Bad Times at the El Royale ★★

There was a period in the mid-’90s when seemingly every filmmaker in Hollywood wanted to be Quentin Tarantino. Specifically, they all wanted to make the next Pulp Fiction, which is how movie theaters ended up filled with shoddy knockoffs stuffed with second-rate ensemble casts, including 2 Days in the Valley, 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag and Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead—the latter of which went so far as to score a cameo by Pulp Fiction’s scene-stealer, Christopher Walken. The new film from Drew Goddard (director and co-writer of The Cabin in the Woods) is a film out of time; set during the late ’60s, it feels exactly like one of these Tarantino wannabes—only arriving 20 years too late for extra hipster cred. And while it doesn’t feature Walken, the cast is headlined by Jeff Bridges, Jon Hamm, Dakota Johnson and Chris Hemsworth, which is certainly a lot of talent for one movie. Unfortunately, there’s also a lot of movie for one movie, with a bloated 141-minute running time that feels like it’s twice that. The twisty plot utilizes a chapter structure and title cards to rewrite what you’ve previously seen, moving from one character to the next as their fates overlap at Lake Tahoe’s El Royale, a kitschy motel built on both sides of the California/Nevada border that serves as a marvel of midcentury production design. A prologue featuring Nick Offerman sets the violent tone of what’s to come, while a soundtrack stuffed with R&B standards tries to keep the Tarantino vibe going long after the film wears out its welcome. At Assembly Row, Boston Common, Fenway, Seaport, South Bay and in the suburbs.