INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS Fits Perfectly into Quentin Tarantino’s Movie Universe and Influences His Entire Filmography
What a great read! Check it out friends.
By now, most Quentin Tarantino fans are aware of the connections interlaced throughout all of his films. John Travolta’s Vincent Vega in Pulp Fiction is the brother of Michael Madsen’s Vic Vega in Reservoir Dogs, Harvey Keitel’s Mr. White worked with Alabama from True Romance, the plot basis for Kill Bill is described as the synopsis for a TV series in Pulp Fiction, etc.
Now the epiphany that Eli Roth’s character of Donny Donowitz aka “The Bear Jew” in Inglourious Basterds is the father of the movie producer Lee Donowitz in True Romance has inspired a truly mind-blowing theory that the rest of the films (chronologically speaking) in Tarantino’s filmography take place in a world where [Inglorious Basterds spoiler] World War II came to an end when Adolf Hitler was brutally murdered in a movie theater by the Basterds.
This initial connection was brought up in an article on Cracked, but a poster on Reddit (via David Chen’s Twitter) has more eloquently summed up what this means for Tarantino’s movieverse:
As it turns out, Donny Donowitz, ‘The Bear Jew’, is the father of movie producer Lee Donowitz from True Romance – which means that, in Tarantino’s universe, everybody grew up learning about how a bunch of commando Jews machine gunned Hitler to death in a burning movie theater, as opposed to quietly killing himself in a bunker. Because World War 2 ended in a movie theater, everybody lends greater significance to pop culture, hence why seemingly everybody has Abed-level knowledge of movies and TV. Likewise, because America won World War 2 in one concentrated act of hyperviolent slaughter, Americans as a whole are more desensitized to that sort of thing. Hence why Butch is unfazed by killing two people, Mr. White and Mr. Pink take a pragmatic approach to killing in their line of work, Esmerelda the cab driver is obsessed with death, etc. You can extrapolate this further when you realize that Tarantino’s movies are technically two universes – he’s gone on record as saying that Kill Bill and From Dusk ‘Til Dawn take place in a ‘movie movie universe’; that is, they’re movies that characters from the Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, True Romance, and Death Proof universe would go to see in theaters. (Kill Bill, after all, is basically Fox Force Five, right on down to Mia Wallace playing the title role.) What immediately springs to mind about Kill Bill and From Dusk ‘Til Dawn? That they’re crazy violent, even by Tarantino standards. These are the movies produced in a world where America’s crowning victory was locking a bunch of people in a movie theater and blowing it to bits – and keep in mind, Lee Donowitz, son of one of the people on the suicide mission to kill Hitler, is a very successful movie producer. Basically, it turns every Tarantino movie into alternate reality sci fi. I love it so hard.
We love Tarantino for a ton of reasons, but the depth and layers with which he ensconces his characters is so rich, that we (okay, I) find it hard not to place it above the rest (from a storytelling perspective).
(Thanks, suicideblonde)
(via popculturebrain)
Notes From Montana: Location Scout Recap Part I
The A Lazy H team has just returned from our official American Homestead scouting trip, a jam-packed week of visiting potential shooting locations, planning, and plotting. We visitied historic gold mining towns, Virginia City & Nevada City, preserved from the 1860s and met many locals who provided immeasurable insight into Big Sky history. We also saw a train (more on that later)!
First and foremost, we need to thank the amazing Montana Film Office, especially Deny Staggs, for pulling out all the stops during our visit - it absolutely ensured a successful trip. Everything from the itinerary to networking and learning opportunities were amazing and really helped us feel prepared for pre-production!
The Trip in Numbers:
- Days: 5
- Nights: 6
- Hotels: 4
- Haunted hotels: 1
- Historic towns visited: 2
- Shooting locations finalized: “ Everything that we need”
- Temperature fluxuation: 49°
- Snow storms: 1
- Historic steam trains: 1
- Saloons scouted: 1
- Suites named after Western directors seen: 1
- Average restaurant reservation number: 20
Overall the location scout was just what American Homestead needed. Everyone felt the trip was supremely beneficial and provided a great boost for both moral and motivation!
Even if all the locations were not what our fearless director, Joseph, envisioned everyone collaborated to make each spot work. Joe says, “with our very creative team, we were able to workshop shots and scenes to make the locations work, so now we can shoot almost everything in a few blocks around the historic town!”
Rob Edgecomb, DP Extraordinaire, scouted what we’re sure will be the local watering hole, Bale of Hay Saloon, where the locals recounted ghost stories that kept him up all night!
Of the four hotels the team scouted, our producer, Phill found the Murray Hotel in Livingston, MT to be his favorite. He described it as “a classically charming 4 story hotel with an elevator that’s 108 years old.” It even has a suite named after renowned director Sam Peckinpah ( The Wild Bunch, 1969) who lived in the hotel for several years.
Talk about finding inspiration everywhere!
In plotting out the main property structure, we marked out the “homestead” with wooden stakes, which Joe and Rob noted “brought everything to life to be able to physically see the orientation of the buildings”.
Funnily, on Wednesday when the team took Rob to the site see where things were laid out (he came in a couple days late), they were caught by a snow storm that kept them from making it all the way to the stakes.
It had been 81° the day before.
It was a memorable trip that has officially gotten the ball rolling on the Pre-Production phase of American Homestead. Stay tuned for more recaps from our location scout - we saw and learned a ton of information and can’t wait to share it with you!
Well it’s Tuesday morning after a holiday weekend. Here’s a little treat to help get you east back into work. Enjoy!
(via: totalfilm)
Dispatches from the Scout
Here is a smattering of great shots from the location scout. The team comes home tomorrow and we can’t wait to hear all about their trip.
Look forward to a trip recap and more exciting news from the A Lazy H gang as we officially move into our Pre-Production stage!
Thanks again to Mandi for sharing pictures from the week!
Meet Randall Poster. He’s the guy who picks out the music in all of Wes Anderson’s films, including his latest Moonrise Kingdom (pictured above.) This is how Poster’s job works.
Listen to Terry and Randall discuss the role Music Supervisor plays in a film. Interesting stuff!
(h/t: NPR Fresh Air)
(via nprfreshair)
Mashup of the Day: “Cinemashup” artist Jeff Yorkes skillfully sets footage from Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane to The White Stripes’ Kane-inspired song, “The Union Forever.”
Yorkes writes, “The first time I listened to the song, I was like, ‘how do I know all these lyrics,’ only to realize that they’re all bits of dialogue from Citizen Kane.”
[via: thedailywhat: stuffjournalistslike]
Dispatches From the Scout
Here’s a peek at what the A Lazy H team has been looking at this week. Thanks to our amazing Line Producer, Mandi, for the great shots!
Natalie Portman to Star in Western 'Jane Got a Gun' for Director Lynne Ramsay | THR
[fist pumps all around]
Well, these are fun. Click through for more from Daily Mail.
