Last week, I watched Once Upon a Time In Hollywood (2019) in a cinema here (finally), which reminded me of my trip to Hollywood over 5 years ago. I took the Amtrak's Sunset Limited train from New Orleans, and arrived at Los Angeles after about 45 hours. As its name suggests, it was an epic journey packed with amazing sunset views. I'd also recommend the California Zephyr one between Chicago and San Francisco, another excellent train route! I just adore train travels. :)
Ok, let me come back to Hollywood, so I went through the photos I took there, and picked some to share with you. The head photo is my entry for the #monomad challenge and the Cityscape Photography Contest. The Chinese part below is my review of the movie. Now let's start for a short photo trip in the central area of Hollywood!
Talking about Hollywood, that famous large sign on a hill might pop up to your mind? Before I went to Los Angeles, I thought this birthplace of the U.S. film industry is a community based on a hill. ;)
In fact, Hollywood is a neighborhood located to the west and northwest of downtown Los Angeles. It's flanked by Hollywood Hills to the north where we see that big sign. The sign on Mount Lee used to be "Hollywoodland" advertising a housing development. Later in 1949, the "land" was removed from the sign in its rebuilding to refer to the entire district.
Many of my photos here were taken on the Hollywood Boulevard, the core area at Hollywood & Highland district, where most tourist attractions are located. For example, you can see the TCL Chinese Theatre, the Dolby Theatre, the Hollywood Wax Museum...
The TCL (Grauman's) Chinese Theatre has a funky palace-type exterior, and was declared a historic and cultural landmark in 1968. I'm very sure it's not designed by Chinese after seeing it, haha. It's such a weird building but quite eye-catching. It reminds me of the Crazy House I visited in Da Lat, Vietnam. And its IMAX theatre features one of the largest movie screens in North America.
In front of the Chinese Theatre, you can check out the historic Hollywood Walk of Fame. It contains the hand and foot prints as well as the signatures of popular stars from the 1920's through today.
If you are only a tourist like me, you can get awarded as well! Look at me - Woman of the Millennium! ;) I sent some cards to my friends from here and bought a Best Mama key chain for my mom. She is still using it now. :)
Since its completion in 2001, the Dolby Theatre has been acting as the home of the Academy Awards (Oscars) ceremony. The well-known Hard Rock Cafe sits between The Dolby Theatre and CTL (Grauman's) Chinese Theatre. The Hollywood Wax Museum is also closeby, and sexy Marilyn Monroe has been greeting passers-by on the street.
At last, a fun fact - something to do with us weird Chinese again:
According to the diary of H. J. Whitley, also known as the "Father of Hollywood", on his honeymoon in 1886 he stood at the top of the hill looking out over the valley. Along came a Chinese man in a wagon carrying wood. The man got out of the wagon and bowed. The Chinese man was asked what he was doing and replied, "I holly-wood," meaning 'hauling wood.' H. J. Whitley had an epiphany and decided to name his new town Hollywood. "Holly" would represent England and "wood" would represent his Scottish heritage. Whitley had already started over 100 towns across the western United States.
上周终于找空去影院把《好莱坞往事》给看了，可以说是惊喜和惊吓并存，满足与失落齐飞。看电影时当然没拍照，连海报也忘了拍，就找了以前在好莱坞玩时拍的一些照片来。上面英文部分介绍了点关于好莱坞的小知识，中文主要八卦下电影。
看到很多昆汀以往电影中常见的元素，还有向多部老电影和60年代好莱坞的致敬。然鹅，我在这里不打算分析大师的各种手法或者两位帅哥的主线情节，而是聊点那条支线引出的背景故事。
看片前没看任何剧情或背景介绍，只是因为是昆汀粉，觉得应该珍惜他为数不多的作品，而且据说这之后他只会再拍一部长片。以前只知道取名于曼森团伙的玛丽莲曼森乐队和导演波兰斯基，后者是因为看过他的几部电影比如《钢琴师》，不知道曼森那伙人住在Spanh Ranch，还有波兰斯基惨遭杀害的女星老婆叫Sharon Tate，所以观影时对好几个场景一头雾水，特别是Sharon那条线发生的事。于是，看完后恶补了一下历史， 加上好奇心驱使的连环搜索，看了很多那段时期的纪录片，从意式西部片看到嬉皮文化看到撒旦恐慌，不出意外的又搭进去比电影本身还长的时间。
来趁热记录几点领悟八卦：
1969年8月的谋杀案到本月正好50周年，不知道是不是因为这个原因选在这两个月首映，虽然5月在Cannes已经偷偷放过，当时昆汀还恳请第一批观众不要剧透。
看到一些纪录片中出现杀人团伙幕后头目Charles Manson年轻时的样子，恍然大悟片中皮特在屋顶上大秀肌肉时，下面的那个路人甲就是他。
李小龙曾是Sharon Tate的武术教练，难怪那场她看自己电影的戏里，亮出了她跟李小龙学艺的片段。拍李小龙被整这段时皮特觉得不妥，据说其他剧组人员也恐有种族歧视之嫌，但昆汀还是坚持了他的艺术自由。看片时全场也就我一个亚洲人，虽然明白这只是电影，而且当时的李小龙还没有很红，但看着一代武术大师以那种姿态出现还是有点小吃惊啊~ 后来果然看到报道说李小龙女儿指责昆汀贬损她父亲形象……
查资料时，看到当时4人谋杀团伙的其中一女也搭过车，跟片中搭车皮叔的Pussycat一样都住过Spanh Ranch。那这个被曼森洗脑的迷妹凶手搭过谁的车呢？据说是大名鼎鼎的The Beach Boys乐队的鼓手Dennis的车，这也是头目Charles Manson跟鼓手Dennis结识的起源。后来曼森被Dennis引荐给音乐制作人Terry，因为没有得到重用而起复仇之心。他去过Terry在比弗利山Cielo Drive的家，后来出租给了波兰斯基夫妇，也正是无辜谋杀发生的地点。不过这倒算不上剧透喔，因为昆汀并没有让一样的历史在电影里重演，他重点讲述的是两位虚构男主的挣扎和奋斗。就像他的很多其他作品，暴力美学中夹带着黑色幽默，结局总是让人讶异，同时又有着如释重负的快感。
最让我眼前一亮的必须是那个给小李子上了一课的8岁小女孩，妥妥的童星，潜力无限。
还有跟小李子在《华尔街之狼》里搭过戏的实力派大美女Margot Robbie，虽然戏份不多，但演技真是没话说。说是原本受害女星Sharon的姐姐不赞成拍这部电影，但去片场看到Margot后立刻如沐春风，还把妹妹生前的首饰借给她戴。几个月前刚在同一影院看了《苏格兰玛丽女王》， 她在里面演伊丽莎白一世，自毁美女形象，却斩获无数好评。还有还有，她前年塑造的花样滑冰选手Tonya……
最后，再来个真正的八卦：看到片中小李子去趟意大利带回的老婆种种很意呆利的行为，还以为女演员是意大利人，不想竟是昆汀自己去年刚迎娶的以色列模特。 然后，今年刚离婚的皮特又莫名躺枪，被小报造谣称恋上片中饰演Sharon聚会女友的演员，就因为她长得有点像前妻安吉丽娜朱莉，而事实上，这位女演员只是短暂出镜，他们连同框的场面都没有…… 不得不佩服这些小报的想象力啊~。
Here's a video by Screen Rant about the hidden clues and Easter eggs in the movie:
- 25 Things You Missed In Once Upon A Time In Hollywood
图文 by Donica多
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