Sunday, October 18

• Eli Roth Returns to Horror and Tries His Hand at Sci-Fi

  It's been two years since Eli Roth directed a feature, but he's kept busy on the side with writing, producing, and acting. After his recent appearance as Sgt. Donny Donowitz in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, Roth is returning to horror, the genre that made him famous with his Cabin Fever and Hostel movies. He's also readying himself to take on science fiction.

  At the Morelia International Film Festival in Mexico, Roth announced that he is finishing a script for a new sci-fi movie called Endangered Species, which he also plans to direct. He also mentioned that he's writing and directing a feature-length version of his Thanksgiving mock-horror trailer that appeared in Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez's Grindhouse double-feature. Roth said that he needed the time away from directing to revive his creativity.

  I haven't been this excited since the first Hostel. I had to divorce myself from the [Hostel] project 100% to free up my brain for other things.

  
  

  Posted 10/18/2009 by BrentJS

  Related: Quentin Tarantino | Robert Rodriguez | Eli Roth | Inglourious Basterds

Wednesday, August 19

• Inglourious Basterds Stars Talk About Tarantino's Quirks

  Did you know about Quentin Tarantino's supposed foot fetish? Well, you can learn more in a report from MTV Movies in which cast members reflect upon the director's idiosyncrasies.

  Regarding the foot fixation, the article cites Tarantino's many uses of foot close-ups in his movies, as well as his appearance on The Tyra Banks Show as a foot judge. Basterds cast member Diane Kruger recalled one conversation she had.

  You know what? A journalist told me about the foot thing, and it's funny, I didn't know about it. And then he said, "You didn't know? Don't you have a foot scene in the movie?" And I said, "I actually do, that's so weird."

  There's also a vague account of "Big Jerry," an "NC-17 toy" that Tarantino photographs with actors who fall asleep during production.

  And Eli Roth, star in Basterds and director of the Hostel movies, talks about the director's "thoughtful precision."

  Quentin — he's so careful about everything he does.... For Kill Bill, he spent a year and a half writing one fight scene! And with Inglourious Basterds, he had written it over the course of eight years. He thinks about every character, and he thinks about every detail in the universe — there are very few directors that do that.

  This Friday, we'll all be able to see Tarantino's nearly decade-long labor of love.

  
  

  Posted 08/19/2009 by Rich Z

  Related: Quentin Tarantino | Eli Roth | Diane Kruger | Inglourious Basterds

Monday, August 17

• Eli Roth Calls Inglourious Basterds "Kosher Porn"

  

  When the final credits roll on Inglourious Basterds, expect to see the name Eli Roth pop up more than once. That's because in addition to playing Donny "The Bear Jew" Donowitz, Roth directed the short movie-within-a-movie Nation's Pride that is a central feature of the Basterd's plot.

  Roth said that he was Tarantino's de facto "Jewish fact-checker" on the film and that he invited his mentor to his house for Passover Seder in 2007, at which the two engaged in many philosophical questions about WWII. In one exchange, Roth told Tarantino that he could "never" forgive the Nazis for what they had done to his people.

  It's not that we don't forgive; we don't forget. Being Jewish is to remember. If I had the chance, I would kill every one of those (Nazis).

  In Inglourious Basterds, Adolf Hitler and many of his elite officers gather together to watch Nation's Pride, a propaganda movie about Germany's best sniper. Tarantino normally directs everything himself but he allowed Roth to shoot the short movie, giving him a much larger second unit than he had planned for himself. Roth said that he learned a lot by working with Tarantino, but barely survived the process.

  I almost died shooting it. But it's one of the most satisfying, orgasmic things I've done in my life. It's kosher porn.

  
  
  

  Inglourious Basterds - Trailer

  Written & Directed by Quentin Tarantino - Releasing Aug. 21, 2009

  Posted 08/17/2009 by BrentJS

  Related: Quentin Tarantino | Eli Roth | Inglourious Basterds

Thursday, August 13

• Hannah Montana Inspired Eli Roth's Inglourious Basterds Fury

  Eli Roth is not as well known in front of the camera as he is behind it, but that will likely change once Quentin Tarantino's WWII revenge movie, Inglourious Basterds, opens next week. Roth wrote and directed the horror film Hostel, but steps into the spotlight in Basterds as Sgt. Donny Donowitz, a fierce Jewish Nazi hunter.

  Roth's character, nicknamed "The Bear Jew" by the Nazis, specializes in bashing his enemies to a pulp with a baseball bat. To prepare to film such emotionally charged scenes, Roth said that he called on the memories of his deceased Jewish relatives and an unlikely source of inspiration: Miley Cyrus and the music of Hannah Montana.

  I went back and forth thinking about my relatives being killed in concentration camps to listening to Hannah Montana.

  You couldn't ever put me in a Hannah Montana concert with a baseball bat or I would wipe the place out.

  Inglourious Basterds stars Brad Pitt, Mike Myers, Diane Kruger, B.J. Novak, and Julie Dreyfus.

  
  
  Next Showing: Inglourious Basterds opens August 21
  

  Inglourious Basterds - Trailer

  Brad Pitt stars in this Quentin Tarantino film

  Posted 08/13/2009 by BrentJS

  Related: Quentin Tarantino | Eli Roth | Miley Cyrus | Inglourious Basterds | Hostel

Wednesday, August 5

• Trailer for the Nazi Propaganda Movie Inside Inglourious Basterds

  A new trailer has appeared for a movie that never really was. It's billed as a promo for the Nazi propaganda flick Stolz der Nation (The Nation's Pride). In actuality, though, it's Inglorious Basterds' movie-within-a-movie, which features a gala premiere that draws all the Nazi bigwigs into the theater for their final immolation. Ironically, Basterds director Quentin Tarantino handed responsibility for this project over to Jewish director and revved-up Nazi-killing Basterd Eli Roth, who was both pleased and appalled at how well it turned out.

  The trailer is just as over-the-top as you would expect, and in English to boot. It purports to be the work of Reichsminister Dr. Joseph Goebbels, and recounts the story of the heroic Nazi soldier Fredrick Zoller, whose name, we are told, will be "crowned in gloury." Looks like the Nazis hired the same spell-checker as the Americans for this one.

  
  

  Posted 08/05/2009 by Bill

  Related: Quentin Tarantino | Eli Roth | Inglourious Basterds

Thursday, July 2

• Inglourious Basterds Primed for Sequel

  

  The latest movie from director Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds, hasn't even hit theaters yet and there's already talk of a sequel – or a prequel – on its way. Harvey Weinstein, co-chairman of The Weinstein Co. and longtime producer of Tarantino's films, said that Tarantino has enough Basterds backstory for a whole series of movies:

  We could do two movies, three movies. I was begging for the movies, but Quentin wanted to do the TV series, Bob wanted to do the TV series, so it was like two against one, you know?

  And then Quentin turns it into one movie. Go figure.

  When asked if superstar actor Brad Pitt would be interested in reprising the role of Lt. Aldo Raine, Weinstein said:

  Brad wants to do Inglourious II. We all want to do it. And the movie hasn't even come out yet!

  Inglourious Basterds also stars Mike Myers, Diane Kruger, B.J. Novak, Julie Dreyfus and Eli Roth.

  
  
  Next Showing: Inglourious Basterds debuts August 21, 2009
  

  Inglourious Basterds - Trailer

  Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino.

  Posted 07/02/2009 by BrentJS

  Related: Brad Pitt | Harvey Weinstein | Quentin Tarantino | Eli Roth | Pulp Fiction

Monday, June 22

• Second Inglourious Basterds Trailer Online

  With all the ballyhoo about the Weinstein Company being in dire financial straits, we were starting to worry that Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds might not see the light of day. But thankfully, after several months, a second full-length trailer is out.

  It includes more moments from a confrontational scene in which American officers Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) and Donny Donowitz (Eli Roth) try to extract information from a Nazi captive, Sgt. Werner Rachtman (Richard Sammel). There are also some shots from the much talked-about movie premiere attended by several Nazi leaders. And of course, things wraps up with a rapid-fire montage of gun clips snapping, faces contorted in warcries, and fire ... lots and lots of fire.

  
  

  Posted 06/22/2009 by Rich Z

  Related: Brad Pitt | Quentin Tarantino | Richard Sammel | Eli Roth | Inglourious Basterds

Wednesday, May 20

• Three New Clips Released as Inglourious Basterds Premieres at Cannes

  It is still too early to get a complete handle on the overall reaction at Cannes, but there are some early indications that Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds just might live up to all the hype. Although most early reviews agree that this is no Pulp Fiction, it did really grab the audience's attention and feels like something new, "a spaghetti war movie," as one review calls it. Or perhaps, as cast member Eli Roth, who is featured beating down Nazis with baseball bats, put it at the post-screening press conference, "160 minutes of 'Kosher porn.'"

  One surprise highlight appears to be the standout performance of Christoph Waltz, a German TV star who plays SS officer Colonel Hans Landa. Tarantino had given hints of just how important he was to the production earlier, saying in interviews that he had considered scrapping the whole movie if he couldn't find just the right actor for the part. One BBC review is already suggesting that he may well be a contender for this year's best actor prize.

  In the clips released to coincide with the Cannes opening, there is a lot more dialogue than action, offering a spirited preview of the tone -- and accents -- of the movie. One clip even features a provocative voice-over narrative by Colonel Landa "The Jew Hunter," backed by a whistling tune in an obvious homage to Clint Eastwood's series of spaghetti westerns.

  
  
  Next Showing: Inglourious Basterds releases Aug., 21, 009

  Posted 05/20/2009 by Bill

  Related: Quentin Tarantino | Christoph Waltz | Eli Roth | Inglourious Basterds

Wednesday, May 6

• Eli Roth Also a Poster Child Basterd

  Yesterday, we posted Brad Pitt's new Inglourious Basterds poster . Today, Eli Roth has joined the Basterd child club as well. Check out this new poster from the Quentin Tarantino Archives.

  
  
  

  Reelz Clip

  Written & Directed by Quentin Tarantino - Releasing Aug. 21, 2009

  Posted 05/06/2009 by Rich Z

  Related: Eli Roth | Inglourious Basterds

Thursday, April 30

• The Nazi Mini-Movie Inside Inglourious Basterds

  In an interview with MTV, actor and filmmaker Eli Roth explains that Quentin Tarantino asked him to direct a short Nazi propaganda movie to fit into Inglourious Basterds like a film within a film. Stolz der Nation (The Nation's Pride) was supposed to be a spoof of real Nazi propaganda flicks like Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will, but Roth worries that he might have gone a little too far. At one point during the filming, the Jewish filmmaker even found himself shouting "More swastikas! More swastikas!" And one key scene involves shooting 260 Americans. He expresses some concern (or is it glee?) that he may just have gotten even more offensive here than he did in making the gruesome horror flick Hostel 2.

  These doubts were amplified when he screened the finished product for some of the other actors who, staying in character, started screaming "Heil Hitler," and "Kill the Jews" in response. "I turned to Quentin," Roth says, and exclaimed "What have I done?" Despite these doubts, he suspects he created something powerful, and his relish for the irony still continues to leak through:

  I'm going to, like, resurrect the Nazi party. They are going to make me their Sarah Palin. They will be like, 'We love his movie. But he's a Jew! But it's such a good movie. But a Jew made it!'

  All in all, it sounds like just the right over-the-top complement to a Quentin Tarantino production.

  
  

  Posted 04/30/2009 by Bill

  Related: Quentin Tarantino | Eli Roth | Inglourious Basterds

Thursday, April 23

• Eli Roth Gets into the Vengeance in Inglourious Basterds

  A Jewish filmmaker with a serious taste for the horror genre, Eli Roth has his first major role in Inglourious Basterds -- and he does it with gusto, wielding a bloody baseball bat. The movie is basically a Jewish revenge fantasy with an Apache twist, Roth explains in an interview with MTV.

  He plays Donnie Donowitz, a Red Sox fan whose plan is to "take a baseball bat and get all the Jews in the neighborhood to sign it, and then ... beat every Nazi to death with it." Originally he expected to be the littlest basterd, but instead, Roth says,

  [Director Quentin Tarantino] basically cast my Hebrew school class. I looked around, and I was like, 'These are the kids who were in my bunk at Camp Cedar Lake.' It's them going on a killing spree -- and that's what makes it so much fun.

  Roth goes on to explain how Basterds takes inspiration from the Apaches:

  He's not going to skimp on the scalping, let me tell you. Quentin based what the Basterds do on what the Apache Indians did. They would do what's known now as the Apache Resistance, where they would capture people and horribly mutilate them, scalp them, torture them, cut them up, and leave one person alive. Then, [the survivor] would go back to the cavalry and describe what happened.

  As the leader of the Basterds, Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) drives this angle home with his orders to bring home hair and his nickname "Aldo the Apache."

  
  

  Posted 04/23/2009 by Bill

  Related: Brad Pitt | Quentin Tarantino | Eli Roth | Inglourious Basterds

Wednesday, August 6

• Eli Roth Adds Stamp of Legitimacy to Tarantino's Inglorious Bastards

  Leonardo DiCaprio may not be starring in Inglorious Bastards, but don't weep for director Quentin Tarantino, because he went out and got someone even better. Variety reports today that none other than Hostel director Eli Roth has signed on to play a "baseball bat-swinging Nazi hunter" in Tarantino's remake of Enzo Castellari's cult World War II flick. Casting an actor of Roth's caliber will no doubt come as welcome news to Brad Pitt, who's reportedly in negotiations to star in the flick. This bit of news should almost certainly seal the deal for the Assassination of Jesse James star.

  
  

  Posted 08/06/2008 by reelz

  Related: Quentin Tarantino | Eli Roth | Inglourious Basterds

Tuesday, October 23

• Eli Roth on the MPAA: "They're not bad guys."

  Not every filmmaker despises the MPAA, it seems. Making the press rounds in support of the DVD release of Hostel Part II, director Eli Roth stopped by the ReelzChannel studio last week for an illuminating chat in which he discussed, among other things, his true feelings about those infamous arbiters of film ratings.

  "Here's the big myth about the MPAA: They're not bad guys," the 'torture porn' auteur revealed to Errol Barnett of Dailies. "They're great and I love them. I've had such a great experience with the MPAA."

  "Nobody sees it from my perspective," Roth added. "The MPAA is like, 'Look, we get it. It's Hostel II; it's not Happy Feet II. We know that when people go to see this, they want to see the gore. We're gonna try and get as much of it through as possible, but here's areas where we know parents are gonna freak out.'"

  Apparently, "graphic severing of male genitalia" isn't one of those areas.

  Finally, someone's looking out for the children.

  
  
  Next Showing: Hostel Part II debuts on DVD today
  

  Exclusive Interview with Eli Roth

  The director of Hostel Part II talks to ReelzChannel.

  Posted 10/23/2007 by reelz

  Related: Eli Roth | Hostel Part II

• DVD Tuesday

  Hungry for some torture porn? Can't wait until Saw IV opens on Friday? Then let Eli Roth's gory opus Hostel Part II, which debuts on DVD today, be the methadone to your Saw heroin. Also arriving in stores is Kevin Costner's cerebral serial killer flick Mr. Brooks, the first movie to succesfully exploit all of the irksome qualities of inexplicably popular comedian Dane Cook.

  Our pick for this week is the decidedly less sinister Disney animated family flick Meet the Robinsons, featuring those adorably non-threatening Jonas Brothers.

  
  
  

  Meet the Jonas Brothers

  Thomas Leupp interviews Kevin, Joe and Nick
  

  Mr. Brooks - Trailer

  Starring Kevin Costner
  

  Hostel Part II - Trailer

  American girls will cost you this time around

  Posted 10/23/2007 by reelz

  Related: Kevin Costner | Eli Roth | Dane Cook | Hostel Part II | Saw IV | Meet the Robinsons | Mr. Brooks

Friday, May 11

• Eli Roth branching out

  Hacktastic horror director Eli Roth, busy readying his latest snuff film torturefest Hostel: Part II for its June 8th release date, talked to Collider about his future plans:

  "I’m going to be doing a film of all fake trailers, like Thanksgiving (the fake trailer Roth contributed to Grindhouse), called Trailer Trash. I want to make a movie like Borat or Jackass or Kentucky Fried Movie that’s completely ridiculous, totally silly and absurd, that’s just all fake trailers."

  A bunch of silly fake trailers? Perhaps someone should break the news to him that it's already been done. It's called Youtube, and it's filled with the works of filmmakers far more talented than Roth.

  Poor Eli; you came so tantalizingly close to devising your first original idea. Keep trying buddy!

  
  

  Posted 05/11/2007 by reelz

  Related: Eli Roth | Hostel Part II