want to filter through whatever I feel like I need to filter through, but my focus right now is True. I don’t feel a sense of urgency to be in a relationship, or even to go on a date. I don’t want to.’’