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Cinema Speculation Kindle Edition

4.6 out of 5 stars 2,623 ratings

Instant New York Times bestseller

The long-awaited first work of nonfiction from the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: a deliriously entertaining, wickedly intelligent cinema book as unique and creative as anything by Quentin Tarantino.

In addition to being among the most celebrated of contemporary filmmakers, Quentin Tarantino is possibly the most joyously infectious movie lover alive. For years he has touted in interviews his eventual turn to writing books about films. Now, with Cinema Speculation, the time has come, and the results are everything his passionate fans—and all movie lovers—could have hoped for. Organized around key American films from the 1970s, all of which he first saw as a young moviegoer at the time, this book is as intellectually rigorous and insightful as it is rollicking and entertaining. At once film criticism, film theory, a feat of reporting, and wonderful personal history, it is all written in the singular voice recognizable immediately as QT’s and with the rare perspective about cinema possible only from one of the greatest practitioners of the artform ever. 

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

An Amazon Best Book of November 2022: Quentin Tarantino grew up going to movies in Hollywood. One might question the parenting decision to take a young child to see Bullitt (and many, many other films of the late '60s and early '70s), but it certainly contributed to the formation of his brilliant movie mind. Tarantino’s catalog is deep and wide, and he is here to share it with us. For that we should count ourselves lucky. As I was reading Cinema Speculation, I felt sometimes that I was reading a master class and other times that I was overhearing a conversation at a dinner party. A very cool dinner party. Each page is filled with deep understanding, but there is something else here, too—enjoyment. Tarantino loves movies, and he has a perspective on actors, directors, writers, producers, critics, and movie goers that kept me glued to every page (even when some of the references were flying over my head). This book is intimate, obsessive, and cool, and it is ultimately as enriching as anything I’ve read in a long time. —Chris Schluep, Amazon Editor

Review

“That Tarantino’s film reviews should turn out to be every bit as punchy, smart and surprising as his films should come as no surprise: In a sense he’s been writing both for years. . . . Tarantino’s critical intelligence both refracts and reflects. . . . Tarantino is an unabashed celebrant of cinema’s dirtier pleasures.”  — Tom Shone, The New York Times Book Review

Cinema Speculation is consistently engaging; with its zinging and zipping observations, its casual opinion-flinging, and its sharp-edged divisions of personalities and eras, it seems designed to arouse fruitful arguments. Like the experienced fictioneer that he is, Tarantino creates images and stories and scenes, tells tales that entice and bewitch even as they invite the same sort of criticism that his movies do. Above all, Cinema Speculation is a vision, in motion, of a Hollywood-centric mind." — Richard Brody, The New Yorker

"A one-of-a-kind and compulsively readable volume of film criticism as self-portrait. After all, what better way for Tarantino, who has lived and breathed 35-mm. his whole life, to tell his personal story than via moviegoing?" — Spike Carter, Air Mail

“Wickedly funny. . . . Tarantino knows what he likes, and he engages the reader with ease. . . . An opinionated, compulsively readable appreciation of the grimy, generally lurid movies of his ’70s youth.”  — Chris Vognar, San Francisco Chronicle

“A top-flight nonfiction debut from a unique artist.” — Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“Brilliant and passionate . . . . Tarantino’s joy, generosity, and singular point of view bolster his arguments, and even when he’s taking down his heroes, it’s out of love . . . . Whip-smart and obsessive, Tarantino is great fun and tough to beat.” — Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Pure unfiltered Tarantinalia: a motormouthed mash-up of cinema history, conjecture and memoir . . . . Insanely readable." — The Times (UK)

“Tarantino brings the heat and exuberance of his movie expertise, storytelling artistry, and sharp humor to a dynamic mix of eyebrow-raising personal stories, zesty film history, and kickass film criticism . . . . Offers sizzling behind the production tales and exacting, speculative critiques . . . . [A] rollicking cinematic celebration.” — Donna Seaman, Booklist, starred review

“Dynamic film commentary from a contemporary legend that is essential reading for cinephiles.”  — Library Journal, starred review

"[Tarantino's] at his best and most amusing when he’s simply unpacking a mind stuffed with memories and opinions of favourite films, almost of all them from the 1970s, explaining in detail what he liked or disliked about them . . . . He remains reliably contrary, quotably obdurate and eternally passionate, qualities that make Cinema Speculation an entertaining trawl through the man’s mind." — Peter Howell, The Toronto Star

"Sharp, clear, slashing." — The Millions

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09SHS8ZZG
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper
  • Accessibility ‏ : ‎ Learn more
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 1, 2022
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 5.2 MB
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 398 pages
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0063112599
  • Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 out of 5 stars 2,623 ratings

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Quentin Tarantino
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With his vibrant imagination and dedication to richly layered storytelling QUENTIN TARANTINO is one of the most celebrated filmmakers of his generation. He made his directorial debut in 1992 with RESERVOIR DOGS, and then co-wrote, directed and starred in one of his most beloved films, PULP FICTION, which won his first Oscar® for Best Screenplay. Followed by the highly acclaimed films JACKIE BROWN, KILL BILL VOL. 1 and VOL. 2, and DEATH PROOF, Tarantino then released his World War II epic, INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, DJANGO UNCHAINED (which won his second Oscar® for Best Screenplay), and the HATEFUL EIGHT. Tarantino’s most recent film, ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD, was nominated for five Golden Globes, ten BAFTAS, and ten Academy Award nominations.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
2,623 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find this book to be a quick and enjoyable read with fascinating insights, particularly appreciating its autobiographical perspective. The writing style receives positive feedback, with one customer noting it reads like Tarantino's work. Customers value its content for film enthusiasts, covering actors and production backstories, and one review mentions how it never comes off as pretentious or overly-critical.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

65 customers mention "Enjoyment"65 positive0 negative

Customers find the book enjoyable and entertaining, describing it as a quick and fun read, with one customer noting it's a great trip through the years.

"...The myriad threads of this thought exercise are detailed and compelling...." Read more

"...A fun read." Read more

"Super interesting read!!..." Read more

"...(although he's truly a great director), but I absolutely loved reading this book...." Read more

42 customers mention "Insight"42 positive0 negative

Customers find the book's insights fascinating and appreciate its autobiographical perspective, with one customer highlighting its detailed descriptions of defining moments.

"...It’s a deeply personal book too, framing these consequential films as ‘fixed-points’ in the development of a filmmaker that influenced his own..." Read more

"...of personally relevant 70s American films is both entertaining and enlightening...." Read more

"...quickly becomes a frenetic meditation on cinema and the influences of Quentin Tarantino. A fun read." Read more

"...Tarantino uses a very personal writing style and gives interesting insights into his life, influences, and inspirations. Love it!" Read more

35 customers mention "Writing style"25 positive10 negative

Customers appreciate the writing style of the book, describing it as good prose and an excellent screenplay, with one customer noting it reads like Tarantino's work.

"...His words speak with authority, the product not only of a lifelong career, but of a genuine love of feet. I mean film...." Read more

"...Tarantino uses a very personal writing style and gives interesting insights into his life, influences, and inspirations. Love it!" Read more

"...Tarantino, in his own unmistakable language, waxes poetic about a dozen or so films that shaped his unique cinematic worldview...." Read more

"...There are a couple of minor grammatical errors that distracted me. One I can remember was found on page 84...." Read more

26 customers mention "Movie buffs"26 positive0 negative

Customers find the book great for film enthusiasts, describing it as an erudite study that sheds brilliant insight into these films, with one customer noting how it shapes the development and production of movies.

"...His storytelling skills parse performance, structure, and direction with an emphasis on overall audience delight rather than to illustrate an..." Read more

"...starts with a few essential films, but quickly becomes a frenetic meditation on cinema and the influences of Quentin Tarantino. A fun read." Read more

"Super interesting read!! Goes into different movies that he loved as a child and teen and talks about how each inspired him to become the writer..." Read more

"...Tarantino's enthusiasm for movies as art and as messengers of the zeitgeist comes through in this book." Read more

7 customers mention "Style"7 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the style of the book, with one noting how it never comes off as pretentious or overly-critical.

"...The way that Tarantino describes and discusses films is a real work of art. I think this book would be a treat for just about any movie buff." Read more

"...The book gives a very personal look into a number of the films that shaped his early views on filmmaking and cinema, the people who influenced..." Read more

"...But particularly film. His insights are spot on and his sense of story, style, music, and pace have made me the kind of superfan I generally only..." Read more

"...films from his favorite era of film-making and never comes off as pretentious or overly-critical...." Read more

5 customers mention "Actor background"5 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's coverage of actors and production backstories, with one customer particularly noting the great detail about screenwriters.

"...regarding how and why pictures got made and also covered the actors that starred in them." Read more

"...influenced him during his formative years and goes into great detail about the screenwriters, directors, actors and production backstories...." Read more

"...Hypothetical questions about different actors or directors in these and other films. Quentin definitely knows his stuff! Great read...." Read more

"...Lots of great stories about the actors, writers and directors from each of the films he discusses." Read more

Great read - even my dog started to enjoy it
5 out of 5 stars
Great read - even my dog started to enjoy it
Quentin is a great storyteller. Although I've heard some of the things he narrates on this book before, he goes into more details here. I have not finished reading it. But it's a must for cinema and Quentin movies fans. My dog loved it too.
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2024
    I really like Quentin Tarantino, the author. Most of his movies are cool, for sure, but you don’t need to like them to love this book. Here, he flexes an entirely different muscle with ease. I’ve admittedly been a fan of his since I saw “Pulp Fiction” - in the original German - while studying abroad as a high schooler. I could instantly recognize the unmistakeable product of a true film nerd. Like knows like, so maybe I’m biased.

    In this tome, his words ring out from the musty confines of non-fiction with the same realistic cadence, slang and expressiveness found in his scripts. As a narrator of an obvious wealth of film knowledge, compounded by spilled secrets of an insider’s perspective, he brings a unique insight brimming with an approachability not usually found in scholarly treatises about 1960’s and 70’s film culture. His opinion on film is formed by an admittedly really, lucky but f’n cool life - the best a film nerd could ask for - having essentially been raised by Hollywood, and well-steeped in its legends and history. His words speak with authority, the product not only of a lifelong career, but of a genuine love of feet. I mean film. He walks a road of deep thoughts on impactful movies from his upbringing of varying quality which, to quote the author, “Produces a cocktail mixed with piss that’s disturbingly tasty.”

    Obviously, it’s a delightful read. However, novice film buffs should have your IMDb.com ready to look up some deep cuts for your next watchlist of excellent cinema. It’s not just well-known mainstays like ‘Bullit’ and ‘Dirty Harry’ though. The author waxes philosophical on Marvel multiverse-style questions like, “What if Brian de Palma directed Taxi Driver?” The myriad threads of this thought exercise are detailed and compelling. There’s also fascinating discussion on the scope and breadth of a genre of self-described ‘Revenge-a-matic’ films. I’ve enjoyed several of these myself, featuring immortal action stars like Clint Eastwood and Charles Bronson. This authors’ interest spans multiple shelves of video rental store shelves, from sci-fi and comedy to Toby Hooper’s other, also-great horror flicks that aren’t called ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre.’

    It’s a deeply personal book too, framing these consequential films as ‘fixed-points’ in the development of a filmmaker that influenced his own contributions to the medium. For instance, in the concluding chapter - no spoilers - we learn about in an influential figure named Floyd. He’s a movie nerd Obi-Wan who happens to be a man with a deep knowledge of film and a dream to be a screenwriter, which obviously affected a young Quentin. It just makes sense in a way, how all these personalities, on screen or sitting in front of the screen, impacted this author in fundamental ways.
    10 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2023
    It shouldn't be surprising that Quentin Tarantino's film criticism of personally relevant 70s American films is both entertaining and enlightening. His storytelling skills parse performance, structure, and direction with an emphasis on overall audience delight rather than to illustrate an aesthetic theory of "cinema."

    I share that same memory of audience participation as child and young teen going to less-than-luxury theaters. We would trust our developing "gut" to recognize and cheer character truths and even hail glorified action (even, or especially, if, transgressive), as American celluloid mythology itself morphed from the outsider cowboy hero to the moral ambiguity of unpredictable lawmen in an urban wilderness.

    Who better to survey the films of that fertile era than one of our most extraordinary and inventive directors?

    My desire to read more Tarantino writing on film is second only to my desire to see more (new) Tarantino films, guaranteed to always unspool to the cathartic delight of us old balcony sitters and grounded groundlings.
    11 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2025
    The best conversations never end where they begin. One topic leads to another and by the time it’s done you feel much wiser (and sometimes a little older). This free ranging book starts with a few essential films, but quickly becomes a frenetic meditation on cinema and the influences of Quentin Tarantino. A fun read.
  • Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2024
    Reading this book feels like learning a lot more about an old friend. Tarantino uses a very personal writing style and gives interesting insights into his life, influences, and inspirations. Love it!
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2024
    Super interesting read!! Goes into different movies that he loved as a child and teen and talks about how each inspired him to become the writer and director he is today!
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2023
    Like a lot of famous movie directors, Quentin Tarantino is an absolute movie lover. One thing you learn from this book is that he's been one since he was a little kid. Since then, he's gone on to meet, talk to, and trade stories about thousands of people in the movie industry: actors, producers, directors, stunt men, etc. So he not only knows movies, he knows the stories and personalities behind hundreds and hundreds of films. In fact, reading this book, it's breath-taking to realize how many movies Tarantino has seen (usually more than once) and how much he knows about them.

    I'm not the biggest fan of Tarantino's movies (although he's truly a great director), but I absolutely loved reading this book. As a result, I wound up watching about ten films, so far, that I'd never even heard of before. The way that Tarantino describes and discusses films is a real work of art. I think this book would be a treat for just about any movie buff.
    13 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2023
    This book may be a given for fans of Tarantino, but I believe it offers a lot more for casual movie buffs as well. Tarantino, in his own unmistakable language, waxes poetic about a dozen or so films that shaped his unique cinematic worldview. Yes, he writes like a fanboy, but in no way does he hold back when it comes to his extensive knowledge and intelligent, insightful criticism. Regardless of whether or not you agree with him, he makes a valid and lucid case for every single one of his entries, always brimming with passion, either for or against. Perhaps the best way to appreciate this book is by concurrently watching all of the films he has selected for inclusion. Even if you don't care for them or have never even seen them, watching them from his particular point of view is a worthwhile experience.
    11 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Sarthak kush
    5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT BOOK
    Reviewed in India on March 11, 2024
    it was a great book to read if you are film fanatic
  • Valen Tante
    5.0 out of 5 stars Ésta es la mejor versión de este libro
    Reviewed in Spain on June 19, 2023
    Bajo la portada removible el libro tiene un diseño negro, elegante y muy genial! Me gusta un montón :)
    Report
  • Tete
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excelente
    Reviewed in Mexico on June 13, 2023
    Un muy buen libro
  • Wanda
    5.0 out of 5 stars Quentin Tarantino Cinema Speculation
    Reviewed in Italy on August 11, 2023
    Comprato il libro perchè ero curiosa di sapere le sue valutazioni su vari film degli anni '70. Non delude. Ha iniziato da bambino ad andare al cinema e ne ha visti di film. È una lettura interessante e non stanca il lettore. Il libro è arrivato da poco e sono arrivata quasi alla fine.
  • Douglas Bunn
    5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Book!!! Buy it!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 4, 2025
    Amazing book and a real must have for film enthusiasts!

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