Things I’m Supposed To Love, But Can’t Stand: Quentin Tarantino
By Mitch Berg
Take two patties of crap.
Mold them around a piece of pungent, sharp swiss cheese to form a “Juicy Lucy” patty. Grill the patties to perfection, and put them on a fresh, just-crusty-enough Kaiser bun, with Jamaica onions, tomatoes, a little smear of garlic paste, dijon mustard and ketchup. Plate it with some impeccable steak fries with pepper-catchup and ranch dipping sauce.
You’ll have a real work of culinary art and craft on your hands, a testimony to the skill of the cook and the quality of the ingredients…
…or you would, if it weren’t for the fact at the center of it all it’s still just a crap sandwich.
Film buffs tell me I’m supposed to looooove Quentin Tarantino.
I can’t stand him.
Oh, Pulp Fiction is all right; it’s entertaining, but terribly overrated. But a little of it goes a looooong way.
Which is better than I can say for the rest of his filmography. Reservoir Dogs is like Diner for people who were raised by bad dog trainers. The Kill Bills were like the sandwich above; crap sandwiches, albeit well-crafted with with the occasional “ooh, cool!” piled between the patties of crap and the bun. I never saw Grindhouse, but I’ll take a guess and wager “crappiest” was the adjective I’m looking for.
But here’s my big beef (as it were); what would we say if, say, a music producer came to the fore whose entire oeuvre was recapturing the magic of Tommy Roe or Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods? We – people who care about actual music – would shake our heads, mutter etro Uber Alles people have gone too far”, and go about our business.
If a chef opened a high end restaurant featuring Tang, Space Food Sticks and Cap’n Crunch, what’d the culinary crowd say?
Well, we know what some of them – the crowd that flocks to Chino Latino to get abused by the surly hipster waitstaff, the ones that get their yuks at just how tacky people used to be by wallowing in faux irony.
And that’d explain Tarantino. He’s a one trick pony; his only trick is endless, pointless homage to the kitschiest, ugliest, shabbiest things American moviemaking has ever done.
Wheee.
Tracy Eberly at Anti-Strib once said that my dislike of Tarantino was a musician thing:
Mitch Berg has highlighted the massive chasm that exists between movie people and music people.
No. It’s a “I dislike, and refuse to celebrate, crap” thing. Accepting Tarentino as a good example, much less as the sine qua non of American filmmaking is like going to Manny’s and ordering a cow flop steak with all the trimmings.
Look – just for future references: Doesn’t matter if it’s crap music, crap literature, crap dance or crap movies. And it really doesn’t matter if it’s just a well-crafted, lovingly-obsessive, irony-drenched homage to crap, or the first-generation variety. Crap is Crap.
Tarantino: he may not be crap. He’s just built a career out of repackaging crap for those who idealize crap or, worse, think that paying homage to crap ennobles it.
Go ahead, Quentin. Pull.
May 11th, 2009 at 12:27 pm
Dude; dissin’ Res Dog (“Are you gonna bark all day, little doggy, or are you gonna bite?”)?!1?
Pimpin’ out Pulp Fiction (“I love you, Pumpkin. I love you, Honey Bunny.”)?
Smackin’ on Kill Bill(“It was not my intention to do this in front of you. For that I’m sorry. But you can take my word for it, your mother had it comin’.” )?
That’s messed up.
May 11th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
Then I’m happy and proud to be “messed up”.
May 11th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
But here’s my big beef (as it were); what would we say if, say, a music producer came to the fore whose entire oeuvre was recapturing the magic of Tommy Roe or Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods?
We’d call them Stock Aitken Waterman, I think. There’s always a market for crap sandwiches.
May 11th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
I saw quantum of Solace last week. It was awful.
The only person who could possibly resurrect the zombie-like Bond franchise is Tarintino.
May 11th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
I cannot stand Tarantino. His appeal completely eludes me. With you on this one Mitch.
May 11th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
I eagerly await the Berg revue of the collected works of Inshiro Honda.
May 11th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
I hope Tarantino remakes the entire canon of Ingmar Bergman films. Think what he could with Seventh Seal or Smiles of a Summer Night!
May 11th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
Taste is something some people will never aquire. Mr. Berg is an excellent example. His absolute ignorance of the film industry can be the only explaination for his low opinion of Taratino movies. Genre changing movies like Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs are classics for what they did to exiting stereotypes. To appreciate this, someone has to have at least a passing knowledge of the film industry. Berg obviously would rather bike to a reunion charity event for Tapes and Tapes than aquire any semblence of knowledge that would be require to justify is horribly mis-informed statements.
I can only assume that a grown man who scorns the convenience of the gas engine also sees fit to pass judgement on Citizen Cane, Casablanca and Gone With The Wind as also “crap”. Considering the source, Mr. Tarantino should consider his inability to connect with Philistines like Mr. Berg as a compliment.
I stand by my original statement. Music people just aren’t movie people. Much like savage beasts, music people tend to be calmed by noise but are incapable of follwing a complex plot line. I have to assume the hours spent in shit-hole bars standing in front of Marshall stacks has rendered large sections of their brain as useless as Jim Walsh’s musings on the Replacements.
May 11th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
I do love Pulp Fiction and I’ve heard Jacky Brown is pretty good, but yeah, Tarantino is a bit of a “one-trick pony”.
And though I would say that Reservoir Dogs is crappy (and puts the “gratuity” in gratuitous violence), you really need to catch the inspiration for it, Ringo Lam’s: City on Fire, starring: Chow Yun Fat .
May 11th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
I can only assume that a grown man who scorns the convenience of the gas engine
Your facts are as suspect as your taste. I have a car. But when the weather is this gorgeous, biking to work is just about as nice as it gets.
also sees fit to pass judgement on Citizen Cane,
Never heard of “Citizen Cane”, but Citizen Kane is a great, essential movie.
Casablanca
My favorite movie; I’ve seen it just south of fifty times.
and Gone With The Wind as also “crap”.
Dreadfully overrated movie.
Considering the source, Mr. Tarantino should consider his inability to connect with Philistines like Mr. Berg as a compliment.
If he’d take it as a “compliment” and go away, it’d be totally worth it.
tand by my original statement. Music people just aren’t movie people.
Better comparison: taste people just aren’t flyweight-pop-culture-dreck people.
like savage beasts, music people tend to be calmed by noise but are incapable of follwing a complex plot line.
Untrue, of course – following the “plot” of a Mahler or Beethoven symphony will separate the wheat from the chaff. And what would I – with my BA in English – ever know about following complex plots? I mean, I’ve only field-stripped War and Peace, Brothers Karamazov, The Master and Margarita and Crime and Punishment a few times; whatever would I know about complexity and nuance?
Of course, the presenting statement is absurd on its face; Tarentino’s plots are “complex” in the same way that a Big Mac is “food”.
I have to assume the hours spent in shit-hole bars standing in front of Marshall stacks has rendered large sections of their brain as useless as Jim Walsh’s musings on the Replacements.
I’m more a Fender guy, and in and among playing cello for 36 years, learning a couple of Bach dual-choir motets, and defending my comprehension of “The Possessed”, my brain’s utility probably isn’t the issue as much as the tragedy of the degradation of Western Art of which Tarentino is merely a visible, lucrative, boundlessly trite symbol.
Hope that’s cleared things up.
May 11th, 2009 at 2:16 pm
playing cello for 36 years
Bet your arm is tired!
May 11th, 2009 at 2:42 pm
Maybe there’s something to that musician thing. Guitar, trumpet, piano, drums, and a few more that I’m not particularly good at: check. Tarantino: uncheck.
But I’m also a movie addict. I worked as a projectionist in college, but not at a college so I’m not addled by the idiocy of art films.
As a projectionist you *have* to watch every movie you’ve put together. Not an option. You have to make sure that the film is clear, you got all the right reels and they’re all in the right order, and that you didn’t put the wrong headers and footers on them (a Kill Bill trailer won’t work well if it somehow got on the front of Curious George). It made for fun times on many a Thursday night, and you get really popular with “friends” who want to “help” you check out the hot movies before everyone else. Many’s the night we got roasted watching flicks (you have to do something with all those confiscated and unopened 6-packs, it’d be alcohol abuse to throw them away).
But because you *have* to watch every movie, and if you *have* to watch everything that comes out for four years or so you tend to overload on kitsch, dreck, and inanity. Think of all the stinkers that come out in a year. Now imagine being forced to watch them. You get a pretty low view of Hollywood. So maybe Tarantino is an acquired taste, but seeing someone celebrate all the crap you’ve had to endure just doesn’t cut it.
So while I’m still a huge movie addict with the DVD collection to prove it, and I love a good flick, or even a mediocre one, I’m not a Taratino fan. It took me a long time to decide if I liked or hated Pulp Fiction. I came down to saying that, well, it was Tarantino’s best work, but it still was at best mediocre. Kill Bill? Kill me if I have to watch it again.
May 11th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Mitch beat me to correcting “Citizen Cane” to Citizen Kane (ah, rosebud…).
I’d agree with you Mitch about Casa Blanca, throw in The Maltese Falcon while you’re at it, for great old classics. And I also found Gone with the Wind more than a little over-rated. I also love the original Lion in Winter with O’Toole and Hepburn, and the original Sleuth with Olivier and Caine.
The Bond movies have lost the fun, the charm; they are even more formulaic than before, and the tricks and toys are becoming boring. You have more patience than I do Mitch; I have walked out or turned off more than a few movies before the end.
May 11th, 2009 at 3:38 pm
Ah Berg, you have to admit that the scene in R Dogs with Michael Madesen sauntering to Stuck In The Middle With You is pretty damned effective. Perfect kitch. Rythym and menace. And the opening with the bad guys getting assigned color-coded names is classic. “Why do I have to be Mr. Pink?” “I never tip.”
Tolstoy? No. Classic popcorn theater? Absolutely.
May 11th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
Classic scenes that got left on the cutting room floor.
teh peevee: “Mr. Brown? You mean like Mr. Sh*t?”
Lawrence Tierney: “Dats right. Mr. Sh*t. Now sit down and STFU.”
May 11th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
Classic popcorn theater? Absolutely.
No, I’m with ya there. I liked PF, and RezDogs was good tacky violent fun.
It’s this idea that Tarantino is some great american auteur that I’m piddling on.
May 11th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
…isn’t the issue as much as the tragedy of the degradation of Western Art of which Tarentino is merely a visible, lucrative, boundlessly trite symbol.
One could say that many of Tarantino’s films are indeed “decadent”, but you must also concede, Mitch, that they would all be far, far worse if they were funded by the Ford Foundation or the “Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment”.
Critique Tarantino’s films to your heart’s desire, but they do not belong among “the Sniff”, “Elephant Dung Virgin Mary”, or a piece at the Walker Art Center comparing Walt Disney to Adolf Hitler.
May 11th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
It might be because they came out around the same time, but I tend to think of Pulp Fiction in the same way I think of Garrison Keillor’s collection of short stories, “The Book of Guys.” Both have some really brilliant set-pieces and some parts that just make your jaw drop. I’m not sure that either Tarantino’s movie or Keillor’s book really holds together, but if you take them on their own terms, they work.
You could call it the talented asshat syndrome.
May 11th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
“I never saw Grindhouse, but I’ll take a guess and wager “crappiest” was the adjective I’m looking for.”
The care chase scene is pretty amazing.
May 11th, 2009 at 4:02 pm
I’ve enjoyed the five Quentin Tarantino movies I’ve seen (Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, From Dusk Till Dawn, Reservoir Dogs and Kill Bill). I probably won’t see Grindhouse though.
I agree with Mitch that Casablanca is a classic that holds up well to repeat viewings (as does the Maltese Falcon and Death of Sleep). Citizen Kaine though, not so much.
I’ve never seen Gone with the Wind and don’t have any interest in seeing it.
May 11th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
It’s this idea that Tarantino is some great american auteur that I’m piddling on.
I’ll give you that.
I first saw PF at the old Terrace Theater in Robbinsdale. I actually thought the projectionist mixed up the reels. How did Johnny T. come back from the dead?
I look at Quentin in the same way I do Salvadore Dali. The work is not to everyone’s taste, but it has distinctive properies that cannot be denied.
May 11th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
I watched “Life is Beautiful” without once looking at the subtitles. You’re all trogladytes.
(Also “the Spider’s Strategem”)
Tarantino’s overrated.
May 11th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
I could make out lots of Life Is Beautiful without the titles (from having taken Latin and Spanish and studied classical music for so many years).
But I watch Das Boot without the subs. Now that rocks.
May 11th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
Pfft. My daughter watches anime without subtitles. She’s 16.
May 11th, 2009 at 8:28 pm
With all due respect to Il Ducé, I’m with Mitch. I can’t figure out QT either. He seems to think different is intrinsically better, but lacks the underlying genius of a Stanley Kubrick.
May 11th, 2009 at 8:51 pm
Kermit, that says more about anime than it does about your daughter’s ability to understand Japanese.
R-Five, Stanley Kubrick is overrated. Plus, according to Kirk Douglas, Kubrick tried to steal the writing credit for Spartacus from Dalton Trumbo.
May 11th, 2009 at 10:01 pm
Tarentino is grossly overated, in fact he’s usually just gross.
Have liked most of Kubrick’s stuff but found 2001 to be supifyingly dull.
May 11th, 2009 at 10:09 pm
I watched “Lion in Winter” again recently; line for line it’s the most violent movie I’ve ever seen … and hardly anyone raises a glove.
“Pulp Fiction” is the perfect channel surfing movie. You can come across it any point, watch for a bit and not have a worry about missing any continuity.
May 11th, 2009 at 10:11 pm
Terry, she speaks it too. Fluently. It speaks to exposure. There aren’t many people speaking German up und das plains.
May 11th, 2009 at 10:45 pm
Have liked most of Kubrick’s stuff but found 2001 to be supifyingly dull.
Dude, 2001 is a masterpiece- it’s stuff like “A Clockwork Orange” that is atrocious (with Full Metal Jacket being overrated, and Eyes Wide Shut being a pointless piece of crap).
And just so all of you know, I took four (4) years of college level Japanese (including a year in Japan)- so I see your 16 year-old anime fan-girl, Kermit, and raise you a full Naruto.
(Oh, yeah- I can count to ten in Somali, too)
May 11th, 2009 at 11:03 pm
Terry, she speaks it too. Fluently.
Hmm. Mitch speaks German and your daughter speaks Japanese.
Say, Mitch has an FCC license. Can’t radios be used to signal submarines or call in air strikes?
I’ll keep my suspicions to myself. For now.
I’ve got my eye on you two.
May 11th, 2009 at 11:09 pm
Buddhapatriot, you’ve got Clockwork Orange and 2001 mixed up.
The theme of Clockwork Orange exactly matched the theme of Burgess’ book.
The theme of Clarke’s book was clear, but I’m still not certain what point Kubrick was trying to make. “I’ve seen the future, and it is a hotel room that is pastiche of modernism and Loius XIV”.
May 11th, 2009 at 11:13 pm
I watch anime without subtitles as well, but usually the ones translated into English.
May 12th, 2009 at 7:39 am
I watched “Lion in Winter” again recently; line for line it’s the most violent movie I’ve ever seen … and hardly anyone raises a glove.
Loved that movie.
Played Henry II in the stage version in college, before I’d seen the movie. Very violent (mostly mental, as you note). But the part that caught us all by surprise was that we’d thought it was a heavy drama during rehearsal (and our director didn’t disabuse us). Then, we opened – and there were all these laugh lines. Intentional ones! It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done.
May 12th, 2009 at 10:00 am
Peter O’Toole played King Henry in both “The Lion in Winter” and “Becket”: two marvelous performances by O’Toole that bookend the reign of the king. “Becket” does give short and harsh shrift to Eleanor of Aquitaine who was one of the most interesting and imposing figures in history (of either sex). Katherine Hepburn more than repays that slight in “Lion”. Both movies are very challenging to watch by today’s standards – like sitting down to a formal dinner with four kinds of forks after munching on “Red Dawn” popcorn all your life – but fascinating, even gripping. And as you noted, Mitch, not without humor.
May 12th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
Tracy berates Mitch for not having enough taste to appreciate Tarintino?!?!?!
LOL
Tracy, taste simply cannot be used postitively when refering to Tarantino films… regardless of whether you enjoy them or not.
I enjoy his standard films… which means Pulp Fiction and Res Dogs. I want to see Jackie Brown. I’ll probably watch both Kill Bill films, too. I never expect taste.
There’s some good dialogue. For my money, Sam Jackson’s the reason to watch Pulp Fiction… and it has nothing to do with taste.
God love you, Tracy… but you have not yet accurately articulated the enjoyment folks can get from Tarantino films. I’m sure you know the reason his films are enjoyable, but you’ve got to perfect your description.
I might not go so far as to say Tarantino makes crap films… but at a gut level description, Mitch is far closer to the truth than Tracy is on Tarantino.
May 12th, 2009 at 3:22 pm
The theme of Clockwork Orange exactly matched the theme of Burgess’ book.
I thought the movie was actually better, especially the ending. Imagine the impact, though, if it was made with actors of the same age as in the book.
Oh, and I doubt anyone who has ever seen CO, can listen to “I’m singing in the rain” without the CO imagery flashing in front of their eyes.
May 12th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Bzzzz, by his own admission, Mitch is wrong on this one. R Dogs was good as was pulp fiction. Tracy is right, those amps have caused a bit of damage.
I said “good”, not great.
If you want great, watch The African Queen.
May 12th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
Fine cinema it is not.
Fun cinema… yes, it is.
May 12th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Night Writer Says:
May 11th, 2009 at 10:09 pm
I watched “Lion in Winter” again recently; line for line it’s the most violent movie I’ve ever seen … and hardly anyone raises a glove. ”
YES – my most favorite movie of all time, and it is on again this afternoon on Turner Classic movies. And I do love Becket as well.
It is absolutely brilliant, and I can forgive the minor historic inacuracies. I am delighted that you and Mitch share my appreciation of it. I couldn’t believe that Patrick Stewart and Glenn Close made such a hash of the remake. Alinor of Aquitane, one of my all time favorite persons in history; I named one of my bitches Dangerosa after Alinor’s father’s long time mistress…. a bitch every bit as formidable as the historic Alinor, bless her. The little details that make reading history and biographies so much fun…
May 12th, 2009 at 5:26 pm
Mitch says:
“Played Henry II in the stage version in college, before I’d seen the movie. Very violent (mostly mental, as you note). But the part that caught us all by surprise was that we’d thought it was a heavy drama during rehearsal (and our director didn’t disabuse us). Then, we opened – and there were all these laugh lines. Intentional ones! It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. ”
Ok, I’ve seen you in cutoffs…trying to imagine this….so, um, you wore tights? Henry has more than a few passages of bellowing his words; and I can imagine you, with those pipes of yours, doing the quieter, menacing passages as well. Shivers….
May 13th, 2009 at 9:48 am
Can you picture Mitch saying these lines:
Alice, in my time I’ve known…
contessas, milkmaids,
courtesans…
and novices,
whores, gypsies, jades…
and little boys,
but nowhere in God’s western world
have I found anyone to love but you.
May 13th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
I would love to express my sentiment to Quentin Tarantino for his movies in the same manner I would love express my sentiment to Neil Young for his music; by repeatedly stomping their balls!!! Too harsh?
May 13th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
Night Writer says:
“Night Writer Says:
May 13th, 2009 at 9:48 am
Can you picture Mitch saying these lines:
Alice, in my time I’ve known…
contessas, milkmaids,
courtesans…
and novices,
whores, gypsies, jades…
and little boys,
but nowhere in God’s western world
have I found anyone to love but you. ”
I can picture it. I’m just waiting for Mitch to acknowledge whether he was wearing tights or not when he said it…. I can imagine him being flippin’ brilliant actually.