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Buzz In: Are You Interested in Seeing Another Kill Bill?

BuzzSugar — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 06:30:49 -0700

Last week, Quentin Tarantino stoked the fire of a Kill Bill sequel when he mentioned that he'd like to start working on the third installment in the next few years.

Now he's talking more details, specifically timeline: Tarantino wants to wait until ten years after the last film ended to pick up on the story of Uma Thurman's character Beatrix Kiddo (AKA The Bride) and her daughter B.B.

It's kind of a cool concept - B.B. will be a teenager, and the idea is that Beatrix and her child have had a decade of calm, until this third film, when, clearly swords, snakes, and Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Techniques will be pulled out. I'm not totally psyched that we'll have to wait until 2014 to see the film, but Tarantino's gonna do what Tarantino's gonna do. In the meantime, what do you think - are you still interested in the Kill Bill franchise and eager to revisit the bloody story? Do you have hopes for the film or would you rather Tarantino stick with new stuff?

Diane Kruger Is Part of the Boys Club in Basterds

Molly — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 15:30:00 -0700

Inglourious Basterds hits theaters today and has been greeted with some positive reviews - including right here on Buzz, check it out. The past few days I've been sharing interviews from the press junket earlier this month, starting with BJ Novak and Eli Roth. Now here's a bit from one of the few women among the boys club in the film, Diane Kruger. We've highlighted a few of the quotes on PopSugar already, but here's more on what it was like to work with all those guys, especially Quentin.

On working with the guys: It’s fun being one the boys. It’s also fun to have a character that’s rough and get’s down and dirty an not to be this precious little piece that sits in the corner and just sort of stands by the action.

On working with Quentin: I love Pulp Fiction, because I remember I must have been 13 or 14 when it came out and Pulp Fiction is so iconic. And I must say as a young girl when I watched Pam Greer as Jackie Brown I was like, that’s what I want to be, she is so cool. I’ve always thought that his movies empower women and I’ve always liked that about him.

On getting to play a German character: I've never actually played a German in a movie. It was liberating, well not liberating, but it was nice. If I ever have to play a German I want to play Bridget von Hammersmark and bring down the third Reich!

To read more of what Diane had to say just read more.

On what she wants to do next: I like it all. I’m not a huge fan of horror movies - they give me a heart attack. I can’t watch, even Scream, which is funny really I couldn't watch that. I would love to make a full-on comedy. In this movie I was allowed to be quite funny at times and have great lines and I’ve really been looking actively to do something that’s funnier.
On who she based her character on: It’s not one person particular, Quentin was inspired by many different actresses who weren’t necessarily German so he made me watch many different movies. I think it was more a style that was important to him, when you watch films from the '40s it was quite different. It was a little more formal, a little put on. And he really wanted that, when you first see Bridget on screen you have to really know she’s the movie star and when she speaks nobody else does. You also have to feel this sense of fierce, cold intelligence because if you don’t believe that she’s the brains of the operation and that she is actually going to be able to pull this off, then that whole plot falls flat.
On filming graphic scenes: Well the scalping I have to admit, I could not watch. The [most graphic scene] I’m involved in, I automatically have to think of the day we were shooting it. It was so chaotic, my leg got stuck on the actual table due to the movie blood because Quentin was like "Blood, blood, blood" and it dries and it's sugar-based, so I honestly couldn’t get off the table 20 minutes. It was a full-on wax, trust me. It was horrible, and then they have the dogs barking and I’m doing "Vut are you talkin’ about?" Brad going with his funny accent and his finger gets stuck in the wound and then rips the whole thing off 10 times in a row. It was such a funny day that I can’t look at it and go oh that’s awful.

Eli Roth Says Part of the Basterds Prequel Is Already Done

Molly — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 14:15:08 -0700

Inglourious Basterds hits theaters tomorrow, and a couple weekends ago I attended the press junket to hear from a few of the film's stars. Yesterday we shared BJ Novak's interview, and now here's more from Eli Roth. His experience was unique coming to the movie as a friend of Quentin Tarantino's and an accomplished director in his own right. Roth tried his hand at acting, but he also got behind the camera to direct movie-within-a-movie Nation's Pride, which is a Nazi propaganda film that plays an integral role in Basterds. Here's some of what Eli had to say:

On a possible prequel: When Quentin writes, he knows every character in this movie, so he might do the Inglourius Basterds prequel - he’s got most of it written. Brad and I were always like "Prequel! Prequel! Prequel!" So we filmed [my character's backstory], but Quentin said, "I gotta tell you, I love those scenes, but you have the coolest entrance in the movie and it’s just taking away from it." And I was like "Well I don’t want to ruin the grand entrance." He’s like "You have Brad Pitt AND Hitler introducing you! So, you’re set up pretty good in this movie." He says he already has three scenes from the prequel done already. So we may see them someday.
On making the movie as a Jewish actor: I think the death of a lot of these WWII movies is that they get so caught up in the details of being so reverential and precious to the subject matter that they don’t realize how absurd it is to have British people running concentration camps with those accents. There are people speaking in English in these "historically accurate movies." I’m like, what the f*** was that? When my relatives were getting killed I don’t think they heard any English. It’s also important to remember what happened and to make sure it never happens again. It should upset us. If I saw a a swastika and I wasn’t upset that’s where there is a problem. When you go on a set and you know it’s a movie, it’s not like driving through a neighborhood and seeing a swastika painted. That’s where I get really upset. But I will say this, the first time I showed Nation’s Pride to 300 Nazi extras, even though they were in character, my stomach turned. I looked at Quentin and was like, "Oh my god, what have I done? I’ve started the fourth Reich and they're going to make me their Sarah Palin."

To hear more from Eli, including whether he prefers acting or directing, just read more.

On expectations and Tarantino films: Quentin always says that his movies take a couple of viewings to get used to, because people have very specific expectations. If you think about Quentin - he’s continually defied expectations. After Pulp Fiction, nobody expected Jackie Brown and it took people a while to get into the rhythm of it. Quentin said with Kill Bill, the reviews were terrible; everyone says, "Where’s the great Tarantino dialogue?" Then in Kill Bill 2 it was all dialogue and he got bad reviews because everyone asked for the great action from Kill Bill. The challenge of [Basterds] is how to sell it in a 30-second TV spot. We could sit here and talk for two hours and it would be difficult to categorize what the film is, because it’s so many different things and Quentin said, every chapter change, every 20 minutes he wants people saying, "Wait a minute, what movie are we in?"

On acting vs. directing: I actually prefer directing. I mean I love acting, but I get an incredible thrill out of having an idea in my head and seeing people connect to it . . . or throw up from it. The truth is, I did love acting and it was really really fun, but it was a special circumstance. Quentin said "You have another career here if you want it. You are killing it. You’re hitting it out of the park, you really are." And I said, "Well, how am I going to top this experience?" And he said, "Well you might not, but now you have permission to write great parts for yourself." And that is something I think I would do.
On working with his friend Taratino: I know that people are grading me on an extra hard curve. They know I’m friends with Quentin and they know that I’m a director, but I had to very quickly earn the respect of the audience. And it couldn’t be just from lifting weights. People had to see that it's real - that pain, and that anguish and that furor in his eyes as soon as he comes out with a bat. That he just has this murderous rage to kill these Nazis. I really pushed myself like I never have before. In a strange way I think when I come out people are expecting something brutal and we make sure to deliver that in the very first scene.

What Is Your Favorite Tarantino-Directed Film?

BuzzSugar — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 09:30:32 -0700

This week audiences are gearing up for Inglourious Basterds, another dark, funny, bloody, crazy film from Quentin Tarantino. He's had quite the career thus far, earning an enthusiastic following - as well as plenty of haters. I tend to like his films, and I have particular soft spots for Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill: Vol. 1. What is your favorite Tarantino-directed movie?

BJ Novak Attends Tarantino Fantasy Camp and Film School For Inglourious Basterds

Molly — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 12:30:00 -0700

Inglourious Basterds hits theaters this Friday and a few weekends ago I attended the LA press day to hear from a few of the film's stars. Over the next few days leading up to this weekend's release, we'll be bringing you some highlights from the cast starting with BJ Novak who is most familiar as Ryan on The Office. BJ has made a name for himself as a writer, but he was more than happy to bask in his chance to experience Quentin's writing and directing in Berlin last year. Here are some highlights:

On his favorite Tarantino films: I would put Pulp Fiction as maybe my favorite movie. It's certainly the one that influenced me the most and put me on the path that I went on [to become a writer]. To me [it's] like the White Album. You know, I like different things about everything Quentin does, but Pulp Fiction is so much number one that it might as well begin and end there for me.

On the initial meeting about the movie: I remember pacing in the book store across the street, going to the bathroom every ten minutes thinking how to stay cool with Tarantino. It turned into an hour conversation about his films and The Office and the script and whatever else came up. It was a great conversation. When I came in to read the parts, Quentin is such an actor in his heart that he got so wrapped up in who he was reading that he wasn’t paying much attention to what I was doing, which was hugely scary to me because I had really prepared this stuff and I was making certain facial expressions and certain timing and he was literally buried in his own script, sort of blowing me out of the room. The casting director literally interrupted him to say "Hey, I think BJ is doing something really interesting over there."

To see what BJ has to say about Brad Pitt and what sets this apart from Quentin's other work just read more

On Tarantino's directing style: Well, it’s very performative and expressive. What I liked about it was that I signed up for a life experience. I signed up to go to Tarantino Fantasy Camp and that’s what I got. I got the fantasy camp and the film school, just by being in the background holding a machine gun watching him debate something with the director of photography. Or watching him coax a different direction out of Diane Kruger. So that was my favorite part of his directing style is that he is very loud and thoughtful, so I could sort of follow what he was doing and learn from it.
On cast bonding in Germany: We were all kind of a little out of our element being in Germany all on our own. Quentin actually created a little community based around his love of film. He would screen a movie for us once a week - things that inspired him, things that he thought would inspire us, thing that he just happened to have lying around, things connected to people in the production. And there would be posters up like they were made by a dorm RA. He had so much enthusiasm and who’s going to turn down a chance to go to Tarantino Film School? Especially when the alternative is ordering Weiner schnitzel room service in your cold German hotel. So we would go down to this screening room at the studio and watch an obscure movie or even a mainstream movie. Quentin would give a rambling 25 minute introduction that taught you more about films than any class you’d ever taken. There’d be beer and pizza and it was awesome.

On being tempted to suggest rewrites: Never never never. That’s my day job and probably will be my day job for the rest of my life and I figured I probably only had one chance in life to say Tarantino dialogue and I wasn’t going to short change myself there. Not at all.
On why he loves Basterds: It's Pure Tarantino to me in that it blends many different elements perfectly of tension and comedy and dialogue and excitement. And I felt on the set that Quentin The Filmmaker was always trying to outsmart Quentin The Film Fan - he would often talk about what he thought the audience would expect him to do and what he was going to do instead. And I, knowing so much less about film, thought to myself "oh, I wasn’t expecting anything." What really inspired me to be a writer is how he really blends depth and dialogue and comedy with action and violence with sweetness.
On his intense showdown scene: The great thing abut that final showdown scene is that I think my character is as overwhelmed as I would have been. The good news is I’m sitting next to Brad Pitt - the ultimate all American hero who is going to keep his cool - and the bad news is I’m sitting across from one of the great movie villains you can imagine and I’m their prisoner. I think being the third guy in this classic movie showdown was overwhelming and scary for me. And it was completely overwhelming and scary for [my character Utivich] and I think that’s what you see in my eyes.

American Idol Rundown: Seven Cinematic Songs

BuzzSugar — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 07:00:01 -0700

OK, I'm officially annoyed with American Idol. After last week's Lambert-eliminating overtime debacle, the producers decided that this week, to get the show in on time, they'd only let two of the four judges talk for any performance. Then, about five or six performances in, they started to run late and cut even those comments down to single sentences - and the show (not the performances, just Lil and Simon's bickering and the recap) still ran into Fringe. Know what? It's the eighth season of doing live shows. How do they not have this figured out by now? Cut the pre-taped segments and the couch babble, not the actual feedback!

Another thing that bugged me on movie songs night with Quentin Tarantino: the song choice. Overall, it was an hour of blah and Bryan Adams. Nothing against Bryan Adams - I mean, he's got some good movie songs - but an hour of the same power ballads and love songs we hear nearly every Idol season anyway doesn't make for great TV. Even Adam Lambert was relatively tame. Were you also less than thrilled with this episode, or did you find some gems in the seven performances? Don't forget to vote for which singer you think is going home, and to read my thoughts, just read more.

Allison Iraheta - Allison's "rocker girl goes to the movies" pick was the now totally obvious "Don't Want to Miss a Thing." She has the growl for Aerosmith, and she's definitely got the stage presence. The arrangement played it a little safe in terms of letting her sing notes in her comfort zone, but still, another solid outing. Paula said she's vocally distinctive, while Simon said she's the girls' only hope to win.

Anoop Desai - Anoop just sounds the most solid on romantic ballads. Whether he wants to be a crooner or not, the dude totally is, and "(Everything I Do) I Do For You" was another good example of the soulful stuff what he does best. Plus, he looks less awkward and more romantic, which has to help the voting. Randy said Anoop has finally found his place, and Kara was happy to be feeling a connection with him again.

Adam Lambert - Ohh, the punk/electronica version of "Born to Be Wild." That's something I never thought I'd hear but I guess that's what Adam Lambert is for. After last week's quiet "Mad World," he amped things up, worked the stage, flirted with the band, and reminded us of his rocker side. It actually wasn't my favorite vocal of his, but does it matter? Paula said some psychobabble, while Simon said it was a bit too Rocky Horror.

Matt Giraud - "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman" could have been a sexy, breakthrough moment for Matt, but here's the thing: The flip side of him being good at riffing is that he's not great at picking a note and sticking with it, and on this song, that came off warbly, not soulful. Randy and Kara both said that when he chose to change the melody, he also had to make every note perfect - and that didn't happen.

Danny Gokey - I'm harsh on Danny from time to time, but he does have a nice, rich tone to his voice, and "Endless Love" was a smart choice for demonstrating that. I wasn't in love with the harp, gotta say; that made it Disney-cheesy. And it wasn't the most exciting performance. But, again, solid. Paula again praised his unique voice, while Simon was bored by the arrangement but couldn't fault the singing.

Kris Allen - Well, I love this song, and I was so happy to hear a song from a recent movie that I might be utterly biased. But I thought Kris did an admirable job pulling off "Falling Slowly" - especially considering the original is a duet. Randy thought the whole thing was pitchy, but Kara thought it was Kris's best moment on the show.

Lil Rounds - "The Rose" seemed perfectly calculated to show off Lil's vocal range, and it . . . did, but something just seemed off about it. I didn't hear as much of the gospel flavor as Lil had when she sang for Tarantino, and she doesn't seem to be performing with a lot of attack right now. Paula said some unintelligible but positive things, but Simon said Lil's going about this all wrong and isn't the artist they met at the start.

Best of the night: Adam, Anoop, and Danny - and I'm on Kara's side about Kris.

In trouble: Lil and Matt for sure, and I could see Allison ending up there - or even Kris, if the voters agree with Randy and not Kara.

Going home: I have a feeling it's Matt.

Photos courtesy of Fox

Brad Pitt Is a Confirmed Bastard

BuzzSugar — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 10:37:43 -0700

It seems that the rumors have proved to be true, Brad Pitt will star in Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Bastards. As Variety reports, the film, which seems like a slight departure from Tarantino's normal fare, is a WWII drama in which Pitt will play a "Tennessee hillbilly who assembles a team of eight Jewish-American soldiers to take on the Nazis." Interestingly, Pitt's part will also be one of the film's few English-speaking roles, as the majority of it will be shot in French or German with English subtitles.

In addition to the other rumor, that Leonardo DiCaprio is still slated to join, several other actors are now suspected to be cast. Nastassja Kinski may play one of the movie's few female characters, with Simon Pegg in talks to portray a British lieutenant and David Krumholtz (Benji from Superbad) and B.J. Novak (The Office) potentially joining as members of Pitt's army.

This is certainly turning into an interesting project. I'm a fan of Tarantino's work, and with Pitt on board, I'm even more excited. How about you?

Source

Buzz News Roundup, 7/16

BuzzSugar — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:33:58 -0700

Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio may star together in Quentin Tarantino's movie Inglorious Bastards, according to Variety.
ComingSoon reports that Diablo Cody will develop a comedic movie script based on an idea that Steven Spielberg came up with, though no further plot details are available to us at the moment.
Tween alert! The Desperate Housewives kids have officially been recast, writes the Hollywood Reporter.
Autumn Reeser is one of three additions to the cast of Valentine, Inc., a show about Greek gods living among us that will air on the CW this Fall, writes Zap2it.
According to Variety, Danny DeVito will direct The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, with Morgan Freeman, Pierce Brosnan and Saoirse Ronan starring.
The Hollywood Reporter has the scoop on The World's Greatest Dad, an indie comedy in which Robin Williams will star as that great dad.
The Letters from a Nut books, in which a guy writes angry letters to various corporations, are being developed into a TV series for Fox, Reuters reports.
Actor Justin Theroux may be writing the script for Iron Man 2, writes Zap2It.
William Petersen is leaving CSI, The Associated Press reports.

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What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 11:31:06 -0700

All of the new DVD releases hit stores (and Netflix) on Tuesdays. So each week in What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday, I sort through the best of the batch and tell you what to add to your queue.

Grindhouse: Death Proof
Quentin Tarantino's and Robert Rodriguez's double-feature Grindhouse movies, Planet Terror and Death Proof, will be released on separate DVDs, so today's release is just the Tarantino-helmed Death Proof. As a movie, Death Proof is difficult to categorize. It's sort of tribute to stunt-people, and much the way that Kill Bill took the martial arts movie and Tarantinofied it, Death Proof gathers inspiration from car-chase films and horror flicks to invent what feels like an entirely new genre.

The story follows a serial killer who uses his car as a killing machine, but he soon chooses the wrong pack of badass ladies to terrorize on the road. Check out my review for more of my thoughts on both of the Grindhouse features.

The Death Proof "extended and unrated" DVD includes several extra features, including the "missing reel" of Vanessa Ferlito's unseen lap-dance sequence, "Finding Quentin's Gals" featurette, "The Guys of Death Proof" featurette, and "Kurt Russell as Stuntman Mike" featurette.

One more interesting new release today, so read more

"Family Guy" - Volume 5
Well, "Family Guy" fans, if the Stewie-and-Brian Emmys "performance" made you crazy to watch more of the cartoon Rhode Island family, today's your lucky day. Volume 5 of the Fox series promises more of what fans have come to expect: bumbling Peter saying things nobody should be saying, Lois trying to put up with him, Brian the dog offering the voice of reason, everyone hating on Meg and underestimating Chris, and of course, Stewie madly planning to rule the world and off his mother.

This three-disc set includes many special features, such as a ton of deleted scenes, commentary options, a featurette called "Drawing Peter" and a "Freakin' Sweet Promo."

Grindhouse: A Clever Experiment That Succeeds

BuzzSugar — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 13:47:32 -0700

Should you spend three hours of your life indulging two directors’ fanboy fantasies with a parade of gross-out humor, awkward pacing, bad acting, and obscure movie references?

Yes, you absolutely should.

As you've probably heard by now, Grindhouse is actually two movies in one: Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror and Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof. But it's also an ambitious attempt to recreate an obsolete experience - seeing a double-feature at a '70s B-movie parlor, complete with trailers, missing film reels, scratched frames, and the freedom to applaud ass-kicking moments and "ew" over icky ones.

In this regard, collaborators and comrades Rodriguez and Tarantino are entirely successful, and it's highly entertaining to watch how they pull it off, so

I know a lot of you are approaching Grindhouse with total disinterest, but the intentionally over-the-top movie is actually quite thought-provoking. Each director interprets the challenge differently, which makes the film pairing that much more captivating.

The first movie, Rodriguez’s Planet Terror is pure homage - a zombie movie with a modern-day terrorism twist - and, in my opinion, the more successful of the two. It has all the trappings of a B-movie, including choppy editing, a pointless plot, even B-list actors, including Freddy Rodriguez as a vigilante and Rose McGowan as a go-go dancer on a mission. The acting is at once terrible and brilliant - Stacy Ferguson (aka "Fergie") couldn't act her way out of a backseat, and for that reason, she is expertly cast as a troubled motorist.

The problem with actual bad movies is that they have the potential to be really boring. What's impressive about Planet Terror is that it feels authentic without actually being bad. Much the way John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China was both campy and entertaining, Rodriguez manages to make tired B-movie tropes - cliched dialog, blood and guts that might have been purchased at Spencer Gifts - feel surprisingly novel.

But while Planet's influences are obvious, Tarantino’s contribution, a sort of tribute to stunt-people called Death Proof, is harder to get your head around. Much the way that Kill Bill took the martial arts movie and Tarantinofied it, Death Proof gathers inspiration from car-chase films and horror flicks to invent what feels like an entirely new genre.

Oddly, Death Proof also plays like two movies in one, and like Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown, the action unfolds in what looks like a fictional era, blending a '70s aesthetic with modern conveniences like cell phones. Set and shot in Austin, TX - in what feels like an excuse for Tarantino to namecheck lots of local restaurants - the first half follows a group of freewheeling gals on a night out, and though it turns out to be a horror movie, it forgoes the dramatic tension that normally imbues horror movies, so the format feels entirely unfamiliar.

The same thing could be said for part two, which follows another group of girls only tangentially related to the first group. Working on location for a movie, these women - including Kill Bill stunt-woman Zoe Bell, playing herself - morph the movie from horror film into women's revenge flick in a way that's entirely unexpected and also quite jarring.

It would be an impressive trick, but in my opinion, Tarantino doesn't quite pull it off. Rather than work in his favor, the odd pacing makes the disparate plots feel unfinished. At the same time, the trademark Tarantino banter in cars and diners feels watered down compared to some of the genius scenes in Reservoir Dogs and other Tarantino movies. However, I will say that Death Proof feels unlike anything I've ever seen on the big screen - and also like one of those cases where I should wait to see the director's cut.

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