Philosophy
It's Quentin Tarantino's 46th birthday today. I do think he will be viewed as one of the essential American filmmakers of this generation. His trademark schitck, of course, is the juxtaposition of horribly gruesome violence captured in a way that makes it cutesy. He does for blood and gore what Betty Boop did for sex in the '30s.
He is someone who clearly loves the history of cinema and quotes from multiple periods in his films. You see influences from everywhere, concepts taken from Hitchcock to 60s blacksploitation to japanese martial arts. He has a broad palette, but never uses it in a fashion that is ostentatious or that strays from his own voice.
Most of all, what I admire about him is that he is a master at non-linear narrative. The stories he tells have a beginning, a middle, and an end, but they rarely appear in that order. He is able to jump from time to time and although you know how it ends, you are still on the edge of your seat not sure how you got from now to that, even though you've already seen some of what happens in the middle.
So, happy birthday. What are your favorite Tarantino films?
- Passing The Plate: Birthday Edition
My Fellow Comedists, Today is my birthday, so let's pass the plate. Other religions asks for monetary donations, but Comedists tithe jokes. This time around, let's do birthday jokes. My offering: It was Sol Rosenberg's 94th birthday and his...
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Philosophy
Happy Birthday, Quentin Tarantino
It's Quentin Tarantino's 46th birthday today. I do think he will be viewed as one of the essential American filmmakers of this generation. His trademark schitck, of course, is the juxtaposition of horribly gruesome violence captured in a way that makes it cutesy. He does for blood and gore what Betty Boop did for sex in the '30s.
He is someone who clearly loves the history of cinema and quotes from multiple periods in his films. You see influences from everywhere, concepts taken from Hitchcock to 60s blacksploitation to japanese martial arts. He has a broad palette, but never uses it in a fashion that is ostentatious or that strays from his own voice.
Most of all, what I admire about him is that he is a master at non-linear narrative. The stories he tells have a beginning, a middle, and an end, but they rarely appear in that order. He is able to jump from time to time and although you know how it ends, you are still on the edge of your seat not sure how you got from now to that, even though you've already seen some of what happens in the middle.
So, happy birthday. What are your favorite Tarantino films?
- Passing The Plate: Birthday Edition
My Fellow Comedists, Today is my birthday, so let's pass the plate. Other religions asks for monetary donations, but Comedists tithe jokes. This time around, let's do birthday jokes. My offering: It was Sol Rosenberg's 94th birthday and his...
- Happy Birthday Chuck Taylor
Today would be the 108th birthday of Chuck Taylor, possibly the greatest shoe salesman in history. The Chuck Taylor hightop sneaker is every bit the American fashion icon as the Levi 501 or the leather bomber jacket. A turn of the century basketball...
- Happy Birthday Lance Armstrong
Yesterday was Lance Armstrong's 37th birthday. Truly one of the great stories of recent years is his beating cancer and returning to become possibly the greatest racer ever. Accusations of doping remain as they will for everyone of the last decade...
- The Feast Of Saint Bill...right
Brothers, Sisters, and Transgendered Comedists Everywhere, Bertrand Russell, in his autobiography, writes that his life was changed when he found a book by John Stuart Mill in his father's library. I had a similar experience, only I found a copy of...
- Happy Birthday America...and Mom Mom
The 4th of July has always been a big celebration for us because it is my grandmother's birthday...sort of. Actually, it was her whole family's birthday, at least, legally. when they came over from Eastern Europe and were waiting to speak with...