Here’s a major scoop courtesy of THR.
Quentin Tarantino’s 10th, and presumably, final film will be called “The Movie Critic.” That is the name of the script that Tarantino wrote and is set to direct this fall, according to THR’s sources.
Logline details are being kept in a suitcase but sources describe the story as being set in late 1970s Los Angeles with a female lead at its center.
The minute I saw that title, I immediately thought about the late great Pauline Kael, which Tarantino has very fondly spoken of over the years. Lo and behold, THR mentions Kael in their story:
It is possible the story focuses on Pauline Kael, one of the most influential movie critics of all time. Kael, who died in 2001, was not just a critic but also an essayist and novelist. She was known for her pugnacious fights with editors as well as filmmakers. In the late 1970s, Kael had a very brief tenure working as a consultant for Paramount, a position she accepted at the behest of actor Warren Beatty. The timing of that Paramount job seems to coincide with the setting of the script — and the filmmaker is known to have a deep respect for Kael, making the odds of her being the subject of the film more likely.
So, if this indeed about her, who plays Kael? She was 4 feet 11 inches.
This also puts to rest all the rumors that veered towards the R-rated “Star Trek” being Tarantino’s final film of his career. Thank God.
Tarantino has been insisting that he plans to quit making movies after his 10th feature. Of course, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” was his ninth film, so that just leaves us with one more.
This whole notion of retiring after ten movies comes from Tarantino’s theory that a director’s quality of work only gets worse as their career goes along. Tarantino wants his filmography to be perfect or, as he puts it, “without a misfire.”