Once Upon A Time In Hollywood / Tarantino

[Corpsey]

I'm a tarantino sceptic - I loved reservoir dogs and pulp fiction when I was a teenager (I group those movies with grand theft auto) but I didn't like kill bill much at all.

I revisited Jackie brown fairly recently and thought it was GREAT.

But I've not seen his recent films cos they sound a bit ironic and smug to me

Saying all that I'm hearing good stuff about this new one and I am fascinated by the Manson family murders so might give it a go. Anyone else?

 

[IdleRich]

I'm definitely looking forward to it. There is a big Tarantino backlash gathering as well as the anticipation - I can see a huge battle between those who love it and those demanding (as The Guardian did the other day) that he be "cancelled". Incidentally that marks the first time I've actually seen someone kinda unashamedly use that phrase in a positive sort of way. From my experience people normally don't want to embrace it, it's more "I don't endorse cancelling, I just don't think anyone should take any notice of so and so cos they're beyond the pale". But I digress...

 

[baboon2004]

Tarantino has always been a wanker as a public persona, imo - dull, aggressive and defensive about giving reign to his worst instincts (which are grotesque at worst, although he has done some decent things in public too). Can't imagine what a wanker he would be to work for. An excellent filmmaker at his peak in terms of style rather than substance...Jackie Brown is easily his most human film of the ones I've seen, the only one which doesn't feel detached. I liked Kill Bill (1 and 2) a lot as pure spectacle.

 

[Corpsey]

I watched Reservoir Dogs last night. I love the way he plays with time in that movie, and levels of reality in the "commode story" scene. Amazingly confident for a debut movie. Some brilliant performances too, especially enjoy Laurence Tierney ("fucked looks like the Thing"), and the soundtrack is fantastic.

But it does feel very hollow, ultimately. There's no sense of lives being lived outside of this setup, of worthwhile lives, and so the violence is shocking at times but also feels weightless.

Definitely have trouble buying Mr White being willing to shoot Joe for the sake of Mr Orange. I suppose Orange shooting the civilian is what makes him seem "on the level" to White. (I really liked the scene where Mr Pink says "I'm no piece of shit and you're okay and I KNOW [Mr Blonde] is on the level. So who's the bad guy?")

Something I never really appreciated when I watched it before is how the cops are waiting just outside the warehouse the whole time (we hear Pink, who I always thought escaped, being shot by them). That gives it a sort of absurdist feeling.* At the risk of pretention, almost like a Beckett play. They're squabbling over all this stuff and they're all fucked whatever happens.

 

[Corpsey]

(re: 92 premiere of Reservoir Dogs)

When a visibly pained audience member asked Tarantino in the Q&A how he justified the film’s tidal waves of violence, the director almost didn’t understand the question. “Justify it?” he echoed before just about roaring, “I don’t have to justify it. I love it!”

 

[IdleRich]

Ha great.
Anyway, back to the Once Upon A Time thing, yesterday we watched Charlie Says which is yet another telling of the Manson story with Matt Smith and a girl from out of Game of Thrones as the narrator Lesley Van Outen. It was fine and everything but really just the exact same story you've heard before from another perspective - now I dunno what Tarantino is gonna do but I'm pretty sure it's not gonna be that and for me that's a good thing.

 

[version]

He's just announced what he claims will be his last film, The Movie Critic. He's a big Pauline Kael fan and it's apparently set in the 70s and has a female lead, so people think it's going to be about her.