First off, thank you Alex Urie for pointing that out. No sarcasm, some of the people here forget that their voice does not equal fact. That being said….
Having seen/read enough Tarantino interviews, Q&A’s, etc.., I can honestly say that he is not a hack. Everyone emulates in their films one way or another, it just happens. Tarantino is just a lot more open about it, and when he does it, he makes it his own. When it comes down to it, I think he’s a great filmmaker and its a shame I feel alone here, because I feel that trashing him has just become the cool thing to do. Too many people keep speaking without having any info to back them up.
He’s a racist? Just because of the characters in his movie? Who usually end up being ignorant or bad. What’s that say about his views on racism? Tarantino grew up in a very black community with plenty of black family and friends.
Out of all the excuses I’ve heard for people not liking Tarantino, that last page was probably the worst. I seriously wouldn’t have any problem if some just said “He’s not my cup of tea.” (now waiting for numerous posts saying just that) If it weren’t for a select few on this site, I believe the lot of TA users are snobby film students and people in the film industry who feel that what they say is more meaningful only because of their line of work. just gets my man-panties in a bunch……
even if no one reads that, I feel better getting it out…
Personally, Tarantino has fallen out of favor with me too over the years. I’ve enjoyed everything he’s done to some extent,but perhaps a little bit less each time. I just can’t bring myself to see Grindhouse, not my cup of tea, seriously. And I have to agree with you there Stephen. Sometimes it’s like trying to argue with people that you have better taste in music. As much as you may believe it, you don’t say it.
That being said, it doesn’t get any better these last 28 years than Jim Jarmusch!
yea just watched down by law the other day. mmmm. fantastic stuff.
Ed Wood. Because He did it first.
trashing him is the cool thing to do now. that’s true. it seems to be the newest bandwagon, especially with the critical community.
i’m gonna keep riding with tarantino though, till the wheels fall off. because i’ll be laughing when one day, years and years from now, people re-evaluate him and realize that he was one of the greats. it’ll be really funny too, because he was first overrated, then seriously underrated.
“pulp fiction” is a monumental classic of postmodern hollywood cinema. it’ll be on the national film registry soon enough. a genuine american cultural artifact. hate it or love it.
Was overrated, is overrated, always will be overrated! I hate everything about Tarantino
I think that you have to really see what Tarantino has done and is doing. Whether you like his movies or hate his movies, EVERYBODY is talking about them and he is only getting more inspired. It is kind of like Rocky movies or Jason movies. Even though you know what is going to happen in them, you still have to see them to be sure you didn’t miss anything. THIS IS THE ESSENCE OF TARANTINO’S FAME. Whether you like him or hate him, everybody is rubbernecking his next movie like a bad accident…some hoping to see improvement from Pulp Fiction days, and others just to see if he (according to them) is losing his skills and running out of steam. What we fail to realize is that because both parties are watching his movies, he is generating lots of movie tickets, and is therefore a sound director of movies by ticket sales alone. If you don’t like his movies, DON’T WATCH ‘EM!! But stop dissing the greatest director of our time because he ain’t your cup of tea. People who are ignorant of cinema from the 60’s and 70’s WILL NOT GET TARANTINO’S ideas. Period. IF that is you, either bone up on your movie rentals like STRAW DOGS, COFFY, DEATH RACE 2000, etc. and then pop in Pulp Fiction or Jackie Brown. OH AND LET ME CLEAR SOMETHING UP…FINCHER IS A GREAT DIRECTOR, BUT HIM AND TARANTINO ARE LIKE APPLES AND ORANGES. COMPLETELY DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES AND GENRE. SOME DIRECTORS STAND ALONE IN THEIR WORK. FINCHER, HITCHCOCK, KUBRICK, ARGENTO, BAVA, FULCI…WHY COMPARE THESE MEN? THEY ARE ALL FANTASTIC AND VERY, VERY, VERY DIFFERENT FILMMAKERS!!!!! And DEATH PROOF is so chock full of brilliance that I could teach a film class on it. And if you don’t believe me, I’ll follow this post up later with it’s brilliance. Everything in that movie is IMPORTANT, from the very first word spoken to the music playing in the bar. I love it, though, that everybody thinks it sucks. It just shows that our country is in the toilet. Tarantino SOOOOO knew what he was doing from his casting in that movie to the long (boring, to most…but important) dialogue. This movie was meant to be his masterpiece by him. And when you have EVERY great stuntman that ever lived working on this movie say that in all of their career they have never worked for a greater director…something’s gotta be right there!!! I put Death Proof as his #1 movie, Reservoir Dogs as #2 (this movie was the prelude to PULP FICTION…without Reservoir Dogs, no one would have known what to expect with PULP), Pulp Fiction as #3 (This movie made him famous), KIll Bill as #4 (I don’t look at this as 1 and 2 because it is one whole movie), and yes Jackie Brown is dead last, not because it is a bad movie, but because he really just made a Pam Grier movie – this really wasn’t original…kind of like when he directed CSI, the show itself was his template and we saw alot more of CSI than Tarantino (the sets were CSI sets that looked nothing like any of Tarantino’s movies)
Jackie Brown is his best film. For me it’s his only “real” film. Everything else he’s done is simply reference other films and pop culture, though I do like his other films on a superficial level. He has a great hodge podge style that would be better if he tried to be original. He’s been running out of steam since he released Kill Bill vol. 1.
The only thing I LOVED about Death Proof was Kurt Russell. He’s the only thing that makes the film watchable.
And randomly, what’s with Eli Roth acting?
Jackie Brown is pop culture. It is one huge reference. Have you watched Foxy Brown or Coffy? He is totally just trying to make one of those films. And he does it well. But your comment about “real” film? This movie was his BIGGEST pop culture reference and his least original movie including the music which came from Coffy. Watch Death Proof again…there is more than Kurt Russell in that movie. I promise you.
Yes I am familiar of Pam Grier’s career, and Jackie Brown does reference blaxploitation films (I never said it didn’t … or did, but I just assumed that was obvious), but the film actually has a story populated with real characters instead of caricatures. All his films are simply emulations of older better films (Reservoir Dogs = Taking of Pelham 1 2 3? – among others of course, also The Killing). All his other films do(especially Death Proof) is showcase his knowledge of film. They’re self-aware but they don’t reach the level of parody. However, he does at times create a film that is his own even though it seems his intention was to imitate, so despite himself he’s had inspired moments.
And about him including music from Coffy, he does that in every film. What about the Dukes of Hazzard music cue in Death Proof? How anticlimatic was that? I guess I like Jackie Brown because it’s subtly clever. He was more confidant in that he doesn’t have to drive a point home by constantly battering the audience with a pop culture reference.
While you are correct his movies showcase his knowledge of film (especially Death Proof), we do have to credit him also with his vast knowledge and use of pop culture. Other directors will throw pop culture in their films, but pop culture is like a trademark to Quentin’s work. I believe that it creates nostalgia. I liked the Dukes of Hazzard music cue because what it did was it showed that the mood of the chase had lightened up (the audience was supposed to laugh at this point because Kurt Russell is no longer the big bad wolf as he was at the beginning, and it is black comedy he uses). I actually thought when I watched Death Proof for the very first time that that music cue was perfectly timed and used. I can understand why maybe you didn’t care for it, but I loved it. Jackie Brown was good but it, to me, did not feel like a Quentin Tarantino movie. There was WAAAAYY too much Robert Forster’s character which we needed to see him be a tough guy (Quentin only showed us his potential to use some weapons that he never uses). Also, by the end of the movie I am not wanting to buy the Delfonics album but rather burn it. The audience is so sick of that song that is overused as well (and it is a good song). Another problem with Jackie Brown are Samuel L.Jackson and Robert De Niro. Samuel’s hair and beard were not cool to me at all. And his stupid Kangol hat just sealed his fate for me. Robert De Niro did not play a good bumbling idiot fresh out of prison to me. Sid Haig was about the nicest and warmest judge I have ever seen in a movie.The story was told well in Jackie Brown, but the movie was TOOOO long. I remember that point in the film where I began to say, “Let’s get this thing over with!!!” There were parts of the movie I loved. The chicks who love guns video at the beginning was fantastic (aside from Samuel’s crappy interp of each gun). I liked the music, though one song being way overused (which I know was intentional). Pam Grier to me did not get used to her fullest (how come Quentin never uses full nudity?).Anyways, Deckard…I can say something GOOD about all of Quentin’s movies but you and I are polar opposites I am afraid to say. Kudos to your comments. I don’t want everyone to agree with my ideas. That would be boring.
Lynch
Cronenberg
Russell (Ken)
Kiarostami
Renoir
Ozu
Mizoguchi
Fassbinder
Miyazaki
Kieslowski
Angelopoulus
Altman
Kurosawa
Carne
Bresson
Rohmer
Rivette
Visconti
Watkins
Straub/Huillet
Tarr
Jia Zhangke
Pedro Costa
Edward Yang
Tsai Ming Liang
Weerasethakul
Masumura
Haneke
Gianvito
Kubrick
Charles Burnett
Tarkovsky
Sukorov
Muratova
Ray
Reed
Mann
Malick
Roeg
Verhoeven
Fuller
Wong
Oshii
Bertolucci
Antonioni
Resnais
Godard
Reisz
Scorcese
Wilder
Ford
Hawks
DePalma
Von Trier
Hitchcock
Peckinpah
Gilliam
Haynes
Cuaron
Melville
Maddin
Kitano
Lang
Dassin
And like 500 more in no particular order. I realize you probably meant living, american directors but if you haven’t seen a film by someone on this list it will probably feel new to you whether it’s from 2001 or 1931.
He’s better than Michael Bay, but not as good as Norman Taurog.
THIS IS TO MIKE SPENCE. YOU HAVE NAMED A BUNCH OF GREAT DIRECTORS, BUT TO SAY THEY ARE BETTER THAN EACH OTHER IS LIKE SAYING BACH IS BETTER THAN BEETHOVEN, WHEN IN ESSENCE WE NEED BOTH OF THEM EQUALLY AND FOR DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO CLASSICAL MUSIC. TARANTINO DOES THINGS SO DIFFERENTLY, HE SHOULD STRICTLY BE IN A CATEGORY BY HIMSELF, NOT COMPARED TO ANY OTHER DIRECTOR. WHO HAS MADE MOVIES TODAY LIKE TARANTINO? THE ONLY ONE I CAN THINK OF IS ROBERT RODRIGUEZ, AND HE ACTUALLY DOES A BETTER JOB IN GRINDHOUSE THAN TARANTINO. MY ONLY QUALM WITH RODRIGUEZ IS HE LEANS ON THE CRUTCHES OF DIGITAL CG EFFECTS WHILE TARANTINO IS STILL USING FILM.
I don’t care if Tarantino steals, borrows, emulates (choose your euphemism) from anyone as long as his films entertain, and they do.
Just like I could care less if Fassbinder apes Sirk, Scorcese takes from Ford, DePalma keeps trying to make a Hitchcock film…if the end result is good (and in many cases they’re GREAT), then I hope Tarantino continues to do what he does. I loved RD, PF, JB, KB I, KB II and GH/DP…I can’t wait for IB.
and to answer the original question…yeah, there’s a ton of directors better than him (whatever that means)…and there are a ton of directors, in my opinion, better than Bresson, Godard, and Bergman…
Daniel, we’re probably just going to have to agree to disagree because me telling you that Tarantino isn’t that great isn’t going to make you like him less. I think your analogy probably only holds up with some of the contemporary director’s I listed. With most of the old masters it would be more like comparing Bach to Phillip Glass.
I agree to disagree…and OUCH on the Phillip Glass comment.
i disagree with Danny Boyle i think he’s one of the most overrated directors
sunshine, the beach and that awful follow up to an already faltering concept 28 days later are complete non-starters
as for his ‘masterpieces’ slumdog and trainspotting ….they were ok i guess
Better? The entire roster of the DGA to begin with.
There should be a seperate forum devoted to explicit discussion of Trunk Shot’s “skills”.
All the ones he ripped off.
I find Tarantino pretentious, he seems to follow the homogenous casting habits of Hollywood, very rarely are there any unknowns casted in his films. I watched Rob Zombie’s ‘A House of 1000 corpses’ though it is deliberately plagiaristic, he manages to deal with subversiveness and escapes the pretentions of the reliance of a Hollywood cast…where as Tarantino synthesizes pop culture into the mainstream, I feel Zombie is one of the view director’s in his particular genres today that can synthesize counter culture into the mainstream..I think Tarantino tries to do this but without much luck due to his Hollywood bias which if not intelligently manipulated can contradict counter culture themes. – O
few directors I meant!
Mr. King
I will go there. I think Jackie Brown is by far the best thing he’s done.