An end of an era movie about the end of an era?

Rating: 9/10 (20 August 2019)

Big budget blockbusters with adult themes and limited special effects are a dying breed in Hollywood. Quentin Tarantino is one of the few auteurs that makes them anymore. And if Once Upon a Time in...Hollywood is one of the last of a dying breed, it's an awfully good picture to go out on.
As Tarantino regales about another dying breed 50 years ago, he packs his script with enough references and self-references for 10 movies. He concocts a detailed back-story for his lead with a filmography and film clips galore. There are also several movies within the movie. You'd probably have to watch it 3 or 4 times and take a graduate-level course on Hollywood in the 60s to catch all the Easter eggs- one that I haven't seen mentioned-Cliff's wife is named Natalie, and the mystery of her demise mirrors that of Natalie Wood. That's just one of like 1000.
His depiction of Los Angeles in 1969 is an astounding feat. How are they driving down an LA freeway in broad daylight with what looks like actual traffic with nothing but 1960s cars? It doesn't look like CGI because it isn't! They shut down the highway! They built the storefronts, and recreated the movie posters, the interiors, and even the Spahn Ranch with obsessive attention to detail. It absolutely looks like 1969. It's utterly immersive. Stills would look exactly like a picture from that era.
They didn't move the camera like this in 1969, though--long tracking shots following cars and horses and swooping crane shots over long-lost LA landmarks that take your breath away. I was giddy watching it. It'd be a great movie even without dialogue. But the script will have a good shot at an Oscar. The performances and casting are basically flawless. I wouldn't be surprised if DiCaprio snags another statue--and he might not be the only one.
I really don't understand people that don't care for this picture. Is it a generational thing? The references are eluding the younger audience? They know little or nothing about schlocky 60s movies or TV or the Manson family? It's moves too slow for them? It's too long? (On a price per entertaining minute basis this might be the best deal ever!) Do they not appreciate real old-fashioned movie making that doesn't use CGI as a crutch? Because this film will be studied in film classes in 50 years, or 100 years. As a technical achievement, it's that good.
The story is plenty good too, although if you are over a certain age like the director and myself, it will have more resonance. And it contains ample QT-style revenge for the schmoes who came for the ultra-violence.
I guess I don't get what's not to like. It is a sublime movie going experience. I wonder how much longer they're going to make 'em like this. Outside of Tarantino and the Coens, maybe they've already stopped.