Also, don't forget that Scott had Tarantino rewrite some of the dialogue & narrative of Crimson Tide. He had the sub name changed to the Alabama (linked to True Romance) & one of the Tarantino scenes was the Silver Surfer argument
I might as well type what I can about the movies Ska has already seen, and just dance around the couple he hasn't gotten to yet but will.
(The question about beating QT for always doing the same work is grinding the back of my brain.
)
In theory, I get what you are saying. I do. But there is a LOT more to it. It isn't JUST QT as the director, it's the total package.
As a director, yeah, he's no magician anymore than anyone else. Hell, I don't even know if he's GOOD as a Director. But what he is, is a great writer, a GREAT storyteller, smart, and probably some good directing as well. Clearly everyone knows that he "borrows" from movies he watched as a kid. Films that influenced him and made him who he is. See Django, Jackie Brown, Kill Bill all having scenes/storylines/images that came from other films. It would be simialr to me making a space movie and having name one of the main characters Falcon, or something like that, a nod to the Millineum Falcon of course. QT does that, ALOT.
But what he ALSO does, is put you right in the center of the movie. Think about Pulp Fiction, the story with Tony Rocky Horror. He has multiple characters discuss a story of that man being thrown out a window. Who did it, why he might have done, did he deserve it, etc. We never once, see, Tony Rocky Horror, in the movie. It's a story within the story that is told so much, you think you witness it in the movie.
The breakfast scene in Reservoir Dogs. The camera panning around a group of guys, they talk about Madonna, tips, a name in a little black book, NOTHING about the damn movie you're about to watch. Just random conversations you and I could be having right this second. But you listen to the words, it's all pop culture, viewed by Tarantino. Talking about Madonna!!!!
And he could do that about small nothing convo's in every film.
Think of the start of Basterds. Every scene where in great detail, all the way down to pouring the milk, he makes everything seem a part of a bigger picture, even if they aren't. He keeps everything mystery, what's in the briefcase in Pulp Fiction, what's with the bandaid? Why will he only call her Bride in Kill Bill, never her real name? And on top of all that, he somehow does connect EVERY dot. Names in one movie, reappear in his others. Characters you never meet, like the grandfather that carries the watch in the war, that Christopher Walken gives to Bruce Willis. The name of that character is in another Tarantino movie. Like the quote I stated above, he named the ship in someone else's movie Alabama, from a script he wrote. He connects everything. Look at Uma talking to Travolta in Pulp Fiction, Fox Force Five, 5 deadly ladies, all lethal with different skillsets. Who plays in Kill Bill, Uma. The most random mention, and he can CREATE A MOVIE ABOUT IT. Imagine how smart one has to be to put that all together. And it works, not only works, is incredible to boot.
When you watch Jackie Brown, more great storytelling.
When you see Death Proof, history. Probably his greatest Directing performance. But for a reason a lot of people might miss.
True Romance, story. Absolute wonderful story. The Walken/Hopper scene is absurdly special. You can FEEL QT writing that. If I never told you he wrote the script, you'd probably figure it out off that scene alone.
The performances he gets. Mr. Wolf. Man had 10 minutes of screen time, coulda won an Oscar. Travolta come back. Writing in a dancing scene, something that everyone always loved about Travolta. Cameos everywhere. DeNiro wants in for Jackie Brown, using Michael Keaton. His discovery of Christoph Waltz. Leo wanting in, wanting to work with him. Samuel L obviously. Uma. Buschemi. Kurt Russell.
The female roles he has created over the years. Too many to name. No other director does what he does for them.
I knew this old school teacher that lived by me when I was a kid. She was a high school English teacher I think, she wanted to see Pulp Fiction off one preview alone, the dance. The whole hand past the eyes thing that Travolta and Uma made famous. That's it. She wanted to see that movie off that alone. Can you IMAGINE her horror hearing Sam talk, Mr. Wolf, the drugs, the needle in the heart, the gimp (
) the language, all of it?
She probably never went to a movie ever again. All she wanted to see was the dance, nice little movie she thought.
He might stay in his lane, but he creates ALL THE LANES. He makes them. Around and around he goes, back and forth, story after story, things that he will never show you, but yet you know the story. The joke from Dogs. The foot massage. Ezekiel. The AK 47. (you aren't there yet, it's coming)
There are others that can speak better than I can about him, maybe they will come thru and give you more examples, but either way, it's not just the direction that makes QT a genius, it's the everything.
like around 20's
