Jackie Brown

[TomChick]

I'd never seen it. Just fixed that.

Great movie. I had reservations, mainly because I'm not a big fan of Elmore Leonard's wacky thugs with hearts of gold and their adorable shenanigans. But what Tarantino brought to the script was a solid sense of place in LA's lesser known locations and a languid enough style to let the characters really develop. Which was really it's strength. It's a character driven movie in the best sense of the word. Events are ancillary to characters' decisions.

It also had the courage to be about two older characters not doing the whole dopey 'falling in love' thing, but instead establishing a convincing and heartfelt connection, without compromsing how unlikely a pair they were. Robert Forster and Pam Grier were fantastic, half beat down and weary, half confident and defiant.

Samual Jackson doing his thang (does that make me sound street, to say it like that?). I really enjoyed Robert DeNiro as the awkward sidekick. "Is it this aisle, Louis?"

So, okay, I admit it. Tarantino's still got it. Here's looking forward to whatever his next movie, Kill Bill, is supposed to be.

-Tom

[Bub, Andrew]

I'm sad that Pam Grier's career didn't catch fire again after Jackie Brown. I agree, she and Forster were fantastic.

[TomChick]

I imagine there aren't a lot of roles for black women in their 40s. Other than the token anti-stereotyping casting stunt where you cast a sassy black woman as a judge.

Which is another thing Jackie Brown had going for it. The judge in the one court scene was played, surprise!, by an old white guy.

-Tom

[Stroker Ace]

Director - filmography

Kill Bill (2003)

Jackie Brown (1997)
Four Rooms (1995) (segment "Man from Hollywood, The")
Pulp Fiction (1994)
"ER" (1994) TV Series (episode "Motherhood (1995)")
Reservoir Dogs (1992)

[TomChick]

Well, Stroker, he's been awfully busy dating Mira Sorvino.

-Tom

[wumpus]

Quentin Tarantino is a hack who was in the right place at the right time with Pulp Fiction. I don't agree that Jackie Brown is a good film, either. It's marginal, but I'd put something like Out of Sight way above it on the quality scale.

And he's the Worst. Actor. Ever. My god, he's so hideously, painfully bad. Did you guys see that two-part episode of Alias with him? It was literally laughable. He's like a parody of a parody of himself.

[mtkafka]

Out of Sight is good but I still think Jackie Brown is better and is a more original approach to a heist theme. Soderbergh is a good director but he isnt that much original. Also, Tarantino is the ONLY director I've seen to give DeNiro a role (a stoner!) where he plays something believable besides a New York mobster. Plus Tarantino casts 'B' actors and makes them gold! Not many director/writers can do that! imo. Don't forget his other non director movies like True Romance, Natural Born Killers and From Dusk Til Dawn. I thought those were all pretty good.

etc

[Tyjenks]

The dialogue Quentin writes is wonderful. He had a bit part in a movie whose name escapes me where his character claims that Top Gun's dialogue is all about gay sex between all of the pilots. Hilarious. Not a great actor, but tolerable. He is certainly not the actor Alfred Hitchcock was. :wink:

[Desslock]

>He had a bit part in a movie whose name escapes me where his character claims that Top Gun's dialogue is all about gay sex between all of the pilots

I think you're talking about Crimson Tide. He wasn't in it, but he wrote the dialogue you mentioned.

[Tyjenks]

Don't forget his other non director movies like True Romance, Natural Born Killers and From Dusk Til Dawn. I thought those were all pretty good.

etc

You forgot Destiny Turns On the Radio!!! :wink:

[TomChick]

He had a bit part in a movie whose name escapes me where his character claims that Top Gun's dialogue is all about gay sex between all of the pilots.

Good god, you actually saw Sleep with Me? I think I was forced to watch that by a girlfriend as part of a movie rental exchange program. We could get Blind Fury as long as we also got Sleep with Me.

-Tom

[Tyjenks]

>He had a bit part in a movie whose name escapes me where his character claims that Top Gun's dialogue is all about gay sex between all of the pilots

I think you're talking about Crimson Tide. He wasn't in it, but he wrote the dialogue you mentioned.

I could have sworn I saw him saying it it some lower budget film, but as my memory is proving more and more faulty as I settle into my mid-30's, I am sure you are right.

[Tyjenks]

He had a bit part in a movie whose name escapes me where his character claims that Top Gun's dialogue is all about gay sex between all of the pilots.

Good god, you actually saw Sleep with Me? I think I was forced to watch that by a girlfriend as part of a movie rental exchange program. We could get Blind Fury as long as we also got Sleep with Me.

-Tom

That's IT! And no, I think I actually caught that scene while my wife was watching it or I was flipping and said, "Hey, Look. It's Quentin again." He was everywhere for 5 or 6 years there.

[Thierry Nguyen]

>He had a bit part in a movie whose name escapes me where his character claims that Top Gun's dialogue is all about gay sex between all of the pilots

I think you're talking about Crimson Tide. He wasn't in it, but he wrote the dialogue you mentioned.

I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that in Crimson Tide, his two contributions were: the scene where Gandolfini quizzes the recruits on which sub movie was better: Run Silent, Run Deep or The Enemy Below, and the speech about who drew the best Silver Surfer (Moebius).

[Tyjenks]

Now I am completely confused.

[Anonymous]

Quentin Tarantino is a hack who was in the right place at the right time with Pulp Fiction.
Actually, he's a functionally illiterate hack who stole the dialogue for Resevoir Dogs from this guy I know named Craig. And his time spent in "jail" (which he liked to drop for cred) was for unpaid parking tickets.

Of course Craig's brains were fried from all the drugs he took, so he may not be the most reliable gossiper. But while QT was writing Pulp Fiction, Crag was writing the incredible "Dollman Versus Demonic Toys."

[Matthew Gallant]

Say what you want, he's influential (http://www.canada.com/search/site/story.asp?id=E2EE4ED2-022F-45CA-B283-430D336A92D2).

[Jupiter Jones]

I'd never seen it. Just fixed that.

But what Tarantino brought to the script was a solid sense of place in LA's lesser known locations

And what locations!! It was like watching my childhood on the screen! Hermosa Beach, The Del Amo Fashion Center, etc. all restored to their 70's glory.

As my mom put it, Terrantino was "that creepy guy at the video store that I didn't want to talk to" because my dad made her return his movies to Video Archives. Although, long before he wrote any scripts my friend made him give us a ride home in his car. I can't rememer the exact conversation, but believe it centered around David Hasselhoff's command performance as "boner" in the movie "Revenge Of The Cheerleaders"

[Anonymous]

Just FYI...

Tarantino and Mira Sorvina have been kaputs for a couple years now. So she's available, so to say. However, talk about the Curse of the Supporting Actress Oscar. Last thing I saw that she was in was an A&E miniseries.

[Nick Hyle]

Also, Tarantino is the ONLY director I've seen to give DeNiro a role (a stoner!) where he plays something believable besides a New York mobster.

John McNaughton. Mad Dog and Glory. One of my favorite DeNiro (and Murray) roles ever.

Not to mention one of the very, very few "first time we had sex" scenes that was evenly vaguely believably performed (and shot and edited).

And even (no, really) a good David Caruso supporting performance.

Nick

[XtienMurawski]

"Three minutes later."

I'm coming late to the party on this one, but better late than never. What a great film, in so many ways. Makes me wonder what the hell happened with those Kill Bill movies. I didn't hate them, mind you, I just thought that while the first one was surprisingly good, there certainly was not enough material there to justify shovelling a second movie onto us. Some of it is mildly entertaining, but really, the second movie is all about filler. Filler filler filler. There's maybe--MAYBE--enough material in both films to make one respectably long great film, but I'm dubious.

The reason I bring all that up here, is that the director of Jackie Brown seems like a guy who is beginning to grow up into a disciplined filmmaker. While I don't think Jackie Brown is as good as his first two films, that might just be because of my giddy feelings about those two films. Jackie Brown shows a different level of character and story control, and had I seen it in 1997, I would have expected a much more interesting progression than the Kill Bill volumes provided, since they are all about self-indulgence. To me, Jackie Brown seems the opposite.

I just love films like this that have a central relationship with interesting chemistry. That gets me every time. The chemistry between Robert Forster and Pam Grier sparks in just the right way. It's beautiful. And never pushed, never overdone. It's never too much. They say so much with so little.

The only change I'd make would be to swap Briget Fonda out. It's not that I didn't like her--I think she's great in the film--I just thought it would have been funny to have Brad Pitt reprise his True Romance druggy roommate role here. Imagine him turning to Robert De Niro and saying, "Wanna fuck," then three minutes later cutting to him being schtupped by De Niro. That would have been priceless.

I kid. I kid.

As for great De Niro roles, I have to go with Midnight Run. That's probably my favorite of his performances, The Mission and Raging Bull notwithstanding. And nothing beats his chemistry with Charles Grodin in that film, before Grodin went batshit insane.

"Girl, don't make me put my foot in your ass."

-Amanpour

[Andrew Mayer]

As for great De Niro roles, I have to go with Midnight Run. That's probably my favorite of his performances, The Mission and Raging Bull notwithstanding. And nothing beats his chemistry with Charles Grodin in that film, before Grodin went batshit insane.


"Well if you don't shut up, pretty soon you're gonna suffer from fistaphobia."

Man do I love that movie.

"Hey Ya, everybody! Hey Ya! I can say hello in 50 languages. Not YOURS, but..."'

"Jack? Why are you so unpopular with the Chicago police department? "