Film

[leatherface]

Goodfellas (1990)

The definitive American mobster movie. Perfect as is.  I thought Scorsese went overboard with 'Casino' in comparison. 'Goodfellas' shows you the violence in much more subtle ways and has a better supporting cast.

Pulp Fiction (1994)

Remembering when I saw this back then in the cinema. Still great to revisit now and then. Not Tarantino's best though, have always thought 'Jackie Brown' was better.

[Carnage]

Jackie Brown is one I hated at the time but have gradually come around to over the years. Grier, Keaton and particularly Forster are magnificent.

[Sworntothecans]

Jackie Brown is one I hated at the time but have gradually come around to over the years. Grier, Keaton and particularly Forster are magnificent.

Jackie Brown is perfect. And he nails the Elmore Leonard vibe too.

[Trev]

Thought Jackie Brown was a bit shit, but its probably 20 years since I last watched it, guess a rewatch tonight is the plan

[The Wretch]

It's the closest he ever got to making a genuinely decent movie as far as I'm concerned, aside from Reservoir Dogs. Well, Pulp Fiction was grand, but I don't think I ever need to see it again.

Tarantino is grossly overrated IMO. His better films are average at best, but some of them are pure scutter. The Kill Bill movies in particular are such bloated, self indulgent, poorly conceived and delivered old bollocks, that I can't believe people still take him so seriously as a director.

I mean, it's exploitation and b-movie cinema. Much of which I happen to enjoy as it happens, but I don't know why Tarantino is treated as if he is a great auteur.  Even in the context of exploitation and b-movies, he wouldn't rank as highly as Roger Corman, Sergio Corbucci, or Lucio Fulci for genuinely great films.

He has made a career of cobbling together ideas by far superior filmmakers, and then filling it with his insipid "snappy" dialogue.

He has certainly been lucky to work with some genuinely great actors, who are far too good for the movies they are cast in.

On the other hand, some of them have given performances that perfectly match the awfulness of the movies themselves. Uma Thurman in Kill Bill is laughably bad. Like amateur porn star bad. And DiCaprio chewing the scenery in Django Unchained... I mean he is another one whose status far outweighs his actual ability, but that's another story.

And the culture Tarantino left in his wake, the likes of Boondock Saints and Love Honour And Obey, and whatever Rob Zombie has excreted, is a legacy of awful, awful films. As soon as the term "Tarantino-esque" is uttered, you know it is going to be insufferably shite. But probably no more shite than most of his own output.   

[open face surgery]

Boondock Saints was god awful.

[The Wretch]

When people mention it as an "Irish" movie - Or even an example of a great Irish gangster film - it makes me want to punch the nearest wall and then cry tears of shit. 

[Carnage]

it makes me want to punch the nearest wall and then cry tears of shit. 

Brilliant. 

I love the Kill Bill films, the whole point of them is that they're cheesy martial arts/Hong Kong Fooey movies, and they do that really well.

The ones I don't like are Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained. Each has its moments but are nigh unwatchable overall. Death Proof and Once Upon A Time In Hollywood aren't great either, but I enjoyed The Hateful Eight a lot more than most seemed to.

[The Wretch]

I get what he was going for with Kill Bill, but it was way too fucking long and badly paced IMO, and even taking into account the fact it is deliberately cheesy, Uma Thurman is just unwatchable for me. As were Vivica A Fox, and Daryl Hannah, who I generally like. Even David Carradine, who I would  be a fan of (as well as his brother Keith) couldn't save it.   

But I guess if Tarantino's aim was to make people watch actual martial arts movies, then he succeeded, becuase all I wanted to do was put on some classic films to erase the memory of his work.

Speaking of Carradine, according to Chuck Norris, he was a terrible movie martial artist. Not becuase he couldn't do martial arts, but becuase he had no idea how to fake punches and kicks, and would genuinely hurt people. And didn't seem all that bothered by the fact either apparently.     

[Carnage]

It must have preyed on his conscience, last I heard he was all choked up about it.

[jobrok1]

Tarantino's best movie is From Dusk Til Dawn.

"But he only acted in that?", I hear you say!

Exactly! 

[Carnage]

He wrote it too, didn't he?

[The Wretch]

Yeah. And that is an entertaining movie to be fair.

And I liked True Romance as far as movies he has written goes. It's daft as fuck, but really well done, with some great performances. 

It must have preyed on his conscience, last I heard he was all choked up about it.

      

[Carnage]

It was hard not to fall in love with Patricia Arquette after that, she was brilliant in it. The Walken/Hopper scene was great too.

[open face surgery]

Her fight with Gandolfini is amazing as well. Such a cast in it.