Vintage look portrait of Vincent Vega from “Pulp Fiction”
 
Last year, a South African-based creative design studio called MUTI created a fantastic series of posters and portraits based on members of the cast of ne’er–do–well’s from Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 masterpiece, Pulp Fiction. Some of the images in MUTI’s minimalist homage to the film may remind you of the artwork of cartoonist Chester Gould - the illustrator and creator of the Dick Tracy comic strip that originated back in 1931.
 

Vintage look portrait of Jules Winnfield from “Pulp Fiction”
 

Butch Coolidge
 
MUTI’s Pulp Fiction series made its debut last year in honor of the 20th Anniversary of Pulp Fiction and the images have the distinct look of objects that have seen better days. According to MUTI, the concept for the posters was inspired by vintage cigarette cards. Can you imagine pulling a set of these babies out of a pack of Tarantino’s fictional Red Apple smokes? As my imagination is as vivid as it is demented, the answer is yes, yes I can. It’s unclear if MUTI is actually selling prints of the collection, but you could contact them here and ask.
 

 

 
Continues after the jump…

Talking Jimmie Dimmick action figure (from Pulp Fiction) and his “really fucking good” cup of coffee
 
Toymaker Beeline Creative are the geniuses behind what appears to be the greatest line of action figures ever created - four thirteen-inch likenesses of Jules Winnfield, Vincent Vega, Jimmie Dimmick and Butch Coolidge from the 1994 film Pulp Fiction that are also able to hurl many of the memorable obscenity-laced quotes from the flick whenever the mood strikes you. Oh, I’m sorry… did I break your concentration?
 

Jules Winnfield talking action figure
 

Vincent Vega talking action figure
 
All of the figures are poseable and also come with different artifacts specific to their character in the film. For instance, the figure based on Quentin Tarantino’s role as Jimmie Dimmick comes with removable slippers and a cup of “really good fucking coffee,” and Bruce Willis’ character of boxer Butch Coolidge comes with a samurai sword, bloody shirt and his “father’s watch” that was once carried around for safekeeping in “Captain Koon’s” ass (played by Christopher Walken in the film). Each of the figures have the ability to curse you under the table with the push of a button. In other fantastic fucking news, the Vincent Vega figure (pictured above) comes loaded with the most quotes of the four figures, a whopping twelve f-bomb laden lines from the film. Here’s everything that little Vinnie Vega says:

1. All right. Well, you can walk into a movie theater in Amsterdam and buy a beer. And I don’t mean just like in no paper cup, I’m talking about a glass of beer. And in Paris, you can buy a beer at McDonald’s. And you know what they call a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris?
2. Nah, man, they got the metric system. They wouldn’t know what the fuck a Quarter Pounder is.
3. They call it a ‘Royale with cheese.’
4. Play with matches, you get burned.
5. I ain’t saying it’s right, but you’re saying a foot massage don’t mean nothin’ and I’m saying it does. Now look, I’ve given a million ladies a million foot massages and they ALL meant something. Now we act like they don’t but they do, that’s what’s so fuckin’ cool about it. There’s a sensuous thing going on, where even if you don’t talk about it, you know, she knows it. Fuckin’ Marcelus knew it and Antwone should have fuckin’ known better.
6. Chill Jules, this shit happens.
7. Do you wanna continue this theological discussion in the car, or in the jailhouse with the cops?
8. Alright, it was a miracle, can we go now?
9. Aw man! I shot Marvin in the face!
10. Chill out, man! I told you it was an accident! You probably went over a bump.
11. I was washing ‘em. But this shit’s hard to get off. Maybe if you had Lava, I coulda done a better job.
12. I got a threshold, Jules. I got a threshold for the abuse that I will take. Now, right now, I’m a fuckin’ race car, right, and you got me in the red. And I’m just sayin’, I’m just sayin’ that it’s fuckin’ dangerous to have a race car in the fuckin’ red. That’s all. I could blow.

 

Butch Coolidge talking action figure
 
The figures are out now and will run you about $50 bucks a pop (I’ve included links if you care to purchase any of them in the post) with the exception of Butch Coolidge (above) which appears to have a Spring 2016 release date.

Previously on Dangerous Minds:
Bad motherf*ckers: Action figures from ‘Pulp Fiction,’ ‘The Shining,’ ‘A Clockwork Orange’ and more

 
Casting in movies or TV is a difficult job for the ordinary viewer to get his or her head around, because the tendency to regard the finished performance as “the only way” it could have been done is so powerful, and this is true even for quite ordinary movies. When it comes to a movie as iconic as Pulp Fiction, however, it’s almost impossible to think of Vincent Vega as anybody other than John Travolta, and likewise for Jules Winnfield and Samuel L. Jackson (indeed, both actors were nominated for the Academy Award for their work in Pulp Fiction).

But such things are always more flexible than they appear, and it’s the job of casting directors to try to guess what the combination of this actor and that role is likely to produce. Yesterday there appeared on reddit an intriguing document that apparently represents Quentin Tarantino’s “wish list” for Pulp Fiction, which was to be his second feature after his successful 1992 debut, Reservoir Dogs. The list naturally contains some expected choices—including the actors that were eventually cast—but also some surprises.

On Reservoir Dogs Tarantino worked with Michael Madsen, Harvey Keitel, and Tim Roth, and it’s not super surprising that all three of those actors were Tarantino’s choice for the roles of Vincent, the Wolf, and Pumpkin, respectively—Keitel and Roth, of course, did end up playing those roles. For Vincent, Tarantino wanted Madsen for the part but effectively considered Travolta to be a co-front-runner for the role. Tarantino’s list reads as follows: “Wrote part for Michael. ... John Travolta (strong, strong, strong second choice).” It turned out that Madsen was committed to Lawrence Kasdan’s Wyatt Earp starring Kevin Costner, which freed up Travolta for his career-altering turn as Vincent. 
 

(click for a larger view)
 
The application of image filters on the page reveals some hidden text behind the page, specifically:
 

THE WOLF
Harvey Keitel***
Wrote part for Harvey, if unavailable other possibilities:
Warren Beatty

 

 
The main image on reddit, which covered the casting of Pumpkin and Honey Bunny, Vincent, and drug dealer Lance and his wife Jody, did not include the key roles of Mia Wallace, Marsellus Wallace, the Wolf, and Butch and his girlfriend Fabienne. In the comments on the same page on reddit, however, is a four-page fax dated July 14, 1993 (faxing a document apparently typed up on July 2, 1993), which included Tarantino’s cast list for those parts as well as others. Surprisingly, an actor who played a career-defining role in Pulp Fiction and is well known as one of Tarantino’s very favorites, Uma Thurman, was not on the director’s original list for Mia. Rather, Tarantino wanted Virginia Madsen (Michael’s younger sister), with Marisa Tomei, Patricia Arquette, and Bridget Fonda also mentioned—Thurman’s name is nowhere to be found.

Similarly, Bruce Willis was not on Tarantino’s mind for the role of Butch: Matt Dillon was Tarantino’s first choice, with Sean Penn, “Nick” Cage, and Johnny Depp on the list as well. Depp, who filmed Ed Wood around the same time as Pulp Fiction was filmed, was Tarantino’s second choice for Lance, the drug dealer played by Eric Stoltz.

Samuel L. Jackson was not Tarantino’s first choice for Jules Winnfield—Laurence Fishburne was. Tarantino sprinkled Jackson’s name all over the document, considering him as possible for Marsellus, Captain Koons, the Wolf, and Lance. For Vincent, the Wolf, and Captain Koons, Tarantino let his imagination run wild, with some big-ticket casting ideas. Tarantino threw out the names Alec Baldwin, Michael Keaton, Denzel Washington, and Sean Penn, while for Capt. Koons, Tarantino considered Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Tommy Lee Jones.

It’s awfully fun to imagine a version of Pulp Fiction with Denzel Washington as Vincent, Eddie Murphy as Jules, Johnny Depp as Butch, Danny DeVito as the Wolf, Marisa Tomei as Mia, Michael Keaton as Lance, Pam Grier as Jody, and Robert De Niro as Capt. Koons. One wonders if such a movie would ever have gotten nominated for seven Oscars…...
 

 

 

 

 

Alex DeLarge from A Clockwork Orange
 
Here’s what I know about sculptor and artist Rainman, the man responsible for the sinister as fuck action-figure of Alex from A Clockwork Orange (pictured above), and many others that are about to blow your mind. Rainman is a rather secretive cat, but according to his his Facebook page he’s based in Korea and currently works for video game giant CAPCOM (the makers of the 1987 video game Street Fighter). He studied animation at Kyungsung University, a private school in Busan, South Korea. Rainman is an accomplished painter and in 2013 he released a 500-page book called Not Afraid, which featured his conceptual artwork. He also likes Dr. Dre.

That’s pretty much all I know about this incredibly talented man.
 

 
As I often post about unique action figures here on DM, I knew when I found Rainman’s creations I had struck gold. That is because Rainman’s collection includes some of the most bad-ass members of cinematic history. Like Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver, Alex from A Clockwork Orange (who comes with a glass of milk and other “accessories”), Tyler Durden from Fight Club, Jack Torrance from The Shining and many, many others. In some cases, Rainman will put together what I can only describe as “play sets” for his figures. For example, one collection of figures from The Shining not only included Jack and his trusty, door-busting ax, but also Danny Torrance along with a replica of his little blue bike, the Grady Twins, and a small version of the infamous carpet from the hallways of the Overlook Hotel.

Let’s have at look at Jack and his pals, shall we?
 

 

 

 

 
While Rainman’s articulated sculptures are breathtakingly life-like, I am equally impressed by the “secret items” that he often includes with his various figures, such as a miniature version of the last book Vincent Vega ever read, Peter O’Donnell’s Modesty Blaise (included with his sculpt of John Travolta from Pulp Fiction), Jules’ “Bad Motherfucker” wallet, a teeny-tiny version of the “TIME: Man of the Year” mirror from The Big Lebowski (that comes with his “Dude” figure), and the skanky blue bathrobe that comes along with his “Fighter 1999” figure (aka, Tyler Durden from Fight Club).
 

Miniature version of Modesty Blaise
 
More after the jump…
 

 
The Kloons have recreated an iconic scene from Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction shot-for-shot but with one major difference—they did the whole thing underwater. It’s the scene in which Marsellus Wallace’s henchmen (Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta) visit some double-dealer Brett to collect a briefcase. Apart from the novel approach, what makes this brief clip supremely enjoyable is hearing Samuel L. Jackson’s spellbinding performance as Jules Winnfield recontextualized and blub-blubbed in this aquatic setting:

“Say ‘what’ again. Say ‘what’ again, I dare you, I double dare you motherfucker, say what one more Goddamn time!”

Truly wonderful.
 

 
Via Nerdcore!

 
I will freely admit I’m a bit of a cosmetics addict. After discovering a new makeup collection by Urban Decay based on the look Uma Thurman cultivated for her role as “Mrs. Mia Wallace” in Pulp Fiction, my current addiction suddenly just got a whole lot more dangerous.

The difficult job of selling something is made easier when that something comes in some sort of irresistible package and is described using as many compelling words as possible. Cosmetic giant Urban Decay completely nailed both of these points with the design of their limited edition Pulp Fiction palatte ($16) which comes with eye shadow colors that are named using a few memorable words from Samuel L. Jackson’s “Ezekiel 25:17” speech in the film. Specifically the following five:  “Righteous”, “Tyranny”, “Vengeance” and of course, “Furious/Anger.” In addition to the palatte, there’s a deep blood-red colored lipstick, lip-liner and nail polish all named “Mrs. Mia Wallace.” 

Adrenaline shot not included.
 

 

 

 

 
I know, I know, it’s waaaaaaay too early to start talking about holiday stocking stuffers, but c’mon… An “Oh man, I shot Marvin in the face” action figure by GFY Toys?

Perfect if your Barbie needs a headless boyfriend!

-Each figure is fresh out of the trunk, hand painted and sealed just for you!*

-Custom blood splattered!

-Hand smashed head chunks!

-“Interactive” card art!**

-6 points of unarticulation!

-100% not resin!

-For Ages 80 and up!

-Opinions sold separately!

It’s $45 + shipping here.

 
via Nerdcore

 
These fabulous pulp covers come from the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library‘s collection of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer materials representing “the fields of history, literature, cultural studies, popular culture, the arts, and design.”

This selection come from the “Golden Age” of lesbian pulp fiction between 1950 and 1965, when several hundred lesbian pulp novels were published and sold in their millions. The covers often mixed lurid and sensationalist images with suggestive tag-lines. Authors were said to have “frequently complained that the illustrations rarely matched plots.”

You can read more about the “Golden Age” of lesbian pulp fiction here.
 

 

 
H/T Retronaut, via Beinecke Library
 
More lesbian pulp covers, after the jump…
 

 
Quentin Tarantino screenplays re-imagined as Penguin books.

These fabulous designs were made by Sharm Murugiah, a Graphic Designer living and working in London. See more of his work here
 

 

 

 

 
H/T Penguin Books
 

 
James Ellroy lies in a darkened room brooding about the past. He thinks about his mother, Geneva Hilliker Ellroy, who was murdered in 1958, when Ellroy was 10-years-old. The killer has never been found.

Ellroy was born and raised in Los Angeles. When his parents divorced, Ellroy lived with his mother in El Monte during the week, and spent weekends with his Father.

His father, Armand Lee Ellroy, was an accountant and one-time business manager for Rita Hayworth. Ellroy usually adds his father had a massive schlong, and schtooped anything that moved. His father gave Ellroy a copy of Jack Webb’s book The Badge. Ellroy read the book obsessively.  He read the story of Elizabeth Short, aka The Black Dahlia, whose severed, mutilated body was discovered on a vacant lot, on the west side of South Norton Avenue, between Coliseum and West 39th, in 1947.

Ellroy merged his mother’s murder with the Black Dahlia’s. He fantasized how he’d save the Dahlia and marry her. He fantasized how he’d save his mother. The fantasies were inspired by guilt and depression.

Before Geneva’s murder, his parents had been going through a rough time. His father was poisoning Ellroy’s mind about his mother. His father let Ellroy do what he wanted. His mother had rules. When she died James had wanted to be free of her. Now he was, he felt guilty.

He grew up lanky, and geeky. He was awkward around girls. He was a WASP at a Jewish school. He hated to be ignored. Ellroy played at being the weirdo. In the schoolyard he riffed on the Black Dahlia, serial killers, and Nazis. He made it look like he didn’t care what others thought. It worked. It made him untouchable.

He flunked school and prowled the neighborhood. He peeped on girls he could only dream about. He broke into their houses, sniffed their panties, drank their parents’ booze, looked in medicine cabinets and popped pills, stole what he wanted. They never knew.

Ellroy lived off T-bird, and the wading from Benzedrex inhalers. It made him grind down his teeth. He tripped. He became homeless. He stole. He did gaol time. His life was in freefall - the parachute was an abscess on his lung, the size of a man’s fist.

Ellroy prayed for a second chance. He got it. He turned his life round and started writing crime novels. Influenced by Hamnett rather than Chandler. At first hooked around his own experience as caddy on a golf course, then the large multi-narrative, police procedurals, re-telling the history of modern America. Ellroy was riffing on the things he obsessed about, the Black Dahlia, sex, violence, bad, bad, bad men coming to grips with their humanity.

He wrote the L.A. Quartet, which included The Black Dahlia, and L.A. Confidential. Then a book about his search for his mother’s murder, My Dark Places. He never found him. Closure is bullshit, he says. Then the trilogy Underworld U.S.A., which includes American Tabloid, and the brilliant Blood’s A Rover.

Now, Ellroy is one of America’s greatest living novelists, and very few come close. He still lives in L.A. and writes everyday, long hand, ink pen, legal pad, and lies in darkened rooms brooding about the past.

This is a rare clip of James Ellroy, in his trademark Hawaiian shirt (worn in pouring rain), interviewed for the French program Cinéma Cinémas in 1989.
 

 
The headline says it all:

Robber who broke into hair salon is beaten by its black-belt owner and kept as a sex slave for three days… fed only Viagra

The Mail reports on a Russian man who is said to have tried to rob a hair salon, but soon ended up as the victim when the female shop owner overpowered him, tied him up naked and then used him as a sex slave for 3 days.

Viktor Jasinski, 32, admitted to police that he had gone to the salon in Meshchovsk, Russia, with the intention of robbing it.

But the tables were turned dramatically when he found himself overcome by owner Olga Zajac, 28, who happened to be a black belt in karate.

She allegedly floored the would-be robber with a single kick.

Then, in a scene reminiscent of Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, police say Zajac dragged the semi-conscious Jasinski to a back room of the salon and tied him up with a hair dryer cable.

She allegedly stripped him naked and, for the next three days, used him as a sex slave to ‘teach him a lesson’ - force feeding him Viagra to keep the lesson going.

The would-be robber was eventually released, with Zajak saying he had learned his lesson.

 

A blurred image of Olga Zajac, who allegedly held would-be robber Viktor Jasinski prisoner for 3 days in a back room of her hair salon, where she fed him Viagra and had sex with him “a couple of times”
 

Jasinski went straight to the police and told them of his back-room ordeal, saying that he had been held hostage, handcuffed naked to a radiator, and fed nothing but Viagra.

Both have now been arrested.

When police arrived to question Zahjac, she said: ‘What a bastard. Yes, we had sex a couple of times. But I bought him new jeans, gave him food and even gave him 1,000 roubles when he left.”

All far too reminiscent of that famous scene from Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction

Update

Thanks to DM reader Tom for posting a link to Kiri Blakely‘s blog on Forbes, which explains that this story is over 2-years-old:

The entire wacky incident happened over two years ago, in April of 2009. Here is the Moscow Times story on it. The story wasn’t exactly underreported, either. Google “sex slave Moscow hair salon” and over 200,000 results come up, all of them dated April 2009.

The Daily Mail also acts like the Russian sex slave incident just happened today. Was there some new news here that would entail [the Daily Mail and Gawker] republishing this two-year-old story? Maybe a trial or sentencing or something? Not from what I can see in either the Gawker or Daily Mail pieces. It’s the same old story—though granted, it’s a good one!

Read the whole article here.
 

 
Via the Daily Mail
 

 
Brilliant!

“English, motherf*cker! Do you speak it?!”

(via TDW)

(via The Daily What)