Oven-Dried Tomatoes

It’s a jarring movie. A mix of horror, surreal drama, a meditation on grief and a whole lot of dread running through it all. Edited in a very interesting way with sharp cuts and turns. I cannot say I loved this movie but it does work for me. I like this type of horror that keeps the tension high and you never quiet can tell what it going on. The setting in Venice in the 70s is quiet interesting too and can be a character onto itself. Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie (the Baxters) both deliver excellent performances as the couple who are grieving the loss of their daughter. In Venice, he is an architect working on restoring an old historic church. They seem to be doing ok, very much in love and trying to recover. Then she meets two British ladies one of whom is blind and claims that she can commune with the dead daughter. He naturally scoffs at this and she wants to try and connect with her daughter, at the same time there are a series of murders in the city. A strange person appears to be wearing the same clothes as the dead daughter seems to come and go in front of the Baxters. An old photo from the inside of the church also has the same person wearing a red coat, that blood red coat. All of that adds up to a very tight and gripping thriller.

I saw it once and really enjoyed it. It’s a layered film and stayed with me as I thought about those amazing characters of Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) and Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and the world of 1968/69 Los Angeles that the film is set in. Tarantino’s latest is even more than any of his other movies a film about films, about actors, his unabashed love for cinema but it is about more than that. At its heart is a very sweet friendship story between the actor Rick and his long time stunt double Cliff. These two guys are probably QT’s most well developed, multi dimensional and interesting male characters. Good thing too since the vast majority of this deliberate and quiet picture is us hanging out with them. Maybe a third of the running time is with Rick doing his work. Did I say this was a quiet and “slow” movie? Well, it is, somehow in a departure for QT. It’s possibly the least violent too. Really until the final 10 minutes or so this is a meticulous and character-driven drama. Then I went back and saw it again. Yes, this is a great picture, a mature and confident one.

The film is set in 1968 mostly…and some in 1969. Rick lives right next door to Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie) and her husband the director Roman Polanski right up on that very infamous Cielo Dr. Rick is a one time famous TV show star and still gets the occasional role but somehow he missed the movie stardom boat. We hang out with Tate too while Rick is busy on a TV pilot set and Cliff is running errands, fixing Rick’s aerial and giving rides to cute hippies to their weird ranch…She goes to see a movie, buys a book and seems like a really sweet person. The main reason most of us have heard of Sharon Tate is because of those grizzly Hollywood Hills murders but here she is allowed to be more than that. A fun loving person who is happy to be alive. Robbie, Pitt and DiCaprio all deliver excellent performances here.

There really is so much to unpack and talk about, so much that I loved, but I’ll stick to one more piece of praise. Damn does this film look great and sound great. The LA of the late sixties is meticulously recreated and so real. For the entire run we are living there with nothing out of place. The cars are right, the buildings and billboards and streets. They all feel lived in and tangible. Not sure how much CGI went into crafting this world but I really do not think much. Tarantino pays so much attention to the details and everything is lovingly created.

Once Upon a Time…might be set in the real world but the line of where fact ends and fiction begins is at times difficult to tell. I did not expect Tarantino to make a biopic, I did not want him to and he did not. This is a fairy tale.

Of course I had heard a lot about Tampopo for years before I had the chance to see it. It’s often referred to with a lot of reverence among the great “food” movies like Big Night. I knew it was about Ramen. That’s basically it. So, I was thrilled to see it available on The Criterion Channel’s lineup. Initially I was a bit thrown off by the slapstick comedy of it, the over the top interactions…I did not expect a comedy. Then, it really took over and I just could not wait what the next frame will bring. The cooking is delightful and seemingly done in real time in some cases. The main characters are endearing and grew on me very fast. The side-story vignettes; confusing at first; became like refreshing one bite morsels that cut through the main story as they balanced sensuality, comedy and the joy of cooking and eating. Really this whole thing is a wonderful feast (I just could not help but say that…)

Sophie (Sandrine Bonnaire) is the new maid for a family in the French countryside. She is efficient, quiet, a bit aloof and illiterate – a fact that she tries to hide from her employer and is one of the engines of her arc. She meets Jeanne (Isabelle Huppert) who seems the exact opposite. She works at the post office, is spunky, loud, and might have an interesting colorful criminal background. Was Jeanne a bad influence on Sandrine leading up to the movie’s shocking climax? Maybe, but then again Sandrine had an interesting history herself. The two women forge an odd but interesting friendship a fiery friendship like when dry brush meets a match. The performances are excellent and the two leading ladies have a great chemistry.

Set in the Australian outback after some post apocalyptic event. This is a very small story, a very violent story with outstanding performances by Guy Pearce and Robert Pattinson. We are along for the ride as Eric (Pearce) is pursuing three criminals who stole his old car. He captured the young brother of one of them (that would be Rey played by Pattinson) and is using him to figure out where they will be next. As I mentioned it is a rough unflinchingly violent movie, but it has at it’s core a mystery as well. It also develops the relationship between the homicidal Eric and the simple Rey. Why on earth does Eric care so much about getting his shitty car back, killing anyone who stands in his way and caring for no one not even himself? Why? When we figure out the answer the film really reframes what we have been watching including Eric.