Rating: Summary: Good Tarantino Flick... Review: Tarantino had impossibly high expectations for his follow-up movie to Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown. He could've repeated the same formula that made Pulp Fiction a huge hit or do something completely different. Tarantino choose to stick with what made him famous: movies featuring quirky criminals and lots of dialogue. This situation isn't as bad as one might think it is. The casting choices are inspired, each of them (especially Pam Grier and Robert Forester) really make the dialogue and scenes sizzle. The only problem is that the film wears out its welcome well before the credits roll. While the dialogue is funny, the plot doesn't really go anywhere for much of the movie, resulting in a fun, but ultimately meaningless picture. This makes the film's conlusion anti-climatic at best. The DVD packaging by itself would merit 5 stars in my book. The producers of the DVD have enough good extras to merit the 2nd disc, but unlike so many movies released recently, the 2nd disc are almost always interesting.
Rating: Summary: L.A. Story Review: Not as groundbreaking, but more balanced and more mature than "Pulp Fiction", with great, seedy locations from all around L.A., from Compton to Torrance. There is more of a story here, as well, than there was in his last movie. It's a crime caper involving an airline stewardess, a bail bondsman, a guns dealer, and various other small time crooks. The core story comes from an Elmore Leonard novel. Robert Forster as Max Cherry is a revelation, a simple and subtle performance that is more implicit than explicit. The same goes for Pam Grier as the title character, one of the most assured performances in recent years that I can remember. De Niro is a scruffy ex-con who is looking to removie the "ex" part. Sam Jackson is the heavy of the piece, Ordell Robbie, patient and menacing. Tarantino utilizes the temporal trickiness that he singlehandedly revitalized in modern movies. It moves at a leisurely place. This is OK because the characters are wonderful to be around. In addition, you'll hear everything from Bill Withers to the Delfonics to Lil Kim to Bobby Womack to Johnny Cash on the soundtrack. Don't miss this one.
Rating: Summary: Tarantino is the Man Review: This movie depicts great cinematography with great characters. The DVD just from start to finish is great. There is not anything bad I can say about any of Tarantino's flics, other than there is not enough of them. Kill Bill, which is his latest is to be an epic. I worship the man.
Rating: Summary: QUINTESSENTIAL TARANTINO Review: Honestly, this movie doesn't match the brilliance of its predecessor, PULP FICTION. However, this movie is still a Quentin Tarantino flick. Great directors have their own style: their movies may fall into particular rubrics, but they have a unique identity of their own, creating a different blend of movies, confirming rigidly to their specific style. Quentin Tarantino has his own way of directing and conceptualizing his movies, and JACKIE BROWN, has all the sine qua nons of a trademark 'Quentin' movie. To begin with, the combination of American & African-American gangster pair still continues on from its predecessor. Even this pair of gangsters (Robert De Niro and Samuel L Jackson) is as ruthless and unemotional as the pair (Samuel L Jackson and John Travolta) in PULP FICTION, in executing gory killings. The plot is pretty simple: A female flight attendant, working hand-in-glove with an arms dealer tries to trick him and loot him of his own money. Within the execution of the plot, one is bombarded with the quintessential 'Tarantino': great 'dirty' dialogues, brilliant retro music, (instead of using background scores, Quentin uses songs) detached & controlled butcherly violence, and of course, the bohemian funny nature of the characters. Though pretty much in the same lines as PULP FICTION, JACKIE BROWN isn't as inane and mindless as its precursor. Far from his 1994 attempt, which is a classic, Quentin's 1997 attempt, though not in the ranks of PULP FICTION, is still a fantastically made 'Tarantino' flick.
Rating: Summary: Foxy Jackie Brown Review: "Jackie Brown" was widely received as a disappointing follow-up to Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction," but I think it's actually a better movie, if less obviously so. It's hard not to be blown away by "Fiction" because of it's sheer audacity; "Jackie Brown" is a quieter film that shows Tarantino has the potential to become a mature and sophisticated director. It's somewhat ironic that Tarantino, associated with the young hipster audience, made this film, because at the basic level "Jackie Brown" is about getting old. All of Jackie's motivations spring from the fact that starting over will soon become impossible for her. That the options available to a a middle-aged, lower income level, black woman in modern America are severely limited. Tarantino shows an amazing prowess for getting into the head of this woman. His sensitive direction coupled with Pam Grier's top-notch performance combine to make Jackie one of the most compelling and honest female characters to hit the movie screen in recent years. The rest of the cast is uniformly excellent too. Robert Forster stands out as bail bondsman Max Cherry, who becomes Jackie's partner in crime, as it were. Samuel L. Jackson does well with the kind of part he seems born to play, but his character is not as interesting as the others and so makes less of an impression. Bridget Fonda is a scene stealer as a California beach bunny, and the contrast between her and Pam Grier is used quite effectively. It's interesting to note that in the book this movie was based on, "Rum Punch" by Elmore Leonard, Jackie was white. Changing the race of the title character to black adds a whole other dimension to the film that the book lacks. This is one case where the movie greatly improves on its source material. "Jackie Brown" will take some commitment on behalf of the viewer. It's leisurely paced and more reliant on character study than Tarantino's other films, but these aren't detriments. They merely illustrate that Tarantino has some range as a director, and I hope he continues to explore that range.
Rating: Summary: Name of the blues song? Review: Awesome movie with an awesome soundtrack. One question though, in the scene where Sam Jackson and Chris Tucker are walking out of the apartment and down to his car to get in the trunk, there is a bluesy song playing in the background, it is also played as you select features on the dvd menu, does anyone know the name of the song and who plays it? It is not on the soundtrack cd.
Rating: Summary: A GREAT DVD for TARANTINO FANS Review: If you like Tarantino's movies, if you like Jackie Brown, hell, if you like good movies, this is a DVD to get! Jackie Brown is Tarantino's most mature film to date, and this brilliant 2-Disc Special Edition is just great. Lots of cool Special Features, very good Quality and a nice packaging. The only bad thing is the lack of Audio Commentary but you can get the True Romance 2-Disc SE if you want an audio commentary by QT. I know what I'm talking about,...Tarantino rocks! Get his DVD, I loved it!!
Rating: Summary: Samuel L. Jackson at his best Review: I loved this movie, and not just because I share a name with the title character, but Samuel L. Jackson was incredible. This movie, although it had a substantial amount of strong language, had classy and fun dialogue, full of quotable lines. Quenton Tarantino's twisty adaptation of Rum Punch was fantastic. I own the dvd and the special features are great too. Robert De Niro was very out-of-character, playing the supporting role as a total doped out loser, but he was very fun to watch and he added a lot to the movie. Michael Keaton (as always) brought a lot of humor and life to the movie, and Bridget Fonda has never looked so good. This is certainly not a family values movie, but maybe something that college age friends can enjoy. The R rating reflects that of the typical Tarantino film, which is for pervasive strong language, violence, drug use and a brief non-graphic sexual situation. This was a great movie though, and if for no other reason, see it for Samuel L. Jackson's memorable performance.
Rating: Summary: Great, if you wanna check out Pam Grier! Review: Man she is finer than fine in almost every scene she's in! 'Foxy' Brown indeed! Unfortunately, that's the big reason you would have to check the film out. I wasn't expecting Pulp Fiction/Resoirvoir Dogs style intensity, but Jackie Brown doesn't even compare favorably with 'Get Shorty'. The main problem - TOO TALKY! And all the talk is largely about nothing, as opposed to the richness of the scripts of PF/RD. The core of the film, that being who's conning who? goes limp pretty quickly. The actors are all fine, especially Samuel L. Jackson. I swear, he should do a standup comic routine or a one-man theater show, and used the M-Word liberally throughout, because no one does it as fluently as he does. The ending meanwhile, will suprise no one. A good 30 minutes could have been sliced off of this film and made it a tighter, more cohesive experience. The extras are all OK, but like I said at the beginning, you'll want this film for Pam Grier and little else.
Rating: Summary: Don't miss this addition to your collection! Review: This is a movie I never expected to like, let alone love as I do. It's a surprise in how truly good it is. I don't think many critics understood just how many complexities this film has, and it's a satisfying and enjoyable 2 hours. Robert Forrester gives one of the most brilliantly understated performances ever seen. His Max Cherry is so deeply and sadly in love with Jackie Brown, but he doesn't say it once. It is written all over everything when he is with her, and it's an intellegent and poigniant performance. Pam Grier proves that age can and does add to sex appeal, and Bridget Fonda has a 'cameo' role that is not to be missed. Tarantino directed this in a different style than one would expect from him, but he does a great job in letting this one unfold. The extras seemed to be too much at times (The Siskel and Ebert Review...just didn't seem necessary, for instance), but this is a great movie you won't be sorry you own.
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