Mike references the "My First Movie," book, which I own, and heartily recommend.

Good commentary guys.  Really liked this one.

What the fuck, you guys are using NAMES?!

Am I the only PROFESSIONAL here?!

By strange coincidence, screenwriter John August just blogged today about re-discovering his original coverage of Natural Born Killers, written for a class assignment when he was a USC student.

From today's perspective, his note that "the script obsessively directs from the page and characters show zero development" makes perfect sense... 

http://johnaugust.com/archives/2010/a-v … erage-past

Last edited by Trey (2010-12-06 23:52:52)

Fuckin' Rivendell Dogs. DO IT!

I just stumbled across a series of podcasts Wil Wheaton did for his book Memories of the Future, in which he recounts his experiences making TNG.  In episode 12 The Big Goodbye, he recounts his conversation with Lawrence Tierney.  It's pretty much the same way the guys tell it, but coming from the man himself.

The rest of the episodes are equally good.  There are only 14 podcasts, covering the first 13 episodes of TNG, but still, interesting stuff.

Website

iTunes link

Could be option D: this guy re-edited "City on Fire" to bolster his thesis and make it look like they're more similar than they are. Having not seen the film I couldn't necessarily say, but I bet I could edit THE DEPARTED to make it look like it ripped of City on Fire, too (and we know that was an actual remake of a different Hong Kong film).

Also there's option E: this is genuinely unintentional coincidence. I mean it seems like a lot of similarities, but really, what is there that's unique about any given aspect of either plot? Undercover cop, jewel thieves, robbery gone wrong, chase with police...even elements such as carjacking some bystander, crashing the car, and a Mexican stand-off seem pretty standard fare for this kind of caper movie.

Tarantino's not above lifting things wholesale from other movies, but he also wears his influences proudly on his sleeve. If he'd "paid homage" to City on Fire, I'm inclined to think he would have happily told everyone as much.

I didn't chew out maul2 at all. When I chew someone out you'll know.

I did sarcastically voice an objection to weighing in with an opinion on the artistic merits of an entire genre of entertainment with which one is unfamiliar, and dismissing the input of those who are familiar, which did in part apply to him. I was perhaps more acerbic than necessary, and to be fair to maul2/Teague my real ire was raised by Ebert and they got in the line of fire.

If I had not only not watched the YouTube video above but also never seen Reservoir Dogs or any Tarantino movie in my life, yet chose to opine on whether or not Tarantino movies are usually rip-offs -- and also to ignore your input as someone who HAS seen both films -- then there might be some similarity and I may be summarily taken to task.

Being that you've seen both films, your view on them trumps mine. If you're confirming that they are in fact similar and not merely presented that way in the linked YouTube video, then without having seen the HK film I have to defer to your experience.

This is probably true. Also nowadays it's become a common thing for movies to be remade for the Western audience, whereas back then it was effectively unheard of and the HK filmmakers, who had already come to the conclusion that they weren't going to make any money in this market, likely paid little attention to what we were up to over here.

Though I will say that it still surprises me that Tarantino would deny having seen it when confronted -- his response was "I look forward to checking out the Hong Kong original!" He strikes me as a guy who'd grin and cop to it, pleased that someone else had seen City on Fire. Then again it's not like I actually know the guy personally, and he IS happy to take full credit for PULP FICTION and sweep Roger Avary's involvement under the rug (something I have just realized we did not address in our commentary for PF).