1992
Directed by Quentin Tarantino
This is very exciting, as it is our first Tarantino film on The List. I am a fan of his, although I am not quire sure I could adequately defend any of his movies against his critics. The dialogue, at the very least, is always witty and quotable. Anyone have an opinion on The Hateful Eight? I saw that in theaters in 70 mm.
Eight men (Mr. Pink, Mr. Orange, Mr. White, Mr. Brown, Mr. Blonde, Mr. Blue, Joe Cabot, and Nice Guy) are planning to commit a diamond heist. They decide to have breakfast first, in conspicuous outfits, because obviously, that's the smartest course of action. They discuss the practice of tipping and the lyrical meaning behind "Like a Virgin" then leave for the robbery. Although we don't actually see the heist, it presumably, doesn't go so great. The remaining men agree that it was probably a set up. Now they must figure out which of them is the rat...
This is a pretty brutal movie. I am sure some people want to watch it simply for the excessive violence (probably the same people who laughed every time somebody said "nigger" in The Hateful Eight). Fortunately, there is more to this film than torture scenes. Like I said before, the dialogue was excellent and the movie is full of fun visual clues, which makes it a great film to revisit. It can be hard for a writer to handle so many different voices, but each character has a distinctive personality and an interesting screen presence.
Not my favorite Tarantino (that honor would probably go to Inglourious Basterds) but still a wonderful movie. Truly one of a kind.
RATING: *****
Interesting Facts:
Mr. Blonde and Vince from Pulp Fiction are brothers.
No dialogue is spoken by a woman.
Inglorious Basterds? Really? Large parts of that really grated with me. Possibly as a European I objected to a Yank coming in, seemingly knowing nothing about the issues and making a crass comedy/action romp about, erm, the holocaust.
ReplyDeleteI pretty much adore anything with Christoph Waltz. I also think the world of Tarantino and the world during WW2 meshed fairly well.
DeleteChristoph Waltz was as brilliant as ever. He was the suave stylish villain who, deep down, you can't help but admire. But the SS were actually all uneducated thugs, not a misguided elite, as they went about their genocidal spree. And other such jarring inaccuracies.
ReplyDeleteIf it were someone else's culture I might be more relaxed about it and say "Oh, it's just a film", but being in Europe it just felt wrong. If it had been made by a European I might accept the justification of "You may not agree, but this is how I interpret what happened to us", but made by an American the justification was more or less "Isn't this cool when I do it my way?"
It seems Americans always think that way, particularly during WW2. I think it was supposed to be more of a caricature of the Nazis than an accurate depiction. Also villains are always better if they are sophisticated.
DeleteInteresting how all the discussion here is about Inglourious Basterds rather than Reservoir Dogs, which I didn't like by the way.But I must say, I agree with Amanda's take on the movie, I.B. That was an incredible, jarring and unique take on the Nazis. Also, the only Quentin Tarentino movie I have ever liked.
ReplyDeleteWhy didn't you like Reservoir Dogs? Glad you liked Inglourious Basterds! It was truly one of a kind.
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