I liked OUaTiHollywood. It’s very dense and cerebral compared to most Tarantino movies. Lots of funny scenes and touches.
My current QT ranking:
Kill Bill
Django Unchained
Death Proof
Reservoir Dogs
Inglourious Basterds
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
The Hateful Eight
Pulp Fiction
Jackie Brown
Ascending or descending?
Descending
But Jackie Brown is still a good movie that I like quite a bit
Agreed, generally sorting QT films are trying to order things on a scale that only goes from 9 to 10.
I think I’m mostly surprised by how high you ranked Death Proof. It’s the only film of his I’ve wholly disliked.
I feel like we’ve hashed this out before, but
Death Proof is a very enjoyable, focused work dedicated to taking a group of movies that he loves (grindhouse); to, in the form of a kidding pastiche, reveal, critique, and subvert the male gaze (including QT’s own) and inherent sexism of those movies; and to countering those flaws via an act of feminist mythmaking that invites women to blow up the clubhouse on their way in. To so clearly understand, critique, and correct one’s own deep-seated nostalgic love is tremendously admirable and impressive, and also basically unheard of in the age of Stranger Things.
On top of that, it’s the purest form of Tarantino’s latter period tension/release structure outside of Basterds, features one of, if not the, best non-Fury Road car chase of the decade, has the best Kurt Russell performance in ages, and is generally very well crafted in all respects, including writing, directing, editing, acting, and in the category of Clowning On Eli Roth.
Honestly, it’s only not higher on my list because Django is a more culturally profound contribution to American cinema and Kill Bill is a rich, viscerally heartfelt pop art masterpiece (at more than twice the length).
Jackie Brown
Django Unchained
Pulp Fiction
---
Reservoir Dogs
Kill Bill
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
---
Inglorious Basterds
The Hateful Eight
Death Proof
Top tier are honourable mention material if I wrote one of those big posts about their given years.
Well, since it came up, I've been (very very slowly) doing a QT rewatch. Especially of some of the old ones I haven't seen in ages.
Reservoir Dogs
Haven't seen this movie in ages. Like, since before Pulp Fiction came out I think. If not before then certainly right afterword. Back when Tarantino was like this "OMG, have you heard of this new guy named Quentin Tatantino?" buzz thing from random people you met who liked movies right before they jammed a beat up VHS into your palm and said "Watch this shit!".
I don't know if I'm just better at watching movies now or if I'm just so used to this stuff now but the main thing I noticed now as compared to my hazy memories is that this movie is way way less confusing then I recall. I wouldn't even count it as non-linear. It's a pretty straightforward story in the present with a few extended flashback sequences (very Stephen King).
Honestly, it also felt kinda short. But maybe that's just me used to Tarantino liking to make him some long movies these days.
Anyway, it was enjoyable. Great performances, some really fun dialogue and scenes. But overall it just felt kinda ... slight? Not really much. In hindsight it almost feels like a proof of concept. Or a creator getting their sea legs.
It was fun but I'd probably rank it overall fairly low as far as Tarantino films go.
Reservoir Dogs is at the top of my list because even in 2019, it feels shockingly raw. I can't even imagine seeing it in 1992- after the prevailing 80s Hollywood trends of family-friendly shmaltz, campiness, sincerity and optimism- suddenly here is this nasty, violent, cynical hand grenade of a film lobbed in the middle of all that. Not just that, but it's one of the Tarantino films that feels the most... complete, for lack of a better word? Like, it has a dead simple premise (jewelry robbery goes wrong, but we don't see the robbery, just the before and after) and it accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do, no more and no less. Its vision is fully realized. I dunno, I'm also a sucker for minimalism and stories that take place mostly in a single room.
Watched it when it come out. The torture scene is one of the tensest scenes I’ve ever seen. Had no clue what was going to happen next and Orange shooting Blonde was a profound climax and release to unbearable tension.
At the time, and still, scenes where you have no clue what will happen next are rare and worth treasuring.
Also, let's be honest with ourselves: Mr. Pink is the hero of the story.
Intelligent, honest and sticks to his principles. That's why he lives.
Reservoir Dogs:
Pink is too loyal, or at least too beholden to the group—he keeps telling himself they should split, he should split, there’s a fuckin rat and he never should have even gone to the rendezvous, but he doesn’t. That’s why, even though he lives, he still gets arrested.
Also, let's be honest with ourselves: Mr. Pink is the hero of the story.
Intelligent, honest and sticks to his principles. That's why he lives.
Reservoir Dogs:
Pink is too loyal, or at least too beholden to the group—he keeps telling himself they should split, he should split, there’s a fuckin rat and he never should have even gone to the rendezvous, but he doesn’t. That’s why, even though he lives, he still gets arrested.
I mean, yeah. But he's against tipping. So clear winner. :P
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TexiKenDammit!That fish really got me!Registered Userregular
Kill Bill 2 just completely cancels out Kill Bill 1 for me.
I've appreciated and liked Jackie Brown more and more as I watch almost once a year, it's not as flashy as his other stuff but it's just so clean and I really like how they frame the drop in the end.
Probably go Basterds, Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, and then the others and at the very bottom is Kill Bill 2.
Inglourious Basterds started off really really interesting to me with basically everything about the first 20 minutes of the movie, that I actually forgot for a second it was a Tarantino movie and thus turns into the only thing QT knows how to do. So that movie ended up a tad disappointing to me, but that's partially my own fault for expecting it would be anything different.
I really liked Django Unchained and Kill Bill though, and the rest of them remind me of just how long it has been since I've seen any of QT's other movies and I should really watch some of them again. Pulp Fiction was 25 years ago? Jesus.
15 of those first 20 minutes was Christopher Waltz winning his oscar several times over, so I'm not suprised.
AstaerethIn the belly of the beastRegistered Userregular
The opening of OUaTi Hollywood is in some ways a reworking of that Basterds opening—in both scenes, an apparently innocuous conversation with a visiting authority figure ends by laying a man bare to his limitations. Although in Basterds the authority essentially conquers by demonstrating the truth of his own reputation, while in Hollywood he does so by undermining the other man’s.
The buried theme in any Tarantino scene you can name is the gap between the persona (the fiction, the legend, the ideal, who they are believed to be, who they believe themselves to be, who they want others to believe them to be) and the person. Every film is, on one level, about the persona being tested by reality, or by coming into conflict with a different person’s persona. Are the jewel thieves really the tough guys they want to be seen as? Is Jackie Brown a nobody or is she Jackie Brown? Can the Bride define her own story? (Or Django, or the Basterds, or Stuntman Mike theirs?) In Hollywood, it’s, can these over the hill B-movie/TV cowboys live up to their roles? Or does the Manson side get to achieve their self-enacted mythology?
It’s this that makes Tarantino’s references, allusions, and remixes more than the sum of their parts—in his films, culture is always the yardstick against which all are measured.
Did not expect the dislike of Jackie Brown! I thought that was one of the good ones.
I don't think anyone here actually dislikes Jackie Brown, just thinks it's "only" a 9 out of 10. For my part, I've never liked the way
after all Ordell's paraonoid bluster about how if literally anything unexpected happens he will instantly shoot Max, he then saunters into the bond shop and immediately gives up his cover so he can then get shot cleanly by Ray.
If nothing else, you should watch it because Tarantino is one of our greatest living directors and you should see all of his stuff on principle.
Death Proof feels, to me, like Tarantino just kind of dicking around for funsies. It's a testament to his skill that his dicking around is still better than most people's serious efforts, but it does feel comparatively inconsequential.
It's still pretty fun in the back half, even if it starts a little slow.
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AstaerethIn the belly of the beastRegistered Userregular
Did not expect the dislike of Jackie Brown! I thought that was one of the good ones.
Jackie Brown would be a lot of directors’ best movie
I think when comparing it to the other Hanzo swords it loses a little something by not being purely QT’s voice (as a Leonard adaptation), in his early period when his voice was his best asset, before he had actual money and a really good visual palette
Kiki's Delivery Service and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: a comparative analysis
Both movies:
-take place in a cozy, nostalgic past-that-never-was
-are slower-paced, slice-of-life movies with a high-octane climax
-have a faithful animal sidekick
-deal with feelings of losing one's gift and purpose in life
-have lots of traveling sequences
(Note: I think Kiki is a significantly better movie than Hollywood. Also, although Miyazaki is no stranger to over-the-top gross-out violence – see Princess Mononoke – he would never do anything as tasteless as the climax of Hollywood.)
I would watch a fan edit that was the first hour of Kiki's and the last hour of Hollywood.
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Was pretty excited to finally get to see the summer’s big movie, an auteur director’s love letter centered around the life of an actress and the films she starred in.
The remaster of Satoshi Kon’s Millennium Actress!
I thought it was fantastic. The story follows a pair of documentarians chronicling the life of an aged actress. They are essentially pulled into living through her memories.
The direction is the strongest point of the movie, with Kon’s trademark transitions blending perfectly between her life and her films. There’s some really cool tricks too, like the animation frame rate changing in the Samurai movie scene to mimic the shaky cam of certain samurai movies. Big fan of the soundtrack too.
I caught the sub, but I’m tempted to see the dub when it rolls back on Monday.
QT rankings, huh? I haven't yet seen Hollywood... or, to my shame, the Westerns. I should probably rectify that...
(Descending)
Kill Bill
Jackie Brown
Inglourious Basterds
Reservoir Dogs
Death Proof
Pulp Fiction
The top five are on that 9 to 10 scale thing (top three 10s, next two 9s), but I'd probably put PF as an 8 on that scale. It's certainly a well-crafted movie by a director fulfilling some of the immense promise his excellent debut showed, but for some reason it's just never quite done it for me. It's always left me feeling a bit underwhelmed, like it's somehow less than the sum of its parts. Not a popular opinion, I know.
Even amongst the terrific soundtracks of many Tarantino flicks, Death Proof has an absolutely brilliant one.
Chick Habit is one of the catchiest end credit songs ever.
Imma go listen to it right now.
I submitted an entry to Lego Ideas, and if 10,000 people support me, it'll be turned into an actual Lego set!If you'd like to see and support my submission, follow this link.
I'd say Jose Padilha. I think he did a fine job with Robocop 2014, within things like the PG-13 limitations. Let him loose without those shackles.
Also J.A. Bayona impressed me with Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, and I greatly respected his using practical effects so much in that movie. I could see his style translating well to Robocop.
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It’s also hard to count it as one of QT’s movies when it’s, like, an hour long
I feel like we’ve hashed this out before, but
Death Proof is a very enjoyable, focused work dedicated to taking a group of movies that he loves (grindhouse); to, in the form of a kidding pastiche, reveal, critique, and subvert the male gaze (including QT’s own) and inherent sexism of those movies; and to countering those flaws via an act of feminist mythmaking that invites women to blow up the clubhouse on their way in. To so clearly understand, critique, and correct one’s own deep-seated nostalgic love is tremendously admirable and impressive, and also basically unheard of in the age of Stranger Things.
On top of that, it’s the purest form of Tarantino’s latter period tension/release structure outside of Basterds, features one of, if not the, best non-Fury Road car chase of the decade, has the best Kurt Russell performance in ages, and is generally very well crafted in all respects, including writing, directing, editing, acting, and in the category of Clowning On Eli Roth.
Honestly, it’s only not higher on my list because Django is a more culturally profound contribution to American cinema and Kill Bill is a rich, viscerally heartfelt pop art masterpiece (at more than twice the length).
1. Reservoir Dogs
2. Inglorious Basterds
3. Pulp Fiction
4. Jackie Brown
5. Django Unchained
6. Kill Bill
7. The Hateful Eight
But yeah, they're all good.
Django Unchained
Pulp Fiction
---
Reservoir Dogs
Kill Bill
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
---
Inglorious Basterds
The Hateful Eight
Death Proof
Top tier are honourable mention material if I wrote one of those big posts about their given years.
Reservoir Dogs
Haven't seen this movie in ages. Like, since before Pulp Fiction came out I think. If not before then certainly right afterword. Back when Tarantino was like this "OMG, have you heard of this new guy named Quentin Tatantino?" buzz thing from random people you met who liked movies right before they jammed a beat up VHS into your palm and said "Watch this shit!".
I don't know if I'm just better at watching movies now or if I'm just so used to this stuff now but the main thing I noticed now as compared to my hazy memories is that this movie is way way less confusing then I recall. I wouldn't even count it as non-linear. It's a pretty straightforward story in the present with a few extended flashback sequences (very Stephen King).
Honestly, it also felt kinda short. But maybe that's just me used to Tarantino liking to make him some long movies these days.
Anyway, it was enjoyable. Great performances, some really fun dialogue and scenes. But overall it just felt kinda ... slight? Not really much. In hindsight it almost feels like a proof of concept. Or a creator getting their sea legs.
It was fun but I'd probably rank it overall fairly low as far as Tarantino films go.
Intelligent, honest and sticks to his principles. That's why he lives.
At the time, and still, scenes where you have no clue what will happen next are rare and worth treasuring.
Choose Your Own Chat 1 Choose Your Own Chat 2 Choose Your Own Chat 3
Reservoir Dogs:
I mean, yeah. But he's against tipping. So clear winner. :P
I've appreciated and liked Jackie Brown more and more as I watch almost once a year, it's not as flashy as his other stuff but it's just so clean and I really like how they frame the drop in the end.
Probably go Basterds, Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, and then the others and at the very bottom is Kill Bill 2.
15 of those first 20 minutes was Christopher Waltz winning his oscar several times over, so I'm not suprised.
pleasepaypreacher.net
The buried theme in any Tarantino scene you can name is the gap between the persona (the fiction, the legend, the ideal, who they are believed to be, who they believe themselves to be, who they want others to believe them to be) and the person. Every film is, on one level, about the persona being tested by reality, or by coming into conflict with a different person’s persona. Are the jewel thieves really the tough guys they want to be seen as? Is Jackie Brown a nobody or is she Jackie Brown? Can the Bride define her own story? (Or Django, or the Basterds, or Stuntman Mike theirs?) In Hollywood, it’s, can these over the hill B-movie/TV cowboys live up to their roles? Or does the Manson side get to achieve their self-enacted mythology?
It’s this that makes Tarantino’s references, allusions, and remixes more than the sum of their parts—in his films, culture is always the yardstick against which all are measured.
I don't think anyone here actually dislikes Jackie Brown, just thinks it's "only" a 9 out of 10. For my part, I've never liked the way
If nothing else, you should watch it because Tarantino is one of our greatest living directors and you should see all of his stuff on principle.
Death Proof feels, to me, like Tarantino just kind of dicking around for funsies. It's a testament to his skill that his dicking around is still better than most people's serious efforts, but it does feel comparatively inconsequential.
It's still pretty fun in the back half, even if it starts a little slow.
Jackie Brown would be a lot of directors’ best movie
I think when comparing it to the other Hanzo swords it loses a little something by not being purely QT’s voice (as a Leonard adaptation), in his early period when his voice was his best asset, before he had actual money and a really good visual palette
Both movies:
-take place in a cozy, nostalgic past-that-never-was
-are slower-paced, slice-of-life movies with a high-octane climax
-have a faithful animal sidekick
-deal with feelings of losing one's gift and purpose in life
-have lots of traveling sequences
(Note: I think Kiki is a significantly better movie than Hollywood. Also, although Miyazaki is no stranger to over-the-top gross-out violence – see Princess Mononoke – he would never do anything as tasteless as the climax of Hollywood.)
The remaster of Satoshi Kon’s Millennium Actress!
I thought it was fantastic. The story follows a pair of documentarians chronicling the life of an aged actress. They are essentially pulled into living through her memories.
The direction is the strongest point of the movie, with Kon’s trademark transitions blending perfectly between her life and her films. There’s some really cool tricks too, like the animation frame rate changing in the Samurai movie scene to mimic the shaky cam of certain samurai movies. Big fan of the soundtrack too.
I caught the sub, but I’m tempted to see the dub when it rolls back on Monday.
Of course, not even his wiki's filmography lists it even though he wrote, directed, and acted in the final segment...
I unashamedly enjoy Four Rooms for its solid weirdness.
https://images.app.goo.gl/mHxFiVnT4HNGkFFo7
Quentin Tarantino’s Goddess of Go-Go
(Descending)
Kill Bill
Jackie Brown
Inglourious Basterds
Reservoir Dogs
Death Proof
Pulp Fiction
The top five are on that 9 to 10 scale thing (top three 10s, next two 9s), but I'd probably put PF as an 8 on that scale. It's certainly a well-crafted movie by a director fulfilling some of the immense promise his excellent debut showed, but for some reason it's just never quite done it for me. It's always left me feeling a bit underwhelmed, like it's somehow less than the sum of its parts. Not a popular opinion, I know.
Steam | XBL
now I want to watch Kiki's Retribution Service
The editor was having a blast.
That's certainly a movie.
Instead of Brandy doing the eviscerating, it's her cat? Sure, why not.
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"We'd rather tank it than wait." - MGM
Neil Blomkamp is such a weird bag. He's been attached to direct many things for them to fizzle out and what he has done has been a mixed bag....
District 9 is still amazing though.
Chick Habit is one of the catchiest end credit songs ever.
Imma go listen to it right now.
I'd say Jose Padilha. I think he did a fine job with Robocop 2014, within things like the PG-13 limitations. Let him loose without those shackles.
Also J.A. Bayona impressed me with Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, and I greatly respected his using practical effects so much in that movie. I could see his style translating well to Robocop.
/dons flameproof suit
Steam | XBL
pleasepaypreacher.net
Every generation needs a Guillermo del Toro, apparently