A former film critic has chucked it in and now reviews movies before either of you have seen them.
The idea of putting a number of directors together in a cinematic portmanteau, if you will, is not exactly new. A couple of examples that spring to mind are 'Twilight Zone - The Movie' which featured episodes directed by John Landis, Joe Dante, Steven Spielberg and George Miller, and on the auteur side, there was 'New York Stories', a pretty dismal excuse for rounding up three East Coast masters, Scorsese, Allen and - er...Coppola who is based in San Francisco.
The thing is, both the abovementioned films are not exactly bad; just patchy. (Who can forget John Lithgow as the terrified airline passenger in 'Twilight Zone' or Woody Allen's rampaging Kong-sized Jewish mother in NYS) So, a few years down the line, some bright spark has an idea: 'Let's get the four hippest, most happening young directors around and put them together to make the hippest, most happening movie in recent history (and corner the highly profitable 'youth' market at the same time). Hmmm. Great concept. Only one slight problem. The four directors in this particular case show all the signs of becoming 24 carat one-hit wonders. Yes, and that includes the Jimmy Hill of post-Peckinpah Scorsese-lite cinema: Quentin Tarantino.
Sure, 'Reservoir Dogs' was a cool and flashy (albeit derivative) movie with a fine plot, good acting - except Tim Roth - sharp clothes and great music. 'Pulp Fiction' too was entertaining but certainly not the postmodern masterpiece that some idiots would claim. Both films are triumphs of style over substance and both are worshipped by a particular brand of loser, the type that likes to dress up in character at performances and spout lines of dialogue at social gatherings. Tragic.
As for Robert Rodriguez, 'El Mariachi' was a good no-budget movie but its goodness lay pretty much in the fact that it had no budget. Now, with access to larger resources, Rodriguez has to prove that he can retain his inventiveness, though 'Desperado', his remake of 'El Mariachi', would indicate otherwise. Allison Anders? Well, she is Scorsese's latest protege but, my god, 'Gas, Food, Lodging' and 'Mi Vida Loca' are such dull little movies.
The biggest disappointment, however, is Alexandre Rockwell whose film 'In the Soup' is a modern classic and certainly a richer film than anything Tarantino has come up with. Sadly, Rockwell has failed to deliver with subsequent efforts including some lame bullshit movie starring the ubiquitous Harvey Keitel, the title of which escapes me completely.
Finally, and adding insult to injury, the four segments of this film are linked
by the intervention of Tim Roth, an actor I have a lot of respect for (as those
of you who have visited Movie Corner on previous occasions will know) until,
that is, he puts on his totally unconvincing American 'Method' accent - most
commonly at the instigation of his new-found friend, Quentin (who once again
puts on his duff acting hat and hams it up regally). It has to be said that the
title of this film is, in many respects, hopelessly inaccurate; the four rooms
are really only one room, and that room is a toilet.
9 out of 10
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