Isn't Steve Buscemi just the best actor? He's brilliant in everything. If In Bruges had been made in America, Steve would have had to play Ray. His humour is just so dry, and black as a collapsed supernova. The last thing I saw him in (well, heard him in) was the kids film Igor, where he voices the permanently suicidal rabbit Scamper. Igor is a great film, which hasn't received nearly enough praise as far as I'm concerned, but without the sarcastic Scamper, it would have felt very flat. And without the instantly recognisable voice of Buscemi to bring him to life, Scamper would not have been nearly as much fun either. After watching Igor, I couldn't stop thinking about how Steve Buscemi has turned in simply brilliant performances in so many great films. He's like a built in mark of excellence, adding class to:
Con Air, The Big Lebowski, Twenty Bucks, Monster House, Mystery Train, Reservoir Dogs, Barton Fink, In The Soup, Desperado, Armageddon, Monsters Inc, Monster House and Fargo.
Many more too, I'm sure. Those are just the ones I've seen that instantly came to mind. Was he in Pulp Fiction too? I think so. Either way, he was definitely responsible for helping to launch Tarantino. Have you seen him in the rehearsals for Reservoir Dogs? I think they're on the dvd extras, but as I only have a crappy pirate vid, I'm not sure. I have seen them though. I know he was there. From the beginning, man!
Picture: Beth Herzhaft, via Wikimedia Commons.
Which brings me to my previously trailed story about the time I nearly killed Mr Tarantino. It was a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. Well, OK then, Nottingham. I had tickets for the surprise film , which was ending the Nottingham 'Shots in the Dark' film festival, 1994. As I said, it was meant to be a surprise film, so we didn't know it was going to be Pulp Fiction right up until the moment Harriet the Chariot (my beloved old banger) nearly smacked straight in to Quentin Tarantino as he was crossing over the road. He hurriedly stumbled away, and my friend looked at me and said "Do you know who that was, you just nearly killed?". There followed much whooping and celebrating, because we instantly realised the film we were attending later on that evening was gonna be the UK premiere of Pulp Fiction. After the premiere, we had a drink with Mr Tarantino (along with dozens of other people too, I should point out. He was very accommodating to the Nottingham audience). I have to admit, I chose not to reveal my identity as the maniac driver of the morris minor that nearly ended his career, and probably just thanked him for coming to the festival, or something very boring like that. But I do like to think, in some small way, I may have helped to inspire Death Proof. And also helped him to learn a valuable lesson about road safety in the UK. Look right, look left, look right again!
