Does Tarantino Do Anything Original?

Who? Me? A Thief... Never!!!!

Previously, my answer would have always been yes... the guy is a genius. He is one of my favorite director's, and I hold him in a very high esteem (so high that one of his movies is going to be what is shown at the 2nd Music & Movie night at The Wicked Monk on April 3rd...). With that being said, there is no secret (QT openly admits it himself) that Tarantino is a huge movie fan who often includes homages to rare and obscure films that he considers to be his favorites. We posted a Kill Bill comparison clip last week that showed the tons of movies that QT took from to complete his action/adventure epic, but then friend of CCD Mike White put us onto this clip.



Those suits look familiar, no?

White made this comparison clip to show just how much QT jacked from Ringo Lam's 1987 shitbox movie City On Fire. Now being the huge QT fan that I am, I have heard of the similarities to Lam's movie. But since I never seen it (mostly because of how horrible I heard it was, despite starring Chow Yun Fat), I could never imagine just HOW MUCH QT actually borrowed. Shit, you can't even call it borrowed... QT pulled a straight Compton Jack Move on Lam's whole movie!!! Don't believe me? Check it for yourself:


Who Do You Think You're Fooling? from Mike White on Vimeo.


Kind of hard to stick up for QT after that one, huh? The Kill Bill clip didn't anger me as much, because it was little bits and pieces jacked from dozens of movies. But this one pisses me off a bit for 3 reasons.

1. This is Tarantino's first movie... and the one that I fell in love with. Why QT? This really destroys my image of QT as such an original dialogue writer and director. He basically took a bad movie with a great premise and added some snappy dialogue. He left out the actual robbery, but used dialogue to re-enact Lam's robbery scene (which you see in City on Fire) shot for shot. Kietel's "Blam, Blam, Blam" description of Mr. Blonde in the jewelry store is one of my favorite parts of the flick because of how Taratino makes you use your imagination to see it... and now it is ruined.
2. Without the success of Reservoir Dogs, Tarantino does not get to make Pulp Fiction. Without Pulp Fiction, Tarantino does not become a premiere director in the film industry. We probably wouldn't have gotten all the collabs with Robert Rodriguez (Desperado, Sin City, Grindhouse), nor the resurgence of John Travolta. We damn sure wouldn't have seen Samuel L as a Jedi, and would Steve Buscemi really be top lining Boardwalk Empire had he not killed the part of Mr. Pink so effectively? What a different Holywood reality it would be had Tarantino been exposed as a thief off the rip.
3. This could only have happened in the early 90's. With the rise of the Internet, there is no way you could get away with this shit now a days. Imagine if a director tried to re-appropriate another directors film in plot and actual shots & claimed it to be original? That shit would be all over the net in 2 days flat. Shit, I get hourly updates on exactly which porn pig's asshole Charlie Sheen is freebasing coke out of... you think you can steal a whole movie and no one would notice? Not with all these Internet cops out here.

No... Not The Mexican Standoff Scene... Not That Too!!!

This is all very concerning for me. I don't know how I should feel about Tarantino anymore. I still think he is a great director, and Inglorious Basterd's is so completely original (except it's title... QT jacked that one to!!!) that it makes me smile, but all his success is based on a foundation of lies... god, I am torn!!! Thanks to Mike White for causing this dilemma for me (just kidding, I really appreciate it!), but now I gotta ask you guys: How does this make you feel about QT? Do you still love him, or does this ruin it for you? Please tell me in the comment section below. I really want to hear all your insights, so I ask all my regular readers to please weigh in on this one.

***Bonus***

My god, it gets worse... check out White's follow up, "Your Still Not Fooling Anybody". Damn, my month is ruined.... grrrrrrrr!!!! (shaking my fists at Mike White for enlightening me!!!!)

You're Still Not Fooling Anybody from Mike White on Vimeo.