Corrections to the Pocket Essentials book
A kindly reader named Per-Ingvar Tomren,
responding to my invitation to report errors, went through my Pocket Essentials
book on Tarantino and came up with a list of numerous corrections, which I
reprint here.
My Best Friend's Birthday
1. You wrote that there was "even a cocaine overdose." But Clarence Pool ( Tarantino ) snorts itching-powder which he believes is coke ( not the real deal ).
2. Louise, a.k.a. Misty ( Shaw ) is a call girl - not a "hooker" ( I only mention this because Tarantino makes a big deal out of it both in True Romance and this film).
Past Midnight
1. You wrote "The title means nothing in the context of the movie." Well, it don't mean much, that's true - but "past midnight" is the time Ben Jordan ( Hauer ) is placed at the scene of the crime, leaving a gap between the time when the neighbor heard the scream of Kathy Tudor ( when she was killed ) at 11.30 PM and when she saw Jordan leave past midnight. This is the first clue that set's Laura Mathews ( Richardson ) of on her own investigation.
2. You wrote that Ben Jordan was convicted of killing his wife and unborn child "some 17 years earlier". Kathy Tudor ( Eskelson ) and her baby were killed August 4th, 1975 - making it "some 17 years earlier" when the movie was released in 1992, but in the film they say it was 15 years earlier ( probably because they never updated Frank Norwood's original script ).
PS. On a personal note: I thought Clancy Brown as Steve Lundy was the most enjoyable character in the whole piece, and that he work well within this movie - but that's just a matter of taste).
Reservoir Dogs
Well, I didn't really find anything wrong here ( so I'm pretty sure you are correct, because this is the Tarantino film I've seen the most times ) - except I believe Dimmick is spelled with two "m"s instead of one. Also, I've never heard a "Jack Rabbit Slim's" - commercial during the torture-scene, but maybe it's there anyway.
PS. The Japanese 2-disc Special Edition has a nice transfer and good sound ( I was also disappointed with the sound on the 10th Anniversary Edition released in the states )
True Romance
1. You wrote: "Blitzer, arrested on a separate charge" - actually, he was arrested for possession of the sample bag of cocaine that he's bringing Donowitz ( so it's not really separate ).
2. I don't think that Clarence's comment: "Now we return to Bullitt already in progress - is meant to imply that it's a TV-show, only that the film is shown on TV.
3. You wrote: "makes references to Miami" - the only place in Florida I heard referenced was Tallahassee.
4. "The Sicilian story comes from a man named Don, now dead, who was the brother of one of his mother's boyfriends" - Actually Don was the brother of a woman, named Jackie Watts - who was Connie Zastoupil's best friend ( You mention her later in the chapter about Jackie Brown).
5. "According to his audio track on the DVD, Don told Tarantino that he was glad the truth finally came out in that picture" - Tarantino heard that from his mother. He was not present when Don said that ( which was when Don, Jackie and Connie watched True Romance on video - according the audio track on the DVD).
Natural Born Killers
1. Denis Leary and Rachel Ticotin do not appear in the director's cut, but they are both to found in deleted scenes on the special features.
2. "The couple have a brief falling out over a hostage, after which the Knoxes seek redemption in the desert through the services of an Indian shaman" - They end up in the desert trying to avoid a cop. Then they end up at the Indian shaman's place seeking gasoline, not redemption - but redemption is kind of what they end up with, because the accident of killing the shaman after the hospitality he has shown will forever change them ( and take the "fun" out of killing people).
3. "Wayne Gale enters the prison with his crew to tape one last interview, to be aired during half-time Super Bowl Sunday" - They are airing it LIVE after the game, not during half-time.
4. "Mickey turns the tables on his executioners and rescues Mallory just as she is about to be raped by Scagnetti" - Scagnetti ( Sizemore ) thinks he can get Mallory to have sex with him voluntarily, but just as they are deep into foreplay she turns on him ( and breaks his nose, both in the film and real life) . By the time Mickey gets there Scagnetti has been saved by two prison guards and is paying Mallory back by spraying mace in her face. I surely thinks rape is out of the question, at least by this time ( seeing there are two law-men in the cell with them ).
5. Just a couple of additional "Foot notes": Mickey ( Harrelson ) sucking the snake poison out of Mallory's ( Lewis ) foot, and there is also that extreme close-up of Juliette Lewis' s foot as she stomps out her cigarette ( when she is visited by Jack Scagnetti in her cell ).
Pulp Fiction
1. "Clarence tells the Richard Donner/Oliver Stone-esque movie producer Lee Donowitz his opinion of Oscar movies" - I would say that Lee Donowitz ( Rubinek ) is more Joel Silver like :-)
( I know this is about True Romance, but it was found in the chapter about Pulp Fiction - so I wrote it here )
2. "A boxer defies a crime boss by not throwing a fight and then ends up trapped with him in the basement of a pawnshop run by two insane Southerners and their chained-up, monstrous relative" - I believe the pawnshop is only run by Maynard ( Whitaker ); Zed ( Greene ) is a cop of some sort.
Also; How do you know they are related? ( Just wondering). [Good question: I don't remember ... would have to watch it again or reread everything I've ever read about the book. DKH]
3. "The two hit men have to clean up the mess from the accidental shooting of a hostage" - Marvin ( LaMarr ) is not a hostage, but their "inside man" ( Just like you wrote later in your text )
4. "The next night ( or perhaps simultaneously the same night ) Butch wins the fight he was supposed to throw" - This is definitely not the same night; Vincent Vega ( Travolta ) meets Mia Wallace ( Thurman ) in the back of the arena, after the fight, where she thanks him for dinner "the other night".
5. "Butch shoots Vincent and then tries to run down Marsellus on the street. That doesn't work" Well, he DOES run him down, he just don't kill him.
6. "Butch drives off on one of the Southerner's motorcycle" - it's not a motorcycle, it's a chopper.
7. "Jules casually shoots the Flock of Seagulls character then shoots Brett. Both Jules and Vincent shoot Bathroom Guy" - Vincent also shoots Brett.
8. "Butch kills the Gimp and Maynard" - I don't think Butch ( Willis ) kills the Gimp ( Hibbert ), he only punches him once. My guess would be that he's just unconscious at this point ( though I'm sure he, just like Zed, will suffer a painful death by the hands of Marsellus).
But I would also mention Zed getting shot in the balls with a shotgun as one of the most "Violent Moments" in the film.
9. "There are no truly different versions" - True, but the Japanese version is slightly different.. ( But not in a good way, I must say the traditional version works better. The cutting and camera-angels used in the Japanese version does not "flow" as nicely )
10. I usually don't try to answer your "Nagging Questions" - although in my mind I feel I have the answer to most of them - because these films are made so that all audience members can bring their own interpretations to the story; but in this case I will make an exception: "Why does Fabienne brush her teeth twice?" - The first time is at night ( after she and Butch had sex ), the second time is the next morning.
11. "And she asks if he has ever fantasized being beaten up by a woman ( by Diana Rigg as Emma Peel is the answer )" - I've read this in the screenplay, but never seen it in any of the deleted scenes on any DVD ( and I own eight different copies ). [I may have only read the dialogue and thought I saw the sequence: I'll check this with a reviewing of the extras. DKH]
12. "Another deleted scene shows Jules fantasizing shooting Pumpkin and Honey Bunny" - same thing; saw it in the script, but not on any DVD or Laserdisc. [Same thing. DKH.]
Four Rooms
1. "Rush is surrounded by a pair of kowtowing yes men, so servile they are willing to risk their digits" - The bet is Norman's ( Calderon ) idea, and he makes it because he really wants Chester's ( Tarantino ) "Nigger red 1964 Chevy Chevelle" ( because he's not too pleased with the white Honda Civic, his sister left him.
2. "It's interesting that Tarantino cast himself as a actor rather than a director, and if you didn't know the nature of the relationship, you might think that Rush is the personal manager and Leo the actor" - Well, it is never really made clear what Rush is in the film. He is just referred to as a "star": which Tarantino most certainly is in real life as well . And since this is a parody of himself ( or the image of him in the media ) , and also by the way he speaks and acts, I've always felt he was a director ( maybe even director/writer/producer/ actor , as in real life).
But I might be wrong about this one.
From Dusk Till Dawn
1. "Barstow, California. Present day. A convenience store" - "Benny's World of Liquor" is located in Big Springs, Texas.
2. "But when Seth's back is turned, the psychotic Richie rapes and kills Gloria" - Seth isn't at the motel at this point
( don't know if the phrase "back is turned" - is just meant as a metaphor, but... ).
3. "When Santanico smells blood from Richie's gunshot wound" - Yes, he was shot in the hand, but that wound is all taped up. It's first when Razor Charlie ( Trejo ) stabs Richie through the hand and he starts to bleed that Santanico ( Hayek ) smells the blood.
3. "She leaps upon the man, biting the wound, killing him, and drinking the blood" - The wound is on his hand, and she bites him in the neck. Yes, she does drink a lot of his blood, and he does die from the wound, but not until a little while later.
4. "not noticing that the Titty Twister was erected near Aztec ruins" The Titty Twister is located in the top of the Aztec temple.
5. "The film anticipates Kill Bill, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 by using Michael Parks ( twice ) and having a setting in Barstow, California" - This film does not use Michael Parks twice, though he does reappear in FDTD 3. And From Dusk Till Dawn does not have a setting in Barstow, California ( but Kill Bill does ) . The only two places in this film are Texas ( Big Springs and El Paso ) and Mexico ( Digallo ). And the only other places mentioned is Rollings, Kansas ( were Seth was serving time and Richie pulled off a daring daylight escape, while Seth was at the courthouse ). A high-speed pursuit through downtown Wichita is also mentioned, and El Ray, Mexico ( the Gecko brothers destination ). But it does anticipate Kill Bill with a setting in El Paso, Texas ( which is where "The Texas Wedding Chapel Massacre" occurs ), and Michael Parks reprises his role as Texas Ranger Earl McGraw ( probably a salute to Ali MacGraw from The Getaway 1972 ).
6. "It should be pointed out that in the American two-disc set the labels are mixed up, so that the movie has the label for the documentary, and vice versa" - on my copy; both discs have the label of the film ( non for Full Tilt Boogie).
7. "Jacob's poignant speech to Kate about faith in the diner; later, Seth's rousing theological argument with him during the siege; and finally, the painful choices that Seth faces when his own brother has turned" - You just got the order mixed up; the first one is correct - but Seth kills Richie, before he has the "rousing theological argument" with Jacob.
Jackie Brown
1. "Fourteen years later he made a movie based on a Leonard novel that featured the same two criminal characters that appeared in that book" - Shouldn't that be three characters; Ordell Robbie, Louis Gara and Melanie Ralston?
2. "When he meets up with Ordell, they are both surprised that there is no money" - Actually; there is $ 40 000.
Kill Bill
1. "A woman awakes from a four year coma to recall that she was shot by Bill, the father of her unborn child, on the day of her marriage to another man" - She was shot during the wedding-rehearsal, not on the day of the marriage.
2. "Bill himself, who it turns out is living in Mexico with the Bride's now five-year-old daughter" - That would be four-year-old daughter, wouldn't it?
3. "Stabs another woman to death in front of her daughter" - The Bride ( Thurman ) didn't stab Vernita Green ( Fox ) to death - she throws the knife.
4. "Chapter 3: The Blood Splattered Bride" - The Blood Splattered Bride is chapter 2 - chapter 3, is; The Origin of O-Ren.
5. "And Bill goes on to "mentor" Elle after The Bride leaves" - He must have started mentoring her before The Bride leaves ( Elle and The Bride worked together ), but Bill didn't get "romantically" involved with Elle ( Hannah ) until Beatrix left.
SIN CITY:
1. "Tarantino worked with Clive Owen, Benicio Del Toro, and Brittany Murphy on the scene" - From what I've understand, Tarantino directed the scene between Clive Owen and Benicio Del Toro in the car, and Brittany Murphy was not in it.
My Best Friend's Birthday
1. You wrote that there was "even a cocaine overdose." But Clarence Pool ( Tarantino ) snorts itching-powder which he believes is coke ( not the real deal ).
2. Louise, a.k.a. Misty ( Shaw ) is a call girl - not a "hooker" ( I only mention this because Tarantino makes a big deal out of it both in True Romance and this film).
Past Midnight
1. You wrote "The title means nothing in the context of the movie." Well, it don't mean much, that's true - but "past midnight" is the time Ben Jordan ( Hauer ) is placed at the scene of the crime, leaving a gap between the time when the neighbor heard the scream of Kathy Tudor ( when she was killed ) at 11.30 PM and when she saw Jordan leave past midnight. This is the first clue that set's Laura Mathews ( Richardson ) of on her own investigation.
2. You wrote that Ben Jordan was convicted of killing his wife and unborn child "some 17 years earlier". Kathy Tudor ( Eskelson ) and her baby were killed August 4th, 1975 - making it "some 17 years earlier" when the movie was released in 1992, but in the film they say it was 15 years earlier ( probably because they never updated Frank Norwood's original script ).
PS. On a personal note: I thought Clancy Brown as Steve Lundy was the most enjoyable character in the whole piece, and that he work well within this movie - but that's just a matter of taste).
Reservoir Dogs
Well, I didn't really find anything wrong here ( so I'm pretty sure you are correct, because this is the Tarantino film I've seen the most times ) - except I believe Dimmick is spelled with two "m"s instead of one. Also, I've never heard a "Jack Rabbit Slim's" - commercial during the torture-scene, but maybe it's there anyway.
PS. The Japanese 2-disc Special Edition has a nice transfer and good sound ( I was also disappointed with the sound on the 10th Anniversary Edition released in the states )
True Romance
1. You wrote: "Blitzer, arrested on a separate charge" - actually, he was arrested for possession of the sample bag of cocaine that he's bringing Donowitz ( so it's not really separate ).
2. I don't think that Clarence's comment: "Now we return to Bullitt already in progress - is meant to imply that it's a TV-show, only that the film is shown on TV.
3. You wrote: "makes references to Miami" - the only place in Florida I heard referenced was Tallahassee.
4. "The Sicilian story comes from a man named Don, now dead, who was the brother of one of his mother's boyfriends" - Actually Don was the brother of a woman, named Jackie Watts - who was Connie Zastoupil's best friend ( You mention her later in the chapter about Jackie Brown).
5. "According to his audio track on the DVD, Don told Tarantino that he was glad the truth finally came out in that picture" - Tarantino heard that from his mother. He was not present when Don said that ( which was when Don, Jackie and Connie watched True Romance on video - according the audio track on the DVD).
Natural Born Killers
1. Denis Leary and Rachel Ticotin do not appear in the director's cut, but they are both to found in deleted scenes on the special features.
2. "The couple have a brief falling out over a hostage, after which the Knoxes seek redemption in the desert through the services of an Indian shaman" - They end up in the desert trying to avoid a cop. Then they end up at the Indian shaman's place seeking gasoline, not redemption - but redemption is kind of what they end up with, because the accident of killing the shaman after the hospitality he has shown will forever change them ( and take the "fun" out of killing people).
3. "Wayne Gale enters the prison with his crew to tape one last interview, to be aired during half-time Super Bowl Sunday" - They are airing it LIVE after the game, not during half-time.
4. "Mickey turns the tables on his executioners and rescues Mallory just as she is about to be raped by Scagnetti" - Scagnetti ( Sizemore ) thinks he can get Mallory to have sex with him voluntarily, but just as they are deep into foreplay she turns on him ( and breaks his nose, both in the film and real life) . By the time Mickey gets there Scagnetti has been saved by two prison guards and is paying Mallory back by spraying mace in her face. I surely thinks rape is out of the question, at least by this time ( seeing there are two law-men in the cell with them ).
5. Just a couple of additional "Foot notes": Mickey ( Harrelson ) sucking the snake poison out of Mallory's ( Lewis ) foot, and there is also that extreme close-up of Juliette Lewis' s foot as she stomps out her cigarette ( when she is visited by Jack Scagnetti in her cell ).
Pulp Fiction
1. "Clarence tells the Richard Donner/Oliver Stone-esque movie producer Lee Donowitz his opinion of Oscar movies" - I would say that Lee Donowitz ( Rubinek ) is more Joel Silver like :-)
( I know this is about True Romance, but it was found in the chapter about Pulp Fiction - so I wrote it here )
2. "A boxer defies a crime boss by not throwing a fight and then ends up trapped with him in the basement of a pawnshop run by two insane Southerners and their chained-up, monstrous relative" - I believe the pawnshop is only run by Maynard ( Whitaker ); Zed ( Greene ) is a cop of some sort.
Also; How do you know they are related? ( Just wondering). [Good question: I don't remember ... would have to watch it again or reread everything I've ever read about the book. DKH]
3. "The two hit men have to clean up the mess from the accidental shooting of a hostage" - Marvin ( LaMarr ) is not a hostage, but their "inside man" ( Just like you wrote later in your text )
4. "The next night ( or perhaps simultaneously the same night ) Butch wins the fight he was supposed to throw" - This is definitely not the same night; Vincent Vega ( Travolta ) meets Mia Wallace ( Thurman ) in the back of the arena, after the fight, where she thanks him for dinner "the other night".
5. "Butch shoots Vincent and then tries to run down Marsellus on the street. That doesn't work" Well, he DOES run him down, he just don't kill him.
6. "Butch drives off on one of the Southerner's motorcycle" - it's not a motorcycle, it's a chopper.
7. "Jules casually shoots the Flock of Seagulls character then shoots Brett. Both Jules and Vincent shoot Bathroom Guy" - Vincent also shoots Brett.
8. "Butch kills the Gimp and Maynard" - I don't think Butch ( Willis ) kills the Gimp ( Hibbert ), he only punches him once. My guess would be that he's just unconscious at this point ( though I'm sure he, just like Zed, will suffer a painful death by the hands of Marsellus).
But I would also mention Zed getting shot in the balls with a shotgun as one of the most "Violent Moments" in the film.
9. "There are no truly different versions" - True, but the Japanese version is slightly different.. ( But not in a good way, I must say the traditional version works better. The cutting and camera-angels used in the Japanese version does not "flow" as nicely )
10. I usually don't try to answer your "Nagging Questions" - although in my mind I feel I have the answer to most of them - because these films are made so that all audience members can bring their own interpretations to the story; but in this case I will make an exception: "Why does Fabienne brush her teeth twice?" - The first time is at night ( after she and Butch had sex ), the second time is the next morning.
11. "And she asks if he has ever fantasized being beaten up by a woman ( by Diana Rigg as Emma Peel is the answer )" - I've read this in the screenplay, but never seen it in any of the deleted scenes on any DVD ( and I own eight different copies ). [I may have only read the dialogue and thought I saw the sequence: I'll check this with a reviewing of the extras. DKH]
12. "Another deleted scene shows Jules fantasizing shooting Pumpkin and Honey Bunny" - same thing; saw it in the script, but not on any DVD or Laserdisc. [Same thing. DKH.]
Four Rooms
1. "Rush is surrounded by a pair of kowtowing yes men, so servile they are willing to risk their digits" - The bet is Norman's ( Calderon ) idea, and he makes it because he really wants Chester's ( Tarantino ) "Nigger red 1964 Chevy Chevelle" ( because he's not too pleased with the white Honda Civic, his sister left him.
2. "It's interesting that Tarantino cast himself as a actor rather than a director, and if you didn't know the nature of the relationship, you might think that Rush is the personal manager and Leo the actor" - Well, it is never really made clear what Rush is in the film. He is just referred to as a "star": which Tarantino most certainly is in real life as well . And since this is a parody of himself ( or the image of him in the media ) , and also by the way he speaks and acts, I've always felt he was a director ( maybe even director/writer/producer/ actor , as in real life).
But I might be wrong about this one.
From Dusk Till Dawn
1. "Barstow, California. Present day. A convenience store" - "Benny's World of Liquor" is located in Big Springs, Texas.
2. "But when Seth's back is turned, the psychotic Richie rapes and kills Gloria" - Seth isn't at the motel at this point
( don't know if the phrase "back is turned" - is just meant as a metaphor, but... ).
3. "When Santanico smells blood from Richie's gunshot wound" - Yes, he was shot in the hand, but that wound is all taped up. It's first when Razor Charlie ( Trejo ) stabs Richie through the hand and he starts to bleed that Santanico ( Hayek ) smells the blood.
3. "She leaps upon the man, biting the wound, killing him, and drinking the blood" - The wound is on his hand, and she bites him in the neck. Yes, she does drink a lot of his blood, and he does die from the wound, but not until a little while later.
4. "not noticing that the Titty Twister was erected near Aztec ruins" The Titty Twister is located in the top of the Aztec temple.
5. "The film anticipates Kill Bill, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 by using Michael Parks ( twice ) and having a setting in Barstow, California" - This film does not use Michael Parks twice, though he does reappear in FDTD 3. And From Dusk Till Dawn does not have a setting in Barstow, California ( but Kill Bill does ) . The only two places in this film are Texas ( Big Springs and El Paso ) and Mexico ( Digallo ). And the only other places mentioned is Rollings, Kansas ( were Seth was serving time and Richie pulled off a daring daylight escape, while Seth was at the courthouse ). A high-speed pursuit through downtown Wichita is also mentioned, and El Ray, Mexico ( the Gecko brothers destination ). But it does anticipate Kill Bill with a setting in El Paso, Texas ( which is where "The Texas Wedding Chapel Massacre" occurs ), and Michael Parks reprises his role as Texas Ranger Earl McGraw ( probably a salute to Ali MacGraw from The Getaway 1972 ).
6. "It should be pointed out that in the American two-disc set the labels are mixed up, so that the movie has the label for the documentary, and vice versa" - on my copy; both discs have the label of the film ( non for Full Tilt Boogie).
7. "Jacob's poignant speech to Kate about faith in the diner; later, Seth's rousing theological argument with him during the siege; and finally, the painful choices that Seth faces when his own brother has turned" - You just got the order mixed up; the first one is correct - but Seth kills Richie, before he has the "rousing theological argument" with Jacob.
Jackie Brown
1. "Fourteen years later he made a movie based on a Leonard novel that featured the same two criminal characters that appeared in that book" - Shouldn't that be three characters; Ordell Robbie, Louis Gara and Melanie Ralston?
2. "When he meets up with Ordell, they are both surprised that there is no money" - Actually; there is $ 40 000.
Kill Bill
1. "A woman awakes from a four year coma to recall that she was shot by Bill, the father of her unborn child, on the day of her marriage to another man" - She was shot during the wedding-rehearsal, not on the day of the marriage.
2. "Bill himself, who it turns out is living in Mexico with the Bride's now five-year-old daughter" - That would be four-year-old daughter, wouldn't it?
3. "Stabs another woman to death in front of her daughter" - The Bride ( Thurman ) didn't stab Vernita Green ( Fox ) to death - she throws the knife.
4. "Chapter 3: The Blood Splattered Bride" - The Blood Splattered Bride is chapter 2 - chapter 3, is; The Origin of O-Ren.
5. "And Bill goes on to "mentor" Elle after The Bride leaves" - He must have started mentoring her before The Bride leaves ( Elle and The Bride worked together ), but Bill didn't get "romantically" involved with Elle ( Hannah ) until Beatrix left.
SIN CITY:
1. "Tarantino worked with Clive Owen, Benicio Del Toro, and Brittany Murphy on the scene" - From what I've understand, Tarantino directed the scene between Clive Owen and Benicio Del Toro in the car, and Brittany Murphy was not in it.
Posted: Tue - October 4, 2005 at 05:15 PM
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Published On: Oct 04, 2005 05:15 PM
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Published On: Oct 04, 2005 05:15 PM