Friday: Quentin Tarantino

(Quentin Tarantino, 1992) • Tarantino’s directorial debut is raw, bloody, and brilliant. In the wake of a botched diamond heist, the surviving criminals begin to suspect that one of them is a rat. Mr. Pink doesn’t tip: it’s for the birds. Mr. Blonde goes psycho on a cop with a straight razor while Stealers Wheel’s 1972 chart-topper “Stuck in the Middle With You” blasts on the radio. Mr. White barks... but will he bite? Mexican standoffs ensue. Mr. Brown gets shot, but not before explaining exactly what Madonna meant when she sang “Like a Virgin.” 35mm

(Quentin Tarantino, 1994) • “Oh, I’m sorry... did I break your concentration?” Co-penned by Roger Avary, Tarantino’s crime odyssey aestheticizes violence, fuses noir and comedy, trips out in gangland fantasy, and surf-boogies to Dick Dale’s Del-Tones. Three primary storylines unfold over seven nonlinear narrative sequences - connecting and intersecting in various ways over time. A cultural watershed, Pulp Fiction revitalized the career of John Travolta and took home the Palme d’Or at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival. 35mm

(Quentin Tarantino, 1997) • Tarantino’s homage to Blaxploitation cinema revitalized the career of Pam Grier, whose roles in 70’s flicks Coffy and Foxy Brown helped put the genre on the map. The film opens to Bobby Womack’s classic “Across 110th Street,” as Grier wearily passes through LAX before being busted for smuggling cocaine for gun runner Ordell Robbie (Samuel L. Jackson). Tarantino weaves a complex plot in which Jackie Brown conspires with bail bondsman Max Cherry (Robert Forster) to steal $500,000 of Ordell’s loot. 35mm

(Oliver Stone, 1994) • Penned by Tarantino, Oliver Stone’s film about two glorified on-the-lam serial killers has become legendary for its over-the-top violence. Mickey and Mallory Knox (Woody Harrelson & Juliette Lewis) are on a massive killing spree across New Mexico, Arizona, and Nevada. Tabloid journalist Wayne Gale (Robert Downey, Jr.) features their exploits on his American Maniacs show, rendering them cult heroes. The film culminates in a prison riot scene, featuring Mexican standoffs, shanking, and inmate shotgun massacres. This screening may not be for the squeamish. 35mm

(Robert Rodriguez, 1996) • Brothers Seth (George Clooney) and Richie (Tarantino) Gecko are two ruthless outlaws on the lam after a bloody bank robbery in Texas. They escape across the border to Mexico, where they arrive at the “Titty Twister,” a desolate biker bar. One night is all that separates the Gecko bros. from freedom, but the horror that they encounter at the Twister turns it into one hell of a night. Written by Tarantino and directed by his longtime friend Robert Rodriguez, From Dusk till Dawn turns the on-the-road, outlaw, and horror genres upside down. 35mm

(Quentin Tarantino, 2003) • Uma Thurman and Tarantino reunite to realize the story of Beatrix Kiddo: “The Bride”. Kiddo, a former member of Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, seeks revenge on her ex-colleagues, who staged a massacre at her wedding and attempted to kill her. Mixing kung fu, Japanese jidaigeki period piece films, Italian spaghetti westerns, and 70’s girls-with-guns exploitation, Vol. 1 of the saga concludes with the epic battle sequence between The Bride and the Crazy 88 squad—led by the malevolent O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu). 35mm

(Quentin Tarantino, 2004) • Part two of the Bill films tones down the vibrant violence (slightly), focusing more on the characters and their back-stories before delivering a heart-exploding climax. After her fatal feuds with the remaining Deadly Vipers are settled, the Bride finally confronts her old lover and boss, “Snake-charmer” Bill (played by the late, great David Carradine). The film also features Gordon Liu as Pai Mei, the immensely powerful ancient who trained Kiddo to be an unstoppable force (Elle Driver not so much). Here comes the Bride... 35mm

(Quentin Tarantino & Robert Rodriguez, 2007) • Tarantino and Rodriguez pay tribute to double-feature exploitation cinema in Grindhouse. Rodriguez’s first segment, Planet Terror, revolves around an outfit of rebels trying to survive a zombie apocalypse. There’s a stripper with a machine-gun leg and a most revolting Quentin cameo. Tarantino’s Death Proof features Kurt Russell as Stuntman Mike. Mike stalks and kills young women with his death proof car, until the image of a gleaming white Challenger appears in his rearview. Infamous intermission trailers included. 35mm

(Jean-Luc Godard, 1967) In the final film of his productive 1960’s Nouvelle Vague period, Jean-Luc Godard presents his vision of the apocalypse, and concludes by burying the casket of cinema. Bourgeois couple Roland and Corrine have secret lovers, and are plotting each other’s murder. They set out on a chaotic, picaresque journey by car to Corrine’s parents home to secure her dying father’s inheritance. They encounter bizarre characters, incessant violent car accidents, and cannibalistic hippie revolutionaries. Presented in a new restoration from Janus. 35mm *This Film is not a member of the Tarantino series.

(Quentin Tarantino, 2009) • Once upon a time, in Nazi-occupied France... Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) commands an elite team of eight Jewish-American soldiers, whose take-no-prisoners attitude earns them the nickname, “the Basterds.” The Basterds scalp, stab, disembowel, dismember, and beat Nazis to death with whatever weapons and/or sporting equipment they have. SD Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) is a ruthless “Jew Hunter,” in pursuit of Shosanna Dreyfus: the one who got away. Say auf wiedersehen to your Nazi balls, and keep away from Doc’s nitrate collection. 35mm