Widescreen: Quentin Tarantino's three towering classics
Quentin Tarantino has made eight or nine movies, depending how you count the two volumes of his "Kill Bill" saga, and this writer who surreptitiously watched "Reservoir Dogs" on VHS in his parents' basement thinks he's made at least three that could be called masterpieces.
We'll find out this weekend if "Once Upon a Time in ... Hollywood" joins the ranks of these three towering classics:
"Pulp Fiction" (1994)
I remember reading the stories from the Cannes Film Festival and other early screenings: People were passing out in the theater! The violence will shock you! Wait till you see the scene with the needle!
Those are the kinds of stories that really excite a 15-year-old film fan, enough to ask his mom to drive him to the theater, buy a ticket and then hand it off to the boy so he can sneak into the R-rated movie alone. And so she did, and there I sat, waiting for the curtain to rise, shaking in anticipation.
The movie didn't disappoint. It became a bona fide phenomenon, in fact, making Tarantino a household name, resurrecting John Travolta's career, making Samuel L. Jackson a star and inspiring years' worth of inferior wannabes. ("Suicide Kings," anyone? Perhaps "Things To Do in Denver When You're Dead"?)
With just his second film, Tarantino changed the entire industry. His next film would change his career. (Streaming on Netflix, Showtime)
"Jackie Brown" (1997)
Almost anything would feel like a letdown after "Pulp Fiction," and this laid-back, action-free adaptation of Elmore Leonard's "Rum Punch" had a lot of moviegoers scratching their heads. Instead of hip hitmen, we get a middle-aged romance between a flight attendant (Pam Grier) and a bail bondsman (Robert Forster), who team up to con a small-time gunrunner (Jackson)?
But just like its two stars, "Jackie Brown" has aged like a fine wine. It's a privilege to drink in the colorful, almost musical dialogue, delivered by an ensemble that includes Robert De Niro, Michael Keaton, Bridget Fonda and Chris Tucker.
Tarantino was only 34 when it was released, but "Jackie Brown" is his most mature, most lived-in, most wistful movie. It might not be his best film, objectively, but it's certainly his most lovable. (Streaming on Showtime)
"Inglourious Basterds" (2009)
In the final shot of this tense, talky epic that changes the ending of World War II(!), Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) looks directly into the camera after exacting justice on Nazi officer Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz in the Oscar-winning role that introduced him to America) and says, "I think this just might be my masterpiece." We then cut to a title card reading, "Written & Directed by Quentin Tarantino."
That's among the most awesomely arrogant things you'll see in a movie, and here's the thing: He's right.
Tarantino literally weaponizes the movies in the final act, which sees a theater full of Nazis consumed in a fire using nitrate film as kindling. Like the other films on this list, it's exciting, tense, funny and unforgettable - but the finale stands as the auteur's mission statement, an aspirational ode to the power of cinema. (Streaming on Netflix)
• Follow Sean on Twitter at @SeanStanglandDH.