Podcast: "Writing for Tony Scott", Q & A with Quentin Tarantino & Richard Kelly

Just had a listen to this great podcast conducted by Jeff Goldsmith (Backstory magazine) with filmmakers Richard Kelly and Quentin Tarantino, who paid tribute to the late Tony Scott at a double feature screening of True Romance and Domino at the Los Angeles Film School last week. A really entertaining, candid listen if you have an hour or so to spare, packed with anecdotes where the directors talk about everything from script development to their personal and working relationship with Scott. What's especially interesting is how Scott figures in the generational gap between Tarantino and Kelly - the latter was only in high school when True Romance came out! The infectiousness of this Q+A is almost enough to make me want to revisit Domino...

R.I.P. Tony Scott

I'm probably the worst person to write obits, but the news of Top Gun director Tony Scott's suicide was such a mad shock it left me reeling and wanting to devote some space to the man. So here are some stray thoughts and things:

• Why was it such a shock? The dude's a mega-successful Hollywood director who didn't seem to have any problems with drugs or illnesses or any bad shit - at least none that was made public anyway. He just appeared to be this jovial, energetic British guy who made fast, flashy mainstream films and enjoyed doing so (he called directing "the best job in the world").
• He's not a critically acclaimed filmmaker. His films do not grace Top 10s. His increasingly ADD editing and visual style were often derided. But one wonders how, or if, in the sea of grief-stricken tweets and comments, taste matters. There are people saddened that the guy who made "one of the greatest films ever" Man on Fire has passed, or those exclaiming that Crimson Tide changed their life. The fact is Scott entertained a heck of a lot of people - even if his films weren't critical favourites. 
• Which brings me to this tweet... Harsh? Insensitive? Or painfully true? 

• It's entirely true that Scott is responsible - or at least partially - for a lot of what glossy modern blockbusters look and sound like these days, both the good and the bad.
• Reports initially stated Scott had inoperable brain cancer and that's why he jumped - now that's apparently incorrect. Truly bad form, ABC.
• For the record, my Scott faves: probably True Romance and The Last Boy Scout. 
• A collection of celeb reactions to his death here, and a proper obit here from BBC.