In Defense of QT’s Casting Rumors/News
As more and more news leaks out about Quentin Tarantino’s newest film Inglorious Bastards, the internet has been abuzz with reported casting news/rumors. Most have been outraged rabid fans confused by his choices. Eli Roth? B.J. Novak? Oh, and there is that one Britney Spears rumor in his Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! remake.
My question: Why all the fuss people?
- This is Quentin Tarantino we are talking about.
- Inglorious Bastards, as cool as it sounds, is basically just a trashier version of The Dirty Dozen.
- Tarantino has always made strange casting choices. Most have worked.
When the Eli Roth casting news came out a few days ago most bloggers were flabbergasted. Thinking, c’mon, this guy’s just casting his buddies now.
But I for one am pro-Eli Roth in Inglorious Bastards. For one, Roth is charismatic as hell. He proved in Death Proof he could handle Tarantino’s dialogue like a seasoned pro. Not to mention the fact that his geeky charms almost allow him the ability to steal a scene with his mouth closed. And he’s as big a film geek as Tarantino, they’ll probably have a blast on the set, drinking beers and having deep conversations about the pleasures of grindhouse flicks. Roth will make the set a fun place to work, especially because this is supposed to be a WWII epic, and he should help to keep Tarantino mostly focused. If we want to see this movie next year, Roth is a plus on the set.
Next, it was announced that B.J. Novak is in talks to play PFC Utivich. Again, all for it. It is a bizarre choice. Novak is primarily a comedian, who plays a small part on the American Office. But he has a darker quality to him. Even with his pretty boy looks and bug eyes, I think he could bring surprising depth to what I am suspecting is a comic relief role.
As far as Inglorious Bastards goes, it hasn’t even started filming yet. Let’s give the guy (Tarantino) a break. Like I mentioned before, he tends to surprise with his offbeat casting. Kurt Russell! John Travolta! Pam Grier! Robert Forester! Lucy Liu! Sydney Poitier!
He’s also a guy who’s become pulpier and pulpier throughout his career. He went from his breakout hit, Pulp Fiction, considered to be one of the greatest films of all time, to blaxplotation love-letter, Jackie Brown. And he followed both of those up with the insane genre-bending Kill Bill and his grindhouse valentine Death Proof.
All have been shockingly diverse and a lot of fun. They are also tending to be more and more like the movies he grew up idolizing. I am also betting he is starting to show us the movies he really wants to make.
Finally, I think I like him more for it. He has an affinity for cinema that he wants to share with the world, something I think is greatly lacking from 85 percent of the films coming out these days. Let’s give the guy the benefit of the doubt until we have actually seen the movie.
As for Britney Spears being in his Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! remake . . . . Seriously? People are upset by this? This is a remake of a smutty Russ Meyer picture. It may be a cult classic, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good movie.
Casting Spears is probably more in the spirit of the picture than casting some A-lister hottie. She can’t act, but she’ll have a helluva lot of fun. And the worse she is, well, the more fun the audience will have at her expense. But that movie isn’t even close to getting made yet, so let’s stop complaining and just go with it.
Update: Spears and Tarantino have denied this casting. And Tarantino denied this movie was even going to get made in March. So good job to us for paying attention.
