Written and Directed by Quentin Tarantino


You just finished all your homework, and surprisingly you have some time to kill before you go to bed. What can you do? You can go on Netflix and put on an episode of that TV show you kinda like but why not change it up? Why not watch a movie by an award-winning director? Why not watch a Quentin Tarantino movie? This way you’d be guaranteed two hours of enjoyable entertainment before going to bed.
If you’re in the mood for some dark humor, gory scenes, violence, and a captivating interwoven storyline then you’re in the right place. His movies draw from many genres guaranteeing an interesting time and with his complex storylines, your eyes will be sure to stay glued to the screen.



The Rise of Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino is one of the most famous directors in the world, however, this did not happen overnight. Tarantino is originally from Tennessee but moved to California when he was four. His love of films began at a young age and led him to work in a video store. While working at the store he wrote two of his first movies: True Romance and Natural Born Killers (Quentin Tarantino Biography, 2014)). However, these screenplays were not immediately produced by Hollywood.
He eventually got a job at a production company where he was able to get a producer, Tony Scott, to read his screenplay for True Romance. Eventually, Scott ended up buying the rights to the film. This was just the start of his career. True Romance led him to work with producer Lawrence Bender which allowed him to get funding for the first film he would produce, Reservoir Dogs.
At the time he didn’t know that this movie is what would launch his career. At the Sundance Film Festival people were mesmerized with this violent, gory crime story gone wrong. The release of this movie changed Hollywood’s film standards. His film disrupted what had become the Hollywood norm. Films lacking substance and attraction from audiences were being produced and moviegoers became accustomed to cheesy movies lacking deep storylines. But the release of Reservoir Dogs changed all this (Papadopoulos, 2016). This movie changed the expectations on what was considered a good movie.Tarantino would use this new found intrigue as a means to direct his next film Pulp-Fiction which would further launch his career into mainstream popular culture.
The Impact and Inspiration for Tarantino’s Films
Tarantino is a huge movie buff. As a result, he has developed a specific style as a director in his referencing of other unknown and generally badly rated movies. He recycles old styles and themes such as crime noir, spaghetti-western and martial arts making his movies even more entertaining. The unique combination of incorporating different styles and themes make his movies distinct from others and have you gripping onto your seat until the very end.
In his last twenty years or so of directing, Tarantino has produced and directed nine movies and written two more. This is a small list of movies compared to other notable directors in Hollywood (Phillips, 2017). Tarantino has a method to his low ratio of movies over time. He says that throughout his career he has witnessed many producers try to just put out the next big thing without actually producing quality work. Not only in Hollywood, but across all platforms, companies and artists put out content for the sake of sales or growing their audience. He says that despite producing less than the next director or producer, his quality filmography is what he feels is most important, quality over quantity. The movies he has produced and directed step outside the bounds of reality. Tarantino takes seemingly boring dialogues, blends them with overarching themes of revenge and transforms them into movies of epic crime, violence, and unrelenting action.
Which Movie Should You Watch Tonight?
Now the real issue. How should you go about picking which of Tarantino’s movies you should watch tonight? Most people would agree that Pulp Fiction is Tarantino’s crown jewel. The movie features John Travolta, Samuel Jackson, and Uma Thurman. Many had questioned his choice of actors for the film— John Travolta’s popularity from starring as Danny in Grease had died down and Samuel Jackson was nowhere near a household name. In response, Quentin Tarantino said the reason he casted those actors was because he believed they had integrity and were a good fit for the roles (McGrath, 2012). The movie is a crime story with a storyline that weaves between two hitmen, their boss’s wife, a boxer and a pair of armed robbers (Tarantino (Pulp Fiction), 1996). It explores many themes, teaching you that there are many different perspectives in life and people have a chance of redemption.
Personally, if I had been watching Tarantino’s movies for the first time I would’ve enjoyed watching Inglourious Basterds the most. This is one of my all-time favorite movies. The movie focuses on, Anti-Semitism during World War II, highlighting difficult but eye-opening moments in human history. Tarantino mesmerizes his audience with the gore and tragedy from World War II (Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds),2009). Revisiting one of the world’s most traumatic wars in a nuance manner is what captivates audiences today.
Other people argue that you should watch the movie in chronological order to get a sense of Tarantino’s style before moving onto his masterpieces. This is a good plan of action if you are certain that you are going to stay around for the rest, of his movies. My favorites are personally some of his last movies so if you don’t enjoy his first ones you may not make it to the end. Considering this it may be a risky move unless you’re sure you’re going to stick around.
So you’re in bed and you are still deciding between re-watching another episode of Friends or checking out this Tarantino guy. If his life story and success in Hollywood haven’t convinced you maybe the seven Oscar nominations for Pulp Fiction will put it right above that one Friends episode.


Citations
  • Bender, Lawrence, Quentin Tarantino, Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein, Erica Steinberg, Lloyd Phillips, Sally Menke, Anna Sheppard, Brad Pitt, Mélanie Laurent, Christoph Waltz, Eli Roth, Michael Fassbender, Diane Kruger, Daniel Brühl, Til Schweiger, Gedeon Burkhard, Jacky Ido, August Diehl, Julie Dreyfus, Sylvester Groth, Denis Ménochet, Mike Myers, Rod Taylor, Martin Wuttke, Robert Richardson, and David Wasco. Inglourious Basterds. , 2009.
  • McGrath, Charles. “Quentin’s World”. The New York Times, 2012. https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/23/movies/how-quentin-tarantino-concocted-a-genre-of-his-own
  • Papadopoulos, Mikey. “How Quentin Tarantino Saved Hollywood”. SkyCinema, 2016.
  • Phillips, Ian .“Quentin Tarantino has a new movie in the works — here are his other films, ranked from best to worst” July 12, 2017.
  • “Quentin Tarantino Biography”  April 2, 2014. https://www.biography.com/people/quentin-tarantino-9502086
  • Tarantino, Quentin, Lawrence Bender, John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer, Maria . Medeiros, Ving Rhames, Eric Stolz, Rosanna Arquette, Christopher Walken, Bruce Willis, and Roger Avary. Pulp Fiction. U.S.: Miramax Home Entertainment, 1996.
Images




Comments

  1. SandyFebruary 5, 2019 at 9:02 PM

    I've always admired Quentin Tarantino's work, especially after the two volumes of Kill Bill. But every scene was always hard for me to stomach since it was quite bloody.

    I like how you referenced to a number of his works. I only have one comment about syntax, but other than that I think it's quite great. When you refer to the movies, you should italicize the titles.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousFebruary 5, 2019 at 9:15 PM

    I love how passionate you are about Tarantino, it really shows in your writing!

    I think one thing you could do to beef this article up would be to include some photos or clips of scenes from his movies!

    -Olivia Osborne

    ReplyDelete
  3. ghaliFebruary 6, 2019 at 1:08 AM

    Tarantino is definitely one of the best movie directors ever. I really think what makes a good movie maker is also the quality of the scenes, the close-ups, the different angles and shots, the little details that bring us even more into the movie without us realizing it. you made a good job describing that, and you really show your interest in filmmaking. I would suggest you to add an informative subtitle that describes what you're article'll be about.
    Ghali

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousFebruary 6, 2019 at 2:03 AM

    I love Tarantino so I am very happy you chose to write on the subject. I enjoyed reading the part about having time to kill before bed, an obvious allusion to the multitude of killings in his movies. I hope that more people learn about the joys and thrills that come from his movies before he retires, and are able to watch them in theaters.

    -Garrett

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousFebruary 6, 2019 at 11:34 AM

    I've always loved Tarantino movies but don't know if I can agree with the fact that Pulp Fiction is the crown jewel of all of his work. Personally, Inglorious Basterds and The Usual Suspects are much better stories, although I admit that Pulp was the movie that definitely put him on the map. It was cool to read a bit about Tarantino though.

    --Khalil

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Born on Third Base: Part 3

For my part of Born on Third Base Chuck Collins describes the realities of privilege. Collins writes whether we choose to acknowledge it or not many of us have been endowed with the  “wind at your back” as Collins calls it based solely on your gender, your sexual orientation and most overwhelmingly the color of your skin. For centuries certain people have been playing a rigged game refusing to accept their advantage which has stopped many others from being given equal opportunities. One of the stories Collins recounts is the time he gave a talk at the Norwood Retired Men’s Club. Most of the men there had served during World War II. His talk addressed the disparity between the rich and the poor. He focused specifically on the way World War II was a direct contributor to the wealth gap between white people and black people. He discusses how many of the men benefited directly as a result of subsidies for soldiers coming home after the war. Collins recounts the various ...
Read more

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Since we’ve been young we always get asked this question. For some people they can answer you without a doubt they’ve always known. Others it’s not as easy they get a little uncomfortable and make a joke saying “not be homeless.” The question “what do you want to be when you grow up?” For me, this has always been a difficult one. I’ve always had interests in lots of subjects but never known if I was passionate enough to pursue just one as a career. So when the decision to choose a college and a major came around it was a particularly daunting choice. I had always been passionate about STEM but I also knew I wanted to work with people. So doctor seemed like a sensible option until I realized I couldn’t see blood without turning away in disgust. So I gave up on that option. Then I decided I wanted to be a biomedical engineer. This I pursued for a long time even doing a summer internship at a gene therapy  company. I loved the possibilities the work I was doing had but I ...
Read more

Reset: My Fight for Inclusion and Lasting Change By: Ellen Pao Post 2

In the first part of her autobiography, Ellen Pao recounts her first encounters with discrimination. She starts by saying that besides a few isolated events her childhood was generally free from any negative experiences and her time at Princeton mirrored this. However, when she enrolls at Harvard Law,  things begin to change. She is finally made aware of the discriminatory opinions that still inhabit Harvard students and professors alike. White male professors would share their beliefs that none of the women or Black professors were qualified enough to teach at Harvard Law. As she graduated and moved on to a top law firm things got more slightly more obvious. She says she saw little things that didn’t seem to mean a whole lot. Events like senior partners taking twelve of Pao’s male peers to a four-hour steak dinner one of Pao’s friends, one of the few Black female lawyers and a graduate of Harvard Law, being mistaken for an assistant. No one interaction was the end of the world,” ...
Read more