Abundant Appreciation Association

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS Fits Perfectly into Quentin Tarantino’s Movie Universe and Influences His Entire Filmography

suicideblonde:

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.

(via popculturebrain)

• normal person: so what do you like to do
• me: watch movies
• normal person: oh, that's neat, i like watching movies too
• me: no you don't understand

That name meant nothing to me until about two minutes ago. Then I realized just how memorable and amazing his voice was. I’m a huge fan of Peter Gabriel’s Up album, to which Khan contributed the memorable backing vocals on the track “Signal to Noise.” Normally, I’m not one for background vocalists singing stuff in a language I can’t recognize; it always seemed like a cliche attempt at being “unique” that really only fit in the 80s. That said, Khan’s part in this song always stuck with me.

So right now I’m watching the movie Natural Born Killers (which has some great violence in society commentary along the lines of and something I’ve been trying to find since Michael Haneke’s Funny Games), and this part comes up where Mallory is driving through the street. Suddenly, in the background, this voice starts singing, and I immediately think of Khan (whose name I didn’t know until I looked it up just now). Turns out it totally was him.

Basically, this probably means nothing to most people, but this whole thing excited me when I was able to actually recognize an incredible voice that was singing in another language from just one other song. I don’t know whether to be proud of my ears or amazed at the uniqueness of this guy’s voice. Either way, I’m probably going to go check out some of his other appearances and contributions now.

popculturebrain:

Teaser: The Master - Oct 12

Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, starring Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Laura Dern.

This is all kinds of excellent.

(via synecdoche, bobbyfinger)

PT Anderson doesn’t know how to make mediocre movies.

popculturebrain:

Vulture’s Map of the Comedy Zeitgeist

It’s all connected.

I could be missing something blatantly obvious, but it looks to me like Jason Segel is connected to Undeclared and not Freaks & Geeks, which I think is a huge mistake considering Freaks & Geeks was pretty good, while Undeclared was one of the least funny shows I’ve ever seen and actually annoyed me every time I made myself watch it.

EDIT: I think this would be way cooler if someone made a map of bands who have toured with other bands. That way people would go, “Holy shit! Jimi Hendrix opened for The Monkees?!”

After watching the fairly recent film Super starring Rainn Wilson, I made a connection to two other films I’ve been pondering lately, namely last year’s Drive and Michael Haneke’s Funny Games (specifically the original 1997 one, but only because I haven’t seen his recent English remake).

Funny Games has always stuck with me in a bizarre sort of way. It breaks the fourth wall, which automatically means I’m a fan, but it does so in a way to make you rethink the way you watch violence in movies. I kind of consider it the anti-thesis to Tarantino. Without spoiling the film, you basically witness two men doing horrible things to a group of people, but instead of putting you in the viewpoint of those who commit the violence and walk away unscathed, as with most Tarantino flicks, the camera instead focuses on the aftermath of this violence. It’s downright horrifying, and for all the grief I’ve been given for calling it the most disturbing film I’ve ever seen when there really isn’t that much blood or guts to speak of, I hold to that point. It’s an experience, an essay on the depiction of violence in modern media with a horrifying mirror image of the reality of violence that grabs your attention to make its point. Does glorifying violence in modern media have a negative effect? I’m not sure, but I do know that this movie left it’s mark on me, and I can’t watch stuff like Tarantino films the same way anymore.

Then I watched Drive last year, which was honestly my favorite film of the year. Many couldn’t stand the violence, but I couldn’t help but compare it to Haneke’s film, offering another horrifying glimpse at the reality of violence that we currently glorify so much. Sure, it’s got a fantastically memorable soundtrack and some damn fine acting, but the entire film would have been mostly forgotten had we only seen Ryan Gosling’s character swinging his leg during that elevator scene. It’s the cut to the man’s face that leaves the audience just as shocked as the love interest, and it’s entirely necessary in conveying its point of the true horrifying reality of violence.

But it wasn’t until I watched Super recently that I realized there’s something more to this. I personally consider Super a parody of the recent superhero movie craze in that it tosses in the reality of a man fighting crime by literally showing this superhero fight crime. There’s blood. Lots of it. And it gets everywhere. And skulls get crushed. And people scream. And nobody actually wants to stand up for it, because, holy shit, what the hell is that crazy man in a suit think he’s doing with that wrench?

I think we’re starting to hit a point in post-modernity where, while most of society continues this glorification of violence ala the popularity of movies like 300 and what have you, there are now those that see past all of it and say, “Wait a minute. This is actually kinda fucked up. Here, see for yourself.” And now they can get away with it. In fact, I’d argue we’re at a point now where we can get away with the most violently disgusting films we want, but all of those who choose to do so mostly do it to make a self-referential point. Or, in the case of the recent Grindhouse hits Machete and Hobo With a Shotgun, to make us laugh. What this all means, though, I’m not really sure yet. Is it still okay for the laugh, or do all of these violent depictions actually mean something more? Is it harming us or helping us? Probably neither. In the end, they’re all just movies.

I’ve started watching movies based on plays. I say “based on” cause that’s the closest phrase I guess, when really it’s just plays that have been filmed. I’ve watched three since last night and want to watch more, so if you know of any I should watch, I’m all ears. This will probably sound really pretentious, but I’ve been kind of holding these in a higher light to most films since they’re able to capture ideas and really run with them since the focus is entirely on dialogue. With a stage, you’re stuck with a small amount of space and often very few props or characters, so you’ve got to be able to drive and captivate an audience through imagination and dialogue. In fact, these three that I saw were entirely based around conversations between two characters and almost nothing else. They don’t really go anywhere, they don’t really do anything, they just sit there or walk in circles and wax philosophical about life, the universe, and everything. But, most importantly, the conversations are both believable and incredibly thought-provoking.

It started with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, which I spotted and decided to watch on Netflix on a whim. Before I go into it, though, I’d just like to point out that for some really bizarre reason, the only song you hear is the very beginning of “Echoes” followed by an instrumental version of “Seamus the Dog,” both by Pink Floyd from their album Meddle, which had already been around for a while by the time this film came out. There’s even one spot in the film where two swords clash and one of the sounds from “Echoes” is used again for it as a sound effect. I honestly don’t get it. Was there some specific reason these were used. Because they certainly don’t seem to fit with the film at all. Or did the director just really like Pink Floyd, and that’s all there is to it? This was the only film the guy ever directed too. I wish I could just straight up ask him, since the rest of the internet doesn’t seem to care and it’s driving me nuts. Why, Mr. Director? Why? I just don’t get it!

Anyway, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead is a play from the 1960s (I think) that was filmed in 1990 starring Tim Roth and Gary Oldman. They play the titular characters, and it’s basically about what happens to the two behind the scenes of Shakespeare’s infamous Hamlet. Basically, the two have no idea what they’re getting into, and of course there is the constant foreshadowing of death, as one of the final lines of Hamlet is simply a man walking in to see a room full of dead bodies and proclaiming, “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead” along with the six other main characters after that kickass sword fight. You obviously can’t carry an entire film with this fairly basic plot, though, so there’s a lot of banter back and forth between the two as they discuss interesting things they’ve picked up on in life as two best friends who have spent their lives together often do. It’s a great film, albeit a little slow, but it was just enough to get me scrounging around for more just like it.

That’s when I remembered I had this film that only aired on HBO called The Sunset Limited. It was a play written by Cormac McCarthy, the author of No Country for Old Men and The Road, and stars Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L Jackson (because of course he’s in it). Jones plays a suicidal professor and Jackson plays a lowly man who saves him from jumping in front of a train and attempts to talk him out of his suicidal behavior. Once again, though, it’s never that simple as it would be impossible to carry a play starring only two people sitting in one room and chatting for an entire play without the two having some deep conversations. And they do, from the get go. It’s not boring either. At least I didn’t think so. I sat there watching the two chat back and forth on and on about everything in their lives for 90 minutes and was totally sucked in to that tiny little apartment.

Finally, we get to the play that most likely inspired these two plays, along with many others, called Waiting for Godot. Here we once again have a situation where two characters stand around and have a conversation. This was actually meant only to be a play, and the playwright never wanted it to be on film, but I managed to find a film version that I’m actually in the middle of right now. I stopped to take a break, make some food, and write this. Maybe I’ll write on this one later when I finish, but I think everybody gets the gist of this weird subgenre I’ve been into all of a sudden. I don’t really know why I suddenly find it so fascinating either. It’s probably got a lot to do with my respect for the writers who manage to carry an entire story through dialogue alone. Normally I’d probably be among those who would find this pretty boring, though, especially watching these back to back as I’ve been doing. And yet I’m still planning on watching My Dinner With Andre tomorrow or as soon as I can get a chance to, which I think right now is best known for being spoofed recently on the show Community. Abed, being Abed, gets Jeff to reenact scenes from the film with him, wherein two people go out to dinner and have a conversation about their lives for the entirety of the film.

This probably doesn’t sound fascinating in the slightest to most of you, and I get that, but if it does I’d suggest at least checking out The Sunset Limited. The pacing is by far the best of the ones I’ve seen so far. And if you do watch it, feel free to chat me up about it, even if you hated it. I just love talkin’ movies with people, and as you can probably guess, these aren’t exactly movies that are often talked about. Like ever.

Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s LEGO Set for Release in 3D on February 28, 2014 | Collider

When I first heard Hollywood was making a Lego movie, my immediate reaction was obviously not very stellar. But now that I know Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the creators of my favorite short-lived animated show Clone High, are working on it, my hopes have increased tenfold. Maybe even twentyfold. All of the folds.

I’m just going to post this video again. Because Matt Rorie is the best.

properlypettingpuppies:

Fanny’s pretty dumb, but not too dumb to like proper pets!

Matt Rorie’s insistence on calling puppies dumb is only a small part of the overall magic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpCEjJbKMgQ