Well Ya Play That (Quentin) Tarantino, All the Hounds They Start to Roar, His Best

"Reservoir Dogs" has a great title and has one of the greatest gangster casts ever assembled, in my opinion. Tim Roth, Harvey Keitel, Michael Madsen, and Steve Buscemi (as the sweet "Mr. Pink") are not the most famous names. These guys are great character actors, though. I can't tell you much more without ruining it. Besides those four Misters, there are Mr. Blue and Mr. Brown (who is Q.T. himself). It's great and see it is what I can say. This is Tarantino violent, bloody fun.
"Kill Bill"-volumes 1 & 2 are both great action flicks. The classic two-parter featuring Uma Thurman (she worked really hard to become her character) and arch nemesis David Carradine as Bill. Lucy Liu gives Uma a little grief also. This is one of those rare instances in which the sequel is as good as the initial feature. I consider this pair must-see Tarantino. Uma did her own stunts and martial arts. The movies are worth seeing just for the moves.
"Pulp Fiction" has a pretty neat soundtrack for one thing-mostly oldies. It's a pretty neat movie for another thing. Uma Thurman again (she's the smoker on the famous movie poster), Tim Roth again, John Travolta, and Samuel L. Jackson star in this beauty of a crime film-noir.
"Natural Born Killers" is that unusual movie that you can't watch and can't stop watching. Q.T. did not direct this weirdo but did write the story. Close 'nuff. Leading man and lady Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis have some disturbing issues I would say. I hate to judge but... They are unusual enough actors without the Tarantino factor thrown in. Bonnie & Clyde on steroids. Brilliant violence, directed by Oliver Stone. He has a not so normal reputation himself.

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Offbeat Movie Directors-6 Wild and Crazy Guys

For my money Stanley Kubrick is the best. The reason I think this: Every movie directed by him seems like it's done by a different guy, who seems to be one of the best directors of all time. No style is great style. His record speaks for itself. Basically unflawed.

My wife prefers the Coen brothers, Ethan and Joel, as she says that they can always be counted on to do good work. I cannot disagree. They are consistently quaintly bizarre.

Quentin Tarantino is a most consistently shocking guy: see "Hostel". It ain't quaint. While he didn't direct it he did produce and approve it. Scary, depraved stuff. This guy is way out of control. Violence is a trademark, but it's often funny. "Hostel" ain't funny. If you see it more than once, you I don't want to know.

Alfred Hitchcock is the original king of the macabre. (Edgar Allan Poe didn't make movies.) His "Americanized" stuff is just tremendous. His old movies with the British accents I can't get into much. He always did a cameo in his movies. As a bonus, he had a great TV show with a great theme song ("Funeral March of the Marionette"). You're too young to remember it.

Then there is Federico Fellini. I have 12 of his movies on tape or DVD, so I am fanatical. Everything is in Italian (subtitled in English) though, and some people can't handle that. He's considered one of the greatest European directors, but there's a lot of autobiography in his movies. He's not for everybody, but he's for me. He used very few well known actors. Marcello Mastroianni was his favorite actor.His work has to be watched more than once. Nuns and scaffolding and Rubenesque (Italian) women??

David Lynch is an enigma. His best work is probably better than anybody's. His bad stuff is the worst. "Inland Empire" is hours of black screen-can't see a thing. "Eraserhead" is a cult classic, but it's quirky enough to be creepy. What do I know, I don't like "Rocky Horror Picture Show". This guy is also not for everyone.

Sadly, Hitchcock, Fellini and Kubrick won't be doing any more movies.

Honorable mentions to Clint Eastwood, who does what he wants (it's good and sometimes offbeat) and to Robert Altman, who is inconsistent.

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