There’s something enjoyable about watching a person go on at length about their favorite medium.
Not always and not everyone but occasionally, it’s just fun to listen to someone’s passion for music or movies or sports. Even if I don’t share in their full commonality or appreciation, I admire their reflections.
And man, it’s just so much fun reading Quentin Tarantino as he talks for 10+ hours on the movies that have helped form him.
I’m not a cinephile, much less an addict like Tarantino is but I loved his analysis, his passion, his breakdowns in the variety of films that he loved and that inspired him. While I certainly learned some perspective on his work, it was more about a geek being a geek and geeking out about the magic of the movies.
What I have always liked about Tarantino is what Jason Concepcion so accurately said once on a podcast: he has democratized pop culture. He takes the exploitation B-trash of the 70s, the sweet cool of Elmore Leonard, the power and artistry of martial arts films, the square jaws and big explosions of war movies and westerns and other mediums and enmeshes them in art that’s genuinely unique.
I was kind of disappointed to read his chapter about the second string critic of the Los Angeles Times and how much Tarantino admired him. He just axed his proposed next film The Movie Critic and there’s no doubt some of the guy’s DNA would have been in it. I think it would’ve made for a fascinating film.
But woulda coulda shoulda. Tarantino talks here about the films that did get made. He has a lot of fun doing it and I had a lot of fun reading it.