Quentin Tarantino is like a mini-Stan Lee or J.R.R. Tolkien. All the characters he creates for his works are part of a bigger universe he is crafting, a fictional world where all of his stories co-exist with one another.
Examples include Patricia Arquette’s Alabama from True Romance being a former love interest of Harvey Keitel’s Mr. White in Reservoir Dogs, or John Travolta’s Vincent Vega (Pulp Fiction) being the brother of Michael Madsen’s Vic Vega (Reservoir Dogs). We too shouldn’t forget Sheriff Earl McGraw (Michael Parks) has turned up in From Dusk Till Dawn, Kill Bill Vol. 2 and Death Proof.
Even conspiracy theorists would claim that Rufus, the piano player from Kill Bill 2 could be Jules from Pulp Fiction after enjoying his time “walking the Earth”, as both characters are played by Samuel L. Jackson.
You could have fun all day playing this game, so I’ll get down to it. The Playlist learned from a Q & A session with Tarantino after a screening of Inglourious Basterds last night in Austin, Texas that Eli Roth’s psycho “bear jew” Donnie Donowitz, shares the same surname as the movie producer from True Romance Lee Donowitz (Saul Rubinek), and it’s no concidence. Donnie is Lee’s father.
You may remember that Lee, a Joel Silver like greedy blockbuster producer was working on the fictional Vietnam war film, “Coming Home In A Body Bag“.
3 Comments
Eli Roth will ruin this movie for me.
The dude can’t act. I’ll never understand why QT is okay with putting himself and his buddies in his movies. QT has every person in hollywood begging to be in his films and settles with Eli Roth. I’m sure he’ll ruin BASTARDS for me.
I will agree he’s too distracting because we all know who he is. He will forever be the guy who directed the Hostel movies, but he can act better than Quentin anyways.
A baseball bat swinging brutual Nazi killer screamed out for a Vinnie Jones kind of build and not Roth, but in the final third you can see why he was cast because the character is needed for another kind of role.
His vulnerable but passionate eyes make his casting seem more logical come the end.
Physically I’d say he suited the role fairly well. I don’t know what he was like before but seemed to me he was bulging out of his wife beater, exiting the tunnel he was pretty towering and menacing. He also has that psychopathic look in his eye that the Nazis (rightly) fear. Looking at his eyes you wouldn’t have any doubt he would smash your face in with a baseball bat if you piss him off.
As for why he is distracting – thats like saying Brad Pitt can’t be in any more movies “because we all know who he is”. I don’t understand this statement.
I can definitely say after Basterds I’m a fan of Eli Roth’s acting – his character was one of the many highlights of the film for me.