The Films of Quentin Tarantino

Yesterday, (8/13) I was trying to decide what movie marathon I was going to undertake, The Godfather Trilogy, or a Quentin Tarantion marathon. I ended up with Quentin. It was roughly 10 hours of great moviemaking. Starting with Reservoir Dogs and ending with Kill Bill Volume 2, it was interesting to watch a careers worth of movies in one sitting. References between movies are much more apparent, though those references generally die out after Pulp Fiction. It is my theory that all of Quentin's movies take place in the same universe, one just slightly skewed from ours. And with that, I will now discuss each film in the order of which movie I like better. Now bear in mind I love all of his movies, so just because something is last, that doesn't mean I don't like it, I just like the other ones a little more.

Pulp Fiction

In my mind, this is a perfect movie. It's two and a half hour run time is a breeze to get through. I there is something wrong with this movie, I haven't found it. My only slight concern is that Butch's girlfriend doesn't seem to serve any purpose other than to forget his watch. I like the scenes with her but it just seems like she isn't given a lot to do. Casting wise, this movie couldn't be more perfect. Sam Jackson and Ving Rhames are cool, bad ass mother fuckers with a vengeance. And believe it or not, there was a time when John Travolta was also a bad ass mother fucker. Too bad every movie he made after this is him trying to remind people that he was once cool. Bruce Willis is great, Uma is great. Everyone is great. Every story in this is great, weaving in and out of other stories, creating a time line for all the events in the movie. From classic lines, to c lassic scenes-this movie has it all. I love it.

Jackie Brown

It used to be that whenever I watched Jackie Brown it became my favorite Quentin movie. And then when I watched Pulp Fiction, that became my favorite. But for the first time ever, I actually watched them on the same day-and now having done that, Pulp Fiction becomes the better of the two. Jackie Brown is still an excellent movie, but the world it creates is not nearly as engrossing as Pulp Fiction's. Acting wise, this movie delivers insanely strong performances from everyone in the cast. And there isn't a wasted character at all in this movie. Everyone has a purpose and everyone helps move the story along. Sam Jackson is again a bad ass, but he is dislikeable bad ass, and I feel that that hurts him. Sam Jackson is a guy I always want to root for, and I just can't do it in this movie. Pam Grier is perfect as Jackie Brown and gives the character so much attitude and likeablity. Robert Forester is great as the lonely bail bondsman who wears his motives on his sleeve. And Chris Tucker is dynamite in the five minutes he has in the movie. I love this movie-but I love Pulp Fiction just a little more.

Kill Bill both volumes

I love this movie. And since I can no longer watch volume 1 without following it up with volume 2, I consider it one movie. Everything about it is great. The over the top violence, Uma kicking ass like she never kicked ass before, the stylish set pieces-the anime sequences being one of my favorite. There are a couple of slow points in the movie-but those come and go quickly-and we are dropped right back into the action. Again, casting is dead on. Everyone shines-even Darryl Hannah-who I usually don't like. I love the shit out of this movie and every time I watch it, it just keeps getting better. Hooray!

Reservoir Dogs

This was the first Quentin movie I saw-so it holds a special place in my heart. I still enjoy this movie-but it just doesn't seem as solid as everything else. As usual, casting and acting is dead on-with Tim Roth being the standout. Buscemi is great too-and I find myself liking everyone in this movie. So I guess I just don't like that no one gets away in the end-I liked these guys too much to see them all go down in the end. Even Michael Madsen I like-because how can you not like him? This is a great movie, but just falls a little short in the grand scheme of Quentin movies.

So there you go. There is Quentin for you. I love the man and I will always anxiously await everything he ever does. And no matter the quality, I will still love it-because that is how I am. Hooray for Quentin!!!