Harvey Keitel, George Clooney and Juliette Lewis in the Robert Rodriguez movie ‘From Dusk till Dawn’

The intermingling of genres brings us a continued look into the horror film genre this month, adding a decidedly action and crime elements bent to boot. Robert Rodriguez, originally from San Antonio, Texas produced and directed From Dusk till Dawn (1996), a work co-written by Quentin Tarantino, originally from Knoxville, Tennessee and Robert Kurtzman, originally from Crestline, Ohio. The film is set in Mexico and Texas, United States.

(From left, Quentin Tarantino as Richard ‘Richie’ Gecko and George Clooney as Seth Gecko in the Robert Rodriguez movie From Dusk till Dawn).

The movie From Dusk till Dawn begins with clear elements of crime and violent action as the opening feature with the introduction of Benny’s World of Liquor. We meet brothers Seth Gecko and Richard ‘Richie’ Gecko, portrayed by George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino, respectively, robbing the liquor store based in Texas.

(From left, Michael Parks as Texas Ranger Earl McGraw and John Hawkes as Pete Bottoms in the Robert Rodriguez movie From Dusk till Dawn).

Pete Bottoms clerks at the store while Earl McGraw, a Texas Ranger, happens upon the scene during the commissioning of the crime. Things quickly occur in an unexpected way for one of the Gecko brothers, with the decision to act without subtlety in bringing resolution to the situation. Without spoiling details, the need to leave takes on an urgency that leads Richie and Seth to seek a path south. In the pursuit of that outcome, the object of hiding out at a hotel turns crudely violent while one of the brothers gets food. John Hawkes portrayed Pete Bottom as Michael Parks portrayed Earl McGraw.

(From left, George Clooney as Seth Gecko, Ernest Liu as Scott Fuller, Harvey Keitel as Jacob Fuller and Juliette Lewis as Katherine ‘Kate’ Fuller in the Robert Rodriguez movie From Dusk till Dawn).

On vacation, the Fuller family arrives at the inn where the Gecko brothers are staying in a recreational vehicle. The father, Jacob Fuller as portrayed by Harvey Keitel, is a widowed pastor traveling with his daughter Kate and son Scott. Juliette Lewis portrayed Kate as Ernest Liu portrayed Scott. The Gecko brothers threateningly coerce the Fuller family to drive them across the border into Mexico in order to meet their contact that is due to escort them to sanctuary, El Rey, at dawn the next morning.

(From left, Salma Hayek as Santanico Pandemonium and Richard “Cheech” Marin as Border Guard, Chet Pussy and Carlos in the Robert Rodriguez movie From Dusk till Dawn).

The contact for getting the Gecko brothers to sanctuary is portrayed by Richard “Cheech” Marin. The crew is directed by the contact to a Mexican strip bar named Titty Twister. Landing there with the Fuller family to experience a shocking experience that presumably will last until morning offers plenty of comedic territory, which begins with the introduction of performer Santanico Pandemonium. Salma Hayek portrayed Pandemonium, whose flamboyant routine brings on a bar fight. The true nature of the employees of this strip club / bar propels the transition of the movie into the horror movie that brings the story home.

(From left, actor and screenwriter Quentin Tarantino and director Robert Rodriguez on site for the Robert Rodriguez movie From Dusk till Dawn).

The movie From Dusk till Dawn takes you on a wild ride of a story that seeks to keep the audience guessing about the direction headed next. The themes of heinous crime, gratuitous violence, assaults on familial and personal innocence, and an unexpected turn to horror beg the audience to set aside traditional expectations and ask how twisted a story can work. That the payoff feels deliberately comedic at the same time lends itself to what cult following the film has won since the movie’s release. With a nod to the campy aspect delivered here, I grant From Dusk till Dawn as directed by Robert Rodriguez 4.0-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Saturday, October 22, 2022

Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth and Michael Madsen in the Quentin Tarantino movie ‘Reservoir Dogs’

It is nearly 30-years since Reservoir Dogs (1992), the first feature-length movie directed by Quentin Tarantino, was released in movie theatres. The film depicts events before and after a planned diamond heist from a jewelry store goes terribly wrong. The movie looks into the robbery team, the suspicions among members that ensued, and ultimately a resolution for the team along the way. An impactful point of the story is the stress responses in the points in between.

(In the backseat, Steve Buscemi as Mr. Pink. From left in front, Harvey Keitel as Mr. White/Larry and Chris Penn as Nice Guy Eddie in the Quentin Tarantino movie Reservoir Dogs).

An early scene in the narrative for Reservoir Dogs includes introducing members of the team in the period before the heist. A notion for the protection of the members of the team seeking to perform the heist is for nobody to know the names of the other criminals involved. Thus, we meet Mr. Pink as portrayed by Steve Buscemi. We meet Mr. White, whom we later learn to be Larry, as portrayed by Harvey Keitel. We also meet Nice Guy Eddie, as portrayed by Chris Penn, whose role in the larger criminal enterprise allows him to not be named with a color. The film does include some off-color humor that gratuitously disparages African Americans.

(From left, Tim Roth as Mr. Orange/Freddy and Harvey Keitel as Mr. White/Larry in the Quentin Tarantino movie Reservoir Dogs).

Tim Roth portrayed Mr. Orange, who we later learn to be named Freddy. We see these two up-close from the beginning of the movie. Reservoir Dogs is not presented chronologically, which is to say that the background information for characters within the story gets shown in flashbacks to earlier points in time that suggest motivations and depth for the individual characters. That the stories of Mr. Orange and Mr. White are strongly connected and emotionally relevant is clear from the earliest parts of the movie.

(From left, Quentin Tarantino as Mr. Brown, Michael Madsen as Mr. Blonde aka Vic and Edward Bunker as Mr. Blue in the Quentin Tarantino movie Reservoir Dogs).

Parts of the heist, including the plans for the getaway after the heist, include Mr. Blue, Mr. Brown and Mr. Blonde / Vic. Edward Bunker portrayed Mr. Blue. The film’s director, Quentin Tarantino, portrayed Mr. Brown. Michael Madsen portrayed Mr. Blonde, who we later learn to be Vic. Arguments ensue after the heist among Mr. Pink and Mr. White about getting medical care for Mr. Orange, who injuries are explained in the course the movie. Distrust runs rampant, yet transforms into something else altogether when Mr. Blonde arrives with kidnapped policeman Marvin Nash.

(From left, Tim Roth as Mr. Orange/Freddy and Kirk Baltz as Marvin Nash in the Quentin Tarantino movie Reservoir Dogs).

Marvin Nash is portrayed by Kirk Baltz. An interesting and brutal scene set to the song Stuck in the Middle with You by Stealers Wheels sees Mr. Blonde confronting a sadistic point-of-view in confronting a bound and immobile Marvin Nash. The commentary of place for Mr. Blonde mixed in among the other criminals participating in the heist gives the scene legs.

(From left, Steve Buscemi as Mr. Pink, Chris Penn as Nice Guy Eddie and Michael Madsen as Mr. Blonde/Vic in the Quentin Tarantino movie Reservoir Dogs).

It’s a conversation among Mr. Pink, Mr. Blonde, Mr. White, Mr. Orange and Nice Guy Eddie that precedes that planned confrontation of Mr. Blonde and Marvin Nash. It’s Nice Guy Eddie that ultimately brings his father and ringleader, Joe Cabot, into the dance for addressing the crews getaway after the heist. Joe Cabot, as portrayed by Lawrence Tierney, sees the heist at its clearest level as the mastermind of the theft coupled with the criminal with the fullest awareness of the moving parts of the robbery.

(From left and standing are Tim Roth as Mr. Orange/Freddy, Steve Buscemi as Mr. Pink and Edward Bunker as Mr. Blue. From left and sitting are Harvey Keitel as Mr. White/Larry, Quentin Tarantino as Mr. Brown, Lawrence Tierney as Joe Cabot, Michael Madsen as Mr. Blonde/Vic and Chris Penn as Nice Guy Eddie in the Quentin Tarantino movie Reservoir Dogs).

The larger story of the outcome of the heist, the disposition of the thieves are supporting characters, and the degree of loyalty and trust that were merited in the situation at hand are revealed. Was one of the robbers a police informant or cop? Were loyalties properly laid? Were the outcomes meted out just or satisfying? The positive reception for the film is best rooted in these questions. I grant Reservoir Dogs as directed by Quentin Tarantino 3.75-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Wednesday, November 3, 2021

Top 20 Movie “Pulp Fiction”

Top 20 Movie Pulp Fiction (1994) ranks 6th in Matt Lynn Digital’s Top 20 Movies in ranked order listing. The Quentin Tarantino directed and co-written film won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Tarantino and Roger Avary while garnering seven Oscar nominations in total. While Forrest Gump (1994) starring Tom Hanks was busy winning six of its thirteen Academy Award nominations, Pulp Fiction was the movie bringing true pulp fiction to the big screen with a Vintage Library definition for the genre that includes “[b]igger-than-life heroes, pretty girls, exotic places, strange and mysterious villains.” This sixth movie on our top movie listing brings four stories of stylized pulp violence intertwining with movie actor legend homages into tales of would-be redemption.

As has come to characterize many movies by Quentin Tarantino, Pulp Fiction provided a pulpy, nostalgic, retroactive sense for a filmmaking or popular culture past that Tarantino, in my opinion, looked to celebrate. The narrative lines starting with Vincent Vega as portrayed by John Travolta and Jules Winnfield as portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson are two examples, as they were working at the behest of Marsellus Wallace (played by Ving Rhames) when we first meet them.

Vincent and Jules were tasked with retrieving the briefcase and other property of Marsellus from an apartment while killing the occupants. The two banter about hamburgers and escorting Marsellus’ wife later in the movie when they eventually kill two apartment occupants while letting a man in the bathroom go unchallenged. That man comes out gun blazing at Vincent and Jules and, from the reckoning of Jules, miraculously misses the two of them while emptying the weapon of its magazine of bullets. Jules takes this as a sign that it is his time to leave the business.

(Jules, left, and Vincent)

These two eventually continue their back-and-forth dialogue in their vehicle when Vincent accidentally makes a mess of their car by accidentally shooting the man from the bathroom. The two head to Jules’ old pal Jimmie (as played by Tarantino). Jimmie uses his fleeting connection to Marsellus to call in a fixer to care for the situation, wherein Jules and Vincent acquire a ridiculous shorts and t-shirt outfit as a penance for the Wolf (played by Harvey Keitel) fixing the car and the deceased apartment occupant.

(Jimmie, left, and the Wolf)

Awash in the miracle miss from the apartment, Jules and Vincent stop for breakfast at a diner that leads to the second major story. Pumpkin (played by Tim Roth) and Honey Bunny (played by Amanda Plummer) stage a robbery with murder by gun threats and a collecting of patron wallets. Jules gets the wallets back with intimidation, though lets Pumpkin and Honey Bunny keep his money without revenge since Jules sees his life after the apartment as a sign to leave the lifestyle.

At Marsellus’ apartment, the third and fourth stories get more traction. We meet Butch Coolidge, a boxer played by Bruce Willis that Marsellus contracts to lose a fight. Bruce spars with Vincent here as Jules banters with the bartender on how Vincent must escort Mia Wallace (played by Uma Thurman) for the evening.

(Mia, left, and Vincent)

Dressed normally again, Vincent takes drugs (heroin) before picking up Mia for the night. Mia prepared for the evening by having taken cocaine. At a retro 1950s club, we see Steve Buscemi cameo as Buddy Holly as a lead in for Vincent and Mia stylize dancing. Mia finds and takes Vincent’s heroin, and overdoses right there in the club. Vincent gets adrenaline and revives Mia with a giant hypodermic of adrenaline. Both Mia and Vincent agree on parting company that Marsellus needs learn nothing of this.

In anticipation of his fight, we learn through flashback to an episode from Butch’s childhood that Christopher Walken as a prisoner of war had smuggled a watch back to Butch in the USA from the POW camp in Vietnam. In the present day, we see Butch knock out his opponent in the boxing ring before being comforted by his girlfriend in a prearranged motel where she waits. Marsellus, unhappy with the loss experienced at this turn, puts out a hit on Butch.

The next morning, Butch tempts fate by returning to his apartment to grab his watch. Mixed up in another apartment scene in a bathroom, Butch regains his watch and kills Vincent, who was there to kill Butch. Upon leaving, Butch literally runs into Marsellus in the street. The second chases the first into a sleazy gun shop. The two are set to be treated quite badly by the shop owner and his friend. Butch escapes, selects a samurai sword from the first floor, and comes back to rescue Marsellus by killing Zed the friend while leaving Maynard the gun ship owner for Marsellus.

(Marsellus, left, and Butch)

Thankful for being saved and being offered revenge for the gun shop attack, Marsellus agrees to let the boxing treachery slide if Butch leaves town. Retrieving his girlfriend on Zed’s chopper, Pulp Fiction ends with Butch as the big winner in a sea of misery as he rides off to Knoxville declaring to his girlfriend that “Zed is dead.”

(Butch’s girlfriend, left, and Butch)

Matt – Thursday, December 21, 2017