Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: Not a Movie But a Happening

 

 MOVIE REVIEWS
by Larry Baumhor

HEART OF DARKNESS AND APOCALYPSE NOW

   Heart of Darkness is a documentary about the film Apocalypse Now. It is based on film footage and interviews by Francis Ford Coppola’s wife, Eleanor Coppola. Both the film and its subsequent documentary are about feeling emotion, psychologically self-inflicted torture, and pain. This was no method acting. Instead, the actors had out-of-body experiences which transformed them into the movie's characters.
   Coppola had to deal with the natives working as extras on the set, bombs going off, and military helicopters attacking. It was crazy, out of control, with wild parties, cocaine binges, and a free-for-all. No one knew what reality was.
   Eleanor Coppola’s unique perspective enables the viewer to live in the jungle of the Philippines and takes us through the extraordinary psyche of some of the characters, including her husband Francis. He invested 30 million of his own money and was over budget and over schedule. He thought his career was over. He became frustrated and filled with angst. He battled his actors over the deep emotions they were forced to portray throughout the film. Francis wrote most of the script while filming and had a nervous breakdown. Hurricanes hit the jungle and ruined the sets.
   Martin Sheen played Captain Benjamin L. Willard. Sheen transformed into a mentally deranged drunk, crying and punching a mirror, severely cutting his hand, oozing with blood. He tried desperately to delve into the darkest area of his mind, to lose himself in the character while Francis was egging him on. Sheen had a heart attack on the set and was rushed to the hospital. This delayed filming.
   Marlon Brando as Colonel Kurtz, the Green Beret general, who goes AWOL, arrived late for filming. He was grossly overweight and did not memorize his lines. Brando was paid about a million dollars a week. Francis tried to shoot him above the waist, as a Green Beret general could not look so distortedly out of shape. Brando improvised his lines.
   Dennis Hopper, who played a photographer in the movie, did not know his lines either, upsetting Francis. He appeared drugged out and took up to forty-five takes during a scene. The actors were in reality becoming the characters in the movie.
   Sam Bottoms as GI Lance Johnson was on speed and marijuana but some people state that he was taking LSD during his scenes.
   Gary Frederickson, co-producer, was shown dead rats on the set. The prop guy said we are using dead bodies that we’ll hang from the trees to make it authentic. “You guys are nuts. We can’t do that,” Frederickson said.
   Robert Duvall, with his iconic line, “I love the smell of napalm in the morning,” was nominated for an Oscar and won a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore. He may have been the only “normal” non-drugged actor on the set.
   Never has a movie imbedded deep penetrating emotions in its viewers. If you were ever clinically depressed or dealt with a mental disorder then you can relate to Apocalypse Now and the Heart of Darkness. There’s a transference between the so-called actor/character and the viewer. But for some strange reason, you’re transfixed and love the emotion, albeit gut-wrenching, destructive torture and pain, it leaves you chilled, cathartic, and numb. And you beg for more!

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MARIANNE & LEONARD WORDS OF LOVE

   If you’re an artist, or like the creative process, or like Leonard Cohen, it is mandatory to see “Marianne & Leonard Words of Love,” if not you will be punished by not seeing another movie again.
You become intoxicated, numb and fall in love with Marianne, Leonard, and the Greek island of Hydra. You weep tears of joy and daggers of pain. With love comes heartache. Why did this happen? What is the cost of freedom? The creative process drips off the screen enveloping the theatre until you’re flowing in poetry. You no longer care about anything. You are part of this magic, transformed into another life with another person. Thank God for the movies. I needed to escape. How about you?

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THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO

   “The Last Black Man In San Francisco” is an emotional tour de force and a cinematography masterpiece. There’s enough emotion in this film that if you were in a field digging for the roots of a tree, you would dig forever and a day. Fantasy, friendship, and love live in Jimmie’s (Jimmie Fails) mind twisted in a heart-pounding, depressive-like performance.
   Jimmie and his best friend Montgomery Allen, (Johnathan Majors) live with Grandpa Allen (Danny Glover) in a section of San Francisco where mostly black families reside. A schoolgirl skips by young black men arguing on the street corner while passing police tape and hazmat workers who are cleaning up toxic water. A dichotomy of emotions tug at your heart and wreak havoc with your mind.
   Jimmie is unsettled in his mind, lacks quality employment, and lives a transient life.  He escapes into a fantasy world fixating on the Victorian house with a witch-hat roof he lived in as a young child. Jimmie’s father lost the house which left an indelible impression on the young six-year-old. Jimmie informed everyone that his grandfather built the house in 1946 and passed it on to his father. As the black families moved, the Caucasians young and old began to envelop the Victorian homes in the Filmore section, beginning the gentrification in San Francisco.
   Jimmie arrived at the Victorian house informing the owner that his grandfather built the home and he felt a self-entitlement to the house. An obsession that’s so ingrained in Jimmie’s mind he paints and makes minor repairs to the outside of the house. The owner, an older woman throws food at Jimmie threatening to call the police. But Jimmie is depressed and obsessed with his old Victorian, as though he’s addicted to this glorious sexual structure. Jimmie is intoxicated and feels deeply with unrequited passion for his proud phallic symbol.
As fortune would have it the woman who owned the house had to vacate the premises due to family problems. The house was on the market for four million dollars. Jimmie did not have four cents to rub together. But he convinced his friend Montgomery to move into the vacant majestic Victorian, in other words, they became squatters. They even moved in some Victorian furniture from when Jimmie lived there that he stored at Grandpa Allen’s.
   Montgomery is an aspiring writer and is working on an autobiographical play that will be performed in the Victorian. They produced handwritten flyers and gave them to people, friends, and family. For inspiration, Montgomery often wrote and rehearsed at a dock in the San Francisco Bay with the fog imbued around the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. Often when the tide was low and the aesthetic was barren with woven sand dunes, a symbol of desolation with the bay waves haunting you to approach. But he’s trapped on the dock. During high tide Montgomery sat in a rowboat, rowing, always fighting the waves, going nowhere with the beauty of the bay and the backdrop of the bridge, as though he’s lost at sea.
   The Victorian house was dimly lit and Jimmy peeked out of what looked like a porthole at the patrons arriving for the play. Montgomery gave a powerful solo performance as one side of his face was a mask like the Phantom of the Opera and the other side was Montgomery. He turned to the camera and spoke to each side, crying in a powerful baritone voice like Paul Robeson from Showboat as though the San Francisco Bay had become the Ol’ Man River. Montgomery was cathartically pouring his guts out on the stage speaking emotionally and frantically about one of his friends who was murdered and the plight of his fellow comrades and the state of hardship.
   And then he asked the audience to give their opinions on his friend who was murdered. Montgomery looked at Jimmie with tears streaming down his eyes and bolts of lightning coming from his mouth demanding that Jimmy listen. “No, no, no, “screamed Jimmie. “I saw the deed,” Montgomery said. “Your grandfather did not build this house.” Jimmie and the audience walked out. The Victorian was built in the 1850s.
   Montgomery finds a letter at Grandpa Allen’s house from Jimmie. Goodbye, you’re my best friend, laments Jimmie.

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THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI

   I enjoyed the movie THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI, and the characters.  Frances McDormand should be nominated for an Oscar for her gut-wrenching, dual personality of a tough hard-nosed woman and a deep caring loving human. And she plays it with a mesmerizing performance. Frances is obsessed with finding her daughter’s killer. The town is filled with racists, shallow-minded folks. But it is the characters that bring this movie to life. Like Woody Harrelson, the sheriff, who is dealing with cancer but still is emotionally attached to finding the killer. Sam Rockwell as the deputy sheriff exemplifies the town bigot, but symbolically is burned while in his office, an act of burning your soul of bigotry. This movie is filled with thought-provoking ideas and odd humorous acts of kindness and hatred.

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THE JOKER

   THE JOKER, (Joaquin Phoenix) transforms into a psychopath, both mentally and physically. He’s frightening with his murderous demonic thoughts, his twisted Holocaust body, dancing between madness and joy, and his dark loveable laugh. Joaquin must have needed an exorcism to come out of character. Rack up another Academy Award nomination.
   Other than a character study of a psychopath, the movie lacked an in-depth story, too much violence (for me at least), and too long, (two hours). The character study dragged on and on and on.
   However, Batman fans might think otherwise. As a kid, I never read a comic book and was not into villains or superheroes. But I did come from a dysfunctional family and I was emotionally and mentally troubled. I’d sooner play sports, go fishing, smoke pot, or masturbate. Socially I was awkward and was an outcast. I felt like the Joker without the murderous thoughts. And that gave me an idea.
   Suppose I lost one hundred pounds, became a skeleton, and hired a dance instructor to teach me some moves. I painted my face like a clown and went out to perform altruistic acts of kindness. I worked with troubled kids teaching them how to write. Visited senior centers and offered my comradery. Helped the homeless find shelters, jobs, and other social services. I visited Children’s Hospitals dressed as a clown. The kids laughed. But not everybody laughed. I was thrown out of various places because of my clown face. I was beaten on the subway for my looks. I was spat on in the streets. Drinks were thrown at me in fast food restaurants. I want to give of myself to help people. I want to make people’s lives more joyful and less stressful, 100% free of ulterior motives. Though in the back of my mind, I was also conducting a social experiment. I was ridiculed and beaten. I felt sad.

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SHOWGIRLS

   I loved the movie “Showgirls.” The conflict between Berkley and Gershon (two showgirl dancers) played like a Hamlet, Claudius revenge plot. This was a sexy Shakespearean 20th-century story, murder the competition. The tension between Berkley and Gershon was palpable, sexual, filled with anger, jealousy, and eroticism. You even experience a Trumpian kill-or-be-killed plot. The dancing was superb and did I mention sex? It was hot! After the movie, I was dying to have wild sex in the pool. Never happened! Not one critique I read was favorable. The critics destroyed this movie. Perhaps they were dealing with their own subliminal Oedipus complex. How often do understudies desperately want to be the star? How far would you go to become successful? Yes, evil reared its ugly head but friendship and compassion were also compelling. Go ahead and see the movie. If you don't like it, please kill me. Hopefully, you too will fantasize about wild sex in the swimming pool.

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TWO LOVERS

   “Two Lovers” is a psychological melodrama that has so many deep layers you begin to dissect your soul so that the main character Leonard (Joaquin Phoenix) becomes part of who you are or who you want to be. The opening scene has Leonard jumping into the bay in Brighton Beach to commit suicide only to swim straight up for air, thus saving himself for a second time.
   Leonard was away for months in a mental hospital after his first suicide attempt; he’s on medication and is now living in his parent’s apartment, working for his father in the dry cleaning business. His real passion is photography. Leonard’s personality is so nuanced, complicated, humorous, and jovial that we don’t know what’s wrong with him. His parents, Ruth and Reuben Kraditor (Isabella Rossellini and Moni Monpshov) whisper bipolar when Leonard arrives drenched from his attempted suicide in the bay.

   His father’s business rival is attempting to merge the two dry cleaning operations. A dinner is arranged for both families to meet. Leonard is introduced to Sandra (Vinessa Shaw) the daughter of the owner of the business merger; a naturally beautiful woman with straight black hair and a beautiful face, who immediately is drawn into Leonard’s world. She witnessed Leonard dancing with his mother in the dry cleaning business and fell in love with his quirkiness not to mention his eccentricities. Leonard’s parents are interested in having Leonard marry a nice Jewish girl. Leonard’s mom is overwhelmingly protective and nosey and must know every detail of Leonard’s life.
   Leonard likes Sandra but is not head over heels with her. He meets Michelle (Gwyneth Paltrow) who lives in the same building as Leonard. Michelle is every man’s fantasy; long blonde hair, tall, thin with stunning features. She is kept by a famous wealthy lawyer who has his own family and keeps leading Michelle to believe he is going to inform his wife about their affair. Michelle has a drug problem and both her and Leonard have psychological problems.
   Leonard is literally obsessed with Michelle and constantly views her through his bedroom window that has viewing access into her apartment, in a fascination of mental masturbation and obsession, reminiscent of the Hitchcockian movie “Rear Window.” The cinematography in “Two Lovers” is spectacular!
   Leonard follows Michelle onto the subway pretending it’s a coincidental meeting. In my favorite scene in the movie, Michelle asks Leonard, “If you could do anything in the world what would it be?”
   “A photographer,” Leonard said.
   “That’s cool, I knew you were the artist type.”
   “I wouldn’t call myself an artist,” responded Leonard.
   “Don’t you let anyone discourage you from this,” Michelle demanded. Leonard gave Michelle a serious look of gratitude and awe as his facial expressions changed into puppy dog eyes in love with his master. I am a writer and photographer who has earned very little money over the years related to this scene. But I call myself a writer and photographer.
   Michelle is a hip downtown chic who loves the nightlife and loves to boogie, taking Leonard with her to a posh NYC club where Leonard shows off his dance moves. Michelle, who ingested drugs passes out in the lady’s room, losing contact with Leonard.
   Meanwhile, Leonard makes love to Sandra. And makes love to Michelle on their rooftop apartment. He informs Michelle he is in love with her. And becomes entangled with two lovers. Michelle leaves her master keeper the lawyer as he no longer will pay for her apartment. Michelle and Leonard plan to leave NY for San Francisco in a rent-free apartment of Michelle’s friend.
   This is a dream come true for Leonard. He has nothing here and is madly in love with Michelle. Leonard buys a diamond engagement ring for Michelle. Sandra knows nothing about his relationship with Michelle. In the end, the whole thing blows up and Leonard’s dreams are shattered, but what happens to the diamond ring? And does Leonard live happily ever after? Does Michelle go to San Francisco? And poor innocent Sandra, what happens to her?
   A masterpiece of filmmaking directed by James Gray and written by Gray and Richard Menello with superlative acting that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

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THE STAIRCASE

   “The Staircase” is a masterpiece! Spellbinding characters with plot twists that make your head spin. You’re drawn into the family drama, the evidence, and the trial as Michael Peterson transforms into King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. You love to hate this protagonist as he is both evil and a charming prince. Emotions are peeling off you like eating a banana for morning breakfast. Hate and love polarize you as you binge-watch megalomaniac Peterson and his followers and detractors. You are not able to sleep because you’re addicted like taking a shot of heroin. The coincidences and shabby fraudulent so-called experts trap you in a web of logic and deceit.
   Peterson still lives in Durham and wrote a book, independently published in January 2019, called “Behind the Staircase.” The book chronicles his life since Kathleen’s death, including his time in prison. Harrison Ford has been tapped to play Peterson in an upcoming project based on “The Staircase.”

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THE SOCIAL NETWORK

   If Gordon Gekko’s motto in Wall Street was “greed is good” then Mark Zuckerberg’s (played by Jesse Eisenberg) motto in “The Social Network” is “F your friends.” In a taut psychological drama about the birth of a new social network, its founder, Zuckerberg, is a social misfit who through his own genius and backstabbing tactics creates Facebook.
   In a fascinating portrait of obsession, Eisenberg delivers a rapid machine-gun fire prose, with a twisted tortured face, (like a painting by a German expressionist) as though he’s constantly at war within himself. This is a must-see movie, even if you’re not a Facebook fanatic.

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BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOUR

   The movie “Blue Is the Warmest Colour” is charged with emotion and eroticism; leaving you spellbound. Two artistic beautiful women who deeply love each other until the movie explodes when Adele has an affair with a man who haunts and tortures her. Emma, an artist is five years older than Adele but is madly in love with her. Emma can't separate her art from her real-life relationship as her muse. Adele poses nude while she immortalizes her on canvas. Emma is mesmerizing to look at with her pouty lips, loving eyes, and a few strings of hair covering her face like a lifeline you want to be part of. The powerful sex scenes contrast with the tenderness of their dialogue taking you for a ride into the bedroom of two Goddesses that devour the screen, steal your heart, and make you dream and beg for love.

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JAWS: THE INSIDE STORY

   Jaws: The Inside Story, on the Biography Channel, is a spellbinding documentary on the filming of Jaws with behind-the-scenes footage from 1974. It was a miracle that 27-year-old Spielberg didn’t get fired as he was millions over budget, more than 100 days past schedule, a script that was incomplete, major technical catastrophes, sharks that never functioned, filming in a volatile ocean, and much more.
The documentary delves into the psyche of Spielberg, the actors, writers, producers, and technicians who ultimately through their creative collaboration, tenacity, and naivety succeeded in producing this blockbuster movie.

 

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LEAVE NO TRACE

   It was like watching a silent film, “Leave No Trace.” The few words of the father and the daughter were penetrating, their emotions were devastating. No laughter and not one smile, but painful happiness. I kept waiting for an explosion or tragedy but the movie was filled with the tranquility of the woods, the profound connection of a father and a daughter, the madness of an institution, and the defiance of societal rules.
   You think, you love and you wait. You don’t know where, when, and how, but you’re drawn into the characters like a dream world filled with anesthesia. You’re left numb. You’re sad. You’re happy. You’re trapped in an emotional tornado. You don’t know what’s right and you don’t know what’s wrong. You don’t care. You’re isolated but touched with love. Perhaps this is wrong, you think. Perhaps this is right, you think. Did I do the right thing with my life, you think? You’re confused. You’re jealous. You think about our veterans; our children, and you weep inside.

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ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD

   I’m not a big Tarantino fan, but this movie is going into the Library of Congress as a cultural phenomenon, a historically significant cinematic masterpiece.  Tarantino’s best work. The film, Tarantino, DiCaprio, and Pitt will be nominated for Academy Awards.
   Once Upon a Time in Hollywood opened in theaters on July 26th; by August 3, 2019, I saw the movie 6 out of 9 days. The movie is a happening, an event that you feel part of. You time travel back to the 60s on Hollywood Blvd, the cars, stores, clothes, restaurants, the Manson compound at Spahn Ranch with the hippies, the movie sets at Columbia studio, radio commercials, a Batman promotion, and even 60s comic books lying on Cliff’s table. Tarantino is meticulous in detail. It seems like small TVs invaded Hollywood in 1969 playing the FBI, Man From Uncle, Mannix, western genre flicks and you name it was on throughout the various scenes. The 60s music is powerful and has you dancing in your seat. Of course, I stood up in the theatre and shimmied a couple of times, losing consciousness and forgetting I was actually in a movie theatre. I have interjected the characters of Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) and even Easy Breezy, a cowboy in a novel Rick is reading between takes on the set into my personal life.

   Rick Dalton (Jake Cahill) stars in the television Western series Bounty Law from 1958 to 1963, based on Wanted Dead or Alive (1958–1961), a short-lived series about a bounty hunter played by Steve McQueen.
   Rick has aspirations of becoming a movie star and leaves Bounty Law to pursue a career in the movies, but mostly plays the bad guy who often dies at the end of TV shows. Tarantino hodge-podges together actors such as Burt Reynolds, Edd Byrnes, Ty Hardin, and William Shatner to create Jake Cahill. Hardin went from a show called Bronco to Spaghetti Westerns. After Rick ended Bounty Hunter he starred in Tanner and The Fourteen Fists of McCluskey where Tarantino once again has an affinity for his actors to kill Nazis, (Inglourious Basterds). This time Dalton torches a room full of Nazis with a powerful rifle-like fire flamethrower, wearing a backpack, yelling, “Anybody order fried sauerkraut, you Nazi bastards,” who were burnt to a crisp. Rick’s character is complex, driven by emotions of his own personality and those of the actors he portrays. Rick cries from joy and then cries from pain. He explodes with rage and then acts compassionately and calmly. Dalton’s relationship with Cliff Booth is based on that of actor Burt Reynolds’s relationship with his long-time stunt double Hal Needham.
   Dalton plays the character Caleb in the Western Lancer who was cheated by a horse trader and ends up taking care of his 10-year-old niece, Mirabella Lancer played by Julia Butters. Between scenes, Dalton describes to Butters a western novel he’s reading about a Bronco Buster named Easy Breezy. He informs Julia Butters that Easy is washed up like he is and fears his acting career will soon be over. And then Dalton breaks down crying. Julia comes over to Dalton and comforts him.
   Dalton’s emotions continue to get the best of him as he breaks down crying once again after a meeting with his agent Marvin Schwarz, (Al Pacino) who wants Rick to go to Italy and play in spaghetti westerns. Dalton cries in the arms of his buddy Cliff and states, “It’s official, old buddy, I’m a has-been.”
   The most intense breakdown came when Rick forgot his lines during a scene for a guest spot on a TV series. He goes back to his trailer and freaks out, screaming and throwing whatever objects were in the trailer. Rick takes his flask of booze drinks one shot then throws it out the door saying he’ll never drink again, not true. He screams at himself, “You embarrassed yourself in front of all those people. It’s not going to happen again. You’re drinking too much.” Rick looks in the mirror and says, “I’ll blow your fuckin’ brains out if you ever forget your lines again.”
   Tarantino informed DiCaprio about the late actor Pete Duel, who starred in the 1970s Western series Alias Smith and Jones, a favorite of Tarantino’s. The 31-year-old Duel died by suicide in 1971. Tarantino learned the actor had a drinking problem and had undiagnosed bipolar disorder. The swings in emotion helped develop Rick’s character. DiCaprio said, Rick being bipolar did not need to be “overtly” shown to the audience. “We never say the word 'bipolar,’” Tarantino stated.

   1969 arrives as quickly as men land on the moon. Rick’s transition into movie stardom is not successful and it’s eating him alive. He’s an alcoholic, chain-smoking, mood-changing man who stutters and believes he’s washed up. His best friend and stunt double Cliff Booth is also at the end of his career, not to mention his bad reputation on movie sets. Cliff, who lives in a trailer with his Pit Bull Brandy is Rick’s driver. Rick lives next door to Sharon Tate (Margo Robbie) and Roman Polanski (Rafal Zawierucha), the home of the Manson murders on Cielo Drive, a dead-end street about halfway up Benedict Canyon in Beverly Hills.
   I recite lines in restaurants, rehearse lines on buses, and use the characters in my own life. I’ve had dreams about Tarantino talking to me about the psychological makeup of the characters. I’m fearful at times I can’t break character. I believe I’m Rick Dalton a hippie cowboy and converted my apartment into a movie set.
   I’m 65 years old and my goal is to see this film 100 times before I die. I’m drawn to it like a moth to a flame. I’m a willing slave entrapped inside this movie and I love it. Though I realize I have an illness with obsessive-compulsive disorder and bipolar disorder. This movie and my mental illness may lead me down the road to being institutionalized. I stand up and applaud at the end of the movie for at least 30 seconds by myself and shout Quentin, Quentin, Quentin! I feel compelled to show the audience my appreciation for the master.

 

   I believe Tarantino, like myself, is dealing with mental illness as he often sublimates his demons into filmmaking. He is a profound obsessive cinephile who just doesn’t write the script for the actors.  He has the actors over his house and watches films, studies personalities, and incorporates styles and psyches of other characters into his films. Tarantino has an affinity for B movies, exploitation films, martial arts and kung fu films, cult films, thriller/action/horror films, and Spaghetti Westerns for starters “A lot of killing,” Rick Dalton states to Marvin Schwarz, (Al Pacino) Hollywood producer and Dalton’s agent. If you’ve watched Tarantino on talk shows, he speed-talks loudly with movie data running from his mouth like lava from a volcano. He’s also known for his temper. Does violence beget violence? Tarantino was accused of assault and sued by film producer Don Murphy for $50,000. He once beat the shit out of a taxi cab driver. Tarantino claims the driver acted like a jerk so Quentin told the driver to pull over, and got out of the cab with his girlfriend. The fare was $4.50. Tarantino gave the driver a five and asked for the change. The driver responded, “Use it to buy your girlfriend a new face.” A fight ensued as Tarantino kept punching the driver, stating, “Don’t talk about my date like that.”  Bouncers nearby pulled Tarantino off the driver who then bit Tarantino on his nipple. Tarantino had already paid out two thirty thousand-dollar settlements for two other fights.

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