@TrappedInFlesh@TheCinesthetic I appreciate that, being read entirely is never a given ☺️
Backrooms was really interesting. Not a perfect film either but a great achievement regardless. When you get a chance (on the big screen preferably but TV is fine too), this stranger 🙋🏻♂️ def recommends watching it.
I hear you. I haven’t yet read the interview itself, but if I had to guess, I’d suppose it’s more of a broad look he has on the current direction Hollywood is taking.
I’m sure he likes more than just these 3 titles, but maybe he really does see a general decline, so he hammers the point home in his usual style: with strong, colorful, all-or-nothing wording indicating, from his own perspective, what should be criticized in films nowadays and where the industry should pay attention and course-correct.
It’s nothing that shocking, really. I mean, for instance, someone like Brian De Palma has been lamenting for years that mainstream films now all have that same ugly Netflix aesthetic (I’m paraphrasing, but that was the gist) because of the medium: shot with digital cameras and released on streaming as the dominant viewing experience.
No one ever complained about it.
But Tarantino was a video store nerd who didn’t go to college like De Palma, has less sophisticated ways and prefers colorful expressions like “weak sauce” or “sausage factory”, and boasts a huge, unapologetic ego, so everyone feels entitled to call him an overgrown adolescent and shit on him 🤷🏻♂️
I think we should be free to either agree or disagree with what he says without feeling rage-baited (by social media accounts) into attacking his character. In my opinion the focus should remain on the topic itself, and it’s an interesting one.
As for Obsession, that’s rather fascinating too.
I hear and read all those highly positive comments on the film, and while I did enjoy it, I wasn’t so incredibly thrilled either. I’m not sure that I yet have the right arguments or ideas to comprehend and express why though. Some of the key horrific parts felt very derivative to me, the very original mixture in tone wasn’t as successful as in the That’s a Bad Idea channel that launched these guys onto the market, the editing seemed way too loose and felt to me like it needed tightening, the actors seemed good but kind of miscast in my view… That said, the cinematography was great, and I thought that generally speaking the directing was full of good ideas.
Is it such a sign of renewal for Hollywood though? Can we just pick Obsession and Backrooms and say that a new wave is coming? I’m really not convinced about that.
But Curry Barker and Kane Parsons are undoubtedly talented and very capable.
PS: Sorry for the long reply, I got carried away lol
How can you say Hollywood isn’t paying him any attention when he can even barely sneeze and everyone in Hollywood and beyond will react to it lol I don’t think we’ve seen in the last 5 decades another director focusing as much attention even though he hasn’t released a new film in 7 years.
…In other words, your explanation doesn’t make sense.
@JosephKahn “At 61 pages it already feels like a movie” feels snarky though: it sounds like the receptionist Erin from The Office saying it to please her boss Andy or even Michael but she’s way too clumsy to do it right.
@visible_les@worldofreel@SightSoundmag I’m sure a lot of people would disagree, but yeah, that’s “the guy” who directed the extraordinary Django Unchained.
I haven’t seen either of those - though I’ve been meaning to, at least in the case of Horizon - so I’m curious to watch them.
It does sound a bit like this is all more about QT than it is about the current state of cinema. But that’s fine too: we don’t necessarily need him to enthusiastically embrace what everyone else likes nowadays.
And by the way a lot of films these days seem way overrated (it often just takes few years to realize it, the overhype goes to the stratosphere then quickly evaporates and we’re left with a “meh”).
I also think that we’re in a transitional time. Digital cinema is the norm, streaming has taken over the entire market and theatrical windows are negotiated with great difficulties, AI has emerged and is perceived as both a promise and a threat, newcomers from social media are breaking into the industry, the way we consume movies has radically changed in the last 20 years… No wonder Tarantino would feel a bit out of place.
He’s a son of the 60s and 70s, his heroes are Howard Hawks, Scorsese and Sergio Leone. He is aware of that, feels he belongs to a different conception of cinema and that his heroes are not worshipped as much.
But the truth is that he’s also got his fingerprints all over our era: he’s both a master of the last 30 years AND a godfather of what comes next.
I think we can celebrate QT and appreciate his original take on cinema - no matter how countercurrent or grumpy it could sound at times - while still opening up to new avenues in this art.
Aren’t you confusing between this and the issue about visual development teams being laid off because of AI?
Storyboarding isn’t visual creation that truly goes into the imagery of a film, it’s essentially a communication tool to help convey better the director’s vision to his main collaborators. In that perspective, the idea of stealing and rehashing original work has no relevance, don’t you think?