Natural Born Killers (with Alex Kolpan)

Rotten Rewind

In 1994, Quentin Tarantino was on top of the film world. He had just won Cannes with "Pulp Fiction." He was riding the cult success of "Reservoir Dogs" and the Tony Scott-directed "True Romance." At the same time, Oscar-winning provocateur Oliver Stone desperately needed a hit after the box office failure of "Heaven and Earth." Months before "Pulp Fiction" premiered theatrically, Stone and Tarantino's "Natural Born Killers" debuted in dog days of summer amidst a torrent of controversy. Not only was there a heated critical debate taking place surrounding the artistic merits of the film, but the screenwriter himself was publicly disowning the film after claims that Stone had butchered his original vision.

Nearly 30 years later, "Natural Born Killers" remains a polarizing work. Years before films like "Fight Club" and "The Matrix" dominated the conversation of gun violence in the media, "Natural Born Killers" was the one of the tip of every conservative politician's tongue. Has the film endured as a satirical takedown of 90's media or is just a fascinating cultural artifact? Is it possible to make an intelligent or important satire in our social media saturated world today? Is Woody Harrelson one of our best, most underappreciated actors? Why won't Robert Downey, Jr. return to gonzo performances like this?

Filmmaker and writer Alex Kolpan returns to the podcast to answer all these questions and more, right here on America's #1 podcast.

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