Cinema Speculation, by Quentin Tarantino

I'm old enough to remember the hype preceding the wide release of Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs. I saw the trailer at a now-defunct neighborhood theater and was excited. Film Threat magazine did a cover story about Dogs. Buzz was everywhere and the big question was whether the movie would live up to it all.

I didn't, unfortunately, get to see Reservoir Dogs at a theater. It didn't play anywhere close to me, so I waited for the VHS to come to my local rental outlet. I got my hands on a tape on the first day it hit the shelves.

Reservoir Dogs isn't for everyone. The "Stuck in the Middle With You" scene with the cop and Michael Madsen still packs a wallop, but few people had seen anything so brutal back in 1992. I thought Reservoir Dogs was great, and not just for its sensational elements. The performances, the dialogue, the clever use of soundtrack songs, the movie worked in every way.

Then came Pulp Fiction. You'd have to look at movies like Jaws, Star Wars, or Raiders of the Lost Ark to find one that was as influential. An entire subgenre of action films sprang out of Pulp Fiction. The movie put Quentin Tarantino and Miramax Films on the map, and the world of movies was never the same.

Of course there was backlash. Some claimed QT is a ripoff artist and a gimmicky film director. People love to tear down a big success. I never played that game. I loved Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, and I've enjoyed everything Tarantino has released since then. Well, let's not talk about Four Rooms.

Writing was always one of Tarantino's greatest strengths, and he broke into the realm of book publishing with his novelization of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. I liked it a lot, and I hope for similar books to follow.

Now Quentin has published Cinema Speculation, a chatty look at his loves and occasional beefs about movie history.

Cinema Speculation is as provocative and confrontational as Tarantino himself in interviews, as well as in his film oeuvre. If you are the type to get upset when someone makes strongly negative statements about movies you cherish, this might not be the book for you.

I don't mind when people disagree with me. How can I? I am prone to very strong opinions about books and movies. I'd be a pretty big hypocrite if I was offended by the very things I make a habit of doing.

Cinema Speculation is smart, funny, and shrewdly observant. Like his movies or hate them, few can deny Quentin Tarantino's passion for the medium. His points are always valid and he presents them in an entertaining way.

I certainly do not agree with the man on all his positions. He repeatedly takes jabs at '80s movies, calling it the worst decade in film history. It's my favorite era. I'm not quite as enamored of '70s he-man action spectacles as Tarantino obviously is. I haven't seen everything from Peckenpah and Siegel, while he adores their work.

Tarantino practically drools on the page over Rocky, while I never liked that movie very much. I remember when everyone was standing up and cheering over it. I felt Rocky was horribly overblown and a rehash of the tired old the palooka kid comes back cliche. Stallone played the role way too broadly for my liking. I'd rather watch Cobra. At least that movie is funny.

That's OK. I don't wish to read a book by someone who agrees with me about everything. I do happen agree with Tarantino most of the time in Cinema Speculation.

The book concludes with a touching reminiscence of a colorful adult QT knew as a boy who influenced his young life. Tarantino may not have had a career in movies, other than as a video store worker, had he not been exposed to the individual.

I thoroughly enjoyed Cinema Speculation, and I hope he writes another book along the same lines.

Written by Mark Sieber