Quentin Tarantino's Cinema Speculation is one of the best film books in years. Released in early November, it's a collection of essays in which the director writes about his life, career, and movies in general. Each chapter revolves around one film, with Tarantino providing information about the people that made it, as well as his opinions on the film itself.

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The book is fast-paced, engaging, and often hilarious. Tarantino has a way with flowery language, punchy descriptions, and lots of swearing. His passion for cinema is just as evident as ever, but he comes across as more mature and reflective - which only makes the thought of his next project, whatever it may be, all the more exciting.

'Bullitt' (1968)

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Steve McQueen stars in this neo-noir thriller as a cop tasked with guarding a gangster turned state witness. However, things quickly go wrong, and McQueen has to break the rules to keep the investigation going. All this builds up to a breakneck car chase through San Francisco - one of the most iconic in movie history.

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"Rarely in the entire history of Hollywood movie stars being movie stars has a movie star done less and accomplished more than McQueen with this role in this movie," QT writes. "As great as McQueen could be, this is the role he needs to be remembered by. Because it’s in this role he demonstrates what he could do that Newman and Beatty couldn’t. Which is just be."

'Daisy Miller' (1974)

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Daisy Miller is a period comedy-drama directed by filmmaker and film historian Peter Bogdanovich. It's based on the novel by Henry James and centers on the titular character (Cybill Shepherd) and her budding relationship with Frederick Winterbourne (Barry Brown). However, Daisy's friends throw all kinds of spanners into the works.

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"The film gains power as it progresses and builds to a gut-punch ending," Tarantino writes. "Bogdanovich’s film is very funny, yet it leaves a viewer profoundly sad as you watch the final credits fade up." [...] The ending leaves you shocked and sad at its conclusion, over the fate of a character you’re never really sure you liked."

'Rolling Thunder' (1977)

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After being assaulted in a brutal home invasion, a Vietnam vet sets out for revenge against his attackers. It delivers classic '70s action and a no-bolds-barred tale of vengeance. Tarantino went so far as to call it "ass-kicking nirvana". The film is worth it for the gritty lead performance from William Devane and the smart, tough script co-written by First Reformed director Paul Schrader.

"This opening thirty minutes is a grippingly detailed character study, and by the time it’s over the audience doesn’t just sympathize with Charlie Rane, we really do understand him. Apparently better than anybody else in the film." Tarantino writes. " It’s a much deeper depiction of the casualties of war than the [other movies of that era]."

'The Outfit' (1973)

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The Outfit is another crime film from Rolling Thunder director John Flynn, in the tradition of Get Carter and Point Blank. It follows Macklin (Robert Duvall) after he is released from prison and finds out that his brother has been executed by a Chicago gang. Duvall sets out for revenge, leading to all manner of violence and mayhem.

"It’s still cool and exciting. And the scene between Duvall and [Joe Don] Baker on the stairs is the epitome of poignant masculinity," Tarantino says. "With the picture’s final freeze-frame capper displaying a self-mocking tone that ends the whole film on a hearty macho guffaw."

'The Getaway' (1972)

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The Getaway is a heist movie directed by Sam Peckinpah, the king of the gritty western. It follows Doc (Steve McQueen), an imprisoned ex-con who makes a deal with corrupt businessman Beynon (Ben Johnson). Beynon secures Doc's freedom, on the condition that he takes part in a bank robbery. The situation goes awry, and Doc goes on the run with his wife Carol (Ali MacGraw)

Once again, Tarantino gushes about McQueen's work. "McQueen doesn’t say much as Doc. It’s a very internal performance," he says. "And I think it’s very real and very deeply felt. But one of the most defining traits of the Doc is his ability to disarm people with his folksy-sounding charm."

'Sisters' (1972)

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Tarantino is a massive fan of Brian De Palma, the director behind violent classics like Blow Out, Carrie, and Scarface. One of his less famous movies is this psychological thriller inspired by the films of Alfred Hitchcock. It follows model Danielle (Margot Kidder) after her separated conjoined twin becomes a suspect in a murder investigation.

"Sisters established the method of Hitchcock homage that the director would later become known for," Tarantino says. "Which was to take the story points or structural elements from Hitchcock’s most famous thrillers and—even more than Polanski or Argento—commit to full-blown cinematic set pieces that invoked the master—except these suspense set pieces usually led to more violent and gorier outcomes than they did in the Hitchcock fifties."

'Paradise Alley' (1978)

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This sports drama, written and directed by Sylvester Stallone, centers on three brothers in Hell's Kitchen during the 1940s. They work together to try to make it big in the world of wrestling but face various obstacles. It's based on a novel Stallone wrote before working on Rocky.

"This film is Stallone’s vision and aesthetic, unfiltered, undiluted, and delivered full bore in your face," Tarantino says. "It would be amazing to see Stallone direct another movie with the passion he had when he made Paradise Alley. It would be amazing to see Stallone love something again the way he loved Paradise Alley."

'Hardcore' (1979'

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This neo-noir crime drama is the sophomore directorial effort from Taxi Driver writer Paul Schrader. Jake (George C. Scott) is a father searching for his missing daughter Kristen (Ilah Davis). After a private investigator shows him a pornographic film in which Kristen appears, Jakes ventures into the criminal underworld disguised as a porn producer. Schrader has said that Hardcore was inspired by The Searchers, the classic western starring John Wayne as a man also looking for his child. He updates that film by setting it in LA in the 1970s

"Like he did with Travis Bickle, [Schrader] makes us see the world from Jake Van Dorn’s perspective," Tarantino says. "When I reached out to Schrader, I warned him that, while I liked the film’s first half, I’m very rough on it and him in the second half. He wrote back, 'I don’t think you could be harsher than I am on the second half of the film'."

'The Funhouse' (1981)

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The Funhouse is a slasher film from Texas Chainsaw Massacre director Tobe Hooper. It follows four teenagers who become trapped on an amusement park ride, with deadly consequences. It's one of Hooper's lesser-known movies but, according to Tarantino, it's well worth a watch. He said that, on second viewing, The Funhouse "revealed both a level of depth and even sophistication that forced me to reconsider the whole film."

He goes on to write that he was "impressed with Hooper’s direction (the staging of scenes, his dynamic coverage, and the cynical, tawdry, and downright nasty tone he carries throughout the picture) [and] cinematographer Andrew Laszlo’s photography—his towering crane shots, but especially production designer Mort Rabinowitz’s creepy carnival and his immensely effective funhouse set."

'Escape from Alcatraz' (1979)

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Image via Warner Bros.

Clint Eastwood stars in this dramatization of the 1962 prisoner escape from the infamous prison. In June of that year, three prisoners placed dummies in their beds and escaped to the frigid sea. They were never seen again, with the authorities saying that it was most likely that they drowned. However, this movie suggests that they just might have survived. Escape from Alcatraz was the fifth and final collaboration between Eastwood and director Don Siegel.

"Escape from Alcatraz, a film I didn’t like when it came out [...] proved a revelation on a re-view a few years ago. Cinematically speaking, it’s Don Siegel’s most expressive film," Tarantino explains. "Siegel takes lifelong learned lessons of ingenuity, practicality, experience, and skill and applies them to his use of montage. Siegel is almost as silent as [Eastwood's character Frank Morris], preferring to illustrate via montage than explain through expositional dialogue."

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