Critical Analysis: Quentin Tarantino

Don't think I need to say anything new here, we all know who he is.

Quentin Tarantino Says to Expect Just Two More Films

 

Haven't see a bad film of his ever, even his worst one is better than most films released the same year. I like the idea they were kicking around with him maybe doing a netflix limited series. All of his films are really long anyway, even when cut for time so a 10 ep series with his characters fleshed out would work amazingly.

 

I thought these threads would all be about Christopher Nolan and Michael Bay, but you have done a really good job in picking people who straddle the line between arthouse and commercial recognition. These add a lot of value.

 

I love all of his movies, one of my favorite directors. It's tough to pick a favorite, but right now I would probably say Inglorious Basterds.

 

Reservoir Dogs will always be my top 1, but Inglorious and Pulp Fiction always flip flop in my mind for 2 and 3.

 

Thanks, that's definitely what I'm going for. I mean the main goal is to foster actual discussion (more than just "oh yeah, I like that director's films) but also to find directors that aren't so obscure that no one knows enough to about them to join the discussion.

I'm always open to suggestions for future threads too.

 

One thing I don't really understand is why The Hateful Eight seemed like it was almost ignored when it was released, at least in comparison to his last few movies. It's definitely not a crowd pleaser like Django or Basterds, but it was interesting to see the relative lack of interest from the general public.

 

I loved Hateful 8. I think it came out in a crowded December release. Star Wars was all the rage and if anyone wanted to see a smaller film, it was between The Revenant and Hateful 8. I remember Revenant doing a lot better at the boxoffice, so I think people went with the long movie in the snow that had the better trailers.

The movie itself is like a stage play, just dialog in one setting for the most part. i can see why the main stream audience didn't connect like it did with Django. That and reviews were just so/so.

 

I think that it was overshadowed by Star Wars and The Revenant. Star Wars just because it was literally the only thing people were talking about last December. And then, if you wanted to see the more adult-friendly R rated film, I think more people decided on The Revenant.

 

Hmmmmmmm lol

 

Jumping in to say Jackie Brown is a very underrated film. Might even be my fav after Resevoire Dogs.

 

I loved The hateful eight when I saw it in theaters, but I've had no desire to go back and watch it since then. That's actually how I've felt with most of his movies (pulp fiction being the exception). I think his movies are great in the moment, but they don't stick in my mind for very long after

 

seen all the films he's directed except for Jackie Brown, The Kill Bill movies and Death Proof

I think Inglorious would also be my favorite if only just because Shosanna might be his best character

 

The Hateful Eight is lesser Tarantino, but it is an unqualified masterpiece when compared to The Revenant.

Quentin Tarantino is a director that keeps seeming like he is on the edge of failing, but somehow continues to take these films that sound like utter trash and make something memorable. In early 2009, after the disappointment many people felt (wrongly) about Death Proof, the original trailer for Inglourious Basterds looked awful.

There is not even a glimpse of Hans Landa, the German spy is relegated to a slight shot, and the true protagonist of the film appears to be a marginal character. It looks like a culmination of Tarantino's most id-based impulses, including an action scene that is not even in the movie. For those of you who did not see it when it came out, imagine going to the theater and realizing that the movie is mostly in French and features the Basterds as one of two competing stories, and arguably the less interesting one. There were a lot of people in the theater who had obviously liked the trailer and felt duped, but it confirmed that Tarantino should never be doubted.

Reservoir Dogs is his weakest film, a time where Tarantino was showing off his style while simultaneously being unable to master it. It is obviously the work of a young and unproven director, but it was obviously audacious enough to show where he would go. Tarantino famously was never formally trained, and things like the Madonna-tipping scene and the interlude about Mr. Orange infiltrating the gang are signs of Tarantino working these things out. Its commitment to violence and kinetic movement makes it very appealing to many people, but he would do so much more with that in future films.

The two films he wrote but did not direct (True Romance and Natural Born Killers) are the greatest argument for auteur theory that there can be. Compared to Reservoir Dogs, these three films are wildly different in tone, and they arguably stand farther apart than any other two Tarantino-directed films do. True Romance is a much more wistful version of the Tarantino standard, and the decision to keep Slater's character alive after initially killing him off is the rare case where a happy ending is preferable to the pre-ordained path. Natural Born Killers, like so much late period Oliver Stone, is just too unpleasant to sit through more than once. Oliver Stone has always made films this way, but in his greatest films he found a way to give us someone to root for. His negativity was not a match to a Tarantino script that features such amoral characters.

Vignette-style films almost always suffer from the unequal quality of its parts, but Pulp Fiction is put together so perfectly that the tonal shifts never feel forced despite jumps in time, setting, and characters. The portions of the film with Vincent, Jules, and Mia are the most memorable and most ingrained into pop culture, but it makes you forget how Butch's story ties it all together. Think of how tough of an act it is for that sequence to take place in between a heroin overdose and the return of our favorite characters, but it does it in a way that makes Jules a more prophetic character and Vincent more foolish and short-sighted. It is something many directors have tried to do before, but they always go too far in trying to make connections. 2006's Babel tried to connect characters in the United States, Mexico, and all the way to Japan. 2005's Crash tried to tick off a box of every group in Los Angeles. By doubling back to two characters we have only seen briefly, it adds more weight to everything Vincent does wrong and it makes the conversation about the ramifications of a foot massage to a gangster's wife more real.

 

Even if he stops directing after 10 films, I still hope he continues screenwriting. He could write a movie that takes place entirely within a car stuck in traffic with two characters chatting back and fourth and I'd still watch it.

 

He is truly the king of dialogue driven work.

 

The opening scene of Basterds is probably my favorite scene of all time.

 

I remember watching that for the first time and being absolutely enthralled. I don't watch a whole lot of movies, so this really captivated me. It's such a long scene, the tension is so damn thick. Probably my favorite Tarantino movie as well.

 

Remarkable that he was about to scrap Inglourious Basterds because he couldn't find someone who could pull off Landa, and then Christoph Waltz walks in.

 

One of my favorite directors. Still haven't seen Hateful Eight (plan to this weekend), but even his worst (Jackie Brown imo) is better than most.

I constantly go from Reservoir Dogs and Inglourious Basterds for my favorite of his. Can't choose.

 

He had talked about a World War II movie for a while. There were even rumors of Adam Sandler, of all people, having a starring role.

 

After recently watching Punch Drunk Love I would be very interested to see Quentin direct Sandler.

 

It wouldn't be the first time working together. Tarantino played a preacher in Little Nicky

 

While he meant a lot more to me when I was a kid just getting into movies and films, I still will see anything the man does. I did the 70mm Roadshow for H8ful, had so much fun. The man is a film library, and I think that's what makes his films so unique. That they aren't his... not claiming any sort of plagiarism. He wears his influences on his sleeve and created a whole new genre. Many try to be like him, but there will only be one.

 

Just watched True Romance again the other day and it's scary how well it still holds up. A movie so good that even the cameo performances are as good or better than the main cast.