The Movies

[Noah Ebner]

These are not serious movies where everything better makes sense in order for the movie to work. His movies are kind of a pulp fiction 😀

I see you're not a Dashiel Hammet fan. His stories make Tarantino's read like nursery rhymes.

He is more a creative director with crazy, stylish and funny ideas and often interesting or cool dialogue, but he‘s not really a serious director like Michael Mann was for Heat.

I liked Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown and after that I think his movies never lived up to the hype again.

But even Pulp Fiction obviously isn’t a serious movie with believable characters or a plot that makes sense. It’s not a documentary.

I understand this argument. I might even agree with it if young Tarantino wasn't one of the best directors of last century. Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction are narrative masterpieces, with near flawless character development and entirely believable storylines. You are in the minority when you say that Pulp isn't a serious movie with believable characters. Don't let the non-linear storytelling throw you off--it is one of the most robust stories ever told on screen, period. The characters are some of the best he's ever created, all of whom act perfectly consistently throughout the film (Butch's moral compass; Vince Vega's absentmindedness; Jules' cool-headed professionalism; Marcellus Wallace's brutality; etc etc.). There's a reason this movie is enshrined in The Library of Congress and its not because it's merely a piece of good 'entertainment'.

Probably his worst movie.

Clearly you haven't seen Deathproof. Personally, I think Basterds is one of the better movies he's made. The Landa character is the best he's ever created; watching Walz make everyone else he's on screen with look like props is almost sublime--like Brodie, I think Walz will be Tarantino's enduring legacy; Shoshanna is a dimepiece; Mike Meyers against type is fantastic; the pub scene is one of the best scenes from any movie produced this century; etc, etc. Compared to the other schlock he's dished since Y2K, Basterds is creme de la creme.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Okay. I'll watch it again.

[Sawyer]

What I meant was killers talking philosophically about god, life and death or doing loud biblical monologues before and after killing someone is not reality but art. Or at least crazily over the top movie stuff.

Of course the characters are great but they’re totally over the top for entertainment purposes.

[Ryan Arnold]

I was finishing up reading Motherless Brooklyn yesterday and really looking forward to how they would do the last few scenes/chapters in the movie, what actors they would choose for the interesting characters, etc. Then I watched the movie which didn't follow the book at all, and not in a good way. They created a whole new storyline that was not nearly as interesting as the one in the book. I've always been an Ed Norton fan, and his acting in the movie was good, but as a Producer/Director I think it was a fail.

[Mark Rippetoe]

The Outlaw Josey Wales.

[Noah Ebner]

The Outlaw Josey Wales.

Man, you gotta see High Plains Drifter and Pale Rider if you haven't already. I'm convinced these three films are the spiritual successors to the Dollars trilogy.

[Mark Rippetoe]

I have them all. Wales is the best.

[Jeffrey Hunter]

Which Dirty Harry movies are worth watching? I own the original and will probably order Magnum Force soon because I'm on a John Milius writing kick, I'm currently half way through The Wind and the Lion for the first time, and the Roosevelt speech after killing the Grizzly was great.

[Noah Ebner]

I have them all. Wales is the best.

Watched it again last night. Forgot what a dimepiece Sondra Locke was. Also didn't know all that controversy about Asa Carter.

[topazann]

Watching 'V For Vendetta' (2005 dystopian political thriller)
British film (or feels like it) and has a solid cast. John Hurt, Natalie Portman etc.
Political and entertaining, a rare mix