In the past couple of years, no man has so captured public imagination, dared others to dream, to believe, to relax, and to cook.  here are some of my favorite Christopher Walken and Walken related clips, in no particular order.

Annie Hall

Early work for Walken, its hard to believe that he would end up looking like he does today.

The Census

One of C's favorites.

True Romance

Def NSFW, but an excellent scene that showcases some of his darker side.

Weapon of Choice

good song, but a great video!

Three Little Pigs

My one question:  Is the sweater part of the joke?

Chicken with Pears

I had seen Walken and enjoyed him in movies and SNL before but this video is the one that hooked me.  Who knew Walken loved chicken neck?  After seeing this I had to know, what makes the man tic.

The Soldering Iron

Joe Dirt is one of those movies that gets better every time you watch it, and Walken is up to his usual scene stealing antics.

Delilah

no, not that god awful emo song...

Walken Talk 

the only way the clip would be better is if it ended with Russian Roulette.

Le jour de son anniversaire, Clarence Worley rencontre la splendide Alabama dans un cinéma miteux. Coup de foudre immédiat. Après une nuit d'amour, Alabama avoue a Clarence qu'elle a été en fait engagée par le patron de Clarence comme cadeau d'anniversaire. De là va commencer une folle aventure.

J'ai vu ce film quand j'étais jeune. Il est interdit au moins de 16 ans, et je ne les avais pas à l'époque. C'était un de ces jours où mère avait voulu faire respecter son autorité, ce qui veut dire que quand le frangin et la frangine allaient le regarder, moi, je n'avais pas le droit, car pas l'âge (ou tout du moins trop éloigné). Mais bon, mère n'a jamais été ultra impliqué là dedans, c'est juste que de temps en temps, elle se prend l'envie soudaine de faire ce genre de choses, d'essayer d'être une mère responsable. J'ai vu le film ce jour-là, donc, j'ai fini par me mettre en silence devant, sans rien dire, et ce n'était ni le frère, ni la sœur qui allaient me dire quoi que ce soit, ils n'en avaient rien à foutre que je sois là.

Pile le type d'anecdote dont je suis forcément la seule à me rappeler, et un film qui m'a donc marquée. J'ai mis des années avant de le revoir, et j'en gardais surtout la sensation que j'avais eue au premier visionnage. Je spécifie : j'avais adoré, mais je rappelle, j'étais jeune, donc ça avait fait son effet. D'ailleurs, la première fois que je l'ai revue, j'ai presque été déçue, bah ouais, fallait achever le souvenir avant tout autre chose. C'est un syndrome assez régulier chez moi. Cela reste un film que j'aime beaucoup, une histoire romantique que je trouve belle, et son lot de violence pour renforcer le tout.

Je ne suis pas fan de Tarantino, et je ne me suis jamais demandé ce qu'aurais donné le film si cela avait été lui qui l'avait réalisé, car, je m'en contrefiche. Cela n'aurait pas eu le même casting, et Christian Slater serait mort à la fin. Et moi, je suis contente qu'il soit en vie.

]]> http://twoblondeswalkintoablog.wordpress.com/?p=35 Tue, 23 Sep 2008 06:23:00 +0000 twoblondeswalkintoablog http://twoblondeswalkintoablog.bg.wordpress.com/2008/09/22/two-blondes-go-to-a-movie-burn-after-reading/ Two Blondes review a movie and ramble about themselves.

Alison says:

I am a Cohen Brothers fan for one reason… “The Big Lebowski.” It is my favorite movie ever. I have been to Lebowski Fest three times. I even won “Best Maude.” And yes, I am very proud of that. And yes, I would call myself a Cohen Brothers fan and not just because of my love for the Dude. But I didn’t love “Burn After Reading.” I liked it, but no, I will not be attending any festivals dedicated to this film, though I would attend a fan club for Richard Jenkins or J.K. Simmons after their performances in the film.

I was also really impressed with Brad Pitt’s performance There’s no question about Brad’s movie star quotient. It’s big, the biggest. But my favorite BP performances don’t involve him being a super star. It’s his “smaller” side performances that are truly awesome. Let’s rewind to 1993. Brad plays a small role as an LA stoner named Floyd in “True Romance.” He’s hilarious and perfect in this role. Another favorite “small” performance is his role of a crazy guy in “Twelve Monkeys.” He commits to that role fully. Then, there’s his portrayal of Mickey in “Snatch.” And of course we can’t forget “Thelma and Louise,” where the world first learned about Brad’s charm and abs. Maybe I’m just nostalgic for movies from the early 90’s, but I love seeing Brad playing more than just a hot guy. And he does that in “Burn After Reading,” In a scene with John Malkovich, he’s trying to act tough and mysterious. He does these little eye movements that cracked me up. There’s an earnestness and blind optimism that shines through in this character and shows Brad’s got comic chops. I also want to give a shout out to whomever did hair on “Burn After Reading.” Brad’s horribly tacky blond tips were stupendous.

With a lot of movies and TV shows, I usually find myself predicting what’s gonna happen. But I was happily surprised with some of the narrative and the violence in this movie. It felt really good to not know what was coming. But overall the film felt a bit disjointed to me. The whole didn’t always seem to match its parts and I also just didn’t care enough the characters to get super into the movie. I found myself wondering more about who Tinda Swilton’s dermatologist is, rather than being invested in what was happening to the characters.

LA Viewers: This movie is worth paying matinee price at the Grove.
Translation for non-LA viewers: If you can catch a matinee and go half price, go see this movie.

Jessica says:

How do the Coen brothers manage to get such attractive people to agree to look like such…dorks, for lack of a better word, in their films?  It’s impressive.  Brad Pitt actually seems to revel in his character’s dorkiness.  Well, let me back up.  I should probably explain that I am not a huge Coen Brothers fan.  I don’t dislike their work; I’m just not a fan.  I’ve seen Fargo and The Big Lebowski (but only once—I’ve been told I need to see it about three more times to really ‘get it’)*.

So, back to Burn After Reading, for the most part, I thought it was pretty funny.  John Malkovich was as creepy as always, but the performances I enjoyed the most were J.K. Simmons and Richard Jenkins.  I love J.K. Simmons in everything I’ve ever seen him in really.  They are both character actors, so let me help you out with where you might have seen them before:  J.K. Simmons was the dad in Juno and Dr. Skoda on Law & Order and Richard Jenkins was Nathaniel Fisher on Six Feet Under.

Now, I knew I was watching a Coen brothers’ movie and I knew that meant dark comedy and the possibility of some surprising violence.  Yet, somehow I got lulled into a relaxed state by the comedy/spy plot and then BAM you see someone get shot in the head with brain splatter.  That was mildly startling compared to seeing a character get axed in the face in the middle of the street.  I literally jumped and covered my face with my hands when the axe came down.  I’m afraid I really am my mother’s daughter.  She’s been complaining about violence in movies and TV for as long as I can remember and now apparently, so am I.  Oh, yeah, SPOILER ALERT.  Was I supposed to say that at the beginning?

Something about the whole film was just not quite right.  I had issues with the score.  It was written as if the movie was an actual spy thriller.  Imagine the score to The Fugitive and cut to Brad Pitt with frosted highlights sucking from a water bottle.  I’m sure that was supposed to be ironic, but it made me a little uneasy.  I was trying to decide if I was supposed to be horrified that I just saw some get axed in the face or amused.  The feeling I ended up with was uncomfortable.

I recommend seeing it as a matinee.

*Alison vows to remain my friend, despite this fact.

For this 4th installment of "Skyzoo Archives", I present to you "True Romance-2004", produced by 9th Wonder. As some of you may know, 9th and I have a history as far as making dope story joints together (ie: Cloud 9, etc). He's like the Toomp to my TI. This one though is a joint I did before I even met him. It was one of those leaked beats of his that were all over the net back when 9th first popped off. This one is a deep/emotional story joint. Filled with characters, plots, locations, sound effects, the works. I can count on one hand the amount of people who've heard this, so this one is SUPER rare. "True Romance-2004", produced by 9th Wonder. P.S: wait 'til ya'll hear what we did for "The Salvation". Smh. Holla

DOWNLOAD: Skyzoo - True Romance (2004) (prod. 9th Wonder) | MediaFire

It's really not that difficult to switch shit up on a Wordpress blog, but I figured I'd make a post about it anyway. I think the blue color scheme falls more along the lines of the "Air Conditioning" theme anyway. Plus, I like how everything on the right is bulleted. To appropriate Alabama Worley's signature quote, "It's so cool."

Anyway, enjoy! Oh, and the animated pic to the right -- which I created, interweb thieves -- is from last night's hilarious episode of Entourage. How could I have ever doubted Ellin & Co. They're not failures like Jordan Allen. The gang is on a roll.

PS -- Holy fuck, Sex & The City comes out on DVD tomorrow!

I can envision moviegoers exiting “Burn After Reading” with the same befuddlement some have stated upon witnessing Joel and Ethan Coen's Oscar-winning “No Country for Old Men.”

In fact, the directors are gracious enough to have one of the characters (a hilariously deadpan J.K. Simmons) say it for them: “So just what have we learned from all this?”

His fellow C.I.A. officer squirms and kind of shrugs.

I could sense the audience grumbling in agreement.

But I could not join my fellow patrons in their dissatisfaction, for “Reading” was as unexpected, meandering, and precision-crafted as any of the brothers' comedic outputs. And it was a hell of a lot of fun.

In fact, if I may commit an act of heresy amidst my fellow film-loving friends, I had more enjoyable time here than on my initial viewing of “The Big Lebowski.”

While it may fall in the middle of the Coens comedic library (wedged above “The Hudsucker Proxy” and slightly below “Fargo” -- with “Raising Arizona” being the pinnacle, and “The Ladykillers the nadir), it's worth it if only for the inspired insanity they allow from their cast, better known for its dramatic endeavors.

Those who seek sleek narrative construction in a Coen Brothers film are more likely to find an Oscar on the shelf of Larry The Cable Guy. For they have spent the latter part of their careers rearranging the blocks of structure, repeatedly flipping the bird to cinematic expectations.

They make it clear that in “Reading” we are not entering the world in which you and I dwell. It is far distanced from the harsh realism that soaked “No Country.” Sure, they look like humans we may recognize, but they are more akin to live-action cartoons.

John Malkovich plays an uptight C.I.A. Desk monkey named Osbourne Cox who is unceremoniously dumped from his rather slight job within the agency. In a profanity-filled tantrum, he stomps out, threatening to burn things to its foundation with a scathing tell-all. Unfortunately, Cox is but a mere Dilbert-esque drone whose words ring rather hollow to an indifferent employer.

Things are no better at home, either. His zamboni of a wife (Tilda Swinton) icily plows over his every statement, paving over it with her own dilemmas, like, did he pick up the right cheese for the evening's dinner party. She wants things picture-perfect, for one of the guests in Harry Pfarrer (played by George Clooney), a married, philandering Treasury employee proud of the fact that he's never fired his gun in 20 years of service and an apparent connoisseur of hardwood floors.

As their affair deepens, Cox's wife secretly begins amassing information from her husband's various accounts to hand over to her divorce lawyer. The information is compiled on a compact disc that gets left on the floor of Hardbodies Gym, which had the misfortune of having Chad Feldheimer (played by Brad Pitt) and Linda Lidzke (played by Frances McDormand) as employees.

Chad, with hair piled high like an encroaching tidal wave, gets it into his whiffle-ball-like head that this disc's owner must be really important because there are lots of numbers and codes and stuff located within (to Chad, a disc of Sudoku puzzles would be equally confusing). Linda, who longs for a series of expensive plastic surgeries to battle time is more than happy to be his accomplice in trying to extort cash for the found information.

The series of events that unfold are, at turns, hysterical, violent (sometimes simultaneously), irreverent and irrelevant.

It's the enthusiasm in which each actors attacks his or her role that stokes “Reading's” flames. McDormand is so caught up in her attempts at vanity, she's blind to a fellow employee who not-so-subtly longs for her; Clooney successfully hides his striking features under a number of obnoxious tics and crippling paranoia; Malkovich is at his arrogant best, referring to his self-indulgent musings of life at the agency as his phonetically correct “mem-wah.”

But from the moment he bops onto the screen about 20 minutes into the picture, there is no mistaking that this is Pitt's picture. When confined to such dramatic mush as “Seven Years in Tibet,” “Meet Joe Black” and “Legends of the Fall,” the actor can come off as a stilted mannequin, hired more for marquee value. But throughout his career, in smaller roles such as “True Romance,” and “12 Monkeys” when he's able to let his freak flag fly, Pitt's a comedic tsunami. Nowhere is it more evident than in “Reading.”

Chad is a man so blissfully unaware of just how over his head he is when he hatches his plot, it's surprising that he even remembers to wear pants in public.

What you may not find in “Reading” is something that neatly wraps up it's tale in a traditional fashion. For some, this will be unforgivable, but for those who happily vibe along with the cast until, quite literally, the book is closed on this tale, they will find the eccentric comedy is just the right shade of black.

A Review

In Pursuit Of Youth

Edgar Rice Burroughs And Samuel Hopkins Adams

A Review Of Warner Fabian's Flaming Youth

As It Pertained To Edgar Rice Burroughs

by

R.E. Prindle

Texts And Web References:

Warner Fabian (Samuel Hopkins Adams) Flaming Youth, 1923

ERB Personal Library Shelf: A1, ERB Personal Library: Shelf F! @ ERBzine

F. Gwynplaine McIntyre's Review of the movie Flaming youth, 2002

http://.www.imdb.com/title/tt0014045/usercomments

R.E. Prindle, Tales Of Space And Time #2&3

http://www.erbzine.com/mag13/1346.html

     As the 1920s dawned ERB was becoming increasingly restless in his marriage.  That he wished out and was looking around is evidenced by 1918's Tarzan The Untamed in which he had Jane murdered and burnt beyond recognition, identifiable only by her jewelry.  Late in the novel he has Tarzan eyeing another woman.  Perhaps ERB's  constant moving contained a notion of losing Emma.

     While societal changes had been stirring for a few decades it seemed that they all matured under cover of the Great War emerging like a phoenix in its aftermath.  Most importantly sexual attitudes had changed dramatically.  Representative of the changes was the appearance of the flapper.  Thought of as a devil-may-care anything goes girl they were enough to excite any man in his mid-life crisis.

     In 1920 ERB at forty-five would have been in the midst of his.  Life was passing while he was evidently in a marriage he was finding unsatisfactory.  Perhaps it had been unsatisfactory since 1902-04 when he had committed the faux pas which shattered his wife's confidence in him.  He was never to regain it during their marriage.

     While in this state of mind a book was published followed by its movie which lustfully inflamed his imagination.  In 1923 Samuel Hopkins Adams, using the pseudonym Warner Fabian, published his very successful novel, Flaming Youth.  While the book doesn't show up on the best seller lists of either 1923 or 24, from January to June it had gone through nine printings of which my copy is of the ninth, for the year perhaps fifteen or more.  Still couldn't reach the top ten of the charts, must have been a great literary year.  Before the year was out the movie had been made and was in the theatres.

     ERB both had a copy of the the book in his library and had seen the movie at least once, possible, even probably, several times.  If his search for a hot number had been latent before it certainly flamed after.  In 1927 he found his flapper ideal in Florence Gilbert Dearholt.

     While Flaming Youth was a major success in 1923-24 reading it today makes understanding why difficult.  It is not a particularly good book nor really very well written.  Adams appears to have dashed it off taking no pains with it.  Thus rather than being a literary novel it is more of a pulp romance of the type Bernarr Macfadden was making famous in his pulp magazines like True Romance.

     Samuel Hopkins Adams had an interesting career.  Four years older than ERB he lived eight years longer.  He began his career as a journalist writing several articles in 1906 about the patent medicine business which were instrumental in the passage of the Pure Food And Drug Act of that year.  The articles were later issued in book form as The Great American Fraud.  Burroughs' own life would be seriously affected by the Pure Food And Drug Act through his relationship with Dr. Stace.  It was perhaps then he learned about the police and Grand Juries of which he wrote so eloquently.

     Adams' own career prospered as he was very proficient in writing for the movies.  In Flaming Youth he had a double-barreled hit.

     While his title Flaming Youth has entered the vocabulary even as modern youth attempt to 'flame' I found the title somewhat misleading and far better than the story.

     Perhaps Adams proves the adage of H.L. Mencken who flourished at this time when he said 'No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.'  Actually the story reminded me a great deal of Grace Metolious' 1954 novel, Peyton Place.  Adams' book was definitely aimed at the erotic zone of America.  In a rather clever framing device worthy of ERB's best efforts Adams palms Warner Fabian off as a family physician.  I'll quote the frame in its entirety:

A WORD FROM THE WRITER TO THE READER

"Those who know will not tell; those who tell do not know."

     The old saying applies to woman in today's literature.  Women writers when they write of women, evade and conceal and palliate.  Ancestral references, sexual loyalties, dissuade the pen.

     Men writers when they write of women do so without comprehension.  Men understand women only as men choose to have them, with one exception, the family physician.  He knows.  He see through the body and soul.  But he may not tell what he sees.  Professional honour binds him.  Only through the unaccustomed medium of fiction and out of the vatic incense-cloud of pseudonymity may he speak the truth.  Being a physician, I must conceal my identity, and not less securely the identity of those whom I picture.

     There is no such suburb as Dorrisdale...and there are a score of Dorrisdales.  There is no such family as the Fenrisses...and there are a thousand Fenriss families.  For the delineation which I have striven to present, honestly and unreservedly, of the twentieth century woman of the luxury-class I beg only the indulgence permissible to the neophyte's pen.  I have no other apologia to offer.

     To the woman of the period thus set forth, restless, seductive, greedy, discontented, craving sensation, unrestrained, a little morbid, more than a little selfish, slack of mind as she is trim of body, neurotic and vigorous, a worshipper of tinsel gods at perfumed altars, fit mate for the hurried, reckless and cynical man of the age, predestined mother of- what manner of being?  To her I dedicate this study of herself.

                                                                             W.F.

     Whether ERB got sucked in by such persiflage is open to question.  A writer using such flim-flam himself he certainly should have seen through it.  Having been a victim of Samuel Hopkins Adams once when the Pure Food and Drug Act drove he and Stace out of the patent medicine business it is kind of a joke that Adams got him a second time with such drivel under the pseudonym of Dr. Warner Fabian.  It is mind-boggling that Adams did it posing as a medical quack.

     Adams must have learned something along snake oil lines by investigating the patent medicine business.  His 'Word To The Reader' is certainly a lesson in promising much and delivering little.  It appears to be a conscious atempt too.  One must ask if the term Writer in his headline is meant to refer to himself or his alter ego Warner Fabian.  I rather think Fabian as a 'neophyte' would refer to himself as an author while Adams considered himself a professional writer so that Adams may be speaking in his own persona to the reader when he says 'Those who know will not tell...' so that if he does know he won't tell which alerts the perceptive reader to the fact that what he is about to read is a fraud or a put on; '...those who tell do not know.' or alternatively he doesn't know so what you are about to read isn't authentic.

     Further along he says that there is one exception to the rule, as why not? there's always an exception to the rule.  That one exception is the family physician.  He knows.  The only problem with that is that Adams is lying- he is neither the Dr. Warner Fabian he purports to be, while he does admit that Warner Fabian is a pseudonym in any circumstance, nor is he a family physician.  This book is a total medical fraud no less than the patent medicine dealers Adams shut down.  Adams carries the fraud further using the purple prose he employs throughout the book- '...only through the unaccustomed medium of fiction and out of the vatic-incense cloud of pseudonymity may he (the doctor) speak the truth.'

     Anybody here know what vatic means?  Our old friend Mr. Webster says that it relates to the seer and prophecy.  So much for the concept of medical science.  I haven't figure out what the phrase 'vatic incense-cloud of pseudonymity' means yet or maybe we weren't supposed to.  If anyone knows let me know.  However, it sounds not only good but spectacular.  Fabian is only pseudonymous, whatever that means, still he must conceal his identity.  A careful reader understands the pseudonymous doctor is not really Warner Fabian so one wonders why he stresses the point so.

     Adams does tell you that he is not telling the truth as he frankly admits that there is no Dorrisdale but in the metaphoric sense there are twenty of them.  Only twenty in the whole US?  Or twenty in the immediate vicinity of wherever.  Anyway we are to imagine twenty is an infinitude, something like the stars in a clear cold night sky.

     Adams tells us these are very decadent times.  He doesn't compare them to any former times like pre-war Dorrisdales but the times are definitely more decadent than they ever have been before.  There is no actual Fentriss family, closer to the truth, but there is an  allegorical thousand of Fentriss families in the twenty Dorrisdales.   Figure it out, do the math.  Twenty goes into a thousand fifty times.  There are fifty such families in each of these small Dorrisdales the population of which is what?  Two thousand.  Fifty families times six members is three hundred.  As lessers ape greaters we now have twenty totally decadent Dorrisdales.  The whole universe as it were.  Since all these families are apparently having nude parties by their swimming pools as in the story so where's the news?  Who is there left to be shocked?

     The book went through nine printings in six months so somebody didnt get an invitation to these orgies.  I don't know who.  Oh well, not everyone can be in the luxury-class.  Proto Jet set.  Andy Warhol's Factory.  People need orgies for mental health, don't they?  Or do they?

     Let's just say the vatic incense-cloud must have been the devil weed itself burning which sent Adams off on this flight of fancy that captured the imagination of a nation.  Poor old prurient America.  Oh Dr. Freud, please turn off the sex spigot.

     I found the masterful title a misnomer.  The title purports to reveal the antics of modern youth but the only Flaming Youth in the story is Patricia Fentriss- she's a fast one but not that fast, she doesn't go all the way.  Adams is good at setting things up  then not delivering.  Robert Heinlein must have sat at his feet.  In perhaps the book's most famous quote on page 13- 13?, Adams dips his pen into his purple ink well to write:

"That's the measure they dance to, the new generation.  Doesn't it get into your torpid blood, Bob?  Don't you wish you were young again! To be a desperado of twenty?  They're all desperadoes, these kids, all of them with any life in their veins; the girls as well as the boys; maybe even more than the boys.  Even Connie with her eyes of the vestal! Ah!"

     Ah! indeed!

     So who's Adams writing this tripe for?

     The title may be Flaming Youth but the story is about Sputtering Age.  This is a May-September romance.  Burroughs was forty-eight in 1923 Adams was fifty-two.  What yearning for a younger woman occurs in those ages.  Anything to stave off the march of time.  Both men had been raised essentially in the nineteenth century; they must have been thouroughly aroused by the short-skirted flapper of the post-war era.  What lusts did these girls call forth?  Sam may as well have been standing next to ERB at the dance asking:  'Doesn't it get into your torpid blood, Ed?  Don't you wish you were young again?'

     Darn right Ed wished he was young again, but as that wasn't about to happen the next best thing for an oldtimer to do to revive that torpid blood was to get next to one of those young red hot flappers.

     That is what Adams does for himself in Flaming Youth.  The book is not so much about Flaming Youth as to return to the flame of youth.  Adams acquaints Pat Fentriss with a forty-or-so-year-old ultra sophisticate hyper intelligent man of the world named Cary Scott.  Obviously a simulacrum of himself.  As Scott carefully explains to Pat, a good looking body may be good enough for 'the First Dreaming' but she will soon tire of that and her mind in 'the Second Dreaming', this is the family physician who knows the interior working of the female mind talking, will require something more stimulating -like himself.

     The story then actually concerns the trials and tribulations of this romance until it comes to a happy fruition in the end.

     ERB as he was entering the Second Dreaming reached out for a hot young firebrand which he found a short three years later in 1927.

     That was the book.  Hardly a great or even a very good novel but successful enough to cement Adams' reputation.

     The movie which was rushed out by year's end was apparently somewhat different from the book.  The movie made the career of Colleen Moore with whom ERB was to have contact a decade later when he wrote the minature book Tarzan, Jr. for her miniature library in her doll house.

     In researching the movie the consensus was that no copy of the movie had survived.  Then I read that one reel survived.  And then I came across a review of the whole movie on www.imdb.com/title/tt00145045/usercomments by F. Gwynplaine MacIntyre, a London based journalist, who seemed to have seen the movie.

     I contacted him and he advised me that a print did exist.  He advised me by email that: 'I have viewed a partially deteriorted nitrate print of Flaming Youth in Europe, in the private collection of an individual who does not wish to be publicly identified.  The partly deteriorated film includes a few frames of a faded image that appears to be a British exhibition certificate.'

     As an example of what ERB saw Mr. MacIntyre describes the action:

     "Moore plays Pat Fentriss, the spoilt daughter of well-to-do (luxury class in the book) parents who are the 1920s equivalent of "swingers".  Pat's parents are always throwing wild parties, with jazz bands and (Illegal) Prohibition booze and orgies.  Pat wants to join in on the fun, even though she's just barely at the age of sexual consent.  One young man at the parent's pool party shows a sexual interest in Pat until he finds out her age, then he curtly tells her:  "Baby must go back to her cradle."

     "The high point of the movie is a scene at the pool party which shows the male and female guests undressing together for the nude swimming.  The film makers probably wanted to show the guests in full nudity, but didn't dare, so we get a lot of indirect lighting and camera angles, with everybody dressing  in half shadow."

     That part more or less follows the book.  The movie apparently doesn't concentrate on the May -September romance between Cary Scott and Pat.  The nudity would have been enough to get one's torpid blood flowing like Niagara.

     According to Mr. MacIntyre in the movie Pat runs away with a fiddler, hopping a yacht for Europe.  When the violinist, to be culturally correct, makes his move young Pat leaps overboard to escape his advances.  Pretty flaming huh?  With rare good fortune a sailor passing by fishes her out of the briny deep.

     In the book Pat meets a violin player or 'artiste', Leo Stenay.  Adams shows his distaste for the Bohemian style by having Pat reject him because she feared he wore dirty socks.  As with most writers of the period Adams shows his respect for the Diversity by including and referring to many different typs of the Diversity.

     Thus the stimulating part of the movie for a revivifying ERB would have been the nude swimming party.  One would think they would have been much easier to find in Hollywood than in the score of Dorrisdales with their fifty families of the luxury-class, but not for Ed, even though he had just written The Girl From Hollwyood dealing with just such licentiousness.

     Combining the movie version with Cary Scott of the book ERB became a lonely hunter until he met Florence Gilbert Dearholt, a married woman, at which time he discovered the perils of the Second Dreaming.

     One wonders what course his life would have taken if there had been no Samuel Hopkins Adams, no Great American Fraud and no Flaming Youth.  It is strange indeed that a man we have no reason to believe he ever met could have had such a profound effect on his life.  First with his articles condemning the patent medicine manufacturers which may have introduced ERB to the police and Grand Juries and secondly with Flaming Youth that undoubtedly completed ERB's dissatisfaction with his marriage.

     I wonder if ERB ever gave Samuel Hopkins Adams a second thought.

Now the ring is gone, and I have nothing but old memories, journal entries and songs that bring tears to my eyes within only the opening chords (if I am alone, that is). And the sad thing is that I kind of enjoy it. I kind of enjoy being the girl who is stuck in the past. As fast as you moved on, I promised myself I, for once, wouldn't. I haven't, but now I can't help but feel that I am still entrenched in my past.

The romantic feelings are mostly gone, but the memory of the hurt is still fresh. It is so, so hard to open myself back up. I remember all the things we did so well. The things that fooled me into thinking everything was going to be okay. Now I can't trust myself to know again when it is good. To have faith in something being good-- or even the hope that it could be. I sabotage relationships before they even begin.

I'm half the man I used to be.
This I feel as the dawn, it fades to gray...

A friend with weed is a friend indeed.

That is the lesson to be extracted from the latest comedy off the Judd Apatow assembly line, “Pineapple Express.” While it may get anti-marijuana advocates abuzz with consternation, it's a sweet little trip until a dramatic shift to violence quite literally calls the cops to this feel-good party.
“Express” is laced with guffaws and gunplay, and while not as startlingly schizophrenic as this summer's “Hancock,” it still feels as though its personalities are squished together in such a forced fashion, it threatens to disrupt the good vibes it garners through much of the film. And, like all of Apartow's blockbuster comedies before it (“Knocked Up,” Superbad,” “The 40-Year-Old Virgin”), it overstays its welcome by at least 30 minutes.

Imagine, if you will, an entire film devoted to the ganja-clouded escapades of Brad Pitt's Floyd, the moviewestoner he portrayed in Tony Scott's “True Romance (one of Pitt's best, albeit brief, performances on screen). James Franco channels Floyd, but successfully layers him with empathy and a hint of sadness. Franco is perhaps best known as Peter Parker's frenemy in the “Spider-Man” trilogy, as well as generic junk like “Annapolis” and “Flyboys,” which focused more on his Abercrombe and Fitch good looks than his acting chops. In “Express” he hides his sculptured silhouette behind a mop of greasy hair and clothes even a college hamper would reject. As Saul, he's a well-connected dealer who, despite his numerous contacts, remains rather friendless, reduced to surface conversations with his quasi-anonymous clientèle whose illegal purchases makes them more than a tad jittery to hang out for deeper disucssions.

When Dale (played by co-writer Seth Rogan) pops by for his weekly fix, Saul reaches out by not only introducing him to the headlining herb, but shares his beloved concoction, a triple-ended joint that apparently induces a supreme high.

Dale, reluctant at first, humors Saul and doesn't pass up the chance for a token toke. A tiny connection is made before Dale darts off to his thankless gig as a process server that at least provides him the opportunity to blaze up between deliveries.

During one seemingly routine stop, Dale witnesses a murder and, in his drug-clouded escape, manages to smash a couple cars and attract the attention of the killers (Gary Cole and Rosie Perez). When he seeks the aid of Saul in a panic, it sets off a series of successively darker detours into pot-fueled paranoia that, were it not for the comic chops of its supporting cast, would otherwise derail this ride.

Rogan does his best Rogan, meaning he coasts along with his standard understated charm and his proclivity to cling to the bliss of adolescence. It's Franco who brings out the best of the film, operating under the haze of his trade and letting humanity bubble to the surface at all the right (high) times.

But Franco alone could not buoy the picture as it slowly descends into its bloody conclusion. He's helped by the go-to guy for straight-faced snickers Danny McBride, as the link between Saul and the local drug kingpin, as well as Craig Robinson (from “The Office”) and Kevin Corrigan as two henchmen dispatched to extinguish the leads.

Throughout there are throwaway bits that could have easily tightened the two-hour escapade, most notably the romance between Rogan's Dale and his high school girlfriend (yes, she is technically “of age,” but that makes it no less icky). We get that this guy's unable to motivate into adulthood, but the real relationship here is the one he strikes with Saul.

Stylistically, the film breaks free from the relatively staid comedic efforts of recent past, credited to director David Gordon Green, an indie filmmaker whose known more for his dramatic muscle and given the film more flourish than it deserves.

The stoner comedy is one that's typically made on a shoestring and relies heavily on its hazy humor than on plot or artistry (Cheech and Chong, Harold and Kumar, “Half Baked”), and occasionally it will be elevated into headier territory (“Dazed and Confused,” “The Big Lebowski,” “The Wonder Boys”). But this may be the first stoner action film ever made, perhaps because the two adjectives are so diametrically opposed.

“Pineapple Express” would be much easier to inhale if the aftertaste was not so bitter.

Die wichtigen Informationen wurden nur mühsam aus fremden Quellen abgeschrieben. Denn schon seit der Jahrtausendwende war von einem 2. Weltkriegsaction mit Michael Madsen in der Hauptrolle zu lesen. Der Titel: Inglorious Bastards.

Wie allseits bekannt, hat der ehemalige Videothekar nur einen geringen Output an Filmen. Diese erfreuen sich aber einer großen Beliebtheit von Filmfreak- und nerds. Dem breiten Publikum ist wenigstens sein Name ein Begriff.

Seit der ersten Ankündigung für den Film nahm Tarantino hingegen auf dem Regiesessel für "Kill Bill - Volumne 1" (2003), "Kill Bill - Volumne 2" (2004) und "Death Proof" (2007) Platz und half in einer Szene der Comic-Verfilmung "Sin City" (2005) aus. Hinter all diesen und mit Ausnahme des Regiedebuts Tarantinos steckten die Gebrüder Weinstein. Harvey und Bob Weinstein gründeten in den 1980er Jahren Miramax und bauten aus dem Kleinverleih einen sehr erfolgreichen Independent-Verleih in den USA auf. Ihr Geschäftsmodell war der Kauf von kleinen, anspruchsvollen Filmen zu günstigen Konditionen. Miramax beschränkte sich zuerst nur auf den Einkauf von Rechten. Insgesamt war der Independent-Filmbereich gegenüber der heutigen Zeit unterentwickelt. Es Firmen waren selbstständig und die Hollywood-Majors überließen ihnen das Feld.

"Pelle, der Eroberer" (1987) und "Sex, Lügen und Video" (1989) gehörten nur einem kleinen Teil der Filme, für die Miramax mit Filmpreisen belohnt wurde. Das die gewichtigen Brüder sprichwörtlich über kreative Leichen gehen ist in David Biskinds Buch "Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance and the Rise of Independent Film" eindrucksvoll beschrieben. Der Filmwissenschaftler David Bordwell meint dagegen

Peter Biskind spoiled film books. By recycling all the gossip he could dredge up, Biskind deflected attention from the movies and onto the (admittedly, pretty fallible) people behind them.

Als Quentin Tarantino keinen Filmverleih für "Pulp Fiction" (1994) findet - Columbia Pictures besaß ursprünglich eine Option - kamen ihm die Weinstein-Brüder zur Hilfe. Die Weinsteins erhielten im Gegenzug ihren ersten 100 Millionen Dollar-Film. Seitdem hängen sind beide Seiten eng miteinander verwoben.

Als die Weinsteins 2005 aus der von ihnen gegründeten Firma ausschieden, ging Tarantino mit ihnen. (Miramax gehört seit 1993 zum Medienkonzern The Walt Disney Company. Für den lächerlichen Betrag von 40 Millionen Dollar verkauften die Weinsteins damals ihre Firma. Allein die Gewinne aus "Pulp Fiction" sollten den Kaufpreis schon amortisiert haben.)

Doch ohne den finanzkräftigen Konzern im Hintergrund gelang es den Weinsteins bisher nicht an die alten Erfolge anzuknüpfen. Es gab Kassenknüller wie "Scary Movie 4" (2006), aber der Großteil der von den Weinsteins in Auftrag gegebenen Filme waren weder an der Kinokasse Überflieger, noch räumten sie Filmpreise ab wie 1999 mit "Shakespeare in Love". Ihr damaliges Erfolgsrezept war die enge Bindung zu Filmemachern vor und hinter der Kamera über Produktionsverträge.

Wollten die Macher an einem Projekt eines anderen Filmstudios teilhaben, mussten die Konkurrenten entweder die Weinsteins mit ins Boot holen und dafür Verwertungsrechte an deren Firma abtreten. Einige Beispiele waren:

• "Der talentierte Mr. Ripley" (1999) Miramax und Paramount Pictures (Viacom Inc.)
• "All die schönen Pferde" (2000) Miramax und Columbia Pictures (Sony Entertainment)
• "Brigdet Jones Diary" (2001) Miramax und Universal Pictures (bis 2000 Seagram, dann Vivendi Universal, seit 2004 NBC Universal)

In der New York Times war von finanziellen Problemen der Weinstein Company die Rede. Diese wurden von den Eigentümern dementiert. Trotzdem ist es interessant, wie sich die Filmfirma in kurzer Zeit bei zwei sehr prestigträchtige und mit Blockbusterqualitäten ausgestatteten Filmen, finanzielle Hilfe ins Boot holt.

Der eine Film ist "Nine" (2009), einer Musical-Fortsetzung des italienischen Klassikers "8 1/2" (1963) von Federico Fellini. Relativity Media beteiligt sich als Co-Produzent am Film. Regisseur Rob Marshall inszenierte schon "Chicago" (2002), einem kommerziellen und künstelerischen Erfolg während der Miramax-Zeit der Weinsteins.

Der zweite Filme, bei dem sich die Weinstein Company finanziell unterstützen lässt ist Tarantinos "Inglorious Bastards". Tarantino als weltweite Marke plus die laut Gerüchten für die Hauptrollen im Gespräch befindlichen Brad Pitt und Leonardo DiCaprio lassen das Herz jedes Filmunternehmens höher schlagen. Diese Kombination kann nur ein Erfolg werden. Vom Drehbuch sind diejenigen, die es lesen konnten begeistert. Das New York Magazin schrieb:

The script is definitely the ur-text of Quentin Tarantino's career up to now; it combines his love of old movies (war movies, Westerns, and even prewar German cinema), his attraction to powerful female protagonists, his love of chatter, and his willingness to embrace the extreme — visually and in his storytelling.

In einem seperaten Artikel spinnt wünscht sich das New York Magazin für verschiedene Rollen unter anderem Adam Sandler, Eddie Murphy und Sylvester Stallone.

Als außeramerikanischer Verleih ist - laut Branchenblatt Variety - die General Electric-Tochter Universal Pictures der letzte Verhandlungspartner. Dabei tritt die Firma nur als Co-Finanzier auf, ohne am Produktionsprozess direkt beteiligt zu sein. Ursprünglich waren es fünf Verleihunternehmen. Da es nicht so viele weltweit agierende Filmfirmen gibt, saßen die Weinsteins und Tarantino wohl mit allen großen am Tisch: Paramount Pictures (dies war neben Universal Pictures als letzte im Rennen), 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros. und Columbia Pictures. Der Disney-Konzern wird mit seiner Filmabteilung nicht an den Verhandlungen beteiligt gewesen sein. Einerseits wäre ein Tarantino-Film nicht unter dem Disney-Label vermarktbar, andererseits sind die Animositäten der Vergangenheit sicher noch nicht ausgestanden. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) kommt ebenfalls nicht in Frage, da diese für ihre eigenen Filme die internationalen Dependancen der 20th Century Fox nutzt.

"Nine" und "Inglorious Bastards" waren auch die beiden einzigen Filme, die in einem Variety-Bericht über einen Output-Deal im US-Pay-TV genannt wurden. Erstmals seit ihrer Gründung werden die Weinstein-Brüder ihre Filme direkt an einen Bezahlsender los. Vorher nutzten sie den Outputdeal von MGM mit Showtime Networks. Jetzt arbeiten die Weinsteins direkt mit diesen zusammen.

Gerade weil die beide Filme so wichtig für das Prestige und auch den Geldbeutel der Firma sind, ist ein Teilverkauf der Rechte so unverständlich. Aber davon wird im deutschen Blätterwald niemand etwas lesen. Auch wird nicht wichtig sein, wie der Film entsteht und wie Bedeutsam dieser für die deutsche Filmindustrie sein kann, noch welche künstlerische Perle mitten in Europa als Mischung aus "Das dreckige Dutzend" (1967) und "Agenten sterben einsam" (1968) entstehen wird. Wichtig ist nur das richtige und teuer verkaufbare Foto von Tarantino, DiCaprio und Pitt (nebst Anhang). Es scheint, die Konstruktion des Deutschen Filmfonds war nur zur Beschaffung von Inhalten für deutsche Pressehäuser. Schade eigentlich, womit sich Journalisten so beschäftigen.

ROMANCE DE VERDADE

            A melhor expressão para definir o estado de espírito de Rose era “radiante”. Ela tinha vivido um final de semana maravilhoso ao lado de Peter, com direito a café de manhã da cama, flores por toda a casa e outras coisas mais... Fazei meses que não se sentia tão bem, tão feliz, tão amada por um homem. Peter tinha saído de seu apartamento contrariado por ter que ficar algumas horas longe de sua amada, mas alguém precisava trabalhar para pagar as contas. Foi nessa hora que Rose recolheu os poucos fios de cabelo que Peter tinha deixado cair no seu banheiro e colocou em um saco plástico. Guardou o saco dentro de sua bolsa, arrumou-se com um vestido leve e saiu para a cidade.

            Depois de sair do metrô seguiu em direção a um edifico baixo e encardido pela poluição. Era um prédio velho e meio decadente, mas por opção dos seus proprietários e não por falta de recursos. Cada andar tinha apenas duas salas, cada sala uma empresa especial, No segundo andar a porta de vidro à esquerda tinha as seguintes letras escritas em suave tinta dourada: “Oráculo S/A”. Do lado oposto uma pesada porta de madeira parecia emoldurar a placa de metal escura: “Benção Moderna – Prestação de serviços”. Rose sabia muito bem o que acontecia na porta à sua direita, e sabia que nunca teria necessidade de cruzá-la.  Confiante e alegre abriu a porta de vidro e entrou na sala aconchegante e bem iluminada. Havia apenas uma mesa, atrás da qual um homem baixo e careca estava sentado olhando através de grossos óculos uma placa de cristal cuidadosamente esculpida, com seus delicados símbolos parecendo flutuar no ar. Ele levantou os olhos e sorriu alegremente para sua visita.

            - Bom dia, senhorita, em que posso ajudá-la?

            Rose retribuiu o sorriso e sentou-se na cadeira a sua frente. Tirou o saco plástico da bolsa e o entregou ao homem.

            - Gostaria de testar meu futuro com esse homem. Poderia ser agora?

            - Sim, sim, nesse horário temos poucos clientes. Será um prazer ajudar. Vamos em frente?

            Rose acenou a cabeça em concordância e observou atentamente o que acontecia. O homem baixo tirou os fios de cabelo e os colocou sobre a placa de cristal. Depois pediu para que Rose colocar sua mão sobre a placa e fizesse silêncio. Após alguns instantes um calor agradável começou a subir pela mão de Rose enquanto uma nuvem tênue surgiu bem diante dos seus olhos. Ela admirava fascinada o que via. O homem baixo apertou os olhos e começou a dizer quase num sussurro:

            - Sim, posso vê-lo... Peter, não? Trabalha com engenharia, com obras... Não fuma, pratica esportes... Sim, um bom homem. Ele a trata muito bem, respeita suas opiniões... Gosta da sua comida, isso é importante!

            Rose sorria como uma criança numa loja de brinquedos. Mas esse era o presente, o que o futuro lhe reservava? O homem baixo continuou a falar:

            - Vejo uma grande festa, cheia de convidados, de comida, de alegria... O casamento de vocês! Vejo uma relação cheia de calor, de vida... Vocês são felizes, tudo corre muito bem... Uma criança... Sim, uma menina, com os seus olhos e o sorriso do pai, meus parabéns! Vocês se mudam... Seu trabalho pede isso... Uma casa grande, com piscina, uma boa vizinhança... Mais uma criança, um menino dessa vez. Muita alegria a felicidade...

            Lágrimas rolavam pelo rosto de Rose. Ela não conseguia contar o júbilo que fervilhava no seu coração. Ouvia tudo o que queria, seus sonhos se materializavam bem a sua frente. Estava pronta para tirar sua mão da placa de cristal e pagar os serviços do Oráculo quando o homem baixo retesou-se na cadeira e abriu os olhos assustado. Sua expressão fez com que Rose ficasse imediatamente alerta.

            - O que aconteceu? O que o senhor viu? Diga-me, por favor!

            O homem baixo mordeu nervosamente o lábio inferior e olhou com piedade para Rose, Soltando lentamente o ar ele voltou seus olhos para a nuvem.

            - No futuro, com seus filhos já crescidos... Uma outra mulher, jovem, esguia, cheia de vida... Um romance passageiro que cresce... Você descobre e não suporta a traição. Dor, tristeza, sofrimento. Você se refugia no álcool e se afasta cada vez mais de Peter... Ele tenta voltar atrás mas é muito tarde para vocês. Separação, divórcio... Tudo está escuro agora... Escuro, frio e triste... É tarde, tarde demais para você... Sinto muito.

            O choque foi tão forte que Rose sentiu o chão desaparecer sob seus pés. As lágrimas que antes eram de alegria se transformaram em dolorosas lágrimas de tristeza e dor. Como ele poderia fazer isso com ela, como? Ela daria tudo o que ele precisaria na vida, e ainda assim ele a trairia! Como ela pode escolher um homem tão baixo a ponto de trair e enganar uma mulher que lhe daria os seus melhores anos de vida? O homem baixo sabia o que se passava com Rose e depositou gentilmente sua mão sobre a dela.

            - Você precisa saber que tudo o que vi está muito distante no futuro, minha jovem. Mais de 20 anos a partir de hoje. Nesse tempo muita coisa pode acontecer... E vi que vocês serão muito felizes por muitos, muitos anos. Não deixe que uma probabilidade estrague o que você sente hoje por este jovem.

            Mas Rose não ouvia nada do que ele falava. Seu coração antes cheio de amor e esperança agora se transformara numa pedra fria e sombria. Tirou a carteira da bolsa e jogou algumas notas para o homem baixo. Ele suspirou e pegou o dinheiro. Tirou os fios de cabelo de Peter da placa e os colocou de volta no saco plástico, mas Rose recusou-se a pegá-los. Virou as costas para o Oráculo e saiu apressadamente da sala. Ao chegar ao corredor sentiu como se toda a dor e sofrimento do mundo caíssem sobre sua cabeça e desejou nunca ter encontrado Peter antes. Como ele poderia fazer aquilo! Rose sabia que a dor passaria um dia, que ela encontraria seu verdadeiro amor um dia, mas isso não era de nenhuma ajuda agora. Levantou os olhos e viu bem a sua frente a pesada porta de madeira da outra empresa do andar, “Benção Moderna – Prestação de serviços”. Ela sabia o que acontecia naquela sala mesmo sem nunca ter estado lá. Era o lugar aonde pessoas desesperadas iam para ter suas memórias apagadas, para tirar de dentro de si a dor que não ia embora. Era o lugar onde se conseguia a benção moderna: a ignorância da realidade. Rose sabia que essa dor – de uma traição que ainda nem acontecera - seria muito difícil de enfrentar e num instante tomou sua decisão. Peter precisava desaparecer de sua memória, de seu coração. Respirando fundo Rose deus passos rápidos para atravessar o corredor e com um movimento brusco abriu a porta e entrou na sala decorada com móveis pesados e rústicos. Várias pessoas escuras e tristes estavam sentadas em sofás escuros e tristes, enquanto uma mulher idosa conferia pilhas de papéis sobre uma velha mesa metálica. A mulher levantou seus olhos e sorriu maliciosamente para Rose. Ela sentiu um calafrio percorrer seu corpo quando ouviu sua voz áspera e fria:

- Olá, Rose. Não esperava vê-la tão cedo...

Ternyata, Semua orang ada di sini. Tony Scott (Deja Vu, Spy Game), Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill), Slater, Hopper, Kilmer, Oldman, Walken, Pitt dan..Samuel L. Jackson (ini orang hampir selalu tampil di film-film rame tapi selalu jadi pemeran pendukung..umm..kecuali di Snake on a Plane dan Black Snake Moan).

Yeah, seperti kata orang, 'love is the only elixir in life'. Kalau sudah waktunya, hanya dibutuhkan satu event buat dua orang bisa saling jatuh cinta dan tak terpisahkan. But the mystery is, you never know when, how, and where you are going to find it. Only if it finds you, you'll have to take it, or somehow you will be forced to take it. It's part of His game....

Saya dulu sekali rasanya sudah pernah nonton film ini tapi suka ketukar dengan filmnya Slater yang lain : Bed of Roses. Ternyata yang ini jauh judul dengan isinya. Isinya pure Tarantino : action, shot 'em up, kung-fu dan..explicit languages. Banyak bintang hanya muncul sesaat, seperti Samuel L. Jackson yang muncul paling berapa detik, omong jorok dan..dead. Tapi paling asik melihat pasangan ini yang kompak seberapapun intrik-intrik yang muncul .

Selain itu, OST film ini banyak memuat lagu-lagu bagus.

On Tuesday, bouquets of flowers lay behind police tape outside the brick townhouse where Laurent Bonomo and Gabriel Ferez, both 23, were killed.

One note expressed hope that they had not died in vain: "Maybe something will be done," it said.

Detectives were questioning a 33-year-old man who surrendered Monday after police released a description of a man seen running from the area on the day of the killings.

10. Sex Machine - From Dusk Till Dawn
His character may be small and short lived, but he does carry a gun on his crotch, which in my opinion warrants his inclusion into the list. Plus, he kicks some serioius Mexican Vampire ASS!

 9. Jackie Brown - Jackie Brown
Jackie Brown is a prime example of what Quentin Tarantino does best... resurrecting forgotten stars. Pam Grier's career may have not exactly takin off on a second wind after this movie, but she did prove that she hadn't lost her "foxyness," and she has QT to thank for that oppurtunity.

 8. Mr. White - Reservoir Dogs
This seasoned and experienced theif may have showed his softer side in befriending and defending Mr. Orange, but that doesn't change the fact that he will drop any motherfucker who gets in his face.

 7. Stuntman Mike - Death Proof
Creepy, perverted, and built for speed! The fact that he has to total a car in order to get off only proves that this man has been around a few times. Think about it, how many different acts of sex do you think this guy has experienced in order to have to stage epic auto collisions in order to ejaculate?

 6. Butch Coolidge - Pulp Fiction
Anybody who has the balls to rip off the mafia and get away with it has bad ass written all over him.

 5. Mr. Blonde - Reservoir Dogs
"Are you gonna bark all day, little doggy, or are you gonna bite?" 'Nuff said.

 4. Clarence - True Romance
Probably Tarantino's most personal character to date. He's said before that this movie is somewhat autobiographical in the sense that he put so much of himself into the Clarence character, and that shows!

 
 3. Winston "The Wolf" Wolfe - Pulp Fiction
He's mean, and he cleans! And he gets shit done!

 2. Beatrix Kiddo/The Bride/Black Mamba - Kill Bill Vol 1 & 2
This list doesn't have to be exclusive to men, case in point... The Bride.

 1. Jules Winnfield - Pulp Fiction
Why? Because his wallet says so... that's why!

So I stumbled upon a video on youtube today that left me giddy in nerd satisfaction. In case you're unfamiliar with the story behind True Romance, Tarantino's original script didn't have Clarence surviving the shootout, and Alabama eventually met up with Mr. White from Reservoir Dogs and goes on a crime spree, thus the Alabama reference in Reservior Dogs. But this video contains the original ending, as well as an audio explaination by director Tony Scott defending his decision to change the ending. FREAKIN SWEET!!

I have no idea where this video came from, but it's not on the version of the DVD that I own. If anybody can tell me where I can find I would greatly appreciate it.

“Back from hiatus in Napoli……by popular demand (of one)……fresh with a current job length of almost 6 months…….enough of that gibberish.

Something I promised long ago, that is being kept to my one dear reader. My critique of one of the most underrated movies of all time……True Romance. Now, there are so many reasons why this is true, so let’s jump right in.

1. The cast: So many actors at the top of their game, badass personas across the board. Pitt as a the quintessential stoner, hilariously throughout. His best role/acting job to date. Not only is Slater bearable, he shines. Walken in a true Walken role, not just a caricature of one he's been playing for years.

2. Michael Rapaport is actually good AND funny in it. Enough said.

3. Michael Rapaport is actually good AND funny. I don’t think you realize how huge this is. Have you seen War at Home?

4. I wish someone would shoot Home in a Bodybag. I want to see that flick by a coked out director.

5. “I like ya Clarence. Always have, always will.”

6. Script by Tarantino.

Lets digest that last one for a bit, for it is the basis of my argument. This movie was set up to be Tarantino’s masterpiece. Think about it. The cast is perfect for a Tarantino flick. Walken, Gandolfini, Nice Guy Eddie, Jack Scagnetti, Dennis Hopper, Ice Man, Christian Slater, Gary Oldman, Jules Winfield, the list literally is disgusting. Now lets pretend for a moment that Tarantino didn’t have to sell this script to finance Reservoir Dogs. This script, this exact cast, with QT at the helm? Maaaaasster Piece!!! Not even close. Clarence dies in the original script; a much better ending. Alabama gets away alone with the cash. Tarantino bringing out the best in all these already incredible actors. Best pic, 1993. Throw a couple nods in there for Slater, Pitt, Hopper, and Arquette. Remembered as QT’s Pulp Fiction, instead of just a great cult classic that everyone likes to quote. Well at least the cool people do. Think of how great this movie is already, and Tony fucking Scott directed it. Case closed.