JackieBrown Tagged Articles at Cinematical

There are very few directors who know how to use music as well as Quentin Tarantino -- I can only think of one who might be just a little bit better. So while some directors let the music guide their editing process and others like to play the soundtrack while they shoot, Tarantino uses music in a completely different way. His use of music goes beyond just making a kick-ass soundtrack (which he usually does) and the song becomes another layer of movie history and reference that can inform what is right in front of your eyes.

As we all know, Inglourious Basterds is hitting theaters this week, and even though this might be one of Tarantino's first films without a 'popular' soundtrack, it did get me thinking about all the other great songs that he has included over the years. It seems that when it comes to music and Tarantino, obscure is the name of the game. The man likes to dig out those hidden gems, either to give them new life for a younger generation of fans, or maybe he just likes to show off a little -- come on, it's not like he's known for being humble. But one thing is for sure, the guy must have one hell of a record collection, and that's why today's Cinematical Seven is about my favorite songs from the films of Quentin Tarantino.

After the jump: find out which tracks made my top seven...

There's a pretty informative story about how, after getting the gig to adapt his own novel The Cider House Rules, John Irving sat down feeling fairly confident, thinking something to the effect that "Hey, all I have to do is re-type who people are, what they do and what they say -- this'll be a breeze ..." and, after doing that with his novel, found he had enough screenplay pages ... for a nine-hour film. Adaptations are tough: What do you leave in, what do you leave out? Is fidelity the only true measure of worth, or can carefully-made changes actually improve the film version of a book? Below are some of my picks for the best adapted screenplays of the past ten years; as ever, this list is wildly subjective, and our ever-hungry comments section awaits your picks. ...

1) Jackie Brown (1997)

A great example of how tweaking a good book can make it even better -- Quentin Tarantino's adaptation of Elmore Leonard's novel Rum Punch moved the setting from one coast to another, changed the race of one of the leads -- and, by ignoring such petty details, wound with a film that completely nails the talky, criminal, human spirit of Elmore Leonard's amazing body of work. Leonard's work also gave Tarantino the first grown-up story he's ever worked with, and Tarantino stepped up to the plate and delivered -- as fond as I am of Pulp Fiction's incendiary inventions, I still think Jackie Brown is the better actual film.

2) Children of Men (2006)

Another case where the screenwriters modified much of the book to the improvement of the story -- P.D. James's novel takes place over a period of months, while Curaron's film speeds by over a few days like a fever-dream nightmare. There are other changes, too (Clive Owen's lead is no longer related to England's all-powerful Big Brother, but, instead, Danny Huston's minor functionary), but the decision to strip Children of Men down to a few nightmare days was incredibly insightful -- and made for an adaptation that works as an amazing film.

Hopefully we'll never again have to see Marlon Wayans' face on the body of a little person, or covered by a white-girl mask. If he and his brothers (Shawn and Keenan Ivory) want another franchise (they are still going with the Scary Movie series), they could possibly make one out of their next project. The Wayanses are turning their comic book Super Bad James Dynomite into a live-action feature film for Rogue Pictures with Marlon starring as the title role. Dynomite is a 1970s blaxploitation-era detective -- ala Shaft and Dolemite (which is apparently being remade) -- who has been in prison for the past 35 years, or so. When he's released in the present, he retains his 70s look, complete with exaggerated afro, and sets off to find the criminal who framed him.

The comic is full of adult material, so turning it into a franchise wouldn't be as easy as it has been for superhero titles. The Wayans brothers aren't reported as being interested in sequels, but I'm sure Rogue would love a franchise if the guys were down and if the first movie does good business. Of course, there are a few reasons why the movie might not be too successful. The most important of these reasons is that blaxploitation doesn't need another homage. Between the Shaft remake, Jackie Brown and the spy comedy Undercover Brother, we've seen enough tributes to and jokes on the genre recently to last us another 35 years. Plus, the Wayanses already covered the territory with the blaxploitation spoof I'm Gonna Git You Sucka. The bottom line, though, is that the original films are just too enjoyable by themselves to require any kind of hindsight rehash. If Dynomite is only a single shot film, Rogue should be fine. The studio also just bought another script from Marlon and Shawn, which was co-written by Xavier Cook and Mitchell Marchand (The Wayans Bros. television series).

Apparently John Waters mis-cast Cecil B. Demented when he put Stephen Dorff in lead role. It seems that Quentin Tarantino is the real guerilla filmmaker, or at least, he was willing to be. Reports say that the director recently told Culture magazine: "I would have died for Reservoir Dogs and I would have died getting a shot for Pulp Fiction." I can just see Quentin running around with crazy hair, getting cinematic shots while dodging gunshots. While he holds those films close to his heart, the same can't be said for Jackie Brown: "I don't know if I would have died for Jackie Brown and that scared me a little." I think we're all right there with you, Quentin. However, if you want, you can try to rationalize this as something other than the fact that it wasn't as good: "I think the reason was that it was based on a novel, it wasn't an original thing born from me."

The director goes on to talk about the curse of aging. He's quoted as saying: "Directors don't get better as they get older. They get worse and they get out of touch." I'm a bit surprised that he's saying this. Following his previous comments, which don't include Kill Bill or his upcoming Death Proof, does that mean he doesn't like them as much because he feels older and out of touch? Is this the end of Tarantino? Has he forgotten that he is pushing 50? To top that off, he also stated: "There is this weird thing with movie-making where you king of figure out how to do it. You're pulled along by experience. By the second one you know a hell of a lot more than you did on the first one." Methinks Tarantino is getting a little confused, especially since he followed it up with: "I don't want to be a professional. I like holding on to my amateur status." Correct me if I'm wrong, but Tarantino stopped being an amateur long ago.