But there’s no doubt that QT is not only the director of his films, but also their creator.
For me IB is a masterpiece, not QT’s only one. And QT has become one of the most fascinating of present days directors. So I have extremely high expectations for his new one.
Fascinating? For me, not really. While his films are fun, I feel he hasn’t progressed much since Resevoir Dogs - it’s the same stick every film. It’s enjoyable stick, but the same nonetheless. There are many more directors out there who are a lot more intriguing.
[quote=“John Welles, post:182, topic:2720”]While his films are fun, I feel he hasn’t progressed much since Resevoir Dogs - it’s the same stick every film.[/quote]Maybe not as a writer but as a director he has really progressed. Reservoir Dogs isn’t nowhere as well directed as some of his later films.
Bottom line…Tarantino can probably get any actor he wants for any movie he makes…that’s saying something…
Yes, especially as director. His writing is on the same level, but that was brilliant from the beginning on.
After the film has been released and all the hype died down I will give this one a view. I tend not to have any expectations that way.
Agreed here. I’ve never really liked Reservoir Dogs much… its been one of those films where I feel “obligated” to like it since everyone has such a high opinion about how great it is, but to me it is just mostly boring with some good ideas and scenes
All of QT’s later films are much better.
I like Reservoire Dogs for it’s rough feel, it’s similarity to Pulp Fiction (which I saw first). What really grabbed me in Dogs were 2 things: The camerawork/presentation (maybe those should be two things?) and the soundtrack, though he’s always been a wizard for soundtracks. For me, it was the kind of film you could watch a few times, just to get something from it (I don’t do multiple viewings of a film much, unless i start to forget parts of it).
My least favorite Tarantino was Death Proof. Yeah, neat story, I just wasn’t really feeling the whole serial killer aspect. I guess the use of a car, while pretty cool, was not as good as some smaller element, like the obvious bladed object. I think he could do a slasher movie really well, actually. Love to see how you come up with a 70’s soundtrack for that ;D
Inglorious Basterds was a good film, and I agree too long. I tried watching it a couple weekends ago and I just couldn’t hold on to it. It is in one of my favorite Tarantino’s though, just for Christopher Waltz’s performance. That man does an amazing Nazi.
As for Unchained, I’m going to see it Christmans Day, not only because I’m really excited for it, but it’s also the first Tarantino I’ll be able to see in theatres- and a westernat that! I am cautious though as to how much of the soundtrack’ll be 70’s pop music. I won’t mind a couple carefully placed songs, but I would like the majority of it to be either an original Spaghetti-style score, or with original Spaghetti coundtracks in it (original Django, etc.).
Now that we are talking about the soundtrack, can someone name me the songs being used in the new Django Unchained trailer?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Bpy8619PWO0
The ones I know so far is;
Black Strobe - I’m a Man
Luis Bacalov - Theme from “Django”
I’m pretty tired of Tarantino’s writing and getting very bored of his directing as well. I guess I’ll give this a shot since it’s probably gonna be the closest I’ll ever get to watch a Spaghetti on the big screen. My expectations are very low and I can’t help but to feel biased about it even before I watch it, but I’ll try to give it an honest shot. I hope to be able to walk out and say “at least it was better than Expendables 2”, that’d be enough (and I’m pretty sure it’s gonna be the case).
I just hate the whole “retro” thing and constant references. I always rather watch the real thing. Movies from the past were good because they weren’t trying to copy what was done decades before. And it makes even less sense now with all the dvds/blu-rays/downloads making all those old flicks easily available for everyone. If you allow me to get a little bit rude, it’s all like a circle jerk between the director and the audience and I’ve always prefered to wank on my own.
[quote=“Lee Van Cleef, post:189, topic:2720”]Now that we are talking about the soundtrack, can someone name me the songs being used in the new Django Unchained trailer?
The ones I know so far is;
Black Strobe - I’m a Man
Luis Bacalov - Theme from “Django”[/quote]
The music at the beginning is also from the Django-Soundtrack:
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45x91IM5-A4]Spaghetti Western: Luis Bacalov - Django - La Corsa (2nd Version) - YouTube
The used part starts at 0:46.
Know what you mean. I often prefer alot of the films which are being referenced.
I pretty much agree with what cochino’s said, but I also still really enjoy the new films that do this. I understand the argument that old films weren’t trying to copy anything, but then that’s not really true- they were all copying each other. While they may not have been trying to replicate a past genre that has gained modern popularity, they were definitely trying to replicate those films that became popular within the genre.
Bill Lustig has made this same argument about how he doesn’t like stuff like Tarantino because its copying older films instead of trying to do something new, but come on… I love Lustig’s films but they aren’t terribly original in concepts, only in the details.
For me, the chance to see a new western theatrically that is legitimately inspired by spaghettis is no small thing… The love of the spaghetti style will surely be apparent, and its got Franco Nero, so cool… even if a small role
Well, I am not saying that every single old movie was trying to do something new. Of course they were similar to other movies made at the same time, but most of the time it’s because they share context. There sure are a whole lot of rip offs trying to cash in on the success of a particular movie. That has always happened and it will happen forever. But even if movies like Lustig’s were different from their contemporaries only in details they were certainly not consciously trying to imitate movies from the past to an equally conscious audience. I honestly see no point on that. Why not just watch the old movies instead? It’s almost like listening to a cover band. Sure, they might add their own thing here and there but they’re still cover bands and I’ll always prefer listening to the originals. Of course, if cover bands exist it’s because there’s an audience for that just like there’s an audience for this kinda movies. What worries me is that this is such a big trend in films and it feels like a lot of movie makers just gave up the idea for something original or at least inventive and they do this kinda thing that’s ok and might be fun to watch a couple of times but I doubt they will hold up in time, when they become “old” just like the movies they’re trying to “homage”.
Regardless of all that, I admit that Tarantino usually does inject quite a bit of his own content, at least when it comes to the writing. The problem for me is that the writing is what I dislike the most about him.
The point with Tarantino is that his films are based on older films, yes, but he does not simply copy these older films, he transforms some ideas of these in something which looks refreshingly new.
Exactly what Leone did with his westerns. And what the whole SW movement did.
Death Proof is a homage to a certain type of 70s action films, but is itself completely different from these films.
The general problem with most westerns form the last 30 years is that they fail to bring something new to the genre.
That’s because the Western hasn’t been functioning as a genre for the last thirty years. When a director like James Mangold gets a chance to make a film like 3.10 to Yuma, they usually try and make the “ultimate” Western as figure they will probably never get another chance.
But 3:10 to Yuma does never look like Mangold has tried anything.
Comparatively few westerns wee made since 1976, and by most of them I ask myself why they took the time and effort.
[quote=“Stanton, post:195, topic:2720”]The point with Tarantino is that his films are based on older films, yes, but he does not simply copy these older films, he transforms some ideas of these in something which looks refreshingly new.
Exactly what Leone did with his westerns. And what the whole SW movement did.
Death Proof is a homage to a certain type of 70s action films, but is itself completely different from these films.[/quote]
Definitely… really the only film of Tarantino’s that I feel is maybe copying a bit too much would be Kill Bill, but even then the style of those two films is certainly a fresh take and filmed in a more modern way in regards to action sequences and everything really. Aside from basic plot and characters, I don’t think you could really put those movies side by side with anything they are referencing and claim that it isn’t a totally different and unique take.
Jackie Brown is an all around excellent film and much better than a lot of blaxploitation I’ve seen, in terms of being an actually good movie which goes well beyond a simple homage.
Inglorious Basterds, despite whatever you may think about it, can hardly be accused of simply copying older films and not bringing anything new to the table.
Really the big problem a lot of people seem to have with Tarantino is the fact he has become wildly successful from his love for these older films. Everyone who knows nothing about these older films always references Tarantino as a genius and how he has such an extensive knowledge and blah blah blah… which doesn’t really make him that special to those who have also always loved the same films but get no respect for it. I have to wonder how Tarantino would be viewed if he had not become so popular, but rather just existed outside of the mainstream and never reaching big success
Interesting point.
I wonder if Tarantino ever has say a couple of big flops would he change his style or just call it a day…
My view on Tarantino doesn’t have anything to do with success. I actually used to like him but now his movies bore me. It’s like he’s trying too hard to be cool in every single line of dialogue and “homage” something in every single shot. None of his movies feel really organic, a lot of scenes feel forced in just to get that “cool” efect. I found that most of them don’t really stand repeated viewings. I think the exception to this is probably Jackie Brown, which isn’t as spectacular as any of the others but feels more like a real movie. It feels like Tarantino was actually trying to tell a story with actual characters in it and not just stuff he seems to come up talking to Robert Rodriguez after smoking a joint and/or sniffing a line or two. Most of his scripts seem to come out of “you know what’d be cool” kind of conversations.
I agree that his movies are not exactly the same as the ones he “homages”, I just don’t agree about his movies being “refreshing”. They smell like stagnant water to me. Re-bottled, with a shiny new label and added fizz, but still the same thing. I doubt they’ll hold up in time very well, I know they hadn’t for me.