Random Movie Reviews 2

Today's Common Denominator: Underrated Tarantinoesque Films

*Movies available to stream on Netflix have a star next to them*

*Movies available to borrow for free from the NYPL have a tilde next to them. Click on the tilde or go to http://browse.nypl.org to place your hold*

Death Proof (2007)~

🏢🏢🏢🏢 Meet Mike, a burly stuntman and fulltime stalker. Meet Mike's car, an epic, "death proof" stunt car that Mike uses to kill off his female victims. But what happens when Mike faces off with the baddest stuntwomen Texas? Totally sinful car duels. I especially appreciated the following things in this underrated Tarantino flick: more mythical dancing (think Salma Hayek in From Dusk Till Dawn),  stunning use of black and white/color (think black and white close-ups in Kill Bill), and girl-power violence (remnant of Uma Thurman's carnage as the Bride). It's a funny, sinful and bloody movie, an apt reflection of Tarantino's ingenious insanity.

Jackie Brown (1997)

🏢🏢🏢🏢 What? More female empowerment? More incredible music? Welcome to the world of Jackie Brown, a proud, classy air hostess who smuggles drugs and money from Mexico. One day, her superior Ordell, played by Samuel L. Jackson, questions Jackie's ability to not snitch to the police, who has begun to look into her illegal activity. Jackie outplays Ordell's plans to kill her, and instead promises him the ultimate smuggling operation, right under the police's nose. Tarantino once again blends humor with drama, idiosyncratic exchanges with masterful construction. Samuel L. Jackson and Pam Grier, who plays Jackie Brown, both set the screen afire (and I'm not talking Inglorious Basterds style, do not fret) and give a one-in-a-lifetime performance. I'm partly glad this film is underrated enough that I can recommend it confidently to anyone, Tarantino-lover or not. However, I'm also heartbroken that it hasn't received the same deserved notoriety as Pulp Fiction, or even Djando Unchained.

From Dusk till Dawn (1996)*

🏢🏢🏢Don't give me that look. Everyone knows it's Robert Rodriguez, one of Tarantino's best friends, who directed this epic B movie. However, Tarantino wrote the script for From Dusk till Dawn, and stars in it as part in a twisted criminal duo - his partner in crime being none other than George Clooney. The movie starts off in one direction and ends in a sketchy nightclub near the Mexican border. Look out for Tarantino's creepy performance, Salma Hayek's famous dancing, and, of course, vampire strippers & bloodshed. If you're the type of person to take films very seriously, perhaps this isn't the movie for you; From Dusk till Dawn is barbarous to the point of comedy, and should be enjoyed as such.

올드보이 - Oldboy - (2003)*

🏢🏢🏢🏢 This Korean film is your perfect revenge mystery drama, a jaw-opening, eccentric, masterful work of art. Dae-su is an average man, leading a monotonous life, until the night he is knocked out and imprisoned inside a hotel room... for fifteen years. When Dae-su finally breaks free, he is filled with rage and motivation: who held him captive? Who murdered his wife and framed Dae-su as the killer? Who obliterated fifteen years of his life? But more importantly, what is the cost of the truth? With a plot that will knock you backwards and a style beyond fantasy, Oldboy is both human and superhuman, a quality redolent of Kill Bill and Inglorious Basterds.

バトル・ロワイアル - Battle Royale - (2000)*

Battle Royale was originally a book - which I also recommend - written by Koushun Takami, and it's safe to say it inspired many of the dystopian death-game plots that pollute the YA film and writing industry today. Battle Royale is the original Hunger Games, except the violence and characters are rawer, and the whole narrative is less self-assuming. Watch as a class of high-schoolers kill each other off in a story filled with bloodshed and poetry, baroqueness and voice. This B movie made me cry, because there was something infinitely touching about the realness of the characters and the genuine optimism behind the hyperbolic gore. I recommend this movie to all Tarantino lovers; I know you'll recognize the poetic aura in Battle Royal as you might've in Django Unchained.