Quentin Tarantino is without a doubt a cinematic genius. Tarantino's career began in the late '80s with "My Best Friend's Birthday." Tarantino has proved himself as a director with several timeless classics. He is known for his gruesome use of crime and violence. His movies are unpredictable and often shockingly violent. Tarantino was originally an actor before he fell in love with directing movies. He has even been known to play small roles in some of his own movies ("Reservoir Dogs," "Pulp Fiction," "Death Proof," "Django Unchained," and "Inglourious Basterds.") The first Tarantino movie I watched was "Pulp Fiction" and I was immediately obsessed with his story telling methods.
1. "Pulp Fiction"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZAhzsi1ybM
"Pulp Fiction" is a classic and the ultimate crime movie. It's a movie about two hitmen, a boxer, two enamored armed robbers, Uma Thurman, and a lot of drugs (to sum it up). John Travolta and Samuel Jackson play the two hitmen, Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield.
Given the nature of how each of their fates intertwine, their individual stories come together at the very end of the movie. My favorite scene is at the end when the armed robbers decide to rob the diner unknowingly at the same time the two hitmen are enjoying a meal. This is when Jules decides to end this line of work. He lets the robbers get away with the money in his wallet since he is in a "transitional" time in his life. Jules realizes that he should end his hitman career because of how close he continuously comes to death. This is imperative because we later find out that Vincent Vega was shot and killed while waiting to assassinate Butch, the scam artist boxer. If you haven't seen this movie, I would 100% recommend it, and if you've already watched it, I would recommend watching it again.
2. "Jackie Brown"
"Jackie Brown" is about a badass flight attendant. She gets caught bringing money (and drugs) into the U.S. Jackie finds a way to finesse the police and her former partner in crime, Ordell Robbie. Jackie manages to steal thousands of dollars by collaborating with her new partner, Max Cherry. In the end, Jackie manages to escape Los Angelos for a new life in Spain. While Max's ending is left ambiguous, I hoped that he decided to take the trip with Jackie and start a new life for himself with her.
3. "Inglourious Basterds"
This is the story of how World War II should have ended. The film begins at a small farm in France. Hans Landa, a Nazi hired to round up Jews in allying countries, reveals to the farmer that he is aware the family is harboring a Jewish family from his neighborhood. Hans uses the fear tactics of the Nazis to convince the farmer to point out the location of the family. The Nazis shoot through the floor yet the daughter of the family, Shosanna Dreyfus, manages to escape.
The movie then transitions to her life after dodging the bullets of the Nazis. She manages to hide her true identity after her family is brutally murdered. Shosanna then becomes the owner of a movie theater. In a turn of events, she meets the Hans and other Nazi officials, who desire to use her theater to host a movie premiere of their most recent propaganda based film. The attendees included Adolf Hitler and Hans Landa. Shosanna and her employee (and lover) Marcel advise a plan to kill each of the Nazis who attended the event. Although Shosanna ends up dead in the end, her plan is successful. Marcel sets the fire while Shosanna interrupts the film with an announcement, "I have a message for Germany... that you are all going to die... and I want you to look deep into the face of the Jew who is going to do it." The theater gets burned down all while bullets are being shot from the balcony.
4. "Kill Bill"
Yet another Uma Thurman movie to love. Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman) makes references to this movie while at "Jack Rabbit Slims" with Vincent Vega (John Travolta). Uma Thurman's character "The Bride" is an ex-assassin. After she tries to start a new life, her former lover and boss (Bill) attempts to kill her on the day of her wedding. After waking from a four-year-long coma, she seeks revenge by following through with her own hit list.
5. "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood"
Los Angeles in the late '60s was the prime time and location for acid dropping hippies. Tarantino's more recent film is loosely based on the true story of the Manson family. Charles Manson was a cult leader who convinced impressionable young women to follow and obey him. In this film, Leonardo DiCaprio plays a struggling actor, Rick Dalton. He is accompanied by his stuntman and friend, Cliff Booth (played by Brad Pitt). Sharon Tate was a model and actress who was murdered at 26 years old in real life. Sharon was pregnant at the time of the gruesome murder. However, the movie put a more positive spin on these events when the Manson family members accidentally venture to Sharon's neighbor's house (who happens to be Cliff Booth). Booth and Dalton manage to fight off the misguided hippies and, spoiler alert, they survive.
