Quentin Tarantino Filmography Retrospective Intro

Here are your names. Mr. Brown. Mr. White. Mr.

Blonde. Mr. Blue. Mr. Orange. Mr. Pink. You ain't

gonna be in here no more than ten minutes. Man,

I ain't ridin' in no goddamn trunk for no minute,

man. I can't ride up front with you. You can't

ride up front with me. The surprise element is

90 % of it. You shoot me in a dream, you better

wake up and apologize. Ooh! That's a bingo! Each

and every man under my command owes me one hundred

nasty scouts. And I want my scouts! Strike down

upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger

those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers

and you will know my name! Welcome to a very

special episode of cinema geeks We're gonna be

kicking off a brand new series actually trying

something very very new here for the cinema geeks

But before we get to what we're beginning to

let's figure out who's all here You have me of

course movie revolved in but joining me as always

is Kevin Optimus Solo. How's it going man? It's

going great. I'm excited about this new adventure.

We're doing here. Yeah Yeah, we've been kind

of talking about doing something like this for

a while and So we finally you know gonna get

it kicked off and we're gonna be starting our

director series and it was kind of a question

of who do you start with and There's a lot of

good people to start with Scorsese Spielberg

of course, but you know Tarantino has a movie

coming out this year It's almost as films are

streaming so they're easy to access so people

can kind of follow along with us and give us

our fee You know let us know what they think

of the films and also, you know, he's certainly

a controversial figure so should be a lot of

fun and enjoy rewatching most of his films. Yeah

I think it's a good timing too because like you

said with hateful 8 coming out later this year

maybe some people will be trying to revisit some

of his films if not his whole filmography so

if anyone out there is doing that they can do

it along with us and get all prepared for hateful

8 later on in the year. The idea is, so what

exactly is this going to be? What are we going

to be doing? And it's pretty straightforward,

simple enough. Each week, we will be reviewing

one of his films that is part of his filmography,

starting with Stripes of Our Dogs and finishing

with his latest film, Jango Unchained. And we'll

be giving our thoughts and ideas and kind of

a different approach each week on those movies

and getting to see how he evolves as a director

from film to film. I guess a good way to start,

though, before we get to actually getting into

the thick of the thick. the thick of it with

the movies. It's just finding out, you know,

where are we coming into this? Are we Tarantino

fans? Are we Tarantino haters? Have we not watched

a Tarantino movie? So Kevin, I'm kind of curious

to hear, as we get this series started, where

do you kind of place yourself in the fan of Quentin

Tarantino? Tarantino is an interesting one to

start with for me, actually, because I have a

weird history with Tarantino. And I say that

because obviously he's done, well I guess it

depends on exactly how you count his filmography

in some respects because he's done little bits

of some other films with like four rooms and

whatever. But if you're just taking like the

major films that he's been a part of in their

entirety, for some reason I have some blind spots

with Tarantino. So this is going to be an interesting

time for me because it's going to be the first

time where I see some of these films. Tarantino

is someone at first I wasn't necessarily super

huge on. You know, a lot of people like to talk

about him and a lot of people, you know, they

were his favorite directors or like he said,

he's somewhat controversial. So some people don't

like him. But, you know, basically in most of

the circles that I run around with or the people

that I talk movies with, he's very highly respected.

And I don't have anything against the guy. Just

for some reason haven't seen all of his filmography,

you know, like I said early on, you know in the

90s I wasn't as big on directors I was more just

just a general movie fan and it wasn't until

you know, I started podcasting that I really

started paying attention to directors per se

so I will honestly say that I Probably have a

bigger blind spot than most people with Tarantino.

I have seen half of his films interesting and

those half I Really love so I don't know why

I haven't seen the other half so I guess the

the only minor Place where I probably would differ

with some people and hopefully it'll change on

a rewatch is I'm probably not quite a hundred

percent as Big on pulp fiction as everybody else's

I know that's blasphemy, but maybe that'll change

with a rewatch, but I honestly like At this point,

without having re -watched them all, I like the

other three films of his that I've seen better

than Pulp Fiction. But I have not seen Jackie

Brown, I have not seen either of the Killbills.

So I've seen Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction,

I've seen Inglourious Basterds, and I've seen

Django Unchained. I liked all the ones I've seen,

but this is going to be an interesting adventure

for me because, like I said, I'm going to be

filling in the whole middle of his filmography,

which for some reason I missed. I saw the beginning,

I saw the end. For me, Tarantino, I think it

was like... one of the first directors I was

aware of. I mean, I knew Spielberg, of course.

I think I knew Spielberg mostly because of Tiny

Toons growing up as a kid. And Quentin Tarantino

was the first director I think that I knew of

that was under the radar or he's not mainstream

in independent theater. That was the first person

I ever became known for is Tarantino. And I think...

Especially in high school and college. You were

like the cool kid. You feel like Tarantino films,

you know, not just like the summer action, like

Armageddon. Like, no, Armageddon's not good enough

for me. I'm watching Pulp Fiction. My brother

was a little older than me. He kind of introduced

me into Tarantino. And I remember watching them

and we'll get into this later as we talk about

the movies. And they remember just thinking that

they just seem different. I was like, there's

something about it that's just different from

what I've seen before. And so it's kind of, I've

been a fan since then, I've become more and more.

So I kind of come on maybe the opposite end of

you where I I freely meant to say I'm a pretty

big Tarantino fan The guy is a person. He can

be a little grinding. He's uh If you ever see

him try to Talk or like even sometimes his Oscar

speeches like, you know, he's he's not afraid

to you know, he's uh, he's not A shy guy by any

means. He's not always trying to be politically

correct. Or yeah, politically correct or humble

by any means. But he's also a guy I think who

really loves movies and you see that in his films.

And he loves all types of films and like even

like kind of your grindhouse and he really wears

his fandom on his sleeves and in his films. So

he's certainly an interesting figure for sure.

Yeah, I had an interesting introduction to Tarantino

actually as far as the first time I remember

actually knowing his identity and kind of what

he consisted of. But it's probably somewhat thanks

to the generation before me, because I'm the

youngest of my extended family as far as my cousins

go. I have probably a dozen to 15 older cousins.

So at family get togethers, I was always the

youngest one until the next generation came along.

And it was At like a I don't know if it was a

Christmas or Thanksgiving some type of holiday

situation where you know I always hung out with

my older cousins because you know I was the young

kid I wanted to be cool and hang out with the

older crowd playing cards or doing whatever and

I just remember a couple of my cousins are were

really big into movies, but very much anti anything

that was mainstream. Anything that was popular,

anything that was mainstream, they generally

didn't talk about. And I remember them having

conversations. I can actually honestly tell you

the year was 1997 because the conversation was,

and it must have been a Thanksgiving or an early

Christmas thing because they were talking about

going to see Jackie Brown. So and they were big

fans of reservoir dogs and big fans of pulp fiction

and I remember them throwing out the name Quentin

Tarantino and that was kind of like the first

just hearing that conversation from them was

one of the first times, you know, I was only

uh, 15, 16 at that point, that I was actually

hearing people discuss movies on an intellectual

level or an intelligent level compared to just,

you know, my, my 15, 16 year old friends talking

about whatever summer blockbuster it was. And

it kind of intrigued me and I, you know, I didn't

know much about directors at that point. So it

kind of like opened up my eyes a little bit.

And then I honestly. obviously went on to see

those films, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, or

whatever. I obviously never got to see Jackie

Brown, the one that they were talking about,

but I just remember them talking about him in

some pretty high reverence and kind of... opened

my eyes to that there was another side of the

movie world outside of the blockbusters. Yeah.

Yeah. And I'm so into that too. It's interesting

because I know like Tarantino certainly has his

detractors and those who are not a fan of him

or style, even, you know, some noted film critics

often due to like the violence of his films and

things like that. So even though he has certainly

been allotted, I think he does have certain people

I think his own like lore has kind of been an

interesting aspect to his career because you

definitely see how people interact with him a

lot differently and the reactions of a lot of

critics and how he tends to he tends to you know

annoy a lot of people who think he's overrated

and then you have people who will just love every

single thing he does and It leads to a lot of

interesting reactions to a lot of those films

because every time he comes out with one It's

like almost scaring him and like Christopher

Nolan or like the one like I am to be love love

So no matter what they do like they're always

gonna be like the top 250 movies of all time

Like if they do a commercial it's gonna it's

gonna write on there Well, I think something

interesting about Tarantino especially, and not

to say that he is the only director like this,

but I think something that kind of bodes well

in his favor is he's not someone that's just

trying to pump out a film every year. You know

what I mean? If you took all the releases of

his movies, I think you're going to average about

a three year. time span in between each film,

give or take. I know there was a bigger break,

obviously, between Jackie Brown and Kill Bill.

He took about six years off there, but not saying

that he's not working on that stuff in between,

but I'm saying that he's not someone that's gonna,

for him, at least from what I can tell from his

interviews from the movies that he's putting

out, it's more about the art, it's more about

his vision, it's more about... whatever movie

he's trying to put out there. And it's not about

rushing to get something out there to make money.

It's not about abiding by some type of studio

schedule for the most part, at least from what

I've gathered. So I think that's something that's

unique in Hollywood these days. And I think it's

something that helps that he's, for the most

part, taking his time and putting a real passion

behind every single film that he's putting out.

Yeah, I think he's certainly one that kind of

comes from the Kubrick school of quality of our

quantity So he's not afraid to like, you know,

unless he feels like he has a movie he wants

I think it's interesting because I think there's

a good comparison like between him and the Kevin

Smith because you know They're both the ones

who have had a huge impact on the independent

scene and in but seeing Just the their career

trajectory and you know Kevin Smith started with

clerks and he started with Reservoir Dogs Not

that far apart from one another and then seeing

how they're they went from there and I know Kevin

Smith certainly has been successful But I think

with Smith like he his styles has pretty much

Maintained a sense of like within from beginning

to end like his movies are pretty much I don't

think they've ever gotten to the level of clerks

since but I think you know, I certainly kind

of wide in the scope. You always know a Tarantino

movie when you see it, but I do think you kind

of see like how these people who are both like

had a huge impact in independent movies and one

is certainly I think had had a better overall

career though. I don't know what I was trying

to get with that, but... Well, he's also stayed

pretty true to which studios he works with. Reservoir

Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, and The Killbills

are all from Miramax. And then obviously he switched

here with Inglourious Basterds, Django, and The

Hateful Eight are all Weidenstein company. Yeah,

that's the thing, because Miramax folded, so

it wasn't the same. Right, so he's basically

stayed true to the same people, whether it be

one name or the other. And also, obviously, with

success, you get more options. So currently,

every single one of his films that he's put out

has had a bigger budget than the one before.

Outside of The Hateful Eight, The Hateful Eight

is going to be the first movie he's done that

has a smaller budget than all the ones before

it. So I thought that was kind of interesting.

to kind of see that progression, you know, he

starts with an independent scene and puts a movie

like Reservoir Dogs out there on a million dollar

budget. And, you know, last film we saw, like

you said, Django Unchained was a hundred million

dollar budget. So it's interesting how that progresses.

Now he's going to go to hateful aid and he's

cut that in half and he's back in the same type

of budget he had with like Kill Bill. So it should

be interesting to see how that translates, but

you can definitely see the success and the following

that he's gathered over the years. Yeah, and

you see like his influence even like on like

friends, you know He has a relationship with

like Robert Rodriguez, right? He's done certain

movies like dust from dust till dawn which Tarantino

possibly has Directed quote -unquote poor portions

of that or even since city as well like as a

guest director So it does seem like he's a guy

who was always within movies talking about them

He's a I believe he has a movie theater now and

each year He just like his own top ten like he

I think he's one of the few directors I feel

like he's not afraid to give his opinion on what

he likes and doesn't doesn't like he's not afraid

to like say he thinks the movies awful because

I think he He gives his first his worst movies

of the year's list to which is and I think that's

because of that part with things like Miramax

and the Weinsteins, he doesn't have to worry

about annoying studio heads because the Weinsteins

are like, this is our biggest ticket item is

Quentin Tarantino because he puts out a movie,

he's probably going to get an Oscar nominated

for it or something. So I think it's allowed

him to have a lot of freedom, which has been

a good thing. Well, also, like you said, there

is some kind of gray area with Tarantino as far

as which films he's 100 % directed, which ones

he's written, which ones he's done parts of or

been a guest director. So why don't you break

down for everybody what films we're actually

covering as far as in this Quentin Tarantino

spotlight as we travel through his filmography.

Which ones are we leaving out, which ones are

we covering? Very, very good question. So we're

going to basically just focus on the ones that

he 100 % directed himself, and that would be

Reservoir Dog, starting with that. That will

be our first official film release. And of course,

Pulp Fiction, which will be interesting to see

if Kevin's opinions change. And then we get into

the movies Kevin hasn't seen. So I'll be curious

to see your reaction to these, which is Jackie

Brown, like you mentioned. Kill Bill, volume

one and two. And we're most likely going to make

that into one episode, since they're so closely

tied together. Then his Death Proof, which was

part of the Grindhouse series, we'll just be

focusing on his aspect of that, not the entire

two Double Bill films. Then of course glorious

bastards jingle unchanged and we'll get to the

hateful eight But of course that'll be later

in the year, but I will and this this retrospective

with jingle unchanged and then that way once

we lead into Hateful eight the end of the year

We can kind of look back at this and see if it

has impacted our opinion of the film positive

about that point By that point, we'll be experts,

right? We'll have the definitive opinion on Quentin

Tarantino. So, yeah, I mean, we're not trying

to ignore the stuff that he wrote or the stuff,

you know, that other stuff. Obviously, he has

connections to True Romance, Natural Born Killers.

I'm trying to think of some of the other ones.

Like you said, From Dusk Till Dawn. I think he

wrote on The Rock. I don't think he was credited

for that but I do I have heard rumors about that

that seems kind of out of the span of all those

other ones but Like you said, we'll be we'll

be sticking to the ones that he mainly directed

So four of them that I've seen four of them that

I haven't seen. Have you seen all of them Dan?

I have seen all the some yes. Okay, but I've

only seen oddly enough one Only one, no sorry,

two in theaters. One of those was in a drive

-in, so it just came late. Which one did you

see in the drive -in? In Glorious Basterds, oddly

enough. It was the most random pairing of movies

ever, because it started with G .I. Joe the movie,

and then In Glorious Basterds, and then The Hurt

Locker. Nice, that's a range of emotions. Taking

on a ride there. Yeah, the only ones I've seen

in the theater are the most recent ones, In Glorious

Basterds and Django Unchained. Yeah, just because

you know the ones other ones came out when I

was too young and I remember when kill Bill came

out and and something kill Bill I went to go

see the Punisher because that's the guy I am

so I had the option to go see kill Bill and for

some reason I just Wasn't drawn to it for whatever

reason at that time. I was a junior and a senior

in college So I had every I was right in the

right demographic and I had every opportunity

to I just for some reason Did not go see that

I can't explain it. Yeah I will rectify that

during this adventure. Alrighty. So the next

time we talk about Quentin Tarantino, we'll be

actually getting into the nitty -gritty of Reservoir

Dogs, giving our review, and then also we're

going to have a special segment each episode

where we do burning questions about the film,

which will kind of give us a little bit of a

different take on our opinion of the movie. So

we're looking forward to it. We'll love to hear

your all feedback and what you think of Tarantino.

You're looking forward to this and what movies

you have seen, have not seen, and it should be

a fun ride. Yeah, for sure and with any success

or with any luck if people are listening and

liking what we're doing There's a lot of other

directors out in the world. So yeah, I know a

lot that are coming out this year so if you have

any opinions on other ones you would like us

to do after Tarantino because the good thing

about Tarantino he doesn't have that many movies

so it shouldn't be that long to get through them

all which is another reason we figured we'd start

with him because it's kind of daunting when you're

looking at someone like Scorsese with like 80

mil 80 movies and you're like, uh, I don't know

about that. I don't know how we can do that.

Or like Woody Allen who comes out with a movie

every year. You'd be like, this will be the longest

retrospective. You can make a podcast just on

Woody Allen movies. So you never, you never actually

catch up. It'd be impossible. But, uh, yeah.

So I, but I think that'll be it for this intro.

I don't know if you anything else to add before

we bring this little, little, uh, uh, intro to

a close. Um, just, you know, expect, uh, I mean

we're not gonna go for people that are listening

to cinema geeks and you're listening to our two

-hour episodes or You know our 45 minutes two

hours and 15 minutes don't expect them to be

that long though These are gonna be easy to handle

easy to listen to short and sweet But hopefully

still enough to be interesting. So I think it's

gonna be a fun little change of pace force as

well Yeah, definitely it'll be like a little

appetizer before the big meal on Thursday So

the cinema geeks will be releasing on its normal

time. These will probably be coming out on Tuesday

so for those who like my voice I feel bad for

you but at least you'll get the opportunity to

listen to this as well as Talking in Circles

which will be coming out on the same day but

that way we have a nice little little spacing

going on so I like it. Like Tuesday be in your

day. Yeah That's the day. I have the most most

time to listen to episode So I always appreciate

the the stuff that comes out on Tuesday. Very

nice very nice But before we go we can just give

you a hug in contact with us You can like go

to geek cast radio comm you can comment on the

episode post there'd be and you can also Get

us on Facebook and Twitter. We're on Twitter

at cinema geek cast I'm also at Twitter at movie

revolt Kevin. What's your Twitter name? My Twitter

is at Optimus Solo and remember, since you're

listening to this, you have one week to watch

Reservoir Dogs so you can be on the same path

with us. Exactly, exactly. And it is on Netflix,

streaming it, so you have no excuse. Unless you

don't have Netflix, then get Netflix because

you're crazy. We need to sponsor Netflix, I don't

know. But yeah, and you can get, and like I said,

you can get me at Movie Revolts and we're also

on Facebook, just search Geese Cash Radio and

you can find us there. But we'll see you next

week as we get into Quentin Tarantino's first

film, Reservoir Dogs. Thanks for listening.