Discover the the story, cast, themes and awards of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and find out how the Cliff Booth sequel widens Tarantino’s nostalgic world.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is a masterpiece of Quentin Tarantino which wraps up with a warm, sun-kissed love letter to the end of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Mixing true history with invention, the 2019 movie about friendship, waning fame and a shifting business is set against the backdrop of 1969 and the Tate murders. With its razor-sharp dialogue, iconic soundtrack and Tarantino’s most personal storytelling, it’s nostalgic and hypnotic — and with Cliff Booth making a comeback on Netflix in 2026, this cinematic universe is just expanding.
At its core “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” is a dramedy with historical elements and a dash of Tarantino’s style of revisionist history. The relative core tensions are the bittersweet decline of stardom, the allure (and dangers) of the counter-culture movement, and the power of camaraderie.
The setting is unmistakably Los Angeles, 1969, and that cataclysmic moment in culture is brilliantly conveyed ultimately not just through detailed period detail. From the classic cars to the classic clothes to the iconic Hollywood Hills — it’s a visual feast.
There was only one name that could be leading this offbeat vision: Quentin Tarantino. He wrote and directed the original screenplay and is an extraordinary storyteller.
Robert Richardson, a long-time Tarantino collaborator, shot the film’s gorgeous cinematography which perfectly captured the golden-hued era.
Barbara Ling’s production design and Arianne Phillips’ costume design transport us further into the world of the late 60s.
The story focuses on Rick’s destructive life and his struggles, in the year 1969 Los Angeles. There’s also his longtime pal and stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) — a disarming yet enigmatic war vet and the bangers and bangettes, among them his crony Max Cherry (Willem Dafoe). Two intersections in their lives are the shadow of the Manson Family and Rick’s neighbour, Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie).
The film soars in its weaving of their three tales, building to a cathartic and unforeseeable final act that re-imagines a historical tragedy. The slow burn lets us take in the atmosphere and character dynamics before a relentless finish.
Popular cast that played wonderful characters in the film:
Among the plethora of famous names, there are Al Pacino, Kurt Russell, Dakota Fanning, Bruce Dern, Emile Hirsch, Timothy Olyphant, Luke Perry, Margaret Qualley and many, many more actors of renown to be found in roles of significance, and it is not even close to just the primary three.
Watching both wonderful actors DiCaprio and Pitt together on their best performances is amazing. That’s what this movie is – their chemistry. Tarantino’s unique, nonlinear form of storytelling (with a few pop culture references), is a great, entertaining journey.
The soundtrack is tightly curated to evoke the feel of nostalgia that the film has at the center of it, and is overflowing with 60’s music, and practically narrates the story of one of the characters.
Production was mostly day for night, and indoor for outdoor in situ among the urban sprawls of Los Angeles, with several famous sites redressed or employed. From the outside of the Hollywood Boulevard stores to the classic cars and trucks twenty-six block Hollywood re-creation of 1969 is mesmerizing. The producers genuinely did go all out to make the viewers feel as though they were seeing something that was truly from the past.
The 2026 follow-up (The Adventures of Cliff Booth) keeps this pedigree intact but with a twist. Though it is written by Tarantino and produced by his long-time partners at Heyday Films, it is directed by David Fincher. News is a hefty $200 million budget, much of that used to recreate the gritty, neon-drenched aesthetic of ’70s L.A.
Due to its violence, language and drug use, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood received an R rating in the US. It was rated R (18+) by the Commission. This fits right into the pattern of Tarantino’s filmography which is always populated by films which bend the rules.
Film’s authenticity to the period, direction, and performances get critical acclaim. While its slow burn is felt by some viewers but still captivated by the unique combination of humor, drama and suspense.
It was well-reviewed, successful at the box office, and won a number of awards, among them the Academy Awards for Best Production Design and Best Supporting Actor (Brad Pitt).
For the sequel, the hype is at an all-time high due to the Fincher-Tarantino-Pitt “holy trinity” of talent.
The initial teaser for The Adventures of Cliff Booth made an unexpected appearance at Super Bowl LX Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (February 2026).
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Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is more than a film — it’s an experience. It’s nostalgia, reinvention, friendship, loss and love of cinema, all wrapped up in the unmistakable style of Tarantino. With its iconic performances, its hazy 1969 backdrop and its daring rewriting of history, it remains one of the most emotionally visceral chapters in Tarantino’s career. And with The Adventures of Cliff Booth on the horizon, this universe isn’t ending — it’s evolving.
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Best evergreen Hollywood movies to watch in 2023 Action, Romance, Fantasy and Sci-Fi.. From Titanic to Fast & Furious, these classic flicks never get old.
You will not want to miss evergreen hollywood movies, these movies are shared epic stories. Whether you like action-packed, sci-fi, mystery, romantic, or even historical, each genre has contained some evergreen movies of hollywood which focuses on delivering the best & unique story to entertain you with every second with the high moments of emotions, action, thriller, and romance.
You may be attracted to new movies but the blend of nostalgia will make your mood energetic but the hard work of the star’s potential and writers will give the hit of joy and make your time worth the watch.
There are a total of 10 main films of Fast & Furious and 2 spin-offs. The mainstream movie revolves around illegal street racing and spies. The casting stars are Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto, Paul Walker as Brian O’Conner, Michelle Rodriguez as Letty. The film series released in a sequence and included more interesting stories with a blend of emotional scenes with the concept of family. The film takes you to a wild action of international heists .
James Bond Film, the plot is centered around the task to bankrupt Le Chiffre, a private banker who is a bad guy. Bond is betrayed by his friend in Casino Royal, when he hands over the password to Le Chiffre after that Bond returns to M16.
The Spy Agent, James Bond sequel with a combination of action, thriller and espionage in Skyfall. Bond was hit accidentally in the beginning of the movie but a well-trained agent cannot be easily dead. The film centered on a concept of emotions, legacy, and loyalty. This full action-packed movie starred Daniel Craig, who returns after the attack.
In Mission Impossible, Tom Cruise did every action scene in real life to make his fan’s heart out. The movie is based on action-spy with blending suspense to make a story interesting. The evolving emotional scenes in the middle of the action is making the film one of the most successful Hollywood Evergreen Movies.
The Gladiator is centered on Maximum Decimus Meridius who is betrayed after the victory of the Roman Republic by the Commodus who is the son of the Emperor. Commodus killed his family but Maximus somehow survived and rose as the Gladiator who was summoned by the commodus sister to regain the republic. This historical epic movie is famed because of honor, vengeance and tyranny.
The Avengers brings marvel superheroes together in one film. They join together to beat their enemy and save the world. The plot begins with Loki entering the earth through a portal, a film marked as evergreen as it gives the feeling of mix action, character interplay, and memorable moments with superheroes.
Iron Man is a genius billionaire who built advanced tech weapons and got caught during the manufacturing of missiles in Afghanistan. The film combines action, technology, and transformation of a character.
Sherlock Holmes is a smart detective who captures criminals with his supernatural powers. He has some special skills in keen observation, full deduction and forensic science. The character is filmed to deliver the best thrilling action packed movie with superpowers.
The first Spiderman movie gives a nostalgic feeling to 90s kids who grew up watching this movie. First film was released in 2002 starring Tobey Maguire, even Hollywood actors also showed their favorite spiderman movie was the first one. The transformation of Peter Parker after the bite of Spider totally leaves a suspense to the real story that is revealed at the end of the movie.
The old Superman movie starring Henry Cavill got fame because of the storyline and star acting. The film is centered on an alien who was sent to earth in order to survive. His super powers made him a person of steel.
The plot of the Harry Potter first part begins with Hogwarts School of Witchcraft where Harry Potter has sent for education. He made new friends Ron & Hermione, they were tasked to find and destroy the secret of Voldemort’s immortality. The movie continued up to the next parts with more evolving scenes of emotions, mentorship & friendship.
One of the best films based on the universe. This iconic movie has a total of 9 episodes including spin-offs. The movie centered around the Force, from one planet to another. The Star Wars theme is set between the darkness and light of the force through generations.
The movie has incredible scenes and the movie is centered around the Hobbit and the ring. The powerful ring has superpowers and is created by the dark evil named Sauron. The Lord of the Rings is based on the novel, the story is epic that led this movie to be evergreen.
The theme of Pirates of the Caribbean Sea evolves in the sea, ship and illegal piracy. The entire franchise has a journey of Captain Jack Sparrow who is funny, genius, and a clever person. The movie is a combination of comic scenes, funny dialogues, fantasy and action.
300 is based on the historical battle between the Spartans and Persian God-King Xerxes. The fight between freedom and tyranny, it highlights the courage, sacrifice, and spirit to fight back against the powerful evil.
This sci-fi movie is epic and centers on love, the powerful emotion, which we can hold forever between time & gravity. Interstellar is beyond the imagination of space, time, and force. The father leaves his family behind and travels through a wormhole in order to protect them and the entire world. The time-lapse between his world and the earth is huge.
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The group of Nostromo, space freighters, awake from their cryo-sleep due to distress call from an Alien vessel. The terror of the alien and her nest is found and many are killed. Who survived and escaped in order to burn that thing, but the organism stuck itself in one of the crew members and followed the journey to destroy everyone.
Deckard, a Replicant Hunter, is forced to continue working for the government. But before he began his journey to remove all replicants from the earth, he met Rachel, a replicant girl and fell in love with her. The Blade Runner is a combination of fiction, adventure, and emotions.
The unpredictable deaths are horrifying, the person who saw terrible accidents before it happened tried to escape from the death but they all were killed one-by-one later. The Final Destination has a total of 6 parts that included different characters in each movie.
Jurassic World revolves around the largest theme park which also has dinosaurs. Owen Grady has taken care of them but unfortunately they get loose and spread the terror among humans. The park gets closed but new parts of the movie came along to continue their adventurous journey.
Explore the ultimate list of the top 32+ Dwayne Johnson movies! Action, comedy, and drama collide as we highlight The Rock’s most iconic performances.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is without a doubt high up on the list of the most bankable stars in Hollywood. The Rock has one of the most successful and diverse film careers in recent memory, going from an explosive breakout in action blockbusters to unexpected turns in comedy and family films. Here’s the definitive guide to the Top 32+ movies in which he demonstrates his stunning range as an actor and performer, whether you’ve been a fan for years or are just discovering his catalogue.
Dwayne Johnson was not a household name when he first got his start in Hollywood. Though his first feature film part was in 1997, in The Mummy Returns (2001) as the Scorpion King, a brief but impactful role that introduced him to mainstream audiences. That moment was pivotal, and then he had his first leading role a mere one year later in The Scorpion King (2002), which solidified him as an action superstar.
The Rock, meanwhile, solidified his status with The Rundown (2003), which remains one of his finest action-comedies. Co-starring with Christopher Walken and an early blend of comedy/action, the film gave Johnson a chance to display his charisma and potential as a leading man. As one of Johnson’s earliest films, The Rundown is a risky gamble, but it really pays off, as he portrays Beck, a taciturn bounty hunter who is sent to apprehend his boss’s son, who has been hunting for treasure in Central America.
As Johnson found his niche in Hollywood, he was offered an array of different roles. Walking Tall (2004) was the respectable action film of the bunch, and Doom (2005) was the most ambitious albeit least successful adaption of a video game craft so far. The same year saw Johnson donning his comedic flair in Be Cool (2005).
A guy who never limited himself to one genre, Johnson caught people off guard with Gridiron Gang (2006), a dramatic sports film in which he is a rehabilitation counselor employed by a juvenile detention center. This showcased his range as an actor and demonstrated that he could do more than just act in pure action movies. Family audiences started to become aware of him with The Game Plan (2007), while Reno 911!: Miami (2007) proved that he was a tour de force in comedic support roles.
Get Smart (2008) put him opposite Steve Carell in a secret agent-comedy schtick that favored action over humor. He added voice acting to his credits in Planet 51 (2009) when he provided the voice for astronaut Chuck Baker and Race to Witch Mountain (2009) once again took him to the family movie field. The decade concluded with Tooth Fairy (2010), a quirky kids movie that had Johnson actually turning into a tooth fairy. The film was savage but showed a performer ready to make wildly unconventional gambles. The same year, he made a return to his action roots with the more hard-edged thriller, Faster (2010), as a vengeful man.
All that changed when Johnson entered the Fast Five (2011) stable as brutal enforcer Luke Hobbs. That’s the turning point that made The Rock a megastar. His chemistry with Vin Diesel and the rest of the cast and crew, as well as the sheer physical comedy and action prowess he brings, revitalized the franchise.
After this breakthrough, Johnson was more selective about his parts. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012) saw him get into family adventure material, taking on one of the genres with more long term potential. Fast & Furious 6 (2013) continued his momentum in the franchise, and Pain & Gain (2013) afforded him an opportunity to demonstrate his dramatic abilities in a true crime action film with Mark Wahlberg and Anthony Mackie.
Snitch and G.I. Joe: Retaliation were also out in the busy 2013 year. Empire State (2013) gave him the opportunity to extend his menacing presence as an NYPD officer with a vendetta. Hercules (2014) was another turn towards mythological adventure based storytelling, with Johnson playing the Greek demigod as he faces his mythic twelve labors. San Andreas (2015) turned out to be a turning point, demonstrating Johnson could lead a big disaster movie and become a worldwide mega-star who could open films on his own merits.
Furious 7 (2015) cemented his position as the franchise’s biggest earner, grossing over $1.5 billion and containing some of the series’ most memorable action scenes.
Johnson became one of the highest-grossing box office draws beginning in 2016. He teamed up again with Kevin Hart for the 2016 film Central Intelligence, and their comedic chemistry endured. Johnson made a multi-layered, vulnerable comedic and physical performance in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) a magnificent reboot of the franchise.
Also that year was The Fate of the Furious, yet another Fast & Furious installment that brought in more than $1.2 billion globally. Baywatch (2017) was a more frivolous affair, although it was almost universally panned by critics – but audiences turned out to see Johnson in that red lifeguard suit.
Skyscraper (2018) is vulnerable — Johnson playing a lame one-legged FBI agent who has to risk everything to save his family in a burning skyscraper. Rampage (2018) saw him furthering his action dominance with taking on mutants alongside a super-sized ape.
Jumanji: The Next Level (2019) brought back the enchanted game world, plucking players into even more chaotic, wilder adventures, with Johnson offering comedic narration as he pretended to be Danny DeVito as he took over his game avatar. Hobbs & Shaw (2019) gives the fans what they want—Johnson and Jason Statham finally getting their own spin-off, and finally teaming up, giving them a chance to demonstrate their comedy timing as well as their action chops.
The Rock has also undergone the voice over and producing process. He was in the heist comedy Red Notice (2021), alongside Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot. In the Disney adventure Jungle Cruise (2021), Johnson and Emily Blunt are joined by Dwayne Johnson as Frank Wolff, a steamboat captain who agrees to unwillingly escort Dr. Lily Houghton down a perilous river in search of secrets.
Fighting with My Family (2019), about a wrestler’s rise to prominence, showcased his knack for serious supporting roles. He was afforded the chance to lend his voice to Krypto the Super-Dog in DC League of Super-Pets (2022), showcasing his talent to captivate spectators in animated movies. He received a Teen Choice Award for his role as the charming and lovable demigod Maui in the 2016 film Moana.
(2022) was his debut foray into DC as the Egyptian mythological anti-hero, unleashing a formidable Kahlid who ascends as the ancient Egyptian magic avatar. This high-profile superhero venture, which was ambitious, had a budget of $250 million and grossed $393 million globally, demonstrating his capacity to lead big studio tentpoles.
A pattern is evident in all these 32+ movies. Johnson’s desire to do comedy and still be believable as an action hero makes him unique among action stars. He’s at ease being vulnerable — be it as a one-legged FBI agent or a demigod struggling with self-doubt. His work ethic and down to earth charm make him have on screen chemistry with all his co-stars and he has done just as well in family films, drama and blockbuster ensemble films.
From doubters questioning his talent as an actor to one of Hollywood’s highest paid stars, Dwayne Johnson’s filmography is a master class on how to have a sustainable career in the business. Whether you’re looking for action excitement, comedy laughs, family fun, or some real dramatic moments, his body of work has a little something for everyone. And that all makes going through his top 32 movies not only entertaining — it’s actually instructive on how to make a Hollywood career with a little authenticity and versatility.
Dwayne Johnson’s bankability and versatility is on full display across these top 32+ movies, proving why he’s one of Hollywood’s most powerful stars. Action packed, heart warm family film, comedy wise The Rock pumps charisma, commitment and authenticity in every role he plays. Not only is his filmography entertaining — it’s an education in how to craft a career that lasts and spans genres in the film industry.
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