More Tarantino: Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and Inglorious Basterds

If you haven't seen these films already, I feel bad for you. For me, this review is more of a way to showcase my love for these titles on the blog. I'm not going to get too deep into the minutia of these movies, instead, I'm just going to talk about how they relate to me and why I enjoy them so much.

Reservoir Dogs
(1992) [Trailer]
Director: Quentin Tarantino [IMDB]

I could lie and say this is the first Tarantino film I ever saw and make myself out to be some cool guy, but as many of my friends know, I can be late to the party sometimes. That's right, I saw Pulp Fiction first and immediately headed out to get my hands on anything Quentin related afterwards. Reservoir Dogs is just as rad now as it was when I first saw it back in the 90's. This and Pulp Fiction are probably Tarantino's two strongest films when it comes to dialogue, but the story here is much simpler than Pulp. Tarantino has many strengths as a director and one of them is finding the perfect cast to deliver his writing. Everyone in Res Dogs is amazing, especially Harvey Keitel and Tim Roth. The biggest stand out moment for me is the lead up and execution of the commode story.

Pulp Fiction.
(1994) [Trailer]
Director: Quentin Tarantino [IMDB]

Pulp Fiction is one of the greatest films ever made.... take that and chew on it. If you dont agree, fine... but for me, it is a perfect film and one of my favorites to watch on a regular basis. There are too many memorable scenes and performances but I'm gonna try and make a top five.

5. The watch story as told by Christopher Walken
4. Vincent blowing Marvin's face off.
3. Butch and Marsellus' capture and escape from the rednecks
2. Jules and Vincent's conversation about foot massages.
1. Jules interrogating then executing Brett.

Inglourious Basterds
(2009) [Trailer]
Director: Quentin Tarantino [IMDB]

I love WWII films. Some of my favorites are Das Boot, The Thin Red Line, and Saving Private Ryan. When I heard Tarantino was doing a film set in occupied France during the 1940's, I was pumped. I remember watching this for the first time and thinking it was a modern masterpiece. The first 20 minutes of this film are incredible. Christoph Waltz is a beast of an actor and Chapter One of Inglorious Basterds showcases that fact. Hans Landa's Pipe makes we want to take up smoking. There are many awesome scenes in this film, one of my favorites is the story of Hugo Stiglitz, narrated by Samuel L Jackson. There are tons of other great moments, but I'll save you from another list. Just watch it already.

Kill Bill: Vol. 1 & 2

Quentin Tarantino is one of my all time favorite directors. I think a lot of people also share my sentiments and if they don't, they can piss off. Pulp Fiction, for me, was one of the main reasons I started getting into art house and independent cinema. After checking out his recent masterpiece, I think I may go back a revisit some of the greats... I'll start with Kill Bill.

Kill Bill: Vol. 1
(2003) [Trailer]
Director: Quentin Tarantino [IMDB]

Synopsis: A bride (Uma) wakes to find that she's been in a coma for 4 years and now must enact vengeance on the people responsible for ruining her life.

Kill Bill is highly entertaining and wastes no time strapping you in and kicking things into high gear. The first fight scene with Vivica A Fox is awesome and the intermission scene once the daughter arrives is a welcome curveball. There's plenty of homages to other films and genres, one that is glaringly obvious is Bruce Lee. The Cato masks and the yellow track suit pull the nostalgia card and warms my cold lifeless heart.

I'd say the only thing I dislike would be the anime scene. It doesn't work at all for me and drags on way too long.

Other than that, Kill Bill is like a Chucky Cheese to a 6 year old... a good time.

Kill Bill: Vol. 2
(2004) [Trailer]
Director: Quentin Tarantino [IMDB]

Synopsis: The bride is back to finish the job.

This is the continuation of part 1 basically but I think it's a stronger film. There's some outstanding dialog and performances.... especially from David Caradine, Michael Parks, and Michael Madsen. There are more great fights scenes and a cool training montage with Pai Mei... again harking back to the old kung fu flicks of the 70's and 80's.

SPOILER: Bill's death is handled so well. There's obviously foreshadowing earlier in the film to what will take place, but I thought it was cool that Tarantino went right for the kill, verses dragging it out through a long drawl out fight scene. END SPOILER

Definitely invest some time in Kill Bill if you haven't done so already. Love it.

Django Unchained

Django Unchained
(2012) [Trailer]
Director: Quentin Tarantino [IMDB]

Django and The Hobbit were my two most anticipated films of the year and I knew when I heard the release date for this where I'd be Christmas day... at my house opening up presents. Well, that and at the theater to lay my eyes on Mr Tarantino's new baby.

Synopsis: A German bounty hunter (Christoph Waltz) frees a slave  named Django (Jamie Foxx) who he enlists to help track down felons. The two then team up to help Django free his enslaved wife.

I had a real good time watching Django Unchained tonight, it's an extremely fun movie. Waltz and Foxx work so well together on screen and their dialogue is something you would come to expect from a Tarantino film, but the two of them really sold it well. Django is a hilarious film, but then the next minute it's serious and then the next minute after that it's brutally violent. It's a hard line to walk but one Quentin does very effectively. I loved the score and cinematography, as I normally do with most his films. Leonardo DiCaprio played his role perfectly... it was actually one of my favorite performances from him. It was also nice to see some cameos in Django, especially Walter Goggins from The Shield and Crockett from Miami Vice. I can't really think of anything bad to say about the film, it won me over and I would highly recommend it.... unless you're offended by bad language and the killing of slave owners.

Grindhouse (Planet Terror and Death Proof)

There's a lot of regret in my life. I look back at the path I took and think of how I could have done things differently. Would better choices lead to better results... thus making a better person? Only time will tell. Of all my mistakes, the one I regret most is not seeing Grindhouse in the theaters.

Planet Terror
(2007) [Trailer]
Director: Robert Rodriguez (IMDB)

Synopsis: Part one of the Grindhouse experience finds Rose Mcgowen and the dude from Terminator battling mutant zombies after a mysterious gas is released upon the land.

My wife said to me last night "put on something exciting" so I came out of the bedroom in a zebra striped thong... then she said  "no, a movie you idiot, not a thong" so I grabbed Grindhouse instead... but I still rocked the thong regardless.. I like comfort while I movie watch. My second choice was the right one, Planet Terror is an extremely fun film and grabs your attention right away without letting go. 

Robert Rodriguez heads this valiant effort and boy does it deliver on the grind house B-movie excess. Tons of campiness, over the top action, and loads of gore. The practical effects are awesome, and they totally disgusted my wife... so I'd say they were successful.

I found the whole aged film aspect of the movie started to get old, but again, they're going for the whole 70's B-movie thing, so I'll give it a pass.

 The Grindhouse Trailers
The fake trailers consist of Machete (which was made into a real movie), Werewolf Women of the SS, Don't, and Thanksgiving. All of them are pretty cool, but I'd say the least effective would be the Werewolf Women of the SS, and the best one is Thanksgiving. They are all pretty absurd, but obviously that's the point.

Death Proof
(2007) [Trailer]
Director: Quentin Tarantino (IMDB)

Synopsis: Kurt Russell terrorizes young women and drives a bad ass car. That's all you need to know.

I will start by saying I didn't watch this after Planet Terrror, I turned off Grindhouse after the trailers... why you ask? Because I watched it a few months ago and my wife wasn't trying to watch it again... she was not a fan of Death Proof. I am and would have dived right into it, but I'm a team player and decided not to put her through it again.

If you're into Tarantino, who's one of my favorite directors, you'll more than likely love this film. If you're not, I'm sure you'll hate it. It's very dialog heavy and extremely slow to start, but that didn't bother me. The first act finds Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell) the victor in his escapades to murder innocent females, the second act proves not to be so easy. I loved how the tables are turned, and the ending for this film is one of the best out there. I'll admit, I'm not the most studied in the genre of films this movie pays homage too, but if they're anything like Death Proof, I should start boning up.