Dec 27, 2021·2 replies
mentalcase420not necessarily but I just mean it seems throughout the film there are little jumps in time...basically I don't think Gary's 15 through the whole thing...the jump to Sean Penn's scene seems like there had been some time that had passed and eventually Gary starts driving and smoking so idk
True that would make sense cuz how the f*** does a 15 year old own a Pinball arcade??
- Dec 27, 2021SegaDreamFlash
True that would make sense cuz how the f*** does a 15 year old own a Pinball arcade??
I don't think it was blatantly mentioned but yeah at least a year or two had to have passed if not more by the end of the film I think
- Dec 27, 2021·1 reply
Saw this on reddit
First off, I LOVED this movie.
I’m a huge PTA fan and to me, this is classic PTA. A sprawling, wandering San Fernando movie with lots of natural lighting, great music supervision and visceral action.
I can’t wait to see it again.
This movie, to me, is a love / hate letter to the terribleness of men, and particularly the horrors of old Hollywood culture.
Nearly every man in Licorice Pizza is a monster.
From the yearbook photographer who confidently and casually slaps Alana’s ass, to Sean Penn’s cringe machismo, to Bradley Cooper’s deranged lechery, to the humping pinball guy, to the racist Japanese restaurant owner, to the waterbed phone dude, to Benny Safdie - hell, even Hoffman was kind of a d\*\*\*.
In the end, it’s pretty spelled out by Safdie’s “boyfriend” - saying dejectedly - “They’re all s\*\*\*s.”
A lot of people are attacking this movie but they’re sorely mistaken.
MANY movies have been made featuring an older guy and a teenage girl. This movie flips that narrative - focusing on a badass 25 year old Jewish woman trained in Krav Maga.
Anyway, it’s such a great movie. There’s a million other things I could talk about, but this aspect fascinated me.
Dec 27, 2021·editedSegaDreamFlashSaw this on reddit
First off, I LOVED this movie.
I’m a huge PTA fan and to me, this is classic PTA. A sprawling, wandering San Fernando movie with lots of natural lighting, great music supervision and visceral action.
I can’t wait to see it again.
This movie, to me, is a love / hate letter to the terribleness of men, and particularly the horrors of old Hollywood culture.
Nearly every man in Licorice Pizza is a monster.
From the yearbook photographer who confidently and casually slaps Alana’s ass, to Sean Penn’s cringe machismo, to Bradley Cooper’s deranged lechery, to the humping pinball guy, to the racist Japanese restaurant owner, to the waterbed phone dude, to Benny Safdie - hell, even Hoffman was kind of a d\*\*\*.
In the end, it’s pretty spelled out by Safdie’s “boyfriend” - saying dejectedly - “They’re all s\*\*\*s.”
A lot of people are attacking this movie but they’re sorely mistaken.
MANY movies have been made featuring an older guy and a teenage girl. This movie flips that narrative - focusing on a badass 25 year old Jewish woman trained in Krav Maga.
Anyway, it’s such a great movie. There’s a million other things I could talk about, but this aspect fascinated me.
I wouldn’t say every man is a monster but it’s certainly an ongoing theme that people (mostly men) do things we’re not comfortable with. It’s clear the movie goes out of its way to show these parts too. People seem to struggle with seeing main characters not being all good people. When a villain does something “bad” it’s acceptable but when protagonists aren’t all good (like people in real life aren’t all good) it seems to make people uncomfortable
I don’t think it’s interesting to dislike a film cause characters do morally questionable things. That tells you something about the characters not the film. There’s other things to discuss about the film than making sure your moral checklist is met
Dec 27, 2021SegaDreamFlashTrue that would make sense cuz how the f*** does a 15 year old own a Pinball arcade??
IDK, I’m pretty sure he owns an advertising agency at the beginning when he’s 15\. But I do agree, I think some years are passing.
Dec 27, 2021·edited·2 repliesFrom LB
The film feels very real, like I could imagine PTA before each scene telling the actors broad strokes of the scene and letting them improv from there. This works sometimes, between Cooper and Alana, but not always, and not with the other characters. They mostly fall flat, Waits is the worst offender, Coopers alright i guess, Safdie is passable, but shoutout Skyler Gismondo, his turn feels very authentic while the others felt like actors hamming it up. PTA is 51 so he can be forgiven for a dulled sense of humor, but the attempts at comedy here are bad, probably the most disappointing aspect. The production design is very detailed and the staging is immaculate, but at the same time its so clear this movie was made with a big budget which is at odds with the naturalistic acting by the leads. This style as well as the lack of plot is what leads to my interpretation of this being PTAs fantasy, to grow up in this nostalgic time while also rubbing shoulders with famous people, and being successful and charismatic in all arenas. It really feels like a peek into one of his best dreams and I admire that, it saves the picture imo. I felt nostalgic for my past while watching, so thumbs up for achieving that. However, having a different life than PTA means this very personal fantasy is meandering, and eventually, boring.
- Dec 27, 2021
^ may seem negative but I gave the film 3 stars its better than most but very disappointing for being a late career PTA film
- Dec 27, 2021
listened to the soundtrack on vinyl last night and
not quite as great as Once Upon A Time In Hollywood's soundtrack but still great - Dec 27, 2021·1 replyYuzzy· edited
From LB
The film feels very real, like I could imagine PTA before each scene telling the actors broad strokes of the scene and letting them improv from there. This works sometimes, between Cooper and Alana, but not always, and not with the other characters. They mostly fall flat, Waits is the worst offender, Coopers alright i guess, Safdie is passable, but shoutout Skyler Gismondo, his turn feels very authentic while the others felt like actors hamming it up. PTA is 51 so he can be forgiven for a dulled sense of humor, but the attempts at comedy here are bad, probably the most disappointing aspect. The production design is very detailed and the staging is immaculate, but at the same time its so clear this movie was made with a big budget which is at odds with the naturalistic acting by the leads. This style as well as the lack of plot is what leads to my interpretation of this being PTAs fantasy, to grow up in this nostalgic time while also rubbing shoulders with famous people, and being successful and charismatic in all arenas. It really feels like a peek into one of his best dreams and I admire that, it saves the picture imo. I felt nostalgic for my past while watching, so thumbs up for achieving that. However, having a different life than PTA means this very personal fantasy is meandering, and eventually, boring.
idk I enjoyed the humor in this more than Don't Look Up so there's that...could it have been funnier? sure but PTA likes his awkward, weird comic beats...I do agree with the 2nd half regarding the nostalgia and all that though absolutely
- Dec 27, 2021mentalcase420
idk I enjoyed the humor in this more than Don't Look Up so there's that...could it have been funnier? sure but PTA likes his awkward, weird comic beats...I do agree with the 2nd half regarding the nostalgia and all that though absolutely
I still gotta peep that, Mckay is hit or miss for me and reception hasnt looked great so Im a lil apprehensive.
I agree about the comedy tone, its completely consistent with him but idk Boogie Nights is hilarious to me this feels more like stuff boomers would laugh at
Dec 27, 2021·1 replymentalcase420I don't really get some of the other critiques I've been seeing regarding their age difference and the white dude doing the Japanese voice...regarding the age thing it's not like the film shows them having s***at any point...she shows him her t*** and they kiss at the end of the film after some years have passed and he's probably closer to 17-18 by then...as for the Japanese impression it clearly shows his (first) wife looking uncomfortable with him doing that voice and the 2nd time you see him and he does it again Gary and Alana just kind of laugh awkwardly...if the audience laughed it says more about them...it's both a love letter to that time period while also displaying that a lot of the s*** ppl did back then wasn't cool
Yeah, this occurred to me too. Him driving and smoking, on one hand, seems like a defiant thing. But on the other, he could just now be of age.
- Dec 27, 2021Jonboi
Yeah, this occurred to me too. Him driving and smoking, on one hand, seems like a defiant thing. But on the other, he could just now be of age.
at one point they do confirm he's 16 and not 15 anymore I remember that...idk if there's any other age jumps after that though...I just assumed at least a year or so had passed when we get to Penn's scene since it seemed like her and Gary hadn't been on speaking terms for a good while...definitely vague
- Dec 27, 2021·edited·2 replies
lil sunnyI get your point. Idk I think the movie overall didn’t sit right with me because it didn’t give me any reason to give a s*** about either of our leads during any point. On top of that, the majority of the scenes had me asking myself “what was the point?” Like what was the point of Bradley Cooper’s character aside from some humor? They just leave his character behind like nothing. Same with introducing Bennie Safdie’s character. I just didn’t appreciate the abruptness of everything if you get me
all his movies since after twbb haven't given me any reason to care about anything I was being shown on screen tbh
not bad movies just f***ing boring and nonsensical
- Dec 27, 2021·1 replyYuzzy· edited
From LB
The film feels very real, like I could imagine PTA before each scene telling the actors broad strokes of the scene and letting them improv from there. This works sometimes, between Cooper and Alana, but not always, and not with the other characters. They mostly fall flat, Waits is the worst offender, Coopers alright i guess, Safdie is passable, but shoutout Skyler Gismondo, his turn feels very authentic while the others felt like actors hamming it up. PTA is 51 so he can be forgiven for a dulled sense of humor, but the attempts at comedy here are bad, probably the most disappointing aspect. The production design is very detailed and the staging is immaculate, but at the same time its so clear this movie was made with a big budget which is at odds with the naturalistic acting by the leads. This style as well as the lack of plot is what leads to my interpretation of this being PTAs fantasy, to grow up in this nostalgic time while also rubbing shoulders with famous people, and being successful and charismatic in all arenas. It really feels like a peek into one of his best dreams and I admire that, it saves the picture imo. I felt nostalgic for my past while watching, so thumbs up for achieving that. However, having a different life than PTA means this very personal fantasy is meandering, and eventually, boring.
Yeah, I agree about the improv, that fell a little flat for me at times too.
Even the scene where Alana freaks out after the atheist boy gets kicked out… her and her sisters reactions didn’t feel all that genuine or funny to me. 
Dec 27, 2021·1 replyMr Sting· editedall his movies since after twbb haven't given me any reason to care about anything I was being shown on screen tbh
not bad movies just f***ing boring and nonsensical
Dec 27, 2021·1 replyElricis this an ironic quote or do u actually agree with that? or is sting being ironic and you're going along with the bit and im missing 2 layers of irony?
- Dec 27, 2021Everest
is this an ironic quote or do u actually agree with that? or is sting being ironic and you're going along with the bit and im missing 2 layers of irony?
- Dec 27, 2021·edited·1 replyJonboi
Yeah, I agree about the improv, that fell a little flat for me at times too.
Even the scene where Alana freaks out after the atheist boy gets kicked out… her and her sisters reactions didn’t feel all that genuine or funny to me.Yeah like cmon now we as viewers dont need the whole family cast, I guess its cool to make the scene with people youre friends with, and hes earned the right to do his movie however he likes, but theyre not actors and it shows.
Gisondo was very authentic though - Dec 27, 2021·2 repliesYuzzy· edited
Yeah like cmon now we as viewers dont need the whole family cast, I guess its cool to make the scene with people youre friends with, and hes earned the right to do his movie however he likes, but theyre not actors and it shows.
Gisondo was very authentic thoughAgreed.
Yeah, his meet the parent scene was the funniest in the whole movie to me.Another scene I found less funny than other people. The casting agent scene. Is she just like a really specific archetype of an old casting agent lady? I’ll be honest, I didn’t know what they were going for there. She seems like the type of lady who chain smokes and says ‘you’re a fighter’… Obviously Alana is lying and she’s going along with it, but I feel like there’s more there. And now I’m totally taking the fun out of the scene lol.
- Dec 27, 2021Jonboi
Agreed.
Yeah, his meet the parent scene was the funniest in the whole movie to me.Another scene I found less funny than other people. The casting agent scene. Is she just like a really specific archetype of an old casting agent lady? I’ll be honest, I didn’t know what they were going for there. She seems like the type of lady who chain smokes and says ‘you’re a fighter’… Obviously Alana is lying and she’s going along with it, but I feel like there’s more there. And now I’m totally taking the fun out of the scene lol.
She gave me heavy principal vibes lol, I guess she is showing that you gotta fake it to make it in the industry maybe? Not entirely sure.
I do wanna mention a scene I thought was funny, on the plane where Gary flirts with the flight attendant and then immediately after Alanas love interest appears, timing had me dead
- Dec 27, 2021·1 replyJonboi
Agreed.
Yeah, his meet the parent scene was the funniest in the whole movie to me.Another scene I found less funny than other people. The casting agent scene. Is she just like a really specific archetype of an old casting agent lady? I’ll be honest, I didn’t know what they were going for there. She seems like the type of lady who chain smokes and says ‘you’re a fighter’… Obviously Alana is lying and she’s going along with it, but I feel like there’s more there. And now I’m totally taking the fun out of the scene lol.
the casting lady reminded me of an Inherent Vice character lol just off
- Dec 27, 2021mentalcase420
the casting lady reminded me of an Inherent Vice character lol just off
Inherent Vice casting was god level
- Dec 27, 2021·1 reply
This movie is so weird.
I feel like there’s flaws but I physically can not rank it lower than my top three films of the year. I just can’t give up on it.
My thoughts are still so messy.
Dec 27, 2021·editedJust got out the theater… gonna have to sit with this one for a minute
