QUENTIN TARANTINO'S GENRE-BENDING CLASSIC 'KILL BILL VOL. 1'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuYDp3E50wlBDn4akqOXc9Wc-u5QDL0RBg-1s0nU0LTuUE3WsErhMWAgc8kH_kPQyAT-pJMxXgIXo26gT-vAv0CKXSVxjE5lfH-q-ElP5nfMVM_NP57yxS7l0l1ANUFuxWXnQBVoqI0TfuPQ2KZo8tqbUb_fCv4pSfPL_sz6mIqWSjtBxlRBFDO8D5Y94O/s2290/Screen%20Shot%202025-07-08%20at%2010.35.00%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1432" data-original-width="2290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuYDp3E50wlBDn4akqOXc9Wc-u5QDL0RBg-1s0nU0LTuUE3WsErhMWAgc8kH_kPQyAT-pJMxXgIXo26gT-vAv0CKXSVxjE5lfH-q-ElP5nfMVM_NP57yxS7l0l1ANUFuxWXnQBVoqI0TfuPQ2KZo8tqbUb_fCv4pSfPL_sz6mIqWSjtBxlRBFDO8D5Y94O/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-07-08%20at%2010.35.00%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Uma Thurman in KILL BILL VOL 1 Year: 2003 Rating: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Quentin Tarantino began with the heist-fallout sleeper-hit RESERVOIR DOGS, and the blaxploitation caper JACKIE BROWN while in-between was his first anything-goes-epic PULP FICTION... and nine years later, it was time to throw it all into the pot once again...<br><br>And it's even more-of-more this time, with the genre-bending KILL BILL VOL 1, his epic take on Japanese Martial Arts combining fast-paced action with exploitation horror, and kind of a <i>superhero</i> twist...   <br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

action, body count, daryl hannah, david carradine, exploitation, gordon liu, karate, lucy liu, michael madsen, michael parks, quentin tarantino, revenge, sonny shiba, uma thurman, viveca a. fox, zeroes

QUENTIN TARANTINO'S GENRE-BENDING CLASSIC 'KILL BILL VOL. 1'

Uma Thurman in KILL BILL VOL 1 Year: 2003 Rating: ****1/2 Quentin Tarantino began with the heist-fallout sleeper-hit RESERVOIR DOGS, and the...

QUENTIN TARANTINO'S SLOWBURN FOLLOWUP 'KILL BILL VOL. 2'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA07IV01vJ5MiKvZcLxDH6eEYsKTdSQAwLbO8Os5Pldosxye84ljnhtS-_khjomN5urz826Q5zqqxrbWga19nyYDZcBjOALqMrt5ixhDBYnD0cRdhiDq7kUoFDMc1Vzx1snd3Kqm-r5Xgryya8oIPA5LeEmQjGk9h8wky6qQj96AuEcUztHaBS1n5yiNzG/s2304/Screen%20Shot%202025-07-09%20at%201.58.14%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA07IV01vJ5MiKvZcLxDH6eEYsKTdSQAwLbO8Os5Pldosxye84ljnhtS-_khjomN5urz826Q5zqqxrbWga19nyYDZcBjOALqMrt5ixhDBYnD0cRdhiDq7kUoFDMc1Vzx1snd3Kqm-r5Xgryya8oIPA5LeEmQjGk9h8wky6qQj96AuEcUztHaBS1n5yiNzG/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-07-09%20at%201.58.14%20AM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Michael Madsen in Quentin Tarantino's KILL BILL VOL. 2 Year: 2004 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The difference of Quentin Tarantino's KILL BILL volumes 1 and 2 is like comparing PULP FICTION with JACKIE BROWN: the first is to please everyone, and the second for himself... <br><br>So the first BILL (mostly without David Carradine's Bill) has something to entertain fans of eclectic genres ranging from high-octane karate to swiftly-edited action to exploitation-horror to Asian anime... but the perfectly cast Uma Thurman as The Bride's final installment is a far more deep and personal journey... <br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

action, bo svenson, body count, daryl hannah, david carradine, gordon liu, karate, larry bishop, lucy liu, michael madsen, michael parks, quentin tarantino, revenge, sid haig, uma thurman, zeroes

QUENTIN TARANTINO'S SLOWBURN FOLLOWUP 'KILL BILL VOL. 2'

Michael Madsen in Quentin Tarantino's KILL BILL VOL. 2 Year: 2004 Rating: **** The difference of Quentin Tarantino's KILL BILL volum...

REVIEW CRUISING THROUGH 'ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEierViQkA7CjN-ie-R-rUPHjZaU9AYiDXojRL_rxStIspYAGyzZoAtP309hQ0GIiAIZz4qn1g0NtdZIhfTn5FDxxnJNhyPr9doMjUDondR5hmsIF2tdlliDDekfLv_KdRq6krqMynuUzShQ2qIMbciZSoxncwwR2QTzw_ruDy_iBGBqkguUx-m9fMsccqz9/s2048/brighter.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1033" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEierViQkA7CjN-ie-R-rUPHjZaU9AYiDXojRL_rxStIspYAGyzZoAtP309hQ0GIiAIZz4qn1g0NtdZIhfTn5FDxxnJNhyPr9doMjUDondR5hmsIF2tdlliDDekfLv_KdRq6krqMynuUzShQ2qIMbciZSoxncwwR2QTzw_ruDy_iBGBqkguUx-m9fMsccqz9/s16000/brighter.jpg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt in ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Make an important note while <i>experiencing</i> Quentin Tarantino's entirely different kind of revisionist-history revenge picture: It not only centers around real life counter-culture figures Sharon Tate; Charles Manson and Family (including main slayer Tex Watson and skanky moll Squeaky Fromme); a love-lorn Steve McQueen; a rich, contented Roman Polanski; and pixie hairstylist Jay Sebring... <br> <br> There's also the last of the victims, Donald "Shorty" Shea, a would-be stuntman who thought the hippie horde was taking advantage of his friend/employer George Spahn at the formerly-active Spahn Movie Ranch: the infamous location where Manson and his followers made their very own drug-fueled, Beatles-blaring, conspiracy-plotting, paranoiac playground, ultimately setting stage for the "Helter Skelter Murders" that infamously included an eight-month pregnant Tate...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><span></span>

2019, al pacino, brad pitt, bruce dern, counter-culture, dark comedy, exploitation, hangout, hollywood satire, leonardo dicaprio, madisen beaty, margot robie, new, quentin tarantino, thriller

REVIEW CRUISING THROUGH 'ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD'

Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt in ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD Rating: **** Make an important note while experiencing Quentin Tarantino...

RUDIMENTARY RAMBLING FOR THE LEGENDARY 'RESERVOIR DOGS'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwtMDOWZ4_rJgbyZ3Bs0WU2GE8U-gIL3f7t-uvC3OOE-1Lao9P6xpIQuH_4kFldVNfO3AoBW5kzBdioexmeqFMj317CUr_PdyjLHrwvC5usf71g12b1jBZ7fz46LjgdzOqOBBEc6S_A84fln7CgxgZjvzP7MUrOlN_DrNAtBfUnlCKqMVotoaK6m5pFQ/s1155/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="702" data-original-width="1155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwtMDOWZ4_rJgbyZ3Bs0WU2GE8U-gIL3f7t-uvC3OOE-1Lao9P6xpIQuH_4kFldVNfO3AoBW5kzBdioexmeqFMj317CUr_PdyjLHrwvC5usf71g12b1jBZ7fz46LjgdzOqOBBEc6S_A84fln7CgxgZjvzP7MUrOlN_DrNAtBfUnlCKqMVotoaK6m5pFQ/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Lawrence Tierney in RESERVOIR DOGS Year: 1991 Rating: *****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>If, before 1991, someone mentioned that a movie involving a group of hardened thugs… including Noir legend/tough guy Lawrence Tierney, 1970's cinema legend who resembles an actual criminal Harvey Keitel, and real life ex-prisoner Eddie Bunker… would sit around in a diner discussing (or listening to others discuss) Madonna songs, no one would believe it.... <br> </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><div style="text-align: right;"> </div><p> But it took that kind of creative pop culture insanity to create one of the greatest modern crime flicks, written and directed by a former video store employee who’d soon become an international icon...</p><p><span></span></p>

chris penn, exploitation, gangster, harvey keitel, kirk baltz, michael madsen, nineties, post-heist, quentin tarantino, randy brooks, steve buscemi, tim roth

RUDIMENTARY RAMBLING FOR THE LEGENDARY 'RESERVOIR DOGS'

Lawrence Tierney in RESERVOIR DOGS Year: 1991 Rating: ***** If, before 1991, someone mentioned that a movie involving a group of hardened t...

HATEFUL SIX BEFORE THEY EIGHT 'THE REBEL' WITH NICK ADAMS

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4nCdtx_03z84Sz8wK0XBLprK4Env34hfPAiMtC13sG9oeReQPaSJMmCvNasYA7TDrZSFMeKGGYoeHFuZbetE4ssyktIRt270S38I4zQifgd-BE1wSZqpTO-sWGROGKhFPmscpihkNW8Lm/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-12-01+at+10.16.41+PM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="917" data-original-width="1277" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4nCdtx_03z84Sz8wK0XBLprK4Env34hfPAiMtC13sG9oeReQPaSJMmCvNasYA7TDrZSFMeKGGYoeHFuZbetE4ssyktIRt270S38I4zQifgd-BE1wSZqpTO-sWGROGKhFPmscpihkNW8Lm/s400/Screen+Shot+2019-12-01+at+10.16.41+PM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Nick Adams heads up THE REBEL television Western 1959-1961</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> It's usually fair game that homage-driven auteur Quentin Tarantino pays tribute to classics, especially Sergio Leone Westerns, but is TV's post Civil War THE REBEL episode FAIR GAME a complete rip-off, or yet another example of the quirky cinematic preacher preaching the virtues of yesteryear for audiences of <i>today</i>?<br> <br> Enter Tarantino's post Civil War THE HATEFUL EIGHT about a group of despicable types holed up in a way-station during a formidable snowstorm. Kurt Russell plays a bounty hunter, and his bounty is a grungy-gross female in Jennifer Jason Leigh's Daisy, who winds up doing exactly what a young, classy dame does in THE REBEL. The irony is that Patricia Medina's Cynthia Kenyon is so pretty and highbrow it's a shock she's facing the hangman at all... but not for long. Soon enough what ultimately happens to Kurt Russell (poisoned water then poisoned coffee) occurs rather quickly to James Chandler as the silently-stern bounty hunter Farnum...<br>

action, article, irvin kershner, james drury, mystery, nick adams, patricia medina, quentin tarantino, sixties, thriller, TV, western

HATEFUL SIX BEFORE THEY EIGHT 'THE REBEL' WITH NICK ADAMS

Nick Adams heads up THE REBEL television Western 1959-1961 It's usually fair game that homage-driven auteur Quentin Tarantino pays t...

KAREN BLACK RELECTS ALFRED HITCHCOCK & THE GREAT GATSBY

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGJFFxs828ISWdvtHc34F3D_IZVvdpzDZiECAE8X5_Q97z46cONlaooO9j0kYo4-gjDGeJkWP4J_cJ8p0zI1iyThdWdE5Uz_xiZ8_nbjNza85NMM-o-XvwODrWezkjvvjKTDVWXfHhCPxB/s1600/4624.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="922" data-original-width="1200" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGJFFxs828ISWdvtHc34F3D_IZVvdpzDZiECAE8X5_Q97z46cONlaooO9j0kYo4-gjDGeJkWP4J_cJ8p0zI1iyThdWdE5Uz_xiZ8_nbjNza85NMM-o-XvwODrWezkjvvjKTDVWXfHhCPxB/s400/4624.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Karen Black on Alfred Hitchcock during the filming of Family Plot</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <u>You starred in FAMILY PLOT with Bruce Dern... This was the last film to be directed by the legendary Alfred Hitchcock... How was it working with Hitchcock and what was he like? </u><br> <br> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> I’m so happy that happened to me. In my life it’s a great thing. He was very playful, truly, truly playful. He loved games. He loved to sort of…<br> <br> There’s a story, he was on an elevator and he started this terrible story at the top of this building, you know, and everyone in the elevator could hear him as he was talking to a chum. “Oh there was a terrible murder. The body was on the floor. There was blood all over.” And he was telling the story and he was about to solve the problem of the crime very quickly and say who did it when the elevator doors open, and everybody had to walk out. And he knew it. He was just doing it to be funny.<br>

alfred hitchcock, bruce dern, interview, karen black, karen black interviews, quentin tarantino, seventies, thriller

KAREN BLACK RELECTS ALFRED HITCHCOCK & THE GREAT GATSBY

Karen Black on Alfred Hitchcock during the filming of Family Plot You starred in FAMILY PLOT with Bruce Dern... This was the last film ...

MICHAEL MADSEN INTERVIEW & LAWRENCE TIERNEY'S NEPHEW TIM

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxWWzkTPF0wE1zgGe0IPS7c2AV8ic4qu2t7Gu4JX1uD6hL94kVYkxDpSGEZ4l1KWGhcJo5hUSz_brwbv3XvTdt-0OAWj0bOYUD24RYbuhovNTFC7bqRAAirBaR8yTBd0dndcWbakgBDMrY/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-03-16+at+8.04.32+AM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="899" data-original-width="817" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxWWzkTPF0wE1zgGe0IPS7c2AV8ic4qu2t7Gu4JX1uD6hL94kVYkxDpSGEZ4l1KWGhcJo5hUSz_brwbv3XvTdt-0OAWj0bOYUD24RYbuhovNTFC7bqRAAirBaR8yTBd0dndcWbakgBDMrY/s400/Screen+Shot+2019-03-16+at+8.04.32+AM.jpeg" width="362"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Michael Madsen as Vic Vega in Reservoir Dogs</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <i>Michael Madsen has been in a large number of films dating back three decades, and is beloved by countless fans as the cool, tough and sinister Vic Vega  aka “Mr. Blonde” in the Quentin Tarantino masterpiece RESERVOIR DOGS. He also worked with Tarantino along with the late David Carradine on KILL BILL (and right below is an interview with Tim Tierney, the nephew of Madsen's DOGS boss Lawrence Tierney and son of Lawrence's brother, actor Scott Brady, born Scott Tierney)... </i><br> <br> <u>Michael, how was it doing the RESERVOIR DOGS office scene with Lawrence Tierney and Chris Penn?</u><br> <br> Lawrence was angry and Chris and I were having fun. Lawrence didn't really like Quentin at that point. We did three wrestling takes. We broke a lot of stuff and kept going out of frame. Lawrence kept yelling at us because he wanted to go home. Finally the third one was the only one usable and that's the one in the movie. If you look at our close ups you can see how sweaty and out of breath we were because they did all three takes really fast. It was a long morning. 
<br>

british film noir/melodrama, fifties, forties, interview, lawrence tierney, michael madsen, nineties, quentin tarantino, scott brady

MICHAEL MADSEN INTERVIEW & LAWRENCE TIERNEY'S NEPHEW TIM

Michael Madsen as Vic Vega in Reservoir Dogs Michael Madsen has been in a large number of films dating back three decades, and is belove...

VANESSA FERLITO ENHANCES QT'S EXPLOITATION 'DEATH PROOF'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMXHXcfU5uKD0YaydRAz7aoyqt69WU4zNmEDur4X0Ze-wf9ma8MXeSQKphXTcjc7xnyFguSgEpK7KZplfY-ma3hQt-lgRLdWA2-KMP_ZcC670CgQPuJmzRpnbTtAIOs5ED2Yw76_SGizhV/s1600/Screen%25252BShot%25252B2018-11-28%25252Bat%25252B6.42.21%25252BPM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMXHXcfU5uKD0YaydRAz7aoyqt69WU4zNmEDur4X0Ze-wf9ma8MXeSQKphXTcjc7xnyFguSgEpK7KZplfY-ma3hQt-lgRLdWA2-KMP_ZcC670CgQPuJmzRpnbTtAIOs5ED2Yw76_SGizhV/s1600/Screen%25252BShot%25252B2018-11-28%25252Bat%25252B6.42.21%25252BPM.jpeg"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Foreboding perspective of Tarantino's DEATH PROOF Year: 2005</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Like there are two movies in GRINDHOUSE, there are also two in the second feature, written, directed and photographed by Quentin Tarantino titled DEATH PROOF: story one is eerie, torturous, dark, bizarre, perverse, shoddy and dodgy-looking while the second <i>looks</i> far more professionally filmed but is overall, unbearably awful... <br> <br> The device of DEATH PROOF and Robert Rodriquez's co-feature, PLANET TERROR, are an abundance of deliberate aesthetic flaws: a tribute to b-movies that played so many times in low-rent "grindhouse" theaters, they wound up tarnished and with entire reels missing. In the two-parts of DEATH PROOF it's one man, Kurt Russell as Stuntman Mike, who connects each...<br>

action, body count, cult, drive-in, drugs, exploitation, hangout, killer car, marley shelton, quentin tarantino, rosario dawson, rose mcgowen, sydney poitier, thriller, vanessa ferlito, zeroes, zoë bell

VANESSA FERLITO ENHANCES QT'S EXPLOITATION 'DEATH PROOF'

Foreboding perspective of Tarantino's DEATH PROOF Year: 2005 Like there are two movies in GRINDHOUSE, there are also two in the seco...

NEUROTIC REACTION TO KISS KISS BANG BANG

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi85Eerys5nRE7jQes36uXOhPxhsRU8BwulAMlnoNbeepJMCu2nqIGpx6mHu4KrehIOzXL4SmEg-RzU2_1UymlRXwynAN-IqgpWRjTXwhXLnIS0bYdIOJpyEbvUlGFvgx8Q6MrdF9ldSL8/s1600/0.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi85Eerys5nRE7jQes36uXOhPxhsRU8BwulAMlnoNbeepJMCu2nqIGpx6mHu4KrehIOzXL4SmEg-RzU2_1UymlRXwynAN-IqgpWRjTXwhXLnIS0bYdIOJpyEbvUlGFvgx8Q6MrdF9ldSL8/s16000/0.jpg"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Review of KISS KISS BANG BANG with the eclectic team-up of Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> So basically, this is to the Audrey Hepburn/Cary Grant movie CHARADE what... or rather, this is to Hitchcock what... or wait, no, this is to Tarantino what CHARADE was to Hitchcock after he'd done his two horror flicks and was fledging around with awkward genres before what should have been his genre-founding send-off/return to form in FRENZY...<br>

action, genre tarantino, michael beck, michelle monaghan, quentin tarantino, quirky, robert downey jr., shane black, team-up, val kilmer

NEUROTIC REACTION TO KISS KISS BANG BANG

Review of KISS KISS BANG BANG with the eclectic team-up of Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer So basically, this is to the Audrey Hepburn/...

UNPOPULAR TAKES ON BELOVED 'SCARFACE' & 'TRUE ROMANCE'

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm3Y_krZqybAeofEPVx4yQVXerWcN4VrkKyPdwxh8js6bNN6IXS5zVIJECnOZCya2RKpriKSkn4E9Jw-Q6Vzt46Vr-5_RUh4TEecxRPl5JutaEniJm_rOh8wu6dXuEF46SjE6ECpqdcRw/s1600/0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm3Y_krZqybAeofEPVx4yQVXerWcN4VrkKyPdwxh8js6bNN6IXS5zVIJECnOZCya2RKpriKSkn4E9Jw-Q6Vzt46Vr-5_RUh4TEecxRPl5JutaEniJm_rOh8wu6dXuEF46SjE6ECpqdcRw/s400/0.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Firing away at a so-called Masterpiece Year: 1983</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <u>SCARFACE</u> has… or had, since this post has been edited for a long time… returned to the theaters, mang. The one starring Al Pacino, written by Oliver Stone and directed by Brian De Palma...<br> <br> And now can be viewed in all its glory, and flaws… As for the latter, and with the legacy of what’s considered a “timeless classic” supposedly on par with the THE GODFATHER, who knew there were so many downsides? During one important scene, bordering the first and second act, when Al Pacino’s Tony Montana, a Cuban refugee who climbs from poverty and starts making loads of cash in the cocaine business, visits his mother, he offers money to her and Tony’s little sister. Mama refuses, saying the cash is dirty. At this point, not only does the dough seem clean as a whistle, and a damn nice gift, but we hardly experience Tony’s initial climb from the slums to a car dealership where a forty thousand dollar Porsche is an easy purchase…<br>

al pacino, christian slater, eighties, nineties, oliver stone, quentin tarantino, tony scott, val kilmer

UNPOPULAR TAKES ON BELOVED 'SCARFACE' & 'TRUE ROMANCE'

Firing away at a so-called Masterpiece Year: 1983 SCARFACE has… or had, since this post has been edited for a long time… returned to th...

QUENTIN TARANTINO'S WESTERN ENSEMBLE 'THE HATEFUL EIGHT'

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqjhbEGL54DlLZZKotF-ShuFQhyKoQrC-QfdA3awooq7UnKUyqBasfjxUILX4a-hA8im4pdgxGAEmqnz-OyRmrs1JmiMmvsR18Fyn5jVPEiL_0fPyfEwE1S8R10ms2qTLmn1AagGHXgs0/s1600/1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqjhbEGL54DlLZZKotF-ShuFQhyKoQrC-QfdA3awooq7UnKUyqBasfjxUILX4a-hA8im4pdgxGAEmqnz-OyRmrs1JmiMmvsR18Fyn5jVPEiL_0fPyfEwE1S8R10ms2qTLmn1AagGHXgs0/s1600/1.jpg"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 2015 cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Walt Goggins, Jennifer Jason Leight director: Quentin Tarantino</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Will attempt not to spoil too much about this epic yet contained and intentionally claustrophobic Western by Quentin Tarantino, but that's after having to disclose it's only a Western in the Civil War time period, rural-rough location, dramatic score, and dusty, cut-throat characters. THE HATEFUL EIGHT is really a Mystery, and for the most part, could have been set in any century involving an eclectic roomful of people, and, as already known/shown in the Samuel L. Jackson-led expository trailers, somebody's not who they're supposed to be.<br>

bruce dern, ensemble, jennifer jason leigh, michael madsen, mystery, quentin tarantino, samuel l. jackson, tim roth, walt goggins, western

QUENTIN TARANTINO'S WESTERN ENSEMBLE 'THE HATEFUL EIGHT'

year: 2015 cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Walt Goggins, Jennifer Jason Leight director: Quentin Tarantino Will attempt not to sp...

KIRK BALTZ RECALLS RESERVOIR DOGS

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinHGumiuk4jGT-vZr3zg7Msjfe0u4sBGqzWkf1RYoYJRcNRh3L2nFTiq9ebh_S0buKqu8zMIIXttl-itRnG5YKhmFBHDKc8oVXCbVW0Jr2oKM933XyTKPY0Nc7bKKBuskiyu2ovl_IV2o/s1600/e3f518f7-fec1-4588-942a-22dd6d1235eb_zpsb91a5775.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinHGumiuk4jGT-vZr3zg7Msjfe0u4sBGqzWkf1RYoYJRcNRh3L2nFTiq9ebh_S0buKqu8zMIIXttl-itRnG5YKhmFBHDKc8oVXCbVW0Jr2oKM933XyTKPY0Nc7bKKBuskiyu2ovl_IV2o/s1600/e3f518f7-fec1-4588-942a-22dd6d1235eb_zpsb91a5775.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"He was very brave and that scene bound us together in cinema history." Michael Madsen</td></tr> </tbody></table> <i>KIRK BALTZ played "Marvin Nash" in Quentin Tarantino's RESERVOIR DOGS, the cop who gets trunk-napped by thugs, dragged in a warehouse and turned into a bloody piñata... And here are a few selections from my podcast interview where Kirk discusses a scene with Tim Roth and a story about the legendary Lawrence Tierney…</i><br /> <br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Tx4ypk5f1PEIL_8sO7Xt8UyEg4Oxk-pUaW8vMKfNxb2o7YBBevpf9ewsoVF6Ku5Jc4XFVZvqKlrfKNfzlBJroC9iMgZHvYz4o0WPR10XHNgiQWYC8AubquemFlxVNIbOw_Tw_G2AG-o/s1600/216257.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585639960199962690" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Tx4ypk5f1PEIL_8sO7Xt8UyEg4Oxk-pUaW8vMKfNxb2o7YBBevpf9ewsoVF6Ku5Jc4XFVZvqKlrfKNfzlBJroC9iMgZHvYz4o0WPR10XHNgiQWYC8AubquemFlxVNIbOw_Tw_G2AG-o/s320/216257.jpg" style="float: left; height: 193px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 141px;" width="233" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kirk Baltz</td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">What do you remember about the scene where you and “Mr. Orange,” played by Tim Roth, are alone in the warehouse?</span></span><br /> <br /> The main thing I remember about that scene was… There’s a great master two-shot of Tim and I that’s from the other end of the warehouse, and obviously the camera’s all the way down there and behind the camera is the entire crew, maybe like thirty, forty people… I saw twenty-five, thirty people at least… What it felt like was like Tim and I were in a play... And we did the whole scene… we did a master… It was one of the first shots of that whole ending sequence. It was exciting for me because I’d done some other things; I’d done some other films and certainly some television and this was a very exciting moment for me.<br /> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA6cBGsEQQl7S5yO5IHi80pL8g2qMamJHUxEqMNrMTAwlOoklviNlLjqegnc09opuGgOUdYbg2UPElDQB1jegXu1JvdancsLokDC_l8mLkVi1vSVTNtkvGaxBL9Jo9MXr1JCKM6jbDtnc/s1600/Screen+shot+2015-10-05+at+6.54.00+PM.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA6cBGsEQQl7S5yO5IHi80pL8g2qMamJHUxEqMNrMTAwlOoklviNlLjqegnc09opuGgOUdYbg2UPElDQB1jegXu1JvdancsLokDC_l8mLkVi1vSVTNtkvGaxBL9Jo9MXr1JCKM6jbDtnc/s1600/Screen+shot+2015-10-05+at+6.54.00+PM.png" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tim Roth</td></tr> </tbody></table> And we finished one of those master takes… I think the first one… And the whole crew just applauded, like we were at a play… And it was incredibly exciting. And I remember that was a big moment for me and like… you know… I had seen Tim in other things, I was a fan of his work… And I was so excited to have the opportunity to do that much work with him.<br /> <br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieZdsnQTypF9Yrujv3cObx5tFppVcRft5GwDj5kPrxh3hOX7rmzRtIw3vUR7jgp0no4ls70Y0FhLeb9hNfXM9ZYuiGv-urQ22Yh31cBuLE8476vm1rahOta6pfT8evqwrsfzxIaeTjheE/s1600/Ltierney2.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585640513840216178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieZdsnQTypF9Yrujv3cObx5tFppVcRft5GwDj5kPrxh3hOX7rmzRtIw3vUR7jgp0no4ls70Y0FhLeb9hNfXM9ZYuiGv-urQ22Yh31cBuLE8476vm1rahOta6pfT8evqwrsfzxIaeTjheE/s200/Ltierney2.JPG" style="float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 146px;" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lawrence Tierney</td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lawrence Tierney, the veteran actor who played the boss, “Joe Cabot,” is known for his backstage antics… Anything happen with Lawrence on or off set?</span></span><br /> <br /> Yeah there's one little one I got for ya: I’m sitting in my little trailer in-between something we were doing… All of the sudden the door to my trailer flies open, and he walks in and he’s undoing his zipper, and he’s starting to pull his dick out – he didn’t quite get that far, he was getting close. And he’s making a beeline for my bathroom; he kinda looks around a little bit like, “Shit, this isn’t my trailer,” and then he sees me sitting over there, reading a book: I’m on my chair… And he looks around the room and he sees me sitting in… for a moment what he thought was his room… And then he goes [using gruff voice]: “Can I use your bathroom?” And I said, “Sure Lawrence, you can use my bathroom.” He was a free spirit.<br /> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj490X6-zU6NOLYEYXJkP5ts-0JAlYR7pCgjat9k10YEQmxgyDguXARUWtjL5gQDofMlCwDHk38frlRvq6ZkH3ve7m8eDI_swFc2F04TxzRniPY-bmXy1goIt7b5fvk-f8AtFfk7jfYaCZH/s1600/images.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj490X6-zU6NOLYEYXJkP5ts-0JAlYR7pCgjat9k10YEQmxgyDguXARUWtjL5gQDofMlCwDHk38frlRvq6ZkH3ve7m8eDI_swFc2F04TxzRniPY-bmXy1goIt7b5fvk-f8AtFfk7jfYaCZH/s1600/images.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;">Michael Madsen as Mr. Blonde</td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="background-color: white;"><b><i>From a 2010 interview with actor Michael Madsen, who played Mr. Blonde, the viciously cool thug who tortures poor Marvin Nash with a razor, some gasoline and a classic rock tune, providing Kirk with an intensely wonderful performance... Here Michael recalls working with Kirk Baltz for that pivotal scene... </i></b></span><br /> <br /> <b><u>MICHAEL MADSEN</u> ON KIRK BALTZ:</b> He asked me to put him in the trunk of my car so he could see how it felt to be locked up. After he got in I drove around the neighborhood for a little while because I then realized it was a good idea for me also to get into character...<br /> <br /> I don't think he appreciated it so I had to later remind him it was his idea. He was so good in that scene. Sometimes someone can be so good you don't even see it. He really sold it. He was very brave and that scene bound us together in cinema history.<br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizCSca6HsbZM-Gf9jnKZnel7_5a_4VPrHehDptMZzSZhzVr2tZ0iwlo6l5ZuRZRpdyFARe3DLr4x5xKCKDgmycYIG0c8ZLNHh7kt1yL31b6NJoHQJWhJCiBCH36sIiSPv7QP7z9drFLzNW/s1600/reservoirdogs3.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizCSca6HsbZM-Gf9jnKZnel7_5a_4VPrHehDptMZzSZhzVr2tZ0iwlo6l5ZuRZRpdyFARe3DLr4x5xKCKDgmycYIG0c8ZLNHh7kt1yL31b6NJoHQJWhJCiBCH36sIiSPv7QP7z9drFLzNW/s640/reservoirdogs3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The doomed POV of Officer Marvin Nash looking up at the devil dogs...</td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div>

chris penn, exploitation, gangster, interview, kirk baltz, lawrence tierney, michael madsen, nineties, quentin tarantino

KIRK BALTZ RECALLS RESERVOIR DOGS

"He was very brave and that scene bound us together in cinema history." Michael Madsen KIRK BALTZ played "Marvin Nash...

EIGHT BY ELMORE LEONARD

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 6px; padding-right: 6px; padding-top: 6px; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjfdEgVa09BKeZULgFjXJOVf1va5dxV3d81yfLvpFD7kAvuw1GbsyUVWuMVKXDEnyllVLBTrFSOL5AY4RzHsD7ogHPAr6pjT8bZdabMfzx6900i4_T7J8WFNpGjl9uFkZAhKqwaiYf3U1k/s1600/jackiebrown1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjfdEgVa09BKeZULgFjXJOVf1va5dxV3d81yfLvpFD7kAvuw1GbsyUVWuMVKXDEnyllVLBTrFSOL5AY4RzHsD7ogHPAr6pjT8bZdabMfzx6900i4_T7J8WFNpGjl9uFkZAhKqwaiYf3U1k/s640/jackiebrown1.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="640" /></a></div> </td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> <i><b>1) JACKIE BROWN (PAM GRIER, ROBERT FORSTER... QUENTIN TARANTINO) BULLETS: *****</b></i></div> </td></tr> </tbody></table> <i>After RESERVOIR DOGS opened doors and PULP FICTION made him an A-list writer/director, Quentin Tarantino chose to go, as he puts it, “under” PULP FICTION with this mellow caper based on Elmore Leonard’s book RUM PUNCH… </i><br /> <i><br /></i> <i>Changing the film’s title, and the name and color of the leading lady, Tarantino made a celebration of the Blaxploitation genre that became, arguably, his best work to date… Not only that, but in using a story by Elmore Leonard, Tarantino showed off one of his biggest influences via collaboration... </i><br /> <i><br /></i> <i>Pam Grier is Jackie Brown, a forty-something stewardess busted for smuggling cocaine and then, reluctantly at first, working alongside two cops and nice guy bail bondsman Max Cherry, played by an Oscar nominated Robert Forster, to land lethal Ordell Robbie in jail before he puts her in the bone yard – and if you thought Sam Jackson was tough in PULP FICTION… </i><br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO_2EqbLaV0XSB4dEIHrVUjOxOG11miX0b-RiCtF6Kiqf6e-1I8aXxiOKzNX4piqlQp7Dz4aJGf82lFv040TQZXG6w6u8p9_HjuCFJ3LzP3s5apusAPQdRgV_ERgrUzsTs8uVcfyKc3oot/s1600/jackiebrown2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO_2EqbLaV0XSB4dEIHrVUjOxOG11miX0b-RiCtF6Kiqf6e-1I8aXxiOKzNX4piqlQp7Dz4aJGf82lFv040TQZXG6w6u8p9_HjuCFJ3LzP3s5apusAPQdRgV_ERgrUzsTs8uVcfyKc3oot/s640/jackiebrown2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Robert Forster as Max Cherry in JACKIE BROWN</i></td></tr> </tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI08MeqNPVr2lGQEE_Ua-kCNzHl_2l_n_JgQODeyeWJ5hVfCg065fV_OlQNYSDNMYm2xzxWrWiLhpz8MKHI8uSM0t4yawK42fmFKO7Jjkjts-MZivWrUEgpmLlG4GKMV3ORY0UKzncZlJo/s1600/MAJESTYK2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI08MeqNPVr2lGQEE_Ua-kCNzHl_2l_n_JgQODeyeWJ5hVfCg065fV_OlQNYSDNMYm2xzxWrWiLhpz8MKHI8uSM0t4yawK42fmFKO7Jjkjts-MZivWrUEgpmLlG4GKMV3ORY0UKzncZlJo/s640/MAJESTYK2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><b>2) MR. MAJESTYK (CHARLES BRONSON, AL LETTIERI... RICHARD FLEISCHER) BULLETS: ****1/2</b></i></td></tr> </tbody></table> <i>Charles Bronson with sarcasm, and his name is Vince Majestyk, and the strangest thing is he’s a watermelon farmer who, after being thrown in jail for protecting his business from instigative punk Bobby Koppas, played by Paul Koslo, he meets and clashes with Al Lettieri's famous hit man Frank Renda, who eventually comes after Majestyk in his own territory, the backwoods, and the chase is on…  </i><br /> <i><br /></i> <i>Although there are gun fights, fist fights and plenty of action, this is a different kind of Charles Bronson vehicle – given that he’s somewhat of a smartass and only gets tough when completely necessary. Much of the film has creative dialog and character-development, thanks to Leonard's writing... </i><br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiInyUInrCONiRMCfN_ZKSE4HaZyPqsEOcmWSwV9VAZlKYh-xWBrBH55IzZe543Ge4rOw1t42aEZdExOtWK62pm21ztTXRbvpY-YFLDW0dUjhYEAMVxjgzgGDFUAKyLIbWYScRD4XqzlRkb/s1600/majestyk3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiInyUInrCONiRMCfN_ZKSE4HaZyPqsEOcmWSwV9VAZlKYh-xWBrBH55IzZe543Ge4rOw1t42aEZdExOtWK62pm21ztTXRbvpY-YFLDW0dUjhYEAMVxjgzgGDFUAKyLIbWYScRD4XqzlRkb/s640/majestyk3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Paul Koslo as Bobby Koppas in MR. MAJESTYK</i></td></tr> </tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_IFNAzVhcqQ7dEDap8w_4_Ds3ZHrxkIHNQHURmPgILYnW9hLWF0ilU02Fb-cgT0lBHDkdUoVfRBZPN8Dfx7vvmICW5_3YU4O4vvylnpZ-fZnWM-zz2a3vigmL75ctkAF-zYjpARuxyK5y/s1600/outofsight1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_IFNAzVhcqQ7dEDap8w_4_Ds3ZHrxkIHNQHURmPgILYnW9hLWF0ilU02Fb-cgT0lBHDkdUoVfRBZPN8Dfx7vvmICW5_3YU4O4vvylnpZ-fZnWM-zz2a3vigmL75ctkAF-zYjpARuxyK5y/s640/outofsight1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><b>3) OUT OF SIGHT (GEORGE CLOONEY, JENNIFER LOPEZ... STEVEN SODERBERGH) BULLETS: ****</b></i></td></tr> </tbody></table> <i>Both George Clooney, fresh from TV stardom, and Jennifer Lopez, famous for her music and ass (not in the order), OUT OF SIGHT, based on Leonard’s novel, is a supercool vehicle for both actors to shine...</i><br /> <i><br /></i> <i>Although directed by Steven Soderbergh, there’s a lotta Tarantino inspiration as the story goes back and forth in time, showing Clooney’s Jack Foley inside and outside of prison and even breaking out of prison, partnered with a quiet-tough Ving Rhames and comic relief Steve Zahn, eventually joining the villainous Don Cheadle for a diamond heist… </i><br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXVTTkzHBB_DkX4NPIbhs9D3hiO4bpwd7QvNvYJuhYfRpvRBz69gg4LHCk1RFS4XPJY7wnLmcvDalDpMKeJcYhE7fSoz6uI3IysLnAy2DD7RU08xKZY64S2XRydj97firzsUmeF_qKU85c/s1600/outofsight3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXVTTkzHBB_DkX4NPIbhs9D3hiO4bpwd7QvNvYJuhYfRpvRBz69gg4LHCk1RFS4XPJY7wnLmcvDalDpMKeJcYhE7fSoz6uI3IysLnAy2DD7RU08xKZY64S2XRydj97firzsUmeF_qKU85c/s640/outofsight3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>George Clooney quits his job right off the bat in OUT OF SIGHT</i></td></tr> </tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiesV1t1oqH9jnJkgY8JcmeLteJCUehWIsmaT-hXx37WZqCAIHFlM9YYzlXxCvuhecyMc_DzmeDCNrFbNTbQQRQLqATB3VcCcWvKQfDur7z1MseWq3Z25WjpFbyo9Jp6GjJAcp_ZHNVPfBZ/s1600/getshorty1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiesV1t1oqH9jnJkgY8JcmeLteJCUehWIsmaT-hXx37WZqCAIHFlM9YYzlXxCvuhecyMc_DzmeDCNrFbNTbQQRQLqATB3VcCcWvKQfDur7z1MseWq3Z25WjpFbyo9Jp6GjJAcp_ZHNVPfBZ/s640/getshorty1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><b>4) GET SHORTY (JOHN TRAVOLTA, GENE HACKMAN... BARRY SONNENFELD) BULLETS: ****</b></i></td></tr> </tbody></table> <i>Fast-paced and clever, this was the first adaptation to, as Elmore Leonard himself put it, finally get it right, GET SHORTY provides John Travolta, fresh from his PULP FICTION comeback, a similar character but with much more depth and layers…</i><br /> <i><br /></i> <i>Florida mobster Chili Palmer travels to Hollywood where he gets mixed up with, and eventually influences, an ecclectic lot of movie folk including a quirky Gene Hackman (surprisingly wimpy), Danny DeVito (not surprisingly short aka SHORTY), sexy Rene Russo and a cut-throat villain (Delroy Lindo) in the Leonard tradition…</i><br /> <i><br /></i> <i>There’s archive footage of Orson Welle’s Noir masterpiece TOUCH OF EVIL, and James Gandolfini plays a hired-hand stuntman named Bear, who provides a great scene with Travolta beginning with a fistfight and ending with a meaningful conversation…  And a</i><i>nother great actor who recently departed, Dennis Farina, plays a Florida mob boss both funny and lethal, a combination not all actors could successfully pull off… </i><br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioAMUcytdbtVXHGEswi8nJBNE8y5K9Sr9-rsc_4SlolgQmmHIvkioZ7Wb2s7ouoWQS8hdQZknSNj23nSKrYejcSPSENFW72zyBuMNqE6eLfPRt53z9lwkcpPr9InsfikcOQJWBKIFzmCoB/s1600/getshorty2.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioAMUcytdbtVXHGEswi8nJBNE8y5K9Sr9-rsc_4SlolgQmmHIvkioZ7Wb2s7ouoWQS8hdQZknSNj23nSKrYejcSPSENFW72zyBuMNqE6eLfPRt53z9lwkcpPr9InsfikcOQJWBKIFzmCoB/s640/getshorty2.gif" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The late James Gandolfini as Bear in GET SHORTY</i></td></tr> </tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyNHnYILuAH-NFAR7Jb6g7Ba8msCoxcLvv955JB5E6nCGw5Bb8XGdGbvjwYGxYxRFuxYR8u543bzxvfBGXObUvl8p3UeBmO2CzEYDop-VE2wh2QMxjyBWh0abYRteInawYr0OPaMZJkxF7/s1600/stick1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyNHnYILuAH-NFAR7Jb6g7Ba8msCoxcLvv955JB5E6nCGw5Bb8XGdGbvjwYGxYxRFuxYR8u543bzxvfBGXObUvl8p3UeBmO2CzEYDop-VE2wh2QMxjyBWh0abYRteInawYr0OPaMZJkxF7/s640/stick1.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><b>5) STICK (BURT REYNOLDS, CHARLES DURNING, JOSE PEREZ... BURT REYNOLDS) BULLETS: ***1/2</b></i></td></tr> </tbody></table> <i>After the disastrous CANNONBALL RUN 2 and STROKER ACE, Burt Reynolds leading man status was in big trouble, but few people know his mid to late 1980’s action films are quite good, including HEAT, MALONE and this crime caper STICK, based on Elmore Leonard’s novel, about an ex convict who, after a drug deal gone very bad, goes inside the lair of a seedy millionaire for revenge…</i><br /> <i><br /></i> <i>But the vengeance here, like other Leonard tales, doesn’t merely involve guns blasting and bombs exploding, at least not right off the bat… </i><br /> <i><br /></i> <i>Famous for a stunt involving the villain falling from a super-high building, Reynolds, as director, probably had the initial cut more to the Leonard standard, but was told in post-production to add action scenes to make it more mainstream… Either way it’s a pretty good film, and underrated… </i><br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitxzpzYXGUlRKjXZzYQ_09gTU4hJE_Jz5S04QlBmh6uYptA9BqyqcoZqq988wJFABeYYhHInGw3E_FsbQ5Ytq2bb9UutNpps0Sk3Oge8OTGtrZLSZ1PLCrouQtMYLamQfOJJCgIyaP5kN9/s1600/stick2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitxzpzYXGUlRKjXZzYQ_09gTU4hJE_Jz5S04QlBmh6uYptA9BqyqcoZqq988wJFABeYYhHInGw3E_FsbQ5Ytq2bb9UutNpps0Sk3Oge8OTGtrZLSZ1PLCrouQtMYLamQfOJJCgIyaP5kN9/s640/stick2.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Burt Reynolds dons a pink Members Only Jacket but is still tough</i></td></tr> </tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeq79zHJhRg9Xe7ryd6YTPH2MAcUXMonI_rz9MyDkar5y_mJL0duZYXKi2icM4RwehbAgh7GOWejia7Y8WXWYZvqNpuEHlXDIfnCebq8C0jWuPTtPRUt6In_1lf0gaZwz_2vmeyEBuoIj6/s1600/52pickup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeq79zHJhRg9Xe7ryd6YTPH2MAcUXMonI_rz9MyDkar5y_mJL0duZYXKi2icM4RwehbAgh7GOWejia7Y8WXWYZvqNpuEHlXDIfnCebq8C0jWuPTtPRUt6In_1lf0gaZwz_2vmeyEBuoIj6/s640/52pickup.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><b>6) 52 PICK-UP (ROY SCHEIDER, JOHN GLOVER... JOHN FRANKENHEIMER) BULLETS: ***</b></i></td></tr> </tbody></table> <i>Roy Scheider plays Harry Mitchell, who has just about everything until he’s blackmailed by gangsters and eventually tracks them down, and, in the Leonard fashion, plays them against each other…</i><br /> <i><br /></i> <i>Although Scheider, best known for chasing a big shark, provides a cool slow burn character, it’s John Glover’s over-the-top performance as the blabbering lead goon who really steals the show… </i><br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4PsBPmYnLrHc7axmeG93ojF6JKk6IwIoLsYe2tUZeacYmQosIsdZC0brmONt5-x3U-G_mwOf6S6okF9cZB890w8cKN-5ByPclN_-VsoYtv8vgPwBdjryvZxQuJl4Dapbgy2LkiPAgCij7/s1600/52+pickup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4PsBPmYnLrHc7axmeG93ojF6JKk6IwIoLsYe2tUZeacYmQosIsdZC0brmONt5-x3U-G_mwOf6S6okF9cZB890w8cKN-5ByPclN_-VsoYtv8vgPwBdjryvZxQuJl4Dapbgy2LkiPAgCij7/s640/52+pickup.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>John Glover goes wonderfully overboard in 52 PICK-UP</i></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOGQyXE_v5msNIUm-ioG69oTotRmkiU6VtT5kmvi_LDFz2iiVN6RvFu7zxSZRmmOdK_cwM8BP3bKbeSaqd-JZevpYTi6GAVHfaE0gfAXeDwcby1FZKlTFc-zsQBDUHOesZEK5B2Vd0DPCT/s1600/bigbounce1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOGQyXE_v5msNIUm-ioG69oTotRmkiU6VtT5kmvi_LDFz2iiVN6RvFu7zxSZRmmOdK_cwM8BP3bKbeSaqd-JZevpYTi6GAVHfaE0gfAXeDwcby1FZKlTFc-zsQBDUHOesZEK5B2Vd0DPCT/s640/bigbounce1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><b>7) THE BIG BOUNCE (RYAN O'NEAL, LEIGH TAYLOR-YOUNG... ALEX MARCH) BULLETS: ***</b></i></td></tr> </tbody></table> <i>Having met and fallen in love during their nighttime TV soap opera PEYTON PLACE, the at-that-time real life married couple Ryan O’Neal and Leigh Taylor-Young starred in this balmy Neo Noir about a, like many Elmore Leonard stories, ex convict, also a Vietnam vet, who, in the typical Noir fashion, falls helplessly in love with a wicked double-crossing beauty…</i><br /> <i><br /></i> <i>O’Neal does an effective job in the lead role, but it’s Leigh’s femme fatalle who wields the real power, manipulating everyone around her... </i><br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM42jlQpZ69tfyFbK03iCbF8aMM9IjpQS_H6eAbweWERYblw2qRwuAHaISlKqHGHKFeVaFFEQ2KVkqUJQTI5bQ6cQU_vtfBiBgmyxgmk3nmEbXR5559uidv4iw1TXRtk2IyLaabaTq3xFc/s1600/big+bounce2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM42jlQpZ69tfyFbK03iCbF8aMM9IjpQS_H6eAbweWERYblw2qRwuAHaISlKqHGHKFeVaFFEQ2KVkqUJQTI5bQ6cQU_vtfBiBgmyxgmk3nmEbXR5559uidv4iw1TXRtk2IyLaabaTq3xFc/s640/big+bounce2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Ryan O'Neal hits a homey during the opening game of THE BIG BOUNCE</i></td></tr> </tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkdUFdt0bP-Cp3nW52DkV_1mBg_I_UdKMBASNOqV-TzKw_wK9-N0cZuqKyvUpHuZovDKT3NHAl9cK-GNCteLxuc6HLp2-x8Ko25OvWhDB543y1WbALaYfJzlHY7B8363lNYs2nKrXJ1-_C/s1600/joekidd1_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkdUFdt0bP-Cp3nW52DkV_1mBg_I_UdKMBASNOqV-TzKw_wK9-N0cZuqKyvUpHuZovDKT3NHAl9cK-GNCteLxuc6HLp2-x8Ko25OvWhDB543y1WbALaYfJzlHY7B8363lNYs2nKrXJ1-_C/s640/joekidd1_2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><b>8) JOE KIDD (CLINT EASTWOOD, ROBERT DUVALL, DON STROUD... JOHN STURGES) BULLETS: **1/2</b></i></td></tr> </tbody></table> <i>Reading this post you’d think Elmore Leonard was a crime writer, but he started out writing dime novel Westerns during the 1950’s… And in the early ‘70’s he gave it another shot…</i><br /> <br /> <i>Although the movie itself is somewhat of a disappointment, Clint Eastwood's good in the title role, but it’s the group of rugged villains played by Robert Duvall, Don Stroud and soon to be MR. MAJESTYK co-star Paul Koslo providing the Leonard-touch as bad guys who talk up a storm, distinguishing KIDD from other Eastwood 1970’s Westerns… </i><br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSip-1Wo5tvXC0j5vMuC13Us-FEYBqKtU-oK-SL-T5fuX4DxysqFimMo6zJsSlNR0dMLnVG9s0AS0ux-BJi5nFQWdcwbLnIgjhu1DtCPZbwox_D4K6BWQissx-Yckwb75Yq99HZ17EKvJO/s1600/joekidd2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSip-1Wo5tvXC0j5vMuC13Us-FEYBqKtU-oK-SL-T5fuX4DxysqFimMo6zJsSlNR0dMLnVG9s0AS0ux-BJi5nFQWdcwbLnIgjhu1DtCPZbwox_D4K6BWQissx-Yckwb75Yq99HZ17EKvJO/s640/joekidd2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Paul Koslo watches Don Stroud roust a local girl in JOE KIDD</i></td></tr> </tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmjJr3p0nfSDkc24J0u_LYXAlvy07881wtRcTKa2hZyVqQRHrputRcneBN5zBIugwV3_6EoTj6etmy9msKJ1l9Zm9kbQmgndZ9hvJHFpSCk6G1fiirADiBFZ3PeAUspz2rUnr2RnHQQ4b1/s1600/outofsight2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmjJr3p0nfSDkc24J0u_LYXAlvy07881wtRcTKa2hZyVqQRHrputRcneBN5zBIugwV3_6EoTj6etmy9msKJ1l9Zm9kbQmgndZ9hvJHFpSCk6G1fiirADiBFZ3PeAUspz2rUnr2RnHQQ4b1/s640/outofsight2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>FAREWELL ELMORE LEONARD... OCTOBER 1925-AUGUST 2013</i></td></tr> </tbody></table>

crime, eighties, elmore leonard, quentin tarantino, seventies, sixties, tribute

EIGHT BY ELMORE LEONARD

1) JACKIE BROWN (PAM GRIER, ROBERT FORSTER... QUENTIN TARANTINO) BULLETS: ***** After RESERVOIR DOGS opened doors and PULP FICTION m...

QUENTIN TARANTINO DIRECTS DJANGO UNCHAINED

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCEgp2cmIxG9cm5-haft342r_goJRfTanDpxsO8wrZO313lpMauAcwCsG-eqrKjyukUGM5gex0Azu6k5EtPDPuHRaLuTT2RWKJWKMpWEulkgfYh-fw8nwypRCATZr96SGJsbuJUjvn3to/s1600/unchained+django.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCEgp2cmIxG9cm5-haft342r_goJRfTanDpxsO8wrZO313lpMauAcwCsG-eqrKjyukUGM5gex0Azu6k5EtPDPuHRaLuTT2RWKJWKMpWEulkgfYh-fw8nwypRCATZr96SGJsbuJUjvn3to/s16000/unchained+django.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 2012 cast: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Don Johnson rating: **1/2</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Modern exploitation guru Quentin Tarantino serves up historical revenge once again. His last film, INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, had the German Nazis getting theirs, and now, with a good German on board (the villain from the last film) we’re out to set things right in the American Deep South, two years shy of the Civil War…<br /> <br /> Although the first half takes place on the road from Texas to Mississippi as bounty hunting dentist Dr. King Schultz recruits a slave named Django to help him find three outlaw brothers (Django alone knows their appearance)... These are the more spirited and deliciously cutthroat segments as our heroes partner up and, as Django puts it, “Kill white people for money.” <br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlTft1Tx88yDRp_OK2C14q2oev5_kPgxZFJAUvBhPiyi1t7FsE4vqo181grrNiuAiCXKREUfazlxzYr8uqwkR__tfHJ5JAhkWoTcNMi2J2ltUU1YhfmXkmjSHNWbhXzdIv18fayVPOOmE/s1600/ddd1.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlTft1Tx88yDRp_OK2C14q2oev5_kPgxZFJAUvBhPiyi1t7FsE4vqo181grrNiuAiCXKREUfazlxzYr8uqwkR__tfHJ5JAhkWoTcNMi2J2ltUU1YhfmXkmjSHNWbhXzdIv18fayVPOOmE/s320/ddd1.jpg" width="178" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christoph Waltz</td></tr> </tbody></table> Christoph Waltz (Schultz) and Jamie Foxx (Django) are a good team, and while making mince meat out of their targets, the bloodshed is something to marvel. But Tarantino throws in awkward bouts of humor, derailing the intensity of the moment. One particular scene where a group of rednecks complain about not seeing through masked eyeholes (including a very distracting cameo by Jonah Hill) feels like Mel Brooks clumsily intruding Sergio Leone. <br /> <br /> After Django helps Schultz with his job, it’s time for the doctor to aid his more-than-capable partner rescue Django's wife Broomhilda, who resides at “Candyland,” an infamous Antebellum plantation run by the sinister though much too youthful Calvin Candie. <br /> <br /> While Leonardo DiCaprio has more than capable acting skills, and savors the gloriously tyrannical racist dialog, there could have/should have been a backstory on why the owner of a plantation looks fresh out of finishing school. For a man who’s supposed to have a lifetime of seething venom oozing from his veins, those desperately piercing blue eyes seem more confused and frustrated than cold and calculating, making Tarantino’s purposely overboard racism more of a crutch than weapon for the DiCaprio character (perhaps Don Johnson, who played a wily brothel owner in a previous scene, could have taken this role… he had the age going for him and with that, soulless eyes that look like he’s seen – and been through – pretty much everything).<br /> <br /> But Leo’s not alone. He’s helped along by the most wicked of Uncle Tom’s played by Samuel Jackson, whose spitefully cantankerous Stephen figures things out before his boss. This is a nice role for the QT stock actor, who has sleepwalked through many roles post PULP FICTION and JACKIE BROWN. Although his feeble mannerisms often slow down the performance, and at times he seems to be performing. <br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzJekmyVBtl3Hf5LV5-j2toEneWVeMxGfOV2Jgmj4B14pZ982j0jwDfq1iNfe4-ev78F3dSrJdwGi-yTvMaZsL1LArGHNCMomVcPnR9F1d3HTTtPeJRmldB-Ni9YziCpvqbgg_On65B6E/s1600/1.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzJekmyVBtl3Hf5LV5-j2toEneWVeMxGfOV2Jgmj4B14pZ982j0jwDfq1iNfe4-ev78F3dSrJdwGi-yTvMaZsL1LArGHNCMomVcPnR9F1d3HTTtPeJRmldB-Ni9YziCpvqbgg_On65B6E/s320/1.jpg" width="174" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jamie Foxx</td></tr> </tbody></table> The main problem with UNCHAINED is how long Tarantino stretches scenes with dialog. While the actors, especially Waltz and DiCaprio, have a blast with colorful monologues, you’ll often forget there are other characters on board – and most of the speeches fail to serve the plot: the duo pretending to buy Mandingo slave fighters when they really want to free Django's girl, a slave. And unlike the movies QT grew up on, especially the Leone Westerns, there's never a genuine feeling of being outdoors. Even the exterior shots, especially the opening chain gang sequence, feels contrived and constrained.<br /> <br /> With all the deals and discussions going on, the much-anticipated reunion of Django and Broomhilda is lost in the mix. Not even Django’s surreptitious trigger finger (whenever she's treated badly) adds worthy suspense, which, during this overlong stint at Candyland, is very much needed. But there’s not all downtime at the mansion: a particular Candie lecture involving a slave’s skull does successfully perk things up, providing DiCaprio a good five minutes of sheer unapologetic villainy. Then, after a shocking twist, it’s Django alone who must save his girl.<br /> <br /> Jamie Foxx, having played a quietly brooding second fiddle to Waltz so far, makes up for lost time with heated gusto. This third and final act involving a group of Australians being duped by Django, who’s learned the art of waxing poetic, is replete with the bare-knuckle action we’ve anticipated (although large chunks of bloody guts flying off each gunshot victim seems like Tarantino doing an overboard imitation of himself). There are some decent montage sequences, but some of the music, especially that of the rap nature, seems too modern for the time portrayed. And the editing feels somewhat limp without QT’s longtime collaborator Sally Menke, who died a few years back: Particular flashbacks and hallucinations are often confusing and awkward.  <br /> <br />An okay ride, much better than Quentin’s last two films (BASTERDS and DEATH PROOF), yet there needed a much tighter/sharper vehicle for our hero to truly deserve the fanfare of the literally explosive finale. Instead of being the title character he mostly seems a sidekick. <br />

2012, blaxploitation, christoph waltz, dennis christopher, exploitation, james remar, jamie foxx, leonardo dicaprio, quentin tarantino, samuel l. jackson

QUENTIN TARANTINO DIRECTS DJANGO UNCHAINED

year: 2012 cast: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Don Johnson rating: **1/2 Modern exploitation guru Quentin Tarantino se...

THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKXhRsa3FH4udclGGewCM49MCCkSxfl54np1YpRWRzxnsVBlnzXizxGiMeVv8s-6d2zD48ZMz0_VUIVlTOpT-_bcuLUAFjDgp3wPqT9R5BnkeVpMn7nDxJ0fYVCU1T6D13gdv4mBz7Y4A6/s1600/The-Man-With-The-Iron-Fists-First-image.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKXhRsa3FH4udclGGewCM49MCCkSxfl54np1YpRWRzxnsVBlnzXizxGiMeVv8s-6d2zD48ZMz0_VUIVlTOpT-_bcuLUAFjDgp3wPqT9R5BnkeVpMn7nDxJ0fYVCU1T6D13gdv4mBz7Y4A6/s640/The-Man-With-The-Iron-Fists-First-image.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2012 cast: Russell Crowe, RZA, Rick Yune rating: **</td></tr> </tbody></table> In most cases when an established director’s name appears before the word PRESENTS – in this case <i>Quentin Tarantino presents THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS</i> – it means they served as executive producer and the film will somewhat bear their directing style (think Steven Spielberg with POLTERGEIST or GOONIES). Well QT’s name is <i>nowhere</i> in any of the credits, including the story conceived by The RZA – who provided a fantastic soundtrack for KILL BILL – and Eli Roth co-wrote the script. But there are certain aspects, like the exploitative/gratuitous homage to the drive-in Kung Fu flicks, giving the impression the PULP FICTION icon is somewhere in the building: But that’s about where his signature ends.<br /> <br /> Set in 19th century China we have a score of science-fiction (or comic book) elements: a man who can morph into steel, weapons with a variety of functions, and people flying around like twirling bats. Suspension of disbelief is essential and you should ignore all the plot points within the first half hour that can be somewhat confusing: Just know there’s a bunch of gold and several factions want it. That being the nefarious Lion Clan who kill their leader in cold blood – his son (Rick Yune) seeks revenge. He eventually bands with Russell Crowe’s tough and tubby maverick Jack Knife and a black blacksmith played by RZA himself, perhaps the most sympathetic character with a backstory and handicap.<br /> <br /> As a director, the talented musician seems to mimic KILL BILL but without any characters to invest in – while his lethargic acting’s nothing to brag about. That’s not to say there aren’t a few kickass fights worth watching, although the overabundant (computer generated) blood and guts become distracting. And the title character is but a formidable adversary with a lot more iron than just his hand. Perhaps his description makes the coolest sounding name on the marquee, but the people who really shine are Lucy Liu’s gorgeous brothel vixens including (and especially) Jamie Chung – she alone is worth the time and money: Everything else feels like a lotta running around with rap and soul music blasting at every turn. Perhaps if RZA went for more dark comedy and put the melodrama aside, we could laugh along with the corny dialog rather than cringing at it. Yet everything leads to another round of kicks, swinging swords and flying limbs: so if that’s all you’re after, look no further. Just don't expect anything with depth or meaning.

2012, action, exploitation, kung fu, martial arts, quentin tarantino, russell crowe

THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS

year: 2012 cast: Russell Crowe, RZA, Rick Yune rating: ** In most cases when an established director’s name appears before the word PRES...

PLANET TERROR

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgejOD87Pz2R-wD2iHmYlR6L9hJ-HQK5Nf0RbjQbTinLNfiJpOY9AEyPw7dZOK-YmG7p_oVAORtP-0FrPGpneO_3Tp5RO_Xpbl9h2u8m-GQzdva1X_7Z83aeC6EaTI22PctfzHR2fWpOjo/s1600/936full-planet-terror-poster.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5617955474788765634" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgejOD87Pz2R-wD2iHmYlR6L9hJ-HQK5Nf0RbjQbTinLNfiJpOY9AEyPw7dZOK-YmG7p_oVAORtP-0FrPGpneO_3Tp5RO_Xpbl9h2u8m-GQzdva1X_7Z83aeC6EaTI22PctfzHR2fWpOjo/s200/936full-planet-terror-poster.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 119px; height: 200px;" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">title:</span> PLANET TERROR <span style="font-weight: bold;">year: </span>2007 <span style="font-weight: bold;">cast: </span>Rose McGowan, Josh Brolin, Jeff Fahey, Freddy Rodriguez, Bruce Willis <span style="font-weight: bold;">rating: </span>***1/2 The first (and best) segment of GRINDHOUSE, teaming Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino doing their own "cheap" horror films. Plot centers on a group of survivors during an outbreak brought back from Iraq. The military is at fault as it's a send-up of the zombie genre... yet it also stands on its own merits. The characters are fantastic; standouts being Josh Brolin as an evil doctor turned "sicko" and his beautiful, beaten, closet-lesbian doctor wife. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBHopqsA0qVoKMK6nlA_T23mOK02SV2PKV9W2AFPvr0CHSM_hIsVon0gPjv6UySZEjwoulbeOWXDuxih05l8ua1f-XxNoraQTDJSaYBCFpdZs8JIgFD_MQprNwPfLLOPE-VIFyxY0vWsQ/s1600/planet-terror-01.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5617955539788713218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBHopqsA0qVoKMK6nlA_T23mOK02SV2PKV9W2AFPvr0CHSM_hIsVon0gPjv6UySZEjwoulbeOWXDuxih05l8ua1f-XxNoraQTDJSaYBCFpdZs8JIgFD_MQprNwPfLLOPE-VIFyxY0vWsQ/s200/planet-terror-01.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" /></a>You'll see a lot in the promotion with Rose McGowan as a stripper with a machine gun leg, but this happens in the last five minutes. Freddy Rodriguez makes a decent Clint Eastwood-type. Jeff Fahey is also quite good as a sloppy, tough cafe owner as is Michael Biehn as his sheriff brother and a darkly hilarious cameo by Nicky Katt (who's brilliant in THE LIMEY).<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc6wRX48WFx2xhlDbUdCHBLmuag5vMtU_H6-6ko0FxRQKvq4M9mrjXIZ9MOlpFsAEnoIDFsO9ZNybfnZbbuMv_0GXhHDKlzAQEVF_HDnJNh9FqiD0NQidqRufiPK_PGzlYoJBmif5TVvA/s1600/planet%252Bterror.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5617955654419870402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc6wRX48WFx2xhlDbUdCHBLmuag5vMtU_H6-6ko0FxRQKvq4M9mrjXIZ9MOlpFsAEnoIDFsO9ZNybfnZbbuMv_0GXhHDKlzAQEVF_HDnJNh9FqiD0NQidqRufiPK_PGzlYoJBmif5TVvA/s200/planet%252Bterror.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 156px; height: 200px;" /></a> Not to forget Bruce Willis, Naveen Andrews and Quentin Tarantino making effective cameos. Robert Rodriguez never lets up with action but still finds time for story, and the character-development is placed perfectly within the running around, gun-fights, car chases, and mega-slayings. Bad sound, screen blotches, and missing reels are purposely added to cement the GRINDHOUSE experience (theaters that'd play several B movies in a row using cheap projectors). This makes little-to-no sense since it's a big budget CGI film, but the flaws, contrived or otherwise, don't hinder this rollercoaster ride: they only enhance it.

bruce willis, ensemble, horror anthology, josh brolin, quentin tarantino, robert rodriguez, stripper, zeroes

PLANET TERROR

title: PLANET TERROR year: 2007 cast: Rose McGowan, Josh Brolin, Jeff Fahey, Freddy Rodriguez, Bruce Willis rating: ***1/2 The first (and ...