Quentin Tarantino: A Binge in Review

This past weekend I finished watching every Quentin Tarantino movie available on Netflix. I started out watching Pulp Fiction a few weeks ago simply because I had never seen it and its one of those classics that you need to see if you're going to talk about movies. The only other Tarantino movie I had seen prior to my weekend binge was Django Unchained. I've kept a list of movies I need to watch in my phone and I knew Inglorious Bastards was on it, so I decided to just watch it because I sort of needed to get it off my list. Now, after watching that, I was pumped. I watched Kill Bill Volume 1 & 2 in one night and than Dusk Till Dawn, Reservoir Dogs, and Four Rooms the next day. My official verdict: pretty distinct disappointment after Kill Bill Volume 1.

Ruby Sparks

This is the most creative romance film you'll come by. I don't like romance films. The Notebook is predictable, and my favorite part of Titanic is when the boat snaps in half. This movie frustrated me the way most romance movies do. The male protagonist is problematic, the problems that arise in the plot are largely blamed on the female protagonist, and the arguments that happen seem petty and are annoying. This movie is quirky and cute in a lot of instances; the same directors that did Little Miss Sunshine did Ruby Sparks. What I do appreciate about this movie is the way the relationship comes about. Calvin, the main character, is a writer, and to combat writers block, he writes nonsensically about this perfect girl; this perfect girl (Ruby Sparks) appears in real life, in his apartment the next morning, believing she is his girlfriend and completely unaware that she is the reality of his writing. The part of this movie that is gripping for me, is the fact that this story quickly switches to a movie about morality: Calvin's morality.

The Babadook

Have you ever heard of it? Probably not. Will it scare you shitless? Probably. Pulling some of the stylings from iconic horror movies, The Babadook is the combination of all things terrifying without being blatantly terrifying. It'll crawl under your skin and before you realize it, and without any warning you'll just all at once feel horrified of this monster. In this Australian thriller, it follows a typical storyline, with an atypical approach to telling the story. There's nothing better than a horror movie that relies on the substance of the story rather than its ability to make you jump with loud noises and scary faces.

American Ultra

Stoner Kristen Stewart and stoner/assassin Jesse Eisenberg? And they're a cute stoner couple? Yes please. So in. I was so in from the second I heard anything about this movie. Maybe it's because I've been dying to see Kristen Stewart finally be awesome in a movie because I think she's awesome in general. Maybe it's because I saw The End of the Tour the same week I saw this movie and, as I aforementioned in my review about The End of the Tour, I was not a fan of Jesse Eisenberg's character in it and I really wanted to see him in this innocently clueless role. Regardless of why this movie caught my attention so quickly, it did, and I was a thousand times satisfied with what I saw.