“HW, did you ever hear the philosophy that once a man admits that he’s wrong that he is immediately forgiven for all wrongdoings?”

Oral history articles are like my crack, and I’ve seen Pulp Fiction about a billion times, so Vanity Fair’s new oral history of Pulp Fiction was of obvious interest. Casting is a particularly tricky part of development, and it’s always fun to play the “what if” game (Nick Nolte as Han Solo?!? Nic Cage as Superman?!?). Some Pulp Fiction what-ifs and almost-weres include Daniel Day-Lewis as Vincent Vega, Paul Calderon as Jules Winfield, and Matt Dillon as Butch.

Harvey Weinstein was dead-set against giving the role of Vincent Vega to John Travolta. “John Travolta was at that time as cold as they get,” says Mike Simpson, Tarantino’s agent at William Morris Endeavor. “He was less than zero.” Simpson had given Weinstein a “term sheet” of Taran­tino’s demands, which included final cut, a two-and-a-half-hour running time, and final choice of actors. “One of the actors I had on the list was John Travolta,” says Tarantino. “And it came back: ‘The entire list is approved . . . except for John Travolta.’ So I got together with Harvey, and he’s like, ‘I can get Daniel Day-Lewis, Sean Penn, William Hurt.’” By then, according to Simpson, “Daniel Day-Lewis and Bruce Willis, who was the biggest star in Hollywood, had both gotten their hands on the script and wanted to play Vincent Vega.”

John Travolta was washed up before Pulp Fiction, he was amazing in Pulp Fiction, and he hasn’t really done anything great since. Casting Travolta wasn’t like Christoph Waltz, where Tarantino discovered this amazing actor that no one had seen before. Travolta was around, but no one else thought he had it in him. I don’t know how many times Tarantino had to watch Look Who’s Talking coked out of his face to see that role in Travolta, but it’s one of the all-time serendipitous castings, where persona and role lined up just perfectly. It’s also fun to imagine Daniel Day-Lewis doing Pulp Fiction lines all perfectly enunciated in his Daniel Plainview voice. “Now HW, eating a bitch out and giving a bitch a foot massage ain’t even the same thing!” (I know that’s a Jules line, but I don’t care).

Bruce Willis’s interest in the project relieved Weinstein’s concerns that the movie lacked bankable stars. With the main role of Vincent Vega already cast, the only option for Willis was Butch, the boxer—which Tarantino had promised to Matt Dillon.

Read the rest of this entry »

Maybe it’s sad that an actor being honest should be such huge news, but the Samuel L. Jackson keeping-it-real  tour that started with him challenging a reporter to say “n**ger” instead of “the N-word” has been rolling on, and I can’t get enough of it. More recently, he told one interviewer that Lincoln had a crappy ending, and another that he deserved the Oscar for Pulp Fiction that he lost to Martin Landau (something he’s been saying for a long time, actually, because Sam Jackson doesn’t lie unless you pay him). In fact, if you watch the video of that year’s best supporting Oscar being presented (by a 12-year-old Anna Paquin), which I’ve included after the jump, you can see Sam Jackson say “sh*t” when Martin Landau’s name comes up. The man does not self-censor.

When I asked if he thought he should have won instead Jackson was refreshingly candid. “Yes I do. I really don’t know many people who can not only remember Ed Wood but remember what Martin Landau did in it,” he said but added he was told it was more of a life achievement kind of award. “You know they were saying ‘Martin’s been nominated a few times and you’re going to be around for a while. Don’t worry.’ I was thinking I didn’t know it was a thing where if you get nominated for a few times you automatically get one. I thought it was supposed to be about impact.” [Deadline]

Not that Martin Landau wasn’t great in Ed Wood (which I remember, just barely, and Gary Sinise was pretty damn good in Forrest Gump too), but Jackson is totally correct. Landau had been nominted in ’87 and ’89 without winning, and there are many cases of actors (especially in the best supporting actor category) who may not have turned in the best performance that year, but whom the academy rewards for being an older dude who’s always pretty good (anyone remember James Coburn in Affliction?). Rule goes double if the person dies before the ceremony.

Meanwhile, Jackson saved some haterade (is that racist?) for this year’s other slavery movie, the one with all the white people, Lincoln. (Spoilers follow, especially if you’re a moron).

Read the rest of this entry »

Do you find strip clubs lacking in culture?  Are readings too literary?  Big fan of on-the-nose titles?  Well an event called “Naked Girls Reading Pulp Fiction” might be just the thing for you.

Not quite sure if this sounds incredibly funny or incredibly stupid but what we have here is exactly what it sounds like.Young women taking off their clothes and reading before a live audience. The women — Scarlett Letter, Angelita Purrvertina, Miss Josie Bunnie, and La Fille Damnee — normally work as burlesque dancers. This time around they’ll be reading from detective stories, men’s magazines, trashy novels and sleazy sex paperbacks. And for kicks, there is a free wine reception after the show. It’s still a pretty win-win situation. [LAWeekly - though the post is gone now]

Ha, “Angelita Purrvertina.”  Sounds like a case of Isabella Tryingtooharderella there.  Naked women reading though, huh?  Well la di dah, Princess Smartypants, are you going to keep your pinkie out during the handjob too?  Whatever, I’m still wearing sweatpants.  Anyway, I haven’t seen any reviews of the event yet, so if you’ve got an eye witness report, I’d love to hear it.  Something tells me Eric Stoltz’ famous “you mean the one with all the sh*t in her face?” line could apply to most of the actresses in this case.  And the audience.

This is a song created using only sound effects from Pulp Fiction, accompanied by video showing where each sound effect came from, all synched up and split screened so you can watch it in real time.  I have no technical expertise or attention span, so it goes without saying that I could never create something like this.  What I can do is share it with you, and helicopter my wiener to the beat while holding my cat over my head.  I don’t like to brag, but it impresses the sh-t out of the neighbors.

[video via urlesque, picture via TheOatmeal

(“What has two index fingers and sucks at driving?”)

Roger Avary, who won an Oscar for co-writing Pulp Fiction and also directed Rules of Attraction, was sentenced to a year in jail plus five years probation, for DUI and vehicular manslaughter, for causing a fatal accident in January 2008.  There are lots of fors in that sentence.

Avary pleaded guilty in August to gross vehicular manslaughter and drunken driving for the 2008 crash that killed a passenger in Avary’s Mercedes in Ventura County. Authorities say Avary’s car was traveling at more than 100 mph when it crashed into a telephone pole.  Avary’s wife was ejected from the vehicle and was treated for non-life-threatening injuries. [Variety]

I’d love to feel sorry for him, but… 100 miles per hour?  Don’t you idiots know you’re supposed to be extra cautious when you drive hammered?  Christ, it’s like none of these GD hippies teach their kids how to drunk drive anymore.