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"Ultraviolent Movies" explores the public and critical outcry that has met recent films and offers insight into the visions of such directors as Martin Scorcese and Quentin Tarantino. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

A big waste of time
The author summarizes the plots of about a dozen violent movies, then he summarizes the critics' reaction to those movies. That's about it. The interview with Oliver Stone is pointless. If you want to read a really good book on this subject, try The Blood Poets by Jake Horsley.

A must have for the action movie fanatic
A lot can be said for this book, but I'll try to keep it short.

First, the cons.This book can be a bit dry.It takes a genre (i.e. Law and Order for police movies), then it will choose several films from this genre and discuss what the movie was about, why critics either hated it or liked it.Some movies even get a section on any particularly famous, gory scenes within.Another thing that I didn't particularly care for was that it included several horror films that weren't particularly violent.Psycho, which has a relatively low body count when compared with Friday the 13th, etc.Of course, Psycho was included because it was directed by the master Alfred Hitchcock, but doesn't seem ultra-violent.

The best thing about this book is that it shows how violence has progressed in movies, starting with Bonnie and Clyde, all the way through RoboCop (one of the bloodiest action movies ever made in my opinion).Many well known movies are discussed (Dirty Harry, Clockwork Orange), as well as some smaller, lesser-known movies (Walking Tall).

The pros far outwiegh the cons.For any one who lies their movies full of Desert Eagle handguns, this book is for you.

Violence in film... almost there, perhaps next try.
Violence has been an integral part of art in all its forms ever since man invented art. It has been, and probably always will be, a part of life, no matter how civilized we become. Civilization itself is not only created and molded by violence, but sustained, perpetuated, and developed by its application or the threat of it.

Violence is disturbing but it can also be cathartic, and art presents both of these in an unsettling synthesis that is bound to get as many people upset as it will get to delight in it. Going back to Sumerian myths, Greek tragedies, Chinese folk tales, Elizabethan drama, and more recent literary examples reveals a long and cherished tradition of reveling in violent excess to the great entertainment of audiences as varied as one can imagine. Pictorial art tries to outdo the written word with cruel displays of bloodletting, and even when ostensibly depicting religious events the artists tend to go for the shocking, sensational, and sublimely disturbing.

It is little wonder then that films, just another art form, would seize on this long tradition, integrate it into its own canons, and fully participate in it, expanding it and adapting it according to the requirements and possibilities of the medium.

Films that depict violence have always been subject to the ferocious attacks from various corners, depending on what the movie portrays. What do the film-makers do or say in their defense? This is the subject matter of Bouzereau's book. It is not as much about what violence is, what role it plays in society, and how it is reflected in the arts, as it is about the various responses to its presence in films. The author traces how critics, the public, the law, the industry, and finally, the directors themselves view the presence of violence in these films.

The book is divided into eight chapters that cover everything from the films of Sam Peckinpah to those of Clive Barker. While the book does not dwell on horror films apart from some brief look at slasher, fantasy, and zombie movies, it does present a rather extensive catalogue of the most famous violent movies made in the U.S. This should be made quite clear: the book is only about American films despite featuring a Belgian B&W feature and making references to reactions in Britain and France to some of the films in the study.

This is a shortcoming, and a very serious one, because it deprives us of the comparative look at violent films that might shed some light on the role of violence in life and art, and thereby provide a much better justification for its use in films. Some cultures are even more tolerant to violence than America (e.g. Japan) and their arts inevitably reflect that as well. Omitting serious cinema from around the world handicaps the argument by forcing a distinctly American frame of reference on a globally shared phenomenon.

Ultimately, the book does not offer much insight. It is really a collection of film synopses, woven around anecdotes, interviews with directors, and cursory look at the controversies surrounding some of the films. Even this becomes fragmented in the second part of the book, with the chapters getting shorter, as if the author was in a hurry writing them, and the discussion being less and less attentive to the social implications of the subject matter. By the end of the book, the author simply recites brief summaries of the films and sometimes does not even include much of the reaction to them at all.

It is as if The Wild Bunch, Clockwork Orange, and Natural Born Killers are somehow worthier than Night of the Living Dead, Scream, or Man Bites Dog. Again, the ugly and entirely artificial distinction between art haute and the low-brow, low-budget horror flick rears its ugly head. Even in this marginalized genre hierarchy is imposed by critics who seek to redeem the images of death by uncovering some social commentary in the films.

The premise, however, appears flawed to me. It assumes that these films are in need of defending. Indeed, the book (and the directors) spend a lot of time trying to justify the violence in these films. Most of them center around the "life is full of violence, we're just showing it they way it is" variety. But this defense misses an essential point. If movies were simply photographs of reality, they would make great 8 o'clock news, but art they will not make.

It is naive to claim that art is just a mirror of reality. The film-makers do that for obvious reasons: they want to protect their creations from the depredations of the multidinous censors. Yet art's purpose is to evoke emotions. Showing violence does that. But so do romance, horror, bravery, depression, you name it. If it's well done, the audience would respond. And that is the purpose of art, to get a response. A lot of times we might be surprised at our own reactions, we might even be disgusted by them. Maybe the veneer of civilization is not as thin as many would have us believe and maybe, just maybe, our rational selves would be able to recognize and suppress these traits that we deem unworthy of perpetuating.

Civilization has routinely glorified violence and for good reason. We always have to fight for our gains, we always have to protect our freedoms. Liberty dies as soon as we are unable to kill to keep it.

Violence is destructive, it is ugly, and it is life. There is no existence apart from violence. We may not like it, we may deplore it, but it will never be further than inches away from even the most docile among us. Violence can also be a way of expressing ourselves and thus moving others. There can be no heroes without violence. Being a hero means overcoming fear and the only fear worth overcoming is that of untimely violent death. Getting rid of violence in the arts would simultaneously rid us of our heroes.

This is a sick but jovial book...
And anytime an author can make gore an exciting and interesting element, then he's done his job. DEATH WISH, WALKING TALL, TAXI DRIVER, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, and more. Buy it and be disgusted [...] and just enjoy! ... Read more

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Biography and filmographyAbout the music in his moviesBibliography ... Read more

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Kill Bill is a two part film by writer-director Quentin Tarantino, starring Uma Thurman as The Bride. Originally conceived as one film, it was released in two separate 'volumes' (in late 2003 and early 2004) due to its running time of approximately four hours. The movie is an epic-length revenge drama, with homages to earlier film genres, such as Hong Kong martial arts movies, Japanese Chanbara films, exploitation films and Italian spaghetti westerns; an extensive use of popular music and pop culture references; and aestheticization of violence. Filming took place in California, Texas, Beijing, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Mexico. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Kill who?
Google the product description:

Kill Bill is a two part film by writer-director Quentin Tarantino, starring Uma Thurman as The Bride. Originally conceived as one film, it was released in two separate 'volumes' (in late 2003 and early 2004) due to its running time of approximately four hours. The movie is an epic-length revenge drama, with homages to earlier film genres, such as Hong Kong martial arts movies, Japanese Chanbara films, exploitation films and Italian spaghetti westerns; an extensive use of popular music and pop culture references; and aestheticization of violence. Filming took place in California, Texas, Beijing, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Mexico.

And you will be taken to the first of several Wikipedia articles that were directly ripped to produce this very expensive 'book'. ... Read more

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This is nonfiction commentary.Chapters: Pulp Fiction. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 155. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Pulp Fiction (1994) is an American crime film directed by Quentin Tarantino, who cowrote its screenplay with Roger Avary. The film is known for its rich, eclectic dialogue, ironic mix of humor and violence, nonlinear storyline, and host of cinematic allusions and pop culture references. The film was nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Picture; Tarantino and Avary won for Best Original Screenplay. It was also awarded the Palme d'Or at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival. A major critical and commercial success, it revitalized the career of its leading man, John Travolta, who received an Academy Award nomination, as did costars Samuel L. Jackson and Uma Thurman. Directed in a highly stylized manner, Pulp Fiction joins the intersecting storylines of Los Angeles mobsters, fringe players, small-time criminals, and a mysterious briefcase. Considerable screen time is devoted to conversations and monologues that reveal the characters' senses of humor and perspectives on life. The film's title refers to the pulp magazines and hardboiled crime novels popular during the mid-20th century, known for their graphic violence and punchy dialogue. Pulp Fiction is self-referential from its opening moments, beginning with a title card that gives two dictionary definitions of "pulp". The plot, in keeping with most of Tarantino's other works, is presented out of chronological sequence. The picture's self-reflexivity, unconventional structure, and extensive use of homage and pastiche have led critics to describe it as a prime example of postmodern film. Considered by some critics a black comedy, the film is also frequently labeled a "neo-noir". Critic Geoffrey O'Brien argues otherwise: ...http://booksllc.net/?id=54173 ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from Epoca, published by Difusora de Informacion Periodica, S.A. (DINPESA) on October 11, 2002. The length of the article is 433 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Pulpa de ficcion. (Cine).(comentarios sobre la obra del director Quentin Tarantino )
Author: Tino Pertierra
Publication: Epoca (Magazine/Journal)
Date: October 11, 2002
Publisher: Difusora de Informacion Periodica, S.A. (DINPESA)
Page: 102(1)

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entertainment ... Read more

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In Quentin Tarantino and Philosophy, seventeen professional thinkers shamelessly exploit the cinematic achievement of Tarantino for all the steamy, sensational metaphysics and epistemology they can wring out of it.Are these eruptions of intelligent thought merely a cynical hypnotic manipulation of our cerebral cortexes? Or can we somehow relate them to the human values that really matter-pyrotechnic car chases, Mexican standoffs, and exploding heads?Is the philosophers' preoccupation with quoting other philosophers nothing more than incestuous indulgence? Or are they somehow conveying a deeper point about the enduring validity of amputated ears and anal rape?In the final analysis only you, the viewer, can decide.What can Reservoir Dogs teach us about the evolution of co-operation? Is Beatrix's revenge in Kill Bill both justified and self-destructive? Can we agree completely on what has happened and disagree on whether it was a miracle? How is Pulp Fiction's Vincent doomed because of his messy bathroom habits? Does Grindhouse/Death Proof reflect the epoch in which everything that actually occurs is unreal? "With Tarantino and Philosophy, it's the little differences, like having your Royale with cheese dissected by a grease monkey with a blowtorch. It's so bad, it's good." ... Read more

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High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Quentin Jerome Tarantino (born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. When he was two years old, he and his mother moved to Torrance, California, and later to the Harbor City neighborhood where he went to Fleming Junior High School in Lomita and took drama classes. He attended Narbonne High School in Harbor City for his freshman year before dropping out of school at age 17. He attended acting school at the James Best Theatre Company in Toluca Lake. In the early 1990s he was an independent filmmaker whose films used nonlinear storylines and aestheticization of violence. His films include Reservoir Dogs (1992), Pulp Fiction (1994), Four Rooms (1995), Jackie Brown (1997), Kill Bill (2003-2004), Death Proof (2007) and Inglourious Basterds (2009). His films have earned him a variety of Academy Award, Golden Globe, BAFTA and Palme d'Or Awards and he has been nominated for Emmy and Grammy Awards. In 2007, Total Film named him the 12th-greatest director of all time. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from Letras Libres, published by Thomson Gale on January 1, 2004. The length of the article is 1338 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

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Title: Queremos tanto a Quentin: la esperadísima cuarta película de Quentin Tarantino llegó desde hace tiempo a las salas de cine. Y a pesar de que hemos leído algunas críticas que declaran su decepción ante esta entrega, sabemos que lo queremos, y que lo seguiremos queriendo. Pero, ¿por qué? En este texto, Mauricio Montiel responde, por todos nosotros esa pregunta.(director de cine)
Author: Mauricio Montiel Figueiras
Publication: Letras Libres (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 1, 2004
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 6Issue: 61Page: 112(2)

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Chapters: People From Knoxville, Tennessee, Dave Thomas, Chet Atkins, Sam Houston, Quentin Tarantino, Brownie Mcghee, Clarence Brown, Alex Haley, David Farragut, Adolph Ochs, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Harry Mcclintock, Randy Orton, Pat Summitt, Thomas C. Hindman, Todd Helton, Donald Richberg, Kenny Chesney, Chad Pennington, Cormac Mccarthy, Beauford Delaney, Robert Neyland, Reggie White, Phillip Fulmer, John Cooper, Ray Graves, Carl Smith, John Cullum, Patricia Neal, John Sevier, William Gannaway Brownlow, Nikki Giovanni, Tony Anthony, Brian Bell, James Agee, Elizabeth Kostova, Brad Renfro, John T. Wilder, David Young, William Blount, Alexander Bonnyman, Jr., Victor Ashe, Buddy Landel, Archie Campbell, Jackie Parker, Homer and Jethro, 10 Years, Johnny Knoxville, Samuel W. Small, Ed Hooper, George Franklin Barber, Rosemary Bryant Mariner, Con Hunley, Karl Edward Wagner, Derek Trent, Ashley Monroe, Kenneth C. Burns, James Vann Johnston, Jr., Edith Evans Asbury, Tim Burchett, Mary Costa, Polly Bergen, Abram Joseph Ryan, Bill Haslam, Kevin O'connell, David Keith, Christina Hendricks, Devin Driscoll, Lawrence Tyson, Ken Burkhart, Billy Meyer, Paul E. Davis, Rick Byrd, Cas Walker, Ava Barber, William H. Hastie, William Sanders, Lindsey Nelson, D. D. Lewis, Darby Conley, Cleavant Derricks, Glenn Reynolds, Lucius F. C. Garvin, Jack Hanna, Garrett Willis, Jake Butcher, Ed Bailey, Benjamin F. Bonham, Bruce K. Holloway, Adele Arakawa, Jake Thomas, John Tate, Jerry Punch, Horace Maynard, Joe Campbell, Debbie Hughes, Hugh Lawson White, Britton Colquitt, Alexander O. Anderson, Cale Iorg, Kyle Testerman, Dennis Hwang, Scott Miller, Charles Kohlhase, Benjamin Wade, Nick Raskulinecz, Lara Parker, Frankie Housley, Henry Cho, Troy A. Mcgill, Ken Sparks, Kevin Burdette, Joseph Wood Krutch, James Haslam Jr., Jordan Hill, Brent Smith, Mitchell W. Stout, Eben Alexander, Bill Bates, Marilou Awiakta, William M. Bass, Spencer Jarnagin, Allen Wier, Jam...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=665823 ... Read more

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Les achats comprennent une adhésion à l'essai gratuite au club de livres de l'éditeur, dans lequel vous pouvez choisir parmi plus d'un million d'ouvrages, sans frais. Le livre consiste d'articles Wikipedia sur : Pulp Fiction, Inglourious Basterds, Kill Bill, Boulevard de La Mort, Reservoir Dogs, Jackie Brown, Four Rooms, My Best Friend's Birthday. Non illustré. Mises à jour gratuites en ligne. Extrait :(Le Commando des bâtards au Québec) est un film américain uchronique réalisé par Quentin Tarantino, sorti le 19 août 2009 en France. Il a été présenté en compétition officielle au Festival de Cannes 2009. Dans la France occupée, Shosanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent) assiste à l'exécution de sa famille juive par le colonel de la SS Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz). Shosanna parvient à s'échapper et se retrouve à Paris où elle se construit une nouvelle identité en tant que gérante d'un cinéma. Ailleurs en Europe, le lieutenant Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) forme un groupe de soldats juifs spécialisés dans des actions ciblées et risquées. Connus sous le nom de « », Raine et ses hommes font équipe avec l'actrice allemande et agent double Bridget von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger) pour tenter d'assassiner les dirigeants du Troisième Reich. Ils croisent alors la route de Shosanna qui mène sa propre vendetta. Quentin Tarantino a écrit le scénario d' plus de 10 ans avant sa sortie ; en effet, selon les dires d'Uma Thurman, il aurait commencé à l'écrire après le tournage de , juste avant de réaliser Jackie Brown. Le scénario final atterrit sur le bureau de son producteur Lawrence Bender le 4 juillet 2008. Le tournage du film débute le 13 octobre 2008 en Allemagne et s'achève fin décembre en France. Lors de sa venue en France pour la sortie de : volume 1 en novembre 2003, Quentin Tarantino avait déclaré : a été présenté par Quentin Tarantino sur le plateau du Grand Journal de Canal+ au Festival de Cannes 2009. Public : Eli Roth, Mélanie Laurent et Lawren...http://booksllc.net/?l=fr ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from Sojourners Magazine, published by Sojourners on December 1, 2009. The length of the article is 486 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Representations of war.(ON FILM)(Quentin Tarantino's movie 'Inglourious Basterds')(Critical essay)
Author: Gareth Higgins
Publication: Sojourners Magazine (Magazine/Journal)
Date: December 1, 2009
Publisher: Sojourners
Volume: 38Issue: 11Page: 47(1)

Article Type: Critical essay

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Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix, Tori Amos, Rosa Parks, Cher, Quentin Tarantino, Cameron Diaz, Alex Haley, Johnny Depp, Norma Mccorvey, Kevin Costner, Chuck Norris, Charisma Carpenter, Ben Harper, Tiffany, T-Bone Walker, James Garner, Hyapatia Lee, Mandy Moore, Joseph Utsler, Kristin Chenoweth, Burt Reynolds, Steven Tyler, James Earl Jones, Karen Mcdougal, Sam Bradford, Eartha Kitt, Oral Roberts, Robert Rauschenberg, Della Reese, Lou Diamond Phillips, Tommy Lee Jones, Bessie Coleman, Carmen Electra, Milo Ventimiglia, Keke Wyatt, John Phillips, Joe Nichols, James Vann, Mackenzie Phillips, Nikki Reed, Phylicia Rashād, Meagan Good, Christopher Judge, Crawford Goldsby, Pam Tillis, Amy Irving, Bob Johnson, Mitch Cullin, Rebecca Gayheart, Amil, David Birney, Chynna Phillips, Betty X, Scott Stapp, Perry Smith, Ernest E. Evans, Bijou Phillips, Christian Kane, Glenn Strange, Jock Mahoney, Keariene Muizz, Jeanne Cooper, Clint Walker, Mackenzie Rosman, Scrapper Blackwell, John Norton, John David Carson, Leon Hendrix, La'myia Good, Maya Bond, Jesse Chisholm, M. Miriam Herrera, Rae Dawn Chong, Diane Glancy, Herman Boone, Elizabeth Evelyn Wright, Robert Latham Owen, Suzanne de Passe, Priscilla Pointer, Don Shanks, Shae Marks, Sydney Penny, Willard Hughes Rollings, Mary L. Smith, Joseph Wicks, Malese Jow, Clem Mcspadden, Robert Wilkins, Robert J. Conley, Jackson Burns, Missy Stone, Joy Harjo, Chief Thundercloud, Tamara Feldman, Tom Starr, Michael Murphy, Mizuo Peck, Sacario, Brenda Schad, Heather Rae, Henriette Allais, Linda Moon, Terri Kimball, Jeff Thisted, Betty Louise Bell, Mardi Oakley Medawar, Marijo Moore, Gladys Cardiff, Brandon Brooks, Paul Gallo. Excerpt:Alex Haley Alex Haley (August 11, 1921 February 10, 1992) was an American writer . He is best known as the author of Roots: The Saga ... ... Read more