Quentin Tarantino's most recent film, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, was nominated for several Academy Awards, ultimately landing Brad Pitt his first Academy Award in a supporting role, and establishing the dynamic duo that Pitt and Leonardo Dicaprio are. As expected with a Tarantino picture, the bad guys are brutally defeated and subsequently lose in the end. While the film received much criticism for the racism and misogyny that was inherently common in the 1960s, the ending attempts to pay homage to Sharon Tate and her friends.
What is now also common with any Tarantino movie are the small hints at his other works. There are dozens of references to old-school Hollywood that made up the 1960s like the authentic movie posters, film sets, radio music, cars, and locations, but there are several Tarantino-universe references that viewers possibly didn't catch.
The Title Is Similar To Other Spaghetti Westerns
Sergio Leone's spaghetti Western films, Once Upon A Time In America and Once Upon A Time In The West, definitely sound familiar to Tarantino's titular film. However, the connection between the titles isn't the only similarity that Tarantino incorporated into his feature-length picture.
Sergio Leone was an actual Italian filmmaker that directed "Spaghetti Westerns," as older Italian Western films were nicknamed. While in the film, Rick Dalton's partnership was with Sergio Corbucci (another real-life Italian director), the connection between Leone's "Once Upon A Time..." titles and Tarantino's 2019 film acted as a nod to older, authentic Italian flicks.
Sergio Corbucci Directed The 1966 Film, Django
This is not a well-known reference because first of all, some viewers of the movie actually don't know that Sergio Corbucci (mentioned by Marvin Schwarz throughout the movie as he recruits Dalton to star in Corbucci's films) was in fact a real director.
Corbucci directed several Spaghetti Westerns, but the one that has a notable impact in relation to Tarantino was his 1966 film, Django. This film was of course succeeded by Tarantino's 2012 film, Django Unchained, which centers on the extremities behind racism and slavery of the 1800s.
Antonio Margheriti Is From Inglorious Basterds
A lot of avid Tarantino viewers actually picked up on this name the second they first heard it in the film. Just as a refresher for the viewers that can't recall this, there is a scene in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood when the diligent narrator says that one of Rick's new Spaghetti Westerns was "directed by Antonio Margheriti."
Tarantino fans freaked out upon first watching the film and hearing the name from the World War II-centered flick, Inglorious Basterds. It's hard to forget about Aldo Raine's squad of Italian cinematographer impersonators who can't say "Arrivederci" without a thick American accent. One of the "Basterds" hilariously repeats his fake name, "Marrrgherrreti" to the Nazi, Landa, with it clearly being a ruse to sound Italian, so hearing the name in the 2019 Hollywood-centered movie is comical.
Red Apple Cigarettes Are In Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, Inglorious Basterds & More
Although audiences can get a glimpse of Cliff smoking Red Apple cigarettes, the Tarantino-created brand is clearly seen in the post-credits scene where Rick is shooting an advertisement for the brand, which reveals his uppity-self after the cameras stop rolling and he punches out a cardboard cutout of himself.
The cigarettes appear in almost all of Tarantino's films, including his most famous ones. Uma Thurman is seen walking past a large billboard ad of Red Apple in Kill Bill, two different characters in Pulp Fiction are seen unpacking or smoking them while sitting down at a diner, a front-and-center pack is sitting atop a table during the Civil War-era in The Hateful Eight, and the cigarettes are briefly seen in a pocket of one of the Basterds in Inglorious Basterds.
Cliff's Car Is Uma Thurman's In Kill Bill Vol. 2
That memorable blue Volkswagon that Cliff carelessly speeds and whips around Cielo Drive, the Sunset Strip, and the Van Nuys Theater is a little Easter egg from another one of Tarantino's movies, Kill Bill Vol. 2.
Uma Thurman's character, the Bride, drives that 1964 Volkswagon Karmann Ghia, as they shot the scene in Mexico. This car unfortunately was the one in which Thurman experienced a harmful crash on the set, and both Tarantino and Thurman have talked about it in recent years as being "one of the biggest regrets of [his] life." Despite the terrible real-life accident that Uma Thurman went through, that same car is the beaten-up little blue cruiser that Cliff owns.
"And Away We Go" Is A Jackie Brown Reference
The small yet hilarious line, "And away we go" that Cliff says as he walks his dog, Brandy, while smoking an acid-dipped cigarette can be seen as the "start" button to what eventually unfolds in Rick's house. As Cliff violently defeats each Manson family murderer, he accomplishes this while under the influence, which is worth noting.
His funny line actually holds a nod to another Tarantino flick though, one that most wouldn't even think of, which is none other than Jackie Brown, when Robert Forster's character, Max Cherry, looks over at Jackie in the department store and realizes that the plan is about to unfold, then says "and away we go."
Rick's Cadillac Coupe Is From Reservoir Dogs
Just like one of the Manson girls calls Rick's sleek yellow car, "a bitchin' yellow Coupe De Ville," Cliff's usage of the car is nearly revealed when the tire gets flattened. This is the scene where viewers first see Cliff's fight capabilities as he doesn't hesitate to beat up the Manson member who slashed the tire. However, the beautiful car is actually seen in Tarantino's earliest feature-length film, Reservoir Dogs.
The yellow Cadillac is also seen being driven by Michael Madsen, in the 1992 flick, who played the character, Mr. Blonde.
The Set Of Bounty Law Is Where Django Unchained Was Filmed
The entire film set that Rick's nearly career-defining show, Bounty Law, takes place on is called the Melody Ranch in California. That famous black-and-white clip of Rick playing Jake Cahill features the saloons and dirt roads of the "wild west" images that 1960s Western films are known for.
This fact is definitely not known by many, but that set is actually the name of the set where Tarantino and Dicaprio shot Django Unchained with Jamie Foxx as the protagonist. Although it's a small nod to Django, it's still one of the hidden references in the old-style Hollywood flick.
The Airport Blue Wall Is The Same As In Jackie Brown
When Rick and his new wife, Francesca, walk through LAX, with Cliff in tow pushing their luggage, they pass an extensive wall mural that looks pretty familiar to the opening scene in Jackie Brown. This entire wall, just by being shown in the 2019 film, now can be assumed as a part of Tarantino's fictional world, with Wolf Tooth dog food and Red Apple Cigarettes.
This may seem like such a small Easter egg in the film, but it's actually worth noting because other film works have actually used this wall, including in one episode of Mad Men and in the 1967 film, The Graduate. However, some say that Jackie Brown is one of Tarantino's most underrated movies, even though they argue that it's one of his best of all time. Therefore, this may be the reason why he chose to use the exact wall mural in his most recent film.
The "Dirty Movie Theater" Is Actually Tarantino's Theater
When Sharon and Jay stop outside the Mexican restaurant, El Coyote (which is actually a real cafe in Los Angeles), she notices a big film premiere down the street, to which she expresses her surprise to Jay that she didn't know "dirty movies" actually had opening nights like feature-length films. That theater is most likely supposed to be the actual Eros Theatre.
Good ol' Quentin was really smart with this hint because, as it turns out, he is the owner of that movie theater, which is now called The New Beverly Cinema.