Tag: Quentin Tarantino

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Diary

How Did You Celebrate New Year’s Eve?

This year, I am not going to over complicate my New Year’s resolution.  It would be: read more, write more, play more music, and do more sport.  Other time sinking activities will have to be scaled back accordingly.

We stayed at home on New Year’s Eve, thanks to a laborious walk at Ubin Island the day before.  I got out of the bed in the early morning with my feet feeling sore.  I went back to bed thinking if we were to cycle instead of to walk, my feet would not be that sore.  But then I recalled what happen to those who do not cycle often.  I would rather have a pair of sore feet than a sore butt.

New Year’s Eve fell on a Saturday so we did our housecleaning ritual.  After a home cooked lunch, Cynthia and I spent a few hours romancing with the dragons.  Some readers have the misconception that MMO (massively multi-player online) is similar to the traditional role playing games, whereby you defeat your foes once and once only.  Well, in the world of MMO, we do that again, again, and again.  Very much like a game of basketball.  The court and the rules stay the same.  But the players and the outcomes may not.

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After our movie outing the day before, TK, Cynthia, and I have decided to celebrate New Year’s Eve at my home watching some videos.  TK brought pizza and food while Cynthia bought potato chip and drink.  As for the lucky me, I was tasked to operate the Blu-Ray player.  I suggested to watch the Luc Besson movie “Léon” staring young Natalie Portman.  Cynthia counter suggested Quentin Tarantino’s gruesome “Reservoir Dogs” thinking that it was a comedy.  TK also preferred the blood and gore, for our New Year’s Eve.  In this party of three, somehow I am often outnumbered.

Watching “Reservoir Dogs” requires intense concentration, which we did not have once we started to eat our pizza and talked.  Cynthia and my mother were happily chatting.  TK was also happily chatting and every now and then, playing with his new phone often.  When the title “Mr. White” appeared, they had no clue where the story was heading, except blood and more blood.  I had to explain this is Mr. White, that is Mr. Orange, and he is Mr. Pink, and etc.  Fortunately, the ending was pretty obvious and that did not require much thinking to go ah-ha!  I can understand why “Reservoir Dogs” has become a cult hit.  I doubt TK and Cynthia really love it.

After “Reservoir Dogs”, the night was still young.  So we moved onto our next video.

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If you have not watched “Léon” before and are to watch today, you would probably say, “Hmm.  Natalie Portman acted pretty good when she was 12.”  But imagine you have not heard of this movie, you would probably be amazed and thrown out of your chair at how talented this young actress is.  When I first saw Natalie Portman on screen, I said to myself, “She is going to make it big.”  She does not disappoint me.  Her 2011 “Black Swan” has won the Oscar.  And I had my “I knew it!” moment.  It was sweet.

“Léon” was more violent than I remember.  Watching “Léon” after “Reservoir Dogs”, we had our evening filled with blood and violence.  They are both classic movies, no doubt.  That pretty much sums up what 2011 is, in a way.

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Year 2011 is pretty blah for me.  I hope 2012 is more exciting, in a positive way.  This is how we spent our New Year’s Eve.  What about you?  Did you do something outrageously fun?

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Drama Foreign Movie Reviews

Inglourious Basterds – Can A Film End The War?

Inglourious Bastards

The script of “Inglourious Basterds” took Quentin Tarantino more than a decade to complete.  It shows.  Of his films I have watched, I am much intrigued by the quality of the story development of “Inglourious Besterds”.  It watched like reading a masterpiece story.  Divided into 5 chapters, the Nazi hunts the Jews, the American ‘commandos’ infiltrate the Nazi occupied Parisian territory, and the Jews’ uprising against the Nazi – a spaghetti like storyline told in a humorous, dramatic, and at times gruesome manner.  So, will the Jew or the American or even the German end the World War II?  The ending could be more than what you would expect.

Quentin Tarantino’s signature is all over “Inglourious Basterds”.  The music, the treatment to the scene down to the frame by frame level, and the orchestration of a team of talented European actors and actresses whom some of them are in their own rights a director and a producer.  Some metaphors are cleverly repeated cross the chapters.  Such as the interrogation and negotiation.  Some metaphors are linked to well known stories of the past.  I can understand how some may cringed at the scene of the gruesome execution.  However, I think “Inglourious Basterds” is a lot milder compares to some of Quentin Tarantino’s previous works.  In fact, it is so refined that some scenes are just beautiful to watch, however tragic they may be.

I read that Quentin Tarantino took some time to find the ending to this ‘best writing he has ever done’.  I am unsure if it is the perfect ending to the script, or I in fact like the ending.  Perhaps, I just didn’t want the film to end.  Quentin Tarantino is so talented.  He is a legend no less.

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Action & Thriller Movie Reviews

Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror – Part Two Of Grindhouse

3 months ago we have watched part 1 of Grindhouse directed by Quentin Tarantino (Death Proof). I actually wanted to watch that polar bear documentary film. But TK counter-suggested to watch the “one legged hottie” instead. Cynthia leapt in joy. Guess my love for the polar bear will have to be postponed to another day.

Despite the positive critic reviews for Grindhouse, the box office result was below expectation in the US. Grindhouse was shown in a full length of 191 minutes with Planet Terror and Death Proof played back-to-back with one another. Personally, I think there is only that much blood and gore an audience can take in one sitting. Internationally, Grindhouse was split into two movies beefed up with extra scenes. Death Proof has covered the topics of forbidden sex, wanton violence, drug use, and nudity. As expected – true to the genre of grindhouse – Planet Terror covers the remaining aspects of freaks, monsters, destruction, rebellion, and mayhem. There is a trade-off between watching Grindhouse in one go and watching it in a split version. The former one is true to grindhouse style while the latter one we get to see each movie featured in full.

Let me warn you, Planet Terror is gross. This morning I woke up and when I tried to recall what the first scene was, I thought of that jar of preserved human testicles and the dude who got his balls cut. In fact, the first scene was the beautiful Rose McGowan (famous in the TV series “Charmed”) dancing sexily around the pole in skimpy outfit as a go-go dancer named Cherry Darling. Cherry Darling? What a nice name.

The plot of Planet Terror started with some military units being exposed to biochemical weapons that transformed human beings into … zombies. Soon, more people were infected and it was the destiny of the survivors to fight together and find the last safe spot in the world. What I enjoy most is the amount of humor being put into such a genre of grossness and suspense. We laughed almost throughout the show and for the record, I was not the loudest. There were some others who laughed harder than me! And the way how scenes are cut onto one another is clever. Some of the sequence are so original that make me wonder, how did Robert Rodriguez come out with that idea (like how the “one legged hottie” Cherry Darling fights with a gun attached to her missing leg)?

I think Rose McGowan is a good fit for the show. While her air time in Death Proof was limited – which is understandable given how the plot was written – she is the main actress in Planet Terror. In the TV series “Charmed”, she has gone through the journey of gaining her witch power and used it against the demons. In Planet Terror, she has also gone through the journey of losing a leg and gaining a gun and this time, she fights zombies. I can’t think of a better person to play that role.

But how does Planet Terror compares against Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof? Both movies are made with the 1970’s effect. Death Proof has a very structured storyline (2 parts involving 4 different women each) and a series of long conversations while Planet Terror focuses more on the visual effects with short, sharp dialogues. Both TK and Cynthia find Planet Terror having a higher entertainment value as compares to Death Proof. I naturally enjoy the long and deep conversations so I find Death Proof having a higher artistic value instead.

Again, if you have watched Death Proof, don’t miss Planet Terror. And if you haven’t, the two movies are unrelated though the theme is (grindhouse style and women emerge as the heroines). Not a movie for the weak stomach for sure. Lots of bodies being torn apart and plenty of blood everywhere. I can almost picture my buddy Mark faints in the theatre upon watching Planet Terror. So Mark, please stay away from this. Or you could use Planet Terror to train your tolerance of the sight of blood … at home!

Categories
Action & Thriller Movie Reviews

Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof – Part One Of Grindhouse

From the writer and director of “Reservoir Dogs”, “Pulp Fiction”, “Jackie Brown”, and “Kill Bill”, Quentin Tarantino has created yet another classic this time in the Grindhouse style. If you like his works, especially the earlier ones (less fantasy and more realism), there is no reason for you to miss “Death Proof” – a believable story of a mad stunt man killing groups of women with his “death proof” car. To better appreciate “Death Proof”, you have to understand where “Grindhouse” comes from.

Grindhouse cinemas, made popular in the 1970s, mainly showed double featured B-rated exploitation movies back to back with one another. Exploitation film belongs to a movie genre whereby lurid contents is focused upon in the expense of production quality. Hence explains Death Proof’s aspects of forbidden sex, wanton violence, drug use, and nudity. And I would expect Robert Rodriguez’s “Planet Terror” – the 2nd film of the double featured “Grindhouse” – to cover the rest of the aspects of freaks, monsters, destruction, rebellion, and mayhem.

If you are familiar with Quentin Tarantino’s style, you should expect no less from “Death Proof”. The script is refreshing, lively, and at times pornographic; the cinematography is brilliant in bringing out the mood of the film through change in color filters, effects, and lighting; the acting is excellent (I strongly believe that director has a part to play in how actors act); the action scene is entertaining and engaging. “Death Proof” does not have a lot of blood and gore scenes like “Kill Bill”. But when it does, the scenes are very real (be warned). The dialogue between the groups of girls itself worth the re-watch value with the camera floating seamlessly as the subject of focus is changed. As a guy, I love the car chasing scene – probably one of the best I have seen. And as for Cynthia, she was clapping and screaming in joy towards the end of the show. I personally find it a bit odd and I guess it is a girl thing. From the storyline perspective, Quentin Tarantino has once again demonstrated his stroke of genius by making a 2-hour long movie from a simple story that can be summed up in one sentence. And finally, it is illegal to walk away from a Quentin Tarantino film without thoroughly enjoyed the soundtrack (pay attention to the ring-tone of one of the actresses). The part when one of the girls keeps changing the music in a jukebox as the conversation proceeds is one of my favorites. The song from the ending credits has such an infectious tone that there is a high chance I am getting the soundtrack just because of that song (anyone else loves that song besides me?).

Now, if you prefer a light entertainment and find explicit languages offensive, you may be in for a huge disappointment. There is a trailer for “Death Proof” but I strongly recommend against watching it if you are going to watch the movie anyway. For the undecided ones, check out the trailer to see if this is the sort of movie you may enjoy.

For true fans of Quentin Tarantino only: I have watched the interview from the directors and the selected cast a while back. This video clip may be a put off even for those who enjoy the movie but for the true fans, we just want more.