From Dusk Till Dawn by Quentin Tarantino and Robert Kurtzman

 

(pb; 1995: screenplay)

From the back cover

“You’d better hope you don’t cross paths with the infamous Gecko brothers—Richie and Seth. They’re fond of banks—robbing them, that is. They’re tough. In From Dusk Till Dawn, we follow them as they tear a path through the heartland of America on their way to the border. It is there, near El Paso, that they will meet up with their Mexican partners-in-crime to divvy up the loot they’ve acquired.

“Along the way, though, an innocent family will enter their lives—an ex-Baptist preacher, his teenage son, and sexy daughter. We watch as Richie and Seth enlist the family’s help in getting them safely across the border in the family’s Winnebago. When they arrive at their dreamed-about world south of the border, they are met with a terrifying twist.”

 

Review

Tarantino and Kurtzman’s down-and-dirty exploitation screenplay hits all its marks while creating a multi-subgenre stew that incorporates Blaxploitation, Mexploitation, vampires, 1970s road movies, sexploitation, and a lot of other -ploitations. Its well-sketched, sometimes -fleshed characters spout snappy dialogue, as rapid-fire as their wild what-the-hell situations and resulting, improvised re/actions. This is a landmark screenplay (and later, film) that truly felt down and dirty, nostalgic, yet distinctly 1990s direct-to-video sleazy and unique in its elements. Great read and great film, one worth reading, it you like sleazy genre works and swift, twisty action and characters.

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The resulting film was released stateside on January 19, 1996. Robert Rodriguez directed it, with a lot of notable—most of them great—players.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood by Quentin Tarantino

 

(pb; 2021: movie tie-in)

From the first inside page

“RICK DALTON—Once he had his own TV series, but now Rick’s a washed-up villain-of-the-week drowning his sorrows in whiskey sours. Will a phone call from Rome save his fate or seal it?

“CLIFF BOOTH—Rick’s stunt double, and the most infamous man on any movie set because he’s the only one there who might have gotten away with murder.

“SHARON TATE—She left Texas to chase a movie-star dream and found it. Sharon’s salad days are now spent on Cielo Drive, high in the Hollywood Hills.

“CHARLES MANSON—The ex-con’s got a bunch of zonked-out hippies thinking he’s their spiritual leader, but he’d trade it all to be a rock ‘n’ roll star.

“HOLLYWOOD 1969—YOU SHOULDA BEEN THERE.”

 

Review

More an expansive, structural rework companion piece to Tarantino’s 2019 character-centric, plot-rambling and world-building film, Once is best read as a screenplay without a script structure. (When I write “rework” I mean it—e.g., the film’s climactic finish is lacking in the book, mentioned in almost-conversational passing early on. And when I write expansive, that’s equally true of Once, especially when Tarantino details Cliff Booth’s immediate post-WWII years (considering becoming a “man of leisure” in Paris; the details of his stateside homicides, once in Cleveland, the other his wife’s on-boat demise). As with the film, there’s a lot of sly mixing of real-life history and often-wistful, sometimes meta-humored, wish-it-happened Hollywood fantasy.

Mostly, Once works as an alternate-version, well-written book, though Tarantino, true to form, sometimes lets his love of cinema, his characters, and world-building run long (e.g., chapters where he details the plots and characters of his fictional television shows as well as the passages detailing the foreign films that Cliff likes and dislikes).

Once is an impressive, sometimes exasperating (excessive detailing of films and shows) read, one worth checking out, perhaps owning, if you’re looking for something more than the usual, rigid-to-the-film movie tie-in book, and/or a Tarantino fan.

From Dusk Till Dawn: A Screenplay by Quentin Tarantino

(pb; 1995: screenplay)

From the back cover

“You’d better hope you don’t cross paths with the infamous Gecko brothers─Richie and Seth. They’re fond of banks─robbing them, that is. They’re tough. Cool. Notorious. In From Dusk Till Dawn, we follow them as they tear a path through the heartland of America on their way to the borner. It is there, near El Paso, that they will meet up with their Mexican partners-in-crime to divvy up the loot they’ve acquired.

“Along the way, though, an innocent family will enter their lives─an ex-Baptist preacher, his teenage son, and sexy daughter. We watch as Richie and Seth enlist the family’s help in getting them safely across the border in the family’s Winnebago. When they arrive at their dreamed-about world south of the border, they are met with a terrifying twist.”

Review

Cutting to the point─there is not a lot to say about this fast-moving, character-intense heist/vampire screenplay and film, aside from: if you are a fan of Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, or just like the 1996 film that resulted from this screenplay, chances are you’ll enjoy reading it. If you’re not, you probably won’t. Tarantino keeps the writing lean ‘n’ mean, with no lag in action, sleaziness and sketched-out character development, creating a screenplay/film that is a modern milestone in the vampire flick genre, one that brings to mind the trashy, Americanized thrills of a 1960s/1970s Hammer film. Worth reading and owning, this, if you appreciate Tarantino and Rodriguez’s work, or the film in general.

Toxicity, by Max Booth III

(pb; 2014)


From the back cover:

"When Maddox Kane is released from prison after serving a ten year stretch, he has one thing on his mind: reconnecting with his daughter.

"Problem is, his ex-wife and her new junkie husband have other plans, and it's going to cost Maddox a small fortune to buy his share of custody.  His daughter, on the other hand, has other priorities to attend to - such as coming up with enough cash to skip town before the cops find a certain body decomposing in the woods."


Review:

Toxicity is an addictive, tightly penned Quentin-Tarantino-film-crossed-with-chemical-eff'd-upness read: violent, quirky, darkly hilarious, icky and character-driven, a work that is often terrible in its scenarios and simultaneously hilarious, with a few characters who - despite their failings and shadiness - are worth rooting for. 

This is a great novel, if you're not easily squicked out - one worth owning.

Rum Punch by Elmore Leonard

(hb; 1992: sequel to The Switch)


From the inside flap:

"Jackie Burke's future looks grim.  She's been a flight attendant for twenty years and she's down to working for an island-hopping airline the day she lands at Palm Beach International with fifty grand and is taken into custody.  The Feds know Jackie works for a man who sells machine guns to bad guys, but they don't know his name.  Jackie looks at her options.  She can tell what she knows about Robbie Ordell, the gun dealer, and get off - except that if Ordell suspects you're talking about him, you're dead.  Or she can keep her mouth shut and do five years.  Then she meets Max Cherry - late fifties, recently separated, and just starting to think that maybe there's more to life than being a bail bondsman - and sees she has more option than she thought. . ."


Review:

Thirteen years after the events of The Switch, Ordell, Louis and Melanie are still doing their crime thing, though this time they aren't the only game in town.  As he did in that previous novel, Leonard uses his trademark waste-no-words plotting, character-based twists, and slick dialogue and action to create a sequel that furthers its source novel's excellence.  Worth owning, this.

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The resulting film, Jackie Brown, was released stateside on December 25, 1997.  Quentin Tarantino scripted and directed it. 

Pam Grier played Jackie Brown (cinematic stand-in for Jackie Burke).  Samuel L. Jackson played Ordell Robbie.  Robert Forster played Max Cherry.  Robert DeNiro played Louis Gara.  Bridget Fonda played Melanie Ralston.  Michael Keaton played Ray Nicolette (a role he reprised in the 1998 film Out of Sight).

Tommy "Tiny" Lister (billed as Tim "Tiny" Lister) played Winston.  Chris Tucker played Beaumont Livingston.  LisaGay Hamilton played Sheronda.  Sid Haig played a "Judge".  An uncredited Denise Crosby played a "Public Defender".  An uncredited Quentin Tarantino provided an "Answering Machine Voice".

Tough Sh*t: Life Advice from a Fat, Lazy Slob Who Did Good, by Kevin Smith

(hb; 2012: nonfiction)

From the inside flap:

"Kevin Smith is full of sh*t.

"That Kevin Smith. The guy who did Clerks a million years ago? Didn't they bounce his fat ass off a plane once? What could you possibly learn from the director of Cop Out? How about this: He changed filmmaking forever when he was twenty-three, and since then he's done whatever the hell he wants. He makes movies, writes comics, owns a store, and now he's built a podcasting empire with his friends and family, including a wife who's way out of his league. So here's some tough sh*t: Kevin Smith has cracked the code. Or he's just cracked.

"Tough Sh*t is the dirty business that Kevin has been digesting for forty-one years, and now he's ready to put it in your hands. . . Kev takes you through some big moments in his life to help you live your days in as Gretzky a fashion as you can - going where your puck is gonna be. Read all about how a zero like Smith managed to make ten movies with no discernible talent and how when he had everything he though he'd ever want he decided to blow up his own career. Alog the way he shares stories about folks who inspired him (like George Carlin), folks who befuddled him (like Bruce Willis), and folks who let him jerk off onto their legs (like his beloved wife). . ."


Review:

Potty mouthed, funny, smart, self-deprecating (in a healthy, charming way), no-nonsense and often inspiring (for those like myself, who are geeky, creative and average-looking), this is an excellent, earthy read.

His life- and filmmaking-based lessons and observations are spot-on, and, as I mentioned before, often inspiring. And his stories about those who have inspired awe and respect in him - George Carlin, Quentin Tarantino, Michael Parks and Tracy Morgan - are also interesting, as is his chapter about working with Bruce Willis, whose job description is movie star, but who, on the film set of Cop Out, acted like a film director as well: a less than flattering but respectful and honest recounting.

"Tough Sh*t is worth owning, if you're a Kevin Smith (check), and buy film/pop culture books (I generally don't).

Out of Sight by Elmore Leonard

(hb; 1996)

From the inside flap:

"Deputy U.S. marshal Karen Sisco is just stopping off to serve a summons and complaint on Florida's Glade Prison. She's all decked out in her black Chanel suit and heels but ready with her pump-action shotgun when the breakout begins, minutes after she pulls into the prison parking lot. But she's not ready for Jack Foley, the celebrity con who disarms her, invites her to climb into the trunk of her own car, and then joins her as his pal Buddy guns the blue Caprice onto the highway, heading for freedom. Squeezed into a trunk littered with handcuffs and tactical gear, the escapee bank robber is a perfect gentleman who shares her passion for movies and wonders if it would be different if they'd met in a bar.

"Only this time she's part of the federal task force hunting the escapees. This time she's sitting in the bar of the Detroit Westin, nursing a sour mash and watching a blizzard outside. This time Foley finds her. First come cocktails and conversation, Then Time Out. In Karen's suite, 'You like taking risks,' she says 'So do I.'

"Next morning Foley's gone and Karen's out to get him. She cruises Detroit's mean streets and boxing hangouts looking for Foley, Buddy and a hard case named Maurice, one step behind them as they plot the biggest heist of their careers - and a double cross that will leave only one man holding the goods. . ."


Review:

Out of Sight features Leonard's trademark character-based quirkiness and wit, waste-no-words plotting, and slick dialogue and action, this time flavored with a curiously cinematic, warm and romantic tone.

Worth owning, this.

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The resulting film was released stateside on June 26, 1998. Steven Soderbergh directed it. Scott Frank wrote the screenplay.

George Clooney played Jack Foley. Jennifer Lopez played Karen Sisco. Ving Rhames played Buddy Bragg. Don Cheadle played Maurice Miller. Steve Zahn played Glenn Michaels.

Dennis Farina played Marshall Sisco. Catherine Keener played Adele. Albert Brooks played Richard Ripley. Luis Guzmán played Chino. Isaiah Washington played Kenneth. Paul Calderon played Raymond Cruz. Nancy Allen played Midge.

An uncredited Samuel L. Jackson played Heijira Henry. An uncredited Michael Keaton played Ray Nicolette: this was the second time he played this character; the first time he played this character was in Quentin Tarantino's 1997 film Jackie Brown (which is based on Elmore Leonard's novel Rum Punch).

Quentin Tarantino: The Man, The Myths and His Movies, by Wensley Clarkson

(hb; 2007: biography)

From the inside flap:

"Quentin Tarantino is the most exciting and fascinating film director of recent years. Since he exploded on the screen with the release of Resevoir Dogs, he is one of the few film movie makers to combine critical success and box office clout. With more than a hundred interviews with colleagues, close friends and family, author Wensley Clarkson explores the enigmatic cinematic legend in depth.

"Born in 1963, Tarantino was a film buff from an early age and determined to join the industry, he studied, wrote scripts and polished his already geeky vast knowledge of all things cinematic by working in a video store. True Romance's screenplay was sold early on, but it was the dazzling Resevoir Dogs that was to be his debut and a movie which stunned the world. The hits kept coming with Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown and Kill Bill."

Review:

Solid, engaging, needs-to-be-updated biography - there's not a lot that's new here for Tarantino fans who have followed his press, but it's a good read, with occasional, interesting tidbits (e.g., Christopher Walken, not Michael Madsen, was Tarantino's first choice for Mr. Blonde, the ear-slicing cop-hater in Resevoir Dogs).

Worth checking out from the library, if you're looking for something light and entertaining to read.

Foxy: My Life in Three Acts, by Pam Grier (with Andrea Cagan)

(hb; 2010: autobiography)

From the inside flap:

"Some may know her as hot, gutsy, gun-totin' Foxy Brown, Friday Foster, Coffy and Jackie Brown. Others may know her from her role as Kit Porter on The L Word. But that only defines one part of the legend that is Pam Grier.

"Foxy is Pam's testimony of her life, past and present. In it, she reveals her relationships with Richard Pryor, Kareem Abdul-Jabaar, and Freddie Prinze, Sr., among others. She unveils her experiences as backup singer and a blaxploitation star. In particularly candid and shocking chapters, she shares - for the first time - her view of those films and the persecution of the blacks, especially women, needed to endure to make a name for themselves. . . including how it felt to be labeled one of the most beautiful women alive, yet not be permitted to try on clothes in a department store because of the color of her skin. . . she [also] tells the story of her ongoing battle with cancer.

"From her disappointments to her triumphs, nothing is held back. . ."

Review:

Solid autobiography of a level-headed, upbeat woman who's seen a lot of life, good and bad. Inspirational (without getting Lifetime Movie of the Week about it), meaningful and deftly written.

Check it out.