The man who gave us Steve Buscemi, a 2Pac-James Brown mash-up and a dubious Australian accent is anything but dull
He has gone from being a video-store attendant to the guy who gave Leonardo DiCaprio his first role as a villain. He still appears in each of his movies, and once impersonated Elvis in an episode of Golden Girls. And now Quentin Tarantino is 50.
While Tarantino may walk an uncomfortable line between empowering auteur and blowhard copycat, nobody could argue that his career has been dull. To mark the half-century since he entered the world in Knoxville, Tennessee, here are just a few things we should thank him for:
Bang, Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)
Tarantino remains one of the kings of modern mainstream film soundtracks, with musical stylings that are similar to, but funkier and more fun than, those from Wes Anderson. A little less 60s British rock, a little more Wu-Tang – Tarantino gets a million points for having the RZA produce the Kill Bill Vol 1 score.
His soundtracks are a melange of modern stylings, hip classics and foreign jaunts that manage to introduce non-cinephiles to the brilliance of Ennio Morricone, and that get mobsters to dance in public to Chuck Berry.
His big hit from Django was the James Brown and 2Pac mash-up Unchained (The Payback/Untouchable), which made us feel only slightly better about the last time 2Pac was resurrected for that whole Coachella hologram thing.
Steve Buscemi (and other actors who may have been ignored)
Buscemi is unique among New York actors, and, more importantly, a do-gooder. While managing to land roles in Coen brothers flicks in his early career, it was his appearance as Mr Pink in Reservoir Dogs that ensured decades of fame. Tarantino also saved John Travolta's career from its post-Look Who's Talking lull, and he helped make his "muse" Uma Thurman a household name.
His most recent contribution to this line-up is Christoph Waltz, who won numerous awards for his appearance in 2009's Inglourious Basterds, followed by his Oscar and Golden Globe for Django. An additional bonus from the latter role: people finally learned his name was not Christopher.
Major motion picture female ass-kickers
In each of Tarantino's films, he walks the dubious line of empowerment and scumbaggery. His films contain some of the only leading female heroes, but then things he says – well, basically, everything he says in public – sets female empowerment two steps back. But whatever qualms you may have with his characterizations of women, he is one of the few directors to feature women in ass-kicking lead roles. It's 2013 and still difficult to name a blockbuster female action heroine that isn't Beatrix Kiddo.
He also frequently stirs the racism pot, especially with Django Unchained – which used the N-word more than 100 times.
Getting a rich white man to display wholehearted sensitivity to minorities will never be easy, but at least I can now choose to dress up as a sword-wielding assassin for Halloween instead of a Disney princess, and people will still recognize who I am.
That tipping scene from Reservoir Dogs
Getting people to watch cult films without really trying
No successful mainstream director is as obsessed with preserving the luscious history of underground cinema like Tarantino. The debate over whether that results in outright copying or loving homage will go on, but more people have seen Ringo Lam's City on Fire than they would have if Reservoir Dogs didn't have some distinctly similar scenes.
One Tarantinista identified 179 pages of homage in his films. He has made so many homages, that there have been homages to the homages.
And his love for truly great film is not one of simple self-aggrandizement. Since 2007, he has hosted a small Austin film festival – yes, OK, it bears his name) – where he shares with audiences films from his own rare collection.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2013/mar/27/quentin-tarantino-fiftieth-birthday
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