Top 5 Quentin Tarantino Films
Tarantino is one of the most unique directors of our generation, and probably in history. His films have incredible writing, and over the top violence, and although all of his films share the same theme of revenge, they are all incredibly different films every time. He has created some of the most impressive films of the last 20 years and is therefore one of my favorite directors, and here are my pics for his top 5 films.
5.) Kill Bill Vol. 1
The thing that I love about all of Tarantino's films is that they are all so satisfying because even though we teach our children that revenge is wrong, we just love to watch it happen, especially when it is as violent as possible. I put Kill Bill Vol. 1 on here because it is a great revenge flick, but I put it so low because there were elements that just didn't cater to me, which is fine because its not my film. I'm not a huge fan of martial arts movies so I was definitely more in it for the story line, which I don't feel comfortable divulging any information about because I honestly had no idea what it was about before watching. I went in knowing only that Uma Thurman was going to be wearing a yellow jumpsuit and she would be wielding a sword. I like that Tarantino makes strong women in a lot of his movies, this one is clearly following one in particular. Definitely check out this movie, even if its just so you can get to Vol. 2, which I liked much better, but we'll get to that in a minute. This film is currently #151 on IMDB's Top 250 Films of All Time.
4.) Pulp Fiction
I am ashamed to say that I didn't fully enjoy this movie the first time I saw it, it wasn't until I saw it again about a month ago that I really fully enjoyed it. I think Tarantino is really able to showcase his witty writing in this film. There's definitely action, but most of the movie is just dialogue and most of the scenes have some great lines. I love that Quentin makes an appearance in this film, and its quite a substantial part. Lots of great actors in this one, and I gotta say, seeing John Travolta in this role was a bit of a surprise for me. I mean, I knew before watching that he was obviously IN the film, but its just weird to see him play a bit of a thug, probably because his more recent roles are more fresh in my mind. I love the way he shoots the movie, how it's broken up between story lines and it jumps all over the place time-wise so you don't really know the point of what's happening until the very end. The fantastic cast also includes Uma Thurman, Michael Madsen, Lucy Liu, Vivica A. Fox, Daryl Hannah, ect. I'm probably the only person on the planet that had to watch it twice to love it, so definitely watch it, it's a classic and you don't really get Tarantino until you see this. Its #4 on IMDB's top 250 films of all-time. It was nominated for 7 Oscars, winning 1 for Best Writing for Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary.
3.) Kill Bill Vol. 2
I really loved this movie a lot more then the 1st. I almost didn't watch it because the first wasn't really my thing, but although this is technically the sequel to Vol. 1, it's more of an origin story, which I always enjoy, it is also able to fill in the rest of the gaps that Tarantino left open in the first one, anticipating a sequel. It ends up having a much better ending then I could've imagined, and the fight sequences are really impressive in this film. The scene with Michael Madsen was great, didn't see the snake coming, but my favourite was the one between Uma Thurman and Daryl Hannah. Watching her use her skills to rip out her eyeball with her hands in one quick motion was crazy. I liked all of the training sequences, which I was surprised by because like I said before, I'm not a huge fan of martial arts movies. You see a lot more of Bill in this one, and you finally fully grasp why she needs to kill him so badly. Once again, revenge is sweet.
2.) Inglourious Basterds
I believe this was the first Tarantino movie I ever saw, and after seeing his other ones I was convinced that this was his masterpiece and there was no way to make it any better than this. This film is currently #2 on my list, so obviously I was wrong, but don't let that take away from how utterly amazing this film is. I watched for probably the 7th time last night and I loved every second of it. He keeps making the revenge scenarios bigger and better. *SPOILER ALERT* I mean, how fantastic is it that you can write a movie where in the end, you kill Hitler, and all of his head guys? *spoiler over* There are so many interesting and hilarious characters in this film, but by far the best character is Col. Hans Landa, played by Christoph Waltz. He is easily the most detestable character in this movie, but you leave the film thinking "that guy I've never heard of or seen before just won an Oscar," and so he did. Brad Pitt plays Lt. Aldo Raines, also a very enthusiastic character with an incredibly thick Louisiana accent that makes the word "Bonjourno" one of the funniest lines in the film. The final scene of the movie contains Aldo and Landa and it is one of my favorites in the film, just fantastic, but any of the scenes containing these two characters is guaranteed to be golden. Tarantino has included another strong female character in this film with Schosanna played by Mélanie Laurent who is the person who truly gets to enact her revenge. Although I would have wanted a different ending for her in the film, her revenge is fully realized. Some other cast members include Michael Fassbender, Mike Myers, Diane Kruger, Eli Roth, and many other impressive guys who played soldiers or other characters along the way. I adore this film, I watch it over and over again and still love it every time. It is #108 on IMDB's top 250 films of all-time list. It was nominated for 8 Oscars winning 1 for Best Supporting Actor for Christoph Waltz.
1.) Django Unchained
I absolutely adored this movie, my favorite movie of 2012 hands down. I sort of feel bad for Jamie Foxx, that even though he played the lead, and even though he was really fantastic in this, Christoph Waltz cannot help but, once again, steal the show with his unbelievable acting abilities. He is just so damn charismatic that even though you're not quite sure if he does some questionable things, you can't help but love him. His entrance is amazing and perfectly sets up his character and the rest of the film. Foxx and Waltz are not the only examples of great acting, Kerry Washington was great and plays Django's wife, and Samuel L. Jackson is also super impressive in this movie, but the other person who shared in stealing some of the spotlight in this movie was Leonardo DiCaprio. He was unreal in this character, and I think that the fact that he was not nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars is unbelievable. Christoph Waltz still should have won, but I think Leo should've gotten the recognition he deserved. Jonah Hill makes the most random cameo of all time, and Quentin Tarantino also makes an appearance having one of my favourite onscreen deaths of all time, absolutely hilarious. Like I said before, his revenge scenarios keep getting bigger and bigger, I thought the need for revenge couldn't get any bigger then the Holocaust but he managed to amp it up another level with slavery. The shoot-out scene at the end is fantastic, and there are so many other epic scenes in this film and so many fantastic lines. I don't know how many times in the last year I've heard someone say "You silver tongued devil, you." Like most of his films the violence is extreme so it's understandable that some people wouldn't enjoy it, but I was ecstatic to see Tarantino winning the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, and that Django was nominated for Best Picture. It is #53 on IMDB's top 250 films of all-time. It was nominated for 5 Oscars winning 2, as I previously mentioned, Best Supporting Actor for Christoph Waltz, and Best Original Screenplay for Quentin Tarantino.
