MovieChat Forums > Quentin Tarantino Discussion > the favorite director of people who know...

the favorite director of people who know nothing about film yet want to feel like they do


In other words, worshipers of a naked emperor. Yes I did see his films at the theater and yes I was mindblown, but the more I learn about film, real films, real masterpieces like Vertigo and The Birds, as well as the many great and unique movies he has plagiarized, the more I realize his work is not good at all. It's hard for me to describe but his work is as subtle and contrived as a grand vitesse train going into an asshole. You can't see his movies without his smothering fat ass, salamander grin and chode sweaty dick masturbatory presence. I don't think that makes for a great director. "Auteur" directors like Almodovar, Tarantino and Rodriguez eventually destroy their own films. Their style becomes intrusive. Plus it's not original and never was.

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Eh i like him well enough

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Eh, some people like violence and references to better films and slick fight scenes! People like the damndest things.

Definitely not my favorite things, and IMHO Tarrantino is not a great director or a personal favorite and doesn't have the potential to become either. Still, he's like Tim Burton in that although his films aren't great there's usually something worth watching in them, and his films are definitely *his* and not generic. Blandness has become a plague on the movie industry, and while Tarantino's films aren't great, at least they're never bland. I give him that much credit.

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Great point. I thought Pulp Fiction was entertaining, a real hoot. But each subsequent film seems to have some of that same crazy quality -- well-made, but a bit callow and self-aware, like he's very amused with himself. Django was very watchable but in the end I didn't like it much.

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Otter, I very much enjoy violence and slick fight scenes, but I also completely agree with your post.

Hitchcock, who had the wonderful Alfred Hitchcock Presents TV anthology series in the 50s, when TV was still defining itself, is my authoritative touchstone for film criticism. Criticism of any art form must begin with defining what that art form IS. Hitch's definition of a great movie: "Three great scenes, no bad scenes."

I want to suggest another director who was a true auteur: Kurosawa.

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The Birbs is an incredibly stupid movie

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and why is that?

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ikr...i fucking love 'The Birbs...'

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It is so great, and I get so much joy from watching the special effects, they are so great and they don't take me out of the film at all, on the contrary I am even more engrossed recognizing how they did it and so on. It's a true masterpiece and completely original mind you, just the vision of Hitchcock, it's unmatched really. I think he may be the only true auteur of cinema, and done right because the style is not intrusive to the story and the film, it's still a FILM that feels organic and flows.

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Agree 100%
The Birbs is great

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lol I really need to check out this Birbs movie..not sure I have ever seen it.

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I love The Burbs! A dark comedy classic.

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"just the vision of Hitchcock, it's unmatched really. I think "he may be the only true auteur of cinema" "

Hmmm... As much as I agree that Hitchcock was an absolute master, I think this is a very exaggerated statement. Keep watching movies, because beyond Hollywood there is/was SO many visionary "auteurs of cinema" as you call it.

Don't you consider Stanley Kubrick as a real auteur? Okay pretty much all his movies were based on novels... But "based" has never been so appropriate to use. He basically recreated them to turn them into his own pieces.

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Kubrick could be the only one close to Hitchcock.

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Ey! Kubrick ain't no auteur! He's a dod-burned movie dierecktor!

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Sweet story bro. Would read again.

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Of his last 3 big movies two were mediocre (Django & Inglorious) and the third was very poor and boring (Hateful 8)... Sure, he tried hard and had a few nice homage scenes and some cute moments, but the films themselves were pretty average...

There is a good Q&A online with Tarantino and Nolan at the director's guild youtube page about making Hatefull Eight. Nolan doen't do much talking as he's the interviewer, so it's mostly Tarantino and you see how out of his depth he is when comes to the craft of filmmaking. Yes, credit to him for trying reuse some classic lenses and 70mm format, but he didn't so much with it. The result is less than what you'd expect.

It's absurd when critics (really should be called cheerleaders) elevate these three Tarantino films...

Reservoir Dogs and Pulp fiction are his best and are actually pretty good genre movies, the others fall between these and the 3 bad ones as they usually have some novelty appeal for the first viewing...

I think it's unfair to compare him to Hitchcock, as Alfred was a true master filmmaker... Almodovar is a good comparison to Tarantino, for example the overrated All About My Mother especially now in a Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner world... But Volver was solid (his best?) and Talk to Her holds up as well... and even though it didn't blow me away, I still think Broken Embraces is above average, but that's primarily for the way the relationship between the rich guy and the Cruz's character is portrayed... I have not yet seen the Skin I live In, but have bought the blu ray... I suppose I still find Almodovar more interesting as I haven't looked forward to a Tarantino movie in a long time...

Rodriguez has basically made several versions of the same movie... Desperado was fun and Sin City was a good attempt at something interesting, but that's about it... The rest is remixing...

I think it's enlightening to compare them to Scoresese.... Who has made some genre defining movies, but whose style is always in service of story, character or a theme in the movie...

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He said without jest that he was the best director of all time, so I am comparing him to the actual best director of all time, which is Alfred Hitchcock, I don't think I'm being unfair.

Hitchcock is truly the epitome of filmmaking and Vertigo is the greatest film ever made, that is a fact. I'm not one of those Ingmar Bergman fans, I have no qualms with watching a Bergman film and call it crap, I've done, I do not succumb to peer pressure so when I like something it's because it has true merit, and I've educated myself with the right guidelines.

As I said earlier, Tarantino can blow your mind and does blow your mind if you are in a certain level of ignorance that goes beyond your standard cineplex fare and you can either continue to explore in which you would realize that he's not good at all, or you can stay there and become a Nolanite(another massive charlatan is Nolan) and think of Tarantino as a God. I've known several of them, one of them thought Single White Female was an obscure art film.

Almodóvar I am done with, Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown is a great film, everything is else is garbage basically were his gay sensibilities smother and obtrude in an unnatural way the same way with Tarantino and the rest, plus he's also a plagiarist.

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He actually said he was the best?! hahahhaha... he's not even the best of the 90s...

In fact, just as an example, I think Aronofsky, for all his faults, will end up with the better filmography out of the two... I think he understands better what he is doing, whether or not we agree with his choices (Noah was a lesser film of his, but Black Swan was quality and he nailed what he set out to do)... I'm not sure how successful he was with Mother!, even though I really liked it, I can see how someone could fault his approach. At least it wasn't a remix of hisnearlier films or those of others...

I love Hitchcock. Watching his films as a kid really turned me on to movies and it was his films that made me realise that film was a director's medium. I remember starting to pay attention to the director credits when going to the movie and not just the actors...

I don't think Nolan is a charlatan, but I'm with you that his most rabid fans should watch more movies... I think Nolan is still developing as a filmmaker. I wouldn't have imagined that the guy who made Following (influenced by Bresson's Pickpocket) and Momento would make Dunrirk. He's clearly decided to take the Spielberg route by trying to elevate blockbusters rather than seeking just to make art or focus on genre movies... Which is not a bad thing as we need more idiosyncratic filmmakers working at that high commercial level. I think when people get carried away and call him the next Kubrik it gets rediculous... Will Nolan ever make a movie that comes close to Spielberg's Munich? I don't know...

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I can't agree with your examples, Aronofsky is terrible to me and Munich was awful.

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If we all agreed on specific movies it would be very boring... They were just examples ;)

Which directors working today do you like, or think are doing interesting work compared to Tarantino?

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none.

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So he is the best working today?!

Better than Scoresese, Alexander Payne, Wes Anderson, Villeneuve, Ang Lee, Haneke, Spielberg, PT Anderson, etc...?

Or do you mean that none of the directors currently working make you feel that they are in command of filmmaking they way you think they should be?

What about Giuseppe Tornatore (The Best Offer) or Brian DePalma? They very clearly are influenced by Hitchcock and have tried to use his film language in movies... I think either of them are more in command of filmmaking than Tarantino.

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Okay guys forget about it... It is a troll. What he is basically saying is that Hitchcock is the only good filmmaker the world has ever known.

Grow the fuck up.

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Yes, the thing that actually annoys me the most with Nolan is not him, it's his retarded and loud fans.

People tend to look highly on anything that is/seem complicated. So they go like "oh wow I had to watch Inception TWICE to quite get it. This guy is the biggest genius Hollywood has ever had." I know people who praise every single one of his movies and they usually don't much why other than "OMG his movies always make my brain work" or "his movies can be enjoyed by anyone". In neither case is it a strong argument.

I like Nolan and thought Momento was an absolute masterpiece. I love The Prestige and The Dark Knight. I enjoyed Inception and Batman Begins.

This being said... I thought that The Dark Knight Rises and Interstellar were totally boring and pretencious. And I don't even bother to explain why anymore because well apparently no matter what I say on the matter I am wrong.

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Nolan must find his hardcore fanbase trying.

I mean I think he's an excellent director, and sometimes I'm terribly embarrassed on his behalf.

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Don't you think that you might be a little bit of a Hitchcok fanboy?

And as someone who criticize Nolan (who has his fair share of fanboys), I find your approach a little bit ironic.

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haha

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While I'm bummed you think All About My Mother is over-rated, I can see your point. Like Pulp Fiction, it is vivid and lurid and fun, but if subsequent films have the same quality, it may come off as formula.

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I think All About My Mother relies far too much on the shock factor of having transexual (is that PC?) side characters in the movie, rather than staying more with the main character... The critics obviously made a big deal out of that and looking back at the movie in today's world it seems his focus was off... especially considering how amazing Cecilia Roth (who plays Manuela) was. She was great and worth rewatching the movie for.

It's worth checking out his other movies. I liked Volver a lot and Talk To Her is worth checking out even though it's a bit out there can could be considered a bit disturbing... Some dark themes.

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Totally agree with the OP (except that I've never been "mindblown" by Tarantino's movies......they were embarrassingly bad overrated garbage when initially released)

I blame the internet for this whole 'Chinese-Whisper' syndrome (or 'Keeping-Up-With-The-Throne's' as I like to call it) in that for the last 15-20 years or so, people are content to spew fifth-hand studio scripted hyperbole when discussing 'hacks' like Tarantino (as a poor substitute for an actual opinion) his movies are nothing but a 'Greatest Hits' package for people too lazy (or glued to their portable devices) to track down the source material. His defenders are an odd bunch too. Apparently, they defend such out-right theft with "Oh yes, but it's what QT does with such references" as the most piss-poor-shoot-me-now-cop-out of all time.

The internet is only useful to sell movies, it (and the 'computer' itself) have done little to enhance cinema (unless of course, you've the mindset of a 13 year old that lives for HD CGI FX, constant plot updates, spoilers (and little else)
Nowadays, people equate "Boring" as deep (and if you were bored, you didn't "Get It")
"Swearing" as humour.
"FX" as an 'end' (rather than a 'means')

And it's not just Tarantino either......a whole glut of talentless hacks (in front and behind the camera) are lauded and praised.....but you'd be hard pressed to get a legitimate answer from supporters, concerning what exactly is so great about Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, Tom Hanks, Tom Hardy, Ryan Gosling, Christian Bale......unless they're spouting studio hyperbole?

Most (so-called) movie fans don't have any genuine opinions on movies anymore (they don't have to....they have all the information that it takes genuine fans a lifetime to amass, at their fingertips) and quickly proclaim the last movie they watch (as the greatest movie ever made) and eagerly await to bestow *that* title onto the next movie.

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I couldn't agree more and I think the exact same thing about the people you mentioned, some of the worst actors and directors of all time. Christopher Nolan is LAUGHABLE. Sure I was carried away by The Dark Knight at the time but now it makes me cringe with all the jokes every 5 seconds, I thought it was meant to be a serious film?

Blade Runner 2049, which hasn't even finished its theater run, was just proclaimed the best sequel ever made by some hack reporter, and that's the world we live in, but I take pleasure in seeing all these new acclaimed films being completely forgotten about just two or three years down the line.

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How does it feel to agree with a troll thread?

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Thank you.

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Tarantino has never pretended to be anything more than a fan. He's a known cinephile and is obsessed with films from all over the world. You're placing too high an expectation on a man that never once asked to be worshipped. The blame lies with his fanbase more than anything. The same kind of fanbase that makes Christopher Nolan out to be more than he is. And David Fincher for that matter. Fanboys have a tendency to ruin everything.

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A known cinephile that doesn't know shit really.

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But again, he never claimed to know anything. I mean the guy dropped out of high school for Christ's sake. All he knows is movies. That's it. He's like a less likable Guillermo Del Toro.

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Like I said above he said he was the greatest director of all time.

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Oh. I didn't see that. That's kind of funny.

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Please, give me your sources??

Because yes I am aware about Tarantino's huge ego but I never read anything where he pretended to be "the best director of all time".

In a way or another you already lost all credibility but at least with this I would be able to say that you are not just a retarded troll.

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go look for it yourself.

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I am not the one trying to make a point here...

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I'm not going to waste time looking for it, he did say it in an interview, he was blabbering about something criticizing the current business and did say he was the best director of all time.

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You are clearly lying.

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