Quentin Tarantino (More Specifically His Musical Choice in His Films) Part 2

Continuing on from my last post, which is to his next film "Jackie Brown", which is widely regarded as his most underrated film (not sure how that makes sense).  This movie was Tarantino's take on the crime drama section of the movie industry, with his own personal taste injected into the film to give it his signature spin.  Where is that more clear than in the soundtrack, with tracks like "Across 110th Street" and "Street Life", the songs reflect the actions of the main character herself.  She is harassed by the police, government, and now the drug lord she is forced to deliver to to make a living.  The character must take action into her own hands, and pull one final goose chase in order to get the money and freedom she's been desperately trying for her whole life.  Almost every song in the movie is about a character getting "dirty" in order to make a living.  In my opinion this is Tarantino's best soundtrack so far, because it reflects perfectly the actions of the movie, and it sounds so effing cool.  The next movie i visit is Django Unchained, because i don't remember Kill Bill too well, never saw his Grind-house flick, and don't remember the soundtrack to Inglorious Bastards being as memorable.  Perhaps i will revisit these in a later blog post.  On to Django, Tarantino's take on western films.  Where is that more relevant than in the man he chose to compose part of his soundtrack, Ennio Morricone.  This man is responsible for the soundtrack to the Dollars trilogy, and created (in my opinion) the most memorable tune from any movie with the theme to "The Good the Bad and the Ugly".  Look up the theme on Youtube, you will recognize it before it hits the seven second mark.  Needless to say, he is the king of western music, and a better choice couldn't have been possible for this film.  The movie has all types of music, each soundtrack changing to the scene its in.  The slow motion scenes have a similarly paced songs like "Freedom", and the fast and exciting shoot outs have a blend of James Brown and Tupac.  The tense nail biting moments are given to Ennio Morricone to compose music for, which is what he does best.  Overall, Quentin has many features he adds to each film, that all give it his own personal touch.  But his soundtrack stands alone as one of his most unique styles of shooting movies.

Quentin Tarantino (More Specifically His Musical Choice in His Films)

After hearing Mrs. Healey tell how she believed Django Unchained to be a perfect example of movies as an art form, i began to think about all of Quentin Tarantino's movies, and while i don't believe myself to be in a position to tell what is art, i can tell how awesome i find each movie's soundtrack.  Let's begin with his first major film, Reservoir Dogs (which happens to be my personal favorite as well).  The most memorable scene from the movie ,which was also the most controversial, was the torture scene between Mr. Blonde and the kidnapped cop.  While very gruesome, the scene is also memorable because of the soundtrack chosen, which was Stealers Wheel's "Stuck in the Middle With You".  This unusual choice sort of reflects the entire mood of all the songs from the soundtrack.  Consisting entirely of tunes from a radio station in the movie, which was playing "K Billy's super sounds of the 70's".  The music featured was always upbeat and exciting, to match the fear of each of the characters, but to equally contrast what was going on in the film, which was betrayal and murder.  His next movie, also his most famous, was Pulp Fiction and it once again featured his unique style of sound, with every song in the film being its own production, and not composed solely for the movie itself.  This films soundtrack added to how stylistic the movie already is.  With each song having a sort of country western sound to it or a sort of "surfer" sound, no matter how subtle.  The most notable songs being "You Can Never Tell" which played during the dance scene, and the opening theme "Misirlou".  Both of these songs add to the movies style by bringing the scenes they accompany to life, with a sort of energy that draws you in.  The next couple movies i will cover in my next blog post.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

After 3 month's of difficult labor, where i endured unbelievable ridicule from one librarian who claims she could of read the book "in a day" and was wondering why it was "three months overdue", i finally finished all two-hundred and sixteen pages of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy".  It was a difficult journey, no doubt, but one i recommend to anyone who wants to try out this "reading" thing.  While i would like to give the book a raving review, i was never, and still am not, well versed at appraisal.  My best compliment ever given is "you really aren't as smart as you think you are", which was given to a man who believed himself to be too smart for his own good.  As a result of my clear inability to positively reinforce, i will just compare the Hitchhiker's book to the movie.  I should clarify though, i saw the movie only once at a young age, and have forgotten almost everything about it.  The Hitchhiker's books plot is one that all comes together in the end, with each tiny detail being brought up at least two times in the story.  Once, just to seem random and hilarious, and the second time to answer a few questions that have been brought up as the story progressed.  The movie had a scene where a man's lower torso was constructed of tiny metal legs.  The Hitchhiker's book completely disproved the theory of God, the movie had Stephen Fry as the narrator (i think).  The Hitchhiker's book had such clever moments that i had to reread them several times to understand the joke, the movie had a pretty cool box cover (i still think).  Three examples is enough for you to see what i'm trying to do here, my conclusion is you should read the book if you haven't. And i will be picking up the sequels... maybe... my brain has to rest.