PulpFiction Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Some mild Crank: High Voltage spoilers to follow...

Taking in an estimated $6.5 million for the weekend, the Crank sequel seemed to please most fans (less so myself) and many critics (the Tomatometer now stands at 69%, over the original's 60%) without totally taking America by storm. Hey, we live in a world where not everyone wants to pay to see Jason Statham stick a lubed-up shotgun inside some thug's rectum -- different strokes, people, different strokes.

Now, as Chev Chelios finally confronted the man with the red cooler (Art Hsu) after a momentarily Godzilla-like showdown, he opened the cooler to find not his stolen heart, but... something, something vaguely but freakishly off-putting to even the steely likes of Chev -- he reacts to the effect of "Why would you possibly carry this around with you?" -- and then, naturally, we never find out what the cooler holds.

So, as many had likewise debated as to the contents of that briefcase in Pulp Fiction, I'd like to hear your theories on what exactly was in that cooler. Was it Jason Statham's hair? The script for the next Tyler Perry outing? A puppy?

("Whatever, I wanted a cat.")

(With Valentine's Day arriving this week, we though we'd dig up some of our old romantic favorites and mix them in with some new stuff. Enjoy.)

By: Christopher Campbell

If you've ever had a bad first date -- and in the age of internet match-ups, it's all the more likely you've had at least a disappointing one -- you're not alone. Thanks to the awkwardness of getting to know somebody, and the nervousness that comes with that, it's a wonder any of us ever have good first dates. But as much as we end up fixating on the failure of a single bad date, we must remember that it's a part of life and has been since the dawn of man, when Adam had to deal with Eve ordering the forbidden item on the menu. Also, we must realize that it's all relative and there's always a worse date out there than the worst we've ever had. Often (and especially because it's Valentine's Day this Saturday), it's a good idea to look to the movies, and compare our worst first date to the worst first dates in cinema:


License to Drive (1988)

Imagine you're all set to get your driver's license, and the hottest girl in school has agreed to go out with you the night you pass the exam. But you don't pass the exam. Then you steal your grandpa's car. Then your date drinks too much and passes out for the rest of the night. Oh, and it only gets worse from there. License to Drive is just one of many films that shows us that a first date can be a crazy mix of Murphy's Law and the snowball effect. Also, like many comedies, it teaches us that an automobile can be destroyed many times over, and that it might be best if our first time driving, as well as our first time dating, be with a car that has little value.

I have a confession to make. I used to be a rabid fangirl of Quentin Tarantino -- so much so that I went all sorts of nuts when introduced to my first college poster sale. My poor roommate ... she had to deal with one half of a room adorned with posters of John Travolta, Tim Roth, Samuel L. Jackson, and more. My guns and bad guys were balanced by her posters of funky black and white photos and art prints.

It wasn't that I was a huge fan of ultra-violent films; I just couldn't get enough of a film laden with insanely catchy conversations and even catchier music. I especially loved Pumpkin, and Honey Bunny. So, in honor of bad girls and guys who love each other while wreaking havoc on the world, I give you two Tarantino flicks from 1994 -- Pulp Fiction and Natural Born Killers. (Well, to be fair -- he disowned the latter, but he's still a part of it.)

This is Tarantino we're talking about, so these clips might not be suitable for wee young things and work environments.

I just got off the phone with Tim Roth, who, of course, stars as Emil Blonsky/Abomination in The Incredible Hulk (due out on Friday). We'll post our entire interview later this week, along with two reviews of the new (and definitely improved) Hulk, but to whet your appetite, here are a few non Hulk-related nuggets from the man himself. When I asked Roth about Inglorious Bastards and how Quentin Tarantino claimed to be heading for pre-production, he had this to say: "It's something me and Quentin had talked about over the years, and I don't know what's happening. If Quentin wants me, I'm there. But it's been years and years in the making. It's gonna be fun, though. If it's coming from Quentin, it's gonna be fun. I'm perfectly happy to roll up; I don't even need to read the script. Just tell me where to stand."

Additionally, and I thought this was kinda fun, I asked Roth if there were any characters of his he'd like to revisit at some point down the line. That's when he replied, "I'd like to do the Pulp Fiction character." I asked if he'd talked with Tarantino about doing a spin-off flick with Pumpkin and Honey Bunny: "Yeah, we did -- we talked about it before, because he thought they would've been good in Natural Born Killers; those two characters. We've often talked about it -- day dreams -- about taking those characters and making a film around them."

What say you? Would you be up for a Pulp Fiction spin-off featuring Pumpkin and Honey Bunny?

If you've ever had a bad first date -- and in the age of internet match-ups, it's all the more likely you've had at least a disappointing one -- you're not alone. Thanks to the awkwardness of getting to know somebody, and the nervousness that comes with that, it's a wonder any of us ever have good first dates. But as much as we end up fixating on the failure of a single bad date, we must remember that it's a part of life and has been since the dawn of man, when Adam had to deal with Eve ordering the forbidden item on the menu. Also, we must realize that it's all relative and there's always a worse date out there than the worst we've ever had. Often (and especially because it's Valentine's Day this Thursday), it's a good idea to look to the movies, and compare our worst first date to the worst first dates in cinema:


License to Drive (1988)

Imagine you're all set to get your driver's license, and the hottest girl in school has agreed to go out with you the night you pass the exam. But you don't pass the exam. Then you steal your grandpa's car. Then your date drinks too much and passes out for the rest of the night. Oh, and it only gets worse from there. License to Drive is just one of many films that shows us that a first date can be a crazy mix of Murphy's Law and the snowball effect. Also, like many comedies, it teaches us that an automobile can be destroyed many times over, and that it might be best if our first time driving, as well as our first time dating, be with a car that has little value.

It is interesting to learn that filmmaker Jieho Lee has a fondness for the ending of Fellini's Nights of Cabiria. However, it is not so interesting to realize that he can't let go of this fondness enough to create a genuine film moment of his own. For instance, there is one significant scene in Lee's The Air I Breathe that plays so much like an homage to the final shot of Cabiria that it takes away from the actual film it is a part of. The scene involves a major character's death, so it's hard to go into detail without spoiling it for you, but I can say that recognizing the blatant tribute may cause you to feel less for that character than you should otherwise during that scene. After all, it is difficult to care about a character that comes off as simply a tool for Lee's unnecessary acknowledgment, or re-creation, of a part of a favorite film.

Maybe I just shouldn't read a film's press notes prior to watching it (I don't usually), as I might not have caught the homage without noting Lee's mention of Cabiria in his director's statement. And perhaps I wouldn't have been thinking about Lee's other influences, from The Wizard of Oz to Samuel Fuller's The Naked Kiss, and unfairly comparing The Air I Breathe to them. But it doesn't matter, because The Air I Breathe would still feel completely derivative without knowledge of the exact works that inspired Lee. To me, despite what I learned from the press notes, the film was mostly reminiscent of Inarritu's Amores Perros, and not only because of where it was filmed, how it interconnects multiple stories or the fact that it features a bank robbery, a female celebrity confined to an apartment and an obligatory car accident of some kind.

Dang, there sure are a lot of hitman characters in the movies. And what's the difference between a hitman and an assassin, anyway? Does Jason Bourne count, or is he no longer a hitman/assassin by the time his cinematic story begins? Are Pulp Fiction's Vincent and Jules really hitmen or are they technically bagmen? Yeah, it's a difficult task to make a list of prominent hitmen in film. So, I'll let someone else make a "25 Greatest Hitmen" list; here, I present my seven favorites.

Feel free to mention your own preferences. With so many characters, whether easily falling within definition or not, I'm certainly leaving out a lot of good ones. But, as I said, these are my favorites. The cool, the funny, the interesting, they're the ones I enjoy watching over and over again, despite their lethal nature.


Martin Q. Blank in Grosse Pointe Blank (1997, George Armitage)

There is no better hitman than John Cusack's Martin Blank. He's good at his job, and he's funny, and he's willing to give it all up for love. Of course, he's bored enough by the occupation that he'd probably give it up for any good reason. It doesn't seem to matter to him that it's morally wrong; he's just another normal guy, dissatisfied with his job. And while it does seem to be a gag that's stretched thin, his issues do make him more entertaining than the usual silent-yet-conflicted hitmen. Plus, it's enjoyable to think that this is what really happened to Lloyd Dobbler, or Lane Meyer, or any other Cusack character from the '80s.

Signature line: "I was hired to kill you, but I'm not going to do it. It's either because I'm in love with your daughter or because I have a new found respect for life."

I don't know why I think of Ving Rhames as a tough guy dramatic actor first and a comedic actor second. Even his most iconic role, as Marcellus Wallace in Pulp Fiction, was simply a straight-played comic part. Throughout his career he's been in a lot of comedies, from the truly awful (Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot) to the near-perfect (Out of Sight). But I guess lately, aside from the recent I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, he's been pigeon-holed as best-suited for crime thrillers, prison dramas and well-produced horror films, with an occasional fun action pic like the Mission:Impossible movies. Personally, I'd love him to do another movie that mixes all those genres with a touch of comedy, a la the guilty pleasure Con-Air, but I'll settle for just a comedy. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Rhames has signed on to Paramount Vantage's The Goods: The Don Ready Story, which Monika told us recently will star Jeremy Piven as a used car salesman. Also joining the cast is Anchorman's David Koechner.

It wasn't mentioned what kind of characters Rhames and Koechner will be playing, but hopefully they're fellow used car salesmen working alongside Piven, who, more specifically, is a guy who must save the struggling dealership over a Fourth of July weekend. The most logical idea, though, is that whatever Rhames' role, he will be some combination of humor and muscle; the combination is one of the reasons that Rhames can do comedy and still retain his reputation as a bad ass, unlike some other people (please don't ever put Rhames in a babysitting comedy!). The comedy will be produced by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay via their new company Gary Sanchez Productions, along with Chris Henchy (Entourage) and Kevin Messick (A Lot Like Love). The script was written by Rick Stempson and Andy Stock, who also wrote the upcoming Seann William Scott movie Gary the Tennis Coach. It will be directed by Chappelle's Show actor/writer/director Neal Brennan.

An employee of Ving Rhames' was allegedly mauled to death Friday by the actor's pet dogs. The victim's name has not been released, but he was in fact the caretaker for the dogs -- reportedly four of them, "the size of lions" -- for the past two years. Described only as a 40-year-old African American, he was spotted on the front lawn on the property adjacent to Rhames' early in the morning, at which point the LAPD was called. The four dogs, three bull mastiffs and one English bulldog, suspected to have been involved in the incident have been seized. Rhames was not at home and has so far not given a statement. Considering he's attached to star in a number of films in the next year, I'm guessing that he was on location somewhere.

This is the sort of tragedy I would expect to befall an employee of Marcellus Wallace, but not the actor who played him. The real Ving Rhames seems like too nice a guy to have this happen on or near his property. Of course, he didn't actually have anything to do with the incident, but obviously he has some mean-ass dogs. Hopefully he won't have to endure any wrongful death suits as a result of his decision to own such violent animals; certainly the unnamed man was a canine expert and had to have been responsible enough -- not to say he was at fault for his own death, but he knew the risk and the care required and unfortunately had a fatal accident despite that knowledge. From what the police have been able to determine, the caretaker died after jumping Rhames' fence onto the lawn next door. It has not been officially confirmed that the dogs were the cause of death; they are currently at a shelter being tested for traces of the man's blood. Although he had bites all over his body, it is possible the man suffered a heart attack or some other ailment. Photos of the dogs can be seen here and here.

With only the most-anticipated blockbusters, fans can expect special midnight screenings the night before a movie's official release date. Certainly this will be the case with upcoming sequels Spider-Man 3, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and maybe even Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. But in a bit of a surprise move, Dimension will be offering such a sneak peek of its eagerly awaited double-feature-within-a-single-release, Grindhouse. The only problem is that it is being limited to select cities. So, if you aren't near a major metropolis, you'll just have to wait about ten hours until your local theater opens for the first matinee.

There are definitely enough followers of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez to make these exclusive screenings sell out, so if you can get to one, make sure and order your tickets now. And if you want to make this event on par with the other release-eve sneaks that I've been to, you should dress up as your favorite character from the duo's other films, or if you so desire, from one of the two films they've made for Grindhouse (if anyone can do Rose McGowan's machine gun leg, I want pictures!). If you can't attend any of the shows tomorrow night, you can still at least watch Eli Roth's fake trailer that is included in the Grindhouse package, as it has already popped up online.

Here is the list of cities showing Grindhouse Thursday night: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington DC. (I guess Austin doesn't need another bonus, huh?)

For more of Cinematical's exclusive Grindhouse coverage, check out the following:

Grindhouse Junket Report, Part 1: QT Talks Future Grindhouse Projects, Rose McGowan Talks 'Black Oasis,' Zoe Bell Talks Stunts, Jordan Ladd On 'Hostel II,' More!

Grindhouse Junket Report, Part 2: Kurt Russell On Remakes, Rosario Dawson Talks 'OCT' Film, Marley Shelton Gives Deleted Scene Details, More!

Austin Grindhouse Part 1: Planet Red Carpet

Austin Grindhouse Part 2: Critic Proof

Cinematical Seven: My Favorite Grindhouse Movies