Take Three: Amanda Plummer

Craig back with a new Take Three.

Today: Amanda Plummer

 

Amanda Plummer photograph from Jeannick Gravelines Photographe

Take One: No film without her

There are certain characters who, when they appear on screen and begin adding their particular slant, I know I'll want to see more of. Sometimes the filmmakers oblige with this. Sometimes they don't. Personally, I'm thinking Radha Mitchell in Finding Neverland (who I looked at here), Anna Faris in Lost in Translation, Jayne Eastwood in Dawn of the Dead (2004) and the like. We all have certain types we want more from.

More often than not, they're played by great supporting/character actors, doing what they do best: stealing the film... if actually given the chance. That's how I felt about Plummer as boiler-suited cleaner Laurie in Isabel Coixet's My Life Without Me (2003). This isn't to dismiss Sarah Polley's fine central performance as Ann, but something made me gravitate toward Plummer's character, her friend and co-worker, with far more curiosity.

A clean break: Plummer takes lunch sitting down in My Life without Me

There was a story there. Her whole life and all the possible dramas and woes it contained was hidden within the tiny flickers of unrest and resignation that Plummer spiritised Laurie with. She made real, solid sense; she's someone we've all surely met. Plummer's such a seasoned, versatile actress that she raised a fringe character beyond someone who merely pushed a mop around and assisted Ann with her laundry list of terminal woes. Plummer's also a generous actress -- too generous, maybe. She settled for the supporting role of the supportive friend here with neither fuss nor fanfare. Yet what she does with this most peripheral of roles is consistently engrossing. I find my eyes drawn to her awkwardly wonderful face whenever she's on screen. And I couldn't imagine My Life without Me without Amanda P.

Take Two: The meek shall inherit... Robin Williams' undying devotion

The Fisher King (1991), Terry Gilliam's paean to the homeless, marginalised denizens of New York, by way of the titular Arthurian legend, has a wonderful cast quartet. There's Williams as Parry, Jeff Bridges as shock-jock DJ Jack, Mercedes Ruehl as saucy broad Anne, and, last but not least, Plummer as mousy, lonely publishing accountant Lydia. With a strawberry bell-end bob under a beige beret and a sloppy, fusspot disposition, Lydia is courted (well, more like stalked) by tender tramp Parry. He's adored her from afar and with Jack's chummy coercion, snags a date with her. It's more meet-clumsy, than meet-cute.

Dinner not for schmucks: Plummer & Co. dine in style in The Fisher King

Lydia's as much the awkward, nervy oddball as the troubled Parry ("They were made for each other... scary, but true," says Anne at one point), and Plummer expertly plays up the quirkiness without any unnecessarily forced embellishments. Over the film's charming, easy-going middle section she proceeds to peel the kooky layers away to show us the vulnerable woman behind it all. This is especially visible straight after the funny, largely silent double-date sequence. Plummer's mini speech, where she recounts the tired process of a life's worth of bad dating experiences with gradual tears and a weary demeanour ("...and ever-so-slowly I'll turn into a piece of dirt"), is one of The Fisher King's most emotionally wrenching moments. But Plummer does also get to glide through the waltzing crowds in Grand Central Station when Gilliam turns it into a giant fantasy ballroom. Gilliam likes to celebrate the often unassuming, interesting types in his films; Plummer's the perfect character actress fit for his otherworldly cinema.

Take Three: The crowd control

Tim Roth and Amanda Plummer. Pumpkin and Honey Bunny. (Ringo and Yolanda, to be precise.) Two enterprising, pre-title wired diners who demanded more from breakfast service than most and wanted it bloody side up. They had the hipness of Bonnie and Clyde, the daffy scorn of Leonard Kastle's Honeymoon Killers and the light weaponry of Thelma & Louise. They had snappier dialogue than all of them put together.

Garrulous to a fault (it's Quentin Tarantino, so of course) and teetering on the edge of idiosyncrasy, they had odd sweetly grinning faces -- interesting faces, character actor faces, watchable faces -- to match their nicknames. Especially Amanda Plummer: there was a reason QT focused more on Honey Bunny, foregrounding Plummer in his pulpy prologue. She's a bona fide live wire, revelling in the dark ebullience of her mayhem: only a freeze-frame could put a stop to her antics. "I'm ready. Let's do it: right now, right here!"

Plummer & Roth strongly object to the 10% tipping policy in Pulp Fiction

She's Pulp Fiction's (1994) crazy gem, the one who got to hysterically deliver the line most folk remember first. Plummer was maniacally good with her own brand of Tourette's etiquette, barking "Any of you fuckin' pricks move, and I'll execute every-mother-fuckin'-last-one-of-you!" It's not the first thing you want to hear over your eggs and morning coffee, true, but a wake-up nonetheless. When Tarantino gets famed for the sureness of his dialogue it's outbursts like this, delivered by fearless, competent performers, that spring to mind more than the flip pop references. Plummer devotees will see Honey Bunny as a defining, quintessential bit-part in one of the bigger movies of her career. Casual movie-goers will remember her as That Mental-Lookin'-Gun-Waving Woman. But we do all remember Honey Bunny.

Three more key films for the taking: So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993), Needful Things (1993), Butterfly Kiss (1995)

Till the Links Roll By

Antagony & Ecstasy - churns up a summer appropriate top ten list: best performances in comic-based films. Impeccable choices really (especially the top tier) and fine write ups (especially the two on Superman).
MNPP wants this Fright Night remake (another vampire movie?) immediately thanks to the wonderful-on-paper cast
Erik Lundegaard - is making a thorough, interesting trek through past Robin Hood films. Something I wanted to do but never found time for. Argh.
Sunset Gun "How Little We Know" a fine piece on the cinema of Wong Kar Wai, Days of Being Wild specifically


/Film has a lengthy word for word interview with Justin Theroux. Sadly it's only about Iron Man 2. I hope he acts again. David Lynch where are you???
By Ken Levine "The Truth about Lady Gaga". This article makes me want to watch Man in the Moon again. Remember that one? The one that was supposed to net Jim Carrey an Oscar nomination?
Deviant Art has a pretty amazing Pulp Fiction graphic, displaying the film chronologically. Something the film never displays don'cha know
popbytes Cynthia Nixon covers The Advocate
Just Jared Winona Ryder and Channing Tatum to play lovers in Ron Howard's Cheaters. Hmmm, strangely I like the idea, well, except for the Ron Howard part
A Socialite's Life John Barrowman as Alladin? Fun pics but why no more Torchwood? *sniffle*
Boing Boing Here's an interesting one for you small screen enthusiasts. This is a list from a tv executive explaining 12 reasons why certain shows get picked up by networks.

my favorite goodbyes to Lena Horne
Guardian David Thomson refuses to talk about Lena for 671 words
The Sheila Variations wonderful personalized tribute to Lena here
Time Magazine Richard Corliss kicks off their tribute with a 'shoulda been' obituary
Variety Ted Johnson has the Obama family's statement
The Auteurs Daily collects the online tributes and obits

There's Something About Uma

Craig here, asking you all (on her 40th birthday): where is Uma at?


Ah, Uma. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. And despite actually being Tarantino's Bride twice last decade. What is it about Uma? She's widely known and adored by many, yet never seems to (quite) make it to the top of the A-list. The likes of Helen Hunt, Gwyneth Paltrow, Charlize Theron, Reese Witherspoon, Renée Zellweger, Jennifer Connelly, Angelina Jolie and Hilary Swank - all peers and contemporaries - have bagged themselves Oscars in the last thirteen-or-so years. The simple question is: where's Uma's gold?

She's one of the most uniquely beautiful actresses working, but nowadays, more so than in the early '90s, she doesn't often tend to get the recognition come awards season, or even appear on any of those Sexiest Hollywood Stars lists that crop up year-on-year anymore (although, is this really a fair indication of a star's Tinseltown standing anyway?). She has a singular talent and is open and vibrant with her on-screen persona: sultry, yet unafraid to play silly; refined, but willing to be raffish. There aren't many stars who have her particular mix of versatility and charm. And I'm sure some of her peers would have killed to have played Beatrix Kiddo.

Venus Rising: Uma in her first major role, in Baron Munchausen

Her florid introduction to the silver screen came in 1988 in the shapely form of the Goddess Venus (as an homage to Botticelli's 'The Birth of Venus') in Terry Gilliam's The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. It's an entrance comparable to (although it came six years before) Cameron Diaz's similar blond siren walk-on in 1994's The Mask (the year Uma got her first and, to date, only Oscar nomination, for Pulp Fiction). She was newly established and well on the rise back then, but how to define her career since?

Diaz made cartoon Jim Carrey's eyes pop out - and so, too, the cinema-going public's - and has gone on to be one of Hollywood's top female earners. Uma's salary doesn't quite reach Diaz's heights, but she's gained a solid and singular reputation for her - sometime fun, sometimes frank - body of work all the same; and when she's on top form she's often unmatchable. (Diaz may pull in bigger crowds, but she's rarely as risky or as resourceful as Uma: it ain't all about the money!) But since Kill Bill Vol. 2 six years ago - and despite some recent game attempts at more commercial rom-com fare - she hasn't set the film world on fire as once she did. With a whole host of rising stars strutting the red carpet year-on-year where does this leave a talent like hers?

Many a year she's dipped her toes in a variety of genre pools (and there are few genres that Uma hasn't tried and tested). Let's take stock and get an overview here: era-hopping period drama (Dangerous Liaisons, Les misérables, Vatel, The Golden Bowl, Henry & June, Sweet and Lowdown); adaptations of contemporary plays (Tape, Chelsea Walls, Hysterical Blindness, My Zinc Bed); an array of rom-coms (The Truth About Cats & Dogs, Prime, My Super Ex-Girlfriend, The Accidental Husband, Motherhood); fantastical sci-fi (The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Gattaca, Paycheck, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief); a pair of franchise-ending flops (Hey, they all have 'em) with The Avengers, Batman & Robin; and a couple of true genre-defying oddities thrown in for good measure (Where the Heart Is, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues).

Left: does Uma get a massive thumbs up from you?

She's played the villainous vamp, the demure ingénue, the good-hearted girl and swift-footed samurai - and a multitude of lead and supporting ladies in between. She has the cool-handed knack for boldly trying out all those different cinematic genres (still a decision to be applauded in today's movie world - especially when many big-name actors all too often stick to the safety of their particular genres of choice).

She's had a fair share of notable roles - the high profile one-two punch of the Kill Bill double, closely backed up by her dance-and-drugs dealings with Travolta in Pulp Fiction (to name two obvious ones), but why is it that when she's either killing Bill or pulping fiction she only seems to gets the high praise? I think it's about time for her to be given the chance to re-shine on the silver screen, to remind us that there's still a vast and varied career path after 40 just around the corner.

But maybe the over-abundance of variety has resulted in her career so far not entirely finding its own groove. Has the wide variety of roles made her an all-too indefinable screen presence? Or has the genre indecision left Uma slightly adrift? She's tried almost everything: where for a girl to go next. Either way, it's a big birthday for Uma. Let's hope the roles keep getting just as big.


So, today on her 40th, if you were a director with a free pick of projects, what gift of a role would you give Ms. Thurman?

Modern Maestros: Quentin Tarantino

Robert here, continuing my series on great contemporary directors. I figured this would be as good a time as any to take a look at one of this year's Best Director nominees.  No, he probably won't win the Oscar this year, but history may look upon him more kindly than any of his fellow nominees, especially as a real titan of his generation.  He's a rock star director, and like him or hate him, you can't deny his influence.

Maestro:Quentin Tarantino
Known For: Highly structured, stylized, talky and violent movies.
Influences: Jean-Luc Godard, Sergio Leone, and anyone who ever made a Kung-Fu film.
Masterpieces: Pulp Fiction is the easy answer, but in pop-culture years that was eons ago. How about the Kill Bill movies.
Disasters: none
Better than you remember: Jackie Brown is already a "better than you remember" classic.
Awards: A couple Best Screenplay Oscars (excuse me, one Best Screenplay Oscar, don't want to jump the gun).  A couple Best Direction and Picture nominations.  And a Palme d'Or back in 1994.
Box Office: As we all know, Inglourious Basterds is his highest grossing film with over 120 mil to date.
Favorite Actor: Samuel L. Jackson whose likeness (or voice) has appeared in four Tarantino films.

What can be said about Quentin Tarantino that hasn't already been?  Not much.  But let's not start with the two elements of his films that are most discussed - his stylistic flourishes and his unique dialogue.  Instead I pose to you what may be Tarantino's greatest, yet least credited strength as a director.  He is a fantastic director of actors.  It's fitting to note now as we're expecting Christoph Waltz to earn an Oscar for giving perhaps the best performance in a Tarantino film that all of his actors' performances are uniformly excellent.  Unfortunately, too often they're overshadowed by the style and dialogue that everyone seems to obsess over.  But in Tarantino's mind, his witty, trademark dialogue is merely a means to the end of a great performance  He's said himself that if he truly considered himself a writer at heart he'd be writing novels.  But he's not.  He's a filmmaker, and his dialogue isn't nearly as important on a page as it is performed out loud.

Okay, so let's talk a little about style... it's unavoidable.  Tarantino, lover of the French New Wave, has taken a page from their play book and enjoys breaking cinematic rules for the sake of breaking cinematic rules.  And why not do so by throwing in elements from another kind of picture he loves, the B-movie. Q.T. has yet to meet a trick he doesn't like.  Voice overs, animated sequences, shifts in time, can all sneak up on us without warning, and perhaps without purpose aside from setting a mood unique to Tarantino films alone.  And then there's the violence.  Yes, the way Tarantino enjoys breaking the rules most is through his total and fervent delight in violence.  And yet he occasionally jars us through violence that's suddenly less gleeful (the death of Vincent Vega or the baseball bat bludgeoning of a sympathetically painted Nazi).  Tarantino is eternally exploring the complex relationship between delighting in and being repelled by violence.  It is perhaps for this reason why he's given us so many revenge pictures lately (a genre he's constantly redefining by making it epic or dancing on established archetypes or even revising history itself), or why he continually focuses on violence committed by the fairer sex.  These elements are meant to turn our ideas of right or wrong or natural against us.  But we're not bogged down by them because we're having so much damn fun.

We root for the violent ladies

Feeding into his revenge fantasies is his love for the plotting of a plan.  Tarnatino films often feature large meticulously structured plans.  It's no surprise then that he loves making movies.  He sits atop the modern indie film world as something of an elder statesman.  Really he just wants to have fun.  Other modern directors who delight in exploiting B-movie elements seem burdened by their inability to apply them to anything new.  But Tarantino knows how to keep giving us something new.  He keeps evolving.  That's what makes him not just relevant but revolutionary almost twenty years after he helped re-invent the American indie.  In that time he's been not only a director but a promoter of great films, helping to bring pictures like Chungking Express, Sonatine and Hero to American audiences.  What comes next for Tarantino is somewhat unknown.  That's all part of his enigmatic image.  He's suggested a desire to make a film entirely in Mandarin.  And he's hinted that there will soon be a unified Kill Bill epic and a Kill Bill vol. 3.  But it doesn't really matter what comes next.  It's already a given that it'll be exciting and interesting and the mark of a director who truly defines his time.

"The Look" Gets the Gold

Some people are never down for the count. And Lauren Bacall is one of those people. The famously silver tongued siren began bewitching moviegoers when she was only 19 -- surely the most mature teenager the screen ever saw -- in To Have and Have Not (1944). Aside from a fallow 1970s, she's been working steadily since. In all that time she's never learned to hold her tongue (so many choice soundbites over the years, god bless) and she's still a lively soul at 84 going on 85. Her birthday is next week.

When she lost her only Oscar nomination (1996's The Mirror Has Two Faces) to Juliette Binoche in The English Patient, most assumed that she would be of the Have Not variety when it came to the statue, despite her marriages to two legendary Haves, Oscar winners Humphrey Bogart and Jason Robards. But now, the wait for her very own golden boy is over. She'll receive her honorary Oscar in November.





While we'll see a clip of Bacall at the Oscar ceremony in March, it rankles me that it'll only be a clip. Such a stupid move. The Oscar were made for live moments like that, moments where you can celebrate the last of dying breeds and/or movie legends on the industry's High Holy Night as they mingle with contemporary stars and gazillions of people watch. And make no mistake, there are still plenty of people watching the Oscars every year despite the media's constant reports of Falling Sky! Falling Sky!

Just for fun, here's some of my favorite Tweets from "Lauren" over the past few months as she sounded off on smoking, cats, an unfinished Tarantino script, vampire and horror movies. So what if they were fake? They were so fun. Legendary name dropping, opinions, project pimping...




Now that the news and the tweets are out of the way I have to admit that I'm not really that well versed in Bacall's long career. I've always enjoyed her as a celebrity but aside from To Have and Have Not and How to Marry a Millionaire, my mind goes blank when it comes time to discussing her films. What's your favorite of her performances? Give us rental suggestions in the comments.

Recycled Experience: Tarantino Directed Performances

tuesday top ten: a weekly series for the list lover in you and the list maker in me

This list was originally published in 2007 prior to the release of Grindhouse... I'm reworking it to bring it up to date. The last time I made the list I left a spot open for "someone from Death Proof" assuming that Quentin Tarantino, who directs actors far better than most, would pull something great from someone therein. Though Kurt Russell made the most of his deadly wheels, the movie was a dud. There are some who don't share that opinion (Tarantino efforts always come with both acolytes and detractors) but for the first time I found very little joy in the writing... his fabled ear for stylized dialogue and instantly engaging idiosyncratic characters evaporated in a sea of endlessly banal conversations. Followed by non-stop action. That empty spot is easy to fill with Inglourious Basterds, which opens on Friday.

Runners Up: Pam Grier & Robert Forster in Jackie Brown and Mélanie Laurent as "Shoshanna" in Inglourious Basterds

10 Best Performances in Tarantino Films

10 Bridget Fonda as "Melanie" in Jackie Brown (1997)
I could just as easily have said Grier or Forster but it's the QT that's fuzziest for me. My most vivid recall is of Fonda's lazy taunting blonde --so she hits the ten spot. This was the only time outside of Scandal (1988) when I had enormous faith in her potential as an actor. Tarantino often finds what's best in any actor, no matter what rung they occupy on Hollywood's ladder.

09 David Carradine as "Bill" in Kill Bill, Vol 2 (2004)
RIP Grasshopper. I know that my beloved Warren Beatty is supposed to be a very intelligent man but turning down this role was sheer stupidity, wasn't it?

08 Tim Roth as "Mr. Orange" and...
07 Harvey Keitel as "Mr. White" in Reservoir Dogs (1992)
QT's debut caused an arthouse stir for it's simple visual punch (those suits), that scene (the ear), and its oft-imitated but never duplicated flair for supercharged popculture riffing dialogue. What's less remembered or commented on is that it was clear from his very first effort that Tarantino was a natural at getting the most out of casting and subsequent performances. These two acclaimed actors flesh out a complex relationship, particularly in the intense final sequences.


06 Christoph Waltz as "Hans Landa" in Inglourious Basterds (2009)
This World War II riff doesn't it take itself too seriously. Or if it does, gleefully declaring itself a masterpiece or burning through celluloid, it's doubling as a pisstake. Waltz best captures the movie's self-delight with menacing confidence, squirrely wickedness and abruptly satisfying line deliveries. "BINGO!"

05 Daryl Hannah as "Elle Driver" in Kill Bill, Vol 1 & 2 (2003-2004)
Arguably my very favorite thing (among many) about this two-parter is the notepad that The Bride has written her enemies in. She crosses them out as she kills them. It's such a superb touch that the names are sized according to who she hates most. "Elle" is quite large and the performance will have to be too, if you're to understand the animosity.



Hannah never disappoints in this bold strokes turn as this childish irredeemable villain --the Bride's blonde amazon evil twin. It's this routinely undervalued actor's best performance.

04 John Travolta as "Vincent Vega"
03 Samuel L Jackson as "Jules Winnfield" and...
02 Uma Thurman as "Mia Wallace" in Pulp Fiction (1994) With apologies to Bruce Willis who fills out the magic quartet of stars in this breakthrough film...just typing out all three character names made me desperately want to see this again.

01 Uma Thurman as "The Bride" in Kill Bill, Vol 1 & 2 (2003-2004)
If Uma's iconic black bobbed gangster's moll in Pulp Fiction weren't a rich enough contribution to the Tarantino filmography, she cements her place as his premiere onscreen collaborator with this exceptional high wire act: an Oscar worthy creation --better than any of the actual nominees in 2003 and one of the best of the decade. Much has been made of the fact that Tarantino fetishizes Uma's large feet in all three --or two, depending on how you view the Kill Bill film(s) -- of their films together. But if you were directing her and she was giving this star turn, you'd be wise to kiss them, too.

Tarantino took a break from Thurman's little piggies for Basterds, but rest assured that he always manages to shoehorn (har dee har har) his foot fetish into each new picture. He contorts himself again to spend ample time with Diane Kruger's feet in Inglourious Basterds. Yes, they get a plot point of their very own.


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Signatures: Uma Thurman

Adam of Club Silencio here with another look at my favorite actresses and their distinguishing claims to fame.

[Note: Adam and I arrived at our Uma fixation independently this week so I saved his post a couple of days. That was probably unnecessary because is there such a thing as too much UMA? -Nathaniel]


Revenge might be a dish best served cold, but Uma Thurman manages to give it plenty of warmth -- even as she spends her comas and college years cleverly biding her time. Often she plays women whose traumatic experiences have forced her to inflict some trauma, but there's always a vulnerability to her vigilante justice. Even a Black Mamba can suffer hysterical blindness.

Her dynamite showcase in Kill Bill trails her from badass Bride to Beatrix Kiddo, and none of that hard-fought bloodshed would be worth it without Uma's sentimental side. It both softens and strengthens the blow -- like a kick to the throat while you're choking on emotion. It's no wonder Quentin Tarantino designed this epic specifically for Uma from head to (wiggle your) big toe. Uma's strength isn't just in her physicality but in the aches she exudes elsewhere. It's one thing to cheer on her carnage-laden comeuppance, but Uma's ass kickings pick up where so many exploitation films leave off. Her vengeance is gained by the loss she demonstrates so clearly and feels so believably. An avenging mother, a confidant betrayed; the film compares her fittingly to a lioness and her cub. Tender yet savage. Uma roars and rampages, and we get bloody satisfaction.


Uma's a powerhouse even without a sword and a list of names. Take her turn as Amy in the underseen Tape, in which an alleged rape in her high school past is verified on tape and brings about her powerplay and chance for resolve ten years later. Mind games and verbal manipulation are as potent as poison. It's the perfect means for revenge... and less messy. As Amy states in the film, "...If you're truly repentant, you should be willing to pay the price." It could just as easily be a quote from Kill Bill, and similarly so, Amy reasserts herself as a force to be reckoned with.

Her softer-sided characters are just as well rounded, but they too contain some hard edges. In fact they're just about square...


Mia Wallace (Pulp Fiction) and Debby Miller (Hysterical Blindness) are two of her most charismatic, sultry and endearing performances. Both characters desperately need a shot of adrenaline -- one more literally than the other. Heroin and hairspray are the drugs of choice to stave off the tedium involved in being a rich housewife or single girl in New Jersey. In their own way they are the outlaws of their respective worlds and just as vulnerable. Mia gets to play while the (psychotic) hubby's away, and Debby is used to going it alone in the down and dirty world of dating in the eighties. Even without a vengeance, these characters showcase Uma's ability to pull all the pain from a bad situation with plenty of external strength. Hunting for a dream man or a five dollar milkshake; neither seems worth the effort without Uma on hand to tap into all the misery and eventual sweetness.

Uma's gift is like the "Five Pointed Palm Exploding Heart Technique." Use subtlety, just the right amount of force, and head straight to the heart.

1994 Retrospective

That Forrest Gump conversation got me thinking about the films of 1994 and which ones I love and which I... do not. Let's compare notes by taking a trip back through awardage and top ten lists.


The Academy chose: Forrest Gump, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Pulp Fiction, Quiz Show and Shawshank Redemption as the year's best. Bullets Over Broadway was the probable chaser (in that dread 6th spot) with a whopping 7 nominations tying Hannah and Her Sisters for the most ever for a Woody Allen feature. The Golden Globes loved the Oscar choices but with more nominees they also presented The Lion King, Legends of the Fall, Nell, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Pret a Porter and Ed Wood for your consideration.

The public's favorite films back then? Forrest Gump, The Lion King, True Lies, The Santa Clause and The Flintstones.

Siskel and Ebert were all up in Hoop Dreams grill (with mucho shared love for Pulp Fiction, too, which took lots of critics prizes)

Me? Gold to Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures, silver to Pulp Fiction and bronze to La Reine Margot which I remembering being absolutely gaga for back then thinking it a full bodied hot blooded vividly realized historical epic. I haven't seen it since. Bad me! More of my retroactive makeshift awardage for 1994 here. Subject to change should I ever revisit any of these movies. The movie I saw the most that year in theaters was Reality Bites (four times) unless you count all the times I snuck into a scene or three from Pulp Fiction. The movie from '94 that I have probably watched the most times since? Bullets Over Broadway. It gets funnier every year. How does it do that?

You? What are your favorite movies from 1994 and which do you think we should all be revisiting or adding to our queues if we've never seen them?

Breakfast With... Vincent and Jules

A quiet morning at the Hawthorne Grill. Typical diner food served.

Pulp Fiction

Vincent chows down on pancakes and bacon. Jules tears pieces from his muffin. He refuses a bite of Vincent's bacon.

Vincent: Are you Jewish?
Jules: Nah, I ain't Jewish. I just don't dig on swine that's all.
Vincent: Why not?
Jules: Pigs are filthy animals. I don't eat filthy animals.
Vincent: Yeah, but bacon tastes good. Pork chops taste good.
Jules: Hey, sewer rats may taste like pumpkin pie but I'd never know cuz I wouldn't eat the filthy motherf***ers

Jules and Vincent, motor mouths both, chat philosophically for our amusement until a shout of "Garçon. Coffee!" pulls our focus -- Oh, riiiiight. This is also...

Breakfast With... Pumpkin and Honey Bunny


They're not really there to eat.
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for more "breakfast with"s... click the label below

We Have Nothing to Link but Link Itself

DListed Sophia & Daniel on location for Nine
A Room of One's Own "youth" in cinema
Coraline I love this new teaser with author Neil Gaiman (if you've never read his books, start doing so now. That's an order!)
/Film "extra pulp" t-shirts. I love
In Contention Oscar Race. Phase Two.


Trust Movies appreciates Michael Sheen (well, someone has to)
Buzz Sugar Sundance awards roundup
Defamer Michael Cera is the lone holdout for the Arrested Development movie?
Out in Hollywood talks to the producers of Milk

off cinema (just cuz it needs to be shared)
fourfour and the entitled homeless woman
i09 interesting piece on Battlestar Galactica. Is it still relevant in Obama America? (Though, isn't it a little early to be defining the Obama era? He's only been in office a few days)

TTT: Tarantino-Directed Performances

tuesday top ten: a weekly series for the list lover in you and the list maker in me


When Quentin Tarantino is away from the spotlight I forget how annoying he can be as a celebrity and I remember how much I love his work as a filmmaker. Recently he's popping up in TV spots bragging about Grindhouse and how he could keep making these films forever (yeah, right. Like you're prolific QT) so I thought I should honor his 44th birthday before I'm annoyed with him again. Let's celebrate something he does better than most but doesn't get enough credit for: directing actors.

The Ten Best Performances in Tarantino Films

10 I'm saving this one for someone in Grindhouse ... just in case. If there are no true keepers we'll give it to Jackie Brown

09 Bridget Fonda as "Melanie" in Jackie Brown (1997)
I could just as easily have said Pam Grier or Robert Forster but I must admit that it's the QT film that's fuzziest in my memory and my most vivid recall is of Fonda's lazy taunting blonde --so the spot goes to her. This film was the only time outside of Scandal (1988) when I had enormous faith in her potential as an actor. But doesn't it seem like Tarantino often finds what's best in any actor --no matter what rung they occupy on Hollywood's ladder?

08 David Carradine as "Bill" in Kill Bill, Vol 2 (2004)
I know that my beloved Warren Beatty is supposed to be a very intelligent man but turning down this role was sheer stupidity, wasn't it?

07 Tim Roth as "Mr. Orange" and...
06 Harvey Keitel as "Mr. White" in Reservoir Dogs (1992)
QT's debut caused an arthouse stir for it's simple visual punch (those suits), that scene (the ear), and its oft-imitated but never duplicated flair for supercharged popculture riffing dialogue. What's less remembered or commented on is that it was clear from his very first effort that Tarantino was a natural at getting the most out of casting and subsequent performances. These two acclaimed actors flesh out a complex relationship, particularly in the intense final sequences.



05 Daryl Hannah as "Elle Driver" in Kill Bill, Vol 1 & 2 (2003-2004)
Arguably my very favorite thing (among many) about the Kill Bill movies is the notepad that The Bride has written her enemies in. She crosses them out as she kills them. It's such a superb touch that the names are sized according to who she hates most. "Elle" is quite large and the performance will have to be too, if you're to understand the animosity. Hannah never disappoints in a bold strokes turn as this childish irredeemable villain --the Bride's blonde amazon evil twin. It's this routinely undervalued actress's best performance.

04 John Travolta as "Vincent Vega"
03 Samuel L Jackson as "Jules Winnfield" and...
02 Uma Thurman as "Mia Wallace" in Pulp Fiction (1994) With apologies to Bruce Willis who fills out the magic quartet of stars in this breakthrough film...just typing out all three character names made me desperately want to see this again.

01 Uma Thurman as "The Bride" in Kill Bill, Vol 1 & 2 (2003-2004)
If Uma's iconic black bobbed gangster's moll in Pulp Fiction weren't a rich enough contribution to the Tarantino filmography, she cements her place as his premiere onscreen collaborator with this exceptional high wire act: an Oscar worthy creation --better than any of the actual nominees in 2003 and one of the best of the decade (gold medal, fb 2003). Much has been made of the fact that Tarantino fetishizes Uma's large feet in all three --or two, depending on how you view the Kill Bill film(s) -- of their films together. But if you were directing her and she was giving this sure-to-be-legendary star turn, you'd be wise to kiss them, too.

May Tarantino never take another seven year break from moviemaking and may Thurman's little piggies continue to get lots of screen time.

tags: Uma Thurman, Quentin Tarantino, Kill Bill

Friends of 'the Experience' #1

A big thank you to the recent generosity of Ivan, Glenn and Cenzig who chipped in for the March Fundraiser. The blog is free but it's a happier webthing when it ain't broke.

Ivan discovered the site just this past Oscar season. His passion for film started with Pulp Fiction (indeed, a touchstone for many). He writes

I saw it when I was 14. It was playing at the dollar theatre and I was chaperoning while my older sister was on a date. From the opening scene I was riveted. I had never heard dialogue like that. I had never seen something so fucking cool. So it gets to the adrenaline shot scene and the film breaks! I sat there in the theatre for twenty minutes without saying a word, until it finally came back on.

Talk about an inopportune time for film breakage. The first time I saw Kill Bill the film didn't break but they started it 20 minutes early --yes, I was already there. I'm a nerd-- so when the bulk of the crowd showed it was already in progress. They had to stop the film (during the Black Mamba / Copperhead fight) and start again. I didn't mind seeing the beginning twice. Ivan also loves Amores Perros, Being John Malkovich, Requiem for a Dream, and 2001: A Space Odyssey.


Cengiz shares one of my chief obsessions. When asked what his favorite movie is, he just quotes its own words

a magnificent, opulent, tremendous, stupendous, gargantuan, bedazzlement, a sensual ravishment...

That'd be Moulin Rouge! And yes I will get back to the Moulin Rouge! recap/retro ... it's just that damn time is money thing. But I've been feeling the guilt so it's coming.

Glenn (aka Kamikaze Camel... it's like a Peter Parker/Spider-Man thing?) has been a faithful reader for years and his blog Stale Popcorn is also a must-visit. Really funny, personal, and film focused. Glenn wants to know what I think of All That Jazz (which I'll get to soon) but like many movie lovers he's possessive of his favorites. He jokingly warns

If you say Kramer vs Kramer (aka Boring vs Pedestrian) was better and deserved the Oscar I'm going to seriously reconsider that donation

Eep! I haven't seen either in years. We'll see. I have been jonesing for a 70s fix though...

Questions for Comments

1. Is Kramer Vs. Kramer better than All That Jazz?
2. Have you ever been in a theater when the film broke?
   

Make a Donation! It's fun. OK, strictly speaking, giving money isn't fun. But it's like altruistic and stuff.

Thursday Triple: Pulp Fiction

It's Amanda Plummer's birthday. You know. Weirdass Amanda. The indeliby shy "Lydia" from The Fisher King (I personally think Robin Williams owes her his Oscar nomination. Seriously.) and "Honey Bunny" in Pulp Fiction and assorted weirdos in other films, too. Which brings me to my three favorite scenes in Quentin Tarantino's cooler-than-thou breakout smash...



The Robbery
I can still feel that jolt ripping through the theater on opening night when Tarantino froze that frame 70s style just as Plummer went ballistic in the diner. What a way to open a film. I can't even tell you how many times my roommate and I did the dialogue to this scene in college. We were always turning random events into "Pumpkin" & "Honey Bunny" spaz outs 'If any of you f***ing pricks move. Then I'll execute every last motherf***in' one of you!" When you need an actress to go way the hell out there, please consider giving Ms. Plummer a call.

The Dance
"I want that trophy!" Can I just say that a part of me died when Travolta and Thurman tried to repeat this classic screen moment in last year's Be Cool (which wasn't). That just ain't right. It's like trying to colorize a black and white picture. Don't mess with the best. Move on gracefully from past triumphs.

The Overdose
Because it set Uma up for my favorite post-Oscar nomination announcement quote of all time. Uma on the PR circuit 'to be included with all of these remarkable women is like a shot of adrenaline to my heart.' Hee.