The Night of the Hunter

Every christmas my brother and I exchange movies. Usually a film from the most specific categories, something you wouldn't be able to find easily, and have probably never heard of. This annual tradition has yielded some of the greatest films I have seen. One of my favorites to come out of this exchange was a film called "The Night of the Hunter"directed by Charles Laughton (one of the two films he directed). As usual with these gifts, I wondered how he could have possibly found this and why he selected it as this years gift (we always do extensive research before making our purchases). He said "I read the description and it seemed horrifying". And it was. But not in the way that a horror film is scary, but in the way that it builds an eerie suspense that leaves a bad feeling in the pit of your stomach.

The story goes something like this: A man goes to jail for robbery, and leaves the money he'd stolen hidden somewhere with his children. The only person he tells about this is his cellmate, Reverend Harry Powell, a serial killer with the words love and hate tattooed on his knuckles. When the man gets executed for his crimes, Powell decides to try and seduce his wife in order to get the kids to spill the beans. This may not sound like that horrifying of a film, compared to today, but it really really is.

Like with most great films each frame tells the whole story. Just look at how terrifying these images are, even without know the story, they are chilling:

The expressionistic lighting and cinematography (done by Stanley Cortez) builds the unsettling mood. Sound is also a big part of this film, in the same way that the music in Jaws, lets the audience know that something is off, the Rev. Powell's singing acts as a warning that things are going to get ugly. Watching this horrible, creepy man terrorize these children, chasing them into attics, and pursuing them down the Ohio river, is more suspenseful and terrifying than any slasher film. This is one of those films that really gets under your skin, and makes you feel ill. It depends on all of the elements of film to bring out the horror, something I wish more films would do today.

Here's a clip that shows what I mean. The extreme dramatic lighting in this scene really makes it. It heightens the mood and the suspense, and without it the scene would not be nearly as successful.

What Has Happened to Horror?

Apologies in advance for cluttering the blog with yet another post on horror cinema, but I attended a screening recently that reminded me of a topic that has been bouncing around in my head for some time now.

So, in my last post, I mentioned that I would be seeing The Exorcist at Cornell Cinema on Saturday. It was my first time experiencing the horror classic and it should come as a surprise to no one that I thought it lived up to the hype. The film was extraordinary- a slow burn character drama with a heavily atmospheric supernatural spin. However, despite being impressed, I never found myself to be scared, at least not in the way I expected to be. Having seen the endless parodies and copycats produced since the film's release, I was desensitized to the terror on screen, but still drawn to it, fascinated, studying how it worked. Compared to modern mainstream horror, the pacing was unnatural and the beats were unusual. There was a distinct absence of jump scares and the thrust of the film was clearly toward its tragic narrative and the complex characters that inhabited it. How radical that must seem now, as Hollywood appears to have it the other way around these days.

This all leads to the question: "What has happened to horror?" Obviously, the genre is still thriving and will continue to thrive as long as cinema exists and people still have the capacity to be afraid. No, what I'm getting at is the exact nature of contemporary horror, at least as far as Hollywood is concerned. It may be unfair to say this, but: Where has the creativity gone? What has become of the genre's formerly radical position? Every year, plenty of horror films come out of the the studio system, but rarely do they have something new to offer. When it isn't the same possession film we've seen a million times (The Last Exorcism, The Devil Inside, Devil's Due, Deliver Us From Evil, The Rite, The Possession), it's another derivative, unnecessary found footage attempt (Apollo 18, Chernobyl Diaries, As Above So Below) or worst of all, yet another remake, reboot, sequel or prequel to a beloved horror series (Too many to list). How many times must we revisit The Texas Chainsaw story? Does Michael Myers need to be resurrected again? Did anyone ask for a prequel to The Thing or a sequel to The Blair Witch Project?

The last horror icon?

How about some new icons of slashers and chillers? I know it's easier said than done, but I'd appreciate the effort at the very least. When was the last time an iconic character was created in the genre? Jigsaw? That was 10 years ago! Captain Spaulding? 11 years ago. And before that? Ghostface (18 years back)? Chucky (26 years)?

I think it's time we stop re-doing and ripping off old classics. Take a chance, Hollywood! Horror is possibly the cheapest type of film to make precisely because of the absence of stars, elaborate sets and big-time effects. In this day and age, it's rare for a horror movie not to make a profit because most of them are made for almost nothing. Look at the recent film, Oujia, for example. Critics hated it and I have yet to speak to a single general audience member who liked it, but financially, it was a huge success because it was made on $5 million, eventually grossing almost 10 times that figure. As Above So Below was made for the same amount and opened to mediocre reception from audiences and critics...it made 8 times its budget. Do I need to go on? Last year's Dark Skies made $26 million at the box office. That would be a fairly sad number for most films, but when your production cost $3.5 million, it's pretty fantastic. What I'm saying is: there isn't much room for a loss, so why don't studios take a chance on more original material? Some of the genre's biggest game-changers were made for nothing and went on to become enormous hits (A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Blair Witch Project, The Evil Dead, Saw, Paranormal Activity...all made for less than $2 million, most for less than $1 million).

Last to mention is a type of horror cinema that seems to be going extinct in Hollywood. About two months ago, I watched The Changeling. Made in 1980 and starring George C. Scott, it was a solid haunted house film rooted more deeply in its storytelling and grief-stricken main character than the scares it produced (Kind of like the approach The Exorcist had). Unfortunately, films like The Changeling are barely attempted anymore and when they are, it's done by independent filmmakers, their work only occasionally picked up for wide distribution (See: this year's Oculus or The Babadook). Is it just to be expected that our rapid consumption, instant gratification-based society would not be able to handle such internal, psychological material? I'd like to think that isn't the case. Even with the dominance of "quiet, quiet, boo scares, " I want to believe that if The Exorcist opened today, it would still be a hit, but then again, maybe people would call it "boring" and "slow" and it would fly under the radar...Food for thought, most definitely.

Leonardo DiCaprio and the elusive Oscar

       Leonardo DiCaprio is considered one of the best-known actors of not only our generation but of all time. He started on the screen as a child actor over twenty years ago on the television show Growing Pains and still continues to wow audiences to present day. But even though Leonardo DiCaprio is arguably at the utmost highest caliber of actors he still does not possess an Oscar. The Oscar is considered the universally standard recognition of top quality performance in the American cinema industry, especially for acting, and yet it still has evaded DiCaprio’s grasp. Though he has been nominated five times already for an Oscar, once as a producer, once as best supporting actor, and three times for the best actor category he just never ends up on top.  

        It is true that Leonardo Dicaprio’s movies are brilliantly written but most times it is his enlightened acting that shines as the most prominent strength of the film. It is DiCaprio’s acting that for the large part makes the film memorable, which is why directors haven chosen him in their films. Some of DiCaprio's greatest films are: 

Titanic(1997)

Inception (2010)

Shutter Island (2010)

The Departed (2006)

Aviator (2004)

Gangs of New York (2002)

       A highly debated argument on why Leonardo DiCaprio has not won an Oscar is he is not that “type” of actor, as in contemporary rather than traditional. There are certain actors who are considered “cool” actors, ones who are successful and talented but they aren’t traditional actors or method actors. Actors similar to DiCaprio such as Samuel L. Jackson, Brad Pitt or Jonny Depp, who play thoroughly entertaining characters more centered toward teens and mid-20s audiences. 

       The unofficial standard for this coolness is the Pitt-Hanks spectrum, this predicts the likelihood of an actor to win an Oscar, the closer to “cool” Pitt the less likely to win. Actors who play characters who are perceived as weaker, or closer to a relatable person are the ones more likely to win. There are many issues with this ideology of cool actors not winning; it severely hinders actors experimenting with roles that don’t qualify as “Oscar worthy.” Although it is set that a certain character will win should indicate that actors should strive toward those characters is pretty intuitive, that should not be the basis of the win.        
       
          But regardless of academy award status and not being officially recognized by the academy itself, DiCaprio realizes thats not what it means to be a good actor and has been extremely positive about it all.    

Freaks and Geeks: The Best Cancelled Television Show in History

Freaks and Geeks is probably one of the best, well scripted television shows that our generation has had the pleasure to see. It was THE show that launched a lot of their cast into fame: James Franco, Seth Rogen, Jason Segal, John Daley, Linda Cardellini, and Martin Starr, just to name a few. And if the cast wasn't enough to prove why this show was great, here's just some other reasons.

1. You can relate to it and it's realistic. 

One of the reasons why the show got cancelled was because Garth Ancier (former NBC executive who cancelled the show) thought that the problem with the show was that neither the freaks or geeks win. But that's what made the show amazing. The freaks are the outcast in the schools, the nobodies, the kids who probably won't go to college. The geeks were the kids that got bullied, all the girls were at least a foot taller than them, and they sometimes tried to hard to fit in. The issues that the show dealt with were issues that everyone could relate to, or know someone that went through that experience: being picked last for a team in gym, crushes, puberty questions, cheating on a test, and even being too old to go trick or treating on Halloween.

The dialogue in the show is another reason why it's so good. Everyone that was in the show were teenagers to begin with, and they spoke like actual teenagers. None of the lines ever felt forced. And all the characters have flaws, like REAL flaws. And they deal with those flaws realistically, which means sometimes you can't have what you want. There weren't any miracles in the show to save them, and that's why I think as an audience, we were okay that the freaks and geeks didn't win.

2. The cast & cameo appearances are great.

You can't really have a better cast than the ones that are already in the show. And it's no surprise, almost everyone in the show has gone off to do big things in the film industry. The actors all fit their characters spot on, and they're all unique in their own way. Linda Cardellini plays the sweetheart, stuck between the freaks and geeks Lindsay Weir. She struggles in high school with not knowing what she wants to do, balancing life between being smarter than everyone else but choosing to be friends with the kids who struggle themselves with grades. Her dorky brother Sam Weir played by John Francis Daley is the subject of bullying in high school and gets asked a lot, "Are you a middle schooler?" James Franco, Seth Rogen, Jason Segal, and Busy Philipps are considered the 'freaks' in the high school, and even though they may look like they don't care about their grades, they still have real feelings and emotions we can relate to. There's even some pretty cool cameo appearances like Ben Stiller who plays Agent Meara, Shia LaBeouf who plays Herbert or the high school's mascot, and Jason Shwartzman. 

3. It's hilarious.

With witty lines and character flaws, the show is guaranteed laughs. If you don't believe me, just take a look at this clip:

 

A History of Animation: Pocket Version

I signed up for ACP: Animation next semester, and I've just been curious about animation as a whole ever since. I know that I have quite a few cartoons that I've consumed under my belt, but that doesn't mean I know the first thing about animation or it's complex histories. How long is the "history" of animation anyway?

Turns out, the first animation came out fourteen years after the first film (Fred Ott's Sneeze, 1894). Straight out of France, Fantasmagorie is known as the first animated short film by Emile Cohl. (1908)

Whenever I'm feeling overwhelmed in class next semester and want nothing more than to throw in the towel, I am going to remind myself that when Walt Disney was my age (20) he had begun his first animation company. He called it "Laugh-O-Grams" and it crashed and burned very shortly after taking off. Four years later good ol' Walt made Steamboat Willie which featured the famous Mickey Mouse for the first time. It may come as no surprise that Walts newest creation took off big time. I know it may be cheesy to see Walt Disney as an inspiration, but we all know how easy it is to give up when things don't work out. And personally, I'm pleased as punch I have a plethora of animated princesses that pranced their way through my childhood. I'm going to try and let the fact that he didn't let Laugh-O-Grams discourage him, to get me through learning new and complicated software.

Speaking of Disney, did you know that The Looney Tunes was originally a spin-off of Silly Symphonies; an animation produced by Disney? However, it just so happened to grow into it's own giant franchise and life of it's own like wildfire.

I also had no idea that Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the first official feature length animated film to be released. That's less than 80 years ago!

The biggest game changer to the animated world was easily when Apple computers created 3-D films. In 1995 Toy Story was released as "Babies First 3-D Film" and it's done so well a fourth one is rumored to be released. The animated world has never been the same since. It's debatable as to which reigns supreme (3-D or 2-D?). What's undoubtable is how incredibly far animation has evolved in less than a century. 

30 Rock, just the best show ever... nbd

Tina Fey's brain child, 30 Rock, is without a doubt a strange beast, but one of my most favorite, and in my opinion one of the best sitcoms ever. I have watched the entirety of the show more times than i can count, and still laugh out loud at every episode, even ones where i know all the jokes (which is most of them). 30 rock is a strange combination of unrelenting humor, heartwarming story-lines, insane plot twists, and calls attention to the fact that it is a show constantly,  for all intensive purposes this show should not work, but it does. For all those who haven't seen it (even though you should have, like really should have, like go watch it right now) the show revolves around Liz Lemon, played by the always amazing Tina Fey. Liz is the head writer of a some what low rated comedy show, in the same idea of a less successful SNL, called The girlie show. the show starts with Liz getting a new boss, Jack Donaghy, played by Alec Baldwin, who suggests that she should hire Tracy Jordan, played by Tracy Morgan, an A-list Comedy star to boost the shows ratings. So basically its a comedy show about a comedy show, that revolves around the fact that it pokes fun at its self and the industry insistently, its perfect and here are 5 episodes that prove it.



1. Tracy Does Conan (season 1, Episode 7)
To many, This is the first truly great episode of the show, that showed what 30 Rock would grow into. in this episode, Tracy is ambivalently booked on the Conan show, to promote his new movie and TGS, despite trying to stab Conan the last time he was on the show. however, tracy is off his meds and is new ones are causing him to hallucinate (not great for Conan). This epode is great for a multitude of reasons. firstly, the character development. Liz is trying to break up with her  current horrible boyfriend, but decides to stay with him because it is easier than starting over. however the best part about this episode is that it introduced my personal favorite reoccurring character on the show, Dr. Leo Spaceman played by Chris Parnell. His questionable morals and medical skills provide perhaps the funniest lines in the whole series.

2. The Rural Juror (Season 1, Episode 10)
This episode is by far one of the best episodes of the first season, and again show what the show would eventually evolve into. This Episode mainly (and I say mainly because every episode has many, many, sub plot lines) revolves around Jenna Maroney, the original star of the Girlie show, played by Jane Kraowski, and her appearance in the film adaptation of a "Kevin Grisham" novel (yes, John's brother) entitled the Rural Juror. One running gag of the episode is that no one actually knows the title of the film, although there were some good guesses, including "the Oral Germ Whore". This Episode also deals with Tracy and Jack trying to market The "Tracy Morgan Meat Machine" a Gorge Foreman Grill type invention. however the Meat Machine is made poorly and shoots out hot oil. as a result,  it can only be sold in the Ukraine, and is eventually endorsed by Whoopi Goldberg. Despite this episode being absolutely hilarious, it is also the first time in the show that there is any character development, and it really worked.

3.  Gavin Volure (season 3, Episode 4)
Its no wonder this episode is on my list, you cant really go wrong with a guest star like Steve Martin. In This brilliant Episode, he plays an billionaire agoraphobe named Gavin Volure, who wile at a dinner party, finds Liz so attractive that he asks her to spend the weekend with him in his mansion, too good to be true right? Right. In a true 30 Rock plot twist, it turns out that Gavin is actually not who he seems. he is under house arrest for fraud, arson, embezzlement, and racketeering, and only invited Liz for the weekend to attempt escape. This episode exemplifies the great acting talent of all cast members on the show, and has some great satire, with Gavin representing a number of Wall street crooks. there is also a side plot involving a strangely life like Japanese sex doll of Tracy.

4. Dealbreakesrs Talkshow (season 4, Episode 7)
this episode starts after Liz's relationship book "Dealbreakers"  becomes a best seller (even in China, although there her names is translated as "Lesbian Sour Fruit). After the success of her book, Jack decides it would be a good idea to have Liz come to the front of the cameras to star  in her own Dealbrakers talk show, it isn't. it starts off with Liz getting a, not so great, makeover, and her slow decent into insanity, acting just like the crazed actors she is usually forced to take care of. wile this is going on, Frank, an other writer for TGS played by Judah Friedlander, is put in charge wile Liz is filming the show. As a result, he slowly turns into Liz and you understand why Liz is the way she is a little more.

5. Hogcock! / Last Lunch (season 7 Episode 12/13)
unlike most shows, one of 30 Rocks best episodes is its last one (or last 2 i guess). this episode starts off after TGS is canceled, wile Liz is living relatively happily at home with her new husband and adopted children, however she really wants to get back to work. luckily for liz, it is descovered that if Tracy does not do one more episode of TGS his contract says he will have to be payed $3 million. As per usual Tracy avoids work, and Liz must force him to do his job, however not in the usual way. this episode is packed with heartfelt dialogue and sentimental situations, including Liz having to get tracy to come back to work after he flees to a strip club where we first meet him in episode one of season one. wile in the club, he Explains to Lemon that he is just avoiding work because he doesn't want the show to end (tear jerker, i know). however the show is still packed with humor, humor that would arguably only work for a show like 30 Rock. for example, the last few moments of the show shows we zoom out to see Kenneth, now the head of NBC, holding a snow globe of 30 Rockefeller plaza. we hear Liz Lemons granddaughter pitching Kenneth a show about Liz's life, and her working on TGS. Kenneth replies "I know, i love it" as a ship from Star Wars flies past his office window.

6 Seasons and a Movie

As a huge fan of Community - except season 4, which we'll pretend doesn't exist - it's life has been an emotional roller coaster. It first began halfway through season 3, NBC executives removed Community from its schedule mid season. Fans took up the phrase, "Six seasons and a movie" (originally said by Abed referring to The Cape), became a battle cry for community fans. The show was eventually put back in the line up to finish its season, but that was not the end of Community's troubles.

Dan Harmon, the creator and executive producer was replaced for season four. Most fans have agreed to not talk about season 4. Season 5 brought back Dan Harmon, but we also lost Donald Glover as Troy Barnes. The show found its groove again with Jonathan Banks as a Criminology professor. Community was not renewed by NBC for season 6 but was picked up by Yahoo!

Community has been through so much but I love its weird story lines. Dan Harmon is a great story teller, some weird things come out of his head. If you like Community I suggest you check out his other show, Rick and Morty.

2014 Ithaca International Fantastic Fest

Just a short post this week, but it's on a very relevant topic. This weekend, Cinemapolis and Cornell Cinema will be hosting Ithaca's 3rd Annual International Fantastic Film Festival. Halloween may have been two weeks ago, but this encompasses all things horror anyway. New films from around the world as well as recognized classics will be screening, with a special focus put on the theme of witchcraft.

I've never been to a film festival of any kind and despite this being a far cry from the likes of Cannes, Venice, Sundance or TIFF, it remains a reason for excitement. The occasion aligns with a weekend of relatively little work, so there will be plenty of time check out what the fest has to offer, retrospectives and unreleased works alike.

As for a schedule, my plans are not set in stone, but here's what it looks like at the moment:

 First up is Cold in July. It's not exactly a horror film, more like a crime thriller, but a second chance to see it is very welcome. The film had a far too brief release this summer and I've heard good word across the board. Tension, violence and a terrific trio of performances by Michael C. Hall, Sam Shepard and Don Johnson is expected. The film screens Friday at Cornell Cinema.

 Saturday will be throw-back day, with a double feature of The Wicker Man (the original of course!) and The Exorcist at Cornell Cinema. Somehow I've never gotten around to seeing either of these. Exorcist is less excusable, but blindspots are blindspots. Two horror classics released in 1973, one concerning cults and the other, possession. Should make for a spooky evening of viewing!

On Sunday, the festival closes, and I plan on being there for two new releases: the zany documentary of  a project gone bad, Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau and the New Zealand vampire comedy, What We Do in the Shadows. Both will be screening at Cinemapolis.

To have a local film festival, no matter how small, is such a gift. A wide exposure to a variety of films allows for the free-flowing exchange of perspectives and ideas from around the world and it ought to yield at least a handful of hidden gems. While most of the titles may be unknown, it's an environment where you're encouraged to explore and dig for little films with big riches. With Cortaca rapidly approaching, I don't expect the majority of students to pay particular attention to this cultural event. Drinks will be spilling and parties will be bumping for sure. As for me, you can keep your football game...I'll be digging for buried treasure at the cinema.

Whiplash and Writing What You Know

This weekend down at Cinemapolis is the release of the highly anticipated film Whiplash. The film starring the upcoming star Miles Teller is about a young drummer who with the help/pressure of his instructor hopes to be a legend. The star of the film crazy enough is only two years younger than the writer/director, Damien Chazelle is only 29 and Whiplash is his first feature length film. A year ago Chazelle created a short under the same name in hopes to pitch the feature length film. Little did he know is that the short would make it into Sundance and the feature adaption would be there a year later.

When creating the film and the characters Chazelle started from what he knew best, his own life and his own experiences. Chazelle grew up playing the drums and over time he found out that he was quite good, he knew he could never make it all the way but he did the next best thing, he wrote about it. In an interview he talks about being stuck on another script and decided to start on something else that would help clear his block. He became so invested that he left the original script behind and started his journey with Whiplash. Chazelle says that the main instructor, played by J.K Simmons was inspired by many different instructors he's had over the years but morphed into one. What I really take from this is that writing from what you know is a great start and will help you tell a story that no one else can.

This can be seen in other films as well. My hero Kevin Smith started by making a film in a convenience store about convenience store clerks in the same convenience store he worked in. Now what I'm saying is to not make a film about your life story cause honestly who can relate to that but to play off of that. Take experiences, feelings and lessons you have learned and mold that into any film, and that film can be about anything! If you look at Smith's last film Tusk, about a man being turned into a walrus but whats under the blubbery flesh of the film is way deeper. The film through the sharp writing is about storytelling and what it means to be a storyteller and if there's really a unique story out there. Or even Christopher Nolan's new film Interstellar is about a family man on a mission to save Earth by exploring other galaxies. But under the spectacular visuals is a film about leaving a legacy behind and how as a parent you can't help but look at the world through the eyes of your children.

No it lies in your heart!

So go out there guys! Write about what you know and love. We all have an interesting story to tell.

Talk To Me

When doing casting for an animated film, it is important to pick who you want to voice your characters.  Lately it seems as though there has been a huge push to cast stars to voice animated characters.  Though a possible way to sell a film, sometimes casting stars in animated features detracts from the overall value of the film.  When I watch an animated film, I enjoy not being able to recognize the voice of an actor, for then I can suspend disbelief entirely and really put myself into the world of the film.  Immersing yourself the world of a film is much harder to do in an animated film.  Characters do not completely resemble real people and the world does not look like our world as we know it.  Stories told in animated films often involve fantastical elements such as magic and talking animals.  It can be hard enough to enter the world of an animated film without a recognizable voice that drags you back to the real world.

One of the best examples of a wonderful choice for a voice actor is Jodi Benson.  Benson voiced Ariel in Disney’s The Little Mermaid.  Her beautiful speaking and singing voice add a lot to her character.  Her voice sounds soft and young which fits the character perfectly.  The Little Mermaid  was Benson’s first time acting in an animated feature.  Her voice was fresh, new, and unrecognizable.  No face could be put to the voice, so it made the role of Ariel seem more realistic.

Lately, Disney has strayed away from using the voices of relatively unknown actors, which has decreased the quality of their films.  The most recent example of this is the use of Idina Menzel to voice Elsa in the film, Frozen.  Idina Menzel has an incredible voice.  She is a wonderful performer and actress on Broadway, but I don’t think that her voice fits the style of a Disney princess movie.  Her voice was too powerful for the role and definitely too recognizable.  Her voice didn’t match the timbre and styles of the other characters in the film which was fairly distracting.  Her voice was also very recognizable.  All I could think as I watched the film was that Elsa should be painted green and wearing a witch hat.  Her strong voice distracted me from the character Elsa, and ensured that all I could think about when Idina Menzel was singing was Wicked.

I’m not saying that studios shouldn’t cast stars as these characters because sometimes stars may have a voice that truly fits the role.  For example, Matthew Broderick voices adult Simba in The Lion King.  I cannot tell that it is Matthew Broderick, however, which allows me to suspend my disbelief and really get into the movie.  It is as if Simba has his own voice with its own tone quality and timbre.

I suggest that studios be very careful when they cast voices in animated movies, for though casting a star may help to sell a film, it can take the audience out of a movie and make it less effective.

Quentin Tarantino

Recently I have become quite obsessed with Quentin Tarantino films. Although I have seen some of them in my past, it was not until quite recently that I became in fascinated with the infamous Tarantino. All of his films are amazing because each of them are unique in their own way. It is hard to pick just one as a favorite, but if I had to pick my favorite, which is very hard, it would most likely be Django Unchained mainly because of the character Dr. King Schultz. 

Recently I re-watched Pulp Fiction, Django Unchained, and Kill Bill Volume 1 and 2. All three of these Quentin wrote. He also directed these three as well. After re-watching these movies there were connections that I never originally noticed. For anyone that has never seen the Kill Bill series, which you should, the group of people in the movie include, a kungfu master, a blonde leader, a demolition expert, a french fox, and as well as the deadliest woman in the world with a knife. After re watching Pulp Fiction, there was a scene that I had never really put much thought into. In the dinner scene between Mia and Vincent, Vincent asks her about the pilot episode she starred in. As she goes on to explain it, she is explaining the group of people in Kill Bill. This blew my mind because Pulp Fiction came out in 1994, where as Kill Bill did not premiere until 2003. I loved how Quentin added this little part into Pulp Fiction, describing basically the draft of Kill Bill. Maybe he did not even know he was going to write that as a movie, or maybe he did but either way I found the connection interesting. Another connection he had was in Pulp Fiction, the character Captain Koon, has the same name that is on the Wanted sign in Django Unchained. The wanted sign displays the name Crazy Craig Koons. 

Yet another one is the character of Vincent Vega in Pulp Fiction, is brothers with Mr. Blonde in Reservoir Dogs. Tarantino mentioned wanting to make a separate movie with the two brothers, however Vincent Vega dies at the end of Pulp Fiction, so it would of had to of been a prequel. 

 

Obviously this is nothing new, Tarantino is known for having these small connections put in his films. All of these connections are small and subtle and Tarantino adds small little witty lines that hint at all of these connections. Many people have found other small hints in his film and have theories of which character is related to who, and what not. 

One theory I found interesting is in Django Unchained. While searching the web for these connections I found a theory on the Miramax website that speculated about Dr. King Schultz and why he was in the bounty hunting business at all. In the beginning of the movie, Django asks him how long he has been a dentist

and he answers with he had given up dentistry almost five years ago to become a bounty hunter. Dr. King Schultz never talks about family much, but it is speculated that his wife, PAULA, left him and that is why he took up the business. Later his wife realizes the terrible deed

she has done and goes out seeking him, only to find he has been killed by Calvin Candie. After hearing this she is so devastated she never gets married again, and keeps Dr. King Schultz’s last name. Finally she dies in 1893, buried with the tombstone that says PAULA SCHULTZ 1823-1893. Sound familiar? That’s the same grave that Beatrix Kiddo is buried alive in almost one hundred years later. This I found really interesting. Although there is no evidence to prove that Paula Schultz was intact Dr. King’s wife, the name is the same, and the date matches the time she could have possibly died.

Quentin Tarantino is possibly one of my favorite film makers. Not only are the stories he writes creative, hilarious, and captivating, they keep the audience wanting more. And because he knows how to insert descriptions of random people, he can build of that and create other films that connect to each film he has made. 

Watch the video below, many of Tarantino's best movie scenes are put together 

Here are some links on the interesting connections, theories, and comments of Tarantino films!

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/01/17/the-intricate-expansive-universe-of-quentin-tarantino

http://geektyrant.com/news/2013/6/15/quentin-tarantinos-pulp-fiction-and-kill-bill-connection.html

http://www.miramax.com/subscript/how-django-unchained-is-linked-to-pulp-fiction/