THE TWILIT TEN:
putting out the fire with gasoline
in the allegorical film art of
Quentin Tarantino
by Gary W. Wright
After the shocking, horrifying and outraging helicopter crash that killed actor/director/writer Vic Morrow and illegally hired and employed child extras Renee Chen and Myca Le around 2:20 am in the early morning of July 23, 1982 on the George Folsey jr. produced John Landis set of the twilit, allegorical and Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall produced Landis, Joe Dante, George Miller and Steven Spielberg film TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE (1983), audiences-particularly youthful Boomer Brat audiences-turned against Folsey jr., Kennedy, Landis, Marshall and Spielberg and embraced equally horrified and outraged Baby Boomer film artists like Luc Besson, Kathryn Bigelow, James Cameron, Alex “El Pelicullero” Cox, David Cronenberg, Terry Gilliam and David Lynch who implicitly raged against the TZ disaster and those responsible for it in their film art. However, while some Boomer film artists were just as horrified and infuriated by the TZ disaster as the Boomer Brats who went on to be labelled “Generation X”, they were not born in the mid-Sixties to mid-Seventies like Gen X, nor did they grow up in the restless and rebellious Sixties with high hopes of a better world for all people only to have those altruistic and exuberant hopes and dreams dashed by the equally horrifying, infuriating, embittering, demoralizing and depressing lack of jobs, and permanent part-time hours with low wages, no benefits or pensions, of the few jobs that could be found in the Edgy Eighties and Nasty Nineties.
Thus, the Boomer Brats of so called Gen X were pleased when the Nineties brought with it not just the end of the Cold War but film artists like Quentin Jerome Tarantino who would truly express their anger, angst, bitterness, frustration, depression, dreams, nightmares, hopes, fears, pessimism, cynicism and caustic amusement because they shared their anger, angst, bitterness, frustration, depression, dreams, nightmares, hopes, fears, pessimism, cynicism and caustic amusement. Indeed, the Boomer Brats of Gen X were so pleased with the openly, indomitably and satirically nasty and vengeful cinematic assault of Tarantino that they eagerly embraced him and his film art when he arrived in the early Nineties, causing him to quickly transcend his film art and became the embodiment of righteously raging Generation X. This bitter rage against the twilit machine and journey to greater spiritual, sociocultural, philosophical and artistic significance began when Tarantino donned the actor/writer/director hats and teamed up with a talented company to kick off the tenth anniversary year of the TZ disaster with the twilit, allegorical and computer generated imagery (CGI) free indie docufeature film RESERVOIR DOGS (1992), released on January 21, 1992.
“A psychopath ain’t a professional.
You can’t work with a psychopath.”
Indeed, Tarantino made his twilit bitterness, frustration and rage implicitly clear in this first film. For after a brash, cocky and defiantly idiosyncratic prologue in a Los Angeles diner that immediately set the brash, cocky, defiant and idiosyncratic tone of the film and of the entire oeuvre of Tarantino, and an opening titles sequence to the sound of the allegorical and Hans Bouwens and Jan Visser written George Baker Selection tune “Little Green Bag” (1969) that began with a title confidently proclaiming “…A Film by Quentin Tarantino”, RESERVOIR DOGS saw the implicitly Alfred Hitchcock linked criminal kingpin Joseph “Joe” Cabot-played by Lawrence Tierney-and his implicitly Brian De Palma linked son Nice Guy Eddie-played by Chris Penn-recruit some completely amoral, violent and blockbuster loot lusting criminals implicitly linked to prominent blockbuster loot lusting Zone War film artists for a blockbuster robbery of Karina’s Wholesale Diamonds. Significantly, like the TZ disaster, the robbery was a complete snafu, with Mr. Brown-played by Tarantino and perhaps linked to Sean Penn given that his opening rant in the diner about the twilit, allegorical and Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg written Madonna tune “Like A Virgin” (1984) reminded us that Penn was briefly married to Madonna before losing his virginity as a film artist with the twilit, allegorical, CGI free and implicitly Lynch and Spielberg addressing indie docufeature film THE INDIAN RUNNER (1991)-and the implicitly Sir Ridley Scott linked Mr. Blue-played by Eddie Bunker-killed by police over the course of the robbery. For his part, the implicitly Cameron linked Mr. Orange, in reality an undercover Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officer named Freddy Newendyke-played by Tim Roth-who had given his fellow officers advance warning of the robbery, was shot in the stomach and mortally wounded after being shot by a female driver with a gun-played by Suzanne Celeste-while commandeering her car and fleeing the heist scene with the implicitly Richard Rush linked Larry aka Mr. White-played by Harvey Keitel.
Significantly, the survivors of the blockbuster fiasco gathered in an ironically fitting mortuary with stark interiors and angrily confronted each other over who had tipped off the LAPD to the robbery in advance with all too correctly paranoid fury, evoking a stage set and giving the film a theatrical quality-?cineatrical? The mortuary setting also evoked the equally angry and correctly paranoid confrontations between the personnel of a remote American research base with equally stark interiors in Antarctica as they struggled to figure out who had been infected with blockbuster CGI enhanced extraterrestrial Evil in the eerily and presciently twilit and allegorical John Carpenter docufeature film THE THING (1982), openly linking the film to the twilit and disastrous July of ’82. Here a badly bleeding and barely alive Mr. Orange fittingly shot and terminated the implicitly George Lucas linked “Toothpick” Vic Vega aka Mr. Blonde-his codename evoking the blonde hair of Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker in the STAR WARS Classic Trilogy to affirm his implicit link to Lucas, and played by Michael Madsen.
Indeed, Mr. Orange shot and killed Mr. Blonde before Mr. Blonde set on fire a hostage LAPD officer that he had been torturing named Marvin Nash-played by Kirk Baltz-a torture that had implied the belief of Tarantino that the Good Force was no longer with Lucas and that had been done to the sound of the “Super Sounds of the ‘70’s” weekend radio show hosted by DJ K-Billy-played by Steven Wright-a rockin’ DJ and radio show and that evoked the sound of Robert Smith’s howlin’ radio DJ Wolfman Jack in the allegorical and implicitly Ralph Bakshi roasting Lucas indie docufeature film AMERICAN GRAFFITI (1973) to reaffirm the implicit link of Mr. Blonde to Lucas. Soon after the death of Mr. Blonde, the bloody film then climaxed with Mr. White shooting and killing Joe and Nice Guy Eddie as he was shot in turn by Eddie, then the wounded Mr. White shot Newendyke in the head when Newendyke revealed he was an undercover cop before Mr. White was gunned down in turn by the LAPD when they burst into the warehouse.
Ironically, in the most surprising and brazen twist in the film, it was the implicitly Landis linked Mr. Pink-played by Steve Buscemi-who escaped the carnage with the stolen jewels unharmed, in the end. Indeed, Mr. Pink’s fondness for breaking the fourth wall by looking into the camera like characters were fond of doing in the film art of Landis, and the film’s allusions to such eerily and presciently twilit and allegorical Landis indie docufeature films as THE BLUES BROTHERS (1980) and AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON (1981) affirmed the implicit link of Mr. Pink to Landis. Thus, with Mr. Orange, Nice Guy Eddie, Mr. Blonde, Mr. White, Mr. Blue and Mr. Brown gunned down over the course of the film or in the end, Tarantino implied that Cameron, De Palma, Lucas, Rush, Sir Scott and even himself were all as equally amoral and as obsessed with blockbuster and as indifferent to who they killed to get it as Landis, and even more doomed to die in the madcap and violent attempt. In addition, with the surprise escape of the implicitly Landis linked Mr. Pink, Tarantino also sarcastically reminded audiences and film artists that for all of the hard and often CGI enhanced cinematic and telefilm work and box office success of Cameron, De Palma, Lucas, Rush, and Sir Scott since the TZ disaster, no film artist had been able to stop Landis from returning to film art after being found not guilty of manslaughter at the TZ trial’s conclusion in 1987 or to break film art free from the twilit disaster and kick off a daylit and Skyrocking new era of CGI enhanced film art. Thus, it was all too ironically fitting that Landis returned to the Temple Theatre later that year with the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and implicitly Spielberg roasting indie docufeature film INNOCENT BLOOD (1992), released on September 25, 1992.
And so the essential characteristics of a Tarantino film were established with RESERVOIR DOGS, such as a cineatrical style; an implicitly righteous and embittered twilit fury which fuelled an indomitable, sarcastic and gleefully politically incorrect indie spirit; angry, disaffected, riotous and obscenity filled dialogue common to Boomer Brat circles at the time; a discordant chronology enhanced by disorienting flashbacks; and pop music of the sizzlin’ and pre-TZ disaster Sixties and Seventies, some of the allegorical songs courtesy of the “Super Sounds of the ‘70’s” weekend radio show hosted by DJ K-Billy, when most of the Boomer film artists being implicitly addressed were riding high enhancing the visuals with bitter and ironic fury. With an emphasis on bitterly and furiously ironic, as the allegorical and Joe Egan and Gerry Rafferty written Stealers Wheel tune “Stuck In The Middle” (1972) played as Mr. Blonde rocked and rolled and tortured Officer Nash before he was gunned down by Mr. Orange to prevent him from setting a gasoline soaked Officer Nash on fire; and a lack of CGI enhancement or any interest in frantically assuring audiences that film set disasters could be avoided, couldn’t they?, with CGI enhancement as Kennedy, Marshall and Spielberg would desperately do the following year in the infuriatingly awful, twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed Spielberg animaction film JURASSIC PARK (1993), so make sure you buy all the movie tie-in t-shirts, baseball hats, posters, soundtracks, videos and toys that you can so we can get rich at your expense, ok sheeple?
And so these characteristics immediately endeared Tarantino to the Boomer brats of Gen X, who shared his dismal and deadend experiences and angry and caustic world view. Perhaps the fact that Tarantino was literally a fellow audience member with literally no experience making film art who simply rose up in outraged fury to defend a cinematic art form he luved so much as so many Gen Xers wished they could do also endeared him to the Boomer brats. At any rate, all the traits seen and heard in RESERVOIR DOGS also continued when Tarantino teamed up again with Roger Avary-who worked on the screenplay for RESERVOIR DOGS-to co-write the twilit, allegorical and CGI free Tony Scott indie docufeature film TRUE ROMANCE (1993), released on September 8, 1993.
“Do you like to get pie
after you see a good movie?”
For the film saw a young and naïve but honest, sincere and comic, film, junk food, rock n roll and television luving Gen X protagonist Clarence Worley-played by Christian Slater-meet, fall in luv with and then liberate the beautiful, bewitching, sensitive, smart and spunky blonde dream girl and call Alabama Whitman-played by Patricia Arquette-from her nasty and violent drug dealing pimp Drexl Spivey-played by Gary Oldman. Curiously, after getting married the next day and briefly making a pit stop to beg some money from Worley’s father Clifford-played by Dennis Hopper-Clarence and Alabama fled the cold, mean and wintry streets of Detroit in a 1974 Cadillac Fleetwood Eldorado with a suitcase full of cocaine accidentally taken from Drex to L.A. to sell the coke to two Hollywood linked friends of Clarence, the implicitly Cameron and Cronenberg linked Richard “Dick” Ritchie and Elliot Blitzer-played by Michael Rapaport and Bronson Pinchot, respectively. Alas for Ritchie and Blitzer, as the coke deal went down in a room of the Beverly Ambassador Hotel with Blitzer’s pal, the ambiguously linked small time indie Hollywood producer Lee Donowitz-played by Saul Rubinek-they were killed in the closing climatic shootout with the pursuing mobsters from Detroit who were frantic for their missing coke and the LAPD, including the implicitly Hitchcock and Stanley Kubrick linked Nicky Dimes and Cody Nicholson-played by Penn and Tom Sizemore, respectively. Luckily for the two young luvers, Clarence lost a sinister left eye in the shootout but otherwise they managed to survive and escape the Ambassador, and were last seen still happily married and enjoying a day at the beach with their fittingly named son Elvis-played by Enzo Rossi-in the end.
Significantly, as the film constantly evoked and alluded to the twilit, allegorical, CGI free, Ozian themed and implicitly Sir Scott addressing Lynch indie docufeature film WILD AT HEART (1990), the implication was that the younger Scott and Avary and Tarantino were addressing Lynch and his indie moving painting film art in the implicit form of Clarence and Alabama and urging Lynch not to give up on his luv for film art after audiences and critics trashed his twilit, allegorical, CGI free and implicitly Spielberg roasting indie moving painting TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME (1992) the year before. Indeed, the luv of Clarence for Elvis and the luv of the eternal rockin’ spirit of Elvis-played by Val Kilmer-for Clarence also affirmed the implicit Lynch addressing intent of the film, evoking the luv of Sailor Ripley-played by Nicolas Cage-for Elvis in WILD AT HEART. The sound of Chris Isaak crooning the twilit and allegorical tune “Two Hearts” (1993) over the closing titles reaffirmed the implicit Lynch addressing intent of the film, reminding us that Isaak contributed the memorable twilit and allegorical tune “Wicked Game” (1990) to WILD AT HEART, and also played FBI Special Agent Chester Desmond in TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME. Of course, the presence of Hopper as Clarence’s dad Clifford Worley also affirmed the implicit Lynch addressing intent of the film, reminding us of Hopper’s unforgettable role as the Wicked Frank Booth in the twilit, allegorical, Ozian themed and implicitly Tim Burton addressing Lynch indie moving painting BLUE VELVET (1986), a title whose cadence was heard in TRUE ROMANCE.
At any rate, Clarence’s preference for such allegorical and CGI and movie tie-in merchandise free indie docufeature films as the Sergio Leone artbuster THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY (1966) and Miller’s MAD MAX (1979) over puerile pap like JURASSIC PARK that were giddily given annual awards by the august Academy was pure Gen X. A pure Gen X spirit that returned with a cineatrical style, more L.A. locations, more righteous rage for 70's film art and film artists and more implicit support for Lynch when Tarantino donned the actor/writer/director hats and teamed up again with Avary, Buscemi, Keitel, Roth, Samuel L. Jackson and Christopher Walken-who played the drug dealer Big Don and the mafioso Vincent Coccotti, respectively, in TRUE ROMANCE-and producer Lawrence Bender, costume designer Betsy Heimann, editor Sally Menke, music supervisor Karyn Rachtman, director of photography Andrzej Sekula, production designer David Wasco and distributor Miramax Films-all from RESERVOIR DOGS-on the twilit, allegorical, CGI free, Ozian themed and non-linear indie docufeature film PULP FICTION (1994), released on May 21, 1994.
“I think it’s like a wax museum
with a pulse.”
Curiously, the film began in familiar territory with the implicitly Scarecrow linked English robber Ringo and his girl Yolanda aka “Pumpkin” and “Hunny Bunny”-implicitly linked to Cox and his film art, and played by Roth and Amanda Plummer, respectively-discussing an innovative but tragicomically small minded robbery of an L.A. restaurant called the Hawthorne Grill and then carrying out the madcap robbery, evoking the L.A. diner beginning of RESERVOIR DOGS and the robbing spree of the disaffected and implicitly Nikko and Wicked Witch of the West linked punks Duke and Debbi-played by Dick Rude and Jennifer Balgobin, respectively-in the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed Cox indie docufeature film REPO MAN (1984). Then the opening titles flashed on the screen, the third of which again confidently proclaimed “…A FILM BY QUENTIN TARANTINO”, while the unusual and vaguely Mexican Sixties surf sound of the allegorical and Milton Leeds, Nicholas Roubanis, Bob Russell and Fred Wise written Dick Dale & His Del-Tones instrumental tune “Misirlou” (1963), which fittingly evoked the fondness of Cox for Latin America to affirm the implicit link of Ringo and Yolanda to Cox and his film art, played before the familiar sardonic Seventies sounds of the allegorical and Robert Bell, Ronald Bell, Donald Boyce, George Brown, Robert S. Mickens, Dennis Thomas and Richard Westfield written Kool & The Gang tune “Jungle Boogie” (1973) suddenly cut in and replaced “Misirlou."
Then fittingly, giving the implicit nod to Cox and his indie film art in the restaurant robbery prologue, the film kicked off after the opening titles with the sight and sound of the implicitly Wicked Witch of the West linked hitman Jules Winnfield-who evoked Sy Richardson, who played Lite in REPO MAN, and was played by Jackson-driving the implicitly Spielberg and Wicked Witch of the East linked linked hitman Vincent Vega-his name evoking Vic Vega to link the film to RESERVOIR DOGS, and played by John Travolta-to their next job one fateful sunny morning in L.A., both wearing the black suits, ties and white shirts of the Reservoir Dogs and the Blues Brothers and listening to "Jungle Boogie" on the radio. The implicit link of Vega to Spielberg reminded us of the lush jungle of Isla Nublar in JURASSIC PARK, making it fitting that the soundtrack cut so suddenly from "Misirlou" to "Jungle Boogie" to implicitly affirm that a Seventies film artist was now being addressed. Tragicomically, Vega was so vacuous all he could talk about of his three years in Europe laying low from the law was the meals he ate at McDonald's restaurants in Amsterdam and Paris.
Curiously, the two tragicomic hitmen soon confronted the implicitly Folsey jr. and Landis linked Brett and Roger-played by Frank Whaley and Burr Steers, respectively-in an apartment and retrieved a briefcase filled with a mysterious glowing content that evoked the equally mysterious, glowing and eviscerating contents in the trunk of a '64 Chevy Malibu that the many madcap characters of REPO MAN sought throughout that film. Then Winnfield shot Roger dead, then quoted from the Bible as he shot Brett from the front and Vega fittingly shot Brett from behind. At which point the scene shifted to later that morning, and the sight and sound of the struggling and implicitly Lynch and Tin Man linked boxer Butch Coolidge-played by Bruce Willis-being persuaded to accept a fistful of dollars to throw his next fight by the implicitly Francis Coppola linked gang leader Marsellus Wallace-played by Ving Rhames-a scene that evoked the opening scene of the allegorical and implicitly Spielberg addressing Coppola indie docufeature film MARIO PUZO'S THE GODFATHER [1972] to affirm the implicit link of Wallace to Coppola and Vega to Spielberg. The latter implication making it fitting that Vega and Winnfield soon arrived on the scene, and significant that Vega infuriated Coolidge by casually and brashly insulting him to his face.
Then the scene shifted again to the sight and sound of Vega buying heroin from the implicitly Cameron and Cowardly Lion linked drug dealer Lance-played by Eric Stoltz-and gettin' high before driving over to the house of Wallace to meet his surprisingly young, beautiful, intelligent, funny, coke luvin' and implicitly Sofia Carmina [SCC] Coppola and Glinda the Good linked wife Mia Wallace-played by Uma Thurman-a meeting that included nods to Rush and the allegorical and implicitly Rush addressing Coppola indie docufiction film THE CONVERSATION [1974] to reaffirm the implicit link of Wallace and Mia to Coppola and SCC. Thus, it was fitting that Dusty Springfield was heard singing the allegorical and John Hurley and Ronnie Wilkins written tune "Son Of A Preacher Man" [1968] as Vega waited for Mia to finish snorting coke, for the sound of Springfield reminded us that she sang the title themes of the allegorical and implicitly Coppola and Lucas roasting Rush indie docufeature film FREEBIE AND THE BEAN [1975] and the allegorical and implicitly Hal Needham roasting Rush indie docufeature film THE STUNTMAN [1980].
Curiously, Vega then drove Mia to dinner at the fab Fifties Jack Rabbit Slim's diner, which was as hallucinogenic as the coked up Mia and the junked up Vincent and which evoked a phantasmagoric Mel's Drive-In in AMERICAN GRAFFITI. Curiously, while Mia and Vince were waited on by a revived Buddy Holly-played by Buscemi-most of the waiters and waitresses were Fifties film stars like James Dean and Marilyn Monroe-played by Eric Clark and Susan Griffiths, respectively-wistfully linking it to the waning days of Old Hollywood. Speaking of revival, soon after Mia and Vega arrived back at the Wallace manse after winning a twist contest at Slim's, Mia accidentally snorted Vega's heroin, forcing Vega to quickly drive Mia to the house of Lance and revive her with a shot of adrenaline as she lay dying from a heroin overdose. A revival that was fittingly presided over by Lance, given the huge jolt of adrenaline Cameron had given film art with his full throttle, righteously furious and action packed Zonebusters.
As for Coolidge, after being perhaps inspired by Vega to win the boxing match a few nights after Vega took Mia out for dinner, killing his opponent, and fleeing the wrath of Wallace with his implicitly Isabella Rossellini and Dorothy linked girlfriend Fabienne-played by Maria de Medeiros-he was soon gunning down Vega to finally implicitly kill the Wicked Witch of the East and then using a samurai sword to ironically take out the implicitly Lucas linked pawn shoppe owner Maynard-the samurai sword evoking the fondness of Lucas for the films of Akira Kurosawa to affirm the implicit link of Maynard to Lucas, and played by Duane Whitaker-to save himself and free Wallace from a brutal rape from an LAPD Officer associate of Maynard named Zed-played by Peter Greene-and implicitly reaffirm the fury that Tarantino felt for Lucas. Then Coolidge escaped to Knoxville, Tennessee, the birthplace of Tarantino, with Fabienne on a stolen “chopper” motorcycle named “Grace” in the literal grace under pressure end of one of the film’s three intertwined stories, an ending that reminded us that Coppola implicitly roasted Lynch in the form of the mysterious and mystic Motorcycle Boy-played by Mickey Rourke-in the twilit and allegorical docufeature film RUMBLE FISH [1983] to affirm the implicit links of Coolidge and Wallace to Lynch and Coppola. Thus, Tarantino implicitly hoped that the equally struggling and on the ropes Lynch would strike back with another fine and memorable indie moving painting that would beat the likes of the CGI luving Lucas and Spielberg and return Lynch to the good books of audiences. Indeed, the allusions to BLUE VELVET, TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME and WILD AT HEART in the Coolidge segment affirmed his implicit link to Lynch.
Last but not least, the film went back in time to Vega and Winnfield's hit, where we now discovered that they had survived a hit on them from another occupant hidden in the apartment-played by Alexis Arquette. Later, while having breakfast at the Hawthorne Grill with Vega, Winnfield revealed that the failed hit had changed him for the better and that he was giving up on the Wicked hitman life. Alas for Winnfield, the film ended where it began with Ringo and Hunny Bunny robbing the restaurant, only to be persuaded out of it by Winnfield with the help of the mysterious and beguiling contents of the briefcase of Wallace, implying the hope of Tarantino that El Pelicullero would uphold the Indie Code and stick resolutely to his indie film art for film art’s sake path rather than give in to an Evil urge to make loot lusting and CGI enhanced blockbuster beasts, a full circle ending that again evoked REPO MAN to affirm the implicit link of Ringo to Cox. And so the cool, calm, collected black gunslinger faced down and appeased the dastardly white outlaw. And so the no longer Wicked Winfield and his still insidiously Wicked sidekick Vega walked out of the Hawthorne Grill and into the sunshine to the Mex surf sound of "Misirlou" to reaffirm the implicit link of Ringo to Cox and to bring the film full circle and into the credits.
And so this successful revival ironically impressed the august Academy, as they awarded Avary and Tarantino the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay at the 1995 Academy Awards. And so, while he avowed the film now, Tarantino wrote the first screenplay-later reduced to a story credit-for the twilit, allegorical and CGI free Oliver Stone indie docufeature film NATURAL BORN KILLERS (1994), a film released on August 26, 1994 which, given its allusions to such madcap and sometimes twilit and allegorical Gilliam indie animaction films as JABBERWOCKY (1977), TIME BANDITS (1981), BRAZIL (1985) and 12 MONKEYS (1995) and the zany and frenetic “Gilliamesque” style which it shared with those films, and the Monty Python evoking person-in-the-street interviews and animation segments, implicitly roasted Gilliam and his film art in the implicit form of Mickey and Mallory Knox-played by Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis, respectively-but implicitly hoped Gilliam would triumph over his many critics like Mickey and Mallory triumphed over the many police officers trying to stop their madcap killing spree, in the end. The following year, Michael Radford gently and implicitly likened the exuberant but naïve Tarantino’s love of film art to the love of the equally exuberant but naïve and tongue tied postman Mario Ruoppolo-played by Massimo Troisi-for the beautiful and buxom waitress Beatrice Russo-played by Maria G. Cucinotta-in the twilit, allegorical and CGI free indie docufeatue film IL POSTINO/THE POSTMAN (1995), released on September 1, 1994.
As for Tarantino, he had some macabre fun teaming up again with Bender and Keitel and kicking off the new film year by implicitly mocking the cinematic rivalry between Landis and Kubrick in the implicit form of the tragicomic rivalry between the equally quarrelsome and psychotically violent Richard “Richie” and Seth Gecko brothers-played by Tarantino and George Clooney, respectively-and also implicitly roasting Francis and Sofia (SCC) Coppola in the implicit forms of the Christian faith questioning father and less doubtful daughter pair of Jacob and Kate Fuller-played by Keitel and Lewis, respectively-all of whom were forced to endure a fateful night together battling hordes of CGI enhanced undead vampires at the Titty Twister strip club just south of the El Paso border in sunny Mexico in the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Tarantino written and co-executive produced Robert Rodriguez indie docufeature film FROM DUSK TILL DAWN (1996), a film released on January 1, 1996 whose allusions to INNOCENT BLOOD affirmed its interest in Landis on one level. Curiously, as Kate and Seth were the only ones to triumph over the CGI enhanced blockbuster beasts, make it out of the Titty Twister and stand in the darkness banishing daylight, in the end, Rodriguez and Tarantino implied their hope that SCC and Kubrick would soon arrive in the Temple Theatre with indie docufeature films and artbusters that would also triumph over the CGI blockbuster beast.
Then Tarantino implied that he had warmed up to Lucas since PULP FICTION when he donned the writer/director hats and teamed up again with Bender, Jackson, Menke, Wasco, Miramax and Miramax co-executive producers Bob and Harvey Weinstein-from PULP FICTION-and wrapped up the cineatrical L.A. Trilogy with his most sweet and linear film yet, the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature film JACKIE BROWN (1997), released on December 8, 1997 and inspired by the twilit and allegorical Elmore Leonard indie docufeature novel Rum Punch (1992), which made it fitting that Leonard was a co-executive producer of the film.
“And I take to the sky on a natural high.”
Significantly, the film began with the credits appearing on the screen-the third of which again proudly proclaimed “…A FILM BY QUENTIN TARANTINO”-as the familiar sardonic Seventies sounds of the tragicomic, allegorical and J.J. Johnson and Bobby Womack written Womack tune “Across 110th Street” (1972), theme song for the allegorical Barry Shear indie docufeature film ACROSS 110TH STREET (1972), played, a soulful song whose lyrics about the lonely and difficult struggle to escape from the ghetto prepared us for the similar film long struggle to escape her problems of the implicitly Bigelow and Glinda the Good linked Cabo Air stewardess Jacqueline “Jackie” Brown-played by Pam Grier-who appeared on the scene frozen but moving on an L.A.X. airport slidewalk and arrived for work just in time to greet passengers as they boarded Flight 710 to Cabo San Lucas, implicitly linking Brown to the film art of the sunlit and Skyrocking Seventies before the TZ disaster in general and to that of Lucas in particular. Indeed, the link of Brown and the beginning of the film to the sunlit and pre-twilit days of film art in general was openly affirmed by the fitting fact that Brown was a film star in the Skyrocking Seventies, and her implicit link to Lucas was affirmed soon after when she was caught smuggling money and cocaine from a mysterious Mr. Walker in Cabo San Lucas to L.A. for her "friend", the big talkin', odious and implicitly Gilliam and Wicked Witch of the West linked “unregistered” gun and rifle smuggler Ordell “O.D.” Robbie-his implicit link to Gilliam affirmed by the film’s allusions to 12 MONKEYS, and played by Jackson-the appearances of guns and rifles in films and tv shows spurring demand for his illegal wares in a mordant reflection on product placement. For this opening arrest was assigned court case # 70032, a number that linked her to the date of the TZ disaster and to 1973, the year of the release of AMERICAN GRAFFITI, an implicit link to Lucas reaffirmed by the fact that Mr. Walker evoked an earnest Jedi Knight named Luke Skywalker-played by Mark Hamill-in the STAR WARS Classic Trilogy.
Significantly, the Judge who announced Brown’s case number was played by Sid Haig, who openly linked the film to the film art of Lucas via his role as NCH in the eerily and presciently twilit and allegorical Lucas indie docufeature film THX 1138 (1971), which was alluded to in JACKIE BROWN. Haig also played the villainous and violent Omar opposite Grier’s trigger happy and two fisted avenger Nurse “Coffy” Coffin in the allegorical Jack Hill indie docufeature film COFFY (1973), a fitting reunion of the two actors as Lucas had been implicitly roasted in the form of King George-played by Robert DoQui-in COFFY, an implicati/on affirmed by the film’s allusions to AMERICAN GRAFFITI, which had left Lucas, to his surprise more than that of anyone else, the reigning box office king of the Temple Theatre. Haig had also played the equally violent and villainous Hays opposite Grier’s equally vengeful and violent Foxy Brown in the allegorical Hill indie docufeature film FOXY BROWN (1974).
Just as significantly, this implicit interest in Lucas continued, for over the course of the rest of the film, Brown and her aging, lonely, smitten, Len Deighton luvin’ and implicitly Lucas and Tin Man linked indie bachelor bail bondsman Max Cherry-played by Robert Forster-triumphed over the odious O.D., his sexy, sassy, blonde and implicitly Sarah Polley linked girlfriend Melanie Ralston-played by Bridget Fonda-and his bumbling and implicitly Terry Jones and Wicked Witch of the East linked partner Louis Gara-fittingly played by Robert De Niro, given that De Niro played the indomitable indie heating duct repairman Harry Tuttle in BRAZIL to reaffirm the implicit link of O.D. to Gilliam-with a sting that relieved O.D. of all of his hard earned and illicit money that Brown smuggled into the U.S. for him from Cabo. Significantly, the sting occurred at the Del Amo Mall, a listless, lifeless, escalator filled and Muzak pipin’ place that evoked the equally listles, lifeless, escalator filled and Muzak pipin’ subterranean labyrinth world of THX 1138, reaffirming the film’s implicit interest in Lucas on one level. Last but not least, the sting also allowed Brown and Cherry to triumph over the intrepid and implicitly Tim Burton and Scarecrow linked Alcohol, Firearms and Tobacco [ACT] Agent Ray Nicolette-played by Michael Keaton-and the implicitly Walt Disney and Great Oz linked LAPD Lieutenant Mark Dargas-played by Michael Bowen-whom Brown and Cherry strung along and manipulated as deftly and shrewdly as they did Gara, Ralston and Robbie. An implicit link to Burton and Disney that made it fitting that Grier openly linked the film to Burton via her role as the indomitable and bus drivin' single mom Louise Williams in the twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced Burton animaction artbuster MARS ATTACKS! [1996], and that Forster openly linked the film to Disney via his role as Captain Dan Holland in the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced Disney and Gary Nelson docufeature film THE BLACK HOLE [1979], while Grier also openly linked the film to Disney via her role as the beautiful and beguiling Dust Witch in the twilit and allegorical Disney and Jack Clayton docufeature film SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES [1983].
Thus, this successful sting implied the hope of Tarantino that Bigelow and Lucas would return to the Temple Theatre with daylit and CGI enhanced indie films that would break audiences, film art, film artists and the Temple Theatre free from the Twilight Zone, end the bitter and embattled Zone Wars and kick off a daylit neo eon of CGI enhanced film art, a not unusual implication as many film artists implied that same new hope at the time in their CGI enhanced film art. A luvin' kiss they shared at Cherry's office three days after the sting also affirmed the film's implicit interest in Bigelow and Lucas, evoking the long and luvin' kiss that the implicitly Lucas and Scarecrow linked Leonard "Lenny" Nero-played by Ralph Fiennes-gave the implicitly Glinda linked Lornette "Mace" Mason-played by Angela Bassett-at the end of the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Lucas toasting and Coppola, Lynch and Spielberg roasting Bigelow indie docufeature artbuster STRANGE DAYS [1995]. Last but not least, the appearance of Tommy “Tiny” Lister jr. as Cherry’s hulking and implicitly Toto linked partner Winston-whose huge size evoked David Prowse’s equally huge Darth Vader in the STAR WARS Classic Trilogy in another implicit affirmation of Cherry’s implicit link to Lucas-and Chris Tucker as Robbie’s doomed and implicitly Luc Besson and Cowardly Lion linked partner Beaumont Livingston, respectively, also affirmed the implicit Lucas addressing intent of the film, for Lister jr. and Tucker had played the President of Earth and the implicitly Great Oz linked intergalactic DJ Ruby Rhod, respectively, earlier that year in the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Lucas toasting and Bigelow and Cameron roasting Besson indie docufeature artbuster THE FIFTH ELEMENT (1997).
However, as the film ended with “Across 110th Street” playing again as Brown left behind a heartbroken Cherry and drove off in Robbie's Wicked black '75 Mercedes Benz SL-R107, fittingly released the same year as the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical and implicitly New Hollywood roasting Gilliam and Jones indie docufeature film MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL [1975], into an uncertain but free future on a sunny afteroon alone but sadly hopeful and singing along with the song, affirming her implicit link to a daylit new era of film art but taking her Afro-holo Queen magic with her, Tarantino implied that Bigelow might go on to bigger success as a film artist but that Lucas would not succeed with his by then announced and in production new STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy. And so ended a film that was not only a heartfelt homage but a luving recreation of the cool films of the sunswept and Skyrockin' Seventies, told unusually from the perspective of the grateful and happy child and teenager who grew up luving those films rather than from the perspective of the angry, bitter, cynical and depressed Gen Xer who emerged after July 23, 1982 as in the case of PULP FICION and RESERVOIR DOGS to emphasize the luvin' and hearfelt nature of JACKIE BROWN, as Tarantino did his best to reconcile the two wildly contrasting and bitterly warring sides of his Gen X audiences and of himself.
Thus, it was fitting that the implicit embodiment of a neo eon of daylit and CGI enhanced Skyrocking film art was played by Grier, given that she was a popular film actress in the sizzlin’, sunlit and pre-TZ disaster Seventies who had no link to the TZ disaster or those most responsible for it. It was also fitting that Tarantino linked Brown and Cherry more positively to the popular allegorical music of the Sixties and Seventies throughout the film while continuing to link Louis, Melanie and O.D. more negatively to the music of the Sixties and Seventies with his usual ironic and bitter fury. For the link of Brown and Cherry to more positive popular music like the allegorical and Thomas Bell and William Hart written Delfonics tune "Didn't I Blow Your Mind This Time" [1970], the wistful Luv Theme of the film, and the allegorical and Charles McCormick written Bloodstone tune "Natural High" [1973], which played when Cherry saw and fell in luv with Brown for the first time, affirmed the more hopeful tone of JACKIE BROWN, and prepared audiences for another determined heroine linked positively to the film and musical art of the Seventies in the next Tarantino film.
Curiously, the following summer Stephen Norrington and Marvel Comics implicitly linked Tarantino to the rebellious and indie young vampire gang leader Deacon Frost-played by Stephen Dorff-who was hunted down and killed by the implicitly Landis linked half-human/half-vampire vampire killer Blade aka “the Daywalker”-played by Wesley Snipes-in the healing and harmonizing end of the twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced super satirical indie docufeature film BLADE (1998), a film released on August 19, 1998 that was based on characters created by Marvelous Marv Wolfman and Genial Gene Colan for Marvel Comics and whose implicit allegorical intent was affirmed by allusions to AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON, FROM DUSK TO DAWN, INNOCENT BLOOD and JACKIE BROWN. Two years later, Spike Lee also implicitly roasted Tarantino for helping make racist and sexist words and phrases "cool" and "hip" in the implicit form of the equally insensitive CNS tv senior Vice President Dunwitty-played by Michael Rapaport-in the twilit, allegorical and Ozian themed indie docufeature film BAMBOOZLED [2000], released on September 18, 2000. Curiously, Lynch also implicitly linked Tarantino to the mysterious, mischievous and manipulative Cowboy-played by Lafayette “Monty” Montgomery-in the twilit, allegorical, CGI free and implicitly Bigelow, Kubrick and Landis addressing indie moving painting MULHOLLAND DRIVE (2001), a film released on May 16, 2001 which affirmed that it was addressing Tarantino on one level by allusions to JACKIE BROWN and PULP FICTION.
Then Tarantino implicitly addressed Bigelow and Lucas again and fused the daylit luv of JACKIE BROWN with the twilit fury of RESERVOIR DOGS when he donned the writer/director hats and reunited with Bender, Bowen, Madsen, Menke, Thurman, the Weinsteins, Miramax, Michael Parks-who played the implicitly Clint Eastwood linked Texas Ranger Earl “Quick Draw” McGraw who was murdered by Richie Gecko at the beginning of FROM DUSK TO DAWN-and Robert Richardson-DOP on NATURAL BORN KILLERS-to implicitly kick off a daylit neo eon of CGI enhanced film art supported by his first symphonic compositions when he abandoned his cineatrical style for a pure film style and fused the Western and Eastern revenge tales in the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, non-linear, Ozian themed, and BLADE evoking indie docufeature film KILL BILL VOLUME 1 (2003), released on September 29, 2003.
“?!When do you want to die?!”
Curiously, the film began with the Shaw SB Scope logo and fanfare, preparing audiences for the martial arts mayhem to follow. This was followed by a swingin’, sexy and sychedelic Seventies “Our Feature Presentation” intro that implied that despite the disappointment of the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Cameron and Spielberg roasting Lucas indie animaction films STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE (1999) and STAR WARS EPISODE II: ATTACK OF THE CLONES (2002), Tarantino still believed that a brave new era of sunlit film art had arrived, as the sight of Brown driving away to a sunlit new life implied at the end of JACKIE BROWN. A fitting reminder of the implicitly Bigelow linked Brown, for the “Our Feature Presentation” intro gave way unusually to a title proclaiming “…Revenge is a dish best served cold. – Old Klingon Proverb” and then to a short and succinct prologue that saw an already bleeding and prone woman-played by Thurman-shot in the head by an unknown man-played by David Carradine-an unknown woman who, after a title modestly proclaiming “…The 4th Film of QUENTIN TARANTINO” and the rest of the opening titles, returned and, known variously throughout the film as Black Mamba/the Bride/Beatrix Kiddo and Arlene Machiavelli, was implicitly linked to spirit of wronged Eighties film art and Glinda.
Significantly, the Woman With Four Names was not killed by the shot to the head. Instead, she survived and lay for five years in a hospital bed in a coma, looking like the beautiful, murdered and implicitly Madonna linked teen Laura Palmer-played by Sheryl Lee-lying dead on a morgue drawer in the twilit and allegorical Lynch telemoving series TWIN PEAKS [1990-91] to implicitly link her to Lynch. Just as significantly, at one point in her coma Mamba was almost murdered by the tall, blonde, beautiful, commanding, one-eyed and implicitly Bigelow and Wicked Witch of the West linked Elle Driver aka "California Mountain Snake"-played by Daryl Hannah-diguised as a nurse, her implicit link to Bigelow affimed by the film's allusions to the twilit and allegorical Bigelow indie docufeature films NEAR DARK [1987] and BLUE STEEL [1990] and the twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced Bigelow indie docufeature artbuster K19: THE WIDOWMAKER [2002]. Alas, during her year in a coma, Mamba was raped repeatedly by the implicitly Cameron and Cowardly Lion linked hospital orderly Buck-played by Bowen. Even worse, Buck allowed other men to do the same for a price, reminding us that the equally insidious,callous, loot lustin', and implicitly Nicholas Meyer linked Night Porter-played by Michael Elphick-also charged others to view John Merrick's deformed "Elephant Man"-played by John Hurt-in his lonely London Hospital bed at night in the allegorical Lynch indie moving painting THE ELEPHANTMAN [1980] to reaffirm the implicit link of Mamba to Lynch.
Tragicomically, after waking up from the coma, Mamba also spent the rest of the film hunting down those responsible for killing her wedding party and leaving her for dead at a church in El Paso, Texas, four years and six months before, by her old gang, the dreaded Deadly Viper Assassination Squad aka the devious and duplicitous DiVAS, who evoked an Evil version of the Fox Force Five mentioned by Mia in PULP FICTION and who included Driver amongst their implacable ranks. Significantly, the DiVAS were headed and led by the mysterious and implicitly Marshall and Tin Man linked Bill aka “Snake Charmer”-played by Carradine-and included amongst their insidious ranks Bill’s younger brother, the implicitly Lucas and Scarecrow linked Budd aka “Sidewinder”-played by Madsen.
Given the film’s exuberant affection for traditional hand drawn animated film art, Tarantino also used the film to implicitly strike back at the rise of CGI enhanced film art after the TZ disaster. Indeed, Black Mamba was helped along in her quest to track down and kill the vainglorious DiVAS by being presented with the finest sword made by the implicitly Disney linked Master Japanese sword maker Hattori Hanzo-played by Sonny Chiba-implicitly affirming Tarantino’s fondness for traditional hand drawn animated film art. The sword also reminded us that Bigs, Dis and Lynch started off as visual artists before they took up film art, implicitly linking the samurai sword to paint brushes, pencils and pens as in the allegorical film art of Akira Kurosawa, an implicit link that inspired Lucas to implicitly link paint brushes to light sabers in the STAR WARS Classic and Tragic Trilogies. The implicit link of Hanzo to Disney also reminded us that the Mouse House teamed up with Lynch on the twilit and allegorical moving painting THE STRAIGHT STORY [1999] to reaffirm the implicit link of Mamba to Lynch.
Significantly, the first of the devious DiVAS tracked down and killed by Black Mamba was the implicitly SCC and Wicked Witch of the East linked half-Chinese/half-Japanese army brat and Queen of the Tokyo Underworld O-Ren Ishii aka "Cottonmouth"-played by Lucy Liu-her implicit link to SCC affirmed by the film's allusions to the twilit, allegorical and slightly CGI enhanced SCC indie docufeature films THE VIRGIN SUICIDES [1999] and LOST IN TRANSLATION [2003]. After killing the latter, her personal bodyguards and her Crazy 88 gang in a n epic, bloody and uncompromising hung fu battle at the House of Blue Leaves in Tokyo, Mamba headed back to the U.S. and hunted down and killed the implicitly Burton and Toto linked Vernita Green aka Jeanne Bell aka “Copperhead”-played by Vivica A. Fox-whose death in her Pasadena home opened wide the gates to the healing Ozian spiritworld dream and implicitly allowed Lynch to triumph over Burton, who had implicitly roasted Lynch in films like the twilit and allegorical indie animaction film EDWARD SCISSORHANDS [1990]. Then Black Mamba continued her deadly quest when Tarantino donned the writer/director hats and reunited with Bender, Carradine, Haig, Hannah, Jackson, Madsen, Menke, Parks, Richardson, Thurman, the Weinsteins, Miramax and Gordon Liu-who played Johnny Mo, leader of the Crazy 88s in KILL BILL VOLUME 1-on the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, non-linear, and Ozian themed indie docufeature film KILL BILL VOLUME 2 (2004), released on April 8, 2004.
“And that’s when I learned, some things,
once you do,
they can never be undone.”
Indeed, after a short prologue during which the implicitly Lynch and Glinda linked Black Mamba-played again by Thurman-recapped the raging and roaring rampage of revenge thus far for audiences, and a few opening titles-the fifth of which fittingly proclaimed “…a film by QUENTIN TARANTINO”, Black Mamba then spent the rest of the film hunting down and killing the last of the diabolical DiVAS, starting with the implicitly Lucas and Scarecrow linked Budd aka "Sidewinder"-played by Madsen. Significantly, Budd’s implicit link to Lucas was affirmed by his Hawaii shirt and his lonely bachelor life in a beat up trailer in a desert canyonscape straight out of Tatooine, implicitly affirming that Tarantino’s possibly implicit high hopes for Lucas in JACKIE BROWN had been dashed by the reality of the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy. Curiously, after burying Black Mamba alive, Budd was actually killed by the implicitly Bigelow and Wicked Witch of the West linked Elle Driver aka “California Mountain Snake”-played again by Hannah.
Fittingly, Driver arrived on the desert scene driving at high speed. Fittingly, for the sight and sound reminded us of the sight and sound of Mary Woronov’s fearless Death Racer Calamity Jane roaring at high speed across the U.S. from New York to Los Angeles in the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical and implicitly Coppola and Lucas roasting Paul Bartel indie docufeature film DEATH RACE 2000 (1975), a sight and sound that prepared us for the return of Carradine, who played the implicitly Lucas linked Death Racer Frankenstein in the Bartel film. Just as significantly, Black Mamba managed to escape her coffin and dig herself out of her grave in a scene that implicitly symbolized the art of film coming back to life in the new millenia. Then she left the Wicked Driver to die after relieving her of her last and sinister left eye like her real life and perhaps Ang Lee and Great Oz linked Jedi Master Pei Mei-played by Liu-had relieved Driver of her right eye, perhaps implying the belief of Tarantino that Bigelow had not lived up to her promise.
And so Lynch implicitly triumphed over Bigelow, who had implicitly roasted Lynch in STRANGE DAYS and other films, and Black Mamba headed to Mexico where she was helped by the implicitly Spielberg linked pimp Esteban Vihaio-played by Parks-to find, finally confront and kill the ringleader behind the devious and vainglorious DiVAS, the mysterious, great, powerful, dreaded and implicitly Marshall and Tin Man linked Bill aka "Snake Charmer"-played by Carradine-with the deadly Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique revealed to Black Mamba by the fierce and implicitly Great Oz linked martial arts master Pei Mei. Thus, Lynch implicitly triumphed over Marshall and the TZ disaster and the rise of CGI enhanced film art to prevent more film set disasters were both avenged, and harmony was returned to audiences, film art, film artists and the Temple Theatre, implying that Tarantino was fond of the twilit, allegorical and Ozian themed Lynch indie moving painting MULHOLLAND DRIVE [2001].
Indeed, finally killing Bill allowed Black Mamba to save her implicitly Dorothy linked daughter B.B.-played by Perla Haney-Jardine-who implicitly symbolized and embodied a neo eon of daylit and CGI free film art. The fact that KILL BILL VOLUMES 1 and 2 were almost entirely free of ‘60’s and ‘70’s pop songs used to complement the visuals with bitter and ironic fury and filled with triumphant Western fused martial arts action reaffirmed the high and hopeful spirits of Tarantino. Curiously, the two films also arrived in the Temple Theatre at the perfect times, for the indomitable adventures of Black Mamba evoked the equally indomitable and CGI enhanced super satirical animaction adventures of the various DC and Marvel superheroes and superheroines that had begun to appear in theatres, particularly after the popularity of the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and implicitly Cronenberg and SCC toasting and Ivan and Jason Reitman roasting Sam Raimi super satirical animaction film SPIDER-MAN (2002), released on April 30, 2002. Thus, the KILL BILL VOLUMES 1 and 2 often came across as satirical replies to those CGI enhanced super satirical animaction films.
At any rate, the successes of both films raised the spirits of Tarantino, rejuvenated spirits that were on display when Tarantino lampooned himself in a spirited cameo in the twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced Kirk R. Thatcher film THE MUPPETS’ WIZARD OF OZ (2005), released on April 27, 2005. Soon after, Jason Reitman implicitly linked Tarantino to the admiring and supportive Joseph "Joey" Naylor-played by Cameron Bright-young son of the brash, outrageous, likably unlikable and implicitly Lynch linked tobacco and cigarette lobbyist Nicholas "Nick" Naylor-played by Aaron Eckhart-in the daylit, allegorical and slightly CGI enhanced indie docufeature film THANK YOU FOR SMOKING [2005], released on September 9, 2005. For his part, Richard Kelly implicitly linked Tarantino to the Book Of Revelations luvin’ Zone War scarred vet and Santa Monica pier security guard Pilot Abilene-played by Justin Timberlake-voiceover (VO) narrator of the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature film SOUTHLAND TALES (2006), a film released on May 21, 2006 whose implicit interest in Tarantino on one level was affirmed by allusions to JACKIE BROWN and PULP FICTION. As for Paul Verhoeven, the sight and sound of the beautiful, blonde and young Jewish Dutch woman Rachel Stein-Carice van Houten-surviving an opening massacre by Nazi thugs that killed her family and then somehow surviving the rest of the German occupation of Holland and triumphing over her deceitful, duplicitous and implicitly Tarantino linked Dutch betrayer Hans Akkermans-played by Thom Hoffman-in the end implied the hope of Verhoeven that the spirit of film art would survive Tarantino in the twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced indie docufeature film ZWARTBOEK AKA BLACK BOOK (2006), a film released on September 1, 2006 whose implicit Tarantino addressing intent was affirmed by allusions to KILL BILL VOL. 1 and KILL BILL VOL. 2.
Then a bold neo eon of sunlit film art returned when Tarantino reaffirmed that he was not impressed with the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy, which had wrapped up two years earlier with the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Cameron and Spielberg roasting Lucas indie animaction film STAR WARS EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH (2005), when he donned the DOP hat as well as the actor/writer/director/co-producer hats, embraced a cineatrical style once again and never let go, again fused the child/teen luver of Sixties/Seventies culture, film and music with the adult Gen X Eighties hater of culture, film and music and teamed up again with Menke, Parks, Rodriguez, the Weinsteins, Zoe Bell-Thurman’s stunt double in KILL BILL VOLUME 1 and VOLUME 2-and James Parks-who played Texas Ranger McGraw’s “Son Number One”, Edgar “Not As Quick On The Draw” McGraw, in KILL BILL VOLUME 1-to implicitly roast Lucas again and affirm his fondness for MAD MAX in the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and conventionally linear indie docufeature film DEATH PROOF (2007), released on May 22, 2007.
“And just because I can’t punish
Old Frankenstein in there
for what he’s done…”
Curiously, the film’s retro seventies film look, complete with the return of the sexy psychedelic Seventies era “Our Feature Presentation” intro seen at the start of KILL BILL VOLUME 1 and KILL BILL VOLUME 2 and the once familiar hand animated Restricted cartoon that featured a cute blue kitty that was so frightened by a rumble of thunder and a flash of lightning that it leaped away in panic in a frantic streak that turned into the black panther Restricted symbol implicitly affirmed from the outset that Tarantino was hopeful that begun had a Skyrockin’ new era of sunlit and CGI free film art. Indeed, after the opening titles which followed the streaking panther cartoon, the second title of which matter of factly proclaimed “…A Film by QUENTIN TARANTINO”, the film’s Seventies vibe was reaffirmed by the many allusions to AMERICAN GRAFFITI, DEATH RACE 2000-which implicitly linked the battle between Lucas and Coppola for American cinematic supremacy to the battle between Frankenstein and Machine Gun Joe Viterbo [played by Sylvester Stallone] for American supremacy in the transcontinental televised Death Race-MAD MAX and the allegorical and implicitly Roman Polanski addressing Richard C. Sarafian indie docufeature film VANISHING POINT (1970). Fittingly, the film also alluded to the eerily prescient and twilit, allegorical, Ozian themed and implicitly Cronenberg toasting and Lucas and Spielberg roasting Miller indie docufeature film THE ROAD WARRIOR (1981).
Alas, however, and despite this implicit hope that a neo era of daylit film art had begun, the first half of the film ened with the beautiful, blonde and implicitly Polley linked Pamela aka Pam-played by Rose McGowan-battered into bloody unconsciousness and then the four beautiful and single young women-the implicitly Coppola linked Arlene aka "Butterfly", Jungle Julia Lucai, Lanna-Frank and the implicitly Diane Lane linked Shanna, played by Vanessa Ferlito, Sydney T. Poitier, Monica Staggs and Jordan Ladd, respectively-hunted down one fateful night in Austin, Texas by the psychotic and implicitly Lucas linked television Stuntman Michael "Mike" McKay-played by Kurt Russell-at a roadside tavern called the Texas Chili Parlor owned and managed by the exuberant and Chartreuse luvin' Warren-played by Tarantino-followed by Stuntman Mike in his black ’71 Chevy Nova when they drove away and then murdered as the familiar ironic and savagely sarcastic sound of the allegorical and Alan Blaikley and Ken Howard written Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich tune "Hold Tight!" [1966] played in an Evil, DEATH RACE 2000-like and end of MAD MAX and THE ROAD WARRIOR evoking head on collision that Stuntman Mike survived in his “death proof" stunt modified car, a deadly and literal betrayal of the "Fours" that implied the conviction of Tarantino that there were still some film artists like Lucas in the way of the birth of a fully daylit new era of film art.
Indeed, this horrific head on collision and the survival of the psychotic stuntman affirmed the implicit Lucas roasting intent of the film, reminding us that as a teenager Lucas in a similarly modified and death proof racing car miraculously survived the Great Crash of ’62 in his hometown of Modesto, CA. The fact that the feisty mallard ornament on the hood of Stuntman Mike’s death proof ’71 Chevy Nova also reminded us that Lucas was the executive producer of the twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced Willard Huyck indie docufeature film HOWARD THE DUCK (1986) reaffirmed the implicit link of Lucas to Stuntman Mike. In addition, the fact that the Fourceful four victims reminded us that Lucas had personally directed four Forceful STAR WARS films by this date also affirmed the implicit link of Stuntman Mike to Lucas. Last but not least, the fact that Texas Ranger “Quick Draw” McGraw-an unusually lively character indeed, given that he was murdered at the beginning of FROM DUSK TO DAWN, and played again by Parks-furiously and openly linked Stuntman Mike to the implicitly Lucas linked Frankenstein in DEATH RACE 2000 when he and his son Edgar McGraw-played again by Parks-showed up to investigate the fatal crash reaffirmed that Lucas was again being roasted by Tarantino in the implicit form of Stuntman Mike.
Thus, given that Stuntman Mike escaped arrest and conviction for the fatal crash in Texas and returned to haunt the roads around Lebanon, Tennessee in a black ’69 Dodge Charger in but was hunted down in turn, beaten and killed in broad daylight in the second half of the film by New Zealand stunt woman Bell playing herself, her stunt driver friend Kim-played by Tracie Thoms-and their film actress friend Abernathy aka Abbie-played by Rosario Dawson-in a 1970 Dodge Challenger straight out of VANISHING POINT when he tried to kill them in a car crash at the end of the film, Tarantino implied both that Lucas had destroyed himself with the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy and his hope that a daylit neo eon of film art that would sweep away Lucas and the dread allegorical Zone Wars was still on full throttle track. For his part, Sir Scott implicitly roasted Tarantino in the implicit form of the equally indie, ambitious, audacious, determined, original, outrageous and fastidious Harlem drug gang leader Frank Lucas-played by Denzel Washington-and implicitly toasted Reitman in the implicit form of the equally determined and ambitious New Jersey plainclothes police officer Richard "Richie" Roberts-played by Russell Crowe-in the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature artbuster AMERICAN GANGSTER [2007], a film released on October 19, 2007 whose implicit allegorical intent was affirmed by allusions to BRAZIL, FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS, JACKIE BROWN, PULP FICTION, 12 MONKEYS and TIME BANDITS.
Then Tarantino then donned the writer/director hats when he returned to the temple theatre with Bell, Bender, Jackson, Keitel, Menke, Richardson, Wasco, the Weinsteins and their Miramax replacing Weinstein Company, Julie Dreyfus-who played the implicitly Zoe Cassavetes linked Sofie Fatale in KILL BILL VOLUME 1-Brad Pitt-who played the perennially stoned Floyd in TRUE ROMANCE-and Omar Doom and Eli Roth-who played bar patrons in DEATH PROOF-to implicitly reply to Verhoeven and ZWARTBOEK on one level in another righteous, raucous and riotous roaring rampage of revenge in the all too fittingly entitled, daylit, allegorical, slightly CGI enhanced and conventionally linear indie docufeature film INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS (2009), released on May 20, 2009 and with a title at least evoking the allegorical Enzo G. Castellari indie docufeature film THE INGLORIOUS BASTARDS (1978) and a plot that evoked the allegorical Nick Grinde indie film HITLER-DEAD OR ALIVE (1942) which saw three American criminals, the implicitly President Franklin Roosevelt linked Steven “Steve” Maschick-played by Ward Bond-the implicitly Vice President Harry S Truman linked Joe “the Book” Conway-played by Paul Fix-and the implicitly J. Edgar Hoover linked Hans “Dutch” Havermann-played by Warren Hymer-die in their attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler-played by Bob Watson-in Germany.
“Goebbels considers the films he’s making
to be the beginning
of a new era in German cinema.”
Curiously, after the opening titles, including a fourth title matter of factly stating “…a film by QUENTIN TARANTINO”, and a scene setting intertitle proclaiming “…Chapter One: Once upon a time…in Nazi-occupied France”, the film started off on a beautiful sunny summer morning, with a Leone evoking beginning that set the Leone theme of the piece and that saw another beautiful, young, blonde, Black Mamba and Catherine Deneuve evoking and implicit symbol of indie film art, one Shosanna Dreyfus-played by Melanie Laurent-surviving another opening massacre by Nazi thugs of another family that evoked the massacre at the beginning of ZWARTBOEK, this time one in the farmhouse of the distraught, guilt stricken, heart broken and implicitly Kubrick linked Perrier LaPadite-played by Denis Menochet-in France in 1941, a callous massacre supervised by the charming, and implicitly Verhoeven linked SS Colonel Hans Landa aka “the Jew Hunter”-played by Christoph Waltz-who was as intelligent, loquacious, intimidating and fond of a drink of a refreshing beverage before a shooting as Winnfield in PULP FICTION. Alas, after that moving beginning, the film went south.
For Chapter Two introduced us to the American Lieutenant Aldo Raine aka "the Apache"-played by Pitt-and his “Basterds”, a group of eight indie and gleefully ultraviolent Jewish-American commandos, who included among their number Sergeant Donny Donowitz aka "the Bear Jew"-played by Roth-and who were flown from the Italian campaign and dropped behind Nazi lines in occupied France in June of 1944. Significantly, while Lt. Raine and the Basterds evoked SGT. FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMANDOS, a WWII themed narrative artwork that Jolly Jack Kirby and Smilin’ Stan Lee created for Marvel Comics in the early Sixties, Aldo resembled and was implicitly linked to Disney rather than Lee, linking Lt. Raine and his eight Jewish-American commandos more to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Uncle Walt and his original hand animation artists like his right hand man Ub Iwerks-who was implicitly linked to Sgt. Donowitz-than to Sgt. Fury and his howlin’ commandos. Indeed, the presence of the Disney CEO Bob Iger resembling and implicitly linked Corporal Wilhelm Wicki amongst the ranks of the Basterds affirmed their implicit link to Disney and his original artists.
Then the scene shifted to Berlin, where the Raimi resembling and implicitly linked “Uncle” Adolf Hitler-played by Martin Wuttke-raged against the coming of the Basterds. Significantly, Uncle Adolf was decked out in a white cape, making him look like a superhero. The sight and sound reminded us that, then as now, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) was more popular with audiences than the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). This further reminded us that Disney CEO Iger was leading the negotiations to purchase Marvel for the Mouse House that year. Thus, the implication was that Tarantino was not happy that Iger and Dis were buying Marvel so as to team up with Marv to crank out twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced MCU super satirical animaction films. Indeed, the fact that Lt. Raine and the howlin’ Basterds soon concocted a crazy plan with the duplicitous help of the implicitly Polley linked German film star and double agent Bridget von Hammersmark-played by Diane Kruger-to assassinate Super Hitler and some of his fellow higher echelon Nazis when they showed up at Le Gamaar indie cinema in Paris in early June of ’44 to support their buddy Joseph Goebbels-played by Sylvester Groth-at the world premiere of the allegorical Goebbels indie docufeature film STALZ DER NATION aka NATION’S PRIDE (1944), starring the implicitly Burton linked ace German sniper Fredrick Zoller-played by Daniel Bruhl-as himself, implied that Tarantino was using the righteously furious spirit of Disney to take out his fury on Raimi for returning "ubermenschen" to the big screen and on Iger and the Disney Corp. for buying up Marvel so as to create beastly and blockbuster loot lustin’ CGI enhanced MCU super satirical animaction films.
The fact that Hitler resembled Raimi, who had recently wrapped up his SPIDER-MAN Trilogy with the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and implicitly SCC and Cronenberg toasting and Kelly and Reitman sr. and jr. roasting super satirical animaction film SPIDER-MAN 3 (2007) reaffirmed the implicit interest in Marvel in INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS. In addition, the fact that the older Dreyfus reappeared as the owner and manager of Le Gamarr cinema under the alias Emmanuelle Mimieux, implicitly affirming that she symbolized indie film art, and resembled Kirsten Dunst, who played Parker’s dream girl, the implicitly SCC linked Mary Jane (MJ) Watson, in SPIDER-MAN and SPIDER-MAN 3, and, independently of the Basterds, plotted her own vengeful assassination of Super Hitler, Goebbels and their Nazi colleagues at the premiere of NATION’S PRIDE with the help of her black lover Marcel-played by Jacky Ido-to avenge the deaths of her family reaffirmed the film’s implicit interest in roasting Marvel. Thus, it was fitting that INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS was set in WWII, as the war and era gave the world amphetamine fuelled German ubermenschen and the CanAm SUPERMAN and other American and Canadian superheroes and superheroines.
Significantly, given that Sgt. Donowitz and most of the Basterds died pulling off their quixotic quest with the help of the exuberantly duplicitous Col. Landa, and that Lt. Raine and at least one of the howlin’ Basterds survived and also triumphed over Landa, in the end, Tarantino implied his frustration that he could channel his fury over ZWARTBOEK and the merger of Dis and Marv with INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS but could not stop Verhoeven or the merger, or prevent CGI free or slightly CGI enhanced indie film art from being transformed into blockbuster CGI enhanced beasts. Just as significantly, and unlike the equally blonde Black Mamba, Dreyfuss was killed by Zoller before completing her vengeful rampage, a rampage openly linked to the twilit and disastrous year of 1982 by the sounds of the allegorical and David Bowie and Giorgio Moroder written Bowie tune “Putting Out The Fire” (1982), the theme song of the allegorical Paul Schrader docufeature film CAT PEOPLE (1982), reaffirming the impotent rage and despair of Tarantino.
However, despite the death of Dreyfus, her indie cinematic spirit lived shortly after her murder on on the big screen in the short indie docufeature film she made with Marcel and edited into NATION’S PRIDE and this immortal indie cinema spirit oversaw the righteous and truly cinematic Nazi annihilating rampage that erupted shortly after her death, a righteously furious and rippingly revengeful rampage that was also implicitly linked to the Last Good Year of film in ’81, for it evoked a massacre of the Kessler family carried out by Nazi monsters in a nightmare experienced by David Kessler-played by David Naughton-in AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON, and the equally righteous, vengeful, film linked and Nazi annihilating rampage of the female spirits that emerged from the opened Ark of the Covenant at the end of the eerily twilit and prescient, allegorical, Ozian themed and implicitly William Friedkin roasting Lucas executive produced and Kennedy and Marshall produced Spielberg indie docufeature film RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981). The raging fire and climatic explosion that destroyed Le Gamaar and killed the Nazis inside at the end of the film also evoked the raging fire and climatic explosion the destroyed the Kingston Falls cinema and killed the mayhem luving gremlins inside at the end of the twilit, allegorical and Kennedy, Marshall and Spielberg produced Dante docufeature disaster GREMLINS (1984). A fitting link, given that the riotous gremlins had been watching the allegorical Disney and William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce and Ben Sharpsteen film SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS (1937) prior to being killed in the explosion, and given the irrepressible SHO DREYTE AND THE TEN BASTERDS esprit of INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS.
In fact, given that the alias Emmanuelle Mimieux gave Dreyfuss a Minnie Mouse evoking Emm M., perhaps her death also symbolized the death of the indie and hand animated film art for hand animated film art’s sake spirit of the first Disney era with the ascension of Iger and Disney’s embrace of CGI enhanced and all CGI film art. Indeed, the glass slipper evoking high heel left behind by von Hammersmark after a massacre in a basement bar before the premiere at Le Gamarr that led to her being murdered by Col. Landa shortly before the rippin' rampage affirmed that possibility, for it evoked the glass slipper left behind at the ball one fateful night by Cinderella-played by Ilene Woods-in the allegorical and implicitly television bashing Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson and Hamilton Luske helmed Disney film CINDERELLA (1950). At any rate, the film’s lack of ‘60’s and 70’s allegorical pop songs used in bitterly and furiously ironic emphasis implied that the target of INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS was not one of the film artists responsible for the TZ disaster or one of the other major film artists of New Hollywood, although Cox and Kelly were implicitly linked to British Basterd addition Lieutenant Archie Hicox and rogue German soldier and Basterd recruit Hugo Stiglitz-played by Michael Fassbender and Til Schweiger, respectively-and noticeably died fighting the Germans in the basement bar rendezvous gone bad, perhaps the Tarantino way of hoping that Cox and Kelly would both prefer to die rather than churn out loot lustin’ CGI enhanced blockbuster beasts for the Hollywood studios.
Unfortunately, however, after the 1941 prologue, INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS was, like HITLER-DEAD OR ALIVE, so improbable and just plain dumb-!as if Hitler had the time to forget about the Allied invasion of France on June 6, 1944 and drop by the Le Gamaar cinema one fateful night in early June of ’44 to attend the premiere of NATION’S PRIDE!-implicitly due to Tarantino being incoherent with rage over the merger of Dis and Marv and the flood of CGI enhanced super satirical animaction films drownin’ the Temple Theatre that the implicit point was lost in the hilarious stupidity. As for Garry Marshall, he implicitly linked Tarantino to indie L.A. florist Reed Bennett-played by Ashton Kutcher-and had him fall luv with his implicitly Bigelow linked “best friend” and elementary school teacher Julia Fitzpatrick-played by Jennifer Garner-in the daylit, allegorical and CGI enhanced docufeature film VALENTINE’S DAY (2010), released on February 5, 2010. Then the improbable stupidity continued when Tarantino donned the actor/writer/director hats and teamed up again with Bell, Jackson, Parks, Richardson, Waltz, the Weinsteins, the Weinstein Company and Laura Cayouette-who played Rocket in KILL BILL VOLUME 2-to continue the Leone themed adventures in the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and conventionally linear indie docufeature film DJANGO UNCHAINED (2012), released on December 11, 2012.
“Am I right?”
Curiously, after an old Columbia Pictures logo and the opening titles, the second of which proclaimed “…A FILM BY QUENTIN TARANTINO”, the film began in 1858 in the final years of the pre-Civil War era with a group of newly purchased and chained slaves stumbling through Texas badlands that evoked the desert hills and canyons seen throughout THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY in allusion to that film that evoked the Leone evoking beginning of INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, making it fitting that the twilit and allegorical Ennio Morricone and Elisa Toffoli written and Toffoli written tune “Ancora Qui” (2012) featured in the film. Significantly, the desert badlands also evoked the equally forbidding desertscapes on Tatooine in the STAR WARS Classic Trilogy, implicitly linking the film and the slaves to Lucas. However, this implicit link to Lucas was swept away when a lone, retired and implicitly Luc Besson linked dentist and nascent bounty hunter named Doctor King Schultz-played by Waltz-driving a covered and mobile dentist wagon appeared and attempted to purchase one of the chained slaves, the implicitly Lee linked Django-played by Jamie Foxx-from the two armed men on horseback, Ace Speck and the implicitly Iger linked Dicky Speck-played by James Remar and James Russo, respectively-who were watching over the slaves as they transported them to their owners. Curiously, Dr. Schultz suddenly killed Ace with a quick draw and shot out Dicky’s horse from underneath him with another quick shot, evoking the sight and sound of Jedi Master Ben Obi Wan Kenobi-played by Sir Alec Guinness-taking out two surly and alienated bar patrons at the Mos Eisley cantina with a quick drawn lightsaber in the allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Spielberg roasting Lucas film STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE (1977) in another evocation of Lucas.
Alas, after that intriguing beginning, DJANGO UNCHAINED became just as harebrained, improbable, unbelievable and just plain dumb as INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS. For no sooner did Dr. Schultz liberate Django Freeman from his chains and give him his freedom, than-!presto magico!-the uneducated slave instantly transformed into a literate and deadly marksman now called Django Freeman who could casually and confidently shoot the pips out of an ace of spades at 40 paces while reciting the Declaration of Independence in a bizarre and unlikely transformation. Freeman also joined Dr. Schultz on his bounty hunter quest, helping the good Doctor hunt and gun down rogues and rapscallions. One of Freeman’s deadeye victims was the implicitly Coppola linked plantation and slave owner “Big Daddy” Bennett-played by Don Johnson. Indeed, the dramatic symphonic music that played as Bennett led a group of masked horseman on a KKK anticipating charge of the encampment of Freeman and Dr. Schultz shortly before his demise affirmed Bennett’s implicit link to Coppola, for the charge evoked the helicopter Cavalry charge on a Vietnamese village to the tune of the allegorical Richard Wagner composition “Flight Of The Valkyries” in the eerily and presciently twilit and allegorical Coppola indie docufeature artbuster APOCALYPSE NOW (1979).
Significantly, after killing Bennett, Dr. Schultz and Freeman went on to bring about the demise of the implicitly Reitman linked Monsieur Calvin J. Candie-his implicit link to Reitman affirmed by the film's allusions to THANK YOU FOR SMOKING, and played by Leonardo DiCaprio-and his Hollywood candence Candyland slave plantation in Mississippi in the bloody and explosive shootout that ended the film. Indeed, the fact that Candie’s bodyguard Butch Pooch-played by Remar-was implicitly linked to Piers Handling, then CEO of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), affirmed the implicit link of M. Candie to Reitman. The fact that M. Candie’s head butler, Stephen-played by Jackson-was implicitly linked to Cameron Bailey, then second-in-command of TIFF, reaffirmed the film’s implicit interest in Reitman. Curiously, along the way to the climactic destruction of Candyland, Freeman also gunned down Tarantino himself in the form of a Pythonesque LeQuint Dickey Mining Company employee, and saved the pretty and implicitly Tonya Lewis Lee linked Broomhilda Von Shaft-played by Kerry Washington.
Just as curiously, late in the film Candie referred to Von Shaft as "...the right nigger", reminding us that the implicit link of M. Candie to Reitman reminded us that Reitman had implicitly roasted bitter, creepy, despondent, haunted and raving Zone War “scholar” Gary W. “Gardevil” Wright, in the implicit form of the equally creepy, despondent and struggling young adult writer Mavis Gary-played by Charlize Theron-the year before in the brash and confident twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced indie docufeature film YOUNG ADULT (2011), implicitly and presciently linking the vengeful arrival of Freeman to the equally vengeful arrival of Wright. Even more curiously, DJANGO UNCHAINED impressed the august Academy, who bestowed two Oscars for Best Supporting Actor and Best Original Screenplay on the film. Then an implicit interest in a vengeful gunman implicitly linked to Gardevil returned when Tarantino implied that he was lashing furiously out at the merger of Disney and Lucasfilm Ltd./ILM in 2012 which brought Kennedy into the Disney family when he donned the writer/director hats and teamed up again with Bell, Jackson, Madsen, Parks, Richardson, Roth, Russell, the Weinsteins, the Weinstein Company and Bruce Dern, Walton Goggins, Dana Gourrier, Lee Horsley and Belinda Owino-who played Old Man Carrucan, Billy Crash, Cora, Sheriff Gus and a Candyland house servant, respectively, in DJANGO UNCHAINED-editor Fred Raskin-from DJANGO UNCHAINED-and composer Morricone-a fitting collaboration, given all of the allusions to the allegorical spaghetti westerns of Leone in KILL BILL VOLUME ONE and KILL BILL VOLUME TWO, INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS and DJANGO UNCHAINED-to bring his Leone Themed Trilogy full triangular circle in his most righteously furious, gleefully violent and verbally abusive film to date, the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and mostly conventionally linear indie docufeature film THE HATEFUL EIGHT (2015), shot in scintillating Panavision Ultra 70 and released on December 7, 2015.
“And I say shooting’s too good for her.”
Curiously, the film began with establishing shots of the winter wilds of Wyoming-actually Colorado-as the opening titles appeared on the screen, the second of which read “…the 8th film by QUENTIN TARANTINO”. These establishing shots finally ended with a bleeding and dying wooden Christ on a snow encrusted cross, preparing us for the blood and death and redemption to come. Then a Butterfield Overland stagecoach slowly approached the wintry Jesus and the camera, recalling the helicopter that slowly approached the camera as it chased a Siberian Husky through the snowswept wilds of Antarctica-actually northern British Columbia-into that stark and solitary American research base at the beginning of THE THING, openly linking the film to the twilit and disastrous July of ’82 and preparing us for more paranoid confrontations that preceded the blood and death to come. Then the film, set in the first years after the Civil War, saw tough, thoughtful and obdurate bounty hunter, Major Marquis Warren-implicitly linked to Gardevil friend and fellow PDSB Library Technician, Brian Gillam, and played by Jackson-stop and catch a heaven sent and life saving ride after his horse gave out on the stagecoach, which was driven by O.B.-played by Parks. On this life saving ride, Maj. Warren joined another and equally thoughtful and seasoned bounty hunter, the implicitly Lucas linked John “the Hangman” Ruth-fittingly played by Russell, who played the Lucas linked helicopter pilot MacReady in THE THING, openly linking the two films-and his still living bounty, the nasty and implicitly Kennedy linked Daisy Domergue-played by Jennifer Jason Leigh. Soon the three passengers and their driver picked up another traveller stranded in the winter wilderness after he was forced to put down his injured horse, the naïve, exuberant and implicitly Gardevil linked young “Rebel renegade” and “Sheriff”, Chris Mannix-played by Goggins. Then the overland stage rode on until a blizzard forced the travellers to make a fateful emergency stop at an isolated trading post called Minnie’s Haberdashery.
Here at Minnie’s Haberdashery, Mannix, Ruth and Maj. Warren slowly realized that some or all of the travellers met at the outpost were in murderous league with Domergue and out to ambush them, forcing the fearless three to figure out who was in on the deadly plot and who could be trusted as the blizzard roared on outside the outpost. Significantly, this scenario evoked not just the sight and sound of the angry and frustrated robbers arguing amongst themselves and trying to figure out if one of them was an undercover cop in RESERVOIR DOGS, but again evoked the sight and sound of the Skyrocking MacReady and his American colleagues socked in by a blizzard in that equally isolated American research base in Antarctica and forced to figure out who amongst their members had been taken over by blockbuster and CGI enhanced extraterrestrial Evil in THE THING, reaffirming the link of THE HATEFUL EIGHT to the twilit and disastrous July of 1982 and affirming the implicit link of Domergue to Kennedy. Indeed, the return of Russell and the appearance of Morrow’s daughter, Leigh, openly affirmed the link of THE HATEFUL EIGHT to THE THING and the TZ disaster. Thus, it was doubly appropriate for the soundtrack for the film to be composed by Morricone, as the Italian composer had composed the soundtrack for THE THING. In fact, three allegorical pieces from the soundtrack of THE THING, “Bestiality”, “Despair” and “Eternity”, reappeared on the soundtrack for THE HATEFUL EIGHT, openly reaffirming the film’s link to THE THING.
Just as significantly, one of the travellers lying in wait at Minnie’s Haberdashery was Domergue’s implicitly Disney CEO Iger linked gang leader brother, Jody Domingre-played by Channing Tatum-who joined their three fellow gang members, “Grouch” Douglass, the implicitly Sir Ridley Scott linked “English” Pete Hicox and the implicitly Landis linked Marco the Mexican-played by Madsen, Roth and Demian Bichir, respectively-in killing O.B., Ruth and the married couple who owned Minnie’s Haberdashery, Sweet Dave and Minnie Mink-played by Gene Jones and Dana Gourrier, respectively. Thus, the sight of Mannix and Maj. Warren gunning down Jody and his gangland buddies and then hanging Daisy to fulfill the quest of John “the Hangman” Ruth, in the end, fighting that evoked the battle between Doctor Henry “Indiana” Jones-played by Harrison Ford-Nazis and hired thugs in a tavern in Nepal at the beginning of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK implied that Tarantino was righteously furious that Iger and Kennedy started working together after the union of Disney and Lucasfilm Ltd./ILM in 2012 and was hopeful that the “scholarly” ravings of Wright on his Zone War website might help to expose and defeat Iger and Kennedy.
Indeed, the name of Minnie Mink reaffirmed that implication, for her name evoked Minnie Mouse. The presence of O.B., the doomed stagecoach driver, reaffirmed the film’s implicit interest in Lucas, as his name recalled that of Obi Wan Kenobi in the STAR WARS Classic Trilogy and the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy-played in the latter by Ewen McGregor. The sight and sound of the implicitly Landis linked Marco the Mexican being gunned down by Maj. Warren at the end of the film also affirmed that implication, given the link of Landis to Kennedy and the TZ disaster. The sight and sound of the implicitly Spielberg linked “innocent” bystander, General Sanford Smithers-played by Dern-also being gunned down by Maj. Warren reaffirmed that implication, given the link of Spielberg to Kennedy-and the fact that Spielberg had the audacity to implicitly link Landis to President Abraham Lincoln-played by Daniel Day Lewis-in the twilit and allegorical docufeature film LINCOLN (2013), a film that was co-produced by Kennedy. The sight and sound of Maj. Warren gunning down the implicitly Sir Scott linked Hicox in the end reaffirmed the implicit intent of the film, reminding us that Sir Scott made his twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and implicitly Kubrick addressing indie docufeature artbuster GLADIATOR (2000) with Spielberg’s Dreamworks SKG.
The presence of characters with alliterative names like Daisy Domergue and General Sanford Smithers also affirmed the film's implicit interest in Disney, reminding us that Disney had purchased Marvel and the Marvel Cinematic Universe [MCU], and of Stan "the Man" Lee’s fondness for superheroes with alliterative civilian names like Peter Parker and Sue Storm. The reappearance of Jackson as Maj. Warren reaffirmed the film’s implicit interest in Lee and the MCU, for Jackson played SHIELD Director Sergeant Nicholas “Nick” Fury in the MCU. At any rate, how fitting that THE HATEFUL EIGHT ended with the bleeding and dying Mannix and Maj. Warren as the only survivors of the blockbuster bloodbath at Minnie’s Haberdashery while the blizzard raged on outside, evoking the sight of a bleeding and snow encrusted wooden Jesus on the cross that opened the film. For the scene reminded us that MacReady and Childs-played by Keith David-were the only survivors of the blockbuster extraterrestrial bloodbath at the U.S. scientific research base in Antarctica while a blizzard raged on at the end of THE THING.
And then ironically, given the implicit rage against the super satirical animaction scene theme of INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS and even KILL BILL VOLUMES ONE and TWO and THE HATEFUL EIGHT, Tarantino was implicitly linked to the constantly talking, obscenity spewing and ultraviolent Wade Wilson aka “Deadpool”-based on a character created by Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza for Marvel Comics, and played by Ryan Reynolds-in the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and gleefully nonlinear and acerbic Tim Miller super satirical animaction film DEADPOOL (2016), a film released on January 21, 2016 whose implicit allegorical intent was affirmed by allusions to DEATH PROOF, FROM DUSK TO DAWN, KILL BILL VOL. 1, KILL BILL VOL. 2 and PULP FICTION.
“I don’t take the shits.
I just disturb them.”
Indeed, the fact that Wilson’s sweetie Vanessa-played by Morena Baccarin-resembled and was implicitly linked to Tarantino’s spouse Daniella Pick affirmed the implicit link of the exuberantly outrageous Wilson to the exuberantly outrageous Tarantino. Curiously, the super CGI enhanced and embattled climax of the film was filmed not far away from where I grew up in N.D., perhaps implicitly linking mutant baddie Ajax-played by Ed Skrein-to the poor ol’ Gardevil. As for Clint Eastwood, he kicked off 2018 by implyiing his grim amusement that Tarantino was able to succeed despite himself like the well meaning but ill disciplined and implicitly Tarantino linked USAF malcontent Spencer Stone-played by William Jennings as a boy and by Stone as an adult, respectively-was able to overpower a terrorist named Ayoub-played by Ray Corasani-on a Paris bound train at the end of the daylit, allegorical and slightly CGI enhanced indie docufeature film THE 15:17 TO PARIS [2018], a film released on February 5, 2018 whose implicit allegorical intent was affirmed by allusions to INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS and by the resemblance of the Paris bound train attendant-played by Camille Razat-to Thurman.
At any rate, the implicit link of Tarantino and Pick to Wilson and Vanessa-played again by Reynolds and Baccarin, respectively-was reaffirmed when they returned in the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and gleefully nonlinear and acerbic David Leitch super satirical animaction film DEADPOOL 2 (2018), released on May 1, 2018 whose implicit allegorical intent was again affirmed by allusions to FROM DUSK TO DAWN, KILL BILL VOL. 1, KILL BILL VOL. 2 and PULP FICTION. As for Peter Farrelly, he gently but firmly and implicitly reminded Tarantino that there was more to the African-American experience than he acknowledged in his film art by having the rough and ready, uneducated, unworldly, working class and implicitly Tarantino linked Italian-American palooka Anthony “Tony Lip” Vallelonga-curiously a part of the dread allegorical Zone Wars via his role as a mafioso named Frank in INNOCENT BLOOD, and played by Viggo Mortensen-act as bodyguard, chauffeur, manager and contract enforcer for the well educated, worldly and ambiguously linked classically trained pianist Doctor Donald “Don” Shirley-played by Mahershala Ali-on an eye opening and transformative tour of the still segregated South in 1962 that saw both men enlighten each other in the twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced indie docufeature film GREEN BOOK (2018), a film released on September 11, 2018 and whose implicit allegorical intent was affirmed by the film’s allusions to DJANGO UNCHAINED, PULP FICTION, RESERVOIR DOGS, THE HATEFUL EIGHT and TRUE ROMANCE.
For his part, Drew Goddard implicitly hoped that Lucas and his film art would still triumph, against the odds, over Tarantino and his film art in the long run by having the old, grey and implicitly Lucas linked bank robber Daniel Flynn-played by Jeff Bridges-and his Afro-holo Queen Darlene Sweet-played by Cynthia Erivo-survive one fateful, bloody and violent night at the El Royale motel that took the lives of the brunette and implicitly Bigelow linked Emily Summerspring-played by Dakota Johnson-the tall, blonde and implicitly Cameron linked Billy Lee-played by Chris Hemsworth-the white dress shirt luvin' and implicitly Lynch linked FBI Agent Laramie S. Sullivan-played by Jon Hamm-the sharpshootin' and implicitly Tarantino linked motel desk clerk Miles Miller-played by Lewis Pullman-and the implicitly Gale A. Hurd linked Rose Summerspring aka "Boots"-played by Cailee Spaeny-and leave with all of their bank robbery money at the end of the daylit and allegorical indie docufeature film BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE [2018], a film released on September 22, 2018 whose implicit Bigelow, Cameron, Hurd, Lucas, Lynch and Tarantino was affirmed by the film's nonlinear structure and by allusions to AMERICAN GRAFFITI, BLUE VELVET, DEATH PROOF, JACKIE BROWN, MULHOLLAND DRIVE, PULP FICTION, RESERVOIR DOGS, THE HATEFUL EIGHT, the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Lucas toasting and Lynch roasting Bigelow indie docufeature artbuster POINT BREAK [1991], and the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical, Ozian themed, Lucas executive produced and implicitly William Friedkin addressing Spielberg indie docufeature film RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK [1981]. As for Tarantino, a resigned driver who evoked Vallelonga in GREEN BOOK and who may be linked to the equally tough, seasoned, smart and indomitable Gillam, a friend of the poor ol’ Gardevil and fellow Library Technician at the Peel District School Board who resignedly drove Gardevil and himself from Mississauga to Toronto on book, CD and DVD buy expeditions due to Gardevil’s obdurate refusal to buy a car featured prominently in the next film of Tarantino, implying that he was once again addressing Gillam and Wright as in THE HATEFUL EIGHT to round off an implicit Gillam/Wright Trilogy when he donned the writer/director/co-producer hats and teamed up with Bell, Dern, DiCaprio, Pitt, Raskin, Richardson and Russell on another Leone Themed and historically revised film set in a digital device free L.A., the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and conventionally linear indie docufeature film ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD (2019), a film released on May 21, 2019.
“They can only hang me once, right?”
Curiously, after a spoof black and white Fifties television commercial for the spoof tv series BOUNTY LAW, starring Richard “Rick” Dalton-played by DiCaprio-as intrepid and indomitable bounty hunter Jake Cahill followed by a short behind the scenes interview with Dalton and his lean and tough stunt double, Cliff Booth-played by Brad Pitt-on the set of BOUNTY LAW, the film and its opening titles, the third of which decisively declared “…A FILM BY QUENTIN TARANTINO”, began with a slow or luving or luvingly slow or slowly luving focus shift from a background painting of Dalton through the window of a car to a foreground position in the back seat of the car, a shift in focus from the background to the foreground or vice versa that was so common in the allegorical indie docufeature film art of Rush that it was best called the Rush Focus. Significantly, this nod to the oeuvre of Rush reminded us that a fugitive Vietnam War veteran named Cameron-played by Steve Railsback-was persuaded by the implicitly Great Oz linked film artist, Eli Cross-played by Peter O’Toole-to evade pursuing Keystone Kop police officers by working as a stunt double for lead actor Raymond Bailey-played by Adam Roarke-on the set of the allegorical Cross film DEVIL’S SQUADRON (198?), at the beginning of the eerily prescient and twilit THE STUNTMAN, linking the interview with Dalton and Booth to THE STUNTMAN and reaffirming the implicit Rush focus of ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD.
After the camera focus luvingly pulled back into the back seat of the parked car, Booth leapt into the driver’s seat and Dalton into the passenger seat, evoking the sight and sound of Douglas “Doug” McKenzie and Robert “Bob” McKenzie-played by Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis, respectively-leaping frantically into the driver’s and passenger’s seats in their Seventies van to escape audience members furious about being let down by their twilit and allegorical film THE MUTANTS OF 2051 AD (198?), at the beginning of the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and implicitly Lucas toasting indie docufeature film STRANGE BREW (1983), in the first of many allusions to that film that implicitly affirmed that Booth and Dalton were implicitly linked to two quintessential crazy Canucks in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Curiously, as the two men settled into their seats, the opening titles superimposed the name Leonard Di Caprio on the back of Booth and Brad Pitt on the back of Dalton in the first interchange of their two characters that reminded us that Booth stood in for Dalton, and perhaps to imply that the two men were different aspects of the same character.
Then Booth backed Dalton’s 1966 Cadillac Coupe DeVille out of Dalton’s driveway and drove the two in the late afternoon of Saturday, February 8, 1969 to L.A. landmark, Musso & Frank’s, implicitly linking Booth and Dalton to Gillam and Wright for Gillam always drove Wright to all of their excursions to Toronto from the GTA suburbs. Indeed, the depressed, emotional, shy and struggling “Deltan” Dalton, his luv of reading and his love/hate relationship with film and telefilm art evoked Wright throughout the film, while the resigned, sympathetic, hard driving, tough and music luving Booth evoked the equally resigned, sympathetic, hard driving, tough and music luving Gillam.
Significantly, this hard driving sequence was intercut with the sight and sound of Roman Polanski-played by Rafal Zawierucha-and his beautiful young book, fashion, film and music luving actor wife Sharon Tate-played by Margot Robbie-landing in a Pan Am plane at LAX that same afternoon, making their way through the frenzied paparazzi and driving home to a house on Cielo Drive that turned out to be right next door to that of Dalton, curiously bringing the opening titles full circle and setting us up for the entire film returning full circle to the Polanski house, in the end. Curiously, the successful and swingin’ couple also reaffirmed the implicit link of Booth and Dalton to crazy GTA residing Canucks, for Robbie linked the film openly to Toronto created film art via her role as the implicitly Pamela Anderson Lee linked Dr. Harleen Quinzel aka “Harley Quinn” in the twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced David Ayer super satirical animaction film SUICIDE SQUAD (2016), a point Tarantino was at implicit pains to make clear, given the number of times Tate was openly linked to the red, white and true colours of Canada.
The film then returned to Musso & Frank’s, where Dalton met agent Marvin Shwarz-played by Al Pacino. Curiously, Shwarz soon affirmed the implicit link of Dalton to the poor ol’ Gardevil by pointing out that Dalton’s ten years of “…treading water” by accepting guest appearances as the heavy on any tv show that wanted him-including the allegorical telefilm series MANNIX (1967-75), which linked Dalton openly to Mannix in THE HATEFUL EIGHT-was endangering his career, and that Dalton should accept a chance to go to Europe to be the lead again as in his BOUNTY LAW days on some low budget indie Italian spaghetti Westerns. For the shrewd comments of Shwarz reminded us that the poor ol’ Gardevil had also spent ten years treading water writing chapters and essays for his blog and going as nowhere as Dalton. Thus, Tarantino implied his hope that Mr. POG would stop wasting his life with his blog, and maybe write a screenplay or novel or somethin’ that might help him succeed in life.
Curiously, as Booth drove a disappointed, dejected, despairing and despondent Dalton back through the darkening streets of Boss Angeles to his digs after the meeting with Shwarz, their drive home was intercut with the sight and sound of some Charles “Charlie” Manson family girls singing an allegorical Manson tune “All Is One” (1969) while out on a garbage run in L.A. from their digs at the Spahn Movie Ranch. Curiously, these Manson girl garbage run scenes evoked a similar scene involving Manson family girls on a garbage run in L.A. while singing a version of the allegorical and Jimmy Webb written Glen Campbell tune “Galveston” (1969) that they called “Garbagerun” in the twilit, allegorical, CGI free and implicitly SCC roasting Mary Harron indie docufeature film CHARLIE SAYS (2018), a film that implicitly linked SCC to the most fixated Manson girl/murderer, Leslie Van Houten aka “Lulu”-played by Hannah Murray-Lucas to principal Manson family murderer Tex Watson-played by Chace Crawford-and Spielberg to Manson-played by Matt Smith.
Indeed, the sight of Lulu and the other members of the celebrity lusting family breaking into homes in the Hollywood Hills and killing and robbing occupants like the Scarlett Johansson resembling and implicitly linked Sharon Tate-played by Grace Van Dien-evoked the sight of a group of less violent but no less madcap celebrity lusting teens breaking into homes in the Hollywood Hills and fleecing them of their luxury goods in the twilit, allegorical, CGI free and implicitly Reitman and Diablo Cody roasting SCC indie docufeature film THE BLING RING (2013), affirming the implicit SCC roasting intent of CHARLIE SAYS. An implication reaffirmed by the implicit link of Tate to Johansson in CHARLIE SAYS, for the implicit link reminded us that Johansson played the implicitly SCC linked Russian assassin Natasha “Black Widow” Romanoff, in the twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced MCU super satirical filmmercials. The sight and sound of the Reitman resembling and implicitly linked Dennis Wilson-played by James T. Brown-visiting Manson, Lulu, Tex and the rest of the family at the Spahn Movie Ranch also affirmed the implicit Reitman supporting and SCC roasting intent of CHARLIE SAYS. Thus, given the allusions in ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD to CHARLIE SAYS and THE BLING RING, the twilit and allegorical SCC indie docufeature film SOMEWHERE (2009), and the eerily twilit and allegorical Coppola indie docufeature film DEMENTIA 13 (1963)-whose end titles listed Richard Dalton as assistant director-Tarantino implied that he was responding to Harron and CHARLIE SAYS, supporting Rush and SCC and addressing Gardevil and Gillam in the film.
And then Booth dropped off Dalton and drove home to his beat up trailer located on the grounds of the Van Nuys drive-in and with, fittingly, at least one issue of SGT. FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMANDOS lying around, a trailer guarded by his faithful pooch Brandy-played by Sayuri-a faithful and indomitable pitt bull who evoked the equally faithful and indomitable Hosehead-played by Buddy-in STRANGE BREW while Dalton practiced his lines for his latest guest appearance as a heavy on the Western tv series LANCER and Polanski and Tate roared out of their driveway in their car and off to a carefree and rockin’ partay at the Playboy Mansion to the tune of the allegorical and Terry Cashman, Gene Pistilli and TP West written Buchanan Brothers tune “Son Of A Lovin’ Man” (1969), ending Act One.
Just as curiously, Act Two saw the Good Dalton play the black cowboy hat wearing and exuberantly “…Evil, sexy Hamlet” and Bad heavy Caleb DeCoteau on a fake studio Western town set opposite the pretty, perky and seriously focused brunette girl actor Trudi Fraser-played by Julia Butters-who evoked a kid SCC and resembled Jane March’s troubled and SCC resembling Rose Dexter in COLOR OF NIGHT. Significantly, while that was happening, the Bad and allegedly wife killing Booth played the Good guy at the fake Western town set at the Spahn Movie Ranch opposite the pretty, wacky, lost and confused brunette teen Manson family member Pussy Cat-played by Margaret Qaulley-and refused to leave until he had assured himself that the Manson family had not killed cranky ranch owner, George Spahn-played by Dern, who fittingly played Steve aka “Seeker” in the allegorical Rush indie docufeature film PSYCH-OUT [1968]. This act ended with both heroes succeeding in their quests.
Significantly, Act Three began six months later, with Dalton and his new Italian film actor wife Francesca Capucci-who shared the initials of Francis Coppola, was perhaps linked to the adult SCC, and was played by Lorenza Izzo-flying into LAX like Polanski and Tate at the beginning of the film-albeit minus the paparazzi-after rejuvenating his film art career, his luv life and his spirits with lead roles in three indie spaghetti Westerns and one spoof James Bond-style indie spy thriller-the allegorical Antonio Margheriti indie docufeature film OPERAZIONE DYN-O-MITE! (1970)-which evoked the allegorical and Bond spoofing Rush indie docufeature film A MAN CALLED DAGGER (1967). With them was Booth, who had also rejuvenated his career and spirits working for Dalton again as his stunt double in the four films. Indeed, the spirits of Booth and Dalton were both so rejuvenated, that after Booth drove Capucci and Dalton back to the Dalton home on Cielo Drive-to the ironic and ominous sound of the allegorical and Mick Jagger and Keith Richards written Rolling Stones tune “Out Of Time” (1966)-Booth and Dalton still had the energy to go out for dinner at Casa Vega, another Hollywood landmark restaurant, where they exuberantly praised a
film artist who, fittingly and implicitly, was Rush.
Significantly, Booth and Dalton still had so much energy that the two implicitly crazy Canucks combined with Booth’s faithful pooch, Brandy, later that fateful night of August 8, 1969 to fight off and kill three Manson family psychos, Katie, Sadie and Tex-played by Madisen Beaty, Mikey Madison and Austin Butler, respectively-who were implicitly linked to Harron, Cody and Reitman, respectively. Curiously, this spirited and memorable defense implicitly saved the film art of SCC in the embodied form of Capucci, and saved film art in general and that of the GTA in particular by also saving next door neighbour Tate, allowing Tarantino to triumph over the grisly ending of CHARLIE SAYS. Significantly, as the implicit link of Sadie-burnt to a crisp with Dalton’s dastardly Dragon, a flamethrower memento from his fiery and eponymous lead role in the allegorical A.I. Smithee indie docufeature film THE FOURTEEN FISTS OF MCCLUSKEY (196?)-and Tex to Cody and Reitman evoked Gardevil’s feud with the pernicious pair, Tarantino implicitly reaffirmed that he was addressing Gardevil in the film and hopin’ that he would stop being a heavy treadin’ twilit water and blasting Cody, Folsey jr., Kennedy, Landis, Lucas, Marshall, Reitman and Spielberg on his blog and go off and be a hero writing a more meaningful, original and Zone free screenplay or novel like the allegorical and implicitly Philip K. Dick addressing Larry McMurtry novel All Of My Friends Are Going To Be Strangers (1972), one of the favourite novels of QT, or perhaps even a movie tie-in novel like Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2021), an implication affirmed by the exuberantly luving care and attention lavished on the film-if not, fuck the basterd! An implication affirmed by the fact that Dalton was literally embraced by Hollywood fame and fortune in the embodied form of Tate after killing Katie, Sadie and Tex, in the end.
And so Tarantino implicitly reaffirmed a commitment to a tragicomic continuation of that woeful sub-genre of the dread allegorical Zone Wars known regrettably as Cinema Garite. And so the embodiment of Gen X anger, angst, boredom, creativity, disaffection, frustration, grim humour, imagination, intelligence, restlessness, righteous fury and shrewd insight had created another film wherein “…the instruments of conventional cinema had been reappropriated and reinvigorated, [forcing Hollywood]…to readjust if it wanted to keep pace” [Bailey 183]. And so even if it managed to keep up, Tarantino was “…a paradox that Hollywood still [couldn’t] fathom. A marriage made of art and commerce; trash and humanity; violence and laughter…[full of] stories that [rode] high on their own artifice, yet [felt] real…[stories that fused] the illusions of cinema with the rhythms of life” [Nathan 8]. And so took another illusory real step closer Tarantino did to completing…the Twilit Ten.
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