Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Andrew Sanford | News | February 9, 2026
I really enjoyed Once Upon A Time… in Hollywood. While it kind of washed over me the first time, I really had a blast with it on the second viewing. I put on some good headphones and really tuned in, marveling at some of the performances. While the film’s material was certainly intriguing, as were Tarantino’s history-bending choices, the actors made it for me. Watching it with enough hindsight to pay attention to Austin Butler made it an even better viewing experience. And, yeah, Brad Pitt is pretty incredible too.
Cliff Booth? Not so much. To be fair, there is plenty to not like about Brad Pitt as a person, but that kind of added to the performance. However, Booth is treated as a bit of a pariah, while Pitt is not (at least not openly). Regardless, I didn’t leave the movie either time thinking, “I can’t wait to see the continuing adventures of Cliff Booth.” Quentin Tarantino did think that way, at least, for a time, and wrote a whole-ass script about it, which was almost going to be his tenth and final movie.
However, Tarantino stepped away from the film, citing the fact that he wanted to try something new for his last outing behind the camera (do a romantic comedy, you coward). The Booth solo outing was not lost to time, though, as Tarantino turned the script over to David Fincher, who decided to direct the movie for Netflix. It is a strange sequence of events that almost feels unbelievable, but, sure enough, a teaser trailer for the film dropped during the Super Bowl last night, and it looks pretty wild. I think. I could barely see what was happening.
I’m not blind, and will try to avoid being hyperbolic, but that trailer was dark, y’all! I was not watching the big game, so maybe it looked better when aired live, but I’ve watched it on several different YouTube channels, and it is dark as hell. The screencap I used doesn’t do it justice, because my screen was brightened a bit before watching. But I had to! I could barely see what was going on! To make matters worse, I think that they have it that dark on purpose!
The trailer is heavily (and hilariously) censored, with animated scribbles going over people’s cussing mouths, extended fingers, and bare breasts. And those scribbles are pretty frigging bright! It’s safe to say that they will not be present during the actual movie, but seeing them be so bright on the trailer, while the footage itself was dark enough to obscure people’s faces, gives me… pause.
