Tagarchief: Hollywood

The Verdict: John Wick: Chapter IV

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

I had a friend in the early zeroes who, when we would send him over to the video store to rent a movie, he would surely come back with the dumbest, most stupefying action movie sequel ever produced. I don’t see this friend any longer, but I am pretty sure John Wick: Chapter IV will now be his favorite movie of all time. The first John Wick movie was no masterpiece, but it was a decent action flick that had some of the elements needed to enjoy a movie of this kind. Elements that are completely lacking in part IV: a story, humor, tension (John Wick can fall off any building and survive) or emotion (if he would get killed, so what?). All it does have is endlessly boring video game action with the same type of kill being repeated over and over, and this for an almost insulting 2 hours and 49 minutes. Is there nothing positive to say? Some of the actors are in good shape and many of the visuals are pretty impressive. There is some talk of the death of cinema these days, and John Wick: Chapter IV certainly supports the case of the pessimists perfectly. Hollywood screenwriters that lack original ideas and producers pumping a depraved amount of money in a completely mindless sequel is definitely what John Wick: Chapter IV brings to the High Table. And with a fifth movie in the works and a television show already out, this trend is not likely to be reversed any time soon.

John Wick: Chapter IV is now available on Amazon Prime

The verdict: to stream or not to stream? Not to stream

Bruce Campbell: A B-Moviestar’s Biography

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

For every George Clooney and Steven Spielberg, there are thousands of working class slobs in Tinsel Town. Bruce Campbell’s biography ‘If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B-Movie Actor’ is a homage to this B-crowd. Bruce who? That’s the point exactly. For those of us who grew up on a diet of classy horror movies in the eighties and nineties, he is a household name, for he was the star of one of the greatest horror series of that era: the holy Evil Dead trilogy (consisting of The Evil Dead, Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness).

‘If Chins Could Kill’ tells Bruce’s story. It was first published in 2001, so it doesn’t include the television adaptation of Evil Dead called Ash Vs. Evil Dead, but that’s no problem; there are plenty of great stories preceding that terrific cult show. In chapter 1, Campbell describes his childhood in Detroit, Michigan, with his parents and two older brothers. They did their fair share of monkeying around, and then good old Bruce became interested in girls. It became a lifelong obsession.

As he grew older, he had to find a way to keep on having fun. He discovered that his father Charles was an actor in a local theater. At age 14, Bruce joined the group and he soon played his first roles on stage. In the years that followed, he met various would-be actors and filmmakers, including one who would make it really big: Sam Raimi. After shooting a bunch of pretty cool 8 MM amateur films, Campbell, Raimi and another guy called Robert Tapert wondered: can we make a profession out of this?

The junior film crew decided to focus on the horror genre, because of the low budget required. For inspiration, they watched many horror shows at the drive-in theater and got a good sense of what audiences liked (when do they laugh? When do they scream?). Then they shot Within the Woods, the short predecessor of The Evil Dead. Their next challenge was a considerable one; they had to raise 150.000 dollars to be able to shoot their first feature length horror movie on 16 MM film (which they would afterwards blow up to 35 MM for cinema screenings) and to cover all other expenses. This seemed impossible, but they bought suits, went to work, and eventually raised the money.

After a grueling 12-week shoot in a run-down cabin in the woods of Tennessee, they canned the film, and luckily for the private investors, they delivered a genre classic. It turned out that its director was a genuine talent in visual storytelling, and Campbell undeniably a true horror star. True to the aim of his book, Campbell describes all the collaborators and the challenges they had to overcome to get this movie made. None of the other actors continued acting after The Evil Dead and all pursued other occupations.

If you’re serious about shooting a low budget movie, you should definitely read this book. It contains many tips on raising money, and then actually shooting it with hardly any resources. After that come the reshoots, the editing and sound editing, and then comes an even tougher part: marketing and selling the damn thing. Luckily for the crew, Stephen King saw their film at a movie event and wrote positively about it. His recommendation did miracles for the marketing of what was originally known as Book of the Dead, an unmarketable title; people might think they’d have to do reading at the screening. The investors of the retitled The Evil Dead made their money back, but the boys didn’t make anything. Yet, they now had a film under their belt.

What followed was the major flop Crimewave, co-written by The Coen Brothers. Campbell didn’t get a whole lot of work after that. He was in a soap series where he met his wife to be (a fragment from this show can be seen in Fargo, in the scene in which sociopath Gaear is watching television in the cabin). Crimewave could have been a career ender in Hollywood, but they had a fallback project: doing a sequel to the successful Evil Dead. Evil Dead II: Dead By Dawn (1987) became a legendary sequel and it is still considered to be among the greatest horror films ever made (it’s second on my top 10 horror list).

Still, Campbell – despite having played a lead role in a popular film – was no mainstream star and had to work as a security guard to make ends meet (“hey, you’re that guy from Evil Death, say that groovy line”). He also got divorced and met his new wife (a make-up artist) at a movie set. Campbell’s career would be closely tied to Raimi’s and in 1993, they would complete the trilogy with Army of Darkness. If you’ve ever wondered how much Bruce made with starring in the lead role in this movie ( I did!), the answer is in this book. It’s 500 K. This seems like an okay sum, but you have to subtract 25 percent for agents and managers leaving 375.000. Then deduct taxes (federal and state at the highest level) and you’re left with 187.500. Because he was recently divorced, his wife got half leaving Bruce with 93.750. This is still a lot of money, but considering it was two years work, he made just 46.875 a year, which is not what you’d expect a movie star (even a B-movie star) to make.

Still, Campbell continued to find work and most importantly: have fun. Especially when he went to New Zealand to work as actor and director on the tv-show Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and spin-of Xena: The Warrior Princess. In Campbell’s words: “shooting this show in New Zealand, away from studio interference, brought me back to the fun of filmmaking, like when we were shooting 8 MM movies back in Michigan.”

Read also: Ash vs Evil Dead: 5 Greatest Moments

Recensie: Cinema Speculation (Quentin Tarantino)

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Onlangs heeft Mr. Quentin Tarantino zijn tweede boek afgeleverd na ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ vorig jaar. Het heet ‘Cinema Speculation’ en is een non-fictieboek over films uit de jaren 70’, het tijdperk van zijn jeugd en volgens de de schrijver-regisseur het beste tijdperk voor films in Hollywood ooit. (Voor mij is dat de jaren 90’, het filmdecenium van mijn jeugd waarin Tarantino als regisseur een grote rol speelde).

Tijdens het lezen had ik voortdurend IMDb openstaan om de titels op te zoeken die QT beschrijft. Één van de eerste films die hij analyseert is Joe van John G. Avildsen (regisseur van Rocky en The Karate Kid). Het gaat over een right wing gun nut die hippies haat en ze wel wil vermoorden en dat op een gegeven moment ook gaat doen… Duidelijke inspiratie voor Once Upon a Time in Hollywood lijkt me.

Zijn moeder en haar vele vriendjes namen de jonge QT (vanaf 7 jaar) mee naar de meest gewelddadige films uit die tijd. Hij zag slechte exploitatiefilms, maar ook vele klassiekers, zoals de Dollars trilogie van Sergio Leone (zijn favoriete regisseur), Where Eagles Dare, Dirty Harry, The Godfather en The Wild Bunch. Hij was meestal het enige kind in een zaal vol volwassenen en begreep niet altijd alles van de films. Zo snapte hij niet dat de freeze frame op het einde van Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid betekende dat de hoofdpersonen dood gingen. Maar een voorwaarde van zijn moeder was dat hij geen domme vragen mocht stellen.

Zijn moeder ging een tijdje uit met zwarte mannen en die namen hem af en toe mee naar Blaxploitation films. Zo zag hij met een bijna volledig zwart publiek de film Black Gunn met Jim Brown. Hij observeerde goed hoe het publiek reageerde op zo’n film en op de acteurs. Hier heeft Tarantino zijn voornaamste opleiding genoten: in de bioscoopzaal. Vaak bij geweldige Double en Triple Bills die ze in die tijd nog vertoonden in de bioscopen in Los Angeles.


Op de cover: Regisseur Sam Peckinpah en filmster Steve McQueen op de set van The Getaway.

De film maestro geeft verschillende films een eigen hoofdstuk, zoals Bullitt met Steve McQueen (Steven Spielberg werkt momenteel aan een nieuwe interpretatie van deze klassieker). Bullitt herinnert men zich vooral vanwege de auto-achtervolging. Het plot kan niemand je meer vertellen (dat klopt). McQueen was de grootste ster van die tijd naast Newman en Beatty. Hij doet bijna niets in de film, schrijft Tarantino, maar toch is hij geweldig om naar te kijken. Hij acteert minimalistisch. Plus, hij is cool als agent Frank Bullitt omdat hij nooit zijn ‘cool’ verliest in tegenstelling tot andere helden. Als zijn onredelijke baas hem op zijn nek zit, reageert hij helemaal niet. ‘He doesn’t engage’.

De volgende film die hij in detail bespreekt is Dirty Harry, de klassieker die van Eastwood de grootste actiester maakte en van Don Siegel de beste actie-regisseur naast Peckinpah. De invloed van Dirty Harry kan niet onderschat worden. Samen met The French Connection luidde de film de transitie in van westerns naar politiefilms. Het is ook de eerste echte seriemoordenaar-film. Harry neemt het op tegen Scorpio, een fictieve versie van San Francisco’s echte Zodiac killer. The Silence of the Lambs en Se7en zijn de kinderen van Dirty Harry.

De samenleving was aan het veranderen in de jaren 70’, schrijft de auteur. De politie neemt het op voor de boeven, zo was soms de perceptie. Met Dirty Harry kregen de angstigen een held met een .44 kaliber Magnum aan hun zijde. Een held die een groep Black Panther-achtige overvallers uitschakelt terwijl hij een hotdog eet. En een held die het recht in eigen hand neemt als een zaak daarom vraagt. Curieus genoeg heeft het (volgens QT zwakke) vervolg Magnum Force de tegenovergestelde boodschap. Hierin neemt Harry het juist op tegen een groep moordenaars die criminelen zonder proces executeren.

Geweld speelt een grote rol in Tarantino’s films en dit is ook iets dat hij opikte in de glorieuze jaren 70’. Bijvoorbeeld bij de fantastische Double Bill Deliverance en The Wild Bunch. De eerste bevat een schokkende homoseksuele verkrachting. The Wild Bunch eindigt in één van de bruutste grafische geweldsexplosies uit de filmgeschiedenis. Ik bedenk me nu dat de man in Deliverance verkracht wordt door een echte hillbilly. Zou dat inspiratie hebben gevormd voor de verkrachting van Marcellus Wallace door hillbilly Zed in Pulp Fiction? Hoe het ook zij: wat Quentin schrijft over die scène klopt; in plaats van dat je wegkijkt van zoiets gruwelijks kun je je ogen er niet vanaf houden. Kennelijk heeft geweld iets fascinerends voor mensen en is film een ideaal medium om dit kanaliseren.

In de jaren 80’ veranderde dit in veel films. Hollywood ging self-censorship toepassen. De enige niet niet-compromitterende regisseurs uit deze jaren waren Lynch, Verhoeven, Cronenberg, Ferrera, Gilliam en De Palma (soms). Niet toevallig allemaal behorend tot mijn favoriete filmmakers aller tijden. Tarantino klaagt over het gebrek aan immorele, onsympathieke karakters in films uit die tijd. Personages als Parker uit Richard Stark’s boekenserie, waarvan de eerste verfilming The Outfit ook een eigen hoofdstuk krijgt in ‘Cinema Speculation’. Tarantino heeft zelf overwogen om een ‘Parker’ verfilming te doen in de jaren 90’ met Robert De Niro (als Parker), Harvey Keitel en Pam Grier in de hoofdrollen. Hij heeft spijt dat hij dit niet heeft gedaan en ik ook! Nu is Payback de enige Parker-verfilming uit dit decennium en hoewel het een prima film is was die van Tarantino ongetwijfeld beter geworden.

Wat is het speculatieve aspect van het boek uit de titel? Tarantino schrijft over de mogelijkheid dat Brian de Palma en niet Scorsese de film Taxi Driver zou hebben gemaakt. Blijkbaar was dat bijna gebeurd, maar vond De Palma de kans op een negatief financieel resultaat te groot (vreemde angst voor een regisseur, maar De Palma kende de noodzaak van een gat in de markt vinden en films te blijven maken). Als hij het gedaan had, was het ongetwijfeld meer een politieke thriller geworden. Bovendien had waarschijnlijk Jeff Bridges in plaats van De Niro Travis Bickle gespeeld en was de pooier waarschijnlijk zwart geweest zoals in het script en dus door een andere acteur gespeeld. Stel je voor, Taxi Driver zonder Harvey Keitel!

Is het boek een aanrader? Absoluut. Dat Tarantino kan schrijven is bekend. Daarnaast heeft de man ongelofelijk veel kennis en inzichten in het Hollywood van die tijd. Een must-read voor cinema fans dus. Wel een waarschuwing; je ‘to watch list’ wordt wel een heel stuk langer door het lezen van dit boek. De film waar ik me het meeste op verheug na het lezen van ‘Cinema Speculation’? Dat is Rolling Thunder over een getraumatiseerde Vietnam veteraan (nog zo’n echt jaren 70’ thema) die op jacht gaat naar een bende die hem in zijn huis hebben gemarteld en zijn vrouw en zoontje hebben vermoord. De lofzang die Tarantino over deze door Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver) geschreven film afsteekt maakt hem onweerstaanbaar. Het is er slechts één van vele.

Lees ook: QT8: The First Eight

QT8: The First Eight

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

I was 13 years old when I saw the video Reservoir Dogs at my local video store. There were – for me at the time – not many familiar actors in it. But the cover looked pretty cool with guys in suits with guns. Plus there was a lot of praise on it from critics, so I decided to give it a shot. I had no idea what to expect, but Jesus Christ was it a good movie! Ridiculously great filmmaking. One of the best movies I had seen at that point and to this day still.

It is funny to hear all these actors in the documentary QT8: The First Eight basically relate to the exact same experience. Tim Roth, shown while being carried in the warehouse by Harvey Keitel, remembers talking to Keitel about what they had just shot and saying: “Man, this is going to be a really great movie!” Keitel agreed.

Reservoir Dogs premiered on Cannes in 1992, very prestigious for a debut, and it was a great success. Everybody wanted to meet Quentin there and he became a movie making star overnight. Everybody said: “Can you believe this guy? He can write and direct and it’s sensational stuff.”

For a long time I was jealous of Tarantino. And when I watch this documentary I still am. I mean, wouldn’t it be something to be able to write screenplays like this guy? And this is also a shared emotion by many people interviewed for this doc. Talent like this is rare. Many people, including me, tried to write scripts like him. But to no avail.

His first screenplays – True Romance and Natural Born Killers – he had to sell to pay the rent. True Romance was originally told in non-chronological order Tarantino-style. Oh and the pop culture loving Clarence, basically Quentin’s alter ego – died at the end. Luckily Tony Scott changed that. At least I for one liked the happy ending.

Tarantino wanted to become a director, so he wrote a script that he could do on a low budget: Reservoir Dogs. Harvey Weinstein distributed the film. After that everybody in Hollywood wanted to work with him, but the Weinstein’s got to produce all his movies up until The Hateful Eight. Then the scandal broke out, and Tarantino – who according to Michael Madsen had known about Weinstein’s misconduct for some time (read Tarantino’s confession-story here) – switched to Sony for his ninth movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

And this Weinstein-business is the only major stain on Tarantino’s career. That, and pushing Uma Thurman to do a car stunt in Kill Bill, which went wrong causing permanent physical problems for her. No good, Mr. Quentin. But there is a lot to balance it out. He is described by everyone in the doc as a very nice guy who enjoys life, and appears to be a great friend for his many cronies.

Pulp Fiction, that followed Reservoir Dogs, is one of the masterpieces of the past 50 years. Michael Madsen, for whom the part of Vincent Vega was originally written, was committed to Wyatt Earp at that time. Nightmare! He takes it well, commenting on the extremely successful casting of John Travolta. “It is one of main reasons the movie worked.” Plus Travolta can dance and Madsen – who did a dance scene in Reservoir Dogs – can’t, at least in his own opinion. “They would have had to change the script into that they don’t win the dance contest.”

How do you follow up a masterpiece like Pulp? You don’t. Just make a very good genre film instead starring Pam Grier, queen of the blaxploitation movies Quentin went to see during his childhood. Jackie Brown is a beautiful film about people trying to figure out what to do with their lives. Then he made another genre film with a strong female lead, a mash-up between Hong Kong cinema and a spaghetti western. Kill Bill is an astonishing accomplishment. Bit of trivia: The razor the Bride uses to escape from the coffin in Vol. 2 is the same used by Mr. Blonde in the torture scene in Dogs. Everything is related in the Tarantino universe.

Then he went on to make another feministic movie with powerful girls in it. Death Proof is a clever slasher flick / carploitation movie shot by the maestro himself. With an unforgettable Kurt Russell as Stuntman Mike. After that came his war movie effort. Inglourious Basterds is unlike any war film ever done before. It is storytelling at his best. Django Unchained is another historic film and it’s brutal. It might just be a little too funny for a film about slavery. But Tarantino likes to hand out justice to his characters. Hitler gets machine gunned to death in Basterds and in Django, the black hero – after having killed a ton of slavers – rides off into the sunset with his girl, an image you won’t find in many westerns.

The Hateful Eight, the final movie treated in this doc, is in a way Reservoir Dogs redone as western. Everything comes full circle. Even Weinstein’s story. Apparently John ‘The Hangman’ Ruth (played by Kurt Russell) is based on the monstrous Weinstein. He gets a big fat lesson in the film. Tarantino said many times that he wants to quit at ten movies, because otherwise he fears the quality will go down and people will say: ‘This one is not so good, but this guy used to make great movies’. Let’s hope he will break his word and continue to make movies forever. His style and voice are unique and irreplaceable in Hollywood. Whatever happens, currently nine films are in the can. And I will certainly keep enjoying his work till the end of my days and share it with friends. When you absolutely, positively, want to blow away everybody motherfucker in the room, accept no substitutes.