I very much enjoyed a movie called Memento (I wouldn't put it as one of my favorites, but I liked it much better than IB) because it has a pretty unique style, but in that movie the style actually makes the story work. It's essential to make the story and what makes it a good movie. Now maybe that was true for Pulp Fiction as well, in fact that's kinda the point of Pulp Fiction, it's not really about the story, it's about the style and I can appreciate that and Pulp Fiction is probably his best work, but lets see him do something else now. His style was not really needed for IB, it's just accepted now that a QT film will be done in his style, but it's getting old now.
I know this topic wasn't about Memento, but I must chime in here--I
LOVE that movie. Man, it is so awesome!
To keep things on topic, though, yes, I also thoroughly enjoy Tarantino's films, at least all of the ones I have seen. While I would put "Pulp Fiction" and possibly "Reservoir Dogs" ahead of IB, I still found it to be an entertaining movie. While I get Pappy's point that perhaps movies like Pulp Fiction or IB don't necessarily resonate as much with me or the general populace as another amazing film such as Shawshank Redemption, Saving Private Ryan, or The Green Mile (at least on the emotional level), I still think they have their place (at least Pulp Fiction, and to a lesser degree, Reservoir Dogs and the Kill Bill series) for, yes, their *unique* style (or call it whatever you want) and the fact that they AREN'T necessarily trying to say a whole lot. At times in my life I have been wanting to see movies that have that effect on me such as the Shawshanks and the Schindler's List and so forth that really stick with you, but at other times, it's nice to just be able to sit back and enjoy movies like Pulp Fiction for what they are--something that might not even be in chronological order or even make very much sense (without going to the extreme of utter ridiculousness) but still have great dialogue, intense acting, and amazing characters (who can ever forget Harvey Keitel's sick Winston "The Wolf" Wolfe as he helped Vincent and Jules figure out how to clean up the car?). ...and I don't necessarily want to repeat-watch those movies any less than I do movies like Shawshank or whatever. I think it just really depends on my mood and what kinda crowd I'm with.
These scenes build real tension, but through non-conventional means. The opening scene of Inglorious Basterds (with the farmhouse and the guy drinking milk and talking about languages) does this better than any film I've ever seen. There is an incredible amount of tension, and yet nobody is really talking about danger, but we can infer that it's there.
Also, the villain in Inglorious Basterds is up there with Hannibal Lecter as one of the best ever. The character is fantastic and the actor's performance is even better. The guy is amazing.
Agreed on both counts. I found the opening scene of IB to be incredibly well-done, and the villian of IB absolutely does take the show, even though Brad Pitt and The Basterds don't exactly do a shabby job themselves.....but ol' Christoph Waltz was just really on top of his game in this one, fo' sho'.
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