Once Upon a Time in…Nonfiction

It’s the summer of ’69, California is hot (DiCaprio and Pitt are hotter), and Tarantino has outdone himself yet again with his ninth film, Once Upon a Time in…Hollywood. The Golden Age of Hollywood is coming to a close and DiCaprio’s Rick Dalton is feeling the pressure of aging out of his prime while living next door to Sharon Tate, the image of youth and at the peak of her career. Although the most foot-filled installment yet, Tarantino does do a great job of melding genres as he always does, shifting from action to comedy to pseudo-historical fiction. He lets his characters drive and define the narrative and Leonardo DiCaprio’s Rick Dalton is a wonder to watch navigate his surroundings with his trusty stunt double, Brad Pitt’s Cliff Booth. After you settle down from the absolute shock of the final scenes (no spoilers), cozy in and pick up these reads to bring you back to that Hollywood high.