Quentin Tarantinohas seemingly discussed retirement for as long as he’s been a filmmaker. He has been insistent upon his 10th movie being his final picture, and what that film would be was an open question for a long time.AStar Trekmovie?Kill Bill Vol. 3?Pulp Fiction 2? Well, Tarantino stated more than a year ago that his final film would beThe Movie Critic, which at one point was loosely based around the infamous and influential film critic, Pauline Kael. He had written a script, scrapped it, and rewrote it. And now, he says he’s done with the whole thing.
But who knows? Tarantino canceledThe Hateful Eightafter its script was leaked, but ended up filming and completing it (and even making a longer, multi-part version for Netflix), andThe Hateful Eightremains his most underrated film (by now, everyone lovesJackie Brown). Plus, Tarantino has changed his mind so many times, he probably doesn’t know what he wants until he does it. So there’s still hope forThe Movie Critic.
What Was The Movie Critic?
When interviewed at Cannes by aDeadlinereporter in 2023, Tarantino gave some limited but very central details on this supposed last movie.The Movie Criticwas going to focus on the story of a movie reviewer who wrote for a “porno rag,” as Tarantino puts it. When he was a teenager, Tarantino had a job refilling the magazines and emptying the quarters out of a porno-dealing vending machine. He says that during that time, he ended up reading the reviews of one of the magazines that had a movie page. He never became famous, but the film would revolve around the man’s life
The Movie Critic: Can Quentin Tarantino’s Next Film Surpass His Best Movie to Date?
As Quentin Tarantino prepares his final film, The Movie Critic, arguably his true masterpiece, Kill Bill: Vol.1, was released 20 years ago.
It seemed like a clever choice for a final film. Tarantino has been a master of bridging low culture and high art, and began his career in video stores and restocking adult magazines. He’s taken exploitation films, cheap international action movies (like the Seijun Suzuki classics), and the intellectual work of Jean-Luc Godard, shaken them together, and poured it into something new. So, following a film critic for a “porno mag” seems more personal than anything Tarantino has ever done.
But that will likely become an alternate history (likeInglouious Basterds), as Tarantino seems to have moved on. Deadline reported the news that Tarantino has had “a change of heart,” and Variety later corroborated the report, which has since been published in multiple places. The film would’ve starred Brad Pitt and Paul Walter Hauser, and was supposed to feature areunion between John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson, stars of his classic film,Pulp Fiction. Watch this space for updates.
