Starting today, users in Vietnam can download Tinder Lite: the smallest (taking up 25x less space on your phone), fastest (25 percent speedier, btw) and most cost-effective (reducing data use by 20 percent) Tinder experience ever.
Even with these impressive changes under the hood, Tinder Lite is still the Tinder you’ve grown to love. You can discover new people around you, Like or Nope profiles and chat with matches who Like you, too.
More good news: you only need one Tinder account to use both the Tinder and Tinder Lite apps. Just choose which experience you prefer based on their network conditions. And if you’re a Tinder Plus/Gold subscriber, you’ll also be able to access your premium upgrades using Tinder Lite, too.
Tinder Lite can be downloaded from the Google Play Store in Vietnam here.
Additional information about Tinder Lite be found here. Stay tuned for more updates.
TODAY — HRC JOINS DNC AT LGBTQ COMMUNITY BREAKFAST AHEAD OF DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE IN DETROIT: Representatives from HRC, the DNC and the local Detroit LGBTQ community will discuss priority issues facing LGBTQ people, including fighting discrimination on the federal and state level, preventing HIV and working to end violence against the LGBTQ people — and specifically transwomen of color. More here.
REPORT FROM NYC MEDICAL EXAMINER — TRANSGENDER WOMAN HELD IN SOLITARY AT RIKERS ISLAND DIED DUE TO SEIZURES CAUSED BY EPILEPSY: Says Layleen Polcano’s lawyer in a written statement yesterday, her epilepsy “was well-known to DOC and she suffered multiple seizures on Rikers. On 5/30, a jail doctor approved her placement in punitive segregation, despite her epilepsy. That became her death warrant.” Read more at Gay City News and NY Daily News.
HRC RESPONDS TO TRUMP’S VISIT TO JAMESTOWN,VA.: “Two years after his ‘both sides’ comments about Charlottesville, President Trump and Virginia’s Republican legislative leadership couldn’t be more in sync — both in terms of policy and rhetoric,” said HRC National Press Secretary for Campaigns Lucas Acosta (@LucasRAcosta). “Since then, Trump has tried to divide Virginians with his continued attacks on LGBTQ people, people of color and working families.” More from WTVR.
While many Democrats boycotted the Trump event, Virginia Del. Danica Roem (@pwcdanica) says she chose to attend with Austyn Higgs, a transwoman of color and health care advocate from Richmond, to “have a presence to promote a narrative of inclusion and to counter the ‘vitriol and division’ going on at the national level,” reports the Prince William Times.
WHAT WE’RE READING WEDNESDAY — GOLFER AND ACTIVIST TADD FUJIKAWA (@TADD_FUJIKAWA) RECEIVES HRC VISIBILITY AWARD: “I know that when I was struggling with my own sexuality and coming to terms with that, seeing other people sharing their truth, being authentic and sharing their story really, really helped me and gave me hope,” Fujikawa told HRC. “It made me feel that I wasn’t alone — and that’s the main reason why I came out. I wanted to do the same thing for others and pass it on.” More from HRC.
Athlete and activist @Tadd_Fujikawa became the first male professional golfer to come out as gay to help others by being visibile. @HRC was honored to present him with the HRC Visibility Award. t.co/rl82J2wFtL
WOMP WOMP! ANTI-LGBTQ VIRGINIA REPUBLICANS TRY, FAIL TO CENSURE ONE OF THEIR OWN FOR OFFICIATING SAME-SEX MARRIAGE CEREMONY: The doomed motion had been introduced in the 5th Congressional District Republican Committee to express formal disapproval of Rep. Denver Riggleman’s (R-VA) act for “failing to uphold the Republican Party platform” on same-sex marriage. More from NBC.
LOOKING ACROSS FAITH, A PUSH FOR LGBTQ INCLUSION CONTINUES INSIDE THE CHURCH: More from Jackson, Mississippi’s WLBT.
HRC RESPONDS TO SEPARATION OF CHILDREN FROM PARENTS WITH HIV AT THE U.S.-MEXICO BORDER: Said David Stacy (@david_stacy), HRC Director of Government Affairs: “It is illegal under federal law to use HIV status as a bar to entry into the United States and should never be used as a reason to separate families. The cruelty of the Trump-Pence Administration knows no bounds.” More from Washington Blade.
GLOBAL EQUALITY NEWS
LESBIAN WOMAN DEPORTED TO UGANDA FACES DIFFICULTIES RETURNING TO THE UNITED KINGDOM: PN, whose full name cannot be disclosed, sought asylum in the U.K. on the basis of her sexual orientation, but was sent back to Uganda. Read more from Independent.
TWO SUSPECTS ARRESTED AFTER ATTACK ON A TEENAGER LAST WEEK OUTSIDE A TEL AVIV LGBTQ YOUTH HOSTEL: More from The Times of Israel.
LGBTQ CELEBRITIES AND ORGANIZATIONS CALL ON UK GOVERNMENT TO REFORM GENDER IDENTITY LAWS: Advocates sent a letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson noting that the U.K. was “lagging behind” other countries “in terms of legal equality for trans and non-binary people.” More from BBC.
TRANSGENDER ASYLUM SEEKERS TO LOSE LEGAL PROTECTIONS POST-BREXIT: “The protection of trans rights, currently enshrined in E.U. laws and treaties, is set to be dismantled once Britain leaves the union,” writes Maddie Grounds from Immigration Advice Services (@iasimmigration) in an oped. More from Openly.
HORRIBLE — RUSSIA SEPARATES CHILDREN FROM SAME-SEX PARENTS UNDER ‘LGBTQ PROPAGANDA’ LAW: More from LGBTQ Nation.
READING RAINBOW – Bookmark now to read on your lunch break!
Outsports reports on openly gay Australian rugby player Simon Dunn (@BySimonDunn) fighting back against anti-LGBTQ online comments; U.S. Soccer announces that Jill Ellis (@USWNT), who led the U.S. Women’s National Team to historic back-to-back FIFA Women’s World Cup titles, plans to step down as head coach.
For everything she has done and everything she has meant to this program we say, THANK YOU ❤️
The Top European Cities You Should Visit For a Romantic Getaway Before Summer Ends
Nothing beats escaping the hustle and bustle of daily life and travelling somewhere hot and sunny with the one you love, but with so many great places to visit it can be hard to narrow down where exactly you should go. Phillip Garlick from travel money experts H&T, reveals his top recommendations for romantic city […]
U.S. SOCCER SUPERSTAR MEGAN RAPINOE TALKS WITH NYTIMES MAGAZINE ABOUT HER ACTIVISM, RELATIONSHIP WITH SOCCER AND LOVE OF CELEBRATING: “In this incredible moment that I have, I would like to use this platform to unify people. That doesn’t mean get everybody to the left, but I want to bring everybody to the conversation, and the basis of it is equal rights,” said Rapinoe (@mPinoe). Read the full interview here.
TUESDAY TWEET — HRC HOSTS TWITTER CHAT TO MARK MINORITY MENTAL HEALTH MONTH: HRC was joined online by partners across the country to break down the stigma surrounding mental health in LGBTQ communities and communities of color. Check out the conversation at #MMHMChat.
Yes, exactly.
We have to explicitly name the impact of racism, heterosexism and cissexism on mental health in LGBTQ communities of color. #MHMMChatt.co/FV7CHH0Ajj
LGBTQ MIGRANTS & ASYLUM SEEKERS FACE “BURDEN OF PROOF” OF THEIR IDENTITIES WHEN ENTERING THE U.S.: “Migrants are forced to reveal private and intimate details about their lives to meet the burden of proof — from the moment they first realized they were queer and/or trans to how many partners they’ve had,” writes Justin Agrelo (@JstnAgrlo) for the Chicago Reader. “An individual judge’s cultural biases have a considerable impact on whether or not an LGBTQ migrant will be granted asylum.” Read the full piece here.
NEW REPORT FROM CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS FINDS BETSY DEVOS IS FAILING TO PROTECT LGBTQ STUDENTS’ CIVIL RIGHTS: More from CAP and The New York Times.
.@LGBTProgress found that under the Trump-Pence administration, LGBTQ-related complaints were 9x less likely to result in corrective action than under the Obama administration.
RECENT DATA SHOWS MORE BLACK WOMEN ARE IDENTIFYING AS BISEXUAL: Twenty-three percent of Black women ages 18 to 34 now identify as bi — that’s three times higher than it was 10 years ago. Over the last decade, bisexualwomen have accounted for almost all the growth among those who identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual. Read more from Newsone.
LOS ANGELES MOVES TO FORMALLY INCLUDE LGBTQ BUSINESSES IN THE CONTRACT PROCESS: With the change, L.A. becomes the largest city in the U.S. to do so. More from Forbes.
OPENLY GAY & HIV POSITIVE PRIEST JIDE MACAULAY WORKS TO END STIGMA AND ADVOCATE FOR INCLUSION: Macaulay (@RevJide) advocates for LGBTQ inclusion and the inclusion of people who are HIV positive in the Church of England. More from PinkNews.
LGBTQ MEDIA GROUP GAY STAR NEWS TO CLOSE TODAY: More from PinkNews.
GLOBAL EQUALITY NEWS
FIRST OPENLY TRANS LAWMAKER IN PHILIPPINES URGES COLLEAGUES TO PASS BILL PROTECTING LGBTQ COMMUNITY: More from Manila Bulletin.
HUNDREDS MARCH AGAINST ANTI-TRANSGENDER VIOLENCE IN TEL AVIV: In the wake of a suspected hate crime outside a local LGBTQ center, the marchers denounced violence against Israel’s transgender community. More from The Times of Israel.
IN ADDITION TO GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN, TRANSGENDER PEOPLE AND QUEER WOMEN ARE ALSO TARGETS OF CHECHNYA’S ANTI-LGBTQ PURGE: Read the full piece from Natalie Vikhrov (@natalievikhrov) at BuzzFeed.
Amin Dzhabrailov, a gayman who was persecuted and tortured in Chechnya, speaks out about his experience. More from TIME.
READING RAINBOW – Bookmark now to read on your lunch break!
Midland Reporter-Telegram reports that Texas student Madeleine Mathis has organized the area’s first-ever local Pride event; Complex reports that Lil Nas X song “Old Town Road” has broken the record for the longest time at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100.
Wish you could find the info you need and change the settings more easily? Good news! We are happy to inform you that the chat menu in the latest version of the LINE app is getting an upgrade.
The menu icon in the top-right corner of chat has been redesigned — before it had been a “V” icon, but with the latest update, it is now a “hamburger” menu (三, three horizontal lines).
Now you can access the feature settings, such as invite, note, album, and search, all in one place. It’s easier than ever to find the photos, video links and files that you shared in chat.
Icona Pop, KamalaCare, Typewriter, Ariana Grande, Now Apocalypse, John Oliver, Fortnite, Gay Metropolis: HOT LINKS
KAMALACARE. Kamala Harris unveils health care plan: ‘Harris’ offering maintains her commitment to universal health coverage — demanded by her party’s base — while lowering the temperature among the guardians of Obamacare who fear that overreaching would wipe out their hard-fought gains. Kathleen Sebelius, who served as Health and Human Services secretary in the Obama administration and was consulted on Harris’ plan, blessed it as “a smart way to get to Medicare for All where all individuals and employers can transition smoothly into a system that covers everyone.”’
JOHN OLIVER. A ruthless takedown of British PM Boris Johnson. “Given that Britain’s new leader is a clownish figure with silly hair and a passing relationship with the truth, you may already be thinking of the person you’re almost always thinking about anyway.”
UBER AND LYFT. How 2020 candidates compare on ride-sharing services. “California Sen. Kamala Harris’s campaign handily outspent the rest of the pack, expensing 81 Uber and 73 Lyft rides in the first six months of 2019, totaling $8,835 and $5,873, respectively. Campaigns are averaging about $4,800 each on the apps, with the front-runners all spending near $10,000 for rides in the filing period.”
SURGE. Nearly half of House Democrats now support impeachment. ‘The four who issued their support on Sunday, all from Washington state, bring the total number of House Democrats who have publicly said they’d vote for an impeachment inquiry to 107 — 11 shy of a majority of the Democratic Caucus — with backers of an inquiry promising there are more waiting in the wings.’
GILROY. Garlic festival gunman IDed as Santino William Legan: ‘Santino Legan had an Instagram page with just three posts, including one post made days before the shooting and two posted on Sunday. The one most disturbing appears to have been posted shortly before the shooting. “Ayyy garlic festival time. Come get wasted on overpriced shit.”’
X. New Hampshire to allow ‘X’ as gender on driver’s licenses: ‘Gov. Chris Sununu allowed House Bill 669 to become law this week without his signature. It allows driver’s licenses or non-driver identification cards to be marked “M” for male, “F” for female or “X” for other.’
STREAMING NEWS. YouTube and Netflix will be coming to Tesla cars.
Ability to stream YouTube & Netflix when car is stopped coming to your Tesla soon! Has an amazingly immersive, cinematic feel due to the comfy seats & surround sound audio.
RUSSIA. Vladimir Putin critic hospitalized after being poisoned: ‘Navalny was taken by ambulance to the hospital early on Sunday morning from the jail with what authorities said was a “severe allergic reaction,” his spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh wrote on Twitter. Initially, one of Navalny’s close colleagues suggested the cause was likely unsanitary conditions in the jail, but by the evening Navalny’s lawyer released a statement from his long-time doctor saying that his symptoms were the result of “an undefined chemical substance.”‘
NOW APOCALYPSE. It could have a second life, says Gregg Araki: “We are shopping for a new home since the show’s cheap, and with the most amazing cast and incredibly passionate fanbase. The fan reaction let me know that the people who watched it got it exactly as I hoped. The show really is a dream come true for me. I love it so much and am so proud of the work we all did together. And regardless of what happens, I’m happy knowing that it will live forever in the streaming/sharing cosmos. As far as our demo goes, we were told when we got greenlit that, in the wake of their successful app launch, Starz was planning on courting a new younger audience that doesn’t currently live on the channel. And that our show was going to be a part of that effort. Clearly, that’s all changed.”
DRAMA QUEEN. Michael Ausiello series headed to HBO. ‘The single-cameraDrama Queen is set in the 1980s and centers on a closeted, TV-obsessed teenager who copes with the harsh realities — and relative mundaneness — of life in small-town New Jersey by escaping to an alternate soap opera universe of his own creation.’
TRUMP AND PENCE HAVE MADE IT CLEAR WHERE THEY STAND ON LGBTQ PEOPLE: More from HRC.
1/ �������� ���� ��������������: From day one of this administration, Donald Trump and Mike Pence have ruthlessly attacked the rights and livelihoods of LGBTQ people or otherwise neglected the injustices inflicted on them. t.co/5r7YiaSWFU
HRC STANDS WITH THOSE GRIEVING IN THE WAKE OF ANOTHER TRAGIC SHOOTING AT THE GILROY GARLIC FESTIVAL: More from HRC.
Our hearts are with those grieving in the wake of another tragic shooting, this time at the Gilroy Garlic Festival. @HRC demands action from lawmakers in the face of more lives needlessly taken, more hearts broken and more dreams shattered due to gun violence.
MUST WATCH MONDAY — YOUNG TRANS MAN DESCRIBES BEING BARRED FROM MILITARY: “That’s the most blatant discrimination I’ve faced in my life…It says that we need to be silenced…That we aren’t deserving or we aren’t good enough to be able to serve our country,” says Lucas, describing how the Trump-Pence administration’s ban on transgender service members upended his life. Watch at HRC.
It has been two years since Trump’s reckless tweets created this ban. Learn about what advocates have been doing to stop the ban from Lambda Legal and HRC.
MAN CHARGED WITH HATE CRIMES IN CONNECTION WITH JUNE ATTACK ON TRANS WOMAN IN JACKSON HEIGHTS, NYC: David Gonzalez, 34, faces two counts of felony assault as a hate crime, aggravated harassment as a hate crime and aggravated harassment. More from Advocate.
LIL NAS X SONG “OLD TOWN ROAD” TIES RECORD FOR MOST TIME AT #1 ON THE BILLBOARD HOT 100: More from Billboard.
ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK’S FINAL SEASON PREMIERES ON NETFLIX: More from Autostraddle.
The final season of @OITNB streams today on @Netflix. ��
YES! You got that right. Plenty of Fish IS a FREE dating app/site which means you can download and use the platform all for free. You can do so for iPhone here, Android here and Desktop here! What do I get with a free POF membership? Your profile creation You can add 8 photos on […]
LGBTQ World News Digest: 7 International Stories You Need to Know About
AUSTRALIA. Melbourne artists’ work “Taste the Feeling” removed for homophobia? ‘The collage, which includes the faces of right-wing Australian politicians alongside slogans such as “God hates fags” used by the notoriously homophobic Westboro Baptist Church in the US, was removed after a complaint was posted on the gallery’s Facebook page saying that the artwork “spewed homophobic hatred”.’
CHECHNYA. TIME profiles Amin Dzhabrailov, who escaped the “gay purge” in Chechnya and is now speaking out: ‘Though he admitted to being gay, Dzhabrailov says the violence escalated when he refused to name other gaymen. The men took out a black box that Dzhabrailov presumed was a lie detector but that turned out to be a machine that delivered electric shocks. They attached wires to his fingers and put water on his body to help the current travel more effectively. “It was so painful, you’re just screaming, that’s all you could do,” he says. Eventually one of the men pulled out a gun, put it into Dzhabrailov’s mouth and threatened to kill him if he didn’t give up names. “At this moment, I myself, died,” he says. As he describes this part of his ordeal, he struggles through tears and an inability to find all the words he wants in English. “I was so lost,” he repeats. “I was so lost.”’
POLAND. Bialystock holds first LGBT Pride parade assaulted by thousands of anti-LGBTQ protesters. “The marchers at the first gay pride parade here in the conservative Polish city of Bialystok expected that they would be met with resistance. But last week when Katarzyna Sztop-Rutkowska saw the angry mob of thousands that awaited the marchers, who numbered only a few hundred, she was shocked. ‘The most aggressive were the football hooligans, but they were joined by normal people — people with families, people with small children, elderly people,’ she said. They blocked her way, first hurling invective, then bricks and stones and fireworks, she said. From the balconies, people threw eggs and rotten vegetables. Even before the march started, there were violent confrontations, and by the time the tear gas cleared and the crowd dispersed, dozens were injured and Poland was left reeling.”
PALAU. Palau President Tommy Remengesau Jr backs same-sex marriage: “Those who are different doesn’t mean that they should be outcast, second class citizens, or that they can’t contribute to the community. So I want to make it clear that I don’t believe in the constitutional amendment that promote discrimination. I want it to be on record that I support the rights of each individual, any Palauan, to be treated equally…Let us treat each other with respect and dignity.”
Conor Burns (Photo: Official Parliament Portrait – CC-BY-3.0)
UNITED KINGDOM. Boris Johnson names gay man as Trade Minister: ‘Burns, a member of the Conservative Party, captured attention in 2012 when he voiced opposition to marriage equality legislation on religious grounds and suggested there was “no clamour for this at all within the gay community,” News Letterreported. The out politician ultimately supported legislation when language was inserted assuring religious institutions would not be forced to host ceremonies.’
— Department for International Trade (@tradegovuk) July 25, 2019
CHINA. Gay Chinese go on ‘Rainbow Cruise’ to Vietnam: ‘During the five-day return voyage, they could attend workshops, talks and activities including speed dating on board the cruise ship, and get support and advice on LGBT issues. It was also a place for some, like Yang, to come out. In its third year, the annual event in June was organised by PFLAG China, an NGO based in Guangzhou that supports the LGBT community, their parents and friends. It is held on a cruise ship because it is difficult to find a venue for a mass LGBT event in mainland China, where homosexuality is not openly discussed.’
Brad & Leo Shine in ‘Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood’ — Movie Review
Brad & Leo make a dreamy dream team
[Spoiler-free review] Here’s the best way to know that you’re inside an auteur’s movie. It’s impossible to imagine it having been made by anyone else. Quentin Tarantino’s 10th feature film (creatively referred to as his 9th, presumably to give him a retirement out after his various “I’ll quit after 10 films!” proclamations) is a fable about Hollywood. The movie begins in 1968 and ends in the summer of 1969 when the very pregnant actress Sharon Tate, Roman Polanski’s new wife, and her house guests were all brutally murdered by the Manson family. Any number of filmmakers could have made a movie about that infamous year in California, but only Tarantino could have made Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood.
Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate, dancing the night away in 1968
Historical events, real ones at least, have never been as sacred to Tarantino as the history of the movies. Whenever he’s dipped into “history” — Django Unchained, Inglourious Basterds — it’s been as emotionally loaded prefab worlds from which to spin his own idiosyncratic yarns. In this regard Once Upon a Time is no exception. To this viewer, though, his latest movie feels closer in spirit to Pulp Fiction. It’s even tempting, though inaccurate and glib, to describe Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood as a movie length riff on that restaurant scene in Pulp Fiction from the POV of the waiters “Marilyn” and “Elvis”, what with all the famous actors masquerading as other famous actors.
Though we spend intermittent time with the then-rising star Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie, luminous if not much more given the confines of the role) she’s more decor than subject. The story is about Tate’s fictional next door neighbor, TV star Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio, in his best star turn since at least The Departed) and his stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt, still a f***ing movie star!). Dalton and Booth are minor Hollywood players now, their glory years behind them. Dalton has been reduced to guest star appearances as the “heavy” on various TV shows and Booth rarely works as a stuntman, earning his meager living as a kind of hired-friend. Booth’s primary work is as Dalton’s driver.
Brad somehow still has his Thelma & Louise body 28 years later
We spend a lot of time with the two men in the car, driving to and from the star’s home. Among the many glorious and funny visual touches (Barbara Ling is the production designer) is a cutout detail from a billboard or movie poster, bearing what I think is bad painting of Rick Dalton’s face, that’s used to mark Dalton’s reserved parking spot… at his own home. Booth’s junkier car gets the non-marked spot right next to it.
The first time I went to Los Angeles alone in the early Aughts, I didn’t rent a car. The mistake — which I chalked up to living in New York City where everyone walks — was readily apparent. There were few pedestrian friendly sidewalks. People were staring. Every subsequent trip has involved lots of time in cars, rentals or ubers. Sometimes the distance between where you’re coming from and where you’re going is quite short, but try telling that to the traffic. Time stretches on indefinitely. My mind kept drifting to all that vehicular stasis during the movie’s longueurs. ‘Where is this picture going and why is it taking so long to get… Ooh, this scene is fun!’
Lena Dunham, Margaret Qualley and Brad Pitt in one of the film’s lengthiest scenes, spent at the ranch where the Manson family lived
Once Upon a Time’s connective tissue between its episodes is spent on the streets and highways of Los Angeles, with Booth chauffeuring us, or Dalton, or, in one particularly memorable foot-fetishist-friendly scene, Manson-acolyte “Pussycat” (Margaret Qualley), through the mythic town. Once Upon a Time… has been described as a “hangout” movie which is the nicest possible way to refer to its indulgent nearly 3 hour running time… and perhaps the most accurate, too.
Still, unlike the frankly tiresome running times of Tarantino’s recent films (I absolutely cannot with The Hateful Eight), Once Upon a Time is a surprisingly pleasant way to while away three hours, barring two politically questionable sequences. One thankfully brief scene that we wish had been cut makes a kind of joke out of violence against women (a strange misstep given the sympathetic treatment of the Tate subplot). The other pits Bruce Lee (a hugely entertaining cameo from Mike Moh) against Booth in a dick measuring fight that’s half performative for the crew on the set of one of Dalton’s shows. This fight scene narratively serves to demonstrate to the audience how formidable Booth is since we only know of him up this point as a washed-up stuntman. There was surely a way to set that up without the ludicrous suggestion that he’d be Bruce Lee’s equal (my plus one at the screening, a longtime cinephile friend, singled out the scene as his least favorite, “As a minority, I get so sick of ‘Mighty Whitie!’”).
Mike Moh in a (hopefully) star-making cameo as Bruce Lee
Those two scenes aside, the movie is funny, visually memorable, and even kind of sweet, which is not typically an adjective anyone would dole out to a Tarantino picture.
Dalton is briefly lured away to Italy snag the leading roles he can’t get in Hollywood (Al Pacino has a lot of fun in his cameo doing the luring). Yet the bulk of the picture concerns the industry town itself and its tangled mix of haves (Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski), hangers on (Emile Hirsch as Tate’s close friend/former lover Jay Sebring), used-to-haves (Dalton) and have-nots (Booth). All that plus the fringe dwellers (the Manson family) who are geographically close but live in an entirely different world.
Though several scenes and glorious recreations of historic movie marquees remind us of Tarantino’s love of cinema history, the movie’s stealth subject appears to be the loneliness of stardom, and its stealth tribute is to 1960s television. When Sharon Tate wanders the town stopping to check out one of her own movies, she feels enormous pride when the audience reacts well to her performance. Yet in every sequence in which she looks radiantly happy she is notably alone. Later, it’s weirdly moving (and funny!) when Dalton is all-too excited to watch an episode of FBI he guests on with Booth, who appears to be his only friend. In the best and lengthiest Dalton-specific episode we spend a day with him on set where he struggles with his dialogue and ridicules himself alone in his trailer before meeting a child star (Julia Butters, a major scene-stealer) who inspires him to up his game.
Cliff and Rick spend nearly all their free time together
The scene that, to this non-Angelenos, works to signify this film experience best as a whole, complete with all of its meanderings, comes early. At first it plays like ‘why didn’t you cut this?’ nothingness. The scene is a solo affair with no obvious narrative purpose. We’re in the car with Booth as he drives from Dalton’s expensive home, tearing through the streets of LA like he’s filming a stunt-driving scene. This indulgence, which must only be for atmosphere, morphs into something moving and fun and hazy-dreamy (cinematography by three time Oscar winner Robert Richardson) as the road stretches on and historic sites whiz by. Eventually we end up at the legendary Van Nuys Drive In. Our destination is, surprise, not the historic movie site, but a vacant lot behind it.
Brandy the pitbull steals all her scenes in “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood”
There Booth lives in a tiny trailer that he shares with his female pitbull Brandy (arguably the film’s most entertaining character). She waits obediently on the couch for her meal. One can of dog food slides grotesquely and sloooowwwly from its can — falling into its bowl with a memorable gelatinous plop. Then a second, of a different flavor but no less revolting color– lands on the top, splattering bits to the floor. She licks her lips in anticipation, comically. Time keeps stretching out. Booth/Tarantino isn’t done preparing this meal just yet. In a surprise twist Booth pulls some dry food from the cupboard, sprinkling it randomly and chaotically on top. It’s all too much. It shouldn’t be delicious. Maybe it’s not but we’re hungry. Brandy is finally given the sound cue, and leaps from the couch.
