QT Should Just Go Ahead and Shoot That RomCom He Clearly Wants to Make

Saw Grindhouse. Liked it. Preferred the QT portion. But I'm not here to talk about Grindhouse specifically, I'm here to talk about Quentin Tarantino in general. Is he the George Cukor of our day? Is he one of the best "women's directors" working? (at least the best working in English, I think Almodovar gets the title globally)

I say yes to both. For most that may seem an odd comparison, George Cukor and Tarantino, but I think not. Both have a talent for getting women to sell dialogue in a believable way. Both preferred rapid fire dialogue over a slower pace. Both knew how to allow a camera to linger over a woman's form without it becoming too pervy (except when it comes to QT's foot fetish, that goes a bit over the top, but now it's still like a cinematic signature masking his indulgence rather than just an indulgence masquerading as a cinematic signature).

The Deathproof portion of Grindhouse and Kill Bill are bloody action pictures, but they are also "women's pictures", and so was Jackie Brown before that. Some might view the chatting and girl talk scenes from Deathproof as set up for the 'good stuff' of the car scenes and bloody violence, but it's the other way around. The blood and horsepower are hooks to get you to watch him revel in female bonding and behavior.

Could QT direct a movie with just the chatting, and skip the violence? Absolutely, but nobody would go see that film. His 'brand' is based on quirky film structures, strong characterizations, and lately, hot chicks kicking ass. But he could pull a fast one and direct a straight ahead stupid RomCom that would probably be the best film that genre has ever produced. His touch with dialogue could actually turn one of those crappy films into something watchable.

He's basically become Russ Meyer with a foot and leg fetish instead of the whole big breast thing. Russ was a genius filmmaker who probably should have indulged his quirky vision just a bit less than he had. Tarantino continues to pump out interesting work, but for whatever reason, his success at the box office often doesn't match his artistic achievements. The latest seems to be a bit of a bust, but that doesn't mean the film isn't worthwhile. It just means that it will take some time for the cult to build around this particular film.

Also, the work by Zoe Bell in Deathproof is beyond description. It can't possibly be real, cause if it is, she should be dead many times over. She's amazing in this, as is all the car stunt work.

And Sydney Poitier, Jr. is beautiful to behold, but her character annoyed me, and so did her acting (how many women share their father's name?)

(I threw in the Jr., she doesn't go by that, but she should)