Quentin Tarantino

Quentin Tarantino has revitalized the film industry.  His work is not really meaningful, but appeals to movie goers on the basest of levels. Recreating the love for cinema by recreating genres to the point of art.  His visual style is spectacular, while his characters are colorful and gritty.  His use of non-linear story telling runs rampant through much of his work.  With his use of popular music, Tarantino has the ability to elevate one hit wonders to the point of classics.

Reservoir Dogs: With characters names immediately disguised, he makes it easy for us to distinguish good guy from bad guy, even when they are all bad guys. No Honor Among Thieves, takes a new meaning in this one with great performances by Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth and Michael Madsen as the sadistic Mr. Blonde.


Pulp Fiction: So many stories to tell, somehow you come out liking everybody, even though no one is a real pillar of society.  Revitalized the stagnant career of John Travolta. My head just spins as I try to imagine how to tell the story chronologically.  The story of the Gold Watch as told by Christopher Walken is a Hoot.


Kill Bill Vol. 1:  An homage to the Martials Arts film, this one about a league of assassins, who set out to kill one of their own, only to fail, leading to an obsessive need for revenge.  Lots of great choreographed fight sequences (hand-to-hand and sword play) elevate genre to amazing spectacle.  The Bride gets her day.
One of my favorite scenes comes from this movie.  When Uma Thurman opens a door looking for Lucy Lui, we see a very peaceful Japanese garden with snow falling.  A clapping is heard as the soundtrack rolls to Santa Esmerelda's Latin disco cover of "Don't let Me Be Misunderstood".

Notable Exceptions:  Of course, my volume of "The Book" was printed prior to the release of "Kill Bill, Vol 2" its inclusion as a notable exception is absolute.  This being said, "Inglourious Basterds" was released in September, where Tarantino recreates the genre of "Secret Mission War Movie" not really popular in a few decades.  It has more in common with the fantasy genres, since it rewrites history with a great big "if only this could have happened".  Brad Pitt's Major Aldo Raine is the kind of role that he is meant to play. The over the top, half prize fighter, half mental patient with a little stand-up comic added for good measure.

Tarantino has collaborated with Robert Rodriguez many times, who's El Mariachi/Desperado movie have been fun, but his filming of "Sin City" was a masterpiece not so much in story or dialog but in the overall look of the production that almost seemed to have been pulled directly from the sourced graphic novel by Frank Miller.