10 Songs I’ll Always Associate With Quentin Tarantino Movies

The other day, I overheard my friend singing Luis Bacalov’s “His Name was King” to his 2 year-old son. It’s a song that my friend had discovered while watching Django Unchained. And by divine providence, his 2 year-old just happens to have a toy horse named “King”, a precedent that had been established well before my friend, the father, had seen Django. The whole incident helped cement a fact in my mind- that Quentin Tarantino’s films are inexorably linked to their soundtracks. Thinking about it gave me one example after another. Here are ten songs I’ll never hear again without thinking of a Tarantino movie.

Quentin and Me: A 30-Something Fan’s Relationship With a Filmmaker

Films, filmmakers, and actors/actresses define eras of your life. It’s bound to happen when you’re a hardcore movie-watcher. Name any on-screen (or even off-screen) personality, and I can tell you when I became aware of their work. My first look at Quentin Tarantino happened in 1994, and my experience as a movie-watcher has never been the same. I’ve seen every one of his movies on the big screen ever since, with one exception. Much like Wes Anderson, Quentin Tarantino’s films have paced the last 18 years of my life. I remember exactly where I was when I saw each one.

Brief Thoughts about the Sight and Sound Director Lists

A lot of the bluster is finally dying down regarding Sight & Sound’s recent release of their Greatest Films of All-Time list. They have both a list compiled by critics and a list compiled by directors, with various director top 10s trickling out over the last few weeks. Most of the discussion has centered around Vertigo (1958) toppling Citizen Kane (1941) for the top slot. But I don’t care about that. They’re both great, and you should see them both if you like movies. It’s the director lists I’d like to discuss.

50 Things I Love About 90s Movies

Some of my most formative years as a cinephile were in the 1990s. It has become somewhat fashionable in recent years to bash the 1990s, often while praising the 80s (blech). You’ll never hear me bashing the 90s, primarily because it was such fertile territory for film. Call it the Weinstein Revolution, when indie cinema rose to previously unseen heights. Of course, the decade was also full of blockbuster fun. There’s so much to love about 90s movies that I’ve made a list.

The Waiting is the Hardest Part: Movies I Can’t Wait to See

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When you’re a huge movie fan, you’re liable to find out about lots and lots of projects well in advance of their release dates. This forces you into a very difficult position. You have to wait until it finally reaches theaters. Or when you don’t live in a movie mega-hub like Austin, Los Angeles, or New York, you’re forced to wait until the film hits DVD, Netflix Instant, or any of the other various viewing methods available. Right now, I’m extremely anxious to see an awful lot of films but I have to wait them out. Here’s what I can’t wait to see:

The Ten Coolest Quentin Tarantino Characters

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Quentin Tarantino celebrated his birthday over the weekend. As a fan of his highly quotable genre mashups, I feel obligated to celebrate. One of my favorite things to do after seeing a Tarantino film is to ask my friends which character was their favorite. Each film has a wealth of impossibly badass characters. Here’s my list of the ten coolest Quentin Tarantino characters:

Winston Wolfe, Pulp Fiction
He’s Winston Wolfe, and he’s here to solve problems like skull and brain bits all over your car. He can make a thirty minute drive in ten. He keeps all the Lash LaRues of the world from jingling and jangling their spurs. And he does all of it in a tuxedo. I don’t care about that guy from the Dos Equis ads- Winston Wolfe is the true “Most Interesting Man in the World”.

Letters to Directors from Children

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A Movie Geek’s Letter to Santa

‘Tis the season for letters to the North Pole. Why should little kids have all the fun? Here’s what one movie fan wants.

Great Moments in Movie History: Pulp Fiction

Pulp Fiction debuted on this date in 1994. So I’ve immortalized it even more by recreating a great scene from it using stick figures. Enjoy!

Other Great Moments in Movie History:
• Ingmar Bergman’s Trilogy of Faith
• Fargo
• There Will be Blood