In celebration of the history re-writing masterpiece that is "Inglourious Basterds", I really began asking myself after the film if Quentin Tarantino, the feminine-acting, former video store employee who had seen everything on the shelves before writing the brilliant, action-genre changing script of "Reservoir Dogs", is this guy really the best director in Hollywood right now? Usually when the question of "Best Director" emerges, the names Spielberg, Scorsese, and even Danny Boyle come to mind. However, while Spielberg is known for his gross-intake, Scorsese for his bloody gang war epics, and Boyle for his exuberant colors and versatility, Quentin Tarantino can be known usually by two things, one good, one bad. Some consider him to be a rip-off and a hack, whose love for old samurai stories and revenge flicks go too far as he infuses some classic styling techniques into his films, thus creating the opinion that he's nothing more than a guy who meshes a bunch of things that have already been done together into one big mixing pot. Others consider him to be a wunderkind, someone who pays "homage" to these kinds of movies, while not denying his tactics for integrating classic film-making choices, instead finding his love for old films something admirable, while at the same time creating stories drenched in violence, anger, regret, and almost impossibly, something original and captivating while recycling some former used methods of movie-making.
Rankings of the Tarantino Movies I've Seen:
#2. (1994) Pulp Fiction - (**** out of ****) - A crooked boxer, two hit men, a druggie, and two robbers. This is what "Pulp Fiction" is about, as the lives of these degenerates intersect and crash to form a beautiful mess of ugliness. How Tarantino took this story, threw it out of order in terms of plotting, and was able to chronicle the lives of these pathetic people in compelling style is something that is a tough feat to overcome. There's a reason this movie was nominated for seven Academy Awards (with Tarantino and co-writer Roger Avary winning for Best Screenplay), because it's another one of the monumental movies of the 90's, a roaring triumph of storytelling and turning conversations about nothing into riveting, suspenseful sessions. Many hold this to be Tarantino's best fillm, noting the ability for him to not only hit the ball out of the park in his debut, but in his sophomore effort as well, this is what put him on the watch list. Although I still believe 'Dogs' to be a more perfect film, "Pulp Fiction" is indeed a masterpiece. Samuel L. Jackson gives the best performance in any of the Tarantino movies as a Bible-preaching, God-fearing, murdering mobster who entangles himself in many verbal quibbles when his partner (a terrific John Travolta) questions his beliefs and views on life as they do their "work". The ending scene between Jackson and a slimy Tim Roth (featured in a restaurant, which is ironically how the film begins) will have you on the edge of your seat, and is a perfect conclusion to an overall outstanding and impressive effort from Tarantino, yet again.
#3. (2009) Inglourious Basterds - (***1/2 out of ****) - Who in their right mind would change history, include a dark sense of humor into one of the touchiest subjects in world history, and thus create one of the defining movies of the year? Not many directors have showed such ambition in tackling such a tough subject, and turning it into a action-packed, occasionally humorous, dialogue driven epic that features golden performances all-around and an unforgettable ending. Like "Pulp Fiction", this film is multi-layered, with Tarantino instilling chapters between the stories of a sharp Nazi colonel (an eye-opening Christoph Waltz) tracking Jews, a beautiful young cinema owner (a fabulous debut performance from Melanie Laurent) whose theater is selected for showing German propaganda, while at the same time hosting many of the upper echelon members of the Nazi party, and finally, a group of rebel gangsters led by a snarling Tennessean (a fantastic Brad Pitt) whose ultimate goal of killing Hitler may not be as difficult as they think. Of the three terrific performances, it's Waltz who steals the show. The Austrian actor gives the best performance in a Tarantino film since Samuel L. Jackson in 'Fiction', creating a calm general with a fierce inner beast that when it's finally released, he proves to be extremely terrifying. Like most Tarantino films, this movie has a fair share of delicious dialogue, including an opening act between Waltz and a simpleton which features a soon-to-be iconic one-liner, as well as a unique transition from one language to another. A surprising component of this movie is accents, as every character seemingly has an ear for them, and this proves to be a important quality that influences the film heavily. What keeps this film from being perfect is it's ability for it to get a little to flashy, including a few snippets that proved a tad distracting. That's a small complaint though, this is a great film, one that should (and could) get nominated for Best Picture (and Waltz should, but might not, get a nomination for Best Supporting Actor). Don't be surprised if it becomes yet another cult classic as well over time.
#4. (2005) Sin City - (***1/2 out of ****) - While admittedly, Tarantino was credited as a "guest director" for this mainly Robert Rodriguez directed film, this movie still gets included in the list. This, like most Tarantino films, was a genre-bending film, combining noir elements with a stylistic action tale, including a black and white backdrop which highlighted only a few colors occasionally. Take the eyes of the Alexis Bledel prostitute character, the light blue represents her innocence located in a grim, dirty setting. This movie also served as testimony to great acting, including one of my favorite actors, Clive Owen, who has never been better in the role of protector over a young, beautiful waitress. Bruce Willis, Benecio del Toro, and Mickey Rourke are also excellent in their respected roles. Like "Pulp Fiction", this film concerns a lot of criminals in the underbelly of society, but, much like "Pulp Fiction", this film does a sensational job covering and detailing the lives of these very crooked and troubled individuals. The action sequences are hypnotizing, and whenever blood is drawn, it's literally sprayed on the screen. The dialogue, unsurprisingly, is sharp, and the script is consistently interesting and occasionally surprising. This is a intense, original, and overall satisfying action-thriller with a perfect setting and an even better set of characters.
#5. (2004) Kill Bill Vol. 2 - (***1/2 out of ****) - Sequels are unfairly stereotyped nowadays of being "not as good" as the original. This has proven true in some cases, but in my opinion, it's historially inaccurate ("The Dark Knight" is superior to "Batman Begins", and "The Empire Strikes Back" is the second film of the "Star Wars" series, and considered to be the masterpiece of the three, although I believe 'Jedi' is better). This film is another example of being better than the first movie, thanks in large part due to closure and more screen-time for it's poetic, yet still menacing villain (David Carradine, in an ideal role). While Vol. 1 features the best fight scene of the two movies, Vol. 2 is sharper in terms of storytelling capabilities. It also has one of the better escape scenes I've seen in a film. The movie succeeds in large part thanks to Uma Thurman's convincing performance as a bride left for dead on her wedding day, only to survive the vicious attack of her secret admirer Bill and his posse (including a dirty Michael Madsen and a one-eyed Darryl Hannah). Now she's on the hunt for vengeance, picking off the tribe that formed to kill her one-by-one. We saw Hannah in the first film briefly, but Madsen's conniving character is a huge boost to Vol. 2's raw feel, and Carradine's closing monologue is one of the more gripping speeches in film. This film does a great job of covering the bases on the character of Beatrix, as we sympathize with her struggle for personal satisfaction, and we root for her as she strives to complete her ultimate goal of defeating the best fighter she's ever come up against.
#6. (2003) Kill Bill Vol. 1 - (**1/2 out of ****) - This film serves as the only slight miss-step in the film-making career of an overall great movie-maker. Although this is still a pretty good film, it is no where close in terms of the greatness that Tarantino has achieved before. The plot-line is identical to Volume 2's, only this time Beatrix is tracking down two of the five (as opposed to the last three in Volume 2) members of the group that Bill sent to kill her. Tarantino gets a little too tricky here, as he inserts Japanese anime at about the half hour mark to detail the life of the Japanese villain (an overall too restrained Lucy Liu) who Beatrix is tracking down. Although this is amibitious and considered to be impressive and original, it's too offputting as much as it is distracting from the overall film. From a story-telling perspective, this is still a well fleshed out film, but the anime addition proves to be a very disappointing idea. As mentioned in the Vol. 2 review, this film does have an awesome fight sequence near the end, where Beatrix takes on a group of Japanese fighters singlehandedly, and only Tarantino could handle this and make it over-the-top but not in a Sly Stallone action movie type way. If you watch this film, see it for the end, but not however, the VERY end. Another disappointing decision from Tarantino was to split this film in two parts instead of make it one long epic like he has his other movies. Many accused him of being a "sell-out" for agreeing with his producers to cut the movie in two parts, instead of sticking to his original plan of making this one big movie. Because of this, the very end of this film is a disappointing, concluding on a cliffhanger that feels like a letdown, one that tries to derive excitement from the audience in anticipation for the upcoming sequel, but instead it feels like a rip-off.
Movies I Have Yet to See Directed by Tarantino:
(1995) Four Rooms
(1997) Jackie Brown
(2007) Death Proof
To me, Tarantino is a top 5 director, and quite possibly the best director in Hollywood right now. Like many directors, he did have a slightly disappointing film ("Kill Bill Vol. 1"), but atleast that wasn't as disappointing as say, Spielberg's latest ("Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"). I have a hard time deciding between Scorsese (who directed a new type of film in "Shutter Island", coming this February), Boyle (who has yet to direct an average to bad film, that I've seen at least), Christopher Nolan (who has directed some of the finest films of the 2000's in "Memento", "Batman Begins", and "The Dark Knight"), and Tarantino as to who is the clear cut #1 is right now To me, Scorsese, Nolan, and Tarantino are remarkable story-tellers, while Boyle is an incredible film-maker in the ways in which he employs dizzying visuals to amplify his sometimes depressing stories. With "Inglorious Basterds" however, Tarantino has thrown himself right back into "Best Director" territory, an award he has yet to win. Although 'Basterds' isn't the best movie of the year ("District 9" is still a perfect movie in my eyes), it's still a monumental achievement in film-making, certainly the second best movie of the year so far. Also, with the Academy Awards announcing that they have pushed their "Best Picture" category from 5 nominates to 10, "Inglourious Basterds" has a great chance of getting even more attention, as well as the master behind the entire project, who might just get recognized with a "Best Director" award this year as well. He deserves to get one at some point for all of his incredible additions to the art of cinema.
