The Quentin Tarantino “Cinema Speculation” book tour continues on in Europe. Next stop: Barcelona, Spain.
What we do know so far about his next film, “The Movie Critic,” is that it will be shot this fall, the story is set in Los Angeles circa 1977, and the lead protagonist is male.
Tarantino gave us some brand new clues in Barcelona last night, insinuating that this isn’t going to be a revenge story like all of the films he’s made the last 20 years.
“There is a lot of speculation about who it is based on. And yes, he is a real critic, but he is not known […] it will also not be what you might call a “revenge story”.
Let’s give you a brief history about why I believe this next film is about William Margold.
Tarantino’s writings under the pseudonym of Jim Sheldon on the New Beverly website have gone totally under the radar. This made-up character is said to be a critic for the Hollywood Press (a cheap 70's porno magazine that featured mainstream movie criticism).
Tarantino has, more or less, admitted that Sheldon is based on William Margold — who he brings up in his book “Cinema Speculation” during the chapter on Paul Schrader’s “Hardcore”.
In the final years of his life, Margold had his own blog where he mentioned how Tarantino was an avid fan of his film criticsm. Margold claimed that Tarantino was obsessed with Hollywood Press and LA Xpress for 30 years, but he himself has admitted to hating Tarantino's movies.
Along with being a film critic, Margold was also the former director of the Free Speech Coalition and a co-founder of X-Rated Critics Organization and Fans of X-Rated Entertainment. He was a self-proclaimed “porn historian.”
Remember this post. I am almost certain that this next Tarantino film, supposedly his final one, is going to be based on Margold.