#DAMON HERRIMAN WHERE ARE YOU!!!

[chadillacboseman]

I just saw a picture of Timothee Ch*lamet and genuinely found him attractive for about 4 seconds before the horror of that realization set in. This is how I know I'm on the brink of losing my marbles.

[strictlyfavorites]

Quentin Tarantino, Brad Pitt, and Leonardo DiCaprio Take You Inside 'Once Upon a Time…In Hollywood'

Tarantino - “This film is the closest thing I’ve done to Pulp Fiction.” What that means in tone and feel, I can’t reveal. But what that means in terms of structure is this: Think multiple characters (some real, some imagined) and story lines that are seemingly unrelated . . . until they are not. Until they intersect and intertwine in surprising ways.

The story, in short—and without giving away too much—goes like this: It’s 1969, a year of tremendous upheaval, not just in America’s streets but also on the backlots of Hollywood. The Golden Age is ending. The original studio system, which has been a source of stability and structure for fifty years, is collapsing as the under-thirty counterculture rejects traditional plotlines and traditional leading men. It’s the year Easy Rider and Midnight Cowboy and The Wild Bunch break big—films that celebrate the antihero and upend the definition of what a matinee idol looks like. It’s against this background that we meet Rick Dalton (DiCaprio), a declining star and a veteran of TV westerns. Rick has, through a combination of ego and dumb decisions, blown his chance to cross over into movie stardom like Steve McQueen (Damian Lewis). About the only thing he can count on is the friendship of his longtime stunt double, Cliff Booth (Pitt). (Meanwhile, Rick’s agent, played by Al Pacino, is trying to get him to do a spaghetti western.)

Then, one night, Rick realizes he might just be one pool party away from turning his career around. His new neighbors, it turns out, are the golden girl of the moment, Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie), and her husband, Roman Polanski (Rafal Zawierucha), who is, thanks to Rosemary’s Baby, the hottest director in town. The stories of Rick, Cliff, and Tate unfold over three days or, as Tarantino says, in three acts: February 8, February 9, and, finally, August 8—the night when Charles Manson (Damon Herriman) dispatched four members of his “Family” to the house next to Rick’s on Cielo Drive in Beverly Hills, where they found Tate, hairdresser Jay Sebring (Emile Hirsch), and three others. It was the night when, as Joan Didion famously wrote, “the sixties ended abruptly . . . the tension broke . . . the paranoia was fulfilled.” Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood is a film that vibrates with ambition, with the entire cast performing at the height of their talent, inside a brilliant story.

It’s also a film that almost never got made. Mostly because Tarantino spent five years writing it as a novel before “I let it become what it wanted to become,” he says. “For a long time, I didn’t want to accept it. Then I did.”

[mourntomidnight]

hey! i know we like never talk but i just wanna say i think you're really cool and i love how we have this silent camaraderie through our mutual love of damon herriman. i mean, we have other interests in common but nothing is stronger than the love for that Old Man, lol. so yeah, thank you for being you!! 😁💚

No prob bestie actually I talk to Damon frequently on Facebook and insta and I’m always sending him Beatles related reels on the latter because they’re his fav band among other things I send him and I love talking to him because he’s so nice to me and I just view him as a lil baby boi. There were a lil bit of moments where he was being kinda flirty via being super chatty whenever I sent him selfies especially when I was all gothy. His users on fb is Hamon Derriman and Damonherriman on insta just fyi if you wanna try to talk to him too.

[sketchy-rosewitch]

Bruh cause tell me why Brian Van Holt and Damon Herriman are hung asf

You wanna have sex with any of the Sinclair brothers and you’re done for. DONE FOR

I’m pissed I can’t find this gif of Damon in another show or movie where he’s showering or some shit, butt ass naked, you can see the shadow of his dick. anyways hung asf too.

[crumb]

If you want to watch 100 Bloody Acres but aren’t sure where, check out JustWatch! You can also change the country if you’re not in the US.

If you are in the US you can watch it for free on Tubi and Plex. And if you have a library card you can sign up for Kanopy for free and have access to a bunch of films including 100 Bloody Acres.

If you’re not sure what 100 Bloody Acres is—it’s an Australian Horror Comedy starring Damon Herriman (Lester in House of Wax) and Angus Sampson (Tucker in Insidious).

[f1nalboys]

Fic authors self-rec! ✨ When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you’ve written, then pass on to at least five other writers.

bex u sent me this so long ago and im sorry but im answering now >:))) THIS IS HONESTLY SO TOUGH!!!! ive written a lot of stuff ive never posted (both self insert stuff as well as original stuff) and lots of those would make this list but, for the sake of this, ill be keeping it to just what ive posted on here!!!

ONE: its gonna have to be my first ever fic on this acc!!! its a stu x short!reader request and its not the best written thing but its what got me actually posting on this account instead of just reblogging stuff!!!! ive made some incredible friends since joining this fandom and :,)))) just nice to look back on it hehe

TWO: both of my car sex fics with ian (one and two)!!! first full length fic of him (and ur request no less!!!!!) and GOSH i just,,, love him? its a very him fic and scenario, u know?

THREE: the REAL number one fic is my ghostface!randy and ghostface!reader fic, Together? that is still in need of a part two! this was really the first 'dark' fic i wrote and being able to do that with my guy randy was so much fun! i think the dynamic between randy and the reader, seeing how fucked up and codependent it is, writing the nasty shit they got up too... chefs kiss fr!!!! part two needs to be written and someone has to bully me into it

FOUR: my self insert bo fic, flower fields! it means oh so much to me honestly, way more than anyone knows hehe. it was very healing to write just... a nice and good loving time? with this icky guy? and its def ooc but idc!!! hes my little butterfly ur honor

FIVE: COSTUME, MY ONE AND ONLY (full length) MICKEY FIC! again, dark and fucked up and oh so much fun to write!!!! he is my yucky icky princess >:3

BONUS NUMBER SIX AND SEVEN BC I CAN'T CHOSEEEEE: redamancy (my michael from tlb x reader fake dating fic that will be finsihed one day i swear) and simple pleasures (my randy meeks x billys gf!reader fic >:) hehe) are ym babies, my children, my long term fics that haunt me everyday! some of the chapters in these fics r my masterpieces fr

BONUS NUMBER EIGHT BECAUSE I CAN'T CONTROL MYSELF AND NO ONE CAN TELL ME WHAT TO DO: memory, my little sinclair bros childhood fic! this was at the height of my rewatch era the other week where i watched it all day everyday! their childhood is so interesting to me and writing this, a small and a seemingly not important moment in their lives was sooooo much fun!!! also fun fact, as i wrote this i was overwhelmed w love for the movie and messaged both brian van holt and damon herriman on insta just thanking them for their roles and for putting on a great preformance and giving us stuff to work with and,,,,??? they both answered and thanked me??? idk still mind blowing fr hehe

[simplylove101]

2023 Horror Challenge: [22/?]

↳“Can people come back?"

"Come back from where?"

"From where they go when they die.“ Run Rabbit Run (2023) dir. Daina Reid

Plot: After noticing the strange behavior of her young daughter,  a fertility doctor who believes firmly in life and death must must challenge her own values and confront a ghost from her past

Starring: Sarah Snook, Lily LaTorre, Damon Herriman & Greta Scacchi

Oh Sarah Snook, you love a confusing little horror movie, don't you? lol Almost 10 years after Jessabelle, she chose to return to the genre and honestly, she really suits being a scream queen. But then she's really that great that I encourage her to do all the genres. lol I wanted to like this for her but it does feel like a just okay merge of better movies that we've seen before. And the twist doesn't make much sense for me to fully buy it tbh. It just feels like a waste of talent. Oh well, I tried.

[brokehorrorfan]

Writer-director Quentin Tarantino has authored a novelization of his movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. It will be published in mass market paperback, e-book, audiobook, and audio CD on June 29 via Harper Perennial. A hardcover edition will follow in the fall.

Expanding the story told in the Academy Award-winning 2019 film, the 400-page novel tracks four principal characters both before and after the events of the film: Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio), Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie), and Charles Manson (Damon Herriman).

Tarantino’s debut novel is the first in a two-book deal with HarperCollins. The second, a non-fiction deep dive into 1970s movies titled Cinema Speculation, will be released at a later date.

Read the synopsis for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: A Novel below, where you’ll also find a statement from Tarantino.

In Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino recreates the glamorous and gritty heyday of late ’60s Hollywood in the weeks leading up to one of the most shocking crimes in modern American history. Revisiting and expanding the story told on film, Tarantino’s novel is full of the unusual twists and turns that are a hallmark of his acclaimed storytelling. The story tracks four principal characters both before and after the events of the film:

RICK DALTON – Once he had his own TV series, but now Rick’s a washed-up villain-of-the week drowning his sorrows in whiskey sours. Will a phone call from Rome save his fate or seal it?

CLIFF BOOTH – Rick’s stunt double, and the most infamous man on any movie set because he’s the only one there who might have gotten away with murder...

SHARON TATE – She left Texas to chase a movie-star dream, and found it. Sharon’s salad days are now spent on Cielo Drive, high in the Hollywood Hills.

CHARLES MANSON – The ex-con’s got a bunch of zonked-out hippies thinking he’s their spiritual leader, but he’d trade it all to be a rock ‘n’ roll star.

HOLLYWOOD 1969 – You shouda been there.

Tarantino’s statement:

In the seventies movie novelizations were the first adult books I grew up reading. And to this day I have a tremendous amount of affection for the genre. So as a movie-novelization aficionado, I’m proud to announce Once Upon A Time In Hollywood my contribution to this often marginalized, yet beloved sub-genre in literature. I’m also thrilled to further explore my characters and their world in a literary endeavor that can (hopefully) sit alongside its cinematic counterpart.

Pre-order Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: A Novel in paperback, e-book, audiobook, or audio CD from Amazon.

[moon-of-desire]

A compliment

your Damon Herriman content is top tier and making me want to watch 100 Bloody Acres

maybe I will

eventually

A story

ok, so. my sister is like two inch taller than me, usually wear make-up, and people tend to think she's the older one.

so we once went to a theme park that does Halloween themed/spooky stuff in October/November, has haunted attractions and people walking around in costumes - but some attractions are age restricted (I think just 16+ and 18+).

in the year my sister had turned 16, and I had more or less just turned 18, we went to one of those haunted house/maze thingiea my sister hadn't been able to go in before. and my dad, his gf, my mum, and my sister were just waved through - only I was asked to show my ID.

Why you follow me

I think... either I saw you in the ask on another blog, or because of the askthesinclairs one? anyway, it initially was the Sinclair stuff but you're also just very lovely and I feel like we just vibe

A cute message

you're literally just so sweet, and I loved seeing how excited and happy you got about BvH's wedding. just, the ability to get that much joy out of other people's happy moments is so beautiful, 10/10 can relate.

One thing you want to tell me

I really want for you to maybe possible one day get the chance to meet Damon cause I think you deserve it (if you'd want that at least)

One thing you want to know about me

what is your opinion of the number 27? 🤔

Aww sweetheart <3

Well for 100 Bloody Acres, you should watch it its a horror/comedy movie and it's actually a pretty funny movie. i mean the last girl survives by doing what we'd do on tumblr.

And ohgod the looking small/young and being ID'ed all the time. Fun fact when I was 23 at my first internship ( 2 years ago) Covid happend and everyone under 18 had lesser restrictions. All my coworkers where 17 so they told me, Nah Demetria say ur 15/16 U can pass. And your damn right people did believe I was 16... However it was akward because alot of dads where nasty.

And I followed you because you where one of the rare Vincent lovers blogs <3 And aww yes I was so happy for Brian because it shows a message that the right love doesn't have to come at the start of your life.

My goodness, I'm in tears it's so sweet that you hope I get to meet Damon one day. I hope that too because it would be an absolute dream come true for me <3.

Hmm 27? I pefer 28 because its easier to divide.

[the-celluloid-correspondent]

Mindhunter (Season 2)

Set in the late 70s, two FBI agents are tasked with interviewing serial killers to understand their mind and to apply it to open cases.

Season 2 of Mindhunter kicks up right where we left off in the previous season. We continue to see the growth of the Behavior Science Unit as they get to interview more serial killers and apply what they learn to active cases. It is almost a curse with Netflix shows that when they get a second season the quality of the season drops drastically. Thankfully in the second season of Mindhunter that is not the case. Mindhunter season two is able to keep up the quality that was set in the previous season.

Again in the second season, I was fascinated by the events that were unfolding in the series. Every interview with each serial killer was fascinated and unique. You were never bored with these interviews and it never felt repetitive which many shows have problems with. The interview with Charles Manson was easily my favorite this season. The chaos that is Manson is fascinating to watch and Mindhunter captures it perfectly.

The directing and the writing present in this season is a masterclass. No scene felt out of place or off. Each scene perfectly flowed into the next. None of the subplots feel thrown away except for one. As in the first season, the romantic subplot feels out of place because it both starts and ends in the same season and it does not add anything. The writing is again marvelous as always. Each character feels unique and fascinating, especially with the serial killers. All of our characters developed and are pushed out of their comfort zones. The character development in this show is better handled than in most movies nowadays.

The fantastic writing came with some fantastic acting. Johnathan Groff, Holt McCallany, and Anna Torv return again for the second season and their performances are excellent. However, I am going to focus on the other performances that really stood out to me. Damon Herriman as Charles Manson steals the show in episode 5. He masterfully portrays the chaos that is Manson. You never know what he is going to say next and it is a spectacle to watch. I would say that Herriman's performance was my personal favorite this year. Albert Jones as Jim Barney was another performance that I truly loved. I hope that in future seasons we will see Jones again.

The cinematography and the score are again excellent. Another aspect with this shows that does not get enough praise is the editing. This show easily has some of the best editing that I've seen on television. It never feels jolting or distracting instead it immerses you further in the story. I guess I would say my only complaint with this season is that the show drags a bit in the middle of the season. Lastly, like the first season, the romantic subplot does not add to the story and feels out of place. Other than that I would say that this season is again excellent. Netflix please give this show another season. This is a show that has the potential for multiple seasons and I would like to see more.

I am giving Mindhunter (Season 2) an A.

[slasherrabbitmadness]

ALSO i can’t forget about the fic where the reader and lester getting it on and bo watching through the window! i requested that one too!!!! i actually think i requested a lot of lester stuff cuz he is just so underrated! i’ve actually requested a LOT of stuff for the sinclair and you did not disappoint one bit 😤 i still reread the stuff too, like if someone i follow reblogs it i’ll just reread it again cuz why not?

Nonnie, that was you?

I liked writing that one too but got bummed cause not many others liked it :( Glad you liked it.

I loved the request btw because I am a sucker for voyeurism.

Any fic where the dude is being a creep like that is prime!

Also... Anything with Bo and a Mysonginy kink really gets me going! But alas I don't think many others would enjoy it :/

Oh yeah and Bo with the reader and he tells her "Take the clothes off, but leave the heels on." 🥵

I have an idea for that one. Probably the reader leaving an awful party and runs into Bo and she's lonely enough to hook up with him lol

Thanks for requesting Lester stuff! He's a cutie and I think it helps I adore Damon Herriman (Lester's actor) so much.

Thanks for rereading my stuff, anon! Glad it can bring repeated joy!

[letterboxd]

Quarantine Rentals.

Ten indie films you can rent right now, as recommended by Letterboxd members.

Sure, Scoob!. Yes, Extraction. The Wrong Missy, okay. On the other hand, there are plenty of interesting indie films available for VOD and virtual screenings right now that haven’t necessarily had the benefit of studio backing, big stars, film festivals, red carpets or other ‘normal-circumstances’ coverage to build word-of-mouth.

So, because these are abnormal circumstances, we sent our West Coast editor Dominic Corry on a hunt through your recent reviews to find ten under-seen but enthusiastically received indies that you can rent today.

Thanks to our partnership with JustWatch, you can find availability details on each film’s Letterboxd page—and Dominic has also helpfully provided further links to make it that much easier to support these indie films.

Powerbomb Directed by R. Zachary Shildwachter and B.J. Colangelo

Starring Matt Capiccioni (better known Matt Cross, or M-Dogg 20, or Son of Havoc) as an up-and-coming wrestling star, and Wes Allen as the obsessive fan who kidnaps him, Powerbomb is “The King of Comedy set in the indie wrestling scene, which is a cool fucking concept if nothing else,” according to Dustin Baker. “Luckily, there’s some witty writing and good performances to back up that concept to create something that’s surprisingly a lot of fun.”

Don’t worry if you know nothing about wrestling, writes Justin Nordell: “As someone who has zero reference point for wrestling, this film not only made it accessible but enthralling!”

A guide to where you can watch Powerbomb can be found on the film’s website.

Arkansas Directed by Clark Duke

Quietly ubiquitous comedic actor Clark Duke (Kick-Ass, Hot Tub Time Machine) directed and co-wrote this neo-noir in which he stars alongside such high-profile talent as Vince Vaughn, John Malkovich and Liam Hemsworth. Everyone agrees that the film wears its influences on its sleeve. Chainsaw Massacre “loved nearly every minute of this deliberately paced descendant of Tarantino and the Coen brothers. [But] comparing it to those […] filmmakers does it a disservice though, because, while you can feel their influence, first-time director Clark Duke does have his own distinct style”.

While noting that it marks another interesting performance in Vaughn’s recent emergence as a worthy cinematic lowlife, Tummis would also “like to point out that Liam Hemsworth was great in this”.

Arkansas is available via various digital outlets, as indicated on its official website.

What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael Directed by Rob Garver

Before the Letterboxd era, film criticism was a much more exclusive realm, and no one critic loomed larger in that realm than The New Yorker’s Pauline Kael—so iconic that true cineastes of her time referred to her simply by her first name. So it behooves you, good Letterboxd member, to familiarize yourself with this master of the form via this new documentary.

In a review that feels like it could apply to any number of Letterboxd members, kmarus says “From what I’ve encountered of her criticism, Kael and I disagree on a lot of things, but one thing that is readily apparent to anyone who reads her writing is that she genuinely cares about movies”.

Letterboxd’s London correspondent (and professional critic) Ella Kemp felt personally validated watching the film. “It’s magic, she’s magic, this is why we needed her and why we always need movies, and why I want to keep talking about them. It’s nice if you read me, if you like me or if you agree with me—but even if you don’t, I know I’ll be sticking around for a while anyway. I’m nowhere near done yet.”

You can rent the film here.

Slay The Dragon Directed by Barak Goodman and Chris Durrance

The insidious and nebulous practice of gerrymandering is the focus of this acclaimed documentary. As member Andrew Chrzanowski ominously intones, the film is “never more timely than right here and right now” and “demands you to watch, so you may witness in a comprehensive and detailed way the metastasis of the most malignant cancer on our democracy: gerrymandered districts and redrawn borders by Republicans, especially after the 2010 elections”.

Guyatthemovies says the film “does a phenomenal job of taking a topic that may seem confusing for most who are not familiar and breaking it down to simplistic terms, explaining the impact of gerrymandering [through] well-known examples” and that “this is a must-watch for anyone concerned about the state of politics today”.

You can support your favorite theater by renting the film here.

Judy & Punch Directed by Mirrah Foulkes

Mia Wasikovska and Damon Herriman, two of the more interesting Australian actors working in film today, and each possessed of a fantastically cinematic face, star in this one-of-a-kind film as a couple operating a marionette show in a town about to bubble over with tension. Like the classic puppet characters that title the film, they come to blows.

The film is the feature-directing debut of Aussie actor and filmmaker Mirrah Foulkes, and Letterboxd member CJ Johnson says she “announces herself as a feature auteur of serious talent and limitless potential with […] a film whose great artfulness is only outdone by its sheer, breath-taking originality”.

Jess V.K. warns us to “go into this film with no expectations, because whatever you were expecting is not what you will see”.

Rent the film here.

On A Magical Night Directed by Christophe Honoré

This French comedy (of sorts) presents a fresh perspective on a very French activity: infidelity. It begins with a woman, Maria (Chiara Mastroianni, daughter of Italian-French acting royalty Marcello Mastroanni and Catherine Deneuve) deciding to leave her husband, and taking up residence across the street where she can observe him.

As Allison M. explains, “like a modernized version of A Christmas Carol, spirits living and dead come to haunt Maria to help her make a decision about whether or not she should return to her husband. It is complete with a phantom baby, reference to a past threesome, and kissing cousins”.

The film caused Gmacauley to ruminate: “Have you ever thought to yourself that when you get old you’d like to travel to the past and sleep with your significant other while they’re young again? Well now I have.”

Watch it here; and also seek out Nicolas Bedos’ marital fantasy romp, La Belle Époque.

The Assistant Directed by Kitty Green

This austere take on the #MeToo era stars Ozark breakout Julia Garner as a bottom-rung assistant to a never-seen, New York-based film producer clearly modeled on Harvey Weinstein. Through one long workday, we are witness to the manipulative practices that enable such a figure, without ever landing on a single incident that she can cite as tangible proof of his behavior, which helps detail the impossibility of her—and countless others’—situation.

While the film’s understated style has thrown some viewers off, that’s entirely the point according to Ryne Walley, who says it “aims true with unwavering confidence. The calculated pace and concise nature of The Assistant hides very little, echoing the countless cases of abuse and depravity that’ve been disclosed… an agonizingly taut feat of filmmaking… Your heart sinks with each passing hour”.

“So quietly powerful, this is a female film through and through. Gut wrenching in the simplest way,” writes Letterboxd member Katie.

Ella Kemp interviewed Green about The Assistant for Letterboxd. The film’s official website lists various VOD options.

Capital in the Twenty-First Century Directed by Justin Pemberton

French economist Thomas Piketty’s 2013 book about income equality forms the basis of this documentary, which takes on a new pertinence in the coronavirus era.

“It’s a sobering trip,” says Joey Jepson. “As if Covid-19 wasn’t enough to send you into a deep depression, Capital in the Twenty-First Century presents a thesis that seems to indicate that if we don’t course correct, we will see a further divide and evaporation of the middle-class.”

Michael agrees: “Very clearly and lucidly explains why we’re fucked if we don’t start regulating capital.” Eep.

Rent the film here.

Spaceship Earth Directed by Matt Wolf

The 1991 biosphere experiment—in which a group of people sealed themselves off from the world (hey!) to investigate human self-sustainability—is the subject of this documentary, which, like Capital in the Twenty-First Century, also hits a little different in the current moment.

Kellyabailey is on board: “I’m fuckin inspired, man. I wanna see what I’m capable of and finally start that commune I’ve been dreaming up.”

Smooz was impressed with how the film didn’t make fun of its subjects: “It’s rare for a documentarian […] dealing with kooks to produce a movie with any sort of empathy. This movie takes the kooks involved in one of the kookiest, most ridiculed projects in recent decades and honestly shows their successes, visionary moments, shortcomings, and failures while resisting the urge to dunk on them and give them swirlies.”

Letterboxd editor-in-chief Gemma Gracewood spoke to Wolf about his film—and what movies he’d choose to take with into a biosphere—in this interview. Rent the movie here.

Aren’t You Happy Directed by Susanne Heinrich

Those in the mood for something different might do well to check out this aesthetically bold German film—think Wes Anderson meets The Love Witch meets the movie Robert De Niro takes Cybill Shepherd to see on their ‘date’ in Taxi Driver—following a young woman named Mädchen (Marie Rathscheck) through various strange encounters.

Arvid Schmiedehausen says it “might be the most artistic film I have ever watched. It is highly ambitious in its attempts to deconstruct society and western values through fourteen episodes, with each being a persiflage on one unique aspect of it”. [We had to look up “persiflage” too.]

Ian A. Chapman writes that “not in anyway adhering to convention, Aren’t You Happy melancholically meanders through rendezvous allowing time for delicious dialogue. Visually pleasing, the colour choices neatly frame the scenes and set the tones allowing for a shorthand into the vibe”.

Rent the movie here.

Related content

Our list of art house films screening online now.

[neodemon591]

The Nightingale Review

The Nightingale is written and directed by Jennifer Kent and is her follow up film to The Babadook. The film stars Aisling Franciosi, Sam Clafin, Baykali Ganambarr, Michael Sheasby, Harry Greenwood, and Damon Herriman. The film is a period piece set in 1825 Tasmania and follows Claire (Franciosi) an Irish convict who goes on a quest for revenge after a brutal and horrific attack happens to herself and her family. Along her journey for revenge Claire is guided by Billy (Ganambarr) an Aboriginal tracker who helps search for the attackers in the rugged Tasmanian wilderness. The Nightingale floored me from start to finish and gives an unflinching look at life set in Tasmania at the time under British colonization. 

The acting in this film is fantastic and boasts two of the best performances I’ve seen this year in film. Aisling Franciosi is remarkable in this film and gives such a layered and heart wrenching performance. For a film that depicts disturbing and horrid material it’s breathtaking to watch her perform the way she does in this film. Baykali Ganambarr much like Franciosi gives an amazing performance and it’s impressive given what I believe is his first role in a film. The antagonist of the film Hawkins (Clafin) is one of the most repulsive and vile villains I’ve ever seen on film. Clafin gives his best performance of his career and at no point during the film he’s shown as a sympathetic character and that’s in part due to his performance and the story Kent is telling on screen. 

The Nightingale tackles difficult subject matter that includes violence against women and colonial racism and at no point does it shy away from these elements. Jennifer Kent in her fearless writing and direction is able to depict such material on screen that does not feel neutered or watered down, but true to the time period it’s set in and real life. Revenge is a primary theme of the film and it brings up questions about our morality and whether or not it’s worth getting if it’ll help heal us in some way from the trauma. In a society that’s presented in the film what else is one to due if the ruling government doesn’t care and won’t help, where the only answer may just be to get revenge on those who wronged you. I appreciate the questions that Jennifer Kent and this film present and have us think about once the film is over. 

As far as flaws with this film I didn’t find any that took me away from watching the film, though the nearly two and a half hour run time did feel it’s length at some points. This film is not going to be for everyone due to the difficult subject matter that is portrayed on screen. The Nightingale has breathtaking performances from its actors, great production & costume design, and a well directed & written story from Jennifer Kent. This film shines a light on a part of history that’s not seen on film and I appreciate when a film explores histories that are unknown to most to better educate an audience member. The Nightingale is an amazing historical revenge film that’s unlike anything I’ve seen this year and is something that will stick with anyone who watches it. 

[filmjrnl365]

#135 Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)

Director: Quentin Tarantino

USA

Tarantino’s latest movie is both an elegy, and a retribution. It laments and caricatures a Hollywood of a bygone era. A town where the gorgeous people lived in the Hollywood Hills, drove massive cars, and brokered movie deals with a handshake in moody cocktail lounges. Then things changed.

By the late 1960s and into the 70s, American culture was split, and the emergence of a younger, drug fueled counterculture generation began to re-shape a contemporary society that had emerged from the Depression and World War II. It is in this context that Tarantino begins his Hollywood fairy tale.

The film centers around the waning career of old school actor Rick Dalton (Leonardo Di Caprio), and his former stuntman / double turned handyman, Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt). Excellent performances by both of these actors carry the movie through its basic lamentation for the good ole days of Hollywood. Dalton struggles to keep a career afloat with the increasingly worse roles offered to him. To prop up his career, he succumbs to an offer doing Spaghetti Westerns in Italy. He returns to the United States to small acclaim, a sultry Italian actress bride, and a few paparazzi, but Hollywood has moved on to newer things.

Cliff Booth does more than household chores for Dalton. He has become the default psychologist for the macho star who has a fragile ego, and bursts into spontaneous crying jags over the demise of his identity and movie career. Dalton has a run in with a flirtatious young girl in Hollywood, and a ride back to Spahn Ranch takes Tarantino’s movie into its lamentation of the Hollywood beauty Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie) and the spectre of Charles Manson (Damon Herriman).

When watching this film (on 35mm), I was anxious to see how Tarantino was going to handle Hollywood’s version of the “third rail”, the death of Sharon Tate and the hideous Manson murders. I was barely old enough to remember the murders, however, I was of an impressionable age to watch the tv version, Helter Skelter. A strange, and ominous (for the time) portrayal of Charlie Manson and his “family’ of brainwashed young hippies that tried to incite a race war in America with the Tate /LaBianca killings. After the gruesome manner in which Sharon Tate and the others were murdered, things changed in America. Sure America was a violent and dangerous place, but this was different. So, an eerie and fascinating piece of American fact / folklore spun up around these Hollywood murders, and at the center of this horrific incident was the tragic loss of the beauty, Sharon Tate. America begrudgingly tolerated her husband, the director Roman Polanski. We credited his movie skills, but somehow secretly felt that the sheer beauty of Sharon Tate was out of his league. How had she wound up with him? This was yet another cultural chasm we had to reconcile.

The crucial point in the film; Tarantino takes the night of the Tate/ LaBianca and re-writes Hollywood history. Instead of the bloody massacre taking place, the killers have by mistake entered Dalton’s house, the wrong house. As they enter in through back doors, they find Cliff Booth under a temporary haze of celebratory LSD. He is alerted by his pit bull’s cues, and what ensues is a comical, revolting, bloody face bashing free-for all, where older generation Hollywood (and America) gets it’s bloody retribution for the loss of Sharon Tate.

Movies lie, and we let them lie to us. That’s part of the dance –we suspend judgement and slip away into their world, a world unlike ours. This can be a kind of salve for a psychic and cultural wound that has existed in America since the Manson murders. Sharon was gone, brutally taken from us, but Manson and his tribe lived on, and in many ways prospered in terms of cultural notoriety. A small empire of images and references was built on the strange icon of Charlie Manson; a dirty misfit that somehow wielded the charismatic power of a cult leader. (As an aside, an excellent book, The Girls written by Emma Cline (2017), also tells the Manson murder story, only this time from the vantage point of one of the girls.) Rock bands, t-shirts, books, movies- and the myth of Charles Manson grew, complete with the swastika carved in the center of his forehead like some kind of lunatic third eye.

The counter-cultural bloodbath that ensues may not go over well with some people. Some are going to see a handful of young girls get their faces smashed in by brutish male stereotypes, but that’s not the whole picture, that’s just part of it. What I saw was a kind of violence against history itself. A cathartic lashing out at the way it all worked out. Strangely, Manson is not murdered, only those sent to do the killings were. Odd, while Tarantino is taking liberties with history and folk lore, I’m not sure why Tarantino didn’t include Manson in this retribution, but he was spared and only appears briefly in the film. Not a bad thing in my opinion, we’ve seen enough of Manson already.

I left the theater with some questions. Mainly, how this movie is strangely appropriate for us at this point in American history. We are divided politically and emotionally in much the same way as we were during the late sixties. Our propensity to harm and damage others is played out every day through mass media and the internet. We are still trying to get up to speed with how blind, gruesome, and hateful we can be to one another, and we see these sickening tendencies magnifying, and accelerating. Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, lets us blow off a little collective steam. If gratuitous violence, revenge and beauty were to ever come together to act as a needed cultural tonic, this is it. I’m very doubtful Taratino went into this film with these intentions, and I’ve not researched it to find out. I went to the film to see the film. What I walked away with was an uneasy sense of relief, and some mixed emotions. Yes, perhaps it would have been better if history had turned as it did in the film. It would have been an easy fix of good guy kills bad guy and girls. I wish the shining beauty of Sharon Tate had been spared, it would have been a sparkling, golden, apparition of 1960’s optimism that could have prevailed over our collective cultural memory, but it didn’t really happen that way. Tarantino’s cranial smashing rampage soothes this loss only momentarily, and we are left with the sad reality of how things actually transpired.

This is exactly the point of personal conflict for Dalton and Cliff. But for the duration of this film, we get to see the nostalgia and the swagger of old Hollywood stardom come to our rescue. We can escape into the Hollywood Hills, wade into crystal clear swimming pools and drink the night away. Never mind the creep lurking in the bushes with a knife…not when you have a flame thrower.

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Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Quentin Tarantino is a divisive fellow. Love him or hate him, you have to admit, he belongs to a short list of contemporary directors who have earned true auteur status. I really really hated his last offering, The Hateful Eight, but my hopes were higher for his 9th film, Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood. This movie has everything. Leonardo DiCaprio as a washed up actor, known for playing a cowboy in a 50′s tv show; Brad Pitt as his chilled-out stunt double/errands man; Margot Robbie as the ill-fated Sharon Tate; and a combination of 60s tunes and bitchin grooves that make the summer of 1969 come alive in the way only Tarantino can achieve. There is a lot, and I mean a LOT going on here, so is this more of a cool pulp fiction classic, or a hateful way to spend an afternoon? Well...

While its pacing is definitely uneven (and definitely indulgent), I loved this movie. I loved it so so much. The atmosphere, the humor, the creeping dread, the sun-slick sticky sweet days of a California summer - it’s all here, and it’s all being acted out by incredible actors who are really giving it their all. This may not be QT’s best, but I would argue it is the best example of the particular kind of leisurely, sharp-tongued fun that he does so very well.

The film is divided into two lopsided sections: the first 2 hours take place in February 1969, and the final 45 minutes take place in August 1969. Rick Dalton (DiCaprio) is trying to shake up his image by taking a new acting gig more seriously. Cliff Booth, his stunt man (Pitt), is running errands for Dalton and runs into a hippie girl (Margaret Qualley) who takes him back to the Manson family’s ranch. Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie) is also running errands and stops into a theater playing her film, The Wrecking Crew. It’s all a slice of life, setting up a mood and a time and place in a way that makes you feel nostalgic for a time that you (in my case) were never alive for. 

Some thoughts:

One thing I loved was all the tv, movie, commercials, and songs included as artifacts to specifically build a sense of time and place. All of these things are woven into the fabric and the language of the film seamlessly - as a rabid consumer of culture, there’s no one better to distill and cultivate those cultural artifacts into a feeling than QT. Say what you will, QT is damn good at creating a #mood. I love all the details about how 1969 feels. Also these fake Rick Dalton movies are incredible. 

I love seeing a couple of QT’s usual suspects - Michael Madsen! Zoe Bell (who was also the stunt coordinator on the film)!

I wish I had a gif of this Hullabaloo sequence on repeat behind my eyelids at all times, it brings me such great joy.

THIS MOVIE FEATURES THE BEST GOOD DOG OF ALL THE GOOD DOGS. Cliff’s dog Brandy is a giant red pit bull who is perfect and beautiful and so smart and so brave and I love her so much and want to bring her home with me and give her many face rubs and homemade dog treats. There are moments in which Brandy is in danger, but I promise you, Brandy emerges from the encounter A-OK.

What shocked me the most was probably how funny this was. Much, MUCH funnier than his last few movies. Also, I don’t think I heard the n-word once! Is this a kinder, softer QT? Hard to say.

I always thought Austin Powers’s outfits were an exaggeration, but based on Roman Polanski’s going-out outfit, I guess the whole velvet suit and lace cravat thing was very unfortunately real. 

Speaking of, one detail I liked best is that Roman Polanski as a character doesn’t have like, any lines at all. Because NO ONE gives a shit what he has to say. Good call, QT.

No offense, but in what universe is Damian Lewis hot enough to play Steve Motherfucking McQueen? 

Sharon Tate also has an excellent little grey floofy dog. There are many good dogs present and accounted for. 

I know LA is a car city, but man...there are a lot of driving scenes. Like....too many driving scenes. This movie is 2 hr 41 min long. And don’t get me wrong, those long shots filled with 1969-era radio ads and songs and long, meandering drives through the Hollywood hills DO set the mood in a way that nothing else can but, I feel like we could have done some editing here nevertheless.

Sexuality is a confusing thing, man. I am happily married to Wife, and frankly I don’t feel the same kind of gut-level “oh no he/she is hot” reaction to ANYone like I did in my 20s anymore but. B U T. Shirtless, scar-covered Brad Pitt smoking a cigarette in work gloves may be the hottest thing I’ve ever seen. That says more about me than it does about Brad Pitt, but like. Human beauty. What a time.

Mike Moh’s performance as Bruce Lee is both hilarious and extraordinarily committed in a visceral, physical way. His whole scene is a highlight of the film.

I’m half wondering if Trudi (Julia Butters), the young method actress who makes such an impression on Rick, is partially based in Leonardo DiCaprio’s own experiences as a child actor. He seems like the type to be uh. Real intense about THE CRAFT.

For as funny as most of the film is, my blood did run cold when Charles Manson (Damon Herriman) sees Sharon Tate for the first time. Oh also, lest you be misled like I was, Charles Manson is barely in this. The trailer makes it seem like he will be a heavy presence in the film, and the shadow of him certainly looms large, but for actual screentime, he barely cracks 2 minutes.

A small but significant thing - the footage of Sharon Tate’s film, The Wrecking Crew, has not been altered to put Margot Robbie in it. Instead, the real Sharon Tate’s performance is shown on screen. I appreciated her memory being preserved in this way. 

Nothing takes me out of a QT movie faster than all these gross ass dirty feet. All of these hippie girls in the Manson family hate shoes and they live on a fucking ranch where everything is covered in dirt, it’s disgusting. I have no problem if YOU have a foot fetish, but my god man, does subjecting us to it have to be part of it??

My favorite line in the whole movie might be “Give me evil sexy Hamlet” because that is a vibe I wish there was more of in the world.

In many ways, this movie is a story about friendship and the ways it changes and guides our lives. The deep, intimate friendship between Rick and Cliff is almost like a marriage, and there’s a real sense of respect and care that they have for each other. 

About 2 hours into the movie, I was thinking “Wow, you know, this really hasn’t been very violent at all for a QT movie” but then...

I really enjoyed the stinger at the end, featuring Rick hawking Red Apple cigarettes. 

Did I Cry? At the very, very end. Mainly for Sharon Tate and the senseless violence that was done to her. This film is a love letter to her, a kind woman who did not deserve her fate. 

This features a lot of QT classics with a lot of the rough edges sanded off. Oh sure there’s a lot of the fuck-words thrown around, and there is some sizable violence towards the end, but the whole thing feels downright wholesome in comparison to a bloodbath like Kill Bill or even Inglorious Basterds. QT is very good at what he does, and if you can handle a more meandering, softer touch, there’s no better way to spend a few hours at the movies than letting the magic of a Hollywood long gone sweep you away. 

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Once Upon A Time In Hollywood: All The Manson Family Actor Cameos

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood included one of the most infamous cults in history: Charles Manson’s family, with some well-known faces portraying some of the members of this group. Four years after the release of The Hateful Eight, Quentin Tarantino came back with a new film, titled Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Just like he did with Inglourious Basterds, Tarantino retold real-life events and added some fictional characters to create his own version.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood has received some mixed responses and caused plenty of controversy, mostly aimed at the portrayals of real-life figures, such as Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie) and Bruce Lee (Mike Moh). The film also included some infamous characters like Charles Manson (Damon Herriman) and his “family” – the members of his cult and the ones responsible for Sharon Tate’s murder. Although the film changed that part of history, the whole Manson family made an appearance, and most members were seen briefly when Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) visited Spahn Ranch.

Related: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Cast & Cameo Guide

The Manson cult mostly just appeared in the background of the movie, but still has some recognizable names and faces playing them. Here are all the actors who appeared in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood as part of Charles Manson’s family.

Lynette Fromme didn’t take part in Sharon Tate’s murder, but she did have a criminal record. George Spahn, owner of Spahn Ranch, where the Manson family lived, gave her the nickname “Squeaky”, and as mentioned in the film, she regularly slept with him. Fromme was later convicted for an assassination attempt on President Ford. Dakota Fanning, who rose to fame as a child star in films like I Am Sam and Man of Fire, has taken on a variety of roles ever since, most recently in the series The Alienist, and her role as Squeaky in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is unlike anything she’s done before.

Pussycat is a composite character: her nickname is based on Kathryn “Kitty” Lutesinger’s, but she’s modeled after Ruth Ann Moorehouse, both Manson family members. Manson would constantly send Moorehouse into the city to seduce men with money and bring them to the ranch, just like Pussycat does with Booth – although he wasn’t wealthy at all. Margaret Qualley has previously appeared in Palo Alto, The Nice Guys, Native Son, and most recently in the miniseries Fosse/Verdon.

Tex Watson was Charles Manson’s second-in-command and was involved in the murders of Sharon Tate, Jay Sebring, Abigail Folger, and Wojciech Frykowski, as well as Leno and Rosemary LaBianca. Unlike other members, Watson didn’t have a criminal record prior to joining the group. Austin Butler is best known for his roles in teen TV shows such as Zoey 101 and iCarly, and is set to play Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmann’s biographical film about the King of Rock and Roll.

Related: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: Luke Perry's Cameo Explained

Patricia Krenwinkel was part of the group involved in the Tate-LaBianca murders, and following the death of Susan Atkins, she is now the longest-incarcerated female in the California penal system. Madisen Beaty played a young Daisy Fuller in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and had roles in The Master, Other People, and most recently in The Clovehitch Killer. She also played Talya Banks in The Fosters, but Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is her biggest movie yet.

Susan Atkins was another member of the Tate-LaBianca murder group. Like Krenwinkel, she was initially sentenced to death, but was consequently sentenced to life in prison. She died in 2009. In Once Upon a Time in Hollywood she was the one who convinced the rest of the group to go after Rick Dalton instead. Mikey Madison has mostly appeared in short-films and had a role in the drama film Nostalgia. She’s currently part of FX’s Better Things.

Although she was part of the group that went after Tate and company, Linda Kasabian didn’t take part in the murders – instead, as the only member of the group with a valid driver’s license, she drove the rest to Tate’s house and stayed outside the whole time, which was changed in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood as she fled the scene. She was a key witness during the trial and testified against everyone in exchange for immunity. Maya Hawke made her screen debut as Jo in BBC’s adaptation of Little Women but got her big break as Robin in the third season of Stranger Things.

Leslie Van Houten was convicted for the murders of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, which took place the night after the Tate murders. She was sentenced to death but was ultimately sentenced to life in prison. Victoria Pedretti is best known for her role as Eleanor “Nell” Crain in The Haunting of Hill House, and will play Love Quinn in the second season of You as well as Dani in The Haunting of Bly Manor.

Related: What Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Changes About The Real Manson Murders

Catherine Share wasn’t involved in the Tate-LaBianca murders but was convicted for another reason: trying to intimidate a witness against testifying. She later served five years in prison for armed robbery. She has completely disassociated herself from Manson’s family and now speaks out against cults. Lena Dunham is best known as the creator and lead of the series Girls, and among her recent projects is the series Camping, and she's one of the bigger cameos among Once Upon A Time In Hollywood's Manson cult.

Steve Grogan was sentenced to death for the murder of Donald “Shorty” Shea, ranch-hand at Spahn Ranch, where Grogan lived before the Manson family moved in. However, the judge stated that he was “too stupid and too hopped on drugs” to make decisions on his own, and was then sentenced to life in prison. He was released on parole in 1985. James Landry Hebert has had several small roles in films and TV shows, including Stranger Things season 2, where he played Axel.

Sandra Good is one of Manson’s most devoted followers. She was indicted for “conspiracy to send threatening letter through the mail” and sentenced to 15 years in prison, but was paroled after serving 10. Good continues to show her loyalty to Manson. Kansas Bowling is also a director, screenwriter, and cinematographer, and is currently working on her second feature film. Her directorial debut, B.C. Butcher, was released in 2016.

Not much is known about Dianne Lake and her involvement in the Manson family, but she was portrayed in the film by Sydney Sweeney, who has appeared in a number of TV shows such as 90210, Grey’s Anatomy, and Pretty Little Liars. Among her biggest roles are Emaline Addario in Everything Sucks!, Eden Spencer in The Handmaid’s Tale, Alice in Sharp Objects, and Cassie Howard in Euphoria.

Related: No, Cliff Booth Didn’t Kill His Wife In Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

There’s no record on a Manson family member referred to as “Froggie”, nor about the character being a composite one, but Harley Quinn Smith had a small role in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood as this one. Smith appeared in an episode of Supergirl and in the films Holidays and Yoga Hosers. She will also appear in Kevin Smith’s Jay and Silent Bob Reboot as Millennium “Milly” Faulken.

Angel is yet another character that is unknown if she’s based on a real person or not. Still, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is Danielle Harris’ return to big films after having mostly small roles in various TV shows and films as well as voice roles (most notably Debbie Thornberry in The Wild Thornberrys). Harris is mostly known for playing Laurie Strode’s daughter Jamie Lloyd in Halloween 4 and Halloween 5, and Annie Brackett in Rob Zombie’s Halloween and Halloween II.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was also a platform for new talents, such as Dallas Jay Hunter, Dyani Del Castillo, and Parker Love Bowling, who played Manson family members Delilah, Pebbles, and Tadpole, respectively. It’s unknown if these characters are based on real life people or not. Hunter has mostly appeared in short films, as well as Parker Love Bowling, who had a role in her sister’s directorial debut B.C. Butcher. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is Dyani del Castillo’s first credited role.

Next: How Mindhunter & Once Upon A Time In Hollywood Have The Same Charles Manson Actor

source https://screenrant.com/upon-time-hollywood-manson-family-actor-cameos/