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Tags: 1992, Inglourious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino, Top 20
Posted Aug 22nd 2009 at 7:52 am in Classic Hollywood, Video |
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Name this movie: An ace CIA operative, condemned as a rogue and now hunted by the Company, bashes and crashes his way through colorful foreign settings, pursued by heavily armed hit men, while back at Langley headquarters an inscrutable deputy director and one of his top lieutenants are arousing the...






62 Comments
Quentin Tarantino is the biggest loser out of the rubbish of Hollywood. His trash movies do nothing other than to glorify excessive violence, portray criminals as positive role models and expose him as a depraved, immoral scumbag. Tarantino is the worst our society has to offer.
Given the fact that he has never mentioned politics and never includes political messages in his work, i have to believe he is a Conservative.
The moment he mentions politics in his work is when he jumps the shark in my eyes.
Even though I'm not a huge fan of Tarantinos, I was happy to hear "Lost In Translation" included. It's in my top 5. I'm hoping to see "Inglourious Basterds" soon.
Love that he loves Unbreakable! I totally agree with him about Bruce Willis in that movie. One of my favs. Also, I laughed when he talks about Speed, because I remember watching it in the theater and gripping my seat for most of the movie. It was an amazing ride when it first came out.
Tarantino is the most apolitical director imaginable.
Listen to what he says about the Matirix "mythology." He's on our side. I use the Matrix analogy to smash lefties all the time.
As it should be. I'm for the separation of Hollywood and State.
I don't know where he is politically. I don't want to know. But just for fun, here is a funny pro-gun debate scene from "Death Proof."
http://hbhls.blogspot.com/2009/07/gun-control-deb...
When QT is on, the work is stunning. I also like his collaboration with Rodriguez in Desparado. I feel he's one of the most dynamic directors today, and he's not afraid of the PC crowd, as in the case of that KRON reviewer. He just throws up on them. Great!
It's nice to hear Tarantino mention Team America, but I wish he had more to say about it. I always find his opinions interesting even when I don't agree with them.
I watched Battle Royale for the 1st time last night. Takeshi Kitano was outstanding as Kitano-sensei. He's one of the most original bad-ass/funny characters ever.
He didn't seem to be very happy when he was head of the jury at Cannes and he had to give the Palme d'Or to Michael Moore — I'm sure he hadn't cast his vote for him. I think he was more offended artistically than politically, if he was offended — there were no doubt many better films at Cannes that year, and having to give an award for artistic achievement to an obvious hack can't have been easy.
Tarantino, what a supreme, pretentious basterd and what an esoteric pile of films that no one has ever seen. The only film on the list that I'd seen was "Shaun Of The Dead", and must say it was entertaining, I won't count "Speed".
I loved Unbreakable as well and besides the hubster, could never find anyone else who did. It's nice to know I'm in good company.
Esoteric?
Battle Royale?…THE HOST? TEAM AMERICA? UNBREAKABLE? LOST IN TRANSLATION? THE MATRIX? BOOGIE NIGHTS? DAZED AND CONFUSED? FIGHT CLUB? FRIDAYS? THE INSIDER? SHAUN OF THE DEAD?
Virtually all the films mentioned (save 2) were intended for mass audiences either in America or in their respective domestic market. Only one can remotely be considered ESOTERIC (dogville). Just because YOU haven't seen them doesn't make Tarantino a "pretentious bastard" unless pretentious bastard is codespeak for "guy who likes action films starring foreigners who don't normally speak English"
Can someone please explain to me why "Lost in Translation" is supposed to be such a wonderful movie? Beyond the flirting with adultery plot that left me cold, I've actually lived in Tokyo and because of how it was shot, I got little sense of Tokyo from it. It wasn't awful but I don't see what all of the fuss was about.
I enjoyed Unbreakable quite a bit and thought it was a lot better than my friends did, perhaps because I wasn't trying to see the surprise ending and didn't really see it coming.
Ignoring politics in one's work when one's work is not political in nature does not make one a conservative. If I did have to guess his political leanings, given the nihilism in his work and narcissism in his behavior, I would say he is a Left-leaning Libertine.
And he is certainly no NRA supporter or believer in the 2nd Amendment. Here he is in a '94 Playboy interview:
Playboy: Does the government have the right to tell citizens whether, they can own guns?
Tarantino: I don't own a gun. But if gun control were to happen in America, I would have no problem with it whatsoever. Gun control would probably do wonders here. The street violence in America is horrific. When you go to Europe, you actually feel like you take a vacation from the threat of violence. Not that people don't get killed and raped in Europe, but it seems like they don't in comparison with here. But I also feel there's a slight hypocrisy about gun control. America was founded on people grabbing guns and just taking it. We are basically a nation of warriors. We're very easily pumped up. For good reasons, sometimes.
The guy is so wrapped up in his own self-importance he doesn't have time to figure out what he believes.
True, he spends alot of time in Austin (not Linklater "Dazed" reference) and while I was living there (until a few years ago) and I never heard him pipe up politically. I'd like to think he's smarter than that.
LOL! Here! Here!
Kitano did a great remake of another classic from Japan called 'Zaitoichi'. I wonder if Tarantino watched that one and I'm interested in what his thinkings where in the story of 'The Matrix' before it became a trilogy. Despite his opinion of those movies he picked, I just can't let go of one of his choices. 'Lost in Translation' was painfully dull, those very few moments with Mr. Murry dealing with the Japanese director was snarky and enjoyable.. but.
The rest of this tiresome film would put any insomniac into a coma.
When I was done with this film, I cursed myself for buying it and foolishly threw it away without the thought of reselling it. Perhaps there was some small form of decency within me to stop the possibility of someone else suffering this dreck in ignorance thinking it was a comedy since Bill Murry was in it.
Thank you! I've never liked that movie. Some people say that Tarantino is an overrated director, but I think Sofia Coppola is the one that's overrated. Lost in Translation, The Virgin Suicides, and Marie Antoinette are such boring self-indulgent messes.
"portray criminals as positive role models"
I bet you hate rap music too
'The Host' was a sorta decent monster flick, but the horrific (not in a scare way) ending was banality itself.
Imagine 'the Thing' ending with an invasion of clowns dressing up the monster with silly hats and a carnival with elephants throwing gymnasts in the air climaxing the movie…
Imagine 'Braveheart' ending with the quartering of Mel Gibson screaming out "Oweeeee! That stings!!!".
Imagine 'No Country for Old Men' ending the movie by having a bunch of old decrepit men whining about how America is a rotten place and then a crane pull back out of the house with the background is covered in Mountains of garbage and thrown away copies of 'No Country fro Old Men' DvDs.
Imagine all that and you'll get the idea about how 'the Host' ended.
And if my original posting doesn't make it, 'No Country for Old Men' was awful and 'Lost in Translation' was horrifically dull.
Unbreakable is the best movie that Shamalama-ding-dong has done. It had all the elements of a comic book story (for obvious reasons) without being an over the top comic book movie.
You have to either be apolitical or an equal opportunity offender, like Trey Stone and Matt Parker…I prefer equal opportunity offenders myself.
There's an entire genre dedicated to "positive" portrayals of criminals that LONG predates Tarantino. If you actually read/watch them beyond the surface, you are never allowed to forget that these are bad guys, not role models by any stretch. I guess you must hate The Sopranos, too.
Speed, The Matrix, Unbreakable, Lost In Translation, Team America, Shaun of the Dead, Dazed and Confused, Boogie Nights, The Insider, Fight Club?
Wow … my taste isn't far from his. And I can't stand this guy.
[...] post: Tarantino’s Top Twenty Since 1992 This entry is filed under America – Blogs, Big Hollywood. You can follow any responses to this [...]
I've only seen 4 of those films. Friday was amusing, I admit. I agree with Forlourned (above) about Lost in Translation. Rather dull and pretentious and certainly not as good as it was reported to be. Speed bored me to tears, but that's because I'm just not into car chases, etc. My husband and sons loved it. The Matrix was not bad. I remember having some entertaining and interesting conversations w/ my kids (teens) about Reality after seeing it, so I'd say it was well worth watching.
Is Tarantino's list more appealing to men than to women perhaps? I do believe his own films are.
QT is one of a kind…scenes in his movies could be made into movies…as crazy as he may be, I'll take his stuff over any piece of crap movie out there today…
While I didn't hate Lost in Translation, I didn't understand what all the fuss was over. My wife and I watched it on cable a long time after all of the buzz was gone and, when it was over, we said "that's it?"
It was a nice film, but nothing exceptional.
Let me try to explain my love for "Translation."
Watching the movie, I felt in myself the shock of not fitting in ~ of being surrounded by people in a place and still feeling lonely. Bill Murray is there to make a quick buck on a whisky commercial, and this scene is one of my favorites, where the Japanese language goes on for 30 seconds and is translated into "Life your chin" or something like that. Bill is clearly out of his element. When someone says "You drink Suntory" he responds "As soon as we're finished here." His dry humor just gets to me. Scarlett's character is a recent Yale grad, newly married, bored and confused. They meet at the hotel bar and become friends ~ not physical lovers, more as two people in a strange place sharing confusion in their lives as much as the bright neon lights and confusion of Tokyo. Japanese culture is very, very different from American and European culture, and I think Sophia Coppolla did an excellent job showing that.
Looking back now, it's Bill Murrays humor that does it for me. I feel it more than I can explain it, obviously, but I remember walking out of the movie feeling better than I'd felt in a long, long time.
Check out the Wikipedia entry for this movie. It has a much better explanation.
"Can someone please explain to me why 'Lost in Translation' is supposed to be such a wonderful movie?"
I have no idea. Maybe critics and hipsters are still so taken with New Wave cinema that they think being slow and pointless is a sign of intelligence.
I have a better question: why does the formerly great Bill Murray think you have to stop being funny once you start doing serious movies? His natural comedic gifts still shine through, but he seems to be intentionally suppressing them, especially in Jim Jarmusch films.
"Looking back now, it's Bill Murrays humor that does it for me"
Might I suggest "Caddyshack," "Stripes," "Ghostbusters," "Groundhog Day," "Rushmore," anything, really, besides "Lost…" and "Dead Flowers". Oh, and "The Razor's Edge," but I give him a little credit for a valiant effort in that one.
I had the feeling walking out of "Unbreakable" that it'd only be effective once, and I was right. Unlike with "The Sixth Sense," where you could pick up all the little hints that Willis was dead the second time around, there was nothing to be gained by a second viewing. Everything was right there in the open. Moves way, way too slow once you know.
Can't say the scenes were very enjoyable in themselves, apart from the larger mystery. Maybe the part where he sees how much he can bench press. His moment as heroic savior is small in retrospect. Were we really building up to one little fight? No real confrontation with the villain. The climax consisted instead of us finding out Jackson was responsible for the train derailment, which was chillingly effective the first time, but again, ho-hum the second.
Surprised I agree so much wih Tarantino. He nails it with SotD, Fridays, Team America,Matrix,Boogie Nights, Unbreakable, and Speed. All great movies others have been trying to copy and not quite match. I think Tarantino is a lib, but if you had him alone and asked his views I think they would most likely be Libertarian. He is pro gay marriage, pro drugs, and from what I can tell doesn't want anyone telling him what to do. He probably says he loves Obama when he's in crowd, but I think he probably couldn't care less.
How many more "NAZI" movies can be made?
This is ridiculous,Stalin killed 20 times as many as did Hitler,yet we hear absolutely nothing about that monster.
My guess is that it's for two reasons:1),about 40 million Christians were killed and it takes the focus away from Jewish suffering in that era. and 2),it was the Jewish invention of communism(Marx&Engel) that these people were killed and that's not something that any group would like to be associated with.
Enough already,this is getting pathetic.
portray criminals as positive role models
You haven't watched his films very carefully, have you? His characters may be likable, but he never allows the audience to forget that they are essentially Bad Guys. We like them, but only an idiot would want to be them.
True, he spends alot of time in Austin (note Linklater "Dazed" reference) and while I was living there (until a few years ago) and I never heard him pipe up politically. I'd like to think he's smarter than that. "Team America" ah, a clue how he thinks…maybe.
Let me start by sincerely thanking you for explaining why you enjoyed the movie. It was a good explanation. Perhaps a big part of the problem is that I've actually lived what it's like to be alone in Japan and I didn't relate to what I saw in the movie. My wife wasn't impressed, either, and she pretty much had to figure out what to do with herself while I was working.
I know what it's like to worry about getting lost or to be effectively illiterate but reality is that it's not that difficult to get by with English in Tokyo (particularly where they were) and while Japanese culture can be significantly different from American culture, I didn't really didn't feel like what I saw in that movie was authentic. As for the Tokyo scenes, my wife and I had to look in the credits to realize it was shot in Shinjuku even though we lived 15 minutes from Shinjuku and spent a lot of time there.
So while you may feel she did an excellent job of showing Japanese culture, I thought it was pretty awful in that regard and that the "making of" extras on the DVD did a better job of capturing Tokyo than the movie did. Maybe I simply know what it's like to be in Japan too well to enjoy that movie's take on it or maybe the movie matches someone's experience of Tokyo (and people who engage the Japanese at different economic levels do experience things different) but it sure didn't match mine.
Thanks again for the explanation.
Read that description and it helps a lot less than yours did. Perhaps part of the problem is that I never experienced "existential ennui" in Tokyo. I was in Tokyo! Woo, hoo! I volunteered at my company to go. Even when it terrified me, and it came pretty close when they dropped me in a residence hotel alone without all of those nice hotel amenities to see if I could cope before relocating there, I was never bored there. And after living there for a while, I'd just walk around and explore parts of the city because was an incredibly interesting place to be and live.
Shinjuku, where the movie took place, has fantastic shopping and dining options and anyone who can get bored in Shinjuku just isn't trying, though there are plenty of foreigners who do recoil from engaging with the Japanese and don't try. And to a large degree, I consider those people tragic, wasting a great opportunity and the adventure of a lifetime because they don't want to deal with something unfamiliar.
And with respect to culture shock, even though I only lived in Tokyo for less than a year and a half, in some ways I experienced as much, if not more, culture shock coming back than I did going there. How can that be? My life in Japan was safe and simple and predictable. I had to consciously suppress all of the routines I had learned living in Japan (passing people on the left, saying "sumimasen" if I bumped into someone or needed them to move out of my way, etc.) and still find them surfacing from time to time.
There are some good pictures of Shinjuku on Wikipedia, too, and they don't look like what that movie showed. I think part of why that is was revealed in the "making of" extra on the DVD. If I remember correctly, the director was trying to avoid bureaucratic approval and permitting for her outdoor shots so she shot them in guerilla fashion, which probably drove her to shooting in out of the way locations rather than pointing her camera into the heart of Shinjuku.
OK, I read that description and it helps a lot less than yours did. Perhaps part of the problem is that I never experienced "existential ennui" in Tokyo. I was in Tokyo! Woo, hoo! I volunteered at my company to go. Even when it terrified me, and it came pretty close when they dropped me in a residence hotel alone without all of those nice hotel amenities to see if I could cope before relocating there, I was never bored there. And after living there for a while, I'd just walk around and explore parts of the city because was an incredibly interesting place to be and live.
Shinjuku, where the movie took place, has fantastic shopping and dining options and anyone who can get bored in Shinjuku just isn't trying, though there are plenty of foreigners who do recoil from engaging with the Japanese and don't try. And to a large degree, I consider those people tragic, wasting a great opportunity and the adventure of a lifetime because they don't want to deal with something unfamiliar.
And with respect to culture shock, even though I only lived in Tokyo for less than a year and a half, in some ways I experienced as much, if not more, culture shock coming back than I did going there. How can that be? My life in Japan was safe and simple and predictable. I had to consciously suppress all of the routines I had learned living in Japan (passing people on the left, saying "sumimasen" if I bumped into someone or needed them to move out of my way, etc.) and still find them surfacing from time to time.
There are some good pictures of Shinjuku on Wikipedia, too, and they don't look like what that movie showed. I think part of why that is was revealed in the "making of" extra on the DVD. If I remember correctly, the director was trying to avoid bureaucratic approval and permitting for her outdoor shots so she shot them in guerilla fashion, which probably drove her to shooting in out of the way locations rather than pointing her camera into the heart of Shinjuku.
Wow, you guys are pretty hip to the intrerwebs. This was only on movieline.com on Tuesday.
I think Coppola's Virgin Suicides is far superior to the vastly overrated Lost in Translation (no wonder Tarantino likes the overly talky one … I kid, I'm a kidder). To each their own, though. That said, very nice to hear his love for Unbreakable, without a doubt my favorite of Shama-ma-lama's (always nice to know you're not alone). All in all, fun list from Tarantino and surprised how many we have in common. F yeah!
Let me start by sincerely thanking you for explaining why you enjoyed the movie. It was a good explanation.
Perhaps a big part of the problem is that I've actually lived what it's like to be alone in Japan and I didn't relate to what I saw in the movie. My wife wasn't impressed, either, and she pretty much had to figure out what to do with herself while I was working.
I know what it's like to worry about getting lost or to be effectively illiterate but reality is that it's not that difficult to get by with English in Tokyo (particularly where they were) and while Japanese culture can be significantly different from American culture, I didn't really didn't feel like what I saw in that movie was authentic. As for the Tokyo scenes, my wife and I had to look in the credits to realize it was shot in Shinjuku even though we lived 15 minutes from Shinjuku and spent a lot of time there.
So while you may feel she did an excellent job of showing Japanese culture, I thought it was pretty awful in that regard and that the "making of" extras on the DVD did a better job of capturing Tokyo than the movie did. Maybe I simply know what it's like to be in Japan too well to enjoy that movie's take on it or maybe the movie matches someone's experience of Tokyo (and people who engage the Japanese at different economic levels do experience things differently) but it sure didn't match mine.
Thanks again for the explanation.
Everyone has an opinion but this list is basically crap. Not horrible choices but mediocre fits.
I really didn't dig Battle Royale at all.
SPOT FREAK'N-ON!!!
Entertain me, don't confuse me…
I absolutely agree with you on everything you just said!!! Please Big Hollywood, stop giving this "director" the amount of space you have.
"I guess you must hate The Sopranos, too."
Don't know about Peter, but I do for many of the same reasons. Give me some real heroes I can cheer for and not these murdering losers.
Okay, I'll have to revise my own personal list. I did see"Unbreakable", a REAL letdown after "The 6th Sense", again not on MY list. "Boogie Nights", Burt Reynolds, a fake wang, and oh yeah, now doesn't it make ya feel all warm and fuzzy. "Lost In Translation", okay, but didn't take a thing away from it, mildly entertaining. I did see maybe 6 of'em and only one would I watch again. This undoubtedly says something about my movie viewing choices but it's my $$$ and I'm not into wasting it. Yeah and if you have to see a movie twice or more to catch the nuance, "No Country For Old Men", why not give everyone two tickets for the price of one. Tell me, how good a job have the makers of a particular film done that requires two viewings, I guess they sell more tickets, good marketing huh…
And you're basing this assessment of QT's opinion of F 9/11 on what again? An interview QT gave about the movie? A video of QT bagging on Michael Moore? Anything other that your own projections again?
QT is truly a filmmaker who loves movies. His list proves it. He doesn't have to act or come across like a high brow sophisticated moron like the critics of today would in compiling such a list and he presents us with a list of movies any movie goer who loves movies would love. I suppose that is why people like his movies.
Not likely. But the important thing is that he doesn´t seem to be a raging liberal. I would be surprised if politics even exists in his universe. And that´s for the better..
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Caddyshack, Stripes & Ghostbusters ~ not even close. Didn't see Rushmore, but Groundhog Day was pretty good.
My SIL lives in Hong Kong and I've been there a number of times to visit. I think it's one thing to live somewhere, another to fly over for a couple of days, then fly back. Perhaps one gets used to a place so much that when a visitor arrives for the first time, he may experience sensory overload that the resident has become immune to. My first trip to NYC, seeing the graffiti-scrawled subway cars, delighted me so much I pointed and laughed and made a big deal out of it. My SIL (same one) shushed me, couldn't believe I found interest in a disgusting old subway car.
I watched some of it again today, because of this thread, and found it just as delightful. The prostitute that one of the Suntory businessmen sends to Murray's room; the inability to sleep during the night, watching weird television shows, esp. the kooky Japanese game shows; Murray arrives at the hotel and a line of people introduce themselves, hand him their card and a gift; the photographer who asks Murray to imitate the "Rat Pack" and Roger Moore 007; it's just my kind of humor.
I suppose, like attraction to certain people, some things cannot be explained. : D
I actually think Lost in Translation is a very well made picture. The shot compositions are very interesting and the film does a great job setting the insomniac mood of it all. Sure the script isn't the most complicated one in the world, but that's ok. Besides, Anna Faris' hack job impersonation of Cameron Diaz and Giovanni Ribisi's uncanny Spike Jonze impersonation put the picture a slight notch above Virgin Suicides.
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