Why is Quentin Tarantino such a genius to some people?
Don't get me wrong, I don't think he's horrible or anything, I like many of his movies, but I don't get why some people think he's the best thing ever. I mean he's a good action director, but what has he done that is so much better than other good action directors? I'm not criticizing him or anybody, I just want to know why people love him so much.
Because to the people who aren't familiar with the material he's shamelessly stealing and presenting as his own work he seems like a fresh innovative talent doing unique work in the action/adventure genre.
He obviously knows how to use a camera tho, so I'm hoping that at some point he'll do something original.
Its a remake of "Quel maledetto treno blindato" from 1977 - so hardly original. Tho no doubt they will say it's a Re-imagining as thats the buzz-word du jour for people denying they are ripping off old ideas.
And I'm willing to make a bet right now that it will have dozens of "homage" moments to old Sam Fuller war movies since QT is such a fan.
In fact I think the answer to the threads question is that QTs genius is that he manages to put all these disparate stolen influences and riffs from other movies together into a cohesive whole - and stitch it together with his brand of free-flowing pop culture dialog. The individual ideas he lifts may not be original but the end product certainly is.
Yeah, I guess it's not a surprise that he uses a lot of stuff from other films and gets many of his ideas from them, seing as he had a job at a video rental place before he became a director, so he must've had a lot of time to watch movies and get ideas from them. I've just seen so many other action films that are just as good if not better than his, yet he's praised as the best action director ever. Maybe it is because of his background from where he came from to some just make him even greater, who knows.
Mr. Zero, are you aware that professional wrestling matches are pre-determined? Because as much as you love blowing the whistle on common knowledge scandals, you could have a field day shouting from the rooftops that it's all fixed. Go get 'em, tiger!
WE KNOW QUENTIN STEALS FROM OTHER MOVIES! That's part of his charm! He may not admit freely enough to your liking just where and when he appropriated/borrowed/paid tribute to/stole from another movie/TV show/video game/Babylonian parchment, but most of his fans are willing to look beyond that and simply enjoy the treats.
For Crom's sake, is there an original idea circulating ANYWHERE in Hollywood anymore? How many carbon-copy reality shows are debuting this week? How many sexy teen comedies, war flicks, or bean flickers about divorcees with cancer? How many summer camp slashers have we had to contend with over the years? How about disaster epics, historical biopics or buddy cop movies? The most original movie out there at the moment is "The Village", but 1) everybody hates it, and 2) it apparently was stolen from a 1995 novel by Margaret Peterson Haddix.
If we "apologists" like Quentin more than you think we should, and care not that his movies are Frankensteined from others, just chalk it up to blind loyalty and move on to the Orlando Bloom cultists. If anybody needed an ass-kicking, it's them.
__________________ Evelle: "Balloons! Hey, these blow up into funny shapes 'n' all?"
Grocer: "Well, no...unless round is funny."
Had to paraphrase your rant there Roundy but I'll try to answer your points: mainly that you say most of QTs fans know but dont care that he lifts and reassembles: I dont think thats true - most of the cinema going public doesnt know and doesnt care. Some know vaugly what he does and dont care and a few know the full extend of his unashamed thievery and dont care.
I agree original ideas are hard to come by - but thats not the issue - recycling ideas is one thing - adapting old novels is another - QT assembles his directing style by mimicking the work of others: Its not just his ideas that are unoriginal - its his his visual style.
And if you read my post you will see than far from thinking this is a problem i think he should be celebrated for it - it's an act of bare faced cheek that I can only imagine QT getting away with so successfully and with such panache. Rather than whining about how he's not the thief everyone makes him out to be you should be pointing out how friggin genius his method of working is.
It's not so much that we don't care--if we started seeing the same exact techniques, plots, camera tricks, etc., we'd start getting bored with it all, just as we did with the "Matrix Camera" trick after seeing it for the thousandth time. We just haven't grown weary of Quentin--but the moment he sells out and starts "Hollywoodizing" his art, we'll turn on him like a pack of angry Mr. Blonds.
Agreed. Most of the cinema-going public doesn't know its ass from a hole in the ground (as we see by much of the conversation in other areas of this board). If you were to tell "IloveOrli14lol" that Quentin lifted a shot from Ding Dong Poo's master epic of 1958, her head could well deflate from the entropy that would follow.
Okay. But then, some people like blood sausage (vaugly). My point was that those who appreciate Quentin (like me) tend to overlook the fact that he rips off/pays homage to all those movies he's come to know and love.
True, but again, what director hasn't snuck in a tribute to Orson Welles or John Ford here or there? Quentin's "thievery", if you will, is much more plentiful if for no other reason than he has so many more mentors. However, the relative obscurity of many of those sources more than makes up for their number. What tiny percentage of the population is familiar enough with H.B. Halicki to even know, much less care that Quentin used his "sunglasses on the dashboard" shot in KB1?
I read your posts, and I'm positive I didn't misinterpret them. Which one of those was the higher praise?
As I've said before, we are well aware of his stealing, and are more than willing to forgive him. If I didn't think his methods were worth defending, I wouldn't have spent this much time and effort trying to debate about it (however futilly) with a total stranger. Now, if there's any whining to be ceased, it should probably be those detractors who sit piously atop their own cinematic accomplishments (if any) and ***** endlessly about Quentin's.
__________________ Evelle: "Balloons! Hey, these blow up into funny shapes 'n' all?"
Grocer: "Well, no...unless round is funny."
"In fact I think the answer to the threads question is that QTs genius is that he manages to put all these disparate stolen influences and riffs from other movies together into a cohesive whole - and stitch it together with his brand of free-flowing pop culture dialog. The individual ideas he lifts may not be original but the end product certainly is."
Taretino doesnt steal anything from anyone. though some of his ideas and camera shots may be inspired,his techniques in making a movie stay his own original vision. does he use other directors techniques? Yes ,but he makes it abundantly clear everytime he does. Every Great film director has borrowed from previous or modern greats. This is expanding ones arsenal in film making. Kill Bill held many style shots and story based camera techniques directly from asian martial arts cinema, but that was the point of the film people. He made it clear and doesnt try to hide this fact. He wanted to make a martial arts grind film because they dont make them anymore, and what did he do? He gave us a film that rivals the best in asian martial arts cinema. The film was still packed with his cynical and sarcastic dialgue touch along with his own style.
Unlike many Filmakers, when Tarentino gets and idea for scene he will not make exceptions in presenting his vision, not for the FCC and not for the fear that audience may not approve. Tarentino Doesnt change the pace and style of his movies, they always stay consistant, and everytime your watching one of his films you know that it is infact a tartentino film. He is a filmaker that never strays from his style,but only elaborates on it. when all is said and done his movies offer great raw entertainment, that are well written and loaded with smart dialogue. quentin is an average guy who loves film, not money or fame, but movies. He came from nothing, and had only one shot to make it into movies, and succeeded because he has an original and vivid feeling to his movies.
__________________ "If you tell the truth, you never have to remember anything" -Twain
(sig by Scythe)
If you want an example of what unoriginal is in the business of filmaking, take a look at Ron howard films. they are all unoriginal and are all taken from previous movies and stories.
__________________ "If you tell the truth, you never have to remember anything" -Twain
(sig by Scythe)
KMC Community Forums
Aug 17th, 2004 12:59 AM
damn you are a sarcastic little bugger arent you? And to answer your question...Nope I pulled that number right outta my a$$! 
