"Reservoir Dogs" used the outline of a jewel-heist-gone-horribly-wrong story in order to get at what it was really all about: talk. That all changed with "Reservoir Dogs." Tarantino decided to look to the recent past - particularly the discarded detritus of the 1970s - in order to pave a way for the future. And whenever an indie movie managed to crack the mainstream (" Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song," "Pink Flamingos," "The Return of the Secaucus Seven") they were viewed as anomalies. The fact that "regional authenticity" was stitched into these movies' DNA was seen more as a liability than an asset. Before "Dogs," beginning with John Cassavetes' "Shadows" in 1959, independent American movies were viewed as scrappy, stitched-together artistic expressions that posed no real threat to the 800-pound gorilla that was the Hollywood studio system. The movie is " Reservoir Dogs," a booby-trapped heist-gone-wrong postmortem released 30 years ago that turned out to be an adrenaline shot to the heart of the American Independent film movement. Brown, a member of a gang of jewel thieves, portrayed by writer-director-costar Quentin Tarantino. Quentin said, 'Do you wanna be in this film?', Eddie says 'Yeah,' and that was it." Bunker went on to roles in the Steve Buscemi-directed "Animal Factory," based on Bunker's second novel, and Peter Segal's remake of "The Longest Yard." Bunker died in July 2005 in Burbank, California, at age 71."Reservoir Dogs" represents a changeover in power as the Baby boom generation's vise-grip on the culture starts to give way to the burgeoning Generation X.Īnd just like that a revolution was sparked. Penn replays the conversation in his 10th anniversary DVD interview: "Quentin says, 'Do you know him?' I said, 'I'll get him on the phone right now.' And I called Eddie. Years of family pain, prison brutality, and run-ins with the law are etched all over his face in "Reservoir Dogs." But his experience behind bars came with plenty of time to read and write, and by the time Bunker was released from his last jail stint in 1975, he had published "No Beast So Fierce," the novel that became the source of the 1975 Dustin Hoffman film "Straight Time." Tarantino, who had studied "Straight Time" and loved the 1985 film "Runaway Train," for which Bunker co-wrote the screenplay, found Bunker through Chris Penn, who'd known Bunker for years. Sadly, Penn was found dead in his apartment in January 2006 at the age of 40, apparently the result of heart disease.Įdward "Eddie" Bunker lived a heck of a life, and it showed. That's when Penn crossed paths with Tarantino, who cast him as Joe Cabot's son "Nice Guy" Eddie in "Reservoir Dogs." Penn also played the character Nicky Dimes in the Tarantino-penned "True Romance." Penn worked consistently throughout the '90s and early '00s, gaining accolades for his hapless pool cleaner in Robert Altman's "Short Cuts," a gangster in Abel Ferrara's "The Funeral" (for which he was named best supporting actor at the Venice Film Festival), and a cop in "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar." Subsequent roles saw Penn cast as detectives, criminals, or down-on-their-luck sad sacks, with his last major role being in the short-lived series "The Brotherhood of Poland, New Hampshire," with Randy Quaid and John Carroll Lynch. His career kicked off with memorable appearances in "Rumble Fish," "All the Right Moves," "Footloose," and "At Close Range" (alongside Sean Penn and his mother Eileen Ryan). The youngest of the three Penn brothers (Sean and Michael were his older siblings), Chris Penn left behind an impressive slate of films that ran the gamut from crime to comedy.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |