Quentin Tarantino is back at the Cannes Film Festival this year for a special screening in the Directors’ Fortnight. And after lots of speculation, QT revealed what film he’ll screen on la Croisette: John Flynn‘s 1977 thriller “Rolling Thunder,” which Tarantino dedicated an entire chapter to in his book “Cinema Speculation.” How’s that for a “Rendez-vous With Quentin Tarantino,” as Cannes billed the screening?
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But Tarantino also sat down with Deadline for an interview at Cannes, where he gave some details about his upcoming film, “The Movie Critic.” So, what’s the scoop there? Well, outside of it entering “pre-pre production” next month, QT’s next movie takes place in 1977, the same year “Rolling Thunder” hit theaters, “and is based on a guy who really lived, but was never really famous, and he used to write movie reviews for a porno rag.” That’s not new info, as Tarantino dropped hints like that on his European book tour for “Cinema Speculation” in April. But it’s all the more certain now that Tarantino’s titular character may be based on film critic and porn historian William Mangold, as World Of Reel speculated earlier this year.
But Tarantino didn’t supply an exact name for the real-life inspiration of his new leading man, nor the “porno rag” he wrote for. Instead, in “The Movie Critic,” QT’s character will write reviews in the fictional The Popstar Pages. Tarantino remarked to Dedline that he discovered the writer while working as a teen loading porn magazines into vending machines. “All the other stuff was too skanky to read, but then there was this porno rag that had a really interesting movie page. He wrote about mainstream movies and he was the second-string critic,” Tarantino continued. “I think he was a very good critic. He was as cynical as hell. His reviews were a cross between early Howard Stern and what Travis Bickle [Robert DeNiro’s character in “Taxi Driver”] might be if he were a film critic.”
Travis Bickle as a film critic? To be honest, that doesn’t sound that wonderful, but Tarantino praised the real-life critic’s writing style. “But the porno rag critic was very, very funny,” QT went on. “He was very rude, you know. He cursed. He used racial slurs. But his shit was really funny. He was as rude as hell.” And as part of his writing process for “The Movie Critic,” Tarantino researched the critic’s life. “He wrote like he was 55, but he was only in his early to mid-30s,” continued the director. “He died in his late thirties. It wasn’t clear for a while, but now I’ve done some more research and I think it was it was complications due to alcoholism.”
So, there’s the hero of “The Movie Critic” for you: a mid-thirties alcoholic who writes reviews for a porno mag who writes with the cadence of a psychotic taxi driver. In other words, this is a different movie hero for Tarantino than Django or Rick Dalton (although Dalton’s penchant for whiskey sours definitely makes him an alcoholic). So does QT have any ideas for who will be his next lead actor? Not yet. “I haven’t decided yet, but it’s going to be somebody in the 35 year-old ball park,” said Tarantino. “It’ll definitely be a new leading man for me.” And is there anyone QT preferences for the part right now? “I do have an idea of somebody I can imagine doing it really well,” Tarantino said, but he’s unsure if he wants to offer the role to them.
But Tarantino has plenty of time to decide who his next male star will be. After he screens “Rolling Thunder” at Cannes, the director goes back to Tel Aviv to be with his family before he heads to LA in late June for “pre-pre production, and then I want to start seeing who else is out there.” So put on your thinking caps, Tarantino fans: what early-mid thirties male American actor fit the bill for the leading role of “The Movie Critic”? Speculate away.