I Know Tarantino Wants To Make Ten Movies, But If Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood Was His Last Picture, I Wouldn't Be Upset. Here's Why.

When I first heard that Tarantino wasn't making The Movie Critic as his next and final film, I was crestfallen. I mean, it seemed so perfect at the time.

Here was this celebrated director who was obviously one of cinema's biggest fans, and a movie about a film critic from the ‘70s just sounded like the perfect movie to close out his career.

At least, that's what I initially thought. Now, I'm starting to think that maybe it was for the best that Tarantino never made The Movie Critic. In fact, now that I think about it, I'd actually be perfectly happy if he never made another film for the rest of his life. And, that's only because he already made the perfect swan song, that being his ninth film, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood. So, not to be morbid or anything like that, but here's why I actually wouldn't mind if OUATIH was Tarantino’s very last movie ever.

Firstly, A Story About Late '60s Hollywood Feels Like A Fitting Conclusion To Tarantino's Career

Do you want to know my favorite Tarantino movie? It’s Pulp Fiction. I mean, it’s got to be, right? I know Inglourious Basterds has its fans (with some even thinking that it, and not Fiction, is Tarantino’s best movie), but for me, Fiction is where it’s at.

Well, the only reason why I bring this up is because even though it took place in the modern day (which would have been the ‘90s at the time), it honestly felt like it could have taken place in the ‘70s. Maybe it was the music. Perhaps it was the dancing. Or maybe it was just the overall vibe, but I honestly had to look up when it was supposed to take place, since it damn well felt like it was happening in the 1970s.

In fact, so does Jackie Brown, even though that also takes place in modern day times. This makes sense because it’s an homage to blaxploitation films. But, that’s the thing. Even when Tarantino’s movies take place in a specific time period, like Django Unchained, or my second favorite Tarantino movie, The Hateful Eight, they still just had that 70s aura to them (Samuel L. Jackson certainly helped to give them a ‘70s jive).

But, that’s why Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood feels so fitting as a final movie for the famed director. I want to think that he is intentionally harnessing that ‘70s energy, but even if he’s not, it certainly seems to find a way to creep into almost all of his movies.

And, OUATIH actually takes place in 1969, which is right on the cusp of the decade that would change cinema forever. We see actors portraying other major stars from the late ‘60s, such as Mike Moh as Bruce Lee, Damian Lewis as Steve McQueen, and Rafal Zawierucha as Roman Polanski, and it’s almost like the film is a love letter to the decade that Tarantino so clearly has reverence for. Oh, and it also has Margot Robbie portraying Sharon Tate, who I’ll get into next.

The Movie Ends On A Happy Note

Now, here’s the thing. Even though I find Django Unchained to be extremely satisfying, I also find it to be pure fantasy, and that’s only because Django gets to kill all the bad guys, and ride away with his wife, Broomhilda, without seemingly any consequences. In other words, for once, we get a slave movie where we cheer rather than cry at the end.

It’s fun, and so is Inglourious Basterds, where Hitler gloriously gets killed, and you feel like justice is served, if only in a movie. These two films represent for me the alternate history films of Tarantino.

And, if not for The Hateful Eight coming between Django and OUATIH, I would actually consider it Tarantino’s Alternate History trilogy, as Django, Basterds, and Hollywood all alter history in a way to give us more satisfying endings to what happened in reality.

Here’s the strange thing, though. Out of stories centered around slavery, Nazis, and the Manson murders, it’s the latter that kind of throws me for the biggest loop. It might be because Sharon Tate not being brutally murdered feels like a more specific happy ending than what we got in Django or Basterds.

This also makes it feel like the most fitting ending to Tarantino’s career because it’s SUCH a happy ending. Tate’s death was so tragic and horrific, that it really did kind of set a tone for the grittiness of the ‘70s, and the director rewriting that history (it is called, “Once Upon a Time…” after all) does feel like a wholesome way to end a career of films that has often been so bloodstained. It really is quite nice.

It's Also A Highly Respected Film, And Some People's Favorite Tarantino Movie

Also, when ranking Tarantino’s movies, OUATIH usually gets put very close to the top, and I’ve even talked to people who think it’s his best film, so why not end on a high note?

This is yet another reason why I think Tarantino may want to cap off his career with this 2019 movie, because even though it was quite a while ago, people are still talking about it.

This is no small feat, because the filmmaker himself was the one who said that he wanted to stop at 10. But, would anybody really be upset if we didn’t get that tenth film? Just think of all of the directors who made their best movies earlier in their careers, and then their subsequent films landed like a wet fart?

For instance, I love Alfred Hitchcock (fyi, some of his best movies are on Netflix, but they’re leaving soon), but I don’t think anybody would say that his last movie, Family Plot, was his best. I mean, just think if he had ended his career on 1963’s The Birds, or better yet, 1960’s Psycho. Or, what about if Kurosawa’s last movie wasn’t the comedy-drama, Madadayo, but rather, the deeply personal movie, Dreams?

Thankfully, Tarantino’s career has pretty much been rock solid all the way through (*ahem* I won’t bring up Death Proof if you don’t), but still, wouldn’t it be better if he had at least EIGHT certified bangers in his career and ended on a strong note like Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood? But, I have one last reason why I would want this to be his final film.

Lastly, After Seeing The Movie Critic Get Scrapped, My Expectations Would Be Even Higher For Whatever Might Come Next

Now, I know a lot of this article might sound like I don’t think Tarantino is capable of making an amazing final picture, but that couldn’t be further from the truth! Like I mentioned at the top, I was really looking forward to The Movie Critic, and I was pretty bummed when he announced that he wasn’t pursuing it.

But, that immediately made me think, well, what WILL his final movie be then? The idea of what it could be started to get bigger and bigger and bigger in my imagination until I ultimately had to calm down, because that’s really not healthy for me.

Not only that, but it could only lead to my disappointment. Because after he scrapped The Movie Critic, I can’t help but think that whatever he decides to actually make has to be the greatest movie in the world if he didn’t think Critic was up to snuff, and that’s not good, because now I’m only setting myself up for disappointment

And, I don’t want to be disappointed by Tarantino’s final film! Now, I don’t want to say that people are anticipating his last flick like they’re anticipating George R.R. Martin's The Winds of Winter. That said, since Tarantino himself has decided that he wants to make 10 movies, then that means the last one HAS to be his greatest, right?

Right? Well, maybe not, but that’s how fans build things up in their heads. So, why bother? People unanimously love OUATIH, and, while I’m sure people would be upset if that was his last movie, at least if it was, we’d already know that his final film was a masterpiece.

What do you think? Would you be okay if Tarantino stopped at number 9? I’d love to hear your thoughts.