The Grateful Quent:
reawakening a luv
for film art
and
for the indomitable Spirit
of the
Rebel Sixties
and
Skyrockin’ Seventies
in the allegorical film art
of
Quentin Tarantino
by
Gary W. Wright
In a film art era dominated by endless franchises, remakes, sequels, and clones of clones, it was important to have Quentin Jerome Tarantino around to affirm the importance of combating endless lookalike and computer generated imagery [CGI] enhanced films with original, creative, innovative, iconoclastic, memorable, thought provoking, and vitally human indie docufeature film art. Film art which, like that of most film artists of the last forty years, exploded out of and raged against the horrifying and outraging helicopter crash that killed actor/writer/director Victor “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, computer generated imagery [CGI] enhanced, Landis and Steven Spielberg executive produced, and Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall produced Landis, Spielberg, Joe Dante, and George Miller docufeature film TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE [1983]. A disaster so game changing that youthful Boomer Brat audiences, soon to be dubbed “Generation X”, turned against Folsey jr., Kennedy, Landis, Marshall, Spielberg and, when he shocked, equally outraged and disappointed Gen X by helping Kennedy, Marshall, and Spielberg escape justice in the TZ disaster, George Lucas jr., and embraced equally horrified and outraged young Boomer film artists like Luc Besson, Kathryn Bigelow, Tim Burton, James Cameron, Alex Cox, and Spike Lee and those older, established, and exuberantly indie and iconoclastic Boomer film artists like David Cronenberg, Terry Gilliam, and David Lynch who shared the outrage and pain of Gen X.
However, while sharing the pain and outrage of Gen X, Boomer film artists were not born in the Sixties and Seventies like Gen X, nor did they grow up with the high hopes and dreams of a better world for all people that filled the restless and rebellious Sixties and Seventies with its exuberant, sundrenched, and Skyrockin’ Good Force be dashed and replaced by the equally horrifying, outraging, embittering, and dispiriting nightmare of unemployment or low wages and permanent part-time hours with no benefits, bonuses, or pensions for the few jobs that could be found in the Edgy Eighties and Nasty Nineties. A dismal socioeconomic situation that increased the pain and the rage of Gen X, and caused them to turn to Gen X film artists who shared and sympathized with their rage and pain. Thus, the Boomer Brats of Gen X were pleased when the Nasty Nineties brought with it not just the end of the Cold War at last but also Tarantino, the young, tall, lean, lanky, and baby faced human tornado from Knoxville, Tennessee who fully embodied and expressed their anger, angst, bitterness, frustration, depression, dreams, nightmares, hopes, fears, pessimism, optimism, cynicism, and caustic amusement, causing them to eagerly embrace him and his indie docufeature film art when he arrived in the early Nineties. An important Gen X film artist who made his twilit anger, bitterness, despair, and frustration implicitly clear and immediately established his cinematic and sociocultural importance when he donned the writer/director caps and collaborated with equally indomitably indie film artist and co-executive producer Monte Hellman to create his first indomitably iconoclastic film, the twilit, allegorical, and Ozian themed indie docufeature film RESERVOIR DOGS [1992], fittingly released on January 21, 1992 at the beginning of the tenth anniversary year of the TZ disaster to truly kick off a bold new year and era of film art.
“Look, man…
I’m outta here.”
Curiously, after three opening titles in canary yellowy orange, the film began with a group of young, middle aged, and older men-played by Tarantino, Edward “Eddie” Bunker, Steve Buscemi, Harvey Keitel [also a co-producer of the film], Michael Madsen, Chris Penn, Tim Roth, and Lawrence Tierney, respectively-sitting around a table in a Los Angeles diner, some smoking, all drinking coffee, and six wearing black suits and ties and white dress shirts that evoked those worn by the young, tall, slim, and implicitly David Lynch and Tin Man linked Elwood Blues-played by Dan Aykroyd-and the young, short, chubby, and implicitly Mel Brooks and Scarecrow linked Jacob “Jake” Blues-played by John Belushi-in the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical, and Ozian themed Landis docufeature film THE BLUES BROTHERS [1980]. Tragicomically, and with the exception of the old, medium heighted, bald, heavyset, frowning, gruff, intimidating, and implicitly Alfred Hitchcock and Wicked Witch of the West linked character in a Wicked black polo shirt identified as Joe and played by Tierney, most of the men were discussing the allegorical and Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg composed and written Madonna tune “Like A Virgin” [1984]. A curious but fitting choice of tune, given that this was the virginal Tarantino’s first film, making it also fitting that the young, tall, slim, handsome, black haired and eyed, clean cut and shaven, baby faced, and implicitly Lynch linked character played by Tarantino led the way in the ribald and tragicomic analysis of “Like A Virgin”. An analysis that also affirmed his character’s implicit link to Lynch, for it reminded us that Madonna was implicitly linked to the young, beautiful, blonde, and also implicitly Wicked Witch of the East linked murdered teen Laura Palmer-played by Sheryl Lee-in the twilit, allegorical, and Ozian themed Lynch indie telemoving painting series TWIN PEAKS [1990-91], a film famous for the damn fine coffee and fresh baked pie at the Double-R diner in the town of Twin Peaks, Washington.
While tragicomic, the conversation gave the different men a chance to comment on the song and reveal their different views and personalities. Then, after discussing the allegorical and Bobby Russell written Vicki Lawrence tune “The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia” [1972] and arguing over the tip with the young, short, slim, pale, clean cut, black haired, eyed, moustached, and goateed, and implicitly Landis and Scarecrow linked man curiously called “Mr. Pink”-played by Buscemi-and finally persuading the reluctant Pink to contribute one dollar bill to the collective tip, the men stood up from their chairs and left the café. As they did the screen went black and another opening title proudly proclaimed “…A FILM BY QUENTIN TARANTINO” as the laconically and ironically exuberant voice of DJ K-Billy-played by the ominously surnamed Steven Wright-from KBLY’s Super Sounds of the Seventies weekend radio show was heard introducing the allegorical and Hans Bouwens and Jan Visser written George Baker Selection tune “Little Green Bag” [1969].
The eight men then walked out towards the camera in a now iconic slow motion exit to the sound of “Little Green Bag” that framed each man in an individual close-up that identified the actor who played the character. Curiously, and despite his lack of experience as an actor/writer/director, Tarantino’s character was given the second to last close-up instead of the last, which was given to Roth’s character. Alas for the men, the slow mo walk already had a death march feel to it, capturing them all at the height of their powers and prominence. The fact that the camera point of view [POV] then moved behind them as the other opening titles appeared and collectively captured them moving towards their two cars as the title “RESERVOIR DOGS” slowly rose up from the bottom of the screen and stopped in the middle of the screen implicitly reaffirmed that they were all receding in importance and on their way out.
An implication immediately affirmed when screams of agony and “I’m going to die!” rang out, and the scene cut suddenly to Keitel’s middle aged, short, slim, clean cut and shaven, and implicitly Cowardly Lion linked character, now identified as Larry and desperately consoling the screaming and blood soaked character in the back seat played by Roth, as he drove him somewhere. The tragicomic sight and sound evoked the young, short, and beautiful blonde waitress Sarah Connor-played by Linda Hamilton-trying to console and raise the spirits of the young, short, handsome, earnest, devoted, luvin’, and equally mortally wounded and dying future time traveller Kyle Reese-played by Michael Biehn-at the end of the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed, and implicitly Lynch toastin’ and Lucas roastin’ James Cameron indie docufeature Zonebuster THE TERMINATOR [1984], implying that Roth’s character was linked to Cameron. Soon they fittingly hid themselves in an abandoned mortuary, whose stark interiors evoked a stage set, giving the rest of the film a live theatre quality. The stark mortuary interior also evoked the equally stark docking bay of the huge cargo spaceship the USS Nostromo in the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, and Ozian themed Sir Scott indie docufeature artbuster ALIEN [1979]. Here Larry lay his bleeding colleague down and we quickly discovered to our lack of surprise that they had survived a blockbuster robbery of Karina’s Wholesale Diamonds that had gone terribly wrong when the police suddenly and unexpectedly raided the heist, and were now waiting for any other survivors of the debacle.
Soon Mr. Pink soon showed up, immediately identified Roth’s character as “Mr. Orange”, and then he and Larry briefly left Orange and strolled off to a room with a sink and mirror to discuss things in private. Here Larry and Pink pensively smoked, Pink identified Larry as also being “Mr. White”, and then White Larry turned on the taps and bent down to run water over his face and hair, before turning off the taps and studying himself in the mirror as he combed his hair. The sight and sound reminded us that the films of Sir Ridley Scott usually had a scene where the reflection of a character appeared in a mirror or window to imply that their Dark Side mirrorworld opposite had been released causing that character to now go off on a dark and dangerous path. Dangerous reflections that combined with the allusions to ALIEN to implicitly link Larry to Sir Scott, making it fitting that Keitel played the young, short, slim, dark haired, intense, always feral, and implicitly Lucas linked Emperor Napolean loyalist Lt. Gabriel Feraud in Sir Scott’s first fine and fearless full colour feature film, the allegorical and Ozian themed indie docufeature artbuster THE DUELLISTS [1977].
Talking to Mr. Pink, Larry discovered that his colleague had made it to the rendezvous after being chased down the streets of L.A. by a fittingly twilit trio of Los Angeles Police officers [LAPD], evoked the Chicago Police Department [CPD] officers who chased Elwood and Jake throughout THE BLUES BROTHERS to affirm the implicit link of Mr. Pink to Landis. Significantly, this chase led to an ultraviolent shootout with the three police officers that Mr. Pink somehow survived that showed no interest in the safety of bystanders. This dangerous shootout implicitly reaffirmed Mr. Pink’s link to Landis as it evoked the equally ultraviolent mayhem in the streets in Piccadilly Square in London at the climactic end of the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical, Ozian themed, and implicitly Stanley Kubrick roasting Landis indie docufeature film AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON [1981].
Soon the young, ironically tall, heavyset, handsome, big eared, calm, cool, amused, junk food and pop luvin’, and implicitly Lucas and Tin Man linked “Mr. Blonde”-played by Madsen-joined the twilit trio, fittingly bringing the Fours to the tragicomic proceedings to implicitly affirm the link of Vega to Lucas. Tragicomically, angry arguments and paranoia in the abandoned mortuary increased between Larry, Mr. Blonde, Mr. Pink, angry arguments and paranoid tension that evoked the equally angry and paranoid arguments and confrontations between the personnel of a remote American research station with equally stark interiors in Antarctica as they struggled to determine who had been infected with blockbuster CGI enhanced and alienated extraterrestrial Evil in the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, and Ozian themed John Carpenter indie docufeature film THE THING [1982], implicitly linking the fateful and fatal July of 1982. Ironically, these angry and paranoid arguments were punctuated with more sedate scenes that saw the Wicked Joseph “Joe” Cabot-still played by Tierney-meeting with Larry before the heist, and afterwards also with Mr. Blonde, now identified as the recently released from prison “Toothpick” Victor “Vic” Vega, and Joe’s son, the young, tall, heavyset, less handsome, black, blue, and purple windbreaker luvin’, and implicitly Brian De Palma and Nikko linked “Nice Guy” Eddie Cabot-and still played by Penn-that told us more about the characters and outlined the heist of the jewelry wholesaler that clearly went disastrously wrong, a blockbuster heist gone wrong that reminded us that the dream of all film artists to create a super successful blockbuster film often went disastrously wrong, as well.
Back at the mortuary, Vega soon reaffirmed his implicit link to Lucas by taking Larry and Mr. Pink outside to the mortuary’s parking lot and revealing that he had kidnapped an LAPD officer named Marvin Nash-played by Kirk Baltz-and had him tied in the trunk of Madsen’s own cool and light canary yellow 1966 Cadillac Coupe De Ville. For the tragicomic sight reminded us that Modesto Police Force [MPF] were the butt of all the jokes of all the Good cool cruising teens of the daylit, allegorical, Ozian themed, and implicitly Ralph Bakshi roastin’ and Walt Disney toastin’ Lucas indie docufeature film AMERICAN GRAFFITI [1973]. And now the butt of Vega’s scornful wrath, for when Larry, Mr. Pink, and new arrival “Nice Guy” Eddie left to get the stolen jewels, Vic sliced off the right ear of Officer Nash with the same care free abandon that the old, medium heighted, slim, mystic, and implicitly John Ford and Great Oz linked Jedi Master Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi-played by Sir Alec Guinness-had sliced off the right arm of an alienated alien Evildoer in the Mos Eisley Cantina on Tatooine in the daylit, allegorical, Ozian themed, and implicitly Spielberg roastin’ Lucas indie docufeature film STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE [1977] to reaffirm the implicit link of Vega to Lucas.
Significantly, Vega rocked and rolled to the sound of the allegorical and Joe Egan and Gerry Rafferty written Stealers Wheel tune “Stuck In The Middle” [1972] coming from KBLY’s Super Sounds of the Seventies weekend radio show as he sliced off the ear of Officer Nash, the most bitterly and savagely satirical instance of the music of the Seventies when Lucas, De Palma, Landis, Lynch, and Sir Scott had all been riding high being used in furiously ironic contrast in RESERVOIR DOGS. However, despite its savage satire, “Stuck In The Middle” was a fitting choice of tune. For the tune reminded us that despite lying silently bleeding, dying, forgotten, and out of sight, Mr. Orange was stuck in the middle between killer clown Vic and screaming joker Marv, preparing us for the sight and sound of Orange suddenly summoning up the energy to raise himself up and shoot down and terminate Vega before Vic could set the bleeding officer he had soaked with gasoline on fire, a grateful officer who recognized and outed Orange as an undercover cop for the LAPD named Freddie.
Significantly, this surprise revelation that affirmed that the paranoid fears of Eddie, Larry, and Pink were well founded was followed by scenes that showed the young, ironically short, slim, blonde, clean cut and shaven, and implicitly Cameron and Great Oz linked undercover LAPD Officer Freddie Newendyk-his name evoking Canadian hockey player Joe Nieuwendyk, who joined the National Hockey League [NHL] in 1985, to affirm Newendyk’s implicit link to a Canadian film artist who emerged in the mid-Eighties, and still played by Roth-training and working hard to make himself believable as a criminal for a secret mission to infiltrate and bring down the Cabot gang. Curiously, making himself believable included mastering a fictitious story about stumbling across an Ozian quartet of LAPD officers with a drug sniffing German shepherd in a bar bathroom, one of whom looked like a young and smug Brian Mulroney, and another of whom resembled a young and sexy Pierre Trudeau to reaffirm the implicit link of Newendyk to a Canadian film artist.
Just as curiously, these scenes led to the snafu heist and the revelation that Officer Newendyk had been shot in the stomach not by his fellow LAPD but by a young, brunette, irate, pregnant, and implicitly Kathryn Bigelow linked female motorist-played by Suzanne Celeste-who Newendyk also shot in the stomach and killed in retaliation, to his eternal shame and horror. Larry and himself stole her car after abandoning their original getaway car with the corpse of Mr. Brown-still played by Tarantino-at the wheel with a bleeding bullet hole in the middle of his forehead. Significantly, this bullet hole affirmed his implicit link to Lynch, for it reminded us that the violent and Wicked Frank Booth-played by Dennis Hopper-was finally killed with a bullet in his forehead at the end of the twilit, allegorical, Ozian themed, and implicitly Tim Burton addressing Lynch indie moving painting BLUE VELVET [1986], a film just as famous for its severed left ear. While the death of Mr. Brown may have expressed Tarantino’s own fears of crashing and burning with RESERVOIR DOGS if it was not successful, his death was all too fitting, as Lynch went on to crash and burn that year with the twilit, allegorical, Ozian themed, and implicitly Spielberg roastin’ indie moving painting TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME [1992]. Mr. Brown’s death also made him the implicit Wicked Witch of the East linked character of the film along with the old, short, slim, grey haired, moustached, and goateed, weathered, and cigar smoking Mr. Blue, played by real life career criminal and author Bunker, also gunned down during the robbery.
In the end, however, and despite the hard work of Mr. Orange to delay things so that the others would be captured by the LAPD, the Wicked Joe and most of the rest of the robbers gunned each other down in the climactic Mexican standoff that mostly ended the film, with the ironic exception of Mr. Pink, who escaped being killed, grabbed the black bag containing the jewels, and fled the mortuary, reminding us that De Palma, Lucas, Lynch, and Sir Scott had killed themselves and their film art trying to exorcise Landis and the TZ disaster from film art, film artists, and the Temple Theatre in the first decade of the dread allegorical Zone Wars and had mostly disappeared while Landis, despite the deaths of Chen, Le, and Morrow in the TZ disaster, despite the outraged fury heaped on his head by audiences, particularly young Gen X audiences, and society in general, and the implicitly furious roastings he had gotten in films created by other film artists, had managed to escape being convicted of manslaughter in the TZ trial and had gone back to a successful career as a film artist, making it all too fitting that Landis returned to the Temple Theatre later that year with the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed, and implicitly Spielberg roasting indie docufeature film INNOCENT BLOOD [1992], released on September 25, 1992.
Struggling back to consciousness after the departure of Mr. Pink, Larry eventually shot Freddie in the face when the equally dying officer confessed to being an undercover LAPD officer, thus implicitly allowing Sir Scott to exact revenge on Cameron for besting him with the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, and Ozian themed indie docufeature Zonebuster ALIENS [1986]. Thus, Tarantino implied his bitter anger, frustration, and despair that ten years of hatred heaped on Landis that included a long and nasty trial and brutal implicit battling in fiction and on film in the dread allegorical Zone Wars had not managed to appease the sad haunting ghosts of Chen, Le, and Morrow, exorcise Folsey jr., Kennedy, Landis, Lucas, Marshall, Spielberg, and the TZ disaster from the Temple Theatre, and kick off a brave new era of film art in a film whose implicit allegorical intent was affirmed by allusions to ALIEN, AMERICAN GRAFFITI, AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON, BLUE VELVET, STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE, T1, THE BLUES BROTHERS, THE THING, TWIN PEAKS, and the allegorical and implicitly Canadian Prime Minister William King and German Chancellor Adolf Hitler roastin’ Victor Fleming feature film THE WIZARD OF OZ [1939].
Curiously, the courageous and creative, but angry, despondent, ultraviolent, and dialogue, natural light luvin’ RESERVOIR DOGS with its bittersweet and often angry and ironic allusions to the films and music of the Rebel Sixties and Skyrockin’ Seventies but its careful retention of the Ozian structure popularized by Lucas with AMERICAN GRAFFITI and the STAR WARS Classic Trilogy struck a chord with audiences, particularly raging Gen X audiences who were as angry and disaffected as the Hateful Quent, and was quite popular and successful. Perhaps the fact that Tarantino was literally a fellow audience member with no post-secondary film degree like many of the members of New Hollywood and no experience creating film art who simply rose up in outraged and indomitably indie fury to defend a film art he luved so much and to attack older film artists as so many semi-employed or unemployed Gen Xers wished that they could do also endeared the Hateful Quent to Boomer brat audiences. At any rate, Tarantino established himself with RESERVOIR DOGS, and the Silver Surfer poster on a wall in the apartment of Newendyk also presciently anticipated Cameron and Tarantino being implicitly linked to superheroes and supervillains in Marvel Comic inspired Marvel Studios indie super satirical animaction films to come in the new millenium.
Just as curiously, Tarantino reappeared in the Temple Theatre the next year when Tony Scott used a QT screenplay and a collaboration with Penn to implicitly hope that Penn’s older brother Sean Penn, a young actor turned indie film artist, would leave behind an interest in Lynch and head off on his own indie film art path like the young, medium heighted, slim, handsome, clean cut and shaven, and coffee, comic, film, pie, and Elvis luvin’ and implicitly Penn and Scarecrow linked Clarence Worley-played by Christian Slater-and his young, short, slim, beautiful, blonde, film, pie, and Clarence luvin’, and implicitly Robin Wright and Dorothy linked wife Alabama Whitman-Worley-fondly recalled by Mr. White in RESERVOIR DOGS, and played by Patricia Arquette-successfully eluded the middle aged, tall, slim, sinister, and implicitly Lynch and Wicked Witch of the West linked mob leader Vincenzo Coccotti-played by Christopher Walken-his big, nasty, and implicitly Angelo Badalamenti and Nikko the Flying Monkey King linked underling Virgil-played by James Gandolfini-and the rest of his flying monkey gang members and headed off on their own indie path at the tragicomic and bloody shootout end of the daylit, allegorical, and Ozian themed indie docufeature film TRUE ROMANCE [1993], a film as darkly humourous as RESERVOIR DOGS that was released on September 8, 1993 and that affirmed its implicit allegorical intent with allusions to BLUE VELVET, THE WIZARD OF OZ, the daylit, allegorical, Ozian themed, and implicitly Tim Burton addressing Lynch indie moving painting WILD AT HEART [1990], the twilit, allegorical, Ozian themed, and implicitly Lynch and Spielberg addressing Penn indie docufeature film THE INDIAN RUNNER [1991], and by the return of Arquette as ‘Bama and Hopper as Clarence’s dad Clifford Worley, respectively, as they played Dorothy Roberts and Caesar the bar owner, respectively, in THE INDIAN RUNNER, while Hopper also played the Wicked Booth in BLUE VELVET to openly link the film to Lynch and Penn.
A light piece of cinematic pie that prepared audiences for the full meal deal when Tarantino redonned the actor/director/writer hats, teamed up again with Buscemi and Keitel and Lawrence Bender, Betsy Heimann, Sally Menke, Andrzej Sekula, and David Wasco-producer, costume designer, editor, director of photography [DOP], and production designer, respectively, of RESERVOIR DOGS-and now also with Walken, Samuel L. Jackson-who played doomed drug dealer Don “Big Don” in TRUE ROMANCE-and Bob and Harvey Weinstein-co-executive producers of TRUE ROMANCE-and returned to the Temple Theatre the following year to implicitly celebrate another tenth anniversary year on one level with the daylit and twilit, allegorical, Ozian themed, and naturally lit indie docufeature film PULP FICTION [1994], a film that I am still puzzling over that was released on May 21, 1994.
“It is like a wax museum
with a pulse.”
Curiously, after the Miramax Films intro, the film in another L.A. diner with a young, short, slim, and tragicomic couple-he blonde and in a colourful Hawaiian shirt over a black t-shirt and blue jeans, she strawberry blonde and in a purple dress, and played by Roth and Amanda Plummer, respectively-drinking coffee and discussing their previous robberies, and then deciding on the spur of the moment to rob the diner. Pulling out guns, the young couple, now identified as “Hunny Bunny” and “Pumpkin”, leapt to their feet and went into action, evoking the madcap robberies pulled off across Los Angeles by the even more tragicomic and lawless young punk rock couple comprising the young, short, slim, shaven headed, and implicitly Mel Brooks and Nikko linked Duke-played by Dick Rude-and the young, medium heighted, slim, sexy, and implicitly Anne Bancroft and Wicked Witch of the West linked Debbie-played by Jennifer Balgobin-throughout the twilit, allegorical, slightly CGI enhanced, and Ozian themed indie docufeature film REPO MAN [1984]. This implied that the two diner robbers were implicitly linked to Cox and his film art as well as to Nikko and the Wicked Witch of the West, an implication increased after the screen faded to black and canary yellowy orange opening titles like those in RESERVOIR DOGS appeared on the screen, the fourth of which again proudly proclaimed “…A FILM BY QUENTIN TARANTINO.”
Significantly, as the rest of the titles appeared on the screen, the accompanying music suddenly changed via a radio dial change from the allegorical Dick Dale composed Dick Dale & His Del-Tones instrumental “Misirlou” [1962] to the allegorical and Robert E. and Ronald N. Bell, Donald Boyce, George M. Brown, Robert S. Mickens, Clayden C. Smith, and Dennis Thomas written Kool & the Gang tune “Jungle Boogie” [1973] to implicitly and musically prepare audiences for the many abrupt changes in the narrative of PULP FICTION and to reaffirm QT’s luv/hate relationship with the fiction, films, and music of the Rebel Sixties and the Skyrockin’ Seventies. When the opening titles ended, the scene shifted to the sight and sound of the young, slim, curly black haired, handsome, moustached, and implicitly Jack Purvis and Scarecrow linked man-wearing the black suit and tie and white dress shirt of all good Blues Brothers/RESERVOIR DOGS, and played by Jackson-driving a young, chubby, long black haired, clean shaven, and implicitly Terry Gilliam and Tin Man linked man-wearing the same BB/RD combo, and played by John Travolta-around the streets of Los Angeles, for the sequence evoked the sight and sound of the old, medium heighted, slim, and cynical veteran repo man Bud-played by Harry D. Stanton-and the young, tall, heavyset, handsome, and moustached Lite-played by Sy Richardson-driving the young, short, slim, handsome, buzz cut, clean shaven, baby faced, naïve, and innocent new repo man Otto Maddox-played by Emilio Estevez-around Los Angeles in their cars and explaining the implicitly indie film art code linked Repo Code to him throughout REPO MAN.
In this case, however, the topic was more mundane, as Travolta’s character simply talked about his experiences in Europe on a recent trip there, reminding us that Gilliam had relocated to London in the late Sixties. Arriving at their destination which revealed that the two men were hit men, they walked into an apartment building, now talking about the art of foot massage. Tragicomically, this discussion reminded us that the descending and squashing foot from the allegorical Agnolo Bronzino painting VENUS, CYCLIST, TIME AND FOLLY (circa 1546) figured prominently in the cut-out animation Gilliam created for the English tv show MONTY PYTHON’S FLYING CIRCUS [1979-1611], affirming the implicit link of Travolta’s character to Gilliam. Here at the apartment, the two hitmen carried out their hit for their employer Marcellus Wallace, and also recaptured a stolen briefcase filled with a mysterious, glowing, and primal power that evoked the equally mysterious, glowing, and primal Force implicitly linked to the equally mysterious and primal creative Force of the Rebel Sixties hidden in the trunk of a ’64 Chevy Malibu that wandered through and was desperately hunted for throughout REPO MAN.
Mission accomplished, the two men wandered off the next day to a bar where they were hailed by the young, short, slim, handsome, and clean cut and shaven bartender Paul-played by Paul Calderon-as Vincent “Vince” Vega-Travolta’s character-and Jules Winston-Jackson’s character. Here the two had a brief run-in with the young, short, slim, balding, clean cut and shaven, intense, and implicitly Tony Scott and Cowardly Lion linked boxer-played by Bruce Willis-after he was paid off to throw his next fight in the fifth round, before a more lengthy meeting with the middle aged, tall, muscular, brown suited and tied, and implicitly Great Oz linked Marcellus Wallace-played by Ving Rhames. Then the scene faded, and audiences were off to dinner that night at the ultra Fifties and Sixties themed diner Jack Rabbit Slim’s with Vega and the wife of Wallace, the young, medium heighted, slim, beautiful, short black haired, black eyebrowed and eyed, and implicitly Glinda linked Mia Wallace-played by Uma Thurman, who fittingly played beautiful, blonde, and mortal Rose and beautiful, blonde, and immortal Venus in the daylit, allegorical, fantastic realist, madcap, satirical, CGI enhanced, and Ozian themed Gilliam indie animaction artbuster THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN [1988], a film in which Purvis played the confused and worried mortal and the bold and blustering immortal Gustavus.
Alas, this dinner, presided over by the young and chipper Buddy Holly-played by Buscemi-led to an accidental heroin overdose on the part of Mia back at the art and painting filled Wallace house, reminding us of the debilitating fondness for heroin on the part of the young, tall, slim, pale, spikey black haired, black shirt, and black jeans wearin’, Duke evoking but Frankenstein resembling, and implicitly Scarecrow linked Sex Pistols bassist John Ritchie aka “Sid Vicious”-played by Gary Oldman-and the young, short, slim, blonde, Debbie evoking, and implicitly Dorothy linked American bimbo groupie girlfriend Nancy Spungen-played by Chloe Webb-in the twilit, allegorical, and Ozian themed Cox indie docufeature film SID AND NANCY [1986] to reaffirm the implicit interest in Cox in PULP FICTION. Luckily for her, however, Vega drove her frantically over to the suburban house of his young, tall, slim, red haired, moustached, and bearded dealer Lance-played by Eric Stoltz-who helped him resurrect her with a shot of adrenaline, implying the hope of Tarantino that Gilliam, whose career had crashed and burned as a result of the lack of success of THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN, would also be able to revive his career.
Then, after some escapades with the boxer, whose name turned out to be Butch Coolidge and who did not throw his next fight in the fifth, preferring instead to kill his opponent and, eventually, Vega, to now imply that Tarantino had doubts about Gilliam’s ability to revive his career, and flee with the money he had won on the fight, implying the hope of Tarantino that the younger Scott would return to indomitably indie film art after cranking out five blockbuster beasts for the man after the lack of success of his first indomitably indie film, the twilit, allegorical, and Ozian themed indie docu feature film THE HUNGER [1983], the film literally returned full circle to the Wicked Hunny Bunny and Pumpko’s tragicomic robbery of the diner that kicked off the film, a robbery that reaffirmed the implicit link of Vega to Gilliam for it now reminded us that Plummer played shy and mousy Lydia in the daylit, allegorical, fantastic realist, darkly satirical, CGI enhanced, and Ozian themed Gilliam animaction film THE FISHER KING [1991]. Luckily for all, the two madcap robbers were persuaded not to shoot everyone or to flee with the briefcase implicitly filled with primal Sixties creative Force and to leave by Vega and Winston, a sleight o f frame accomplished by the fact that audiences had actually gone back in time to the morning after the hit and before Vega and Winston had visited Wallace, implying the hope of Tarantino that Cox would avoid giving in to blockbuster lusts and stick resolutely to his indomitably indie and Indie Code upholding path, which he did, in a film that affirmed its implicit allegorical point with allusions to AMERICAN GRAFFITI, REPO MAN, SID AND NANCY, THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN, THE FISHER KING, THE WIZARD OF OZ, and TRUE ROMANCE.
Curiously, PULP FICTION was even more popular than RESERVOIR DOGS, with another eclectic soundtrack that again angrily and bitterly and wistfully and luvingly evoked the Rebel Sixties and the Skyrockin’ Seventies. In fact, the film was not only a success, it was a worldwide phenomenon that was hailed as a film event, doing much to soothe the Hateful Quent and to begin to change him into the Grateful Quent. PULP FICTION also led to Tarantino being dubbed the embodiment of Gex X by audiences, a Gen X-Man status that paved the way for a reluctant X-Man implicitly linked to QT in the new millenium. Significantly, the success of PULP FICTION was also noticed by the august Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and led to seven nominations and Tarantino and co-writer Roger Avary being awarded a golden Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Just as curiously, soon after the release of PULP FICTION, Baltz, Wright, and Tarantino returned to the Temple Theatre as two actors in, and the first screenplay writer of, the daylit, allegorical, slightly CGI enhanced, Ozian themed, feverish, and zany Oliver Stone indie docufeature film NATURAL BORN KILLERS [1994], a film released on August 26, 1994.
“You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”
Literally and implicitly returned, as the frenetic film had the young, tall, slim, blonde, tattooed, wacky, and implicitly Tarantino and Nikko linked serial killer/robber Mickey Knox-played by Woody Harrelson-and his luver and partner in mayhem, the young, short, slim, brunette, equally tattooed and wacky, and implicitly Kathy Griffin and Wicked Witch of the West linked serial killer/robber Mallory Knox-played by Juliette Lewis-triumph over the young, medium heighted, heavyset, handsome, brunette, clean cut, moustached and bearded, suited, cigarette luvin’, psychotic, FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper evokin’, and implicitly Lynch and Cowardly Lion linked FBI Agent Jack Scagnetti-played by Tom Sizemore-the young, short, slim, brunette, handsome, moustached and bearded, suited, callous, fame and ratings obsessed, and implicitly Sir Peter Jackson and Tin Man linked Australian-American AMERICAN MANIACS tv show creator/host Wayne Gale-played by Robert Downey jr.-and the many police officers and prison guards trying to stop their madcap but popular killing spree, implying the hope or fear of Stone that Tarantino and his film art would triumph over their many critics, in the end, in a sometimes colour and sometimes black and white film with flashes of hand animation and an eclectic soundtrack that affirmed its implicit allegorical intent with allusions to RESERVOIR DOGS, THE WIZARD OF OZ, TRUE ROMANCE, TWIN PEAKS, TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME, WILD AT HEART, and the twilit, allegorical, and Ozian themed Jackson indie docufeature films BAD TASTE [1987] and MEET THE FEEBLES [1989].
A week later, Michael Radford gently and implicitly likened the young, exuberant, but naïve Tarantino’s luv of film art to the luv of the equally young, exuberant, but naïve and tongue tied postman Mario Ruoppolo-played by Massimo Troisi-for the young, beautiful, and buxom waitress Beatrice Russo-played by Maria G. Cucinotta-in the twilit, allegorical, and CGI free indie docufeature film IL POSTINO aka THE POSTMAN [1994], released on September 1, 1994. Curiously, the following year Tarantino relaxed and celebrated his successes with PULP FICTION and RESERVOIR DOGS by donning the co-actor/co-writer/co-director/co-executive producer hats and collaborating again with Bender, Calderon, Menke, Roth, Sekula, and Willis, and now also with co-writer/co-directors Allison Anders, Alexandre Rockwell, and Robert Rodriguez and, ironically, Madonna on the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, and Ozian themed indie docufeature film FOUR ROOMS [1995], a film released on September 16, 1995.
“Listen, kid,
stay clear of night clerks, kids, hookers,
and married arguments…
[and]
keep your cock in your pants!”
Curiously, after a short intro where the old, short, slim, grizzled, weary, and cynical veteran bellhop Sam-played by Marc Lawrence-wistfully recalled the busy days when 50 bellhops worked at the Hotel Mon Signor and then gave the young, short, slim, brunette, clean cut and shaven, baby faced, goofy, giddy, twitchy, cigarette luvin’, and Pee Wee Herman evoking, and implicitly Scarecrow linked bellhop Theodore aka “Ted” aka “Teddy”-also implicitly linked to Timothy Burton aka “Tim” aka “Timmy”, and played by Roth-some tips to help him survive his New Year’s Eve shift at the hotel which Ted went on to ignore, the Miramax Films intro came and went on the screen followed by the opening titles in PULP FICTION orange until Tarantino’s RESERVOIR DOGS inspired A BAND APART logo, which, after a second, saw Roth’s black suited and gun holding figure come to hand animated life, push the other three figures, including that of QT, away, and then unzip himself, revealing a blue capped and uniformed bellhop with a purple bowtie who proceeded to get into tragicomic and full colour and Gilliam evoking hand animated adventures with hotel guests created by Bob Kurtz and Friends as the opening titles continued to appear on the screen, hand animated adventures that were the first hint that the film was implicitly addressing a film artist liked to hand, stop motion, and CGI animated film art, all to the fittingly tragicomic and goofy sound of the allegorical and Michael Connors, Liz Cox, Michael Cudahy, Peter Dixon, and Aaron Oppenheimer written and performed Combustible Edison tune “Vertigogo” [1994].
Funny full colour hand animated adventures over, the film saw the hard pressed and beleaguered Ted get into tragicomic adventures with hotel guests in the four eponymous rooms. First up was the daylit, allegorical, and CGI enhanced Anders written and directed short indie docufeature film “Honeymoon Suite: The Missing Ingredient”, which had a coven of mostly young and beautiful witches, including the young, short, slim, beautiful, and brunette Athena-played by Valerian Golino-the young, short, slim, beautiful, brunette, sweet, virginal, and red and white checked top and skirt wearin’ “50’s pin-up girl” and wannabe midwife Eva-played by Ione Skye-the young, tall, slim, beautiful, long red haired, and sarcastic teen Kiva-played by Alicia Witt-the young, short, slim, beautiful, blonde, ditzy, and black cat luvin’ Jezebel-played by Sammi Davis-and the young, short, slim, beautiful, brunette, and broomstick luvin’ hippy Raven-played by Lili Taylor-as well as the middle aged and heighted, beautiful, peroxide blonde, buxom, black leather clad, Catwoman evoking, and implicitly Wicked Witch of the Witch linked Elspeth-a spell fittingly hidden in her name, and played by Madonna-meet up in the Honeymoon Suite to channel their magic, contact, and bring back to life a young, medium heighted, slim, beautiful, blonde, and implicitly Glinda linked actress named Athena-fittingly possessed of a mischievous, big lower lipped, wide, and toothy Burton grin, and played by Amanda deCadenet-with the help of the sperm of the resigned and bemused Ted. That the witches succeeded in their spellcasting quest implied the hope of Anders that female film artists would also succeed in their quest to bring and keep female film artists, who had tried and failed several times in the past to establish themselves, at last in the Temple Theatre forever. A hopeful spell that clearly succeeded, given that female film artists did indeed finally succeed in establishing themselves forever in the Temple Theatre, with the fearless, commanding, and towering Kathryn Bigelow becoming the first woman to win golden Oscars for Best Director and Best Film in 2010.
Thus, it was fitting that Ted also tangled with a husband and wife in a hotel room filled with paintings in the daylit, allegorical, and Rockwell written and directed short indie docufeature film “Room 404: The Wrong Man”, for the sight and sound of the sight and sound of the middle aged, nasty, jealous, and implicitly Tin Man linked Sigfried-played by David Proval-holding his young, beautiful, bewitching, angry, frustrated, and implicitly Lisa-Marie and Glinda linked wife Angela-played by Jennifer Beals-hostage and gagged and bound to a chair with a gun aimed at her head and convinced that Ted was her secret luver implied that Rockwell believed that nasty and jealous men were delaying the progress and success of female film artists. It was also fitting that a harassed Ted struggled to deal with Sarah and Juancho, the mischievous young Munchkin daughter and son-played by Lana McKissack and Danny Verduzco, respectively-of a young, medium heighted, slim, handsome, black haired, eyed, and moustached, black tuxedo wearin’, cigarette luvin’, and implicitly Disney and Cowardly Lion linked implicit gangster husband-played by Antonio Banderas-and his young, short, slim, beautiful, and implicitly Lillian Disney linked wife-played by Tamlyn Tomita-in another hotel room filled with paintings in the daylit, allegorical, and Rodriguez written and directed short indie docufeature film “Room 309: The Misbehavers”, for the tragicomic sight and sound reminded us that, despite those mean and jealous older men like Sigfried, equally young, mischievous, and talented Gen X Boomer brats like Anders, Rockwell, Rodriguez, and Tarantino were taking over film art and the Temple Theatre by 1995.
A takeover implicitly acknowledged and gently self-satirized in the final room filled unusually with four Ancient Greece evoking alcoves containing four white plaster statues in the daylit, allegorical, and Tarantino written and directed short indie docufeature film “Penthouse: The Man From Hollywood”, which saw the embarrassed, frustrated, harassed, and humiliated Ted finally get revenge and run off with the money after literally giving the finger to the young, tall, lean, lanky, black haired, baby faced, clean cut and shaven, black jacket and pants and white dress shirt wearin’, drunk, celebratory, exuberant, jubilant, successful, and implicitly Great Oz linked young Gen X film artist Chester Rush-hot off the hit comedy and daylit and allegorical indie docufeature film THE WACKY DETECTIVE [199?], and fittingly played by the equally young, celebratory, exuberant, jubilant, and successful QT-and his equally drunk friends Norman aka “Mr. Pinky” and Leo-played by Calderon and Willis, respectively-after a bet to win Chester’s red 1964 Chevy Chevelle went mischievously wrong to end the film on a grimly amusing and triumphant note and to imply the hope or fear of Tarantino that Burton would continue to succeed as a film artist. Thus, it was fitting that FOUR ROOMS was released in 1995, the tenth anniversary year of the release of Burton’s first madcap feature film, the daylit and allegorical Burton indie animaction film PEE WEE’S BIG ADVENTURE [1985], which had starred Paul Reubens as the equally goofy and giddy Pee Wee Herman, and making it also fitting that Ted’s ultimate success and triumph was witnessed by the amused and now liberated and still young and beautiful Angela-played again by Beals-to affirm her implicit link to young Gen X film art struggling to break free of the restraints of the older generation of film artists and studio executives in “Room 404: The Wrong Man.”
Curiously, the triumphant and grimly amusing final note that FOUR ROOMS ended on was clearly enjoyed by Tarantino, for next year he had some more grimly amused fun when he donned the actor/writer/co-executive producer hats and teamed up again with Bender, Keitel, Lawrence, and Rodriguez and now also with Selma Hayek-who played the exotic dancer gyrating on tv in “Room 309: The Misbehavers” in FOUR ROOMS-director of photography [DOP] Guillermo Navarro-from the Rodriguez episode of FOUR ROOMS-and Dimension Films to kick off the film year with some macabre fun with the young, tall, slim, black haired and eyed, bespectacled, baby faced, clean cut and shaven, black suit coat, white dress shirt, and gun luvin’, creepy, sexually abusive, violent, unstable, and implicitly William S. Burroughs and Nikko linked Richard “Richie” Gecko-played by Tarantino-and his equally young, tall, slim, black haired and eyed, clean cut and shaven, handsome, dark skinned, black suit coat, white t-shirt, and booze luvin’, and nasty but more stable, and implicitly Bigelow and Wicked Witch of the West linked brother Seth Gecko-played by George Clooney-two quarrelsome and psychotic Blues brothers from Hell who fittingly, after a crime and murder filled spree that also saw them round up three reluctant hostages, the middle aged and heighted, slim, grey brown haired, moustached, and bearded, black horn rim bespectacled, hat luvin’, and implicitly Francis Coppola and Great Oz linked ex-Christian pastor Jacob Fuller-played by Keitel-his young, short, slim, red haired, pretty, sweet, innocent, and implicitly Sofia Carmina [SCC] Coppola and Dorothy linked teen daughter Kate Fuller-played by Lewis-and his young, short, slim, black haired, baby faced, and implicitly Roman Coppola and Scarecrow linked teen son Scott Fuller-played by Ernest Liu-went on to battle legions of undead at the Titty Twister strip bar led by the beautiful, curvaceous, bewitching, and implicitly Glinda linked Satanico Pandemonio-played by Hayek-one fateful night in Mexico in the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed, and naturally lit indie docufeature film FROM DUSK TO DAWN [1996], a film released on January 1, 1996 that affirmed its implicit allegorical intent with allusions to FOUR ROOMS, RESERVOIR DOGS, THE WIZARD OF OZ, the twilit, allegorical, and implicitly Lucas addressing Bigelow indie docufeature film NEAR DARK [1987], and the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed, and implicitly Lucas addressing Bigelow indie docufeature artbuster STRANGE DAYS [1995], that was openly linked to Bigs via Lewis and her character Faith in STRANGE DAYS, and that seemed only concerned with being more gratuitously gory than AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON and NEAR DARK. As for Burton, he ended the year by implicitly and optimistically predicting that Tarantino would be swept away by the new era of CGI enhanced film art like the young, short, heavyset, shaven headed, dumb, haplessly gung ho, and implicitly Tarantino linked and Kansas based U.S. Army reservist Billy-Glenn Norris-played by Jack Black-was quickly eviscerated by a raygun blast from the madcap, mischief and mayhem luvin’, and all CGI Martian invaders in their first attack in the Tatooine evoking sands of Nevada at the beginning of the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed, and implicitly Lucas toastin’ animaction artbuster MARS ATTACKS! [1996], a film released on December 12, 1996 that was inspired by the “Mars Attacks!” Topps Company cards, and that also evoked the allegorical and implicitly British imperialism roasting H.G. Wells indie docufiction novel The War Of The Worlds [1897].
Tragicomically, after implicitly battling CGI Martians, the following year, Paul Verhoeven collaborated with the Walt Disney Company via its live action film production company Touchstone Pictures and TriStar Pictures to have the young, tall, slim, blonde, clean cut and shaven, baby faced, smart, and implicitly Tarantino linked psychic military intelligence man Colonel Carl Jenkins-played by Neil P. Harris-team up with the young, short, slim, handsome, muscular, strong, naïve, innocent, patriotic, exuberantly indomitable, and implicitly Lucas and Scarecrow linked 6th Mobile Infantry [MI] space marine Private/Corporal/Sergeant/Lieutenant Johnny D. Rico-played by Casper Van Dien-the young, tall, slim, blonde, brash, muscular, strong, and implicitly Cameron and Cowardly Lion linked 6th MI Pte. Ace Levy-played by Jake Busey-and the rest of the equally young, exuberant and indomitable J.D. Roughnecks of the 6th MI as well as the young, short, slim, beautiful, brunette, brainy, calm, cool, luvin’, and implicitly Kathyrn Bigelow and Dorothy linked Pilot Cadet and then full Space Fleet Captain Carmen Ibanez-played by Denise Richards-and the rest of the watchful and protecting Space Fleet preserve the lives and vital humanity of the united and global United Citizen Federation [UCF] of the brave new CGI enhanced world of Earth by battling and defeating the vicious and violent all CGI bugs from the creepy planet Klendathu that were preventing the emergence and triumph of the neo and bug and glitch free CGI enhanced film art eon from arriving in time for the new millennium when they put the gore in allegory in the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and exuberantly satirical and ultraviolent Federal Network public service animaction announcement STARSHIP TROOPERS [1997], a film released on November 7, 1997 that was inspired by the equally allegorical, gung ho, and violent Robert A. Heinlein indie docufiction novel Starship Troopers [1959] and that affirmed its implicit allegorical intent with allusions to ALIEN, AMERICAN GRAFFITI, the STAR WARS Classic Trilogy, T1, THE WIZARD OF OZ, and the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, and implicitly Stanley Kubrick roastin’ Lucas indie docufeature film THX 1138 [1971]. !Let’s All Do Our Part-You Apes Wanna Live Forever?
As for Tarantino, he affirmed that the success of PULP ICTION had allowed him to leave behind the luv/hate relationship he had with film art and replace it with nothin’ but luv and also implied that he had warmed up to Lucas since RESERVOIR DOGS but did not think that he would return to the Temple Theatre with a Skyrockin’ new film that would kick off a bold and daylit neo eon of CGI enhanced film art and implicitly addressed Burton again on one level when he donned the writer/director hats, collaborated again with Bender, Jackson, Menke, Navarro, Wasco, the Weinstein Brothers, Paul Hellerman-co-producer of FROM DUSK TO DAWN-and Pam Grier-who was mentioned in RESERVOIR DOGS-and wrapped up an L.A. Trilogy with his most sweet, luvin’, and linear film yet, the daylit, allegorical, CGI free, Ozian themed, and naturally lit indie docufeature film JACKIE BROWN [1997], a film released on December 8, 1997 that was inspired by the twilit and allegorical Elmore Leonard indie docufiction novel Rum Punch [1992], a writer who was also a co-producer of the film.
“Here she comes.”
Significantly, after the jazzed up Miramax Films intro, the black and orange A BAND APART logo, the film began in bright, cheery, and warm daylight with banana yellow PULP FICTION opening titles appearing on the screen, the third title again proudly proclaiming “…A FILM BY QUENTIN TARANTINO” and another one fittingly noting that Jaki Brown was co-costume designer, to the funky, soulfull, all too knowing, and despairing sound of the allegorical, and J.J. Johnson and Bobby Womack written Womack tune “Across 110th Street” [1972], theme song of the allegorical Barry Shear indie docufeature film ACROSS 110TH STREET [1972], as the middle aged and heighted, beautiful, brunette, statuesque, intelligent, lonely, single, sky blue jacket, orange scarf, white dress shirt, and sky blue skirt wearin’, and implicitly Bigelow and Dorothy linked Cabot Air stewardess Jacqueline “Jackie” Brown-played by Grier-began moving without moving on an L.A.X. airport moving walkway across the screen from right to left like a human Third Stage Spacing Guild Navigator in the allegorical Frank Herbert indie docufiction novel Dune [1965] and the twilit and allegorical Lynch indie moving painting DUNE [1984], implicitly linking Brown to Herbert and Lynch. Curiously, when the moving pathway ran, the gorgeous Brown strode confidently through the bustling airport before finally truly moving when she started running in order to arrive just on time for work at the Cabot Air boarding station.
Curiously, while implicitly linking Brown to Herbert and Lynch, the sunlit beginning and “Across 110th Street” also openly linked Brown to the indie docufeature film art of the sundrenched and Skyrockin’ Seventies before the TZ disaster. This made it fitting that Brown was played by Grier, who had been a successful and equally gorgeous film star in the sizzlin’ Seventies, and also made it fitting that she was now playing a hard pressed stewardess, immediately reminding us that high flying Seventies film art had crashed and burned on July 23, 1982 and its spirit was now struggling on. A burning crash that soon came back to haunt the beautiful stewardess, for soon after we met her the young, tall, slim, blonde, handsome, moustached, genial, jacket and dress shirt luvin’, and implicitly Walt Disney and Great Oz linked Los Angeles Police Department [LAPD] Detective Mark Dargus-played by Michael Bowen-and the young, short, slim, dark brown haired and eyed, handsome, intense, twitchy, black leather jacket, white t-shirt, and jeans luvin’, and implicitly Burton and Scarecrow linked Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI] Special Agent Ray Nicolette-played by Michael Keaton-entered the picture, an implicitly Burton and Disney linked dynamic duo that made it fitting that Grier played resigned and indomitable single mom Louise Williams in MARS ATTACKS! and the beautiful but deadly Dust Witch in the dark and terrible circus in the twilit, allegorical, and CGI enhanced Disney and Jack Clayton indie docufeature film SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES [1983]. For the dynamic duo caught her at L.A.X. smuggling money and cocaine from Cabo San Lucas to L.A. for her “friend”, the middle aged, tall, slim, auburn haired and ponytailed, clean shaven, goateed, odious, and implicitly Gilliam and Wicked Witch of the West linked “unregistered” gun smuggler and drug dealer Odell “O.D.” Robbie-who liked to wear white hats and clothes when he was pretending to be a Good guy and more fitting Wicked black hats and clothing when he was gunning to kill someone, and was played by Jackson-an opening arrest that was assigned court case number 70032, a number that evoked the 732 date of the TZ disaster.
Curiously, the shaven headed and grey moustached and bearded judge who announced Brown’s case number was played by Sid Haig, who 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 film in which Lucas had been implicitly roasted in the implicit form of King George-played by Robert DoQui, an implication affirmed by the film’s allusions to the daylit, allegorical, and implicitly Disney toastin’ and Ralph Bakshi roastin’ Lucas indie docufeature film AMERICAN GRAFFITI [1973], a film whose surprising and Skyrockin’ success had made Lucas, to his surprise more than that of anyone else, the reigning box office King of film art. Just as curiously, Haig openly linked JACKIE BROWN to the film art of Lucas via his role as the creepy and sexually assaulting NCH in THX 1138. The fact that with his shaven head and grey moustache and beard Haig also resembled Irvin Kershner, the director of the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed, and Lucas executive produced indie docufeature film STAR WARS EPISODE VI: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK [1980] also linked him to Lucas. Thus, it was fitting that Grier had a bit part in SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES, for it was released in the same infamous year as the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed, and Lucas executive produced Richard Marquand indie docufeature film STAR WARS EPISODE VI: RETURN OF THE JEDI [1983].
Thus, with these links to Lucas and his film art made, it was fitting that Brown’s arrest led her to meet the old, medium heighted, slim, brunette, balding, handsome, shrewd, knowing, cynical, world weary, resigned, lonely, single, Len Deighton luvin’, and implicitly Lucas and Tin Man linked bail bondsman Max Cherry-played by Robert Forster, who also linked the film openly to the Walt Disney Company via his character, the handsome, middle aged and heighted, black haired and eyed, clean cut and shaven, courageous, determined, intelligent, shrewd, and implicitly Dante and Great Oz linked Captain Daniel “Dan” Holland, resolute commander of the good spaceship the U.S.S. Palomino, in the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, and Ozian themed Gary Nelson indie animaction film THE BLACK HOLE [1979]. Significantly, Cherry was instantly smitten with Brown and sympathized with her plight with Robbie. So much so that Cherry helped her triumph over him in the carefully worked out money bag switch that deprived Robbie of most of his illicit loot and cost the lives of his middle aged and heighted, slim, handsome, brunette, ominously surnamed, and implicitly Terry Jones and Nikko linked “partner” Louis Gara-played by Seventies film star Rober De Niro to openly link the film to New Hollywood film art-and his young, short, slim, beautiful, blonde, MJ luvin’, and implicitly Sarah Polley and Glinda linked bimbo “girlfriend” Melanie Ralston-played by Bridget Fonda. Curiously, this mischievous sting took place in the huge Del Amo Mall in Torrance, Cali, a listless, lifeless, escalator filled, and Muzak pipin’ subterranean labyrinth that evoked the equally listless, lifeless, escalator filled, and Muzak pipin’ subterranean labyrinth world of THX 1138 to reaffirm the implicit link of Cherry to Lucas.
Luckily for Brown and Cherry, this mischievous sting also allowed them to triumph over Det. Dargas and FBI Special Agent Nicolette, thus sparing them from arrests, charges, trials, and imprisonment. Significantly, however, and despite a swelling romance between Max and Jackie throughout the film and a lingering kiss between them toward the end that evoked the more passionate and heartfelt kiss between the young, handsome, naïve, and goofy SQUID playback dealer Leonard “Lenny” Nero and his young, beautiful, shrewd, and courageous bodyguard/chauffeur Lornette “Mace” Mason-played by Ralph Fiennes and Angela Bassett, respectively-at the end of STRANGE DAYS, the film ended with a tight closeup on a despondent and lonely Jackie as she sat in the driver’s seat of Odell’s and now her Wicked black, shining, and luvingly cared for ’75 Mercedes Benz MB SL making her again appear to be moving without moving like a human Third Stage Spacing Guild Navigator like she did at the beginning of the film as she drove out of L.A. alone with Robbie’s loot, leaving Max behind with a broken heart that matched hers as she sang sadly along as “Across 110th Street” played wistfully again to bring a film whose implicit allegorical intent was affirmed by allusions to AMERICAN GRAFFITI, the STAR WARS Classic Trilogy, STRANGE DAYS, THE WIZARD OF OZ, THX 1138, and the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical, Ozian themed, and Lucas executive produced indie docufeature film MORE AMERICAN GRAFFITI [1979] full circle. This reaffirmed the wistful link of Brown to Seventies film art again, before she disappeared, taking the Seventies with her, and the closing titles rolled up the blank black screen, sending audiences back out into 1997 and closer to an uncertain new day, month, year, century, and millenium.
Thus, Tarantino implied that if Lucas returned to the Temple Theatre with a new film after years in the doghouse, he would fail to exorcise the TZ disaster, end the dread allegorical Zone Wars, return health and harmony to audiences, film art, film artists, and the Temple Theatre, and kick off a brave and Skyrockin’ neo eon of CGI enhanced film art as surely as Max failed to establish a luvin’ relationship with Jackie, fittingly played by Seventies starlet Grier to openly imply that a failure to link up with Jackie equated with a failure to recreate the old Seventies New Hollywood magic, an implicit allegorical intent affirmed by the film’s allusions to the STAR WARS Classic Trilogy and THE WIZARD OF OZ. Indeed, the fact that Brown’s stewardess job with Cabo Air kept her constantly flying back and forth between L.A. and Cabo San Lucas delivering money for Robbie from his implicitly Great Oz linked Mexican gun importer Mr. Walker reaffirmed the film’s implicit interest in Lucas, for Cabo San Lucas and Mr. Walker openly linked Brown, Cherry, and Robbie to Lucas and a young, short, slim, blonde, handsome, innocent and naïve but dedicated and determined young Jedi Knight named Luke Skywalker-played by Mark Hamill-in the STAR WARS Classic Trilogy. The appearances of Tommy “Tiny” Lister jr. as Cherry’s young, huge, hulking, muscular, shaven headed, handsome, and implicitly Toto linked partner Winston-his Afro-American status evoking that of actor James E. Jones, and his huge size evoking that of British bodybuilder David Prowse, who combined to voice and play, respectively, the equally huge, black helmeted, armoured, booted and caped, and more intimidating Darth Vader in the STAR WARS Classic Trilogy, and also evoking Don P Colley’s equally tall and shaven headed but more genial hologram SRT in THX 1138, and anticipating the ironic sight and sound of Jackson playing an equally tall and shaven headed Jedi Master in a new STAR WARS trilogy to shortly come in more implicit affirmations of the link of Cherry to Lucas-and of the young, short, slim, goofy, and implicitly Luc Besson and Cowardly Lion linked Beaumont Livingston-played by Chris Tucker-also affirmed the implicit Lucas addressing intent of JACKIE BROWN, for Lister jr. and Tucker played the stolid and implicitly Coppola linked President of Earth and the madcap and implicitly Spike Lee and Great Oz linked Radio Cosmos JD DJ Ruby Rhod, respectively, in the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed, and implicitly Cameron roastin’ and Lucas toastin’ Besson indie docufeature film THE FIFTH ELEMENT [1997].
In addition, as Brown drove away from Det. Dargas and FBI Special Agent Nicolette as well, Tarantino also implied that despite the spectacular successes of Burton and the Walt Disney Company in the Eighties and Nineties, the rise of Burton to heady heights, and the rise of the Walt Disney Company to heady new cinematic heights, they were missing or had lost some vital humanity along the way, a vital humanity that had escaped them as surely as Brown escaped Dargas and Nicolette. Significantly, De Niro’s role as the middle aged and heighted, handsome, moustached, cigar smokin’, and implicitly Wicked Witch of the West linked indie rebel heating engineer Archibald “Harry” Tuttle-his surname evoking renowned film and television makeup effects wizard William Tuttle, who worked on the original TWILIGHT ZONE telefilm series-in BRAZIL openly linked the film to Gilliam to affirm the implicit link of Gara and Robbie to Jones and Gilliam. Last but not least, Last but not least, it was fitting that Tarantino linked Brown and Cherry more positively to the popular allegorical music of the Sixties and Seventies while continuing to link Louis, Melanie, and O.D. to the music of the Sixties and Seventies with his usual ironic and bitter fury throughout JACKIE BROWN. For the more positive musical link of Brown and Cherry affirmed the more hopeful and positive mood and spirits of Tarantino with the resounding success of PULP FICTION.
Indeed, JACKIE BROWN luvingly recreated what it was like to experience a film in the Seventies for late Nineties audiences, and also prepared audiences for another and even more determined and indomitable heroine linked positively to the sunswept and Skyrockin’ film and musical art of the Seventies in his next film. In fact, JACKIE BROWN was so luvin’ and heartfelt that it implied that underneath the black suit and white dress shirt, and the coffee and booze swillin’, coarse language spewin, and Madonna humpin’ macho braggadocio that QT put on for the guys there was a shy, sweet, sensitive, and sincere Southern film artist who was sincerely shocked and outraged that the Skyrockin’ New Hollywood film art era had collapsed in 1982, who was doing his best to revive that confident, courageous, creative, and all conquering Sixties and Seventies spirit in his indie docufeature film art, and was also pleased and grateful that his success allowed him to do so, allowing him at last to leave behind the Hateful Quent and become the Grateful Quent.
JACKIE BROWN also not only reaffirmed QT’s commitment to original, creative, innovative, and indomitably indie docufeature film art, but was also another film and music event like PULP FICTION, with its soundtrack as popular as the film. Important distinctions, for the surprise popularity and success of the re-released and CGI enhanced STAR WARS Classic Trilogy Special Edtions in January and February of ’97 caused Lucas to announce that he was going to create a new STAR WARS trilogy. A new STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy that duly kicked off two years later with the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed, and implicitly Cameron and Spielberg roastin’ and Lynch toastin’ Lucas indie animaction film STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE [1999]. A new trilogy that was not as popular as the first as it had offended many people with the tall, slim, bug eyed, long tongued, gangly, goofy, accident prone, and implicitly Landis linked Gungan Jar Jar Binks-played by Ahmed Best-but that did remind us that the release of the film originally just called STAR WARS set off an avalanche of similar sly fi films and telefilm series, preparing audiences for another attack of the clones to come. And an attack far worse than the first, as endless lookalike “franchise” sequels and remakes went on to take over the Temple Theatre in the first decades of the new millenium.
A gratitude that was lost on Spike Lee, for he implicitly despaired that the films of Lucas and Tarantino had combined with rap music to make racism against Americans of African descent, Africans, and Afro-Caribbeans cool and hip after centuries of hard work to eliminate it like the young, tall, slim, handsome, blonde, crass, hectoring, disappointed, Tarantino referencing, and implicitly linked Continental Network System [CNS] tv senior Vice-President Dunwitty- fond of comments like “…Brother man, I’m blacker than you! !I’m keepin’ it real!”, and played by Rapaport-combined with the embattled, frustrated, tall, shaven head, Jackson resembling, Mace Windu evoking and, hence, Stinkious linked CNS tv writer Pierre Delacroix-played by Damon Wayans-to make anti-Afro racism cool and hip again with the outrageously racist Mantan New Millenium Variety Show starring the young, short, slim, and Jar Jon Binkis evoking Manray as Mantan-played by Savion Glover-much to the frustrated and righteous fury of the young, short, slim, angry, and disaffected rapper Big Black Afrika-played by Yasiin Bey aka “Mos Def”-and the rest of the rappin’ revolutionaries of the Mau Mau Uprising in the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed, and implicitly Lucas addressing indie docufeature film BAMBOOZLED [2000], a film released on September 18, 2000 that implied that Lee had not noticed that characters who were unusually fond of coarse and obscenity spewing language usually died bloody and violent deaths at the end of the film art events of Tarantino like Delacroix and Manray, but whose implicit allegorical intent was affirmed by allusions to the STAR WARS Classic and Tragic Trilogies and THE WIZARD OF OZ.
A film and its creator also implicitly roasted on one level when Tarantino donned the writer/director caps and reunited with Bender, Bowen, Madsen, Menke, Thurman, the Weinstein Brothers, and Michael Parks-who played the middle aged and heighted, slim, handsome, weathered, white cowboy hat, white dress shirt, tan pants, and Coors luvin’, and implicitly Clint Eastwood and Wicked Witch of the East linked Texas Ranger Earl “Quick Draw” McGraw who was gunned down in the gratuitously gory Benny’s World of Liquor store/gas station robbery at the beginning of FROM DUSK TO DAWN-to implicitly strike back at Lee, Lucas, and Lynch and to imply a more sympathetic and hopeful interest in Polley when the Grateful Quent exchanged the indomitable Jackie Brown with an even more indomitable Woman With No Name, celebrated his satisfying successes thus far, and launched his first salvo in his attack on the neo-millenium clones in his most original, but familiar, creative, innovative, and indomitably indie docufeature film event yet, the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed, gleefully non-linear, and naturally lit 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 Miramax Films intro followed by a Shaw SB Scope logo and fanfare from the swingin’ Rebel Sixties and the sundrenched and sizzlin’ Seventies, immediately implicitly affirming that he was recreating that indomitable Seventies spirit in his latest film event and preparing audiences for the martial arts mayhem to follow. This logo was followed by a swingin’, sexy, and psychedelic Seventies “Our Feature Presentation” intro that implicitly reaffirmed that despite the disappointment of the first two films of the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy, Tarantino still believed-nay, insisted!-that a brave and Skyrockin’ neo eon of daylit and CGI enhanced film art had arrived in the neo millenium. Then after two unusually black and white opening titles, there was a blank black Spielberg screen soon accompanied by laboured breathing before the white title: “…“Revenge is a dish best served cold.” -Old Klingon Proverb-” slowly appeared and disappeared on the screen to prepare us for the rip roarin’ rampage of revenge to follow.
A brief black and white prologue then followed that featured the face of a young, slim, beautiful, blonde, bloody, panting, and implicitly Polley linked woman-fittingly played by Thurman, who played both beautiful, blonde, and mortal Rose and beautiful, bewitching, and immortal Venus opposite Polley’s short, blonde, cute, and feisty kid feminist Sally Salt in THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN-lying on a wooden floor gasping for breath and, when Wicked black cowboy boots slowly approached her, talking to an unseen man implicitly identified as Bill-played by David Carradine-by a name seen on a white handkerchief he used to wipe blood off the face of the unknown woman. Alas, shortly after revealing that her baby was his, implying that she was pregnant, the mysterious Bill suddenly and uncaringly shot the Woman With No Name in the left side of the head, implying that she had been killed and was the implicitly Wicked Witch of the East linked figure of the Ozian themed film.
Curiously, however, after the third white opening title: “…The 4th Film by QUENTIN TARANTINO” and the rest of the white opening titles appeared on a black screen to the sound of the allegorical and Sonny Bono written Cher tune “Bang Bang” (My Baby Shot Me Down) [1966] as the left profile of the unknown woman sleeping in darkness slowly appeared on the screen, the woman disappeared and the white title: “…Chapter 1: 2” appeared on the screen, immediately followed by the unexpected and full colour sight and sound of the Woman With No Name driving up alive and well with her blonde hair tied back in a ponytail in an ironically cool and Yellow Brick Road coloured 2000 Chevrolet C-2500 “Pussy Wagon” pickup truck and coming to a halt in front of a modest and Emerald City green painted suburban bungalow in Pasedena. Leaving the pickup, she walked up the pathway to the house in a light brown leather jacket, red halter top, and blue jeans and knocked on the door. The door was soon opened by the young, short, slim, beautiful, curvaceous, black, blue, and white hoodie and pinstriped grey exercise pants luvin’, and implicitly Lee and Evil Cowardly Lion linked suburban mom Vernita Green aka “Jeannie Bell” aka “Copperhead”-played by Vivica A. Fox-and, after a brief but brutal and bloody martial arts fight between the two women, Green was killed by the Woman With No Name without getting to say goodbye to her young, short, slim, cute, and Barney luvin’ daughter Nikkia “Nikki” Bell-played by Ambrosia Kelley. Thus, Green became the implicitly Wicked Witch of West linked character of the film, while the Woman With No Name became implicitly linked to either Dorothy or Glinda.
Then the Woman With No Name drove off in that Yellow Brick Pussy Wagon with the red flaming hood, the screen went blank Spielberg black, the white title: “…Chapter Two: The blood-splattered BRIDE” appeared on the screen, and the film returned “…four years and six months” back in time to El Paso, Texas, where the old, medium heighted, slim, handsome, clean cut and shaven, weathered, white cowboy hat, tan suit coat, white dress shirt, tan pants, and brown cowboy boots wearin’, and implicitly Eastwood and Scarecrow linked Texas Ranger Earl “Quick Draw” McGraw-played again by Parks-drove down a desert highway and soon stopped at a small white wooden chapel to meet up with his Texas Ranger son, the young, medium heighted, slim, handsome, clean cut and shaven, and white cowboy hat, blue pin stripe dress shirt, tan pants, and brown cowboy boots wearin’ Edgar McGraw aka “Son Number One”-played by James Parks-to ponder the bloody aftermath of a wedding rehearsal massacre, bloody corpses implicitly linked to the Wicked Witch of the East. Initially one of those corpses was that of the Woman With No Name, now identified as one “Arlene Machiavelli”, but on closer inspection it was clear that the pregnant woman was still alive when she spit in the elder McGraw’s face.
The scene then shifted to a hospital, where the Woman With No Name slept for over four years in a comatose dream in a hospital bed like Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, reminding us that Polley began her film art career with the Walt Disney Company in a small but memorably cute role as a poor and wistful Tiny Timithina of a girl named Molly Monaghan in the twilit, allegorical, and implicitly Joe Dante and John Landis addressing Phillip Borsos indie docufeature film ONE MAGIC CHRISTMAS [1985] to implicitly affirm the link of the Woman With No Name to Polley. Significantly, here in her bed she was almost assassinated one dark and stormy night by the young, tall, slim, beautiful, blonde, right eyepatched, curvaceous, ironically white clad, and Mary Woronov evoking but implicitly Bigelow and Wicked Witch of the West linked Elle Driver aka “California Mountain Snake”-played by Daryl Hannah, who openly linked the film to the fatal and fateful July of ‘82 via her beautiful and blonde but deadly Replicant character Pris in BLADE RUNNER-reminding us that Polley had played the young, short, slim, beautiful, blonde, dishonest, troubled, murderous, and implicitly Guy Maddin film art linked wife Maren Hontredt in the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, and Ozian themed Bigelow indie docufeature artbuster THE WEIGHT OF WATER [2000]. Just as significantly, however, the assassination was called off just in time by the mysterious Bill, leaving the Woman With No Name to continue dreaming her comatose dreams.
Significantly, soon after the Wicked Driver’s visit, the Woman With No Name woke up just in time to ward off a sexual assault by a big and lustful trucker-played by Jonathan Loughran-callously and insidiously arranged for a price by an Evil, tall, slim, handsome, blonde, moustached and goateed, and possibly Cameron linked orderly named Buck-played by Bowen-who had raped her repeatedly during her coma, reminding us that the equally insidious, callous, loot lustin’, and implicitly Nicholas Meyer linked Night Porter-played by the fittingly surnamed Michael Elphick-also charged others to view the young, short, slim, deformed, and implicitly David Cronenberg and Scarecrow linked John Merrick aka “the Elephant Man”-played by John Hurt-in his lonely top floor room at the London Hospital in the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical, and Ozian themed Lynch indie moving painting THE ELEPHANT MAN [1980] to affirm an implicit interest in Lynch in KILL BILL VOLUME 1. Just as significantly, the Woman With No Name’s memory soon came storming back, filling her mind with the memory and the identities of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad [DiVAS] killers, who evoked an Evil supervillain version of the Fox Force Five mentioned by Mia in PULP FICTION, that killed her wedding rehearsal party and almost killed herself and then revealed gloating over her bleeding body, Dark memories that included Green, Driver, the middle aged, tall, slim, handsome, dark haired and eyed, clean cut and shaven, big eared, black suited, and implicitly Lucas and Evil Scarecrow linked Budd aka “Sidewinder”-played by Madsen, reminding us that Lucas implicitly linked Lynch to Jedi Knight turned Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi [played by Ewen McGregor] in the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy-and the young, short, slim, beautiful, deadly, and implicitly Sofia Carmina [SCC] Coppola and Evil Dorothy linked Chinese-Japanese assassin O-Ren Ishii aka “Cottonmouth”-played by Lucy Liu. These infuriating memories sent her off on her mission in the dead Buck’s Yellow Brick Pussy Wagon to kill the dastardly and diabolical DiVAS-diabolical and dastardly DiVAS who reminded us that the best fiction and film artists were indeed implicitly elite assassins who satirized and trashed implicitly real life targets particularly other fiction and film artists in their work-starting with Green, and once that mission was accomplished, she set off to kill Ishii.
This resolve led to the white title: “…Chapter Three: The Origin of O-Ren”, appearing on the screen. Curiously, it was then followed by a gory, CGI enhanced, and Batman evoking short hand animated anime origin story that revealed that she had become a legendary and deadly assassin after experiencing the traumatic murder in Japan of her parents by samurai sword wielding yakuza assassins, again reminding us that Polley had begun her career with the hand animated film luvin’ Walt Disney Company and that SCC had one of her first film roles as the young, short, slim, and goldilocked Ann Chambers in the twilit and allegorical black and white Burton and Disney short indie animaction docufeature film FRANKENWEENIE [1984]. The white title: “…Chapter Four: The MAN from OKINAWA” then appeared on the screen, and herein the Woman With No Name flew on Air-O to Okinawa to meet and impress the old, medium heighted, slim, handsome, clean cut, black haired and moustached, friendly, genial, welcoming, humble, reverent, white kimono wearin, Kenobi in the Jundland Wastes evokin’, and implicitly Disney and Tin Man linked Japanese sushi chef and retired master samurai sword creator Hattori Hanzo-played by Sonny Chiba, who was openly alluded to in TRUE ROMANCE-again reminded us that SCC and Polley had begun their film art careers with Disney to implicitly reaffirm the links of Ishii and the Woman With No Name to SCC and Polley. Winning Hanzo over to her cause, he took a month to carefully create a legendary black and gold samurai sword-!Hexcaliber!-a lightsaber and Excaliber evoking sword that also evoked the pencils, ink pens, and brushes of all good hand animators, particularly those at the Walt Disney Company, and gift it to her in a solemn ceremony.
Thanking him in profuse awe, the Woman With No Name gratefully accepted the sword, and the final white title: “…Chapter Five: Showdown at House of Blue Leaves” appeared on the screen. Herein the Woman With No Name took another Air-O flight from Okinawa to Tokyo to pay a visit to the aforementioned House and to take on and take out Ishii, now firmly established as the white kimoned Queen of the Underworld, her approving friend the young, short, slim, sexy, black haired and eyed, and implicitly Zoe Cassavetes linked Sofie Fatale-played by Julie Dreyfus-her young, short, slim, unusuaflly big nosed, sullen, navy blue school jacketed and plaid skirted, red sneakered, mini-Death Star swingin’, exuberantly violent, and implicitly Toto linked teen schoolgirl bodyguard Gogo Yubari-played by Kuriyama Chiaki-and her black masked, black suited and tied, and white dress shirted Blues Brothers/Reservoir Dogs Crazy 88 “army” led by the young, short, slim, shaven headed, black masked, clean shaven, and equally black suited and tied, and white dress shirted Johnny Mo-played by Gordon Liu-goals that the vengeful Bride accomplished in her black striped and canary yellow action suit and black striped and canary yellow sneakers with determined, remorseless, and exuberantly gory abandon, a brutal and bloody battle captured in both black and white and colour to the eventual and ironical sound of the 1968 Human Beinz cover of the allegorical and O’Kelly, Ronald, and Rudolph Isley written Isley Brothers tune “Nobody But Me” [1962]. Thus, QT implied his hope that Polley would draw on her years of acting in films and telefilms and become a film artist who would take on and take out SCC and Lee and other film artists with her indomitably indie film art like him but also implicitly warned Polley that it would not be an easy life as SCC, Lee, and other film artists, and producers, studio executives, audiences, and their bilious critics would also be free to slice her and her film art up in a film that affirmed its implicit allegorical intent with allusions to JACKIE BROWN, NATURAL BORN KILLERS, NEAR DARK, the STAR WARS Classic and Tragic Trilogies, THE ELEPHANT MAN, THE WIZARD OF OZ, TWIN PEAKS, TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME, the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed, and implicitly Landis and Ivan Reitman roastin’ Bigelow indie docufeature film BLUE STEEL [1990], the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, and Ozian themed SCC indie docufeature film LOST IN TRANSLATION [2003], and the twilit, allegorical, and Ozian themed Lynch indie moving painting MULHOLLAND DRIVE [2001].
Thus, QT celebrated and cut loose with a creative, idiosyncratic, memorable, stylized, casually and relentlessly cool and hip, and indomitably indie film that merged traditional martial arts, samurai, and Western revenge sagas with earnest and determined blonde Jedi Knights, gangsters, hand animated anime, super satire, and THE WIZARD OF OZ. An eclectic fusion accompanied by another equally eclectic and often ironic soundtrack that breathed exuberant and raucous new life into those genres and that was clearly enjoyed by audiences given that KILL BILL VOLUME 1 was another success. A success and implicit allegorical intent that returned when Tarantino reunited with Bender, Carradine, Haig, Hannah, Jackson, Liu, Madsen, Menke, Parks, Rodriguez, Thurman, the Weinstein Brothers, Yuen Wo-Ping-martial arts advisor on KILL BILL VOLUME 1-and stunt double Zoe Bell to continue his attack on the clones with another round of the Woman With No Name’s righteously furious and rip roarin’ rampage of revenge in the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed, gleefully non-linear, and naturally lit indie docufeature film KILL BILL VOLUME 2 [2004], released on April 8, 2004.
“You know…
I had the loveliest dream
about you.”
Curiously, after the Miramax Films intro, three white opening titles over a blank black Spielberg screen accompanied by the sound of the voice of Bill speaking his last words to the blood splattered Bride again, a brief return to the callous attempt by Bill to murder the Woman With No Name in the black and white prologue of KILL BILL VOL.1, the film began also in black and white with the young, short, slim, beautiful, blonde, green eyed, courageous, indomitable, mysterious, and implicitly Polley and Dorothy or Glinda linked Woman With No Name aka “Arlene Machiavelli” aka “the Bride” aka “Black Mamba”-played again by Thurman-addressing the camera as she drove a 1965 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia Convertible to the final target on her hit list, Bill. Soliloquy over, there were three more white opening titles, including a second which read: “…a film by QUENTIN TARANTINO”, before the title: “…Chapter Six: Massacre at Two Pines” appeared on the screen, and audiences went four years back in time and also in black and white to that chapel in El Paso, Texas where the wedding rehearsal massacre had taken place. Here audiences barely had time to reacquaint ourselves with the Woman With No Name and get to meet her young, tall, blonde, naïve, innocent, and implicitly Avary and Scarecrow linked groom Tommy Plympton-played by Christopher A. Nelson-and to finally meet her old, medium heighted, slim, handsome, weathered, balding, long greying brown haired, Wicked black suit jacketed, white dress shirted, flute luvin’, mysterious, and implicitly Lynch and Evil Great Oz linked mentor and luver Bill aka “Snaker Charmer”-played again by Carradine-before the dastardly and diabolical DiVAS descended on the place and shot dead almost everyone.
Then the camera panned ironically right over a desert valley surrounded by brown, sun baked, and wind whipped and eroded desert hills that evoked the Tunisian locations used for the Krayyt sandragon and Tusken Raider haunted Jundland Wastes on the desert planet of Tatooine in the STAR WARS Classic and Tragic Trilogies and to stand in for Egypt in the Thirties in the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical, Ozian themed, Lucas executive produced, and Marshall produced Spielberg indie docufeature film RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK [1981] where the middle aged, tall, slim, handsome, dark haired and eyed, clean cut and shaven, big eared, tattooed, white cowboy hatted, bowling and Hawaiian shirted, and implicitly Lucas and Evil Scarecrow linked DiVA squad member Budd aka “Sidewinder”-played again by Madsen-lived all alone like lonesome Lucas at that time in a trailer. Soon the white title: “…Chapter Seven: The lonely grave of Paula Schultz” appeared on the screen, and Budd was attacked by the Woman With No Name one dark and star filled night. Easily subduing her with the help of a shotgun, Budd then buried her callously and cruelly alive in a wooden coffin with the help of his middle aged, short, chubby, moustached and goateed, and baseball hat wearing friend Ernie-played by Clark Middleton-who resembled and was implicitly linked to Rob Coleman, Canadian CGI wizard at ILM who was then helping Lucas bury the fallible and imperfect but endearing, enduring, and vital humanity of film art under heavy, imprisoning, and suffocating mounds of CGI in his STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy.
Significantly, at this point the screen faded to a long blank black Spielberg screen before the title: “…Chapter Eight: The Cruel Tutelage of Pai Mei” slowly appeared and then faded on the screen. Then the film slipped back in time again to a less confined and perilous day when the Woman With No Name was trained in the mysteries of Kung Fu by the old, short, slim, white haired and eyebrowed, long white moustached and bearded, white and black robed, serene and hot tempered, encouraging and mocking, imperturbable and indomitable, mystic, mysterious, Yoda evoking, and implicitly Ang Lee and Great Oz linked Kung Fu Master Pai Mei of the White Lotus Clan-played by Liu-who, amongst other techniques, patiently taught her how to punch her way through wood, allowing her to patiently punch her way through the coffin, and then dig her way up through the dirt cast on her coffin and climb out of her lonely grave. Curiously, after the white title: “…Chapter Nine: ELLE and I” appeared and disappeared on the screen, the Woman With No Name walked remorselessly through the Jundland Wastes towards Budd’s Tatooine trailer for another rip roarin’ rampage of revenge, but was beaten to the deadly punch by the young, tall, slim, beautiful, blonde, right eyepatched, curvaceous, and more fittingly black suit coat, white Han Solo dress shirt, black pants, and black cowboy boots wearin’, and implicitly Bigelow and Wicked Witch of the West linked Elle Driver aka “California Mountain Snake”-played again by Hannah-who finished him off with the deadly and poisonous bites of a real black mamba hidden in a red suitcase full of illicit blockbuster loot, greedy and paralyzed Buddo’s award for killing Black Mamba and acquiring her legendary Hanzo sword.
Significantly, while Black Mamba arrived too late to wreak revenge on Sidewinder, she was just in time to take on and take out California Mountain Snake in a tumultuous tornado of martial arts mayhem in Budd’s trailer that ended with Mamba ripping Snake’s sinister left eye out of her skull to leave her fully blind. Triumph achieved to her satisfaction, the Woman With No Name left the trailer. At this point, the screen faded to blank Spielberg black again and the last title: “…Last Chapter: Face To Face” appeared on the screen, and the Woman With No Name was soon driving that light blue Karmann Ghia to Mexico viejo to take on and take out Bill wearing his favourite white Han Solo dress shirt with the help of Master Mei’s secret and fatal Five-Point-Palm-Exploding-Heart Technique-one point for each of the major Evildoers-a triumph over Bill that to her surprise also saved their daughter who had been taken from her womb while she slept in a coma, the young, short, slim, brunette, cute, and implicitly Dorothy linked B.B.-played by Perla Haney-Jardine-allowing her to emerge at last as the beautiful, bewitching, magical, protective, comforting, and implicitly Glinda the Good linked character of the film who preserved and was now able to pass on the sundrenched and Skyrockin’ spirit of the sizzlin’ Seventies to a new generation, making it fitting that Polley was born in 1979, in the healing, harmonizing, and eucatastrophic end of the film. Thus, QT implicitly reaffirmed his hope that Polley would draw on her years of acting in films and telefilms and become a film artist who would take on and take out Bigelow, Lucas, and Lynch with her indomitably indie film art like him, while also implicitly warning her that it would not be an easy film life, an implicit allegorical intent affirmed by the film’s allusions to NATURAL BORN KILLERS, NEAR DARK, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, the STAR WARS Classic and Tragic Trilogies, and THE WIZARD OF OZ.
Not surprisingly, KILL BILL VOLUME 2 was just as successful as KILL BILL VOLUME 1, no doubt making QT even more of a grateful Quent. Curiously, the following year, QT donned the “guest director” cap and collaborated again with Madsen, Middleton, Rodriguez, the Weinstein Brothers, and Willis and now also with Frollickin’ Frank Miller on the twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced indie moving narrative artwork FRANK MILLER’S SIN CITY [2005], a film released on March 28, 2005 that was inspired by and faithfully recreated and brought to life Miller’s twilit, allegorical and equally black and white indie narrative art series SIN CITY [1991-2000]. The following month, the Mouse House collaborated with Angela Robinson to reboot Herbie the VW Love Bug for a new and CGI enhanced millenium and to imply their belief that, despite not impressing audiences overall, the new STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy nonetheless proved that Lucas still had the Good Force to inspire a new generation of film artists to victory like the middle aged, short, slim, moustached and goateed, and implicitly Lucas and Great Oz linked ace racer Raymond “Ray” Peyton sr.-played by Keaton-inspired his young, short, slim, beautiful, red haired, and implicitly Natalie Portman and Dorothy linked teen daughter Margaret “Maggie” Peyton aka “Mags” aka “Magpie” aka Mad Maax” aka “Maxxie”-played by Lindsay Lohan-to drive the refurbished and jazzed up indie racing Team “Built To Race” Peyton ’63 VW bug Herbie to victory over the young, tall, slim, brash, cocky, confident, and implicitly Tarantino and Wicked Witch of the West linked ace racer Trip Murphy-played by Matt Dillon-in his ominously twilit black, orange, yellow, and hyper-commercial Cheetos car 82 in the NASCAR race at the California Speedway at the healing, harmonizing, and eucatastrophic end of the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, and Ozian themed indie animaction film HERBIE FULLY LOADED [2005], a film released on April 7, 2005 whose implicit allegorical intent was affirmed by allusions to AMERICAN GRAFFITI, HERBIE, RESERVOIR DOGS, STAR WARS EPISODE 1: THE PHANTOM MENACE, and THE WIZARD OF OZ.
Later that year, brash, confident, bright, and talented newcomer Jason Reitman implicitly lightly roasted Tarantino in the form of the young, short, slim, cute, and bright St. Euthanasius School Munchkin boy Joseph “Joey” Naylor-played by Cameron Bright-son of the brash, handsome, indomitable, indie, iconoclastic, eccentric, outrageous, cigarette luvin’, imperfect but vitally human and likably unlikable, and implicitly Lynch and Scarecrow linked divorcee Nicholas “Nick” Naylor-played by Aaron Eckhart-the Vice President of the Academy of Tobacco Studies [ATS], a Washington based cigarette lobbying group created by the big American cigarette manufacturers, in the daylit, allegorical and slightly CGI enhanced indie docufeature film THANK YOU FOR SMOKING [2005], released on September 9, 2005 and inspired by the twilit and allegorical Christopher Buckley indie docufiction novel Thank You For Smoking [1994].
A year later, the equally brash, confident, bright, and talented newcomer Richard Kelly implied his hope that Tarantino would survive the dread allegorical Zone Wars like the young, medium heighted, slim, brunette, handsome, clean cut and shaven but Falujah battle facially scarred, muscular, strong, inexplicably omniscient, Book Of Revelations luving and quoting, tale telling, and implicitly Tarantino and Scarecrow linked ex-actor, ex-Marine, Iraq War vet, and Santa Monica Pier security man and drug dealer Pilot Abilene-played by Justin Timberlake-survived the film long battles in the Greater Los Angeles Area [GLAA] between characters implicitly linked to the major film artists of the Zone Wars at the healing, harmonious, and eucatastrophic and diseased, disharmonious, and catastrophic end of the twilit, allegorical, slightly CGI enhanced, and Ozian themed indie docufeature film SOUTHLAND TALES [2006], which was first screened at Cannes on May 21, 2006. Later that year, Verhoeven implied his hope that film art would survive Tarantino like the young, short, slim, beautiful, and blonde Jewish Dutch woman Rachel Stein-played by Carice van Houten-survived the opening massacre of her family by Nazi thugs and her young, medium, slim, brunette, handsome, clean cut and shaven, deceitful, duplicitous, and implicitly Tarantino linked Dutch betrayer Hans Akkermans-played by Thom Hoffman-at the end of the daylit, allegorical, and CGI enhanced indie docufeature film ZWARTBOEK aka BLACK BOOK [2006], a film released on September 1, 2006 that affirmed its implicit allegorical intent with allusions to KILL BILL. Two and a half months later, Steven Soderbergh implicitly linked QT to the young, medium heighted, slim, cute, baby faced, conniving, nasty, violent, and illicit loot obsessed and implicitly Tarantino linked U.S. Army driver Corporal Patrick Tully-incongruously played by sweet and innocent Toby Maguire-in post-WWII Berlin in the twilit, allegorical, and CGI enhanced docufeature film THE GOOD GERMAN [2006], a film released on November 12, 2006 that was inspired by the twilit and allegorical Joseph Kanon indie docufiction novel The Good German [2001].
As for Tarantino, he implied that he understood the implicit allegorical intent of HERBIE FULLY LOADED, for the following year he donned the actor/director/DOP/co-producer/writer hats and teamed up with Bell, Loughran, Menke, the Parks Boys, Rodriguez, the Weinstein Brothers, Rosario Dawson and Marley Shelton-who played the young, medium heighted, slim but curvaceous, beautiful, bewitching, and implicitly Glinda linked Gail and the young, short, slim, beautiful, blonde, green eyed, doomed, and implicitly Wicked Witch of the East linked Woman In The Blood Red Dress in SIN CITY-Dimension Films/Pictures, Troublemaker Pictures, and now with Disney icon Kurt Russell to implicitly hope that he could triumph over Disney and Lucas and exorcise HERBIE FULLY LOADED with another one of his ragingly iconoclastic and indomitable films as he continued the sundrenched Seventies spirit suffusin’ JACKIE BROWN and KILL BILL and renewed his attack on the clones in the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, conventionally linear, Ozian themed, and naturally lit indie docufeature film DEATH PROOF [2007], released on May 22, 2007.
“They all princess died…
[because of]
old Frankenstein in there…”
Indeed, after the Dimension Films intro, the film began with the same cool Seventies “Our Feature Presentation” and hand animated Restricted intros as KILL BILL to immediately affirm that the upbeat Seventies spirit continued in the latest Tarantino film. Then, after another Dimension Films and also a Troublemaker Studios intro, both to the sound of an aggressively and ominously roaring engine, the opening titles in PULP FICTION orange, the second of which happily proclaimed “…A Film by QUENTIN TARANTINO”, flashed on the screen over a POV which initially looked out from the passenger seat of a car over two bare female feet resting on the dash as a car drove down quiet town or small city streets before switching to a POV centred between the front seats of a black car with a white skull painted on the hood and some kind of silver or stainless steel hood ornament as it roared ominously down a rural road, all to the ominously rockin’ sound of the allegorical and Jack Nitzsche composed “The Last Race”, the Main Theme of the allegorical Bert I. Gordon indie docufeature film VILLAGE OF THE GIANTS [1965].
Curiously, when the opening titles ended, the film, which was badly scratched, missing frames, and twitchy, as if it was not only filled with Skyrockin’ Seventies indie New Hollywood spirit like JACKIE BROWN and KILL BILL, but was a spiritied and Skyrockin’ Seventies New Hollywood film that had been scratched and beat up from being happily projected so often over the years, saw the young, tall, slim but statuesque, beautiful, leggy, t-shirt and shorts wearin’, Wolfman Jack evokin’, and implicitly Cowardly Lion linked Austin, Texas morning show DJ Jungle Julia Lucai-her surname evoking Lucas, and played by the fittingly first named Sydney Poitier-picked up by her friends, the young, short, slim, beautiful, blonde, t-shirt and shorts wearin’, and implicitly Tin Man linked Shanna-played by Jordan Ladd-and the equally young, short, slim but curvaceous, big lipped, sultry, sexy, feisty, t-shirt and shorts wearin’, and implicitly Angelina Jolie and Scarecrow linked Arlene aka the Lara Croft cadenced “Butterfly”-played by Vanessa Ferlito-and driven by Shanna to Guero’s Taco Bar where they hung out with Marcy, their young, medium heighted, slim, and wild haired friend with the big toothy grin-implicitly linked to Robinson, and played by Marcy Harriell-to implicitly affirm that Tarantino was replying to HERBIE FULLY LOADED on one level in DEATH PROOF.
Alas for the luvly ladies, they were being stalked by a mysterious driver in a Wicked black ’71 Chevy Nova. Significantly, this black car turned out to be the one briefly glimpsed in the second and more ominous half of the opening titles, for it had the white skull over two crossed white lightning bolts painted on the hood. Significantly, the hood ornament turned out to be a duck or a drake, a Howard the Duck evoking hood which evoked the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed, Lucas executive produced, and implicitly Lucas addressing Willard Huyck indie docufeature film HOWARD THE DUCK [1986] in another hint that Lucas as well as Disney was being implicitly roasted in the film. This mysterious driver, who was first briefly glimpsed peerin into the mirror on his driver seat sun visor to implicitly and immediately affirm that he had left behind his Light Side and was at one with his dangerous Dark Side mirror opposite, followed them as they drunkenly drove to the Texas Chili Parlor, which was owned and operated by the middle aged, tall, slim, receding black haired, black eyed, clean shaven, exuberant, and chartreuse luvin’ Warren-played by Tarantino. Here at the Parlor, the mysterious and ominous driver finally revealed himself to be the old, medium heighted, slim, handsome, longish grey haired but clean cut and shaven, left scarfaced, photography luvin’, woman hatin’, silver racing jacket, and Wicked black t-shirt, jeans, and boots wearin’, and implicitly Lucas and Wicked Witch of the West linked film and telefilm Stuntman Mike McKay-his name having the same cadence as Uncle Walt, and fittingly played by Disney icon Russell, who also played McReady in THE THING, evoking the allusions to that film in RESEVOIR DOGS and openly linking DEATH PROOF to the fateful, fatal, and disastrous July of ‘82.
Even worse for the ladies, after agreeing to drive home the young, short, slim, beautiful, peroxide blonde, and implicitly Alba, Glinda, and Hollywood film art linked Pam-looking like Alba’s Susan Storm aka “the Invisible Girl” in the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, and Ozian themed Tim Story indie super satirical animaction film FANTASTIC 4 [2005], and played by Rose McGowan-the Wicked Stuntman Mike took a left turn for the worse, unleashed his Dark Side, and either knocked her out or killed her with dangerous driving in his black “death proof” stunt car. Even worse, the Wicked Mike then followed, passed, u-turned, and killed Butterfly, Jungle Julia, Shanna, and their new young, tall, heavyset, pretty, short blonde haired, and implicitly Great Oz linked driver Lanna Frank-played by Monica Staggs-in an Evil, vile, despicable, disgusting, conscienceless, remorseless, monstrous, and deliberate head on collision to the fittingly jarring, mordantly discordant, and ironically upbeat sound of the allegorical and Alan Blaikley and Ken Howard written Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky Mick, and Tich tune “Hold Tight” [1965]. The shocking sight reminded us that Lucas had directed four STAR WARS films, implying that Tarantino believed that Lucas had killed film art with the four Forceful films, and implicitly made these dead young women the Wicked Witch of the East linked characters of this Ozian themed film. The horrific collision also evoked the head on collisions at the ends of the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical, Ozian themed, and implicitly David Cronenberg toasting Miller indie docufeature film MAD MAX [1979], and the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical, Ozian themed, and implicitly Cronenberg toasting and Lucas and Spielberg roasting Miller indie docufeature film THE ROAD WARRIOR [1982] to prepare audiences for the second half of the film.
Significantly, the Wicked Mike survived his injuries, reminding us that Lucas somehow managed to survive the Great Crash of ’62 and his troubles in the Eighties that should have killed him, reaffirming the implicit link to Lucas to the Wicked Mike. A brief and furious discussion of the horrific situation by old, grizzled, and implicitly Lynch linked Texas Ranger McGraw and his young and babyfaced Number One Son-played again by Parks and Parks, respectively-outside the hospital bed where the badly injured Wicked Mike lay recovering from his injuries then ensued, a conversation that affirmed the implicit link of the Wicked Mike to Lucas as it alluded to the daylit, allegorical, and implicitly Coppola and Lucas roasting and toasting Paul Bartel indie docufeature film DEATH RACE 2000 [1975]. Then the conversation ended with McGraw vowing to banish the Wicked Mike from Texas, the scene shifted to Lebanon in QT’s birth state of Tennessee, actually shot in California. Here the film and the Wicked Mike relocated, and the film, noticeably without the scratches, missing frames, and twitches of the first half and in clear crisp clean colour, began anew with the Wicked one now driving an equally Wicked black ’69 Dodge Charger with another Howie on the trunk of the car, albeit not as “death proof” as his original monstrous car.
Unfortunately, despite this lack of deathproofiness, here in Lebanon the Wicked Mike also tried to recreate his earlier murderous crash by stalking the young, medium heighted, slim, beautiful, curly haired, Harrison Ford evoking, and implicitly Cowardly Lion linked stunt driver Kim Mathis-played by Tracie Thoms-and her equally young, medium heighted, slim, and beautiful actress friends, the implicitly Jar Jar Binks and Scarecrow linked Abernathy “Abbie” Ross-her black hair pulled back in a ponytail like that of the middle aged, tall, slim, brown haired, eyed, moustached, and bearded, courageous, intelligent, disciplined, thoughtful, knowing, indie, and implicitly Gilliam and Cowardly Lion linked Jedi Knight Qui-Gonn Jinn in STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, and played by Dawson- and the redhaired and implicitly Lohan and Dorothy linked Lee Montgomery-played by Mary E. Winstead-in their yellow brick road coloured ’72 Ford Mustang. Luckily for all, the girls discovered that the middle aged, tall, heavyset, handsome, and implicitly Great Oz linked backwoods mechanic Jasper-played by Loughran-was selling a classic and completely restored white ’70 Dodge Charger straight out of the daylit and allegorical Richard C. Sarafian indie docufeature film VANISHING POINT [1970] that also evoked the white Millenium Falcon of the STAR WARS Classic Trilogy.
Leaving Lee behind and taking the heroic white charger out for a test drive with their equally young, medium heighted, slim, beautiful, blonde, fearless, Mark Hamill evoking, and implicitly Tin Man linked real life New Zealand stuntwoman friend Zoe Bell-her blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail like that of the young, middle heighted, slim, brunette, clean cut and shaven, courageous, intelligent, earnest, exuberant, naïve, innocent, and implicitly Lynch and Tin Man linked Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi in STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE-Abbie and Kim were soon hunted down and terrorized by the Wicked Mike, wearing his fittingly Wicked black t-shirt, pants, and boots again in his equally Wicked black ’69 Dodge Charger, on a rural road similar to the one seen in the second half of the opening titles. Infuriated by his psychotic insolence, Abbie, Kim, and Zoe took on and triumphed over the Wicked Mike on the road in hard driving heroics that evoked the New Hollywood indie docufeature Force that Lucas once had mastered as well as the final race in HERBIE FULLY LOADED, the opening road battle in MAD MAX, and the full throttle battle on the highway to hell at the end of THE ROAD WARRIOR. Last but not least, after crashing and rolling his car, the daylit trio of Good, courageous, and indomitably indie Gen X girls dragged the Wicked Mike out of his car and exuberantly punched, kicked, and stomped him to death like the Woman With No Name martial arts punched Bill to death at the end of KILL BILL VOLUME 2 in another rip roarin’ rampage of revenge in the healing, harmonizing, and eucatastrophic Ozian themed horror/Western end, affirming the implicit hope of QT that he would beat Disney, Lucas and HERBIE FULLY LOADED with DEATH PROOF, an implicit allegorical intent affirmed by allusions to AMERICAN GRAFFITI, DEATH RACE 2000, HERBIE FULLY LOADED, HOWARD THE DUCK, MAD MAX, the STAR WARS Classic and Tragic Trilogies, THE ROAD WARRIOR, THE WIZARD OF OZ, and VANISHING POINT.
Curiously, despite the fact that audiences had ultimately rejected Lucas and the STAR WARS Classic Trilogy back in ’83 and the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy in the neo milleniium, DEATH PROOF was not as successful as the first four Forcefull films of Tarantino despite being a grimly enjoyable “grindhouse” romp. Even more unfortunate, Stuntman Mike’s attempt to impress his skeptical young listeners at the Texas Chili Parlor that people once thought that he looked like tv actor Gary Clark lamentably and ominously anticipated the impending arrival in five years time of wacky Zone War scholar Gary W. Wright aka “Gardevil, the Fan With No Fear”, who would arrive on the internet scene with insights into the allegorical fiction, films, and telefilms of the dread allegorical Zone Wars, including those of QT, a weird, wily, wiry, and wacky worldwidewebhead scholar whose older brother Mike and Highland lassie grandmother Agnes MacKay eerily linked him to the Wicked Stuntman Mike McKay. A disturbing and troubling anticipation, indeed, and one that made it a relief that Tarantino also donned the actor/co-producer hats and collaborated again with Rodriguez and also with McGowan, Parks, Shelton, Willis, the Weinstein Brothers, and indie makeup man Tom Savini-who played an implicitly Landis linked Titty Twister patron named Love Machine in FROM DUSK TO DAWN-and Dimension Films and Troublemaker Studios to battle legions of shambling and festering undead in the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, and Ozian themed indie docufeature film PLANET TERROR [2007], a “grindhouse” film released on the same day as DEATH PROOF that affirmed its implicit allegorical intent with allusions to DEATH PROOF, FROM DUSK TO DAWN, SIN CITY, and THE WIZARD OF OZ.
Curiously, later that year Sir Scott implicitly hoped that young Reitman and his film art would triumph over Tarantino and his film art like take the young, medium heighted, slim, handsome, brunette, embattled, indie, iconoclastic, creative, determined, divorced, faithless, womanizing but honest, upright, law abiding and upholding, and implicitly Reitman and Great Oz linked Newark, New Jersey plainclothes police officer [NJPD] turned lawyer Richard “Richie” Roberts-played by Russell Crowe-and his undercover A Team triumphed over the young, medium heighted, slim, handsome, ambitious, audacious, creative, original, determined, disciplined, fastidious, faithful, monogamous, iconoclastic, indie, wily, secretive, silent, watchful elusive, unobtrusive, art luvin’, and implicitly Tarantino and Wicked Witch of the West linked drug gang leader Frank Lucas-played by Denzel Washington-and his gang on the Sixties and Seventies streets of New York at the healing, harmonizing, and eucatastrophic end of the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature artbuster AMERICAN GANGSTER [2007], a fine feature film released on October 19, 2007 that recreated the New Hollywood indie docufeature film even more meticulously than in JACKIE BROWN, that came complete with the stirring and despairing sound of “Across 110th Street”, and that affirmed its implicit allegorical intent with allusions to JACKIE BROWN, PULP FICTION, RESERVOIR DOGS, THANK YOU FOR SMOKING, and THE WIZARD OF OZ.
As for QT, he soon donned the director/writer hats and teamed up again with Bender, Dreyfus, Jackson, Menke, Wasco, the Weinstein Brothers, Brad Pitt-who played the perennially stoned and implicitly Tin Man linked Floyd in TRUE ROMANCE-Robert Richardson-DOP for KILL BILL and NATURAL BORN KILLERS-and Omar Doom and Eli Roth-who played Texas Chili House patrons eager to score with the doomed girls of the first half of DEATH PROOF-to wistfully return to the digitally free past to implicitly address Disney and Polley again and this time to also implicitly address Marvel Comics/Studios and Verhoeven in his most serious and seriously mischievous film yet, the twilit, allegorical, conventionally linear, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed, and naturally lit 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].
“Goebbels considers the films he’s making
to be the beginning
of a new era in German cinema.”
Curiously, after the intros for The Weinstein Company and Universal Studios came unusually white and Western-style opening titles on a blank black Spielberg screen that immediately implied that a Western-style film was about to be experienced rather than a war film, the fourth title proudly stating “…a film by QUENTIN TARANTINO”, and the rest revealing actors but no crew members and no other mention of QT, and the last title stating “Chapter One: Once upon a time…in Nazi-occupied France”, all to the wistful and instrumental sound of the allegorical and Dimitri Tiomkin and Paul Webster tune “The Green Leaves of Summer” [1960] from the allegorical John Wayne film THE ALAMO [1960] to prepare audiences for the fateful and fatal end of the film. Then the film began in 1940 on a peaceful and pastoral note on a beautiful sunny Spring or Summer day in rolling green French farmlands at the secluded farm of the middle aged, tall, burly, handsome, black haired, eyed, moustached, and bearded, shrewd, knowing, muscular, strong, and implicitly Stanley Kubrick and Cowardly Lion linked Perrier LaPadite-played by Denis Menochet.
Alas for M. LaPadite, the peace and harmony of the day and his wood chopping was soon disturbed by the sight and sound of two German motorcyclists-played by Leo Plank and Andreas Tietz, respectively-leading an open German officer’s car with one soldier at the wheel-played by either Wilfred Hochholdinger or Michael Scheel-and one officer in the back up the winding dirt road to his wooden farmhouse to the pensive sound of the tinkling piano notes of the allegorical and Ennio Morricone composed instrumental tune “Dopo La Condanna” aka “The Verdict” that Maestro Morricone composed for the allegorical Sergio Sollima indie docufeature film LA RESA DEI CONTI aka THE BIG GUNDOWN [1967]. Sighing resignedly and beckoning inside his young, short, slim, and beautiful teen daughters Charlotte, Julie, and Suzanne LaPadite-played by Lea Seydoux, Tina Rodriguez, and Lena Friedrich, respectively-M. LaPadite washed and dried his face, and prepared to meet the Germans.
The twilit trio of vehicles stopped, and the middle aged, short, slim, greying brown haired, handsome, clean cut and shaven, genial, sly, duplicitous, black and grey cap, coat, and uniform wearin’, and implicitly Verhoeven and Nikko linked Austrian SS Colonel Hans Landa-played by Christoph Waltz-stepped out of the officer’s car and strode over to M. LaPadite and shook his hand. Led inside by the farmer, the genial Col. Landa engaged in small talk with him, smoked pipes, and drank fresh squeezed milk until finally he came down on the anguished M. LaPadite and got him to admit that the Jewish family he was searching for was hiding under the floorboards in the basement of the farmhouse in return for amnesty for his daughters and himself. Summoning the twilit trio of accompanying soldiers into the farmhouse, Col. Landa directed them to aim their rifles down at the floorboards and shoot and massacre Jakob Dreyfus and his wife Miriam and his two sons Amos and Bob-played by Patrick Elias, Eva Lobau, Jasper Linnewedel, and Salvadore Brandt, respectively-a callous and inhuman opening massacre that evoked the Nazi massacre at the beginning of BLACK BOOK, one carried out by Nazi demons in a nightmare in AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON and the massacre at the Texas chapel at the beginning of KILL BILL VOLUME 1 and that implicitly made the Dreyfus family the Wicked Witch of the East characters of the film. However, unlike that massacre in Texas, this time the young, short, slim, beautiful, blonde, green eyed, courageous, determined, frightened, and implicitly Polley and Dorothy linked teen Shosanna Dreyfus-played by Melanie Laurent-escaped it alive and unharmed by squeezing out of a basement window and running for her life, sprinting desperately away from the pitiless and heartless tornado of violence behind her and across the ironically sunkissed fields for a better world somewhere over the rainbow and far, far away from callous and violent Nazis, a frantic flight just as ironically saluted by Landa.
Then the screen faded into blank Spielberg black, and the white title: “…Chapter Two: Inglourious Basterds” appeared on the screen, quickly followed by the sight and sound of the middle aged and heighted, slim, handsome, brown haired and moustached, genial but tough and implacable, hunting knife and snuff luvin’, dark brown capped and light brown uniformed, and implicitly Walt Disney and Great Oz linked American Commando Lieutenant Aldo Raine-a scar from a KKK noose on his neck, and played by Brad Pitt-in Italy and striding stridently in front of and addressing eight Jewish American commando prospects and offering them the chance to drop into France before the D-Day invasion and inflict maximum violent damage on the Nazis before the invasion, much to the delight of his second in command, the young, medium heighted, slim, black haired and eyed, muscular, vengeful, and implicitly Ub Iwerks and Scarecrow linked Sergeant Donald “Donny” Donowitz-played by Roth. Significantly, these Jewish American prospects evoked the original brilliant hand animators that brought worldwide fame and fortune to the Walt Disney Company, particularly the allegorical and film world changing Disney and David Hand indie hand animated feature film SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS [1937], even if they included in their number the tall, slim, handsome, brunette, clean cut and shaven, and implicitly Walt Disney Company CEO Blockbuster Robert “Bob” Iger and Tin Man linked Wilhelm Wicki-played by Gedeon Burkhard.
The eight prospects clearly accepted the invitation to become Inglorious Basterds, for no sooner did Lt. Raine end his invitation, than the film suddenly cut to the middle aged and heighted, heavyset, black haired and eyed, clean cut and shaven, black toothbrush moustached, khaki uniformed and white caped, and implicitly Marvel Studios CEO Kevin Feige and Wicked Witch of the West linked German Chancellor Adolf Hitler-played by Martin Wuttke-shouting furiously about them as he posed for a portrait in his white superhero evoking cape, a portrait painted by A.I. Smithee that linked him openly to super satirical art. Curiously, the Wicked Hitler continued the implicit superhero link by angrily referring to Lt. Raine as “Aldo the Apache” and another one who killed German soldiers with a baseball bat as “The Bear Jew”, nicknames that evoked the names of superheroes and superheroines, particularly, and ironically, Marvel’s own SGT. FURY AND HIS HOWLIN’ COMMANDOS, a group of everyday heroes who fought their way through northwest Europe in the United Nations War aka World War II that was created for Marv by Jolly Jack “King” Kirby and Smilin’ Stan “the Man” Lee in the Sixties.
Thus, it was fitting that the young, medium heighted, slim, blonde, shy, and olive green capped and uniformed, and implicitly Evil Cowardly Lion linked German soldier Private Butz-played by Sonke Mohring-was soon ushered into the presence. For Pte. Butz resembled Maguire, now famous as playing the young, medium heighted, slim, brunette, cute, clean cut and shaven, weird, wily, webslingin’, radioactive CGI spider powered, and implicitly David Cronenberg linked teen Peter Parker aka “Spider-Man” in the Columbia Pictures, Marvel, Sony, and Sam Raimi Spider-Man Trilogy. Tragicomically, after telling Hitler his story of how his German platoon was ambushed and massacred by the Basterds, led by the grey capped and civilian clothes wearing Lt. Raine, still seconded by Sgt. Donowitz, and now joined by the middle aged and heighted, slim, black haired and eyed, clean cut and shaven, and implicitly Kelly linked rogue German Nazi killer Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz-played by Til Schweiger-while out on patrol in a forest in France, Butz pulled up his military cap to reveal that “Aldo the Apache” had carved a swastika into his forehead with his trusty hunting knife, affirming Lt. Raine’s link to and luv of art.
Then the screen faded to blank Spielberg black again, and the three white titles: “…Chapter Three: German Night In Paris, 1944, June” appeared one after the other on the screen. Herein we discovered that Shosanna wound up hiding in Paris and taking over her aunt’s Le Gamaar cinema under the name of Emmanuelle Mimieux, attracting the attention of the young, short, slim, brunette, handsome, clean cut and shaven, naïve, innocent, exuberant, patriotic, romantic, olive green capped and uniformed, and implicitly Canadian film editor David Wharnsby and Evil Scarecrow linked German soldier Private Fredrick Zoller-played by Daniel Bruhl. Alas for Shosanna, Zoller passed on the insight that she owned a cinema to his higher ups, and soon the young, tall, slim, brunette, icily handsome, clean cut and shaven, and black capped, long leather jacketed, uniformed, and implicitly Evil Tin Man linked Gestapo Sturmbannfuhrer Major Dieter Hellstrom-who evoked Colonel Carl Jenkins in STARSHIP TROOPERS to implicitly affirm the film’s interest in Verhoeven on one level, and was played by August Diehl-showed up to take her away. Curiously, as she climbed into the back seat of the waiting car, it was noticeable that there was a bistro called Le Zanzibar across the street from Le Gamaar cinema. Le Zanzibar affirmed the implicit link of Dreyfus to Polley, as it recalled the Zanzibar strip club on Yonge Street in her hometown of Toronto.
Significantly, instead of being arrested, processed, and shipped to a concentration camp, Dreyfus was taken by Hellstrom to lunch with Zoller, the middle aged and heighted, slim, black haired and eyed, creepily jovial, grey suited, and implicitly Raimi and Evil Great Oz linked German Propaganda Minister “Doctor” Joseph Goebbels-played by Sylvester Groth-and his young, short, slim, beautiful, black haired and eyed, and black poodle luvin’ French collaborator mistress/translator Francesca Mondino-played by Dreyfus. Here Dreyfus re-learned that Zoller was a German hero due to a deadly three day sniping campaign from a bell tower at one point in the war that had killed hundreds of the enemy presumably on the Eastern Front, an exploit that evoked legendary Marvel hitman and sniper Frank Castle aka “the Punisher”, and that had inspired Goebbels to create an allegorical docufeature film about his exploits called STOLZ DER NATION aka NATION’S PRIDE [1944] and think of booking Le Gamaar cinema for its opening night premiere in front of an all German audience. To the annoyed resignation of Dreyfus, the enthusiastic Zoller won Goebbels over to using her cinema instead of a larger one in Paris, news that she shared with her young, tall, heavyset, devoted, luvin’, and implicitly Toto linked cinema projectionist Marcel-played by Jacky Ido-along with her vengeful plan to burn down her beloved Temple Theatre with all its Nazis using 350 cannisters of highly flammable 35mm nitrate celluloid film and to prepare them for the inferno with her own indie short film.
At this point the screen faded to blank Spielberg black again, and the white title: “…Chapter Chapter Four: Operation KINO” appeared on the screen. Here we discovered to our surprise that the British had found out about STOLZ DER NATION and its big premiere night, and that the middle aged, short, blonde, and eccentric General Edward “Ed” Fenech-played by Mike Myers-had, with the approval of the old, medium heighted, chubby, dour and silent but attentive, pensive, and cigar smokin’, and black suit, black and white polka dot tie, and white dress shirt wearin’ Prime Minister Winston Churchill-played by Rod Taylor-decided to drop British author and film critic turned Commando Lt. Archie Hicox-played by Michael Fassbender-into France to link up with the Basterds, relay the news of the premiere in three days to them, and join them in an attack on the Gamaar in hopes of killing Goebbels and as many other Nazis as possible. With that, Lt. Hicox was holed up 24 kilometres from Paris in the small French town of Nadine with the Basterds and preparing to sally forth in an SS officer’s uniform to a meeting in a basement bar called La Louisiane with their German double agent contact for the premiere, the young, short, slim, beautiful, and blonde, bewitching, and implicitly Glinda linked German film star Bridget von Hammersmark-played by Diane Kruger.
Alas, the rendezvous in the bar led to almost everyone in the establishment, Basterd and German alike, to be killed in a bloody and brutal explosion of gunfire in all too classic Alamo fashion, including Cpl. Wicki, Sgt. Stiglitz, and Lt. Hicox. Curiously, Gestapo Sturmbannfuhrer Hellstrom, who just happened to be in the bar with no explanation why, was also killed in the gunfight, a massacre that again evoked the Nazi demon massacre in AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON. Only von Hammersmark survived with a bullet in her left leg, but alas, left behind a high heel shoe like Cinderella as a clue for Col. Landa that implicitly affirmed the link of Lt. Raine and the remaining Basterds, still alive because they had not been in the bar, to the Walt Disney Company via the allegorical Disney, Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, and Hamilton Luske indie hand animated feature film CINDERELLA [1950]. But not to worry, a bitter and angry Shosanna and her devoted luver Marcel, with no knowledge of the Basterd attack, was planning their own massacre of Goebbels, Zoller, and the rest of the Nazis at the premiere of STOLZ DER NATION with the help of extremely flammable nitrate celluloid film fire, a premiere that Raine and the surviving Basterds still planned to crash when they learned from von Hammersmark that the Wicked Hitler would be in attendance.
Then the screen faded to blank Spielberg black one last time, and the white title: “…Chapter Five: Revenge Of The Giant Face” appeared. In this final tragicomic chapter, we discovered that the two attacks did occur, another gory Alamo filled with automatic rifle fire and exploding dynamite, and that equally deadly fire set off by those cannisters of extremely flammable nitrate celluloid film fire provided by Marcel and Shosanna that led to the deaths of the black tuxedo clad Sgt. Donowitz and his equally black tuxedo clad young, short, slim, baby faced, but courageous and dedicated colleague Pte. Omar Ulmer-played by Doom-as they killed the Wicked Hitler, Goebbels, Mondino, and Zoller, evoking the equally gruesome sight and sound of the German soldiers mowing down Shosanna’s hidden family with automatic rifle fire at the beginning of the film to bring the film full merciless and bloody circle. Curiously, the raging fire and climactic explosion that blew up Le Gamaar cinema also evoked the raging fire and climactic explosion that destroyed the Kingston Falls cinema and killed all of mischief and mayhem luvin’ gremlins inside at the healing, harmonizing, and eucatastrophic end of the twilit, allegorical, Ozian themed, and Kennedy, Marshall, and Spielberg produced Dante docufeature film GREMLINS [1984].
Significantly, shortly before the attack, the blood red dress clad Shosanna was shot dead with an Ozian quartet of bullets by the dying and Mr. Orange evoking Zoller soon after she shot him three times in the back in the projectionist’s room and just before the one and only showing of her one and only indie short film with her gloating and laughing face vowing death to all that was edited into the fourth reel of NATION’S PRIDE, an undead cinematic spirit that evoked the equally righteously furious, merciless, and vengeful annihilation of the Nazis by implicitly film linked female spirits at the healing, harmonizing, and eucatastrophic end of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. Thus, Shosanna died, unlike the Woman With No Name, before she could complete her own righteously furious and rip roarin’ rampage of revenge, implying that QT thought or worried that Polley had killed her film art career already with the daylit, allegorical and slightly CGI enhanced indie docufeature film AWAY FROM HER [2006], or that her first fine feature film had convinced that she was not courageous, creative, innovative, rebellious, and strong enough to take on and take out Dis and Marv like him with his indomitably indie docufeature film art events. While this implication was far from the truth, the implicit link of Polley to the Jewish Shosanna did presciently anticipate Polley finding out that she was part Jewish as a result of an adulterous fling her exuberant actor mother Diane Polley had with Jewish Canadian film producer Harry Gulkin while acting in Montreal in the allegorical David Fennario indie play TORONTO (1978).
Curiously, this reality denying mowing down of the Wicked Hitler, Goebbels, and the rest of the trapped Nazis also implied the hope of QT that the Walt Disney Company would defeat Marvel Studios with more world changing film like SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS, an ironic hope indeed given that Disney purchased Marvel later that year. Thus, it was tragicomically fitting that the film ended with the with tuxedoed Aldo using his trusty hunting knife to carve a swastika into the forehead of Landa, the gleefully and macabrely duplicitous “Good German” who had managed to secure a deal that saw him allow the attack on the Le Gamaar cinema to take place and in return be granted amnesty for his actions, American citizenship, and a new life in the United States, reminding us that Verhoeven had worked with Disney’s Touchstone Pictures live action film division on the exuberantly ultraviolent STARSHIP TROOPERS, so that this mark of Cain would out him as a Nazi to everyone he met for the rest of his life. For Aldo’s brief embrace of a Nazi symbol to advance his victorious cause presciently anticipated the Walt Disney Company buying Marvel at the end of the year to advance their cause and eagerly embracing its multitudinous merry marchin’ ubermenschen and new and improved Marvel Cinematic Universe [MCU]. The bloody swastika on Landa’s forehead also presciently evoked Charlie Manson and the appearance of him and his malevolent “family” in a cinematic Nazi cursed Tarantino film to come, in a present film whose implicit allegorical intent was affirmed by allusions to AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON, CINDERELLA, GREMLINS, INGLORIOUS BASTERDS, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, the Raimi Spidey Trilogy, SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS, SOUTHLAND TALES, STARSHIP TROOPERS, THE GOOD GERMAN, THE WIZARD OF OZ, and TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE.
Significantly, despite its reality denying ending, the well shot and meticulously recreatin’ INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS was another hit for Tarantino, and received a record 8 nominations by the august Academy, taking home one Oscar for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for Waltz. Ironically, however, the same year that Tarantino implicitly supported Disney and company in INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS was the same year that the Walt Disney Company CEO Blockbuster Bob Iger led the way in persuading his company to purchase Marvel Entertainment, its narrative artwork, and its nascent film studio, making the Mouse House the head of the ubermenschen empire.
Curiously, later that same year, Sir Jackson also implicitly dismissed Polley and her film art career after one film-!ONE FILM!-and also implicitly killed off the nascent film artist in the implicit form of the young, short, slim, pretty, blonde, shy, sweet, innocent, naïve, Kodak photography luvin’, and implicitly Polley and Wicked Witch of the East linked fourteen year old teen Susan “Susie” Salmon-played as a teen by Saoirse Ronan, and as a three year old girl in the film’s prologue by Evelyn Lennon, respectively-in the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, and Ozian themed indie docufeature film THE LOVELY BONES [2009], released on November 24, 2009 and inspired by the twilit and allegorical Alice Sebold indie docufiction novel The Lovely Bones [2002]. An implicit meeting of the American and New Zealander minds that implicitly influenced the creation of the next Tarantino film event, when Tarantino donned the actor/writer/director caps, collaborated again with Bell, Jackson, Parks, Richardson, Savini, Waltz, and Laura Cayouette-who played Rocket in KILL BILL VOLUME 2-and John Dykstra-visual effects wizard who worked on INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS-and returned to the digital free past to continue his historical adventures in another meticulously reimagined remake and also implicitly roasted Disney and Marvel again on one level in the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed, conventionally linear, and naturally lit indie docufeature film DJANGO UNCHAINED [2012], a film released on December 11, 2012 that was inspired by the allegorical Sergio Corbucci indie docufeature film DJANGO [1966].
“He slays the dragon…
because Broomhilda’s worth it…
[and because]
I think you’re an abysmal winner.”
Curiously, after The Weinstein Company intro and a retro Seventies Columbia Pictures intro, the blood red opening titles appeared on the screen, including a second that read “…A FILM BY QUENTIN TARANTINO”, overtop a desolate, daylit, and sunscorched desert landscape straight out of the Jundland Wastes in Tatooine in the STAR WARS Classic and Tragic Trilogies through which shuffled a line of six despondent and chained slaves overlooked by two men on horses all to the stirring sound of the allegorical and Luis Bacalov written Rocky Roberts tune “Django” [1966], the theme song of DJANGO, which evoked the sound of “Across 110th Street” playing at the beginning of JACKIE BROWN. Curiously, as the song and painful slave shuffle progressed, darkness settled in, and the scene switched from a location that evoked daylit and blazing Tatooine to another nightswept location that evoked the soothing cool of a forest straight out of the lush and fecund planet of Naboo in STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, but which was identified as Texas in 1858.
Even more curiously, the scene soon left behind taboo Naboo and switched to the equally lush, fecund, and legendary forest filled Third Age of this Middle-Earth ‘twixt Heaven and Hell when a funny little horse drawn cart with an oil lit lantern beside the lone driver and a dangling white molar on top suddenly appeared that evoked the more famous and pleasing sight and sound of the old, tall, grey haired, moustached, and bearded, and robed, staff carrying, pipe smoking, wise, knowing, and implicitly David Cronenberg and Great Oz linked wizard Gandalf the Grey aka “Mithrandir”-originally implicitly linked by J.R.R. Tolkien to the equally brave, thoughtful, robed, and staff carrying wise man Mohandas K. Gandhi in the allegorical and implicitly Joseph Stalin roastin’ Tolkien indie docufiction novel The Lord Of The Rings [1954-55], and played by Ian McKellen-smoking a pipe and singing the allegorical and Tolkien written travelling song “The Road Goes Ever On” [1955] as he drove a horse drawn cart full of fireworks into Hobbiton for the Eleventy-First birthday party of the old, short, slim, fussy, food, drink, book, map, peace, quiet, solitude, hole luvin’, and eccentric Hobbit bachelor Bilbo Baggins-played by Ian Holm-at his cozy Hobbit hole in Bag End in the Hobbiton farthing of the Shire at the beginning of the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, and Ozian themed indie docufeature artbuster THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING [2001]. The driver of this curious cart with its politely bowing dark brown horse Fritz-perhaps a reference to Fritz Lang-turned out to be the old, short, slim, grey moustached and bearded, grey suited, waistcoated, genial, beer luvin’, and implicitly Sir Jackson and Great Oz linked German bounty hunter and ex-dentist Doctor King Schultz-played by Waltz-who evoked the bounty hunters of the STAR WARS Classic and Tragic Trilogies, particularly the mysterious and stainless steel armour clad Jango Fett, played by Temuera Morrison.
After parleying with the two men on horseback and inquiring about the whereabouts of a slave named Django, Dr. King shot dead one of the horseman-an old, tall, slim, and grey haired, moustached, and bearded, and implicitly Burton linked man named Ace Speck, played by James Remar-and shot the horse of, which badly wounded, his brother, the equally old, but medium heighted, slim, grey haired, moustached, and bearded, constantly smiling, and implicitly Danny Elfman linked brother Dicky Speck, played by James Russo. Approaching the slaves on foot, the good doctor soon found and liberated the young, short, slim, handsome, muscular, angry, haunted, troubled, and implicitly Morrison and Scarecrow linked Django-a scar cutting down the left side of his forehead and below his left eye, back covered in scars from pitiless whips, and played by Jamie Foxx-and left the wounded man to be killed by the other slaves. Moved and impressed by Django’s story, Dr. King decided to teach him the tricks of the bounty hunter trade, and help him find and liberate his sweetie Broomhilda “Hildi” von Shaft, her surname evoking the Shaft films of the sundrenched and Skyrockin’ Seventies to implicitly link her to Seventies film art like Jackie in JACKIE BROWN.
After numerous bounty hunting adventures, including a triumph over resolute Riders of Rohan evoking kooky Ku Klux Klansmen on horseback led by the old, tall, slim, handsome, greying brown haired, white moustached and goateed, white cowboy hatted and suited, and implicitly Cameron linked Spencer “Bid Daddy” Bennett-played by Don Johnson-the two bounty hunters and fast friends tracked Hildi down to the young, medium heighted, slim, handsome, brown haired, moustached, and goateed, blue eyed, brown suited, wealthy, jovially callous and brutal, violent Mandigo bloodsport and white cake luvin’, long, thin, and curved Middle-Earth pipe smokin’, and implicitly Reitman and Wicked Witch of the West linked “Monsieur” Calvin J. Candie-played by Leonardo DiCaprio-owner of the bright white and Hollywood cadenced Candyland plantation. Here the two vengeful and intrepid heroes bought the young, short, slim, beautiful, intelligent, sweet, luvin’, and implicitly Dorothy linked Hildi von Shaft-played by Kerry Williams-and then killed Candie, his old, tall, heavyset, bald, white side haired, conniving and sly, Gollum evoking, and implicitly Patton Oswalt and Nikko linked head slave Stephen-played by Jackson-his old, tall, slim, handsome, glaring, black bowler hatted, grey moustached and suited, and implicitly Smilin’ Stan “the Man” Lee and Tin Man linked bodyguard Butch Pooch-also played by Remar-his middle aged and heighted, slim, handsome, round bespectacled, tawny haired, moustached, and bearded, and implicitly Cowardly Lion linked friend Leonide “Leo” Moguy-played by Dennis Christopher-his young, medium heighted, slim, blonde, beautiful, smiling, expensive dress and gown wearin’ and implicitly Gwyneth Paltrow linked sister Lara Lee Candie-Fitzwilly-played by Cayouette-and the rest of his hired guns in another rip roarin’ rampage of revenge, and also burned down the Candyland plantation before Django rode off with Hildi into the darkness on a quest to acquire the two Rings that would affirm their real, true, luvin’, and powerful marriage in Tarantino’s one and only happy Hollywood ending, implying the hope of Tarantino that Sir Jackson would release his implicit fondness for young Reitman, who was implicitly linked to the young, medium heighted, slim, handsome, brown haired, bearded, and moustached, and indomitable Aragorn-played by Viggo Mortensen-in the Lord Of The Rings Trilogy and team up with Morrison to make another great film, and also implicitly allowing QT to also triumph over Reitman at the healing, harmonizing, and eucatastrophic end of a film that affirmed its implicit allegorical intent with allusions to the Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, the STAR WARS Classic and Tragic Trilogies, THANK YOU FOR SMOKING, THE WIZARD OF OZ, the twilit, allegorical, and fittingly entitled Sir Jackson indie docufeature film BAD TASTE [1987], in the daylit, allegorical, brash, idiosyncratic, shrewd, knowing, original, montage luvin’, satirical, slightly CGI enhanced, Ozian themed, and implicitly Cameron and Lucas toastin’ and Bigelow and Sir Jackson roastin’ indie docufeature film JUNO [2007], the twilit, allegorical, brash, confident, idiosyncratic, original, montage luvin’, satirical and slightly CGI enhanced, and Ozian themed Reitman indie docufeature film YOUNG ADULT [2011], the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, and Ozian themed Jon Favreau indie super satirical animaction film IRON MAN [2008], and the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, and Ozian themed Favreau indie super satirical animaction film IRON MAN 2 [2010], making it ironic that Jackson played the implicitly Spike Lee linked SHIELD Director Nicholas “Nick” Fury in IRON MAN, IRON MAN 2, and the rest of merry marchin’ and mischief and mayhem luvin’ Marvel Cinematic Universe [MCU].
Significantly, this curious but beautifully shot, and naturally lit indie film event with its careful attention to detail, great costumes and sets, and memorable performances was another big success for QT. Even the august Academy took notice, giving the film five nominations and awarding QT a second golden Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and also awarding Waltz another Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Just as significantly, that same year Lucas sold the drought stricken moisture farm and used speeder lot of Lucasfilm and the visual effects firm Industrial Light and Magic [ILM] to the Walt Disney Company in 2012, somehow persuading kid luvin’ Disney to allow Kennedy, the woman most responsible for the TZ disaster and the deaths of Chen and Le, to be the CEO of Lucasfilm. Circumstances that implicitly outraged Screamin’ Stephen King so much that he implicitly roasted Disney, Kennedy, and Lucas in the twilit, allegorical, and Ozian themed indie docufiction novel Doctor Sleep [2013], all of which implicitly inspired the next Tarantino indie film event.
Meanwhile, DC, Warners, Legendary Pictures, and Zack Snyder, they implicitly hoped that Reitman and his brash and indie docufeature film art would triumph over Tarantino and his film world changing film art like the tall, young, handsome, black haired and eyed, muscular, powerful, and implicitly Reitman and Cowardly Lion linked Kal-El aka Clark Joseph Kent aka “Superman”-inspired by the character implicitly linked to DOC SAVAGE super saga writer Lester Dent that was created for DC by Shuster and Siegel, and played by Cooper Timberline at 9 years old, Dylan Sprayberry at 13 years old, and Henry Cavill as a young man, respectively-triumphed over the middle aged, tall, handsome, black haired and eyed, muscular, powerful, driven, intense, intimidating, singleminded, rebellious, violence and mayhem luvin’, world changin’, and implicitly Tarantino and Wicked Witch of the West linked General Zod-played by Michael Shannon-and his short, slim, statuesque, black haired and eyed, and implicitly and Daniella Pick and Nikko linked sweetie Sub-Commander Faora-Ul-played by Antje Traue-in the healing, harmonizing, and eucatastrophic end of the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, and Ozian themed super satirical animaction film MAN OF STEEL [2013], released on June 10, 2013.
Two years later, Tarantino donned the writer/director/narrator caps, collaborated again with Bell, Dykstra, Jackson, Madsen, Parks, Richardson, Roth, Russell, and Bruce Dern, Lee Horsley, and Walton Goggins-who played Old Man Carrucan, Sheriff Gus, and Billy Crash, respectively, in DJANGO UNCHAINED-editor Fred Raskin-also from DJANGO UNCHAINED-Taneda Yohei-production designer of KILL BILL VOLUME 1-and composer Morricone-a fitting collaboration, given all of the allusions to the allegorical “spaghetti” Westerns of Leone with soundtracks composed by Morricone in KILL BILL VOLUMES ONE and TWO, INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, and DJANGO UNCHAINED, plus the Morricone compositions from other film soundtracks in DJANGO UNCHAINED and INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, and the allegorical and Morricone and Elisa Toffoli written Toffoli tune “Ancora Qui” [2012] that Morricone and Toffoli created for that film, and given that Morricone was also composer of THE THING-to implicitly furiously roast the Walt Disney Company’s purchase of Lucasfilm and ILM in 2012 and their decision to welcome the Wicked Kennedy into the Disney family as the new CEO of Lucasfilm when he left behind the Gorgeous Eight of DEATH PROOF and returned to the digital free and bounty hunter filled past again this time in the first years of the post-Civil War era but left behind the reimagined remakes of DJANGO UNCHAINED and INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS for more truly original, creative, and indomitably indie clonebusting territory in the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed, mostly conventionally linear, and naturally lit 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, after The Weinstein Company intro, the film began with a blank black Spielberg screen to the sound of the ominously soft, swelling, and Morricone composed symphonic number “The Last Stage to Red Rock” [2015]. Then a wintry white, snowswept, and mountainous landscape slowly emerged on the screen that evoked the northern British Columbian location of THE THING, and the equally wintry white, snowswept, and mountainous planet Hoth in the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed, Lucas executive produced, and implicitly Spielberg roasting Irvin Kershner indie docufeafture film STAR WARS EPISODE V: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK [1980]. As a montage of establishing shots of the wintry landscape and its skeletal trees appeared on the screen that evoked the establishing shots that began many a Landis film, the opening titles also appeared on the screen, including the second title, which proudly proclaimed “…the 8th film by Quentin Tarantino” and was set apart from the rest in orange PULP FICTION letters on a suddenly all black screen.
Suddenly the black shape of a six horse stagecoach appeared in the snowswept distance, and very slowly made its way towards the camera as the ominous music swelled and the camera moved off to the right of the screen to expose a sad and snow covered wooden Jesus hanging mournfully on a stone cross, setting the slow and sedate pace of the film. Significantly, the stagecoach eventually neared the camera on the sinister left side of sweet Jesus, preparing audiences for the sinister machinations to come. It was noticeable that the lead horse on the right was black and the lead horse on the left was white from the perspective of the audience-or was that the lead horse on the right was white and the lead horse on the left was black from the perspective of the driver?-also preparing audiences for the battle between white garbed Good and black garbed Evil to come. Then the wintry scene suddenly faded to another blank black Spielberg screen that was slowly filled with a title in white Western letters that read: “…Chapter One: Last Stage to Red Rock.”
Then the title disappeared, a blank black Spielberg screen returned, and a man was heard urging horses onward before the first chapter began with the Butterfield Overland Stage Co. stagecoach being stopped as it rounded a corner by the fittingly frozen form of the old, tall, slim, bald, grey moustached and bearded, black cowboy hatted, grey scarfed, brown coated, white gloved, black suited, white dress shirted, and red tied, pipe smokin’, six gun favourin’, quiet, watchful, thoughtful, and implicitly Shriekin’ Peter Straub and Tin Man linked ex-Civil War U.S. Cavalry officer and newfound bounty hunter Major Marquis Warren-his bounty hunter status evoking the bounty hunting of DJANGO UNCHAINED to link the two films together, and played by Jackson-standing forlornly in front of his dead horse Lash and the twilit trio of male bodies hung over it. Successfully able to persuade the young, medium heighted, slim, balding, brunette, moustached and bearded, Cimarron, Coconut, Dude, and Leche stage horse luvin’, and implicitly Cowardly Lion linked stagecoach driver O.B. Jackson-his initials evoking Obi Wan Kenobi, and played by the younger Parks-and his passenger and fellow bounty hunter, the old, medium heighted, heavyset, fur hat wearin’, big eared, thick grey haired, big grey moustached, and grey goateed, fur coat wearin’, kindly, genial, equally pipe smokin’ but shotgun favourin’, and implicitly Lucas and Great Oz linked John Ruth “the Hangman”-his “J.R.” initials reminding us that Lucas was George Walton Lucas jr., and played by Russell-to let him on board, Mjr. Warren soon had his twilit trio of frozen corpsicles on top of the stagecoach and was on his way to collect his bounty money at the town of Red Rock, Wyoming.
Here safely and warm inside, audiences earned that Ruth was not just taking his female companion to Red Rock to collect the $10000 bounty on her and to watch her hang for her crimes, but was also handcuffed to the middle aged, short, slim, dirty blonde haired, pretty, nasty, and implicitly Kennedy and Wicked Witch of the Western linked Daisy Domergue-strangely and ironically played by Jennifer J. Leigh, one of the two daughters of Morrow. Tragicomically, while Evil, Domergue was not taken in by the fake letter from ex-U.S. President Abraham Lincoln that Mjr. Warren soon impressed Ruth with, a letter that Ruth used Lucas evoking glasses with round lenses to read, and that implicitly affirmed the link of Warren to a writer. Curiously, the twilit, allegorical, and John A. White written The White Stripes tune “Apple Blossom” [2000] played during this segment, a tune that contained the fateful line “…and I will come to rescue you”, setting audiences, Ruth, and Mjr. Warren up for an attempt to rescue Domergue as a strange man was fittingly seen and heard calling in the distant snowscape outside the stagecoach. Then the white world faded to that blank black Spielberg screen and the white title: “…Chapter Two: Son of a Gun” slowly appeared and disappeared.
Curiously, this chapter introduced and revealed that the strange hollering man was the young, medium heighted, slim, brunette, clean cut and shaven, baby faced, big eared and grinnin’, black cowboy hat and coat wearin’, and implicitly King and Scarecrow linked Captain Chris Mannix-a fitting link given that King and Straub had co-authored two novels by this point in time, and played by Goggins. Curiously, Mannix was a Rebel renegade and ex-member of Mannix’s Marauders who was riding to Red Rock to be the town’s new sheriff when his horse died and was relieved when he persuaded the others to give him a ride to the town whose name reminded us that King’s favourite fictional town was Castle Rock to affirm the implicit link of Mannix to King. Tragicomically, Mannix proved a garrulous as well as a grateful new rider, informing audiences, Domergue, and Ruth that Mjr. Warren was wanted by both the North and the South by escaping from the Confederate prison camp at Wellenbeck by burning it down, a distraction that killed dozens of Northern prisoners and Southern soldiers, a monologue joined in by Mjr. Warren and Ruth that made it clear that all three were complex characters with well developed Good and Bad sides, making it fitting that a black and a white horse led the stagecoach. Then the familiar blank black Spielberg screen appeared soon followed by the white title: “…Chapter Three: Minnie’s Haberdashery”.
Here at Minnie’s Haberdashery, a name which evoked Minnie Mouse to implicitly link it to the Walt Disney Company, we discovered that it was a large and pleasant albeit cold log way station that allowed weary travellers a place to put up their feet and warm themselves at a chair by the fire, and get something to eat and drink before continuing their journey, much to the relief of the occupants of the Butterfield Overland Stagecoach, for the winter storm that dogged them had gotten worse and was blowing into a full scale blizzard. To the surprised dismay of Ruth and Mjr. Warren, however, the eponymous Minnie and her husband “Sweet” Dave were nowhere to be found. In their place were four sinister and suspicious characters, in the forms of the middle aged and heighted, heavyset, black haired, eyed, moustached, and bearded, grey cowboy hatted and scarfed, grey fur coat wearin’, piano playin’, slant eyed, sneaky, and implicitly Landis and Evil Cowardly Lion linked Mexican Senor Bob-played by Demian Bichir-the old, tall, slim, balding grey haired, moustached, and bearded, grey Confederate coat and uniform wearin’, and implicitly Spielberg and Evil Tin Man linked General Sanford “Sandy” Smithers-played by Dern-the old, tall, slim, black haired and eyed, handsome, clean cut and shaven, black cowboy hatted and scarfed, book and writing luvin’, and implicitly James Patterson and Evil Scarecrow linked Joe Gage-played by Madsen-the old, short, slim, greying haired, bearded, and moustached, black bowler hatted, grey suited, charming, Schultz evoking, and implicitly Evil Great Oz linked Oswald Mobray-his name reminding us that Disney’s most famous hand animated character before Mickey Mouse was Oswald the Lucky Rabbit to affirm the film’s implicit interest in the Mouse House, and played by Roth-all of whom did little but arouse the suspicions of Mannix, Ruth, and Mjr. Warren, and lead to the return of the blank black Spielberg screen for a long pause before the appearance of the white title: “…Chapter Four: Domergue’s Got a Secret.”
Soon the sun set, and at this point, THE THING broke out in full Force fury, as the snow and wind also howled in greater fury outside. For paranoia and tensions increased in the wide but claustrophobic one room space of the way station, exploding into violence when Mjr. Warren shot Gen. Smithers dead in self defense when the general tried to shoot the major after discovering that Mjr. Warren had tortured, sexually humiliated, and then murdered his young, medium heighted, slim, blonde haired, moustached, and bearded, and muscular son Chester C. Smithers-played by Craig Stark. Tensions increased still more soon after when, shortly after Domergue sneakily played a guitar and sang the allegorical and traditional Australian folk song “Jim Jones at Botany Bay” [19??] to remind audiences of the Reverend Jimmy Jones and his infamous poisoned Kool Aid, OB. and Ruth died horrible deaths coughing up their life’s blood after drinking poisoned coffee.
Significantly, Ruth coughed up blood all over the face of Domergue, particularly in his last cough, before he was shot in the chest and killed by her with his own gun. Curiously, Domergue’s bloody face evoked the equally bloody face of the troubled and telekinetic teen Carrie White when a bucket of pig’s blood was poured on her head and face at Prom dance at the end of the eerily and presciently twilit and allegorical King indie docufiction novel Carrie [1974] and the equally eerily twilit and allegorical Brian De Palma indie docufeature film CARRIE [1976], in which White was played by Sissie Spacek, to affirm the implicit link of Mannix to King. A furious Mjr. Warren took the gun away from Domergue, and soon killed Senor Bob due to suspicions that he had killed the proprietors of Minnie’s Haberdashery, before he was shot in the crotch from the basement by Daisy’s brother, the young, tall, muscular, brunette, handsome, clean cut and shaven, and implicitly Disney CEO Bob Iger and Nikko linked Jody Domingre-played by Channing Tatum. As Mjr. Warren screamed in agony, Mobray shot Mannix and Mannix shot Mobray, and then there was another long blank black Spielberg screen that slowly filled with the white title: “…Chapter Five: The Four Passengers”.
Not surprisingly, this chapter revealed that Mannix, Ruth, and Warren had walked into a trap set up by Domergue, Domingre, and the other members of the Jody Domingre Gang which included Gage-whose real name was “Grouch” Douglas-Mobray-real name “English” Pete Hicox-and Senor Bob-real name Marco the Mexican. A trap that had seen Domingre, Douglas, Hicox, and Marco arrive at Minnie’s Haberdashery earlier that morning on another stagecoach and proceed to shoot dead the old, tall, heavyset, handsome, grey haired, moustached, and bearded indie stagecoach owner Ed-played by Horsley-his young, medium heighted, slim, beautiful, blonde, and deerskin garbed driver “Six Horse” Judy-played by Bell-the young, medium heighted, heavyset, pretty, apron wearin’, and coffee and Red Apple tobacco luvin’ Minnie Mink-played by Dana Gourrier-her young, short, slim, sweet, shy, and aproned employee Gemma-played by Belinda Owino-the young, tall, heavyset, and clean cut and shaven horse wrangler Charly-played by Keith Jefferson-and stab to death Mink’s old, medium heighted, heavyset, clean cut and shaven, and genial husband “Sweet” Dave-played by Gene Jones-in a brutal, callous, conscienceless, and remorseless massacre that evoked those in AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON and INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS to implicitly affirm the link of Senor Bob to Landis. Everyone dead except Gen. Smithers who was kept alive to give the way station an illusion of normalcy, and bodies disposed in the well, the Jody Domingre Gang waited patiently for Ruth to arrive in his stagecoach to kill him and his driver and liberate Daisy, leading to another blank black Spielberg screen that led to the appearance of the last white title: “…Last Chapter: Black Man, White Hell.”
A white hell indeed, given that most of the gang members and Mannix and Warren had been shot dead or seriously wounded in Chapter Three. Shootings that continued in this chapter, with Domingre shot dead as he rose up from the basement to surrender, the blood from his exploding head covering Domergue’s face with more blood and making her look even more like Carrie at the end of Carrie and CARRIE than before. Then the wounded Hicox was shot dead by Mjr. Warren, leading to the unwounded Douglas being shot dead by both Capt. Mannix and Mjr. Warren when he tried to shoot them with a concealed gun. Male gang members dead, Mannix and Warren grimly amused themselves by honouring Ruth and slowly but surely hanging Domergue before resigning themselves to their own approaching deaths like Mr. Orange and Mr. White at the end of RESERVOIR DOGS. Fittingly, before they did, Mannix asked to see and then read Warren’s fake Lincoln letter aloud, implicitly affirming the link of the two men to writers, in the sobering, diseased, disharmonious, and eucatastrophic end. Thus, QT implied that he was as angry as King that Lucas had brought Kennedy to Disney, Lucasfilm, and ILM, believed that it would be just as deadly and disastrous as the Daisy and Jody team-up, and also wished he could stop it like Mannix and Warren no matter if the attempt cost him his life or reputation in a film whose implicit allegorical intent was affirmed by allusions to AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON, Carrie, CARRIE, DJANGO UNCHAINED, the STAR WARS Classic Trilogy, THE THING, and THE WIZARD OF OZ. Audiences implicitly agreed, for THE HATEFUL EIGHT was another hit film event whose implicit allegorical intent was implicitly understood and liked by the august Academy as well, for the film led three nominations and to Morricone being awarded a golden Oscar for Best Original Score.
Making it tragicomically ironic, indeed, that the implicit allegorical and Disney and Marvel addressing intent of DEATH PROOF, DJANGO, FOUR ROOMS, INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, JACKIE BROWN, and THE HATEFUL EIGHT was implicitly noticed by Disney, Marvel, and Twentieth Century Fox, for they teamed up with Timely Tim Miller to implicitly roast and toast QT in the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, and Ozian themed indie super satirical animaction film DEADPOOL [2016], a film released on January 21, 2016.
“!Hakuna his tatas!”
Indeed, the young, medium heighted, slim, initially handsome, later horrific, and always muscular, strong, constantly chattering and narrating, trash talking, wiseassing, exuberantly ultraviolent, deathproof, and implicitly Tarantino and Scarecrow linked “superhero” Wade Winston Wilson aka “Deadpool”-inspired by a character originally implicitly linked to Landis that was created by Robust Rob Liefeld and Fabulous Fabian Nicieza for Marvel Comics, and played by Ryan Rodney Reynolds, also a co-producer of the film-teamed up with two X-Men in the forms of the young, tall, huge, muscular, biomechanical, all CGI, and implicitly Kubrick and Tin Man linked Piotr Rasputin aka “Colossus”-inspired by a character created by Devious Dave Cockrum and Leonine Len Wein for Marvel Comics, and played by Stefan Kapicic-and the young, short, slim, sullen, sulky, Sinead O’ Connor resembling and implicitly Glinda linked sadolescent Eloise “Ellie” Phimister aka “Negasonic Teenage Warhead”-inspired by a character created by Grandiose Grant Morrison and Freaky Frank Quitely for Marvel Comics, and played by Brianna Hildebrand-to take on and ultimately triumph over the young, tall, slim, shaven headed, implicitly Matthew Vaughn and Great Oz linked “British villain” Francis “Frank” Freeman aka “Ajax”-inspired by a character originally implicitly linked to A.I. Smithee by Quoteless Joe Kelly and Wild Walter A. McDaniel for Marvel Comics, and played by Ed Skrein-and his young, medium heighted, beautiful, brunette, busty, muscular, and implicitly Wicked Witch of the West linked pal Angel Dust-also implicitly linked to Jane Goldman, co-screenwriter/co-producer of the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, and Ozian themed Vaughan indie docufeature film KICK ASS [2010], and inspired by a character originally implicitly linked to Alana Smithee by Gruff Geoff Johns and Shy Shawn Martinbrough for Marvel Comics, and played by Gina Carano- while fending off the appeals of Colossus to join the X-Men so as to stay indomitably and idiosyncratically indie, ironic appeals given how indomitably and idiosyncratically indie was Kubrick, as unlike the rest of the heroes of the MCU “the merc with the mouth” showed little interest in family other than going back to shacking up with his young, short, slim, beautiful, brunette, sexy, spunky, sympathetic, and implicitly Dorothy linked sweetie Vanessa Carlysle-also implicitly linked to QT’s sweetie Daniella Pick, and played by Morena Baccarin-in the healing, harmonizing, and eucatastrophic end filmed not far away from where I grew up in North Delta at the healing, harmonizing, and eucatastrophic end of a film that was the opposite of an MCU film and as exuberantly gory, obscenity spewing, and non-linear as a Tarantino film with a similar eclectic soundtrack sometimes used in ironic juxtaposition with ultraviolent sequences but that skated the surface of Tarantino and his film art rather than explore the depths of its implicit target like the rest of the films of the MCU, and was also mostly a series of sight and sound gags rather than a film, making it less memorable than a Tarantino film, but that affirmed its implicit allegorical intent with allusions to DEATH PROOF, FROM DUSK TO DAWN, KICK ASS, JACKIE BROWN, KILL BILL VOLUMES ONE and TWO, the Matrix Trilogy, PULP FICTION, RESERVOIR DOGS, and THE WIZARD OF OZ.
As for DC, Warners, and Synder, they collaborated to implicitly roast Tarantino again when they had the young, short, slim, long light brown haired, brilliant, madcap, indie, and implicitly Gilliam and Wicked Witch of the West linked genius and LexCorp CEO Alexander “Lex” Luthor-inspired by the character created for DC by Shuster and Siegel, and played by Jesse Eisenberg-transform the body of the big, muscular, and implicitly Tarantino and Nikko linked General Zod-played again by Shannon-into the huge blockbuster CGI beast, the mayhem luvin’ Doomsday, at the end of the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, and Ozian themed Snyder super satirical animaction film BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE [2016], released on March 12, 2016. Perhaps inspiring Marv and Twentieth Century Fox to team up again two years later and collaborate with Dynamic David Leitch and also again with Baccarin, Hildebrand, Kapicic, Reynolds, and T.J. Miller, Karan Soni and Leslie Uggams-who played Wilson’s young, medium heighted, slim, blonde, moustached and bearded, bespectacled, and implicitly Avary and Cowardly Lion linked bartender “friend” Weasel, the friendly and implicitly Toto linked Metro cab driver Dopinder, and the hilariously sarcastic and implicitly Grier linked best roomie forever [BRF] Blind Al, respectively, in DEADPOOL-Aditya Sood-co-executive producer of DEADPOOL-and co-writers/co-executive producers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernicks-also co-screenwriters/co-executive producers of DEADPOOL-and return to the tempestuously bucolic streets of Vancouver to ironically roast superhero films yet again and to implicitly reaffirm that Tarantino was indeed their favourite over the top and ultraviolent cinematic monster in the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, and Ozian themed indie super satirical animaction film DEADPOOL 2 [2018], a film released on May 1, 2018.
“…And believe it or not,
DEADPOOL 2 is a family film…
[and]
family is not an “f” word.”
Indeed, after the anachronistic and CGI Twentieth Century Fox sunset intro with its familiar triumphant theme and the silently flickering and action packed and word balloon filled panels of Marvel Comics faded away into the single white word MARVEL on a red background, Tarantino was implicitly roasted and toasted again in the implicit form of the young, medium heighted, slim, initially handsome, later horrific, and always muscular, strong, constantly chattering and narrating, trash talking, wiseassing, exuberantly ultraviolent, deathproof, and also implicitly Scarecrow linked merc with a mouth and “X-Men trainee” Wade W. Wilson aka “Deadpool”-played again by Reynolds, also the co-screenwriter as well as co-producer of the film-and had him win over and team up with the old, medium heighted, short grey haired, clean shaven, battle scarred, muscular, strong, “Winter Soldier” left armed, relentless, future cyborg Terminator evoking, and implicitly Lynch and Great Oz linked Cable, the cyborg “…super soldier from the future”-inspired by a character created by Claremont, Liefeld, Ridiculous Rick Leonardi and Luscious Louise Simenson for Marvel Comics, and played by Josh Brolin-the young, short, fat, fiery, pesky, and implicitly Rollickin’ Robert Rodriguez and Cowardly Lion linked Kiwi kid Russell “Rusty” Collins aka “Firefist”-played by Julian Dennison-and work again with the young, tall, huge, biomechanical, muscular, all CGI, and implicitly Kubrick and Tin Man linked Piotr Rasputin aka “Colossus”-played again by Kapicic-the young, short, slim, sullen, sulky, O’Connor evoking and implicitly Glinda linked sadolescent Eloise “Ellie” Phimister aka “Negasonic Teenage Warhead”-played again by Hildebrand-her young, short, slim, pink highlighted, giddy, and implicitly Toto linked teen girlfriend Yukio aka “Lasso Girl”-played by Kutsana Shioli-and the young, medium heighted, slim, beautiful, upbeat, always lucky, and implicitly Travolta and Dorothy linked Neena Thurman aka “Domino”-inspired by a character created by Liefeld and Nicieza for Marvel Comics, and played by Zazie Beetz-to create his own world’s greatest zeros, “the uncanny X-Force”, and to triumph over the even more huge, rampaging, all CGI and implicitly Cameron and Wicked Witch of the West linked Cain Marko aka “Juggernaut”-inspired by a character created by Kirby and Lee for Marvel Comics, and also played by Reynolds-to remind us that Tarantino was not fond of CGI in the ironically healing, harmonizing and eucatastrophic end of a film that tried its best to be as cool, hip, ironic, and funny as a Tarantino film but failed miserably but nonetheless affirmed its implicit allegorical intent with more allusions to KILL BILL, LOST HIGHWAY, the Matrix Trilogy, PULP FICTION, RESERVOIR DOGS, T1, THE VIRGIN SUICIDES, and THE WIZARD OF OZ, and the obscenity spewing, ultraviolent, and non-linear style of a Tarantino film with another similar eclectic soundtrack again sometimes used in ironic counterpoint to ultraviolent sequences that also came across as a series of sight and sound gags rather than a film, making it again less memorable than a Tarantino film but a film that was yet again the complete opposite of the usual MCU fare,
Unusually, the mid-closing titles teaser scenes saw Deadpool take Cable’s mini-time travelling device and use it to bring his young, short, slim, beautiful, brunette, spunky and implicitly Pick and Wicked Witch of the East linked girlfriend Vanessa Carlysle-played again by Baccarin-back to life after she was killed early in the film. Mr. Pool also used the handy device to save the life of the middle aged, tall, muscular, strong, tough, irascible, and implicitly Eastwood linked Logan aka “Wolverine”-inspired by a character created by Romita, Thomas, Wein, and Hermetic Herb Trimpe for Marvel Comics, and played by Hugh Jackman-setting the stages for both the next Deadpool film and the time travelling jackanapes of the eagerly awaited Avengers sequel.
Curiously, Peter Farrelly gently but firmly implicitly reminded Tarantino that there was more to the African-American experience than he acknowledged in his film art and also implicitly hoped that Tarantino would be more sympathetic to Landis by having the middle aged and heighted, heavyset, brunette, handsome, clean cut and shaven, rough and ready, uneducated, unworldly, working class, married with children, black suit and tie, pop culture, and pop music luvin’, luv letter writin’, and implicitly Tarantino and Scarecrow linked Italian-American doorman/bouncer and mob associate 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 Mortensen-act as bodyguard/chauffeur/manager/contract enforcer for the middle aged, tall, slim, handsome, clean cut and shaven, intelligent, educated, sensitive, worldly, homosexual, wealthy and famous but single and lonely, black tuxedo and Cutty Sark luvin’, and implicitly Landis and Tin Man linked classically trained pianist Doctor Donald “Don” Shirley-a “Landis” hidden within his names, and played by Mahershala Ali-on an eye opening and transformative tour of the Midwest and the still segregated South in a brand new and fittingly light green 1962 Cadillac Sedan DeVille in the fall and early winter of 1962 that saw both men enlighten, entertain, come to grips with, understand, and establish life long friendships with each other to the surprised but pleased delight of the two other members of the Don Shirley Trio, the short and baby faced bassist George Dyer-played by Mike Hatton-and the short and bespectacled cellist Oleg Malacovich-played by Dimiter D. Marinov-and also of Vallelonga’s wife, the middle aged, short, slim, beautiful, brunette, sweet, luvin’, and implicitly Daniella Pick and Glinda linked Dolores Vallelonga-played by Linda Cardellini-by the end of the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, and Ozian themed indie docufeature film GREEN BOOK [2018], a film released on September 11, 2018 whose implicit but unlikely allegorical intent was affirmed by allusions to DJANGO UNCHAINED, PULP FICTION, RESERVOIR DOGS, THE HATEFUL EIGHT, TRUE ROMANCE, and the eerily and presciently twilit and allegorical Landis docufeature film THE BLUES BROTHERS [1980].
As for Tarantino, he implicitly addressed Leitch and Miller and also implicitly did his best to exorcise the two Deadfool films from the Temple Theatre when he donned the writer/director/co-producer caps and returned once more to the digital free past this time in L.A. with Bell, Dern, DiCaprio, Dykstra, Madsen, Pick, Pitt, Raskin, Richardson, Russell, Staggs, and Maya Hawke-daughter of Thurman and Ethan Hawke-and also ironically collaborated with Columbia Pictures and Sony, owners of and collaborators with Marvel on the Spideyverse, on his most grateful, luvin’, and sweet film event yet, the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed, conventionally linear, and naturally lit indie docufeature film ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD [2019], a film released on the curiously wistful and Lucasian date of May 21, 2019 that was heralded with the first painted one sheet or film poster to be seen since 1983-84.
“[Come] visit
Batman [and Robin]
at
Twentieth Century Fox
and be our guests for lunch
at the studio…
[before riding off]
in the Batmobile
to the Batcave!”
Curiously, after the new Sony and retro flaming torch Columbia intros, the film began with a spoof black and white behind the scenes chat between the middle aged, genial, heavyset, and Johnny Carson evoking tv personality Allen Kincade-played by Spencer Garrett-and the young, medium heighted, slim, handsome, clean cut and shaven, earnest, dedicated, but insecure and stuttering, Red Apple cigarette, whisky, and cowboy boot luvin’, and implicitly Miller and Tin Man linked actor Rick Dalton aka bounty hunter “Jake Cahill”-a bounty hunter that evoked not just the bounty hunters of DJANGO UNCHAINED and THE HATEFUL EIGHT, but also reminded us that Wilson started off as a mercenary for hire in DEADPOOL, and played by DiCaprio-and his equally young, medium heighted, slim, handsome, clean cut and shaven, grounded, pragmatic, resigned, good humoured, beer and moccasin luvin’, and implicitly Leitch and Scarecrow linked stunt double Cliff Booth-played by Pitt-for the equally spoof “hit” NBC Western tv series BOUNTY LAW. Then the film switched to full colour and the orange PULP FICTION evoking opening titles, the second proudly proclaiming “…A FILM BY QUENTIN TARANTINO”, appeared on the screen as the camera pulled slowly back from a colourful mural or section of a movie promoting billboard featuring the screaming face of Dalton lying against a low brick wall bordering a garden and into a car in an exquisitely slow Rush focus that recalled the equally slow beginning of THE HATEUL EIGHT.
Then a jean jacketed Booth climbed into the driver’s seat of the cool and light canary yellow 1966 Cadillac Coup DeVille-Madsen’s car from RESERVOIR DOGS back in action, perhaps because it evoked the light green ’62 Cadillac Sedan DeVille in GREEN BOOK-and a brown leather jacketed Dalton got into the passenger seat of the car and they backed out of what turned out to be the driveway of Dalton’s house on Cielo Drive in the Hollywood Hills and Booth drove Dalton off and away. Curiously, their drive was intercut with scenes of a Pan Am passenger plane landing at the Los Angeles airport, a plane that disgorged the successful cinematic couple, the young, short, slim, brunette, handsome, clean cut and shaven, grey leather jacket, red turtleneck, and striped brown pants wearin’, and implicitly Cowardly Lion linked indie docufeature film artist Roman Polanski-played by Rafal Zawierucha-and the young, short, slim, blonde, beautiful, bewitching but sweet, innocent, modest, exuberant, book, fashion, film, and pop music luvin’, leather fused with fur coat and boots wearin’, and implicitly Glinda linked Sharon Tate-the literal embodiment of film art, and played by Margot Robbie. As Polanski drove Tate home in a light blue 1950 MG TD Roadster, Booth drove Dalton to the Hollywood landmark restaurant Frank & Musso’s Grill for a lunch meeting with the old, short, slim, bespectacled, blue suited and tied, genial, shrewd, knowing, and implicitly Great Oz linked agent Marvin Shwarz-played by Al Pacino-on what turned out to be Saturday, February 8, 1969.
Here Schwarz began by complimenting Dalton on his starring roles in two low budget and allegorical A.I. Smithee docufeature films TANNER [196?] and THE FOURTEEN FISTS OF MCCLUSKEY [196?], the latter featuring Dalton’s American commando McCluskey in Nazi Germany exuberantly battling and killing Evil Nutzis, even burning a roomful to a “fried sauerkraut” crisp with a flamethrower, like a one man Inglourious Basterd army in scenes that reminded us of the Nazis’ implicit link to Marvel Studios in INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, implying that the Nazis were also linked to Marvel in this spoof film within a film in ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD and making it fitting that Pitt starred in both films. Significantly, after buttering Dalton up, Schwarz gently but firmly made it clear to him that his endless series of tv cameos as “the heavy” which led to him being beaten up, arrested, or killed at the end of every episode was destroying his reputation and career as these defeats convinced audiences that he was a washed up loser. To end this and reinvigorate his career, Schwarz urged Dalton to consider leaving Hollywood and flying to Rome and starring in low budget indie Spaghetti westerns where he was the anti-heroic lead who triumphed in the end rather than the supporting heavy who was defeated in the end.
Depressed and angered by this frank but honest assessment of his dead-end career, Dalton turned down the offer, and Booth drove the crying and disconsolate bachelor back to that house on Cielo Drive in the Hollywood Hills as the exuberantly exultant DJ the Real Don Steele-who played the equally exuberantly exultant but more irritating Death Race announce Junior Bruce in DEATH RACE 2000 to evoke the many allusions to that film in DEATH PROOF-rocked the radio waves with the allegorical and Paul Simon written Simon and Garfunkel tune “Mrs. Robinson” [1968] and the despondent duo drove past a group of weird hippy girl followers of the young, slim, handsome but creepy, long haired, moustached, and bearded, and implicitly Spielberg and Wicked Witch of the West linked career criminal, hardened con, and frustrated pop star Charles “Charlie” Manson-played by Damon Herriman-and to another lonely and solitary night of learning his lines for next day’s filming of another ultimately defeated heavy role on another episode of another tv series while the equally bachelor Booth climbed into his sporty light blue 1964 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia Convertible and roared back through the lit up nighttime streets of the Emerald City of L.A. to another equally lonely and solitary night drinking his favourite Old Milwaukee brew and eating Kraft dinner with his luvin’, loyal, and disciplined boxer Brandy in his silverfish trailer littered with Marvel Comics like KID COLT OUTLAW and SGT. FURY & HIS HOWLIN’ COMMANDOS that openly linked the film to super satirical narrative art and animaction films next to a drive-in theatre lot while Dalton’s new next door neighbours Polanski and Tate drove off into the night to dance the night away with a group of beautiful and colourfully and stylishly dressed young hipsters at the Playboy Mansion to the infectious sound of the allegorical and Terry Cashman, Gene Pistilli, and Tommy West written Buchanan Brothers tune “Son Of A Lovin’ Man” [1969], a happy, exuberant, festive, lively, and upbeat gathering outside in the darkness around the well lit pool that was in complete contrast to the strange, sour, drab, colourless, and downbeat Manson girls and the other scenes with the feral Manson “family” to follow.
Curiously, after initially turning down Schwarz, the next day’s dull shooting on the set of the pilot of the possible new Western tv series LANCER, where a hungover Dalton struggled to remember his lines and nail his black cowboy hatted and mezcal luvin’ “Evil Hamlet” Western outlaw character Caleb DeCoteau as the tv cameras rolled on set to the patient delight of the old, short, slim, grey haired, and exuberant episode director Sam Wanamaker-played by Nicholas Hammond-and the young, short, slim, brunette, big Lucas eared, pretty, perspicacious, disciplined, determined, compassionate, sympathetic, wise beyond her years, and implicitly Dorothy linked Munchkin kid co-star and actor Trudi Fraser aka “Marabella Lancer”-played by Julia Butters-caused him to change his mind, a decision to leave Hollywood not noticed by Tate as she floated around town in her sleek black 1969 Porsche 911 and stopped by the Bruin Cinema to watch herself play the klutzy hotel bellhop and martial arts expert Freya Carlson in the allegorical Phil Karson indie docufeature film THE WRECKING CREW [1968] in an enjoyable outing that revealed and affirmed that Sharon was a shy, sweet, modest, polite, endearing, enduring, sympathetic, and vitally human being, indeed. Booth, however, also had a different perspective by the end of that day after repairing Dalton’s tv antenna on his roof and then hanging out with the weird hippy Manson family at their still, silent, spooky, creepy, and beat up headquarters at the Spahn Movie Ranch-a group who, despite their film linked digs, were too wild, disaffected, and ill disciplined to succeed as artists-with the help of the young, short, slim, beautiful, and brunette Pussy Cat-played by Margaret Qualley. A wild bunch he soon left behind after pausing briefly to beat up Blondie, a young, medium heighted, slim, and shirtless Manson man with long stringy blonde hair, and a blonde beard and moustache who was implicitly linked to Farrelly-and was played by James L. Hebert-when the sniggering hippy was discovered to have let the air out of the left front tire of Dalton’s sweet Caddy when Booth was inside a beat up cabin visiting the old, medium heighted, slim, bald, blind, tired, cranky, and implicitly Marshall linked ranch owner George Spahn-played by Dern-when Booth flew off with Dalton to Rome to make cheap indie Spaghetti westerns.
Curiously, however, and to the dismay of Booth, the wild bunch returned full farce throttle six months later on Friday, August 8, 1969 when Dalton, reinvigorated by starring in a healing and harmonizing Ozian quartet of low budget indie docufeature films, including one by Corbucci, and now married to the young, short, slim, beautiful, brunette, and curvaceous Italian actor Francesca Capucci-her name evoking Francis Coppola and perhaps linked to SCC, and played by Lorenza Izzo-and Booth, equally reinvigorated by being Dalton’s stunt double in all four films, flew back to L.A. For later that night at the midnight witching hour, as they tried to relax from their long flight, the dynamic duo tangled to their frustrated and righteous fury with a twilit trio of flying monkey Mansons, who descended on Dalton’s digs in the darkness like Colossus, Deadfool, and Nega approached the baddies in a slow motion walk straight out of the beginning of RESERVOIR DOGS at the end of DEADPOOL. Luckily for Booth and Dalton, by teaming up with faithful Brandy and furiously killing the madcap Manson maniacs comprised of the young, short, slim, red haired, and implicitly Mary Harron linked Katie-played by Madisen Beaty-the young, short, slim, and black eyed and haired Sadie-played by Mikey Madison-and the young, medium heighted, slim, black haired, eyed, moustached, and goateed, and implicitly Reitman linked Tex-played by Austin Butler-with the flamethrowing incineration of Sadie in Dalton’s pool bringing the film full circle back to the implicitly climactic scene in THE FOURTEEN FISTS OF MCCLUSKEY when Dalton’s left-eyepatched McCluskey incinerated a whole roomful of Nazis with the same flamethrower, the triumphant trio saved Capuuci and also the very pregnant Tate and her guests next door and finally allowed her to give birth to her baby, a healing, harmonious, eucatastrophic, and world changing ending that evoked the equally reality denying end of INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, making it doubly fitting that Pitt co-starred in both films.
Thus, QT implied his hope that Leitch and Miller would leave behind Disney, Marvel, and Twentieth Century Fox and their endless unoriginal super satirical franchise installments and CGI enhanced live action remakes of hand animated classics like Booth and Dalton left behind Hollywood for Italy and go on to create fallible and imperfect but vitally human, and original indie docufeature film art like ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD that would not only save film art and maybe even kick off a bold neo eon of film art but change the world for the better like the fallible and imperfect but vitally human Booth and Dalton saved Tate and her guests in that equally world changing ending, allowing her to give birth to a bold neo film art child. Indeed, the fact that after Booth was driven off in an ambulance to a hospital for attention to his injuries Dalton was invited next door after the fracas by Tate for the first time to meet her and her friends to the wistful sound of the “Miss Lily Langtry theme” from the allegorical and implicitly New Hollywood roastin’ John Huston docufeature film THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JUDGE ROY BEAN [1972] implicitly affirmed Tarantino’s hope that Leitch and Miller would go on to higher film art goals, an implicit allegorical intent affirmed by allusions to DEADPOOL, DEADPOOL 2, DEATHPROOF, INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, JACKIE BROWN, THE HATEFUL EIGHT, THE WIZARD OF OZ, and the twilit, allegorical, and implicitly SCC roasting Harron indie docufeature film CHARLIE SAYS [2018], and by the appearance of Russell as film long narrator and in a flashback cameo as a stunt gaffer or stunt co-ordinator on THE GREEN HORNET [1966-67] tv shows, which openly linked the film to Disney and also implicitly to Lucas as his appearances also had in DEATH PROOF and THE HATEFUL EIGHT, and an implicit hope increased by the fact that Disney also purchased Twentieth Century Fox that year, adding it to ILM, Lucasfilm, and Pixar.
Curiously, audiences implicitly agreed with Tarantino and enjoyed his exacting, exhaustive, exuberant, and wistful film event recreation of the rockin’ Rebel Sixties New Hollywood era he luved so much, for ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD was successful and held its own against the most eagerly awaited film of the year, decade, century, and millenium that year, the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed, and Dis, Marv, and Amiable Anthony and Jovial Joseph Russo indie super satirical animaction film AVENGERS: ENDGAME [2019]. The august Academy agreed, giving the film a new record ten nominations and an Oscar apiece for Best Production Design to Barbara Ling and for Best Supporting Actor to Pitt. Tragicomically, ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD also inspired one of the last brilliant, original, and satirical roasts of a film in MAD magazine, beloved of all mischief and mayhem luvin’ Boomer brats in the Sixties, Seventies, and Eighties, with the cover of the issue pretending to be spoofing BOUNTY LAW even appearing framed and on a wall in Dalton’s house in the film, openly linking Dalton to satirical narrative art and making Tarantino now a Gen Ecchs icon as well as a Gen X icon.
Curiously, the Grateful Quent reaffirmed his fondness for the characters and the world he had luvingly and gratefully recreated in ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD by returning to it two years later in his first book, the daylit, allegorical, and Ozian themed indie docufiction novel Once Upon A Time In Hollywood [2021]. Equally curiously, later that year Dis and Marv implicitly sent out mixed messages when they collaborated with Columbia Pictures and Sony to implicitly roast Pick and Tarantino when they had the exuberantly demented and implicitly Tarantino and Wicked Witch of the West linked serial killer Cletus Kasady aka the alien, red, and all CGI “Carnage”-played by Woody Harrelson as a middle aged man, and by Jack Bandeira as a young man, respectively-and his one-eyed and implicitly Pick and Nikko linked girlfriend Frances Barrison aka “Shriek”-played by Olumide Olorunfemi as a young woman, and by Naomie Harris as a middle aged woman, respectively-taken on and taken out by the young, medium heighted, stocky, brunette, handsome, and implicitly Neill Blomkamp and Scarecrow linked San Fran print journalist Edward “Eddie” Brock aka the alien, black, and all CGI “Venom”-played by Tom Hardy-at the end of the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, and Ozian themed Andy Serkis super satirical animaction film VENOM: LET THERE BE CARNAGE [2021], a film released on September 14, 2021 that affirmed its implicit allegorical intent with allusions to the Matrix Trilogy, NATURAL BORN KILLERS, and THE WIZARD OF OZ.
Fittingly, the following year Tarantino revealed a fondness for working out the implicit allegorical intent of the films of other film artists in his book Cinema Speculation [2022]. Significantly, however, Tarantino only pondered films from the late Rebel Sixties until 1981, the Last Good Year of film, as if he was too shocked, horrified, angry, and traumatized to acknowledge the fateful, fatal, and disastrous year of ’82, the horrible year that changed everything forever, swept away the New Hollywood era, and kicked off the dread allegorical Zone Wars, even to himself, despite over three decades of implicitly addressing the TZ disaster in his film art. An implicit trauma ignored two years later when, alas, Dis, Marv, and 21st Century Fox defied Tarantino’s attempt at Deadfool exorcism, returned to Vancouver, and collaborated with Shy Shawn Levy and again with Baccarin, Hildebrand, Jackman, Kapicic, Kutsana, Reese, Reynolds, Soni, Uggams, Wernicks, Rob Delaney-who played the likable Peter Wisdom in DEADPOOL 2-and also with Madonna and Travolta to ironically roast superhero films yet again and to again implicitly roast and toast Eastwood and Tarantino in the fully merry marchin’ and mischief and mayhem luvin’ Marvel way in the ultraviolent, daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, and Ozian themed indie super satirical animaction film DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE [2024], a film released on July 22, 2024.
“Disney bought Fox,
there was a whole boring rights issue,
blabbity-blabbity-blah.
But then,
it turned out they wanted me.
?Marvel’s so stupid?”
Indeed, the middle aged, tall, muscular, strong, tough, irascible, and also implicitly Eastwood and Cowardly Lion linked Logan aka “Wolverine”-played again by Jackman-and the again young, medium heighted, slim, initially handsome, later horrific, and always muscular, strong, constantly chattering and narrating, trash talking, wiseassing, exuberantly ultraviolent, deathproof, and implicitly Tarantino and Scarecrow linked and exuberantly ultraviolent Wade W. Wilson aka “Deadpool” of Earth 10005-played again by Reynolds-teamed up to save their universe and its timeline, continuing the timeline jackanapes Deadpool began in the closing credits of DEADPOOL 2, by defeating the middle aged and heighted, clean cut and shaven, slim, suited, and insidious and implicitly Iger and Nikko linked Mr. Paradox-played by Matthew Macfadyen-and his “Sacred Timeline” guarding Time Variance Authority [TVA] and the young, short, slim, shaven headed, Professor X evoking, and implicitly Jodie Foster and Wicked Witch of the West linked Cassandra Nova-played by Emma Corrin-and her League of Evil Mutants, including a new, huge, muscular, and all human Cain Marko aka “Juggernaut”-played by Aaron W. Reed-with the help of Dogpool aka “Scary Puppins”-played by the endearingly and astoundingly ugly Peggy-Nicepool-also played by Reynolds-and superheroes and superheroines from cancelled super satirical sagas like the middle aged, tall, beautiful, deadly, fearless, and implicitly Bigelow and Glinda linked martial arts master Elektra Natchios-played by Jennifer Garner-the old, half-human, half-vampire, and implicitly Landis and Tin Man linked Eric Brooks aka “Blade”-played by Wesley Snipes-the young, tall, handsome, brunette, muscular, magic card luvin’, and implicitly Great Oz linked Remy LeBeau aka “Le Diable Blanc” aka “the Gambit”-played by Tatum-and the young, short, slim, pretty, brunette, and black jeans vest, black t-shirt, blue jeans, and black boots wearin’, and implicitly Dorothy linked Laura aka “X-23”-played by Dafne Keen-allowing Deadpool and Wolverine to return to their indomitably indie lives on Earth 10005 free from the control of Marvel and the Sacred Timeline at the end of the again gleefully ultraviolent film whose implicit allegorical intent was affirmed by the fact that the film had the same ultraviolent, obscenity spewing, and non-linear style and eclectic soundtrack of a Tarantino film and by yet more allusions to KILL BILL, the Matrix Trilogy, RESERVATION DOGS, THE HATEFUL EIGHT, and THE WIZARD OF OZ, but which came across yet again as an endless series of sight and sound gags instead of a film like DEADFOOL and DEADFOOL 2, making it yet again less interesting or memorable than a Tarantino film, but also making it prepare audiences for an implicit roast from Disney and Iger of Levy in the implicit form of Doktor Viktor Von Doom-played by Robert Downey jr.-in the next dissembling and Fiends Of Ol’ Marvel [FOOM] filled Avengers film.
Another dismal Deadfool disaster that if nothing else implicitly reaffirmed the impact that Tarantino had had on audiences, film art, film artists, studios, and the Temple Theatre. And reminded us that, unlike Dis, Marv, 20th Century Fox, Sony, and Columbia, with their obsession with unoriginal and lookalike installments in their super satirical, STAR WARS, Indiana Jones, and AVATAR franchises, always different, distinct, iconoclastic, and individual were the indomitably indie docufeature film art of Tarantino. Film art that implicitly made clear that underneath the hip black suit and tie and white dress shirt, tough guy demeanour, and all of the macho bravado, coarse language, and obscenity spewing fluster and bluster, and the gratuitously gory and rip roarin’ rampages of revenge, there was a real Southern sweetie pie with a passionate luv and reverence for the books, films, music, and exuberantly upbeat and Forcefull spirit of the raucously Rebel Sixties and the sundrenched and Skyrockin’ Seventies that once flowed so abundantly and confidently once upon a time in New Hollywood prior to the shocking and outraging horror of the TZ disaster and the determined and ahuman perfection of the omnipresent CGI hoped to prevent another disaster from happening on a film set. A passionate luv that made him more of a “Reverential Dog” than a Reservoir Dog, and that was clearly shared by audiences given their fondness for and the success of the film art of Tarantino. And a reverence so profound that he could not bring himself to mention the fateful and fatal year of 1982 in his non-fiction meditation on film art, Cinema Speculation. A reverence that compelled Tarantino to curse in bitter fury, sigh resignedly, and rise up to defend the art, books, films, music and spirit of the long vanished Sixties and Seventies again and again in his own film art when he thought that they had been insulted in any way, proving again it did that always was he…the Grateful Quent.
Bibliography
Bailey, Jason. Pulp Fiction: the complete story of Quentin Tarantino’s masterpiece. Minneapolis: Voyageur Press, 2013.
Peary, Gerald, ed. Quentin Tarantino: interviews-revised and updated. Jackson, MI: University Press of Mississippi, 2013.
Tarantino, Quentin. Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. New York: Harper Perennial, 2021.
-----. Cinema Speculation. New York: Harper, 2022.
Woods, Paul A. King Pulp: the wild world of Quentin Tarantino. London: Plexus Publishing Limited, 1998.
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