EverythingQuentin~

Death Proof Disappointment

For those of you who don’t know, Death Proof, is a film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, released in 2007 as part of a double feature with Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror, collectively named Grindhouse. It’s storyline is simple and Tarantino styled: A stunt man, violently kills young women with his ‘death proof’ car. It stars Kurt Russell, Rosario Dawson, Zoe Bell and Rose McGowan. Yet that’s as ‘Tarantino’ as it gets. The film is an ultimate disappointment to fans everywhere. It looks as if Tarantino is losing his touch. 

Even though the storyline is in the style of Tarantino, it doesn’t mean it is his best piece of work. It doesn’t seem as developed in comparison to his other greats, leaving little background story but not having a strong plot either. It almost seems rushed: a story he may thought of on a drunken night out. It repeats itself, in terms of the plot, even though its supposed to, yet it doesn’t work well. The whole film borderlines a cheaply made horror film, with the mysterious murderer and female victims. Overall it is long and repetitive. 

Another big let down, is the fact that it doesn’t include any witty dialogue, a big must have in any Tarantino film. There are no monologues, nothing poetic. Just talk. Which makes the film very boring, as there isn’t much to look at either. There is the small bit of poetry that is supposed to be said to one of the characters, but it isn’t anything original, Tarantino has taken it not created it. 

The graphics are just abysmal too. He seemed to have gone from too much blood in Reservoir dogs, to not enough in Death Proof. It might of been his idea to make the film look cheaply made, but when there are close ups of how each woman in the car died, he could have tried harder. The leg which is sawn off looks completely fake, and there’s no blood! 

The worst part is that the film is predictable, something Tarantino has been able to avoid in every other film he has done. The element of surprise was also the best part to his films, but there doesn’t seem to be any in Death Proof. Again, like a cheaply made horror film. He doesn’t shock the audience with violence or non-socially accepted behaviour but rather kills most of the cast in one go, the others he doesn’t kill at all and leaving it open ended. Too anticipated.

Though, Tarantino doesn’t disappoint when it comes to having some action. The best scene had to be where Zoe Bell is clinging on for her life when Stuntman Mike is attacking the car. It does cause the audience to sit on the edge of their seat, even for a little while.  

So, all in all, this film is utter rubbish and a waste of viewing time. 

Are Mallory and Mickey, Honey Bunny and Pumpkin?

To begin, some of you wont know who these characters are. Mallory and Mickey are the serial killer couple from Natural Born Killers, which is loosely written around Quentin Tarantino’s original script. Honey Bunny and Pumpkin are the couple who rob the restaurant in Pulp Fiction. Both duo’s were created by Tarantino, and both couples are very similar in many ways. 

Tarantino is known to use characters more then once in different films: he used the same officers, Earl and Edgar McGraw, in Kill Bill, From Dusk Till Dawn and Death Proof. Which means that is it possible that he wrote Pulp Fiction with the intention of Honey Bunny and Pumpkin being the same characters, as he has done it before. Yet it is impossible to be sure of, as the script for Natural Born Killers had been rewritten and changed so many times, it only consists on elements of Tarantino’s first draft. There is also no background about Honey Bunny and Pumpkin, but there are so many similarities between the two, it is highly likely. 

To begin with the obvious, the two duo’s are both couples, who are very much in love. In a twisted way, Natural Born Killers is a love based film (with more elements of thriller thrown in there) and we know by their behaviour and language that they are in love. In fact, Mickey’s touching monologue tells us all about it, if you haven’t notice already from their display of affections. 

Mickey: You know, the only thing that kills the demon… is love. 

Honey Bunny and Pumpkin are almost the same, except they don’t have enough time in the film to have an actual background. Yet there’s still enough time for them to show the audience their feelings, for starters, they have pet names for each other, which they are known as throughout the film. Even at the strangest times. 

Honey Bunny: [about to rob a diner] I love you, Pumpkin. 
Pumpkin: I love you, Honey Bunny. 

So, moving on from the absolute obvious, their behaviour but more their personalities tell us a lot too. Both couples are very aggressive and violent, with the whole of Natural Born Killers being based around serial killers and Mallory and Mickey killing 52 people in three weeks. Also, we know that Honey Bunny and Pumpkin are, how can I put it, criminals, robbing a restaurant at gun point. Both duo’s are like the Bonnie and Clyde’s of the films. 

Mallory and Honey Bunny are similar, not just the characters, but also the actresses that play them. In my opinion, Juliette Lewis and Amanda Plummer look almost alike in the films, with short hair and a constant mean look. It’s really hard to pin point exactly how they look alike but I’m pretty sure they do almost. As I said, their characters are similar too, mostly using the same language, as in being rough with people and quite vicious. Their personalities are very alike, both being in love and wanting to do anything for their partners and at the same time being ruthless criminals, completely separating the two identities. Honey Bunny and Mallory are quite dominant, female characters, not in both films, but in both couples (up until Jules holds Pumpkin at gun point, where she does what he says rather then taking control). Mallory is the most dominant female character throughout the whole of Natural Born Killers, being the only lead female role. 

Pumpkin and Mickey are very different characters. Pumpkin doesn’t seem as ruthless or as smart as Mickey: he’s a lot more timid in a sense that he gives in when Jules has the upper hand, yet Mickey still fought when Scagnetti apprehended them. Also, Mickey has a poetic side, where as Pumpkin doesn’t, making their personalities very different, yet their motives are the same. Again, their characters aren’t the only ones who are different to each other, Woody Harrelson and Tim Roth are both two very different actors, in terms of looks and their voices etc.. 

It is almost likely, that Tarantino’s Honey Bunny and Pumpkin are his interpretations or original characters of Mallory and Mickey, and by knowing that he can’t actually make the film any longer, he wanted to show the world his creations and how they were supposed to be to begin with. They’re personalities are so alike, that the diner Honey Bunny and Pumpkin rob may very well could be just another chapter in Mallory and Mickey’s crimes, just never shown in Natural Born Killers and Tarantino wanted to portray them in Pulp Fiction. Maybe it is just me over thinking the characters and being to analytical. Alas, we can never know. 

(Source: IMDb.com)

I absolutely

love when Lt. Aldo Raine (Inglourious Basterds) speaks Italian in his southern American accent. So funny!

Django Chained Script Leaked!!

So, it turns out that the title wasn’t the only thing leaked on Twitter.. The whole script was too.

It was reported in The Guardian that the whole script has been leaked online. However, the website that I viewed (not to read the script, but to see if the rumours were true) has deleted the content. Good! Such art like this should not be exposed to the world unfinished. Did Leonardo da Vinci preview the Mona Lisa before he had finished? Of course not! Seeing the unfinished masterpiece ruins it, almost takes away the magic of seeing it for the first time. It takes away the beauty and the mystery.

A source from IMDb said ‘In news that will delight fans of Quentin Tarantino ’. Personally, I am finding it really hard to see this situation from the brighter side. I don’t understand why people would leak a script and why anyone would want to read it anyway. This must be as illegal as downloading films off the internet. If it is, all you people should be ashamed of yourselves! Tarantino did not spend all his time on it, for it to be ruined by some small minded ‘fans’. People like this are the reason why the film industry is failing to get profits (along with the mass amount of internet torrent downloads). 

So to all the people who have leaked and read this script: I understand you’re a fan, but why would you want to ruin a possibly great film? There is no magic left, no surprises. It’s like reading a book before the movie, except EVERYTHING is going to be exactly the same. Have some respect! 

(Source: cinemasharks.net)

Django Unchained

Quentin Tarantino’s latest masterpiece, Django Unchained, will be hitting cinemas worldwide in the years to come. Still in pre-production and with filming to be started the autumn, I can hardly suppress my excitement of the film release. If I know Quentin Tarantino, then there will no doubt that the film will be packed with violence, swearing and surprises: everything we want from a Tarantino film. 

By using my favourite website, IMDb, I was able to find out almost everything about the film, from who will be staring in it and the production companies to when it will be released for our viewing pleasure. 

Now, first things first, we have the name, Django Unchained, which was only released after being leaked onto Twitter my an anonymous source. The Mail Online claimed that ‘film bloggers went wild over what looked like the directors childish handwriting’. I’m sure they did, as Tarantino hasn’t been active since 2009, nearly 3 years ago, after the release of Inglourious Basterds. The Mail went on to say, that leaked photograph was confirmed by his agent later, and that the name Django Unchained was going to stay. 

We have the name, but what’s the motive? The story is said to be a ‘spaghetti western’, one of Tarantino’s favourite genres besides Kung Fu. The main plot line is a slave, presumably Django, turns into a bounty hunter, after his wife his bought by a brutal plantation owner from Mississippi, Calvin Candie. Sounds so romantic! 

It seems that a familiar face will be reappearing as Christopher Waltz (Inglourious Basterds) is said to be playing  Dr. King Scultz and Samuel. L Jackson (Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown) is co-starring as a character called Stephen. However, two news faces join us as the two main men: Leonardo DiCaprio will be starring as the baddie Calvin Candie (which makes a change) and Jamie Foxx as the infamous Django. It will be interesting to see new faces in a Tarantino film, and whether they can cope with the (hopefully) bizarre and shocking events. 

It is yet to be confirmed if Quentin Tarantino himself will be playing a small part in this films, but here’s hoping he does, as it is becoming a new trade mark of his, like Alfred Hitchcock did before him. 

IMDb says that the US date for the release of this film will be on Christmas day, 2012, that’s if we’re all still about after the ‘end of the world’. The Czech Republic will be releasing it on the 10th of January, 2013. However, I’m sure these dates will change with the course of time. 

I am hoping that this film will not let Tarantino down and take the world by storm, just as Reservoir dogs did, almost ten years ago. 

If you want to check out the page the link is http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1853728/releaseinfo & this is for the Mail Online http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1382551/Django-Unchained-Quentin-Tarantinos-new-film-starring-Christoph-Waltz-leaked.html