Wednesday, August 20, 2014

The Directors Project: #8 - Quentin Tarantino

Scene from Cinema Paradiso
With the many lists and essays written on the subject of film, there has been one thing that The Oscar Buzz has tried to understand: Who is my favorite of the film world? For 10 weeks this summer, I will be exploring this with a countdown of the Top 50 names based on a numerical ranking of ratings from various sources, the following is a list of directors who rank above everyone else. With occasional upsets, this is intended as both a discussion opener as well as a better understanding of me as a film critic and fan. Please enjoy and leave any comments you have regarding the entry's selection.


QUENTIN TARANTINO


Years Active: 1983-present

Films as Director: 9

Oscar Wins: 2

- Best Original Screenplay (Pulp Fiction)
- Best Original Screenplay (Django Unchained)

Who: Very few people define 90's independent cinema quite like Tarantino. From his debut, he created his own cadence and ushered in a new era where borrowing iconic imagery could be supplanted next to pop culture references and bombastic action sequences. With his earlier work also featuring nonlinear narratives, he remains an auteur of stylized cinema that may not always have much substance, but comes at such a brisk pace that it leaves the viewer baffled. He may be excessive, but his tendencies and perverse world logic have created some of the most visually challenging and awe-inspiring work that any major studio has released in the past few decades. He may be impulsive, but it does pay off eventually most of the time.

POINTS TALLY
Scene from Kill Bill: Vol. 1
-- Reservoir Dogs (1992) --

Flickchart Ranking: #80 (850 points)
IMDb Rating: 7/10 (70 points)
Perks: Complete Filmography (Overall 50 points)
Total: 920 points

-- Inglourious Basterds (2009) --

Flickchart Ranking: #107 (800 points)
IMDb Rating: 7/10 (70 points)
Perks: Complete Filmography (Overall 50 points)
Total: 870 points

-- Pulp Fiction (1994) --

Flickchart Ranking: #120 (800 points)
IMDb Rating: 7/10 (70 points)
Perks: Complete Filmography (Overall 50 points)
Total: 870 points

-- Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) --

Flickchart Ranking: #135 (800 points)
IMDb Rating: 7/10 (70 points)
Perks: Complete Filmography (Overall 50 points)
Total: 870 points

-- Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004) --

Flickchart Ranking: #264 (650 points)
IMDb Rating: 7/10 (70 points)
Perks: Complete Filmography (Overall 50 points)
Total: 870 points

-- Django Unchained (2012) --

Flickchart Ranking: #713 (300 points)
IMDb Rating: 4/10 (40 points)
Perks: Complete Filmography (Overall 50 points)
Total: 340 points

-- Jackie Brown (1997) --

Flickchart Ranking: #894 (150 points)
IMDb Rating: 5/10 (50 points)
Perks: Complete Filmography (Overall 50 points)
Total: 200 points

-- Four Rooms (1995) --

Flickchart Ranking: #986 (50 points)
IMDb Rating: 6/10 (60 points)
Perks: Complete Filmography (Overall 50 points)
Total: 110 points

-- Death Proof (2007) --

Flickchart Ranking: #899 (150 points)
IMDb Rating: 5/10 (50 points)
Perks: Complete Filmography (Overall 50 points)
Total: 250 points

OVERALL TOTAL: 5150 points

WHY DO I LOVE?
Scene from Inglourious Basterds
There's something infectious and unifying about Tarantino to the contemporary cinephile. He is a gateway to a world of style and references to obscure cinema worth checking out. He packs his dialogue with memorable moments and music cues that are arbitrary yet defining. His love of cinema reflects the audience's love of cinema, and it has produced a rather distinguished career of making films about films into something of a serious art form. With his own built-in logic, his work in nonetheless enjoyable if just on a base level and makes every time he comes around all the more exciting. He is violent, funny, and while maybe a little plagiarizing, a unique director voice that has changed the shape of cinema for better or worse.


UP NEXT: The quaint storybook styling of a man obsessed with family dynamics.

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