Tarantino is Wasting His Talent

Mark Harris, of Entertainment Weekly, has written a great column about how Quentin Tarantino has been making homages to bad movies not many people really liked–or watched–for going on a decade and a half now. I couldn’t agree more; Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction are masterpieces but everything after (I’ll exclude Grindhouse, because I haven’t seen it yet) has been of dubious quality. The movies are too long, the dialogue needs serious editing, the storytelling isn’t remotely as tight, well-paced and inventive as his first two films. Worst of all, he seems to have completely lost the knack for creating believable characters. His movies aren’t about people anymore; they’re about B-movie cliches, and while that might be entertaining, it makes it hard to care.

My favorite line from Harris’ column?

His fixation on 1970s subgenres has now lasted longer than the 1970s themselves.

The Sopranos Season 6B Premiere

After the incredibly disappointing way that last season disintegrated, I did not have high hopes for the season premiere of The Sopranos. (Although technically this is not a new season. It is actually referred to as Season 6B. Last season was Season 6A.) If there was ever any doubt, last, um, season confirmed that David Chase is intellectually allergic to narrative closure and has a disregard for the viewer that borders on pathological. Nonetheless, few characters in fictional history are as interesting as Tony Soprano, so I was obligated to watch another torturous, frustrating, occasionally brilliant season. It’s all going to end in utter crap, of course, but I have to see this thing through to its bitter end.

All that being said, I was pleasantly surprised by Sunday’s premiere. There was little in overall plot advancement, but I’m fine with that. Seemingly major events never have much payoff on this show anyway. No, this episode was a little gem, a tangent episode in its own way, about Tony and Carmela’s trip to Bobby and Janice’s lakehouse in upstate New York. As has been demonstrated numerous times in the past, The Sopranos writers are particularly inspired when they take their characters out of their suburban milieu.