Results tagged “quentintarantino”

       

Millions of moronic teenagers pushed The Final Destination to the top of the weekend box-office chart as it snagged a richly undeserved $28.3M (largely due to the inflated price of tickets to the 3D showings). Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds managed to hold onto second place despite forecasts to the contrary ($20M | $73.8M). In a bit of good news, the worthless Halloween II came in below expectations ($17.4M). Surprise hit District 9 continued to perform well ($10.7M | $90.8M) while G.I. Joe rounded out the top 5 ($8M | $132M).

      

Quentin Tarantino roared back into prominence as his World War Two revenge flick, Inglourious Basterds, uh, roared to the top of the weekend box office, earning a way-above expectations $37.2M. Last week's champ, District 9 had a reasonable hold and earned an additional $18.9M ($73.4M). After that it was the sort of okay G.I.Joe ($12.5M | $120.5M), the weepy Time Traveler's Wife ($10M | 37.4M) and the winning Julie & Julia ($9M | $59.2M). Kids commanded the next three slots: the lame Shorts debuted to $6.6M followed by the odd G-Force ($4.2M | $107.3M) and the super Harry Potter 6: Harry Battles Voldemort! ($3.5M | $290.2M)

              

There's already been a ton of Inglourious Basterds material on LAist this weekend, so I'll only say, "Check it out. It's a helluva ride." My One and Only looks like an intriguing film. Based in part on the life of George Hamilton, it tells the story of a determined woman looking for a wealthy man to provide a nice life for her and her sons. It's been awhile since there's been a film about The Troubles, but Five Minutes of Heaven is a welcome addition to the canon. Liam Neeson stars as a man who, as a child, murdered the brother of another man (a fantastic James Nesbitt). The film tells a story of forgiveness as both try to reconcile the past.

(editor's note - LAist sent our intrepid reporter, Lois Lane, er, Courtney Quinn to the Inglourious Basterds Press Day last weekend. In the spirit of Tarantino's film, she's segmented her coverage into something very, well...Basterd-like. It's a good, long read so get comfortable in your chair. Extra points for creativity, Coco.)

      

Though it first aired a decade ago, most people still remember Samm Levine quite clearly from the cult TV show, Freaks and Geeks (look back at the cast and writers and marvel at the talent). Since then he has worked steadily, both in television (the best episode of Entourage ever) and film (the hilarious and underrated Not Another Teen Movie.) This Friday, Samm appears as one of Brad Pitt's basterds in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds. LAist had a chance to speak with Samm recently about working on the film.

                     

The difficulty in reviewing a film like Inglourious Basterds is that it's really two films mashed up into one. One of those films concerns a young Jewish woman named Shoshanna who exacts a brilliant revenge against the Nazis who murdered her family. The other regards a group of mostly Jewish-American military assassins (the titular "Basterds") who scour the French countryside killing everyone in a German uniform. What's strangely problematic about Inglourious Basterds is that while the latter story is full of Quentin Tarantino's characteristic bluster and brio, you can't wait to get back to Shoshanna and find out what's happening with her life.

Joe Dante returns to the New Bev, and this time he's brought company! Living legend Roger Corman joins Dante for a double-feature of his films St. Valentine's Day Massacre (Corman's first directed for a major studio) & Not Of This Earth (far from his first directed for a schlocky drive-in). The inferno rages all-day Saturday, with a screening of The Movie Orgy, a cut-and-paste epic of found footage & cinematic anarchy. Best of all, to quote Dante, "admission is free because even I don't know who owns the rights to all this found footage". It all climaxes with a 25th anniversary screening of Dante's classic Gremlins. You will have to pay for that, but Gizmo's so cute! Just keep your popcorn away...it's a midnight show.

I don't know if I've gotten even nerdier, or if documentaries have gotten even better, but half the films I've seen or wanted to see this year are non-fictional in nature. Which is why I'm stoked for DocuWeeks 2009, playing through the end of August at the Arclight. Sponsored by the International Documentary Association, the festival features compelling characters & stranger-than-fiction stories in first-look Academy-qualifying runs. Each week is a different program; this week features a look at ecology from the ground up, Up With People, the uphill struggle of Congolese & Nepalese refugees, and the uppest of the up, His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

              

It may seem like a thankless struggle at times, but I will not rest until everyone who needs to see Battlestar Galactica has seen Battlestar Galactica. I don't think there has ever been a show so great that has been viewed by so few. Remedy that today! I sort of like the graininess of my current Spinal Tap DVD, but if you'd rather see Nigel, David, Derek and, uh, Liam in delicious 1080P than today is your day. I was excited about the prospect of a live-action Green Lantern movie right up to the point where Ryan Reynolds became involved. I like Ryan in light comedies, but he is all wrong for the Lantern Corps. I mean, Sinestro would just completely kick his ass! Finally, I urge everyone to do their patriotic duty by clicking on the Sarah Palin link and donating today!

Barack Obama bested the Presidential campaign by reaching across all places and people. It seems only fitting that his inauguration week bears a similarly dynamic platform: from the earliest cinematic pioneers to the latest digital technologies, from campy cult comedies to maverick macho westerns, from classic actors to Jean Claude Van Damme, from sea to shining sea. This is why I love L.A. Nay, this is why I love America!

In 1992, Quentin Tarantino made a huge splash at the Sundance Film Festival with his directorial debut, . He didn't return to Park City until this year to serve as a member of the Festival's Jury. Last night, he was honored with the Ray-Ban Visionary Award and LAist was there. Following a short introduction by Dennis Hopper, Quentin took the stage and riffed about his first Sundance experience for about twenty minutes. Following that, The Bravery took the stage for a short concert. Videos and photos of all of it are after the jump.

Roger Avary, the Academy Award-winning writer of the 1994 cult classic Pulp Fiction, was arrested this weekend on charges of manslaughter.

Who is brave or foolish enough to go out tonight? No, seriously. Why do you want to leave the house? There are some things to do if you are so inclined (queue writer's raised eyebrow).

Helena Bonham Carter and her boyfriend, director Tim Burton, both Golden Globe nominees for Sweeney Todd welcomed their second baby together, a girl, in London this weekend - People

"Atonement" leads the pack of nominees for the 2008 Golden Globe Awards with seven nods, including top actor nominations for both leads, Keira Knightly and James McAvoy. "American Gangster," "No Country for Old Men," and "Sweeney Todd" also garnered nominations; you can read a partial list of the nominees here at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association website. Hayden Panettiere, Dane Cook, Ryan Reynolds and Quentin Tarantino read the list at the Beverly Hilton at...

In Which we Discover how the Golden Girls helped make stuff we like Have you ever written anything? I don't mean like a letter or a note, but something long, something good. Sure, you think you could. A lot of people do. But unless you're actually writing something, you're not a writer. Writing is really time consuming. It's not just about fun and ideas. It's about forcing yourself to sit down, get off the phone,...

See cult-movie legend/director Jack Hill at the Egyptian tonight for a double feature celebrating the release of the scary masterpiece, Spider Baby on DVD! Tonight’s festivities include a screening of Spider Baby (1968) & Pit Stop (1969).

Those of you who didn't get enough of Death Proof at the theater (and that would be 37 of you) now have the chance to experience Quentin Tarantino's complete and unedited cinematic vision--oh, whatever. Matthew McConaughey almost refused to do We Are Marshall because he thought his character should always be shirtless. Would Carly Schroeder turn 18 already so I can stop feeling so creepy (Kristen Stewart, too). Lucky You deserved better. Daniel Auteuil...

New Beverly Cinema owner Sherman Torgan died yesterday, unexpectedly, of a heart attack. Two local film blogs, Hollywood Elsewhere and Cinema is Dope are reporting it, and LAist has confirmed the sad news with the revival movie theater.

- "Ugly men try harder. They care more about you and treat you like a princess. Good-looking guys are self-obsessed. That’s not attractive." - The Sun Online - Girls Gone Wild asswipe founder pleads no contest to feeling up an 18-year old at a January party in Hollywood. Could get six months - CBS2 - While in town to play the Dodgers, four Milwaukee Brewers players taped an episode of the Young and the...

A Word or 157: It's all about the Prime Time tonight. The Office and 30 Rock have a real chance at getting some serious viewership since both Ugly Betty and Grey's Anatomy are simply rehash episodes (even though they are billed as 'New'). Tina Fey has been hitting everything from Good Morning America to Conan (and Baldwin made an appearance on Letterman last night) in an attempt to push 30 Rock more - it's...

I am in shock. Despite a ton of promotion, great reviews and legions of Quentin Tarantino fans, Grindhouse opened in only fourth place. That would be $3.4 million behind the "former ghetto rapper heads to the burbs" comedy Are We Done Yet? and only $1.5 million ahead of the "I'm Hilary Swank, and I've won two Oscars, so I can star in whatever piece of poorly conceived commercial dreck I want to" horror film...

A Word or 46: Boy what a hubbub over this American Idol dreck - didn't the show producers see what a joke Howard Stern made of People magazine's "Most Beautiful People" contest back in '98? That's what you get for inexperience and idiocy, watch the guy with bad hair win. Tonight - Thursday - April 5th, 2007 The Office (NBC, 8:00 p.m.) Supersized 40+ minute version Survivor: Fiji/CSI: Crime Scene Investigation/Shark (CBS, 8-11:00 p.m.)...

Don't forget. If you want to see a sneak preview of the Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez double feature, Grindhouse (Planet Terror = Rodriquez; Death Proof = Tarantino), head over to the New Beverly tonight at 11 p.m. Actually, head over at 9:45 p.m. That's when tickets go on sale, and there's a good chance it will sell out. If you wanna go in true grindhouse style, I recommend rolling up in a 1970s Dodge Challenger...

Starting tomorrow, lots of folks are going to be rushing area theaters to check out the latest Quentin Tarantino+Robert Rodriguez splatterfest, Grindhouse. And yes, Los Angeles has definitely gone grindhouse crazy in general. But before running off to The Grove, consider a truly authentic alternative. We think the best way to see the Tarantino/Rodriguez homage to 1970s and 1980s schlock cinema is by heading to an equally entertaining relic of a bygone era; the...

A Word or 52: Some people hated last week's "useless" Lost because it didn't further the storyline but I thought it was a humorously macabre and welcome break that reminded me of some of the better tangential X-Files episodes from 10+ years ago. If looks like we're going back to that story line tonight, oh well. Jericho (CBS, 8:00 p.m.) Roger goes off the deep end, and who can blame him Friday Night Lights/Crossing...

I was lucky enough to score a couple of last minute tickets to last night's world premiere of the Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez double feature, Grindhouse, at the Orpheum in downtown LA. I am happy to report that after months of festering anticipation, Grindhouse lives up to the hype. Grindhouse, which is actually two feature-length movies in one (total running time: 185 minutes), begins with vintage title cards promoting "prevues of coming attractions." Then comes...

Back in January, SXSW launched a contest looking for the scariest, freakiest movie trailers. In honor of Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino's upcoming movie Grindhouse, amateur filmmakers were invited create their own grindhouse trailers. The best submissions were presented at the festival a couple of weeks ago by Rodriguez. Here's one that I like, Hobo with a Shotgun. Simple, direct and hilarious. Plus, it delivers what it promises....

Grindhouse There probably isn’t a single night I wouldn't enjoy going to the Quentin Tarantino-curated Grindhouse Festival at the New Beverly. On Monday & Tuesday it’s a double bill of Rolling Thunder, a revenge flick about a Vietnam vet who goes on the warpath after his wife and son are killed by thugs, and The Town That Dreaded Sundown, a 1977 film that's set in 1946 about a hooded killer stalking the terrified residents of...