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Promotional photo for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

I won't spoil the movie. I will just talk about the dog.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Tarantino's myth-making Hollywood smut that edges the audience for two-and-a-half-hours toward the Sharon Tate murder, opens on Friday. I saw it last night and have thoughts, but it's too early to really discuss the film. You should see it—if you don't mind Roman Polanski being turned into an affable next-door neighbor and Tarantino's camera absolutely foot-fucking the feet of a character we're supposed to believe is a horny underage cultist. It's a good time, sort of, and for those who still wet their pants over the American New Wave of Woody Allen and Steven Spielberg, like Tarantino so obviously does, it is an especially good time.

But I'm here to talk about the movie's dog.

Brandy is a vision. What starts as a cute run-of-the-mill man's best friend role slowly evolves into a wicked, history-changing performance.

And listen, I have studied acting. I earned a useless Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting (with honors) and spent too much time talking about vulnerability and diaphragms and motivational verbs and Chekhov and all the times my teachers went into the mountains to train with acting coaches/witches. Once, while performing on stage at The Globe, the theater's vocal coach yelled at me "YOU'RE ALL BEING A CORAL REEF. I NEED YOU TO BE STARFISHES! STARFISHES!" And then we performed a classical Irish jig. My point: I know good acting when I see it.

And this pit bull, or pit mix, or pittie, or whatever you call those square-head beasts, is It.

Back in May, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood received a lot of headlines for stunning the audience at Cannes (it received a seven-minute standing ovation) but failing to win any awards. I was upset by this coverage because it had a grave omission: Brandy, the sole Once Upon a Time in Hollywood performer to receive an award at Cannes, the Palm Dog Award.


The Palm Dog Award, created in 2001, is a yearly alternative award at the Cannes Film Festival meant to honor the best dog actor at the fest (live or animated). In past years, Uggie won for The Artist and Dug won for Up. But this year, Brandy the pit bull won the award. I like to think that seven-minute standing ovation was for her, but you'll have to see the movie and decide for yourself.