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New York's "Vulture" page has gotten a copy and reviewed it. Ain't It Cool's Harry Knowles has also read and semi-reviewed. An intern working for a mid-sized distributor wrote yesterday and told me he has a copy. A guy who works at John and Pete's liquor store on La Cienega was reading a copy last night between customers. My mother called me last night from Connecticut with her reactions.
I'm apparently the only movie hound in the civilized world who hasn't read Quentin Tarantino's 165-page script of Inglourious Basterds, which, according to a cover-page photo provided by the Vulture guys, is how Quentin spells it.
They're reporting, in fact, that the misspelling of bastards "continues through the screenplay," which suggests that QT "was writing really, really fast." They're being cute -- I tend to be blunt. Isn't "basterds" the spelling equivalent of "rite" (as in write), "resterrant" (as in restaurant) and "simputhetik" (as in sympathetic)?
One of three possibilities: (a) Tarantino is a borderline illiterate, (b) He's having everyone off by pretending to be a retard, or perhaps pretending to be one of the retard soldiers in the piece, or (c) the Vulture guys are having us off. My money is on (a) but you never know.
The script is "definitely the ur-text of Quentin Tarantino's career up to now," Vulture proclaims. "It combines his love of old movies (war movies, Westerns, and even prewar German cinema), his attraction to powerful female protagonists, his love of chatter, and his willingness to embrace the extreme -- visually and in his storytelling. (The flashbacks have particularly Tarantino-esque flourishes; a thought bubble pops out of a character's head to introduce one while another is shot spaghetti-Western style.)
"All in all, it reads like Kill Bill meets The Dirty Dozen meets Cinema Paradiso."
McWeeny, on the other hand, says it's "The Guns of Navarone meets Malena meets Cinema Paradiso along with a ton of just stuff we don't have references for. It does celebrate the possibilities within a cinematic universe and in many ways -- it's not a gigantic movie in anyway other than ambition.
"Much of the film takes place in Nazi-occupied Paris -- and I couldn't help it as I read the script, but to imagine actors like Gregory Peck, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, etc in these roles as opposed to a modern cast. That said and God willing, some brilliant studio will see that this isn't a recreation of history, slavishly playing to graven memory of war, but a film. A work of pure imagination unleashed upon the cinematic setting of World War II."
It's presumed that Brad Pitt's character, if and when he signs to star in Basterds, will play a Tennesse redneck with a neck scar called Lieutenant Aldo Raine -- obviously an allusion to '50s B movie star Aldo Ray and his performances in Eisenhower-era war films like The Naked and the Dead, Men in War, Three Stripes in the Sun and Battle Cry.
All I know is that three script sources who've come through for me in the past have let me down. It hurts. It feels badly. Well, maybe later today.
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on July 10, 2008 at 9:18 AM
comment #1
bluelouboyle
says ...
Sounds like fun. It's pretty obviuos Tarantino misspelt Basterds on purpose, as a joke.
NB - Harry Knowles reviewed the script, not McWeeny.
Posted by bluelouboyle
at July 10, 2008 9:54 AM
comment #2
mutinyco
says ...
Sit down, Waldo!
Posted by mutinyco
at July 10, 2008 9:56 AM
comment #3
LDKA0186
says ...
"It feels badly."
"Badly" is an adverb. That implies that the mechanism that allows you to feel isn't working well. "Bad" should treat you better.
Posted by LDKA0186
at July 10, 2008 10:02 AM
comment #4
Bob Violence
says ...
The stuff in the NY Mag piece reads like a brilliant Tarantino parody. A section "filmed in French New Wave Black and White", the flashback that's "shot spaghetti Western style", the auditorium that "resembles something out of one of Tinto Brass's Italian B-movie rip-off's of Visconti's 'The Damned'." When you do get the script, Wells, I hope you go through and count how many films and directors are mentioned by name.
I can't believe it took a decade of on-and-off work to craft a screenplay with a character called "The Jew Hunter".
Posted by Bob Violence
at July 10, 2008 10:03 AM
comment #5
nemo
says ...
Jane Hamsher, Don Murphy's producing partner on Natural Born Killers, wrote a book that apparently caused Tarantino to take that slap at Murphy (I guess Hamsher wasn't available for Tarantino to slap). She portrayed Tarantino as obnoxious, duplicitous, and arrogant. He made crude passes at women, and worst of all, he couldn't spell worth shit.
Posted by nemo
at July 10, 2008 10:15 AM
comment #6
bents75
says ...
It's not just "basterds" - he also spelled inglorious wrong on the cover (i.e. inglourious ?).
He can't possibly be that illiterate.
Posted by bents75
at July 10, 2008 10:24 AM
comment #7
Mr. Blood Vessel
says ...
I read a bio on the guy and it basically said that he just didn't care much for spelling.
Posted by Mr. Blood Vessel
at July 10, 2008 10:47 AM
comment #8
The Bandsaw Vigilante
says ...
Insert requisite THE YOUNG ONES comment here...
Posted by The Bandsaw Vigilante
at July 10, 2008 10:49 AM
comment #9
p.Vice
says ...
Anyone who's read Killer Instinct knows that Tarantino is indeed illiterate via the love note he passed to the author.
And anything that even remotely bears comparison to Malena is immediate cause for major concern.
Posted by p.Vice
at July 10, 2008 10:51 AM
comment #10
ZayTonday
says ...
LDKA: Good catch lol, one of my favorite parts of KKBB
Posted by ZayTonday
at July 10, 2008 10:57 AM
comment #11
otakuhouse
says ...
why would brad pitt be playing a southerner who has a neck scar from a lynching? anyone? i mean, think about it...
Posted by otakuhouse
at July 10, 2008 11:03 AM
comment #12
JapAdapters
says ...
Many a professional writer cannot spell worth a damn. That's what editors are for.
Pssst, QT, pay someone to check your shit before you hand it in. What? Oh, right, you could shit on a plate and people would line up to read your stool. Nevermind.
Posted by JapAdapters
at July 10, 2008 11:04 AM
comment #13
corey3rd
says ...
You don't need an editor. A spellchecker will work on those simple words.
The first thing to go when you're smoking a lot of pot is your spelling.
Posted by corey3rd
at July 10, 2008 11:16 AM
comment #14
DavidF
says ...
A man submits a script on July 2 and it's in the hands of every columnist (save Wells) by July 10? As Clay Davis would say, "Sheeeeeeee-it."
I'm sure it's a purposeful misspelling. The man might write fast and he might be borderline illiterate but I'm sure he's seen the poster and/or movie for the original.
The scalps extract makes me think it's The Dirty Dozen mixed with Blood Meridian. Sounds like fun!
Posted by DavidF
at July 10, 2008 11:22 AM
comment #15
DavidF
says ...
p.s. The Knowles review says the squad is all-Jewish which means this film could displace Munich as the main reason Jewish improv comics are getting laid.
It also explains how Brad Pitt's character could have been lynched, thought not why a Jew looks like Brad Pitt and has a name like Aldo Raine...
Posted by DavidF
at July 10, 2008 11:27 AM
comment #16
T. S. Idiot
says ...
"the heads of one hundred dead Nazi's."
He's illiterate.
Posted by T. S. Idiot
at July 10, 2008 11:35 AM
comment #17
roman
says ...
If JapAdapters' handle is an ode to Mean Streets, then I say well done, sir.
But in every Tarantino bio or book where he's essential like 'Down And Dirty Pictures', 'Rebels On The Backlot', 'Sundance Kids', etc., the subject of his god awful spelling and constant flirtation with illiteracy seems to comes up.
Posted by roman
at July 10, 2008 11:37 AM
comment #18
Jay T.
says ...
"the heads of one hundred dead Nazi's." - is character dialogue! that doesn't mean a damn thing.
Posted by Jay T.
at July 10, 2008 11:41 AM
comment #19
Jay T.
says ...
And yes, I realize the apostrophe is incorrect, but that's an easy mistake while writing quickly.
Posted by Jay T.
at July 10, 2008 11:43 AM
comment #20
MilkMan
says ...
It's a goof, people. A fake. Good lord.
And I think QT bitch-slapped Don Murphy because, well, Don Murphy is a bitch.
Posted by MilkMan
at July 10, 2008 11:57 AM
comment #21
DavidF
says ...
I always get antsy when a QT thread goes this long without DZ showing up.
Surely he'll be here soon to tell us that some Hong Kong director made a movie in which "bastards" was constantly misspelled in the subtitles making this yet another QT rape of Asian culture.
He will then predict the movie makes $21 million at the box office.
Posted by DavidF
at July 10, 2008 12:15 PM
comment #22
Jimmycrackcorn
says ...
I've read QT scripts before and can assure you he is that illiterate... though, when it's on the title page, you can assume it's deliberate. It takes some balls to turn your inadequacies into points of pride.
Posted by Jimmycrackcorn
at July 10, 2008 12:31 PM
comment #23
Mgmax
says ...
A guy is illiterate who spells badly but knows enough to reference the premiere of Kolberg? That's not what I call illiteracy.
Posted by Mgmax
at July 10, 2008 12:34 PM
comment #24
Zimmergirl
says ...
But Jeff, what did your mother think of it?
At any rate, it sounds Dr. Strangelove-seque.
Posted by Zimmergirl
at July 10, 2008 12:45 PM
comment #25
Legowombat
says ...
Ah, Tarantino - where every character has the exact same speaking voice.
Judging by this horrible excerpt, we're getting 'Don't Go Near The Park' Aldo Ray, not 'The Naked And The Dead' Aldo Ray.
Posted by Legowombat
at July 10, 2008 12:57 PM
comment #26
Don Murphy
says ...
MilkMan
Eat shit, swallo, then die.
Thanks!
Posted by Don Murphy
at July 10, 2008 12:59 PM
comment #27
SmilingPolitely
says ...
Well, Tarantino did drop out of high school at 15...
Posted by SmilingPolitely
at July 10, 2008 1:11 PM
comment #28
D.Z.
says ...
"One of three possibilities: (a) Tarantino is a borderline illiterate, (b) He's having everyone off by pretending to be a retard, or perhaps pretending to be one of the retard soldiers in the piece, or (c) the Vulture guys are having us off. My money is on (a) but you never know."
Well, he did drop out of high school...
David: "Surely he'll be here soon to tell us that some Hong Kong director made a movie in which "bastards" was constantly misspelled in the subtitles making this yet another QT rape of Asian culture."
No, even the subs used in HK film from Chinese speakers with limited English show more education than the kind of "English" thrown around by a native like QT.
Posted by D.Z.
at July 10, 2008 1:12 PM
comment #29
MilkMan
says ...
No problem, Don Murphy. But it looks like you swallowed the W in swallo, so let me know when you crap it out and I'll put on my bib.
Posted by MilkMan
at July 10, 2008 1:14 PM
comment #30
D.Z.
says ...
Damn, Politely beat me to it.
Posted by D.Z.
at July 10, 2008 1:14 PM
comment #31
Mjs
says ...
Don Murphy
Are you going to tell Jeff that Milkman has been rude to you? I mean, that is your M.O.
Posted by Mjs
at July 10, 2008 1:16 PM
comment #32
Ogami Itto
says ...
why would brad pitt be playing a southerner who has a neck scar from a lynching? anyone? i mean, think about it...
Maybe he'll undergo the controversial procedure that Robert Downey, Jr. underwent to play the African-American Sergeant in Tropic Thunder?
Posted by Ogami Itto
at July 10, 2008 1:33 PM
comment #33
Count Thread
says ...
"I'm apparently the only movie hound in the civilized world who hasn't read Quentin Tarantino's 165-page script of Inglourious Basterds."
Tough town.
Posted by Count Thread
at July 10, 2008 1:35 PM
comment #34
Joshua Mooney
says ...
They say Hemingway wasn't much of a speller either. I love the continuing urban legand of Quentin as a high-school drop out. John Schlesinger put him through Bennington, class of Bret Easton Ellis.
Posted by Joshua Mooney
at July 10, 2008 2:25 PM
comment #35
corey3rd
says ...
This is not nearly as good as "The Killer Sloth" script.
What's the "filmed in black and white like French New Wave" mean? Henri Decaë orRaoul Coutard?
Posted by corey3rd
at July 10, 2008 2:30 PM
comment #36
Don Murphy
says ...
MJS
No- I asked you to prove something that you said or you would no longer matter ever again. You proved nothing except that you are worth your weight in lint.
Posted by Don Murphy
at July 10, 2008 2:41 PM
comment #37
Mjs
says ...
" I asked you to prove something that you said or you would no longer matter ever again. You proved nothing except that you are worth your weight in lint."
Man, you really are fucked in the head. That's not what happened, not at all. You threatened to tell on me, much the same as a six year old would.
And I don't know about everybody else, but I don't think Don fucking Murphy has any say in who matters and who doesn't. Murphy himself is a massive douche, with delusions of importance.
I now declare you insignificant.
Posted by Mjs
at July 10, 2008 3:11 PM
comment #38
movieirv
says ...
Come on guys! Wouldn;t that be flaunting it--guy turns ina screenplay filled with spelling and grammatical errors and still has everyone in Hollywood begiing for it, offering him milliions. no doubt that's what's going on here.
Posted by movieirv
at July 10, 2008 3:14 PM
comment #39
Don Murphy
says ...
Mjs
But I do. See Don Murphy is a real person with a real career in the motion picture industry.
Mjs is just a screen name who speaks but cannot PROVE a damn thing he says. He is useless, unloved and idiotic. It is not a real name because he is not a real person.
I didn't threaten to tell on you, puss in boots I said I would have Jeff remove you. POOF. Like the non-entity you are.
But it is much more fun to read your posts and laugh at your rants which amount to a gerbil screaming for water.
PROVE what you said. MAN UP. Grow a sac.
Can you?
Posted by Don Murphy
at July 10, 2008 3:16 PM
comment #40
Ogami Itto
says ...
Since Don Murphy has had dealings with Tarantino maybe he could put an end to the speculation and tell us whether or not QT really is a functional illiterate?
Posted by Ogami Itto
at July 10, 2008 10:26 PM
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