Fire up the Jungle Boogie and grab a $5 milkshake, because Quentin Tarantino is back in town with the title of his new movie. Tarantino's 10th, and purportedly final, project, is titled The Movie Critic, a suitably self-referential moniker from the director of Pulp Fiction and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, "sources describe the story as being set in late 1970s Los Angeles with a female lead at its centre." Rumour has it that the titular critic will be based on the late Pauline Kael, the pioneering and famously outspoken journalist for whom Tarantino has expressed admiration.
If this is the case, it's very Tarantino. He's always revelled in his ironically heightened regurgitation of genre ingredients and pop culture history, typically spinning events with violent and horrific twists. In recent years, Tarantino has branched out as a novelist, something that Kael also did, with his extended adaptation of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
We might, therefore, be about to get the ultimate self-reflexive statement on the power of copy in the movie industry. It remains to be seen whether Tarantino will shop his new movie to Sony who granted him extensive directorial privileges for his most recent movie. Either way, there's a huge spike of interest in the movie, especially if it's set to conclude Tarantino's storied and controversial career that has garnered him two Oscars.
Tarantino has in recent years expressed his desire to retire after making 10 films. He reasons that as directors age, the quality of their movies declines, so we'll see if he's about to go out on a high. Might we see a reunion with stalwarts Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Samuel L. Jackson and others? That would be the equivalent of a very tasty burger indeed.
Thoughts on Tarantino's new movie title? Let us know @Cineworld.