Quentin Tarantino’s (potential) final movie might be a ‘70s drama about a movie critic
After expressing concerns about the modern movie business, Tarantino might be making another meta showbiz film
Aux News Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino has been dancing around his self-imposed 10-movie limit on his career for years, even before he released his ninth movie (Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood), but The Hollywood Reporter claims to know what his 10th—and supposedly final—movie will be called and what it might be about. According to “sources,” Tarantino has written a new original script called The Movie Critic, and he’s planning to direct it later this year. No studio is attached yet, but… it’s the 10th and possibly final movie from Quentin Tarantino, so it’s not like he’s going to be desperate for funding. Everybody will be fighting over this thing, regardless of what it is.
As for what it is, THR says its “sources” believe The Movie Critic will be “set in late 1970s Los Angeles with a female lead at its center,” and it may be about (or be inspired by) the story of iconic and influential film critic Pauline Kael. Part of the reasoning for that is because Warren Beatty convinced Paramount to hire Kael as a consultant in the ‘70s, so there’s all sorts of interesting showbiz stuff happening to a specific movie critic in that specific era that Tarantino could have some fun with.
That possibility seems particularly interesting given some of Tarantino’s recent comments about the movie business. In November, he questioned during an interview what a movie even is these days (“Is that something that plays on Netflix? Is that something that plays on Amazon, and people watch it on their couch?”), and he noted that he doesn’t want to become an “old man who’s out of touch” when he’s already feeling a bit like that with modern movies.
Pauline Kael going from the world of criticism to moviemaking, even if it was just for a few months in real life, could be a meta-lens that Tarantino could use to look at movies as a whole, and that definitely seems like the kind of career capper that might intrigue him.
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There’s a famous(and often misquoted) Kael quote: “I live in a rather special world. I only know one person who voted for Nixon. Where they are I don’t know. They’re outside my ken. But sometimes when I’m in a theater I can feel them.” What I don’t get is: what do those last three sentences mean? Is she talking about a specific person or not?
Interesting question. I asked ChatGTP and it said this -Pauline Kael was a film critic known for her sharp and often controversial reviews. The quote you mentioned is from an interview with her in 1972, and it refers to her perception of the cultural and political divide in America at the time.Kael was a liberal and a Democrat, and she lived in a social circle that was predominantly liberal and anti-Nixon. She was saying that she did not personally know anyone who had voted for Nixon, and that their perspective was foreign to her.However, when she was in a movie theater and experiencing a film, she could sense the presence of people who held different political views from her own. This suggests that Kael recognized the power of cinema to bridge ideological divides and bring people together in a shared experience, even if they had different political beliefs outside of the theater.
it’s like all these directors forgot about the VCR -> DVD era, there was a progression that occurred here before the internet took over. But this does sound like a great premise.I think we’re living in really difficult times, sometimes putting on something while being sad on the couch makes you feel at least a little less sad, and it’s nice to find comfort from your favourite director or performer.
I find it especially weird that a guy who famously worked at a video store is so hung up on the theatrical experience.
Lol. Perfect.
“You work at a video store!”
“I work at a shitty video store!”
This reads like an excuse for Kevin Smith’s filmography.
“Is a movie something you put on while you sit on the couch? With your feet up? Maybe in socks, or maybe completely bare. The ankles visible, the toes stretched. They’re just there, pink, vulnerable, available … sorry, what were we talking about?”
You can definitely tell that the last two films Tarantino will have made are built for an audience of one: Him. If anybody else wants to pony up for a ticket, that’s gravy.
“You can definitely tell that the last two films Tarantino will have made are built for an audience of one: Him.”
And that is somehow different from the rest of his filmography?
it stinks!
It’s the reboot of The Critic we deserve.
Samuel L Jackson as Jay Sherman. It stinks motherfucker!
Too bad Charles Napier’s gone. God I loved Duke. “That’s because you remind them of Babar: KING! OF THE ELEPHANTS!”
“I’ll drop a mess ‘a bombs and put Merle Haggard on the Supreme Court!”
“I dunno. Can Duke really be President? Can he be trusted with nuclear weapons?”“We trust him with the ones he has now.”
“Irish suck, vote for Duke!”
“That’s not Clinton! That’s just one of your drunken hillbilly bears!”“Yeah, but so far nobody’s noticed.”
“Birds seem to be attracted to the sound of my…mmmph!”
Look, I know I should be posting another funny line from the Critic, but I’d just like to say that this is now no longer funny thanks to technology:
“Rosebud . . . I mean schwiiing!”
I don’t think this type of movie had any legs to stand on this day. But I could be eating my own foot for this assumption.
His movies have always made shitloads of money, so this one probably will as well. But in general, yeah.
Christopher Reeve’s got more legs to stand on
Hachi machi!
Because everyone knows nowThat every film nowWill be Quentin’sLast film of all!
Ben Folds Five! Nice. I love that song.
I hope he does. I kind of wish that he’d just get on with it already, so he can start making miniseries or tv shows or made-for-HBO films or whatever half-retcon excuse he comes up with for technically retiring from film without actually retiring from being a storyteller. I mean, I know that some people found it hard to relate as much to “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” as some of his more action-y films, but I thought that it was one of the best things he’s ever done. He surely realizes that he has a lot of creative gas left in the tank, but all of this hemming and hawing over the final film is just stretching on for years, at this point. If he can just get it done, then I feel like it’ll free him up to do a ton of interesting things instead of just musing publicly on a hundred interesting projects that never come to be because he doesn’t deem them worthy of a career-capper.
I’ve heard him mention in interviews that he might work in television or do plays. I think his original idea for Inglorious Basterds was a tv miniseries, but he was talked into making it a movie. I would love to see a one season Netflix series sequel to Kill Bill where Nikki seeks her revenge on Beatrix. A series focusing on the younger days of the Vega brothers would be fun, maybe a Bounty Law show. You’re right, come on Quentin, hurry up with that movie!
When’s he going to reboot Mannix?
I don’t know, but I would be down for his take on it. Cliff was watching it in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, so maybe it is something he would do.
One of my favorite RLM gags.
Gag?
Ugh god I hate Pauline Kael, a pretentious bomb thrower who plagiarized peoples works to make terrible arguments, her contributions to the argument of autier theory was good but overall I care not for her work.
I don’t agree with all the bombs she threw, but she always made you at least consider the rubble. I don’t think was pretentious, she was just very certain at a time when I think it was hard to trust your voice as a woman.
I agree with the time and I tried to like her under that context plus not agreeing with film reviews is one thing, but the plagiarism is not something I cant ever accept. Her whole Raising Kain nonsense is unacceptable. That’s the nuclear option far as academia go, I hold the same opinion on David Ambrose by the way.
Then that would just be two plagiarists working together. Sounds ideal. Reservoir Dogs – thieves working together. Style and theme fitting together perfectly.
Not quite. What Kael did was literally ask for research from someone and never give them credit, passing it off as her own and even altering parts of the research to fit her conclusions. Tarantino is greatly inspired by a wide range of films and many of his movies hem close to them, but there’s always something different to it and he doesn’t shy away from naming the obvious inspiration. You can take qualm with that I fully get it, but its not plagiarism. Kael committed textbook academic plagiarism which is a death sentence in academia. Doris Kern Goodwin did academic plagiarism and she’s still not accepted back into the historical community its why shes on CNN or PBS and not the American Historical Society for example.
“Not quite. What Kael did was literally ask for research from someone and never give them credit”
So like how Tarantino took Roger Avery’s script, rewrote it himself without Avery’s knowledge, took Avery’s name off of it and sold it as True Romance?
Not sure how I never heard that about DKG. I remain a fan but that’s messed up.
Plagiarism isn’t that much of a death sentence in academia. Andrew Gelman writes about plagiarists who continue in high positions all the time.https://statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2022/06/16/the-academic-plagiarism-landscape/
It’s unfortunate that Suber didn’t take legal action against Kael. She might have faced her punishment and recovered from it. She was certainly tenacious enough to have tried that. She was never part of the academy, and that might have been a plus for her at the time. Her crime shouldn’t disqualify her contributions – especially considering that her contributions helped to inspire other women to find their voices. As far as QT is concerned, I suppose that’s a matter of personal taste here.
If I was Suber I definitely would have taken legal action, the thought of my research stolen after a promise to credit and the conclusions being different would make me incredibly mad. I like that she inspired more women to be critics that’s a net positive I agree. I don’t have a clue what QT thinks of her work, doubtless he knows her well. I’m not entirely sold on the idea but Once Upon A Time didn’t wow me with the synopsis and I ultimately liked it so we’ll see.
She was brilliant but could be nasty AF, and clearly had the capacity for ethical lapses, as people tend to when there’s no consequences for transgressions. I do wonder how much of it was the thing of being a woman in a man’s world and profession, taking on the characteristics of the sphere she was trying to survive in because it was accepted wisdom that’s how ya get and stay ahead. That wouldn’t excuse anything, but you have to look at context. At least for me her being less admirable doesn’t make her less interesting.
She is certainly not a dull individual, vindictive is a word that comes to mind. Her reviews of several David Lean films especially Lawrence of Arabia came off as rather mean towards Lean.
Yep, it feels like it’s going to be Tarantino’s love letter to Pauline Kael.
I feel like we can clear a lot of this up if we just get a picture of Pauline Kael’s bare feet.
It’s been diminishing returns since Jackie Brown, but I guess ten is as good as any place to stop.
I don’t know where the whole Jackie Brown is the best Tarantino film discourse came from (I’m also puzzled by the Unbreakable Shyamalan discourse), but I read it as not really liking Tarantino that much. It minimizes his most recognizable filmmaking traits in favour of a much more straightforward approach to the material. I feel like even he felt stifled by it since his next film was Kill Bill, where he just doubled down on his most bombastic impulses. It’s interesting to see him paint with a more limited pallet, but I feel like his best work is when he isn’t restricting himself.It’s a good movie, and I would rank it somewhere in the middle of his filmography, but Inglorious Basterds or Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is hardly a diminishing return.
I will agree that Inglorious Basterds isn’t a diminishing return, because it’s my favorite movie of his since Jackie Brown. I also don’t think Jackie Brown is his best, just that it feels like all of his movies afterwards are far more self-indulgent and unrestrained. If that’s what you like about him, then I’m sure you don’t feel the way about I do about Jackie Brown.After Django, I skipped Hateful Eight. I saw Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, and while it has some wonderfully written and directed scenes, great performances, etc., I personally thought the parts were greater than the whole. And that it was too long. Which is actually how I felt about Basterds.YMMV.
I think Hateful Eight is his most self-indulgent, and Kill Bill his most unrestrained (and they both place fairly low in my ranking of his work). But I think you could argue that Pulp Fiction is fairly self-indulgent and unrestrained as well. They were qualities that got him recognized and I think they’re an essential element of his style. There’s definitely a difference in his post-Jackie Brown films where budget is no longer a concern. I think he really struggles with costume dramas, because his sensibility is so modern (I don’t consider Inglorious Basterds a costume drama). The unrealistic elements of his contemporary films work within the confines of his heightened reality, but when piled on top of an old west setting I don’t think it meshes well.His best films are set in very realistic versions of our world. So in that way I can see how Jackie Brown would resonate so well with people, and it’s sort of the dividing line for me between his best and worst films.Pulp Fiction
Inglorious Basterds
Reservoir Dogs
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood
Jackie Brown
Kill Bill
Django Unchained
Death Proof
The Hateful Eight
Hateful Eight felt like 21st century Tarantino doing his take on 90s Tarantino. It was one of the most disappointing cinema experiences I’ve ever had. It’s hard to argue with Kill Bill Vol 1 and Inglorious Basterds, though – those were high style.
Here’s someone arguing with them:“Kill Bill” and “Basterds” are like diarrhea: just when you think they’re finished, here comes more.
https://uncouthreflections.com/2015/09/07/listing-movies-101-american-movies/
“I don’t know where the whole Jackie Brown is the best Tarantino film discourse came from”
Agreed. It’s far from his best movie and it’s also third in the hierarchy of Elmore Leonard adaptations, at best.
I wouldn’t say Jackie Brown was his best, but I think he got worse in reaction to the relatively poor reception that had. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is closer to what he was saying he aspired to back then.
Jackie Brown is one of the few films I’ve bothered to see in a theater more than once. I had that soundtrack on repeat too. It probably *is* my favorite QT film but I find a few others just as, if not more, enjoyable. Really the only film of his I don’t love to some degree is Hateful Eight, and that’s only because films that feel like a recorded stage plays are not my cup of tea. Had the performances been more like, say, Glengarry Glen Ross and less like…well, all I can think of is the most extreme example, Dogville (but there are others, like a lot of M Night’s movies), then I might have enjoyed it more.
I also grew up preferring Unbreakable to The Sixth Sense, although I haven’t seen it in many years and don’t know if it holds up.
Pfft. Narcissists are never satisfied. Claiming it’s going to be your last film just makes his fans panic, and he knows it. C’ching.
Got your tix for Ozzy’s annual retirement tour?
So an origin story movie about this guy then:
I’d rather see that.(I seem to say that a lot. If more of these comments became real movies, I’d be way more of a cineaste)
Lol. They kind of did his origin in the series.
I’m actually being semi-serious.
George Lucas apparently named General Kael after Pauline Kael.
Ha! No way… that’s awesome
Quentin has said he loathes biopics, and if he would ever write/direct one, it would focus on a specific moment in the subject’s life (for example, if he made an Elvis biopic, it would only cover his first meeting with Sam Phillips at Sun Studios.) I’m hoping he’s actually going to chronicle Pauline Kael’s brief stint working for Paramount in the ‘70s, since (to my knowledge), there’s never been an account of why she didn’t stick with the consulting job.
So, a movie about the movie business.How…unusual?
“As for what it is, THR says its “sources” believe The Movie Critic will be “set in late 1970s Los Angeles with a female lead at its center,” and it may be about (or be inspired by) the story of iconic and influential film critic Pauline Kael.”
Or it’s definitely a giallo.
It will end with Kael killing the Zodiac Killer with a rocket launcher.
He’s retiring just like The Who is retiring.
Hopefully not like Keith Moon semi-retired in a hole, to quote Spinal Tap’s DVD commentary.
I can’t wait for the end when Pauline takes a literal flame thrower to Martin Scorsese at the premier of Raging Bull.
Why do gerbils fight? As said before – gerbils really aren’t wired to like other gerbils that haven’t been in their clan before; or were in their clan but have been ‘away’ for more than 48 hours – this latter one can be hugely problematic for gerbils who go to the vets for treatment without their clan mates or those who are ‘lost’ for several days after an escape. Also, if you always take out one gerbil of a clan for a run – especially long runs – but not the others, they will smell different when you put them back which can be unsettling in larger groups.Certainly do not ever let your gerbils play with other gerbils or pets. Unlike other animals – gerbils don’t need to have a friend other than the one they live with. They don’t need to ‘meet other gerbil friends’ or ‘cheer up a lonely single gerbil friend’. They don’t understand it.
Linda Hamilton or Cynthia Rothrock as Pauline Kael?
I have no doubt in Tarantino’s talent, I just have a kneejerk cringe reaction to the “meta” of it all…filmmaker making films about making films…kind of like where Weezer is relying on songs where the theme is music…didn’t we just get a movie about the movies…?