the buzz log

Since when did Labor Day weekend become a dumping ground for movies? Sandra Bullock is in a bomb of a female stalker comedy, "Beavis & Butthead" creator Mike Judge is out with a snoozer, and "Gamer" decided to leave the bloodletting on the screen and ducked out of showing previews to critics.

And lackluster searches show it: Only Bullock is getting affection, although not for her movie. So either folks stand in line for another showing of "District 9," or they head to an old-fashioned video store and score some stalker flicks.

Rotten Tomatoes and Ask Men have compiled an impressive list, mostly of the truly creepy ilk ("The Hitcher," "Taxi Driver," "Fear") although "There's Something About Mary" and the dark comedy "Chuck & Buck" made its top 10. Light-hearted stalking's not an easy topic, and it's a preoccupation more likely done by a man .

Much critical analyses (including at Cinematical) have been done about the type of women who end up being stalkers (AKA the threatening single career woman). For better or for worse, Hollywood has created enough movie stalkers of all ilk, so it may be less of a feminist issue than in the '90s.

But, you can decide. If you want some guilty, shivery pleasures of menacing ladies or pesty chicks, here's a quick list of what to dig up in the DVD bin:

Ten  Female Film Stakers (Plus A Bonus)

• "Obsessed" (2009). The 21st-century update to "Fatal Attraction," Ali Larter wants her co-worker and good family man Idris Elba. Beyonce, as his wife, does the patootie-kicking. 
• "Notes on a Scandal" (2006). A refined version of female stalking, Judi Dench plays a spinster teacher who specializes in emotional blackmail, and Cate Blanchett her convenient victim. Both received Oscar noms.
• "Swimfan" (2002). Another homage to "Fatal Attraction" but tailor-made for teens. Erika Christensen takes a one-night stand with jock Jesse Bradford very very seriously. Not many surprises, but EW thought Christensen better than the plot.
• "The Crush" (1993). What happens when Lolita doesn't get what she wants? Sweet Alicia Silverstone got her not-so-sweet start as a 14-year-old sociopath who really likes her parents' tenant Cary Elwes.
• "Single White Female" (1992). In the days before Craigslist, people used to advertise for roommates in newspapers. Bridget Fonda opts for seemingly meek Jennifer Jason Leigh, who becomes her doppelganger.
• "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle" (1992). All those ripped-from-the-headlines stories got bundled up in a complicated plot with Rebecca De Mornay as a woman who miscarried after her husband—accused of molesting patients—commits suicide, and takes elaborate revenge against his accusers by becoming the evil nanny.
• "Misery" (1990). The line ("I'm your number one fan") and her way with a sledgehammer put Kathy Bates on the map in this Stephen King-inspired thriller.
• "Desperately Seeking Susan" (1985). Not a stalker film in the strict sense, you still get Rosanna Arquette as a bored housewife who wants to be just like Madonna (who's Susan) but gets entangled with the mob.
• "Fatal Attraction" (1987). The staple of film classes about women roles, the savor-it-or-despise-it update on "Play Misty for Me" cast Michael Douglas (the '80s bad guy even when he pretended to be good) as the philanderer, and Glenn Close as the other woman who doesn't like being spurned.
• "Play Misty for Me" (1971). Clint Eastwood stepped behind the cameras for the first time here, and directed himself as a radio DJ and Jessica Walters who really really really wants to be his gal.
• "All About Eve" (1950). The name that inspired the title "All About Steve," this classic stars Bette Davis as a top-notch Broadway star, and Anne Baxter as the conniving understudy who wants her life.

Filed under: Movies, Women

The buzz around "Inglourious Basterds" isn't just around the sprawling wonder, but also the return to glory for director Quentin Tarantino.

The WWII film starring Brad Pitt is a remake (of sorts) of a 1978 Italian spy movie, except with the director's hallmarks of dense dialogue and irreverent humor jutting out of bloody moments. After the crash-and-burn of "Grindhouse," Tarantino once more is proving himself the ultimate mash-up artist.

Mash or Rehash?
Perhaps more clearly than any current director around, the former video-clerk geek's love of movies transcends genre. His vision has sometimes been carried out more like fan fiction: what-if scenarios of familiar characters and plot twists.

Not that the global movie industry doesn't have its own long, revered history of cinematic sharing, like spaghetti Westerns, classics such as "The Seven Samurai" and "The Magnificent Seven," or early Jackie Chan kung fu comedies borrowing from American silent stars Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd.

But his high-octane level of unabashed riffing has gotten Tarantino accused of being a plagiarist. The Star-Ledger points out his "fusion cuisine" style of filmmaking has also been called derivative or even outright stealing—accusations that have been with Tarantino since his first breakthrough directorial effort, "Reservoir Dogs." (The reputation has even earned him a less-than-stellar entry in the Urban Dictionary.)

Everyone's a Homage Artist
The timing of "Inglourious Basterds" hasn't come just in time to revive a dinged reputation. Seventeen years since Tarantino first hit the theaters, video mash-ups, fan fiction, and music sampling have become the standard in entertainment. And blogging and retweeting have reinforced a more freewheeling notion of shared creative efforts and ideas. In other words, technology and the Web have made everyone capable of being a Tarantino. 

So in re-evaluating the legacy, is it "scene-stealing" (as Wired once called it in detailed scene-by-scene comparisons), using movie shorthand, or simply mini-remakes of great moments? From a Tarantino filmography, here are some movies that inspired his films.

THE TARANTINO FILMS AND THEIR INSPIRATIONS
• "Reservoir Dogs" (1992). Among the many influences such as "Le Doulos" and "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three," the most controversial was "City on Fire," as critics felt Tarantino had not mentioned the Hong Kong film during early interviews.
• "Pulp Fiction" (1994). Entertainment Weekly sussed out celluloid "antecedents" including "A Woman is a Woman" (1961), "Something Wild" (1986), "Out of the Past (1947)," "The Set-Up" (1949), and "Kiss Me Deadly" (1955). Web critics also point to "Drugstore Cowboy" (1989).
• "Jackie Brown" (1997). Adapted from an Elmore Leonard novel, inspired by 1970s blacksploitation.
• "Kill Bill" (2003, 2004) — London's Institute of Contemporary Arts did a showing of inspirations "Female Convict Scorpion" (1972), "Lady Snowblood" (1973), "A Cruel Picture" (1974), and "The Doll Squad" (1973). Of course, as clearly shown with the casting of Gordon Liu ("Master of the 36th Chamber"), a debt of gratitude is owed to 1970s Hong Kong kung fu cinema. (A 2003 Entertainment News Wire article reported Tarantino was on a daily kung fu movie diet while writing the film)
• "Grindhouse" (2007). The entire B-movie subculture, although a wiki at Tarantino.info says his muse may have come from posters for "Drag Strip Girl" and "Rock All Night." Critics decimated the film, and wondered if the Wonder Boy had lost his touch.
• "Inglourious Basterds" (2009). Except for some deliberately manic misspelling, the title is the same as the original 1978 spy film, "Inglorious Bastards." The Italian flick just came out on DVD and includes a 40-minute back-and-forth with Tarantino and his "hero," Italian director Enzo Castellari.

Filed under: Movies