The Hateful Eight

Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, The Hateful Eight is the story of eight different people who seek refuge at a stagecoach stopover in a mountain pass as they deal with a chilling blizzard. Set years after the American Civil War, the film is a western that plays into a group of people who find themselves in a shelter where it’s a mixture of people who are forced to deal with each other despite their differences. Starring Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Samuel L. Jackson, Walton Goggins, Demian Bichir, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern, Channing Tatum, Zoe Bell, and James Parks. The Hateful Eight is a tremendously grand and rapturous film from Quentin Tarantino.

The film revolves a group of different people who are trekking towards a small town in the middle of Wyoming as they deal with a blizzard where they stop and meet an assortment of characters at a stagecoach stopover where there’s a lot of tension looming between eight different people. It’s a film that plays into a group of people who doesn’t just deal with a blizzard that is deadly but also what is at stake as a woman named Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is being driven to a town where she is to be hanged for many murders as the bounty hunter John Ruth (Kurt Russell) is accompanying her to make sure that she will die by hanging and collect a $10,000 bounty. Along the way, they encounter two different men who join them on the stagecoach and then meet more at the stopover where something sinister starts to happen.

Quentin Tarantino’s screenplay is set in a very traditional three-act narrative with six chapters as each one doesn’t just play and introduce key characters into the story. It’s also in what is at stake as it relates to Daisy whose bounty is huge as the men she and Ruth encounter either have their own motives in what to do with her or are there for their own reasons that has nothing to do with her. Among them is another bounty hunter in a former cavalry officer in Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L. Jackson) who is also going to this town of Red Rocks, Wyoming to collect a separate bounty of his own while a young Southerner named Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins) is also going to the town to become its new sheriff. All of that happens in its first act where these four characters meet and ride on this stagecoach where Mannix, Ruth, and Warren all have some background and history where Mannix is the son of a marauders leader who refused to accept the defeat of the South.

By the film’s second act where they stop at this stopover, they meet another group of diverse characters including a Mexican named Bob (Demian Bichir), a British hangman named Oswaldo Mobray (Tim Roth), a quiet cowboy named Joe Gage (Michael Madsen), and a former Confederate leader in General Sandy Smithers (Bruce Dern). Along with the stagecoach driver O.B. Jackson (James Parks), these people find themselves inside the house where paranoia and mistrust ensues which includes some tension involving Smithers and Warren where the film’s first half ends with a chilling story from the latter about the former’s son. It is told with such style and detail as it has this mix of dark humor and gruesome imagery. By the film’s second half, the drama and suspense becomes more prominent as it’s not just what is happening inside the house but also the fact that there’s a sense that there’s some people that is going to die. It’s not just who is in this house that is scary but also the fact that there is this blizzard out there. No one is safe where something will break as the third act reveals more into what is happening and who wants what with Daisy being the prize.

Tarantino’s direction is definitely vast in not just the richness of the images he creates but also in the way he sets it. Shot entirely on location in Telluride, Colorado, Tarantino takes great advantage of the locations from the look of the Rocky Mountains to the ravishing attention to detail with the locations as well as the snow which is crucial to the film itself. Notably as Tarantino takes great stock into shooting these locations not just in rich wide and medium shots but also shoot it in a format that hadn’t been used for many years which is 65 mm film stock. In that grand film stock and in an anamorphic aspect ratio of 2:76:1 which was a common format in the 1950s and 1960s that is also similar to the Cinerama process of the times. Tarantino doesn’t just go for images and moods that play into those films of the times with these wide lenses but also brings it back to Earth while creating an intimacy and tension for scenes inside the house.

The scenes set in the house are gripping as it’s small but also has some space where the film stock captures much of the lighting with great detail. Even in some of these smaller moments such as a lone jellybean on the floor or the close-up of a coffee pot. Tarantino’s usage of close-ups as well as some intricate crane shots and some long shots help play into the drama and suspense that looms in the film. The film stock helps with these scenes as well as in what Tarantino does in his compositions in a key scene where Daisy sings a song as she is in the foreground and Ruth is in the background. By the time the film reaches its third act, that is where the violence starts to really take shape. While violence is something that is expected with Tarantino, it is presented with a sense of urgency that adds to the suspense. Especially in the film’s climax where it is about survival and who can out-wit who. Overall, Tarantino creates a gripping yet tremendous film about a group of individuals dealing with themselves and a cold blizzard in the West.

Cinematographer Robert Richardson does incredible work with the film‘s cinematography with its gorgeous yet evocative look of the daytime exterior settings in the Rocky Mountains to the lighting schemes and textures that he uses in the interior scenes as it is among one of the highlights of the film. Editor Fred Raskin does excellent work with the editing with its usage of jump-cuts and slow-motion cuts as well as creating rhythms that help play into the suspense and drama that unfolds throughout the film. Production designer Yohei Taneda, with set decorator Rosemary Brandenburg and art director Richard L. Johnson, do amazing work with not just the design of the stagecoach where some of the main characters ride on but also the look of the stopover house and its different farms as it plays into this world in the middle of the Rocky Mountains that is remote but also filled with some dread as the look of the stone cross in the film‘s opening scene is also one of the key touchstones of the film. Costume designer Courtney Hoffman does nice work with the clothes from the old military uniforms that Warren and Smithers wear to the array of fur and heavy clothes the many characters wear to deal with the cold winter.

Makeup designers Greg Funk and Jake Garber do brilliant work with the look of the characters such as the facial hair of characters like Ruth and Bob as well as the black eye that Daisy sports. Special effects director Greg Nicotero and visual effects supervisors Laurent Gillet and Darren Poe do fantastic work with some of the special effects as it relates to some of the violent moments in the film as well as a few set dressing for some of the exteriors. Sound editor Wylie Stateman does superb work with the sound as it adds a lot to the film‘s suspense and drama from the way the cold winds sound from inside the house as well as the sounds of gunfire. The film’s music by Ennio Morricone is phenomenal as it bears many of the hallmarks that is expected of Morricone in terms of operatic vocal and orchestral arrangements to the usage of quirky hooks and melodies as the music is a true highlight of the film music supervisor Mary Ramos creates an offbeat soundtrack that features songs by David Hess, Crystal Gayle, the White Stripes, and Roy Orbison.

The casting by Victoria Thomas is wonderful for the cast that is created as it features some notable small appearances from Lee Horsley, Belinda Owin, Keith Jefferson, and Bruce Del Castillo as employees/patrons of the stopover house, Zoe Bell as a stagecoach driver, Dana Gourrier as the stopover house owner Minnie Mink, Gene Jones as her lover Sweet Dave, and Craig Stark as Smithers’ son Chester in a chilling sequence that Warren tells General Smithers to. Channing Tatum is fantastic in a small but very memorable role as a gang leader named Jody who is a man that is full of charm but is also very dangerous. James Parks is terrific as the stagecoach driver O.B. Jackson as one of the few men that Ruth trusts as he deals with the brutality that is the cold weather. Bruce Dern is excellent as General Sandy Smithers as a legendary hero of the Confederate army whom Mannix admires while being aware that he and Warren had an encounter in the past that leads to some very intense moments.

Demian Bichir is superb as Bob as this Mexican who is looking after the stopover house as he is quite ambiguous but also someone that is charismatic while saying some very funny shit that baffles Warren. Michael Madsen is brilliant as Joe Gage as this quiet cowboy who is at the stopover on his way to his mother as it’s a very restrained yet cool performance as someone who could be very deadly. Tim Roth is amazing as Oswaldo Mobray as this British hangman who is the film’s comic relief as someone that is quite energetic but also says some funny things as he is among the group of individuals who is also very odd. Walton Goggins is incredible as Chris Mannix as the son of a marauders gang who is supposed to become a sheriff as he deals with Warren’s presence as well as admiration for General Smithers where it’s a complex performance that is part humor but also dramatic in the fact that he isn’t a smart man but a character that is fully aware that something isn’t right at all.

Samuel L. Jackson is remarkable as Major Marquis Warren as a former cavalry officer who bears the notoriety of doing a lot of killing in the Civil War as he is quite devious in what he does but also understands what is at stake where he tries to help Ruth. Kurt Russell is great as John Ruth as this notorious bounty hunter that likes to do things the hard way where also lives by old school rules as it’s a performance that has Russell be gritty but also someone that doesn’t take shit from anyone. Finally, there’s Jennifer Jason Leigh in a wild performance as Daisy Domergue as this woman who has a $10,000 bounty on her head for killing people as she is a character that is just off-the-wall in terms of the things she says and what she does where she isn’t to be trusted while being just as ruthless and devious as the men around her.

***The Following is a Description of the 70mm Roadshow Presentation***

For audiences who are going to see the film in its 167-minute general release are going to see the film in a more traditional format that is often common with today’s films. Yet, it doesn’t have exactly what Tarantino would want for the film which he shot in a format that is very different from what is often expected in cinema. For this special roadshow presentation which was a common thing for big films back in the 1950s and the 1960s, the film is given a wider scope that manages to capture every attention to detail into what Tarantino and cinematographer Robert Richardson had captured while the sound itself is also just as big.

Sorry for the bad lighting...

For this special presentation, audiences don’t just receive a special program for the film but would also be given the chance to experience something that is rare. In this 187-minute version of the film, the film opens with an orchestral overture that lasts for about a few minutes and then the film would play. During the middle of the film comes an intermission that lasts for fifteen minutes. There’s no trailers that precedes the film that is often the case with traditional films of the day. Instead, audiences would see the film and that is it while getting a chance to take a break in between as it plays into a presentation that is rare in today’s more commercialized idea of cinema.

***End of 70mm Roadshow Presentation Tidbits***

The Hateful Eight is a tremendously visceral and exhilarating film from Quentin Tarantino. Headlined by a hell of an ensemble cast as well as gorgeous photography, grand visuals, eerie suspense, high-octane violence, and a monstrous score by Ennio Morricone. The film is truly an example of what epic cinema is and what it should be in an era where the term is misused while being a western that is very dark and filled with intrigue that is gripping to watch. In the end, The Hateful Eight is an outstanding film from Quentin Tarantino.

Quentin Tarantino Films: Reservoir Dogs - Pulp Fiction - Four Room-The Man from Hollywood - Jackie Brown - Kill Bill - Grindhouse-Death Proof - Inglourious Basterds - Django Unchained - Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood

The Auteurs #17: Quentin Tarantino - Growing Up with Quentin Tarantino

© thevoid99 2015

Sin City

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 1/4/06 w/ Additional Edits

Based on Frank Miller's graphic novel series, Sin City is a collection of stories set in a dark seedy world featuring many of its players as they defy the law and do all sorts of dastardly deeds. Written for the screen, produced, and directed by Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller with special guest director Quentin Tarantino, Sin City is a dark, violent, gritty film that pushes the limits of the film noir genre. Using the same, digital style of his Spy Kids films, Rodriguez goes a look that is similar to Miller's graphic novels. Starring Rodriguez/Tarantino regulars like Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, Josh Hartnett, Michael Madsen, Elijah Wood, and Carla Gugino plus Jessica Alba, Devon Aoki, Alexis Bledel, Rosario Dawson, Nick Stahl, Brittany Murphy, Jamie King, Marley Shelton, Rutger Hauer, Powers Boothe, Benicio del Toro, Clive Owen, and Michael Clarke Duncan. Sin City is a fast, powerful, in-your-face film that brings Frank Miller's vision to life.

It's a rainy night in Sin City as a mysterious man (Josh Hartnett) looks upon a woman (Marley Shelton) as she looks out on the rain. The mood sets for the night when a big, battered ex-convict named Marv (Mickey Rourke) is accused of killing a hooker he loved named Goldie (Jaime King). He escapes the cops as he flees into the home of his lesbian parole officer Lucille (Carla Gugino) for some pills. After stepping into the bar where dancing is a young stripper named Nancy (Jessica Alba) while a waitress named Shellie (Brittany Murphy) gives him a drink. Marv looks for answers on who killed Goldie as her twin Wendy is going after him. Marv goes to a farm where he finds a young, cannibalistic killer named Kevin (Elijah Wood) who works for the town's cardinal Roark (Rutger Hauer) whose brother (Powers Boothe) is a senator. After another escape from the cops, he turns to Wendy and her gang in the seedy section of Old Town as he gets help to seek vengeance on Goldie.

Meanwhile in that same bar, Shellie is trying to evade a violent madman named Jackie Boy (Benicio del Toro) who is trying to figure who is Shellie's new boyfriend who is a big man named Dwight (Clive Owen). Jackie Boy comes to her apartment where he meets Dwight and after a confrontation, Jackie Boy leaves as Dwight decides to go after him. Jackie Boy enters the world of Old Town which is run by venomous hookers led by the sexy Gail which includes the innocent Becky (Alexis Bledel) and the silent samurai Miho (Devon Aoki). After Jackie Boy and his gang try to sweet-talk Becky into coming with them, Miho kills the gang as Dwight and Gail watch. Then they learn a horrible secret about Jackie Boy that threatens a peace treaty between cops and the ladies of Old Town as Dwight tries to return Jackie Boy's body downtown which starts troubling since Jackie Boy is still alive. After encountering a group of Irish mercenaries, Dwight is delayed as Gail is suddenly being tortured by Manute (Michael Clarke Duncan) who is the leader of corrupt cops. With the help of Miho, Dwight evades the Irish mercenaries led by Brian (Tommy Flanagan) as he joins Gail for their war.

The last story involves a burnt-out cop named Hartigan (Bruce Willis) with a bad heart condition who is one-day away from retirement as he tries to rescue a young girl (Mackenzie Vega) from a troubled young man (Nick Stahl) who turned out to be the son of Senator Roark. Despite saving the young girl and wounding Roark's son, Hartigan is in the hospital but is forced to go to jail by the Senator unless he confesses to molesting the young girl. Though the girl who would become Nancy would write to him, trouble emerges eight years later when a creature in yellow appeared as Hartigan decides to bust out. With help from his former partner Bob (Michael Madsen), Hartigan goes to Sin City where he finds Nancy and the Yellow Bastard as Hartigan's promise to protect Nancy is underway.

Shot with digital cameras in Rodriguez's own studio in Austin with top visual effects equipment, this film is truly one of the most visually-inspiring movies to come out in many years. With its ode to the film-noir genre, the film is shot mostly in black-white with dabbles of color to appear. The directing by Rodriguez and Miller is definitely amazing in its ode to the film-noir genre while the violence and sex is very graphic which is true to Miller's vision. This film isn't for those with a bad ticker, it's a film where anything goes and the violence is very uncompromising. From its fast-paced camera angles to the visual effects that plays to the emotions of the films in its color. Many of those visual effects is credited to Rodriguez who not only serves as the cinematographer but editor as well. Rodriguez brings a unique black-and-white style of lighting that is a wonderful ode to film-noir while his editing is fast-paced and to the point while not being a distraction to the story.

If Rodriguez's ability as director, producer, editor, and cinematographer helps, so does his writing in his collaboration with Frank Miller. While the script starts off with an early segment featuring Josh Hartnett and Marley Shelton, the film really starts off with an early part of Hartigan's story with Roark. Then there is the dialogue where its approach is very stylized, it works to the genre. From the narration to the words that are spoken is a true ode to film noir. A lot of that credit goes to Frank Miller who uses the world of 1940s film noir to create an atmosphere that is true to the film while its tone adds excitement to the story. Each segment is filled with excitement where each of them on their own merits have fascinating moments but as a whole, it's brilliant. It's a testament to not just Frank Miller's talents but also Robert Rodriguez. Then there's Quentin Tarantino who does a great job in the Jackie Boy/Dwight car scene which shows a lot of Tarantino's humor as he returns a favor for Rodriguez as he directed that part for $1 which Rodriguez did in his score for Kill Bill Vol. 2 for $1.

Adding flair to the gritty look of Sin City is art director Jeanne Scott and set decorator David Hack along with visual effects supervisors Thierry Delattre and Richard Martin. The film's look shows a town in chaos where it's all authentic from its bar to the motels and everything in between. The visual effects are amazing in its mix of color and black-and-white backgrounds. Then we have the costumes by designer Nina Proctor who does a great job in not just the long trench coat jackets for the men as well as Dwight's Converse shoes but the clothing for the ladies which is filled with the punk-leather of the Old Town girls to the cowboy chaps that Nancy wears. Finally, there's the film score composed by Rodriguez, John Debney, and Graeme Revell that not only adds flair to the genre with its saxophone arrangements but the orchestral arrangements play to the film's wonderful action and dramatic scenes.

Finally, there's the film amazing cast that includes several fine small performances from Mackenzie Vega and Frank Miller as a priest in the Mickey Rourke segment. Josh Hartnett and Marley Shelton also do great work to the film' opening segment while veterans like Rutger Hauer and Powers Boothe do great job in their villainous roles. One of the strangest and memorable performances that deserves the term, "against type" is Elijah Wood as the silent, cannibal killer Kevin who delivers a performance that is clearly the anti-Frodo. Devon Aoki is also memorable as the silent but deadly Miho who brings an amazing presence to the film. Jaime King is excellent in her double duty as the slain hooker and her angry twin sister while Alexis Bledel is good as the innocent, charming young hooker Becky. Nick Stahl brings a creepy, venomous performance as Roark with his love for young girls and slithery demeanor. Michael Clarke Duncan is also good as the big man villain Manute. Michael Madsen is funny in his small role as Bruce Willis' partner while Tommy Flanagan is funny as an Irish mercenary.

Clive Owen delivers a great performance as the cool Dwight who shoots his guns and wears some cool Converse while Benicio del Toro is funny as the demented Jackie Boy. Rosario Dawson is hot, hot, hot as Gail with her fishnet, leather clothing and in-your-face attitude that gives the meaning of "girl power" to a new level. Brittany Murphy is also good as Shellie that is an ode to noir female characters while Jessica Alba is great as the stripper Nancy who knows how to move. Carla Gugino is great as the lesbian parole office who helps out Mickey Rourke while appearing in the film nude most of the time. Mickey Rourke delivers the film's best performance as Marv who is filled with confusion and doubts as he is battered and burnt out while delivering some of the coolest lines and moments throughout the entire film. Bruce Willis is also brilliant as the cop with a bad heart, Hartigan in a heroic performance that proves that Willis still have what it takes to be a hero.

The 2005 one-disc DVD that presents the film in its widescreen format ratio and 5.1 Dolby Digital and DTS sound is great but for fans of Rodriguez's films, it's disappointing. Only because it has a 10-minute TV feature on the making-of the film which includes interviews with cast members, Rodriguez, Miller, and Tarantino.

***Added on 6/21/06, the 2-Disc Version of Sin City***

While the one-disc DVD for Sin City may be for those who just want to see the movie. In December of 2005, a brand-new two-disc set for the film has something that not just fans of the film wanted but has all the elements that co-director Robert Rodriguez has done with his DVDs. For this special edition, two-disc deluxe edition of the film, Rodriguez presents the film in two different versions. One is the theatrical version in all of its glory and a second disc featuring the film separated in its four different segments all extended with over 20 minutes of additional footage. Both version shown on the widescreen theatrical format of 1:85:1 anamorphic format with a 16x9 ratio along with DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound with Spanish subtitles.

The two-disc DVD also includes several special features and extras plus two different commentaries featuring Rodriguez with Frank Miller and Quentin Tarantino and an audio track of the film's premiere in Austin, Texas.

The first disc of the DVD which is the film in its theatrical version features the three different audio commentaries. First is Rodriguez's commentary with co-director and novelist Frank Miller where Rodriguez and Miller comment on the adaptation from book to film where it was very easy since they didn't change a lot of the dialogue. The two discussed the casting in how Bruce Willis and Mickey Rourke were perfect for their roles while Clive Owen auditioned to play Dwight. Of the commentaries, the one with Rodriguez and Miller is the most fun and insightful as they talk about a lot of the performances and the faithfulness to Miller's graphic novels.

The second commentary is mostly a technical commentary track from Rodriguez as he talks about the challenges of making the film, convincing Miller to do it and the casting. Popping up during the commentary, notably the Big Fat Kill segment is Quentin Tarantino who discusses the scene he shot with Clive Owen and Benicio del Toro as many people assumed it was a scene involving Miller's favorite character Miho killing guys with swords, Hatori Hanzo swords that they borrowed. Bruce Willis joins the commentary for the That Yellow Bastard segment as he talks about the acting challenges and his enjoyment of making the film. The third and final audio track is recorded from the film's premiere screening in Austin, Texas. For this particular track, Rodriguez wanted to give the viewer a chance to watch the film with an audience to bring the sense that the film is being seen with a big audience. The noise full of cheers, claps, and yells definitely brings the right tone since it makes the film more fun to watch.

In the special features of the first disc, there are several documentaries and featurettes about the making of the film. First is the six-minute How It Went Down: Convincing Frank Miller to Make the Film revealed Miller's reason for making Sin City as an anti-film after his horrible experience in Hollywood, notably the Robocop films. Featuring interviews with Miller, Rodriguez, Tarantino, props master Steve Joyner, and cast members Bruce Willis, Benicio del Toro, Carla Gugino, and Josh Hartnett. The small featurette revealed how Rodriguez wanted to make a completely faithful adaptation of the novels with the blessing of Miller. It started with the test shoot that Rodriguez did with Hartnett and Marley Shelton for The Customer is Always Right where Miller was immediately impressed. Rodriguez is considered the more technical director as Miller was the artistic director as Rodriguez felt that Miller should co-direct since its his baby.

Special Guest Director: Quentin Tarantino is a seven-minute featurette that opened with Tarantino and Rodriguez's longtime friendship/collaboration since they both released their debut features at the 1992 Sundance Film Festival. When Rodriguez was to score Kill Bill Vol. 2, he mentioned Sin City as Tarantino decided to return a favor by directing a scene for Sin City. Rodriguez's wife and producer Elizabeth Avellan thought it would be a great idea although Tarantino had some reluctance on shooting digital. In the end, Tarantino was amazed at the digital work that Rodriguez had done with the test short as he directed the car scene of del Toro and Clive Owen that owed to his French New Wave style. The scene showed some of Tarantino's exuberance and how Rodriguez played cinematographer/editor and Miller as the writer for Quentin's scene. It's really one of the enjoyable featurettes in the DVD.

A Hard Top with a Decent Engine: The Cars of Sin City is a seven-minute-and-a-half featurette which revealed the importance of cars in the movie. Cecil D. Evans who serves as the transportation coordinator reveals on finding the cars for the film which gives the movie a sense of style. The ones he found were in Austin like Wendy's '55 Porsche Spyder Convertible, Dwight's red '59 Cadillac Convertible, Hartigan's '55 Buick Convertible, '55 Chevy Police Car, Jackie Boy's '57 Chevy Imperial, Dallas' '41 Chevrolet, Roark Jr.'s '61 Jaguar XKE, the 57' Ford Thunderbird for the Body Transfer, the Priest's 1990 Mercedes 420 SEL, Marv's '68 Chevrolet Corvair, a '49 Chevrolet Taxi, and Mr. Shlubb's '89 Ferrari. Nancy's '57 Chevy Nomad was the only car found outside of Austin while the Yellow Bastard's 1937 Cadillac was the most expensive since it costs $100,000 to rent for a week. Many of the cars were chosen in ode to film noir and they were the kind of cars Frank Miller loved.

Booze, Broads, & Guns: The Props of Sin City is an eleven-minute segment that focuses on the contributions of props master Steve Joyner. Joyner plus property master Caylah Eddleblute reveal the weaponry they find and how they created them through a 3-D clay-like style. Using the books for storyboard and detail with help from graphic designer Troy Engel, they created the weaponry design and detail through computer before creating it into a 3-D machine. Eddleblute had to find the look of the weapons just to get a full idea on the designs for them since Miller draws them with great detail. Transportation captain Joe Llanes was responsible for teaching Jessica Alba how to lasso while props sculptor Brandon Campbell and head props fabricator Marcus Laporte reveal the making of the weapons through a 3-D clay-like machine. Devon Aoki reveals the martial arts props that were used and the swords she got are indeed, Hatori Hanzo swords from the Kill Bill movies that they got from Tarantino's garage as Miller, is so in love with Miho.

Making the Monsters: Special Effects Make-Up is a nine-minute featurette that focuses on the work of Greg Nicotero who is the special effects makeup supervisor. Nicotero reveals that with Miller's help and the books, the look of Marv, Hartigan, Jackie Boy, and Yellow Bastard come to life. While Hartigan's scar was only minor, the look for Marv took them three weeks to do but it worked. For Jackie Boy, Benicio del Toro wanted the look to be more like the book and they had more fun with the look, even when he's covered in paint for a scene. The toughest was the Yellow Bastard where on set, Nick Stahl is in full-make up and look where he's blue but on post-production, he's yellow. The last featurette for Trench Coats & Fishnets: The Costumes of Sin City focuses on the work of costume designer/supervisor Nina Proctor. Proctor reveals the work into the costumes with help from Miller's book as it became a very fun experience. Rosario Dawson and Brittany Murphy praise Proctor's work as they all had fun wearing the costumes while Murphy was totally into character once she wore some six-inch heels.

The last two special features on the first disc are a trailers sections that reveals both the teaser and theatrical trailer that brought anticipation for the films. The second is an interactive feature called the Sin-Chroni-City Interactive Game where you take a character, put him in a place, and connect him with another character and through Frank Miller's voice. You hear background stories, details, and everything about places and the characters in one of the best interactive features available.

The second disc of the DVD includes more special features and the Recut, Extended version of Sin City which are separated into four different segments. In his introduction, Rodriguez cut over 20-minutes of footage for the theatrical release for length reasons. For the Recut version, he chose to separate the four segments into their own individual stories with the option of viewers to watch a segment at any time. Whether its in chronological order for: That Yellow Bastard, The Customer is Right, The Hard Goodbye, and The Big Fat Kill or in the order that the film had. Still, each segment is given new treatment and new ideas that is faithful to Miller's novels.

The first one for The Customer is Right with Josh Hartnett and Marley Shelton isn't done with a lot of work since it's a prologue and the only touch Rodriguez adds is the film's epilogue that also involved Hartnett and a major character from one of the stories. In The Hard Goodbye, a few moments of dialogue, notably Marv's rant in the rain is extended while a scene of him going to his mother's house to retrieve his gun, Gladys has been added. The scene overall is great as it works for the entire segment which shows a more sentimental side of Marv as he goes into his childhood room and later, meeting his blind mother (Lucina Paquet) which shows more of the range that Mickey Rourke has as an actor.

The Big Fat Kill features some extended dialogue and narration from Dwight McCarthy along with an extended scene between Clive Owen's McCarthy and Brittany Murphy's Shellie. The best added scene comes right in the end in the big final battle between the mob and Dwight with the girls of Old Town. Most notably, the battle involves the sweet, little Miho who gets to show everyone what she can do with an ax, a big fucking ax!!!!!! I love Miho, I'll fight Frank Miller to the death for her heart.

That Yellow Bastard is the segment that adds more scenes to the film. First that are added is a bridging sequence that comes between Hartigan's shooting and his meeting with Senator Roark. It's when Michael Madsen's Bob is surrounded by police cars and an ambulance that leads a sequence where everyone including a nurse (Katherine Willis), a DA, Hartigan's superiors, and Hartigan's wife Eileen (Babs George) is asking Hartigan about what happened as he refuses to talk. The second added sequence involves Carla Gugino's Lucille who serves as Hartigan's attorney where she's called for the parole hearing who is disgusted in Hartigan's false intentions to leave the jail. There's also an extended sequence with Nick Offerman's Mr. Shlubb and Rick Gomez's Klump on their way to the motel Hartigan and Nancy were staying. Overall, the extended and added scenes that are filled with more violence reveals the true nature and style of Frank Miller.

Five special features are on the second disc which includes two regular segments of all of Rodriguez DVDs. The first special feature is the actual movie shown in high-speed on green screen. There, you see the entire film in 10 minutes through a fast speed time where you see how all of the performances are done and who's acting with who along with isn't in the frame. It's one of the best featurettes with a wonderful introduction from Rodriguez. The second featurette is The Long Take: 14 Uninterrupted Minutes of Tarantino's Segment which shows an uncensored, uncut outtake of Tarantino directing Clive Owen and Benicio del Toro in their scene with the car. It reveals the exuberant energy of Tarantino as well as the relaxed chemistry between Owen and del Toro.

The two regular Rodriguez DVD special features arrive with the 15-Minute Film School with Robert Rodriguez. The lesson Rodriguez gives is about the advantage of working with digital cameras and shooting a film like this with a cheap budget as opposed to shooting the film with a full studio backing. Since Rodriguez is one of few directors to have his own studio, effects team, and collaborators, he can do a film on green screen and not having to create scenes outside or create production scenes most of the time. Since he uses green screen for lighting purposes and production, Rodriguez was able to save more money and with own effects team, he didn't need to have a visual effects team from other studios where he saved more money.

For performance, actors had to move a little bit faster than usual where after a few days, they get really comfortable acting in a green-screen set. While the production part was easy, the entire film was made on post-production which took a long time but it allowed Rodriguez and his team to think of ideas, using computer dummies, and things to get the ideas of shots and visual photography. Rodriguez closes the featurette saying that if you have some film, visual effects computer software and a digital camera, you can make a film like Sin City while you can take your time in making effects and learning about the technology.

The 10-Minute Cooking School with Robert Rodriguez is easily one of the most enjoyable featurettes. The recipe Rodriguez makes are Sin City Breakfast Tacos. For these tacos, Rodriguez makes his own flour tortillas with flour, baking powder, a bit of salt, some lard, and butter to give the sense of Mexican authenticity. He makes the tacos in two variations both with scrambled eggs. One of them has peeled, diced, chopped potatoes which he fries as he refers to them as Mexican fries and he likes them crisp. The second variation includes diced, fried corn tortilla chips, tomatoes, onions, and jalapeno peppers. Mix them with the eggs and fry the flour tortillas and you got yourselves some damn good tacos. In the words of Marv from an outtake of the film, enjoy those tacos.

The final special feature is Sin City Live Night at Antones-Filmmakers, Cast & Crew Party which features a full performance from Bruce Willis and his own band the Accelerators doing Devil Woman along with clips of performances from Robert Rodriguez's band. Showing up in the clip are not just cast members Nick Stahl and Jessica Alba but director Richard Linklater and his cast including Woody Harrelson from Linklater's film A Scanner Darkly. While Willis may not have been a good recording artist like most Hollywood stars, he does bring in a good live show.

Added to the two-disc edition of Sin City which is a good starting point for people new to the novel is a complete graphic novel of the first Sin City novel for The Hard Goodbye, which reveals in complete detail, Frank Miller's drawing style, some added scenes, and how close the dialogue that Miller wrote is to the actual film. Overall, it's a great book and anyone who is new to the novels will definitely be interested in the entire series of Sin City. In the end, the 2-Disc DVD special edition of Sin City is a must-have for not just fans of the film or of the work of Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez. It's also one of the best film collections ever assembled on DVD.

***End of 2-Disc DVD section***

In Conclusion, Sin City is a hands down, visual, noirish, violent, sexual, and stylized film from Robert Rodriguez & Frank Miller with a great cast, a great crew, and the contribution of Quentin Tarantino. For anyone interested in the novels will definitely get a new introduction as the vision of Frank Miller definitely comes to life. Anyone interested in film noir will see how closely Rodriguez pays tribute to the genre. So for anyone who wants a great film with lots of violence, sex, and cool dialogue, go see Sin City.

Robert Rodriguez Films: (El Mariachi) - (Roadracers) - (Desperado) - Four Rooms: The Misbehaviors - From Dusk Till Dawn - (The Faculty) - (Spy Kids) - (Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams) - (Spy Kids 3D: Game Over) - (Once Upon a Time in Mexico) - (The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3D) - Grindhouse: Planet Terror - (Shorts) - (Machete) - (Spy Kids: All the Time in the World) - (Machete Kills) - (Sin City: A Dame to Kill For)

(C) thevoid99 2012

Kill Bill

Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, Kill Bill is a two-part film about a woman who was left for dead as she is awaken from a four-year coma to kill the man who tried to have her assassinated as well as the assassins themselves. The film is a journey into a woman seeking vengeance for her near-death experience as it blends all sorts of genres from action, samurai films, martial arts films, and westerns as playing the lead role of the Bride is Uma Thurman. Also starring Lucy Liu, Vivica A. Fox, Daryl Hannah, Michael Madsen, Michael Parks, Sonny Chiba, Julie Dreyfus, Gordon Liu, Samuel L. Jackson, and David Carradine as Bill. Kill Bill is a thrilling and exciting epic film from Quentin Tarantino.

Kill Bill Vol. 1

After being nearly killed by the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad during her wedding ceremony, the Bride is comatose as she doesn’t wake up until four years later as she decide to seek revenge for those that tried to kill her including her boss Bill. After her recovery, the Bride travels to Okinawa to meet with the great swordsmith Hattori Hanzo (Sonny Chiba) to create a sword for her. She then travels to Tokyo to go after the first of the four assassins in Yakuza head O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu) and her army known as the Crazy 88s. The Bride also decides to go after the assassin Vernita Green (Vivica A. Fox) as she’s closer to reach her target.

Kill Bill Vol. 2

Following news of what the Bride is doing, Bill decides to warn his estranged brother Budd (Michael Madsen) about the Bride coming. With the Bride reaching Budd’s trailer, she gets an unexpected surprise from Budd as he decides to take her sword and bury her alive inside a coffin. Budd calls fellow assassin Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah) about the news as he plans to sell her the Bride’s Hanzo sword for a million dollars. Elle makes the deal but has a big surprise for Budd as she suddenly finds herself dealing with the Bride as the two fight it off. Finally set to go after Bill with information from Esteban Vihaio (Michael Parks), the Bride finally reaches Bill’s home as she learns something that shocks her. After that, the Bride and Bill finally discuss why all of this had to happen.

The films are essentially a two-part story of a woman seeking revenge for the beating she took that left her comatose for four years where on the day of her wedding, she was pregnant with a child. After being awoken from that coma, she decides to after the four assassins that tried to have her killed along with the man who ordered the assassination as she revealed in the opening scene of the film that the baby she’s carrying is his. The loss of what would be their child as well as being comatose for four years would drive this woman known as the Bride to go after the people that tried to kill her as it would be this big long adventure that would span through many places and blend into many different genres.

Quentin Tarantino’s screenplay, that features contributions from Uma Thurman for co-creating the Bride character, has a plot that is very simple yet he creates a story that doesn’t delve into a traditional structure. The first film is told in a non-linear style where it begins with the Bride’s confrontation with Vernita Green that is a short but a very poignant scene that reveals a lot about Green and what she’s become. It’s a moment where the Bride shows some remorse for her actions as the first film moves into very different scenes that includes a back story about O-Ren Ishii told in an animated sequence about how she became an assassin after the death of her family in the hands of a Yakuza lord. Another character that is presented in the first half of the story, aside from Hattori Hanzo, is Ishii’s right-hand woman Sofie Fatale (Julie Dreyfus) who was also present at massacre.

While Tarantino employs a non-linear narrative structure for the most of the first film, it’s restrained for the second film where he begins the story with the wedding rehearsal that Bill attends that would lead to the attack. It also reveals more about the other assassins in Budd and Elle Driver where the former has become a broken-down bouncer for a strip club. Another element that is revealed in the second film is a story about the Bride’s training with a cruel martial arts teacher named Pai Mei (Gordon Liu). Once the story progresses where the Bride finally reaches Bill, a twist is revealed that would impact everything the Bride had gone through where she and Bill finally have their own confrontation. Notably as it revealed why the Bride left Bill in the first place during an assignment.

It’s not just the structure and the stylish dialogue that makes Tarantino’s screenplay so interesting but also the way he creates the characters. Tarantino does give each assassin each time to establish their characters where O-Ren Ishii is a Yakuza lord, Vernita Green is a mother, Budd is a broken-down strip club bouncer who lives in a trailer in Texas, and Elle Driver who is still an assassin that is very close to Bill. Each have their own history with the Bride which does create some complications for the way she deals with her enemies though there are those that she just truly despises. When it comes to Bill, Bill is not a traditional antagonist as he’s someone who truly cherishes the Bride as what he did to her was part of who he is as a killer.

Tarantino’s direction is definitely stylish in terms of the presentation he wants to create for both films. The first film is largely a samurai picture with a mixture of action and suspense that includes an anime-style animated sequence to reveal the story of O-Ren Ishii. Through some very stylish shots for the fight scenes, Tarantino captures the intensity of the fights including the Bride’s battle with the Crazy 88s as it includes some beautiful moments such as the fight inside a blue room. Tarantino knows when to slow things down to establish what is going on as he creates some lovely moments for scenes in Tokyo along with some interesting shots such as Elle’s visit to the hospital to poison the already comatose Bride.

For the second film, Tarantino employs a different mix of genres such as martial arts and the western where the latter plays out to the world of Budd and the eventual fight between the Bride and Elle. In the scenes set in Texas, Tarantino employs a wider canvas to tell the story such as the wedding rehearsal and the scenes involving Budd in his trailer. Tarantino adds an element of suspense to these moments when the Bride is set to confront Budd that is later followed by this chilling moment of horror when the Bride is buried alive inside a casket as Tarantino maintains this very claustrophobic framing as if there’s a possibility that she won’t survive. Still, Tarantino knows the Bride has to survive where he creates some very captivating moments that would lead to the ultimate confrontation between herself and Bill.

The way Tarantino directs the ultimate final meeting between the Bride and Bill definitely lives up to everything that had been expected except there’s a lot of surprises in store. There’s a bit of low-key humor but also heartfelt moments that shows that Tarantino can create something that is very innocent. This is of course followed by tense, dramatic moments involving Bill and the Bride where it’s all about why Bill had her killed and why the Bride had to seek revenge. It is truly something that is unexpected by Tarantino as he creates something that is more than a revenge story but also a love story. Overall, Tarantino creates a truly exciting yet engrossing genre-bending epic that does a lot to entertain and more.

Cinematographer Robert Richardson does great work with the very vibrant and colorful photography from the stylish looks of the scenes in Japan in the first film to the more gritty look of the desert scenes in second film. Editor Sally Menke does brilliant work with the editing to create some amazing cuts for the film‘s action along with some slow, methodical cuts for the film‘s suspenseful moments. Production designer David Wasco, along with set decorator Sandy Reynolds-Wasco and art director Daniel Bradford for both films, does excellent work with the set pieces such as the hospital room that the Bride was in plus the wedding chapel and Budd’s trailer while the Japanese scenes featured work by production designer Yohei Taneda and set decorator Yoshihito Akatsuta for the set pieces such as Hanzo’s bar and O-Ren Ishii’s home base.

Costume designers Kumiko Ogawa and Catherine Marie Thomas do wonderful work with the costumes from the Bruce Lee-inspired look of the Bride‘s jumpsuit during her battle with the Crazy 88 to the clothes that O-Ren Ishii and Elle Driver wears. Visual effects supervisor Frankie Chung does superb work with the minimal visual effects used for some of the film‘s action and fight scenes that occur in the film. Animation director Katsuhito Ishii does terrific work with the first film‘s lone animated sequence that tells the story of O-Ren Ishii‘s early life. Sound editor Wylie Stateman, along with sound designers Peter Michael Sullivan, Scott Sanders, and Harry Cohen (for the first film) plus Dino Dimura (for the second film), does fantastic work with the sound to capture the atmosphere that occurs in both films such as the sound effects in the Bride‘s battle with O-Ren‘s army as well as the chilling scene inside the coffin in the second film.

The films double-soundtrack features a wide array of music that plays up to mesh of styles of the genre. Supervised by Mary Ramos for both film soundtracks and Michelle Kuznetsky for the first film soundtrack, the first volume consists a wide range of music from genres like 60s garage rock, score music, 70s soul, and electronic music from acts like Nancy Sinatra, Bernard Herrmann, Louis Bacalov, Meiko Kaji, Isaac Hayes, Neu!, Al Hirt, Santa Esmeralda, Gheorge Zamfir, Quincy Jones, and some original score pieces by Wu-Tang Clan’s the RZA who provides a mixture of hip-hop and electronic music to play up the momentum of the battle.

The second soundtrack consists a different style of music ranging from 70s soul, pop, country, and electronic music from Luis Bacalov, Malcolm McLaren, Meiko Kaji, Charlie Feathers, the RZA, and Johnny Cash. The film also features original music by Robert Rodriguez and his band Chingon as it plays to a mixture of Tex-Mex blues and mariachi while the soundtrack also features Spaghetti Western-inspired music that largely features the work of Ennio Morricone. Both soundtracks are definitely among some of the best usage of music ever assembled for these films.

The casting by Koko Maeda and Johanna Ray is incredible for the large ensemble that is created for both films. From the first part, there’s notable small roles from Michael Bowen as the perverted hospital orderly Buck, Sakichi Sato as a man the Crazy 88s humiliate that they call Charlie Brown, Yuki Kazamatsuri as the House of Blue Leaves proprietor, James Parks as the policeman Edgar McGraw, Jun Kunimura as a Yakuza head who insults O-Ren, and Ambrosia Kelley as Vernita’s four-year old daughter Nikki. From the second film, there’s wonderful performances from Helen Kim as an assassin that tries to kill the Bride, Larry Bishop and Sid Haig as people who work at the strip club Budd works at, Chris Nelson as the Bride’s fiancee Tommy Plympton, Bo Svenson as the reverend at the Bride’s wedding rehearsal, Jeannie Epper as the reverend’s wife, Samuel L. Jackson as the organist that was to play at the wedding, and Perla Haney-Jardine as a little girl that the Bride meets.

Other noteworthy small roles include Michael Parks playing a dual role as Texas Ranger Earl McGraw in the first film and Bill’s old friend Esteban Vihaio in the second, Gordon Liu as the Crazy 88s leader Johnny Mo in the first film and the cruel teacher Pai Mei in the second one, Chiaki Kuriyama as O-Ren’s sadistic bodyguard Gogo Yubari, Julie Dreyfus as O-Ren’s lawyer Sofie Fatale, and Sonny Chiba as the legendary swords maker Hattori Hanzo. In the roles of the former DiVAS assassination team, there’s brilliant performances from Vivica A. Fox as Vernita Greene who tries to make amends with the Bride, Lucy Liu as the skilled yet darkly-humored O-Ren Ishii who has a unique history with the Bride, Michael Madsen as Bill’s broken-down brother Budd who is filled with a lot of regret as he deals with the Bride, and Daryl Hannah as the vicious Elle Driver who seems to have a lot of animosity towards the Bride.

The late David Carradine is incredible as Bill as this very charismatic yet sadistic man who deals with the Bride’s vengeance as well as everything that happens where Carradine brings a performance that is truly engaging as he creates an antagonist that is quite likeable. Finally, there’s Uma Thurman in an outstanding performance as the Bride as a woman hell-bent on getting revenge for what happened to her. Thurman’s performance is full of complexities as a woman who has some charm as well as someone with remorse for her actions as there’s also a chilling restraint to her role. It’s definitely Thurman going all out and more as she creates a performance that is simply iconic.

Kill Bill is a magnificent two-part film from Quentin Tarantino that features a magnificent lead performance from Uma Thurman. With its amazing blend of genres, stylish production value, a killer soundtrack, and a brilliant ensemble cast that includes David Carradine, Lucy Liu, Daryl Hannah, Vivica A. Fox, Michael Madsen, and Sonny Chiba. Both films as one is truly an unforgettable experience as though both films does have something for everyone. In the end, Kill Bill is a phenomenal two-part film from Quentin Tarantino.

Quentin Tarantino Films: Reservoir Dogs - Pulp Fiction - Four Rooms: The Man from Hollywood - Jackie Brown - Grindhouse: Death Proof - Inglourious Basterds - Django Unchained - The Hateful Eight - Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood

Related: The Auteurs #17: Quentin Tarantino - Growing Up with Quentin Tarantino

© thevoid99 2012

Reservoir Dogs

Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, Reservoir Dogs is the story about the troubling aftermath of a botched heist as its surviving criminals tried to figure out what went wrong as they also deal with someone who could be the informant. The film is an exploration of men trying to deal with who they are as well as the fact of how a heist went wrong as they all start to turn on each other. Starring Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Steve Buscemi, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn, and Lawrence Tierney. Reservoir Dogs is a gripping yet mesmerizing film from Quentin Tarantino.

In the aftermath of a diamond heist gone wrong, Mr. White (Harvey Keitel) drives a getaway car with a wounded Mr. Orange (Tim Roth) at the back as he’s bleeding heavily as they both return to an abandoned warehouse to hide out as Mr. White hopes to get Mr. Orange to the hospital. Mr. Pink (Steve Buscemi) arrives where he and Mr. White discuss what went wrong as Mr. Pink claims it was a set-up. After talking about what happened where Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen) had killed many people at the place, Mr. White thinks that there was an informant who revealed everything before Mr. Blonde had started going nuts. Mr. Blonde finally arrives to the warehouse as he is waiting for a message from their boss’s son Nice Guy Eddie (Chris Penn) while Mr. Blonde revealed to have a captured a police officer named Marvin Nash (Kirk Baltz) whom they beat up to reveal the informant’s name.

Eddie shows up with news that his father Joe (Lawrence Tierney) is upset as he joins Mr. Pink and Mr. White to retrieve the diamonds that Mr. Pink had hidden leaving Mr. Blonde to deal with Nash. Upon their return, Eddie, Mr. Pink, and Mr. White make a chilling discovery where Joe arrives with some accusations leading to a standoff for all involved.

The film is essentially the story of a heist gone wrong where surviving criminals and their superiors try to figure out who set them up and where did everything go all wrong. In the course of the story, there’s the back story of three men who are involved the heist as one of them is revealed to the informant and how that man infiltrated himself to be part of this botched heist. While it’s a plot that is simple, Quentin Tarantino chooses to create a story that isn’t just about the troubled heist but the men themselves who are involved. Notably as they each try to figure out what went wrong where they all start to target each other.

In this gang are a boss, the boss’s son, and four survivors of this heist. A boss who is old school and pulls no punches. The boss’s son who is quite sadistic but also wanting to ensure nothing goes wrong. A veteran criminal who has grown concerned about his younger associate dying from his wounds. The wounded criminal trying to stay alive as he’s bleeding to death. A psychopath who is proven to be a liability as it raises many questions for those in this warehouse and there’s a weaselly criminal who is trying to keep everyone in check as he’s the only professional in the entire heist.

Quentin Tarantino’s screenplay has a unique narrative structure that helps tell the story where it doesn’t follow traditional conventions. Instead, it employs a somewhat non-linear style to help tell the story of these men trying to figure out what went wrong though the actual heist is never shown. The main narrative of these men pondering what’s wrong in an abandoned warehouse is often cut back to another moment where it tells the back story of the three men where one of them is the actual informant in the film’s third act. Through some stylish, playful dialogue, the film’s screenplay carries not just a sense of humor but also a language that is part of this unique criminal world that everyone is surrounded by.

In the course of this story, there’s bits in the film where the men talk about a radio program that is playing songs from the 70s led by this DJ (the voice of Steven Wright) as it often serves as transitions for the narrative while being played in the background to reveal a lot about the personalities of these men. Even where they would often talk about all sorts of pop culture references and such that includes the film’s opening scene where Mr. Brown (Quentin Tarantino) talks about the meaning of Madonna’s Like a Virgin in a very funny moment while Joe reads his old phone book.

Tarantino’s direction is very exciting for the way he presents the film from start to finish such as the opening scene where everyone is eating breakfast where Mr. Brown talks about Like a Virgin that is later followed by Mr. Pink’s monologue about not wanting to tip. Tarantino maintains a sense of intimacy while having the camera move around slowly to establish who these men are as they’re set to embark on this heist. This would then lead to some very chilling moments of Mr. Orange lying in the back of a car bleeding heavily as Mr. White is driving and trying to comfort him. It’s a scene that’s to reveal what’s to come as Tarantino pulls no punch in some of the film’s graphic violence that would include a graphic torture scene involving the cop Nash.

Tarantino does employ a lot of stylistic shots such as the brief scene of Mr. Pink running away from the cops with a bag of diamonds where Tarantino uses lots of tracking shots to capture this chase and some very direct camera work to capture the intensity of the violence. Even as Tarantino creates some unique wide shots to capture an entire group and setting into one frame where he would up the ante in the film’s climatic stand-off between several of its characters. Overall, Tarantino creates a suspenseful yet engaging film about a troubling aftermath of a botched heist.

Cinematographer Andrzej Sekula does excellent work with the film‘s colorful cinematography from the sunny look of the daytime exteriors to the mood that is set in the scenes at the warehouse. Editor Sally Menke does amazing work with the editing by using lots of rhythmic cuts to play out the intensity of the action and dialogue along with the way she sets up the cutting style for the film‘s narrative. Production designer David Wasco and set decorator Sandy Reynolds-Wasco do superb work with the set pieces from the warehouse the whole gang stay at to figure out what is going on to the look of Joe’s office.

Costume designer Betsy Heimann does wonderful work with the costumes from the look of the suits the men wear to the clothing that Nice Guy Eddie wears. Sound editors Stephen Hunter Flick and Geoffrey G. Rubay do terrific work with the sound from the intimacy of the warehouse to the way the radio sounds in some parts of the film. Music supervisor Karyn Rachtman does a brilliant job in assembling the film’s 70s inspired soundtrack as it features music from The George Baker Selection, Blue Swede, Joe Tex, Bedlam, Harry Nilsson, Sandy Rogers, and Stealers Wheel in some very key moments of the film.

The casting by Ronnie Yeskel is incredible for the ensemble that is created as it features some noteworthy small roles from producer Lawrence Bender as a young cop, Randy Brooks as the informer’s mentor Holdaway, and Kirk Baltz as the captured cop Marvin Nash. Other notable small roles include Eddie Bunker as the old-school criminal Mr. Blue and Quentin Tarantino as the witty Mr. Brown. Lawrence Tierney is great as the old-school boss Joe Cabot who doesn’t pull any punches about anything that has to be done. Chris Penn is superb as Joe’s son Nice Guy Eddie who tries to ensure everything goes right while also proving to be very sadistic.

Tim Roth is amazing as Mr. Orange who deals with being wounded while being the most low-key guy of the group. Michael Madsen is brilliant as the psychopathic Mr. Blonde who is cool when very quiet but has a very dark side in the way he deals with things. Steve Buscemi is excellent as the frustrated Mr. Pink who tries to maintain his professionalism amidst the chaos that is happening. Finally, there’s Harvey Keitel in a marvelous performance as the veteran Mr. White who tries to piece everything that’s happening while becoming gravely concerned for the wounded Mr. Orange.

Reservoir Dogs is an outstanding feature film debut from Quentin Tarantino that features a brilliant ensemble cast that includes Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Steve Buscemi, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn, and Lawrence Tierney. It’s definitely one of the great crime films of the 1990s as well as an engaging piece into the world of heist and the criminal underworld. It’s also a film that remains exciting and full of witty dialogue and lots of action. In the end, Reservoir Dogs is a triumphant film from Quentin Tarantino.

Quentin Tarantino Films: Pulp Fiction - Four Rooms: The Man from Hollywood - Jackie Brown - Kill Bill - Grindhouse-Death Proof - Inglourious Basterds - Django Unchained - The Hateful Eight - Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood

Related: The Auteurs #17: Quentin Tarantino - Growing Up with Quentin Tarantino

© thevoid99 2012

007 James Bond Marathon: Die Another Day

Based on Ian Fleming’s stories, Die Another Day is the story of James Bond trying to find a betrayer within the British government who had him imprisoned for a year in North Korea as he gets help from an American agent. Directed by Lee Tamahori and screenplay by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, the film has Bond take on new foes as well as team up an agent who is considered an equal of his as Pierce Brosnan plays Bond for the fourth and final time. Also starring Halle Berry, Toby Stephens, Rick Yune, Rosamund Pike, Michael Madsen, John Cleese, Samantha Bond, and Judi Dench as M. Die Another Day is a film that has some fine moments but is hampered by its hackneyed script and nonsensical action sequences.

After a mission in North Korea goes wrong that left the rogue Colonel Moon (Will Yun Lee) dead, Bond is imprisoned where he’s tortured for 14 months until he’s released by Moon’s father General Moon (Kenneth Tsang) as a prisoner exchange for Colonel Moon’s henchman Zao (Rick Yune). After being suspended for supposedly leaking information to the North Koreans, Bond escapes his hospital stay to go to Hong Kong where he meets Chinese agent Mr. Chang (Ho Yi) who tells Bond about Zao killing a few Chinese agents as Bond travels to Cuba. After getting some information from a cigar manufacturer in Raoul (Emilio Echevarria), Bond meets up with an American agent named Jinx (Halle Berry) as the two make separate missions to a secret island where Bond finds Zao who was trying to have surgery. Things go wrong until Bond finds some diamonds that belongs to a billionaire named Gustav Graves (Toby Stephens).

Bond decides to meet Graves at a country club in order to find out more about the diamonds as Graves invites Bond to a ceremony he’s having in Iceland. After regaining his 00 status from M who also wants to know more about Graves, Bond is sent to Iceland where Bond learns that Graves’ assistant Miranda Frost (Rosamund Pike) is a MI6 operative also investigating Graves. Jinx also arrives at Iceland to continue her mission as she and Bond make a discovery about not just Graves but who is he in league with. Also learning about the satellite that Graves created which is really a weapon, Bond decides to report this to M where he learns about the person that betrayed him to the North Koreans. With some help from Jinx, the two travel to South Korea to stop Graves from unleashing his weapon in order to start a war.

While the premise of the film has Bond taking on a billionaire who could be in cahoots with a North Korean terrorist in order to start a war is an interesting one. It starts off great in which Bond tries to infiltrate a meeting where he meets this rogue colonel and his friend that is involved with diamond smuggling where suddenly things go wrong as Bond is betrayed and sabotaged. Then the story starts to devolve into a premise where Bond has to share his time with another agent as they work together to find a terrorist and this billionaire where the results aren’t very good.

Part of the problem with film’s screenplay is that Gustav Graves as a villain isn’t very interesting at all. Sure, there is a twist about him that is revealed in the film’s second half that explains his motivations but it is handled with such silliness that he is just a villain who likes to have stupid gadgets around him to defeat his villains. The Zao character is a bit more interesting as a henchman but ends up becoming a second-banana to Graves by the film’s second half. It’s not just some of the characterization and situations that doesn’t work but also some of the dialogue where it’s not as humorous as it used to be while some of it feels forced in its delivery.

Lee Tamahori’s direction does have some engaging moments in terms of the way he builds suspense as well as the film’s opening prologue scene that establishes a lot of what is to come. Yet, Tamahori seems to be taken by the idea of creating a film that goes into a lot of locations like Iceland, Spain, and Britain as well as setting it in places all over the world. Since he couldn’t go everywhere, he has to utilize CGI backgrounds to create shots of Hong Kong and some places where it doesn’t very realistic. It’s not just that some of the set pieces and visual-effects driven moments don’t work at all.

Some of the film’s action sequences get into very silly moments where it’s not just the use of CGI that hampers these moments. Tamahori’s emphasis to give into the conventions of action-style editing and shooting styles ends up creating a film that is incomprehensive to watch at times. Notably with the twists that are later unveiled in some of the dramatic moments where Tamahori makes some editing decisions that really kills the impact that it should’ve had. Despite a few decent moments in the film, Tamahori ends up creating a film that is just a flat-out mess.

Cinematographer David Tattersall does nice work with the cinematography for some scenes in the exteriors including some lighting schemes in Graves‘ secret base scene. Editors Christian Wagner and Andrew MacRitchie do some OK work with the editing in the film‘s suspenseful and light-hearted moments but ends up playing to the rapid-cutting style of most action films where not much makes sense in the fights and action scenes. Production designer Peter Lamont, with set decorator Simon Wakefield and supervising art director Neil Lamont, does some fine work with some of the set pieces such as the MI6 offices but the ice-made hotel that Graves lives in easily the worst set piece of all of the Bond films.

Costume designer Lindy Hemming does very good work with the costumes in the dresses that Miranda Frost and Jinx wears to the tuxedos that Bond wears Special effects supervisor Chris Corbould and visual effects supervisor Mara Bryan do some decent work with some of the special effects but the CGI work is truly poor and shoddy. Sound editor Martin Evans does some terrific work with the sound to capture the atmosphere of the action scenes as well as the party at Graves‘ ice palace. The film’s music by David Arnold is wonderful for some of the orchestral music that is played for some of the film’s action scenes though the electronic stuff isn’t very good. The title song by Madonna is truly one of the worst Bond theme song ever thanks to some bad production and the use of a vocoder that makes Madonna sound like Cartman.

The film’s ensemble cast is pretty good for the people that is hired as it features some notable small roles from Emilio Echevarria as Bond’s Cuban contact Raul, Ho Yi as Bond’s Hong Kong contact Mr. Chang, Michael Madsen as Jinx’s superior Damian Falco, Will Yun Lee as the rogue Colonel Lee, and Kenneth Tsang as Lee’s father. The worst small role comes in the form of Madonna as a fencing instructor named Verity where Madonna puts on a shitty British accent that makes her sound like a jackass. Bond regulars such as Colin Salmon as MI6 official Charles Robinson and Samantha Bond as Miss Moneypenny are very good while John Cleese is quite funny as Q. Rick Yune is terrific as the henchman Zao who tries to kill Bond while sporting a disfigured face while Judi Dench has some fine moments in her role as M.

Rosamund Pike is excellent as the MI6 agent Miranda Frost who is a skilled swordswoman as well as someone who isn’t keen on Bond’s charms. Toby Stephens is terrible as Gustav Graves due to the fact that Graves is a pretty lame villain who has to rely on an electric suit and swagger to get things done. Halle Berry is quite good as the agent Jinx as she is a woman who can kick ass and get things done as Berry does have chemistry with Pierce Brosnan. It’s just that she’s not given enough material to make her into someone really compelling as well as the fact that Jinx gets some pretty lame one-liners. Finally, there’s Pierce Brosnan in his final outing as James Bond where Brosnan maintains his sense of charm and wit to the role as well as a sense of grit but the script’s shortcomings really bog the character down as it doesn’t give Brosnan enough room to make Bond more engaging to watch.

Of the films in the James Bond series, Die Another Day is truly the weakest film of the entire franchise. Due to awful decisions from the part of director Lee Tamahori, misguided use of visual effects, a very weak villain, a lackluster script, and ridiculous action scenes that involves an invisible car. It’s a film that just puts James Bond into situations that are way too silly. While there are some moments that keeps the film from being a total disaster, it’s not enough to make it a worthwhile moment. In the end, Die Another Day is a terrible film from Lee Tamahori.

James Bond Files: The EON Films: Dr. No - From Russia with Love - Goldfinger - Thunderball - You Only Live Twice - On Her Majesty's Secret Service - Diamonds are Forever - Live and Let Die - The Man with the Golden Gun - The Spy Who Loved Me - Moonraker - For Your Eyes Only - Octopussy - A View to a Kill - The Living Daylights - Licence to Kill - GoldenEye - Tomorrow Never Dies - The World is Not Enough - Casino Royale (2006 film) - Quantum of Solace - Skyfall - SPECTRE - No Time to Die

Non-EON Films: Casino Royale (Climax! TV Episode) - Casino Royale (1967 film) - Never Say Never Again

Bond Documentaries: Bond Girls Are Forever - True Bond - Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of 007

© thevoid99 2012