The boys are back for part two of the Born to Watch fourth birthday celebration, and this week’s feature is Quentin Tarantino’s love letter to a vanished era, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Review. Set against the backdrop of 1969 Los Angeles, this is Tarantino at his most nostalgic, most personal, and possibly most indulgent, but when it looks this good and feels this immersive, who cares?

Whitey, Damo and G-Man dive deep into the neon-soaked streets of old Hollywood, where television cowboys still mattered, stuntmen drank beer on rooftops, and everyone smoked enough cigarettes to shorten their lifespan by 20 years. From Rick Dalton's crumbling confidence to Cliff Booth's effortless cool, the crew break down why this film becomes richer with every rewatch.

The boys discuss how the movie completely subverts expectations, especially if you walk in expecting a full Charles Manson story. Instead, Tarantino delivers something far more emotional and reflective, a fairy tale about fading relevance, friendship, loneliness and the death of an era. Whitey explains how his first viewing left him confused, but his second cinema trip completely changed the way he saw the film, shifting focus away from the Manson backdrop and onto Rick Dalton's fear that Hollywood has passed him by.

There's plenty of love for Leonardo DiCaprio's performance as Rick Dalton, with Damo calling it one of the actor's best ever performances. The boys unpack how brilliantly DiCaprio balances insecurity, desperation, and ego, especially in scenes where Rick spirals after forgetting his lines or fearing he's become yesterday's news. Brad Pitt's Oscar-winning turn as Cliff Booth also gets the praise it deserves, with the crew debating whether Cliff might actually be one of Tarantino's coolest characters ever.

Naturally, the conversation turns toward the ridiculous depth of the cast. From Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate to Al Pacino, Timothy Olyphant, Dakota Fanning, Austin Butler, Luke Perry, Damian Lewis, Bruce Dern and Australian actor Damon Herriman as Charles Manson, this movie is stacked from top to bottom. The boys even debate whether this is Tarantino's deepest cast ever assembled.

And because this is Born to Watch, things quickly descend into absolute chaos.

There are discussions about Playboy Mansion parties, giant murals of yourself in your garage, Strangles learning what a queef is, and whether anyone alive could realistically resist picking up Margaret Qualley and Sydney Sweeney hitchhiking on the side of the road in 1969 Hollywood.

The episode also covers:

• Tarantino's recreation of 1969 Los Angeles
• The unbelievable soundtrack and radio advertisements
• Why the movie feels like it was made in the late '60s
• The brilliance of the Spahn Ranch sequence
• The film's Oscar success and controversial losses
• Why the ending works so perfectly
• Brad Pitt's effortless charisma
• Margot Robbie is somehow becoming even more beautiful in every scene
• The insane amount of smoking throughout the film
• Why Tarantino's "fantasy history" trilogy keeps working

There's also another loaded Snorbs Report Special, some underrated 2019 movie recommendations, and more random nonsense than should legally fit into one podcast episode.

Whether you're a lifelong Tarantino obsessive or someone who only recently discovered Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, this episode celebrates everything that makes the film unforgettable: the atmosphere, the performances, the music, the humour, and the strange, bittersweet feeling that Hollywood itself was changing forever.

So if you love movie deep dives, behind-the-scenes trivia, outrageous tangents, and three Aussie blokes talking absolute rubbish while somehow stumbling into genuine film analysis, this is the episode for you.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION

• 💬 Is Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Tarantino's best-looking film?
• 💬 Was Brad Pitt or Leonardo DiCaprio better?
• 💬 Did the ending completely catch you off guard the first time?
• 💬 Is Cliff Booth secretly Tarantino's coolest character ever?
• 💬 And how many cigarettes were actually smoked during this movie?
• 🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and everywhere good podcasts live.

#OnceUponATimeInHollywood #QuentinTarantino #LeonardoDiCaprio #BradPitt #MargotRobbie #BornToWatch #MoviePodcast #FilmReview #HollywoodMovies #Tarantino

Kill Bill Vol. 1 Review is finally here, and for the fourth birthday episode of Born to Watch, the boys celebrate in style with one of the most stylish revenge films ever made. Quentin Tarantino's blood-soaked martial arts epic gets the full Born to Watch treatment as Whitey, Dan, and Will "The Worky" dive headfirst into samurai swords, anime flashbacks, outrageous violence, feet discourse, and the pure chaos of Tarantino at his most indulgent.

From the very beginning, the episode feels like a celebration. It's four years of Born to Watch, Will's "Grecoversary," and a return to one of Quentin Tarantino's most rewatchable movies. The crew break down why Kill Bill: Vol. 1 still hits over twenty years later, and whether it stands as Tarantino's ultimate "put it on anytime" movie. Whitey argues that this was his go-to Tarantino film for over a decade because of how effortlessly entertaining it is, while Dan arrives ready to throw counterpunches at the cult classic.

The boys unpack the movie's simple but effective revenge story as Uma Thurman's Bride awakens from a coma and begins slicing her way through the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. Along the way, the episode explores Tarantino's obsession with genre worship, kung fu cinema, spaghetti westerns, exploitation films and anime influences. Is Kill Bill all style and no substance? Or is the style itself the substance? Dan argues the film feels more like a "comic book brought to life," while Whitey believes this marks the beginning of Tarantino's fantasy era that would continue through Inglourious Basterds and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

There's also plenty of classic Born to Watch chaos scattered throughout the episode. The guys go on hilarious tangents about actor-musicians, Russell Crowe's band, Steven Seagal blues music, David Carradine's infamous death, and whether Bill has slept with every member of the Deadly Viper squad. It’s the kind of completely unhinged movie conversation only this podcast can deliver.

The episode also dives deep into the standout performances. Uma Thurman's iconic turn as The Bride gets huge praise, while Lucy Liu's O-Ren Ishii is highlighted as one of the movie's best characters. The crew discuss Tarantino's talent for taking actors and reinventing them on screen, with Michael Madsen, Vivica A. Fox, Sonny Chiba and Daryl Hannah all getting their flowers. There's also a passionate discussion about Battle Royale, Oldboy, and the wave of Asian cinema influences that shaped Kill Bill into the movie it became.

Naturally, the conversation turns toward the movie's most unforgettable moments. The House of Blue Leaves showdown gets dissected as one of the greatest action sequences ever filmed, while the anime origin story sequence sparks debate about whether it still works today or feels like pure Tarantino excess. The boys also tackle some of the film's more uncomfortable scenes, including Buck the hospital orderly, the Achilles tendon slicing scene, and Quentin Tarantino's famously obvious foot fetish.

As always, there are laughs, arguments, wildly inappropriate observations, and genuine film appreciation mixed throughout the episode. This isn't a polished film school analysis. It’s three mates sitting around celebrating movies the way movie fans actually talk about them.

So if you love Quentin Tarantino, martial arts mayhem, over-the-top revenge stories, or just want to hear three Aussie blokes spiral into conversations about samurai swords, pubes, Steven Seagal and Shane Warne in the middle of a movie review, this episode is absolutely for you.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION

• Is Kill Bill: Vol. 1 Tarantino's most rewatchable movie?
• Which member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad was your favourite?
• Do you prefer Volume 1 or Volume 2?
• Is the House of Blue Leaves sequence the greatest action scene ever filmed?
• And seriously… are Uma Thurman's feet even that good?

#KillBill #KillBillVol1 #QuentinTarantino #BornToWatch #MoviePodcast #UmaThurman #LucyLiu #MartialArtsMovies #CultMovies #FilmPodcast

This week on Born to Watch, Whitey flies solo for a massive deep dive into 1982: Year in Review, revisiting one of the most important, influential and completely stacked years in cinema history. While 1982 might not officially hold the crown as the greatest movie year ever, it delivered a collection of films that completely changed Hollywood forever.

In this special episode, Whitey breaks down how one single year gave us E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Blade Runner, The Thing, First Blood, Rocky III, Poltergeist, Conan the Barbarian and Tron all within the same incredible stretch of cinema history.

Whitey explores the insane eight-week period where science fiction and fantasy films absolutely rewired Hollywood forever. It was the year when genre filmmaking exploded, CGI truly began, practical effects reached their peak, and audiences somehow ignored two movies that are now regarded as masterpieces: Blade Runner and The Thing.

There's a huge breakdown of the 1982 box office top ten, including Whitey revisiting Spielberg's emotional masterpiece E.T., which held the box office record for an entire decade. He reflects on how modern kids' movies rarely hit adults emotionally the same way they once did, admitting E.T. absolutely destroyed him on the cry meter during a recent rewatch.

The episode also revisits cult favourites like First Blood, with Whitey passionately defending it as one of the great character-driven action films of the 1980s. There's love for Stallone's unbelievable double act of releasing both Rocky III and First Blood in the same year, proving just how dominant Sly was during the early 80s.

Whitey also dives into why Rocky III remains one of the best Rocky films ever made, praising Mr T as one of the greatest movie villains of the decade and celebrating the pure charisma he brought to Clubber Lang despite having no acting experience.

Australian cinema gets its flowers too, with a huge spotlight on Mad Max 2 and The Man from Snowy River. Whitey argues that both films stand proudly alongside any Hollywood blockbuster of the era and explains how Mad Max 2 became the blueprint for almost every post-apocalyptic movie that followed.

There's also a deep appreciation for practical effects and filmmaking craftsmanship throughout the episode. Whitey passionately argues that The Thing still contains the greatest practical creature effects ever put to screen, while Blade Runner's vision of a futuristic Los Angeles remains one of the most influential science fiction worlds ever created.

Along the way, there are classic Born to Watch tangents and stories, including:

• Whitey is getting in trouble in Year 4 after explaining an infamous scene from The World According to Garp
• Childhood memories of The Pirate Movie soundtrack
• The bizarre success of Porky's
• Why does Tootsie make more money than Blade Runner feel completely wrong
• How Grease 2 became one of the ugliest moments of 1982 cinema

Whitey also celebrates underrated classics like Firefox, Creepshow, Fast Times at Ridgemont High and 48 Hrs., while exploring how 1982 represented a time when studios were still willing to take massive creative risks on strange, ambitious and original films.

This is one of the biggest movie deep dives Born to Watch has ever done, packed full of nostalgia, movie trivia, hilarious stories and genuine love for cinema.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION

• Was 1982 the greatest movie year ever?
• What’s the best film released in 1982?
• Blade Runner or The Thing?
• Rocky III or First Blood?
• Is Mad Max 2 the greatest Australian action film ever made?

#1982Movies #MovieYearInReview #BornToWatch #BladeRunner #TheThing #RockyIII #FirstBlood #MadMax2 #ET #MoviePodcast