Rating the Tarantino films

These lists always ring hollow, don't they?

I enjoy most of these movies, but force me to rate them, and I will. Well, no one forced me. But I wanted to rate them anyway, from best to least. There’s no surprise in the top slot, but the others have room for debate, especially with personal favorites. Supposedly Tarantino plans to stop making movies after a 10th feature. For now, I’m comfortable with this list.

Pulp Fiction 
What else would I pick? What else can be said? It will always be his magnum opus. Twenty-five years later I still notice new quirks about this movie. Anytime it appears on the big screen, I can’t skip it.

Inglourious Basterds
"Ooh ... that’s a bingo! Is that the way you say it, 'That's a bingo?'" This movie falls apart if it does not move between languages. But the brilliant performance of Christoph Waltz does as well, this monstrous SS officer known as the Jew Hunter who makes us laugh and drops some huge surprises along the way. The biggest fault comes with Brad Pitt’s pitiful East Tennessee accent, which is really a Matthew McConaughey impersonation. Like Pulp, I can watch it almost anytime.

Jackie Brown 
The only Tarantino movie he didn’t write – the film adapts an Elmore Leonard novel – this one gets better with time, since we all age and all wear the results of our bad decisions. The tension between Pam Grier’s Jackie and Robert Forster’s Max Cherry drives the movie, and understated turns by Robert DeNiro and Bridget Fonda fill in the gaps. Also delightful - watching Cherry refuse to take shit from Samuel L. Jackson's Ordell.

Reservoir Dogs
Tarantino’s debut and breakout feels spare compared to the works that follow. But it sets the tone for all yet to come. It’s a small heist film but the performances and the dialogue mark the work of an emerging director. Plus, Mr. Blonde forever owns Stuck in the Middle with You, and it’s hard not to feel for Harvey Keitel’s Mr. White, who puts his faith in the fatally wounded Mr. Orange.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood 
Overall I was pleasantly surprised with this one. The controversial Bruce Lee scene seems like someone remembering a bad incident to their advantage. Leonard DiCaprio and Brad Pitt excel as the fading western TV star and his stuntman/friend/driver, both on the downward trajectory of their careers in the late 1960s. In the theater, I alone laughed when DiCaprio replaced Steve McQueen in a few flashbacks to the Great Escape. The movie cannot escape the real-life doom hurtling toward very-pregnant Sharon Tate. Intertwining their characters with real-life members of the Manson Family brings a sense of dread to the entire proceedings, at least upon first viewing.

The Hateful Eight
While long like Django, its claustrophobic setting helps propel the movie, even though the ugly violence against Jennifer Jason Leigh’s murderer feels gratuitous and Sam Jackson monologue goes way too far. This one seems like a stage play, a series of malcontents waiting out a storm in the middle of nowhere. Oh, and the Lincoln letter and Kurt Russell’s facial hair are golden.

Kill Bill Parts 1 & 2 
You can’t consider these separately, even if I favor Part 2 and rate it just ahead of the action-driven Part 1. Uma Thurman rolls as a force of nature out for revenge. The performances are top-notch, especially David Carradine as title character, who is all smarmy charisma and steely resolve.

Django Unchained 
Tarantino’s pauses and love of linguistic sparring go overboard here. I’d be happy with a two-hour Django. Pushing three hours, it always felt stilted and overstuffed to me. A lot of the scenes drag due to length.

Death Proof 
Part of the Grindhouse double-feature Tarantino did with Roberto Rodrigues. If it felt schlocky and slight, it was supposed to. A nice Kurt Russell spotlight, but not something I need to see again.