15. Reservoir Dogs (1992) - "Every 'dog' has its day."
Quentin Tarantino's calling card. This announced his arrival to the film world. "Hello, my name is Quentin Tarantino and I am a video geek. I am proud of that and if you have a problem with it..." Careful, he might set Michael Madsen on you.
As you may know, it's about six criminals who don't know each other but are hired by Joe Cabot (Lawrence Tierney) and his son Eddie (Chris Penn) to rob a jeweler. All they know about each other is their aliases - Mr. Brown (Quentin Tarantino), Mr. White (Harvey Keitel), Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen (Thelma & Louise, Free Willy and Kill Bill)), Mr. Blue (Eddie Bunker), Mr. Orange (Tim Roth) and Mr. Pink (Steve Buscemi (Fargo, The Big Lebowski and Boardwalk Empire). The reason they've been given aliases is so they can concentrate on the job without becoming too close each other. It begins with them all in a diner having breakfast, whilst discussing songs by Madonna. The audience does not actually show them robbing the store, but the next scene involves one of them driving away with another one bleeding in the back seats. I am not going to say who it is, in case you haven't seen it. The problem is that the police were waiting for them and this leads them to believe that one of them is a rat and has tipped off the police. It then cuts back to scenes in the past, showing how certain members, for example Mr. White and Mr. Blonde, came to be involved in the heist due to their relationship with the Cabots.
The film has faced criticism in the past, especially for its large amount of violence and strong language. I will not give away which one particular scene that viewers found most unnerving, but that's the sort of thing that has made people walk out screenings of it. Somebody who did walk out of one screening was Wes Craven, who is famous for creating many infamous horror films such as The Last House On The Left, Scream and A Nightmare On Elm Street. When asked why he walked out, Craven said The Last House On The Left was a response to TV images of the Vietnam War and that the violence was about something, whereas it was just there for entertainment in Reservoir Dogs. The beginning of the film is iconic. It is another fantastic dialogue set piece, where they start by discussing the true meaning of Madonna's Like a Virgin. Maybe they do have a point about the true meaning behind it. When it comes to leaving, they insist on giving a tip to the waitress, well everyone except Mr. Pink. He doesn't believe in it. I remember seeing an article one morning on BBC News about how much to tip people and I immediately thought of that scene. My other favourite scene is when each of them receives their colour name for the job. Once again, Mr. Pink lets himself be heard at this moment.
Mr. Pink: Why am I Mr. Pink? Joe: Because you're a faggot, alright? Mr. Pink: Why can't we pick our own colours? Joe: No way, no way. Tried once and it doesn't work. You get four guys, all fighting over who's gonna be Mr. Black. But they don't know each other, so nobody wants to back down. No way, I pick. You're Mr. Pink. Be thankful you're not Mr. Yellow. Mr. Brown: Yeah, but Mr. Brown, that's a little too close to Mr. S***. Mr. Pink: Mr. Pink sounds like Mr. P****. How about if I'm Mr. Purple? That sounds good to me, I'll be Mr. Purple. Joe: You're not Mr. Purple. Some guy on some other job is Mr. Purple. You're Mr. Pink. Mr. White: Who cares what your name is? Mr. Pink: Yeah, that's easy for you to say. You're Mr. White. You've got a cool sounding name...
One thing that stands out throughout the film is the soundtrack, which is something referred to in the opening scene, when Eddie asks "You guys been listening to K-Billy's Super Sounds of the Seventies?" Throughout the film, the audience hears the deadpan voice of Steven Wright introducing tracks, including George Baker Selection's Little Green Bag (which is played during the title sequence with the infamous walk scene) and Stealers Wheel's Stuck In The Middle With You (which appears in the unnerving scene). All the tracks are from the 1970s, from Quentin Tarantino's own collection and he believes that the music is a counterpoint to the on-screen action and violence. Those two tracks I have mentioned are famous nowadays and whenever somebody hears either of them, one of the thoughts in their head must be Reservoir Dogs.
There are two particular actors whose performances stand out for me. The first one, as mentioned before, is that of Steve Buscemi. The other one, for me, isn't Michael Madsen, although he does have that presence on the screen; it has to be Tim Roth. Watching this, you cannot believe that he is now known for playing Cal Lightman in Lie To Me. It's the same whenever I see Hugh Laurie playing the idiot that is the Prince Regent in Blackadder The Third; I think "Oh my god, this guy is House?!?" His character is at the centre of the film for a majority of it and he does portray it well. As we learn, there is more to his character that meets the eye. Even though he was born in London, he does do quite a convincing American accent. This is perhaps his standout performance on the big screen, even he did win a BAFTA and receive an Oscar nomination for his performance in Rob Roy.
Empire named this film the "Greatest Independent Film of all Time". It cost only $1.2 million to make and made approximately $14.7 million at the box office. It proved to be more successful in the UK than in America, taking £6.5 million over here. This features many theme which would later become iconic in Tarantino's career: nonlinear storyline, extreme violence, lots of swearing, references to pop culture, etc. Reservoir Dogs did gain extra popularity a couple of years later, after the release of Pulp Fiction, but I think this is only just better. You hear Little Green Bag, you want to put on a pair of sunglasses and start walking in slow motion.
P.S. "Are you gonna bark all day, little doggy, or are you gonna bite?"
16. Pulp Fiction (1994) - "You won't know the facts until you've seen the fiction."
The winner of the 1994 Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Well it's the only one that premiered at Cannes that year that I've actually heard of. It is the "second" film by Quentin Tarantino and shows how he managed to build on the success of Reservoir Dogs.
The one thing the film is most famous for is its nonlinear storyline. There are a number of chapters of event that happen in this film, but not all in chronological order. By the end however, it is easy to work out the correct order.
The prologue begins in a diner, featuring a conversation between "Pumpkin" (Tim Roth (Reservoir Dogs and Lie to Me)) and "Honey Bunny" (Amanda Plummer) discussing whether or not to rob it. The next scene introduces the audience to Vincent Vega (John Travolta (Saturday Night Fever)) and Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson (Jackie Brown)), who are both gangsters who worked for Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames (Mission: Impossible)). Marsellus has sent them to collect a briefcase from a group of clients.
The first chapter, entitled "Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace's Wife", in which Vincent takes Marsellus' wife Mia (Uma Thurman (Kill Bill)) out for dinner to a 50s nostalgia restaurant. This includes an iconic dance scene to Chuck Berry's You Never Can Tell.
Chapter two, "The Gold Watch", concentrates on boxer Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis (Die Hard)), who accepted a sum of money from Marsellus to take a dive in an upcoming fight. However, he accidentally kills his opponent and bet on himself with his payoff from Marsellus. Butch meets up with his girlfriend Fabienne (Maria de Medeiros) at a motel, but is angry with her because she has forgotten his gold watch. In the prelude to this, we see a young Bruce being given a gold watch, that has long been in his family's history, by Captain Koons (Christopher Walken (The Deer Hunter and Catch Me If You Can)); Butch's father died serving alongside Koons in Vietnam. So Butch has to return to his apartment to look for it, knowing that Marsellus' men are after him.
The final main chapter, "The Bonnie Situation", carries on with Vincent and Jules, after they have collected the suitcase. However, there are, let's say, complications, which means they need the help of Jimmie (Quentin Tarantino) and Winston Wolf (Harvey Keitel (Means Streets, Taxi Driver and The Piano)). But, they need to do this before Jimmie's wife Bonnie comes back home from work. There is then a final epilogue following this.
Like in Inglourious Basterds, there is evidence that Quentin Tarantino is good at dialogue set pieces. The most notable one for me has to be when Vincent and Jules are discussing difference between Europe and America, from hash bars and drinking a glass of beer in a cinema in Holland to ordering a "Royale with cheese" in a French McDonald's. It also features long shots following the characters as they are walking, which includes Jules and Vincent getting "into character". There is a theme of bathrooms in this film, specifically when Vincent goes to them and returns, bad things happen.
In terms of acting, this performance briefly revitalized John Travolta's career. He was nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars, losing out to Tom Hanks for Forrest Gump. Also nominated that year was Morgan Freeman for The Shawshank Redemption. It is a bit of a shame Travolta hasn't done anything good since. The main candidate for his role was actually Michael Madsen, who played Vic Vega in Reservoir Dogs. However, Madsen was appearing in Kevin Costner's Wyatt Earp at the same time. Tarantino did think of a film starting both Travolta and Madsen as the Vega brothers, but it remains unrealized. Another actor considered for this role was Daniel Day-Lewis. Paul Calderon was originally chosen to play Jules, if it wasn't for Samuel L. Jackson deciding to audition again. He nails that role and is in some way quite "bad-ass" about it. Calderon did appear in the movie as well. Tarantino did create characters specifically for the actors who played them, including Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer and Harvey Keitel. Tarantino described Harvey Keitel as his favourite actor since he was 16.
As with all of his films, the soundtrack is from Quentin Tarantino's collection. The most iconic song from the film is Misirlou by Dick Dale & The Del-Tones. This is the song that features in the opening titles. The basic musical style of the film was surf music, which includes that and Surf Rider by The Lively Ones and Bustin' Surfboards by The Tornadoes. As well launching the career of Urge Overkill with their cover of Girl, You'll Be a Women Soon, the film saw the rebirth of classic hits such as Jungle Boogie by Kool & The Gang and Dusty Springfield's Son of a Preacher Man. This film did only win one Oscar and that was for Best Screenplay (Tarantino shared it with co-writer Roger Avary). Its three main stars (Travolta, Jackson and Thurman) were nominated in their respected categories and it was up for Best Picture. It echoes classic films and TV shows as Tarantino pays homage to them. It is a prime example of postmodern film and be remembered forever. My only criticism is the influence from Jean-Luc Godard and Tarantino's admiration for him. Tell me Quentin, did you see/like/understand Film Socialisme?
17. 127 Hours (2010) - "There is no force on earth more powerful than the will to live."
Another masterpiece in filmmaking from director Danny Boyle. First, there was Trainspotting; then there was 28 Days Later and Slumdog Millionaire and now this. Each one of his films is different from the previous one. This review does contain spoilers (cue red flashing lights and warning noises), so read at your own risk.
This is based on the extraordinary true story of Aron Ralston who trapped his arm between a canyon wall and a boulder in Blue John Canyon, Utah, back in 2003. He attempts to free himself by chipping away at the boulder with a blunt pen knife. With food and water running low, he starts hallucinating about things such as growing up, drinks commercials and his ex-girlfriend. After 5 days, by the time he starts drinking his own urine, Aron faces a decision, whether to give up or cut his own arm off. That might not sound much, but there is so much more to it than that. It is based on Aron Ralston's book Between a Rock and a Hard Place. There are some difference between the two of them, particularly when Aron falls upon a couple of lost walkers, Kristi and Megan (Kate Mara and Amber Tamblyn). In the book, he teaches them some climbing techniques, whereas in the film he shows them an underground pool. Apart from that, Aron described it "as close to a documentary as you can get and still be a drama".
Aron is portrayed by James Franco (Spider-Man, Pineapple Express and Rise of the Planet of the Apes). Originally, Aron filmed himself at certain points whilst trapped, in one case pretending his on a daytime chatshow. By contrast, several of them are personal, where his talking directly to his sister and parents. The original versions of those have only been seen by his family (not including James Franco and Danny Boyle). He feels vulnerable in this situation, as if he isn't going to see them again. In fact, they don't know he's there in the first place. That's why he apologizes to them. Imagine being in that situation. You would fantasise about individuals who have played a role in your life in some way, not only your loved ones. Then you find something to say about them. James Franco's performance is so believable; Scott Feinberg called it "one of the greatest performances of all time".
Danny Boyle said that he had never made a film like this. The majority of his previous films concentrate on groups rather than individuals, e.g. a spaceship crew, people growing up in slums, apocalyptic survivors or heroin addicts. He did admit, weirdly, being inspired by Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler, where the film concentrates throughout on an individual. It's the same with James Franco. One person has more control. There is sense of intimacy in the film, especially because it set and filmed in such a tight space. Other interesting shots include from the bottom of his water bottle The main reason I like this film is because it made me wince with discomfort, especially when Aron decides to cut his arm off. I did look away at that point. I guessed that at some point he would try to do that and there is a lot of blood. The audience just isn't sure when will he decide to cut his arm off. It's not an "if" question. There will be blood and it is unnerving. By contrast, I once saw one of the Saw films and I remember yawning out loud after somebody got shot in the head. If you want to see blood and be in discomfort, either watch this or Videodrome.
In my revised list, this film has fallen down the order. However, it is still brilliant. I'll be honest and say I would not have the courage to do what Aron Ralston did. Given the same situation, would you do what he did? And thank god that there are directors like Danny Boyle who have kept independant cinema going with masterpieces such as this. There is nothing he cannot direct. Now all he needs to do is make sure our Olympic opening ceremony doesn't look s***...
18. The Social Network (2010) - "You don't get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies."
"Bosnia. They don't have roads, but they have Facebook."
You should know what this film is about. If not, where have you been?
The film starts back in fall 2003 when Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg (Adventureland and Zombieland)) is dumped by his girlfriend Erica Albright (Rooney Mara (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo)). Many would call what he does next spiteful, calling her a bitch and revealing a few home truths about her on the Internet. This then leads him to create "FaceMash.com", a website that allows the user to rate the attractiveness of female students. This involves hacking into the protected areas of the Harvard computer network and copying the private ID images of each house. After he receives a 6 month academic probation, he is approached by the Winkelvoss twins (both played by Armie Hammer) and Divya Narendra (Max Minghella) who want him to create a website called Harvard Connection, a social networking website only for Harvard students. Even though he agrees to their proposal, Mark has an idea for his own website, that he thinks doesn't use a line of code provided by the three of them. This includes programming and funding from his roommates Dustin Muskovitz (Joseph Mazzello (Jurassic Park and The Pacific)) and Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield (Doctor Who and The Amazing Spider-Man)). This leads to them creating "Thefacebook" from their room and send it to all Harvard students. After this success, they start to branch out to other American universities. This soon attracts the interest of Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake), the founder of Napster. He wants a share in the company and suggests they move to California, just as long as they drop the "the", just call it "Facebook", because it's "cleaner". The film concentrates mainly on the two lawsuits taken out against Mark Zuckerberg; the first by Narendra and the Winkelvoss twins, or as Mark calls them the "Winkelvii"; the second from Eduardo after his shares become virtually worthless.
Before I saw this film, even when I first joined Facebook, I was unaware of its past and the two lawsuits. However, it was interesting that they were the main focus point of the film and how many different versions of the truth there actually were. Full credit there goes to director David Fincher and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin. Fincher has once again made an interesting and involving film; past examples include Se7en, Zodiac and Fight Club and the scenes of Eduardo at the Phoenix S-K final club are reminiscent of Fight Club to some extent. Sorkin is most famous of course for writing the US hit series The West Wing. It must have been interesting for him to decide which version to display, because there are three different versions of the truth. Sorkin therefore decides not to take a position on the truth, but instead shows everyone's interpretation. Apparently Sorkin original script was considered too long for the film, so Fincher wanted everyone to talk fast, because he didn't want to cut any of it. An obvious example of this is the opening scene. I will leave it to you to decide whether it is more a David Fincher film than an Aaron Sorkin one and vice versa.
Sorkin does add comedic touches to the film, which are shown brilliantly especially through Jesse Eisenberg's portrayal of Mark Zuckerberg. He has many memorable one liners. I particularly remember the scene at his hearing after hacking into the Harvard computer network:
Mark Zuckerberg: As for any charges stemming from the breach of security, I believe I deserve some recognition from this board. Ad Board Chairwoman: I'm sorry? Mark Zuckerberg: Yes? Ad Board Chairwoman: I don't understand. Mark Zuckerberg: Which part?
At the beginning of the film, the audience must share the opinion that he is an arsehole, especially how he reacts after the break-up with his girlfriend. It is horrible, infantile and crass, but at the end of the film you do have some sympathy for him. Eisenberg deserved that Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. It's just unlucky that he lost out to Colin Firth for The King's Speech. Andrew Garfield's performance is somewhat underrated in my opinion, but he does stand out, especially for the fact his character is perhaps Mark Zuckerberg's only actual friend and he is left in the dark. Plus Garfield won the 2011 Kermode Award for Best Supporting Actor. Justin Timberlake's performance looks as though it comes naturally to him. He was a self-confident and arrogant individual years ago and does well basically playing himself.
This film shows how the greatest social networking device since the telephone was invented the world's most anti-social person. There has been no other device like it. There has not been any other film like this, in which there are so many contrasting versions of the truth. If only they made an up-to-date version of how they keep messing up the design.
19. Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) - "The adventure continues..."
The obvious tagline for modern sci-fi's yardstick. Star Wars was revolutionary when it was first released in 1977. Before then, the best sci-fi films around were Planet Of The Apes, Silent Running and 2001: A Space Odyssey. They are still great movies today, but they set a bar and Star Wars went beyond it. My personal favourite of all the Star Wars films has to be The Empire Strikes Back.
It is set 3 years after the destruction of the Death Star and Darth Vader (David Prowse and the voice of James Earl Jones (The Lion King)) is searching the galaxy for Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and the Rebel Alliance. They are hiding on the planet Hoth, but they are discovered by the Empire and they are forced to evacuate the planet. Meanwhile, Han Solo (Harrison Ford (Raiders of the Lost Ark and Blade Runner)) is on the edge of leaving the Rebellion, because Jabba The Hutt has placed a bounty on his head and closing in on him is Boba Fett (Jeremy Bulloch), but he get caught up with the Rebels Whereas Han, Leia (Carrie Fisher), Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) and C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) try to regroup with the rest of the Alliance and end up in an asteroid field, Luke and R2-D2 (Kenny Baker) head to the Dagobah System to find Yoda (Frank Oz (The Muppets)), who will aid Luke in his Jedi training. However, his training is cut short when he sees visions of his friends suffering and decides to go to their aid, only to confront Vader and learn something that no one ever expected. Obviously I'm not going to tell you.
Apart from being much darker than A New Hope, this wasn't directed by George Lucas. Even though A New Hope was very good and something radical in cinema at the time, Lucas must have admitted that someone else could direct it better. Step forward Irvin Kershner. Who? Whoever he was, at least he could make an excellent film. Mind you, he did also direct Never Say Never Again. The problem is that, especially nowadays with the prequels, George Lucas has become ever reliant on technology. In 1997, he re-released the originals but which featured more up-to-date techniques. This was the first time I watched the films, so they are the version I remember most, although I would have wanted to see the originals in the late 70s. But, what was wrong with using Airfix models and D.I.Y. pyrotechnics and shooting the Death Star attack scenes in a car park? Lucas must have looked at what everyone else was doing at the time and thought "I must do that. If Spielberg is doing it, it must be right".
In terms of acting, the stand-out performance of The Empire Strikes Back is that of Harrison Ford. It is a supporting role, but to be honest it overshadows and betters the performance of Mark Hamill. Mark Hamill is a bit weak in all the Star Wars films and that's why, in my opinion, Harrison Ford has had a much more successful career. This performance from him pretty much secured him the role of Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark. However, it is hard to imagine any other actor playing Luke Skywalker. Darth Vader will always go down as one of the greatest movie characters of all time. In fact, part of him still creeps me out today. Lucas never intended to use David Prowse's voice. Have you heard it? If not, there is a clip on YouTube. Because he was from the West Country, Carrie Fisher dubbed him "Darth Farmer". That's why Lucas went for the voice of James Earl Jones.
Now here comes an attack on the prequels. The cast were OK, the music was as good as ever from John Williams, but the plots and direction were nowhere near as good as the originals. I think we can especially do without Attack Of The Clones, proof George Lucas cannot write a love story. I remember Mark Kermode gave a list of 10 things bad about that films and over half of them were "Jar-Jar Binks is not dead". Revenge Of The Sith was the best of the prequels, but that's not saying much. Apart from telling us what happened before A New Hope, albeit in the longest way possible, we did learn that Ewan McGregor is a fantastic actor. Mind you, we did learn that back in 1996, but unlike Trainspotting he didn't have to dive into a toilet. Since then, we now have The Clone Wars, which they are trying to appeal to a younger audience and George Lucas has re-released the films again, but this time in 3D. Those have made me think, "George, haven't you got enough swimming pools and cars? We don't need these anymore. You've become an accountant." People will go and see them again, but this won't help the fact that 3D is nearly dead and there is nothing that George Lucas or James Cameron can do about it. George Lucas has actually said that films look better in 3D. No they don't. And perhaps the stupidest thing is the fact that the 3D films are being released in chronological order, rather than the order they were originally released in. That makes the plot point at the end of The Empire Strikes Back without any suspense at all. An entirely new audience group may not have seen any of the films before now, but there won't the same suspense and surprise that there was back in 1980, because that was a shock for everybody.
Many TV shows have done spoofs of Star Wars. The best of all these has to be Family Guy with its Star Wars trilogy - Blue Harvest, Something, Something, Something, Dark Side and It's A Trap!. They are particularly amusing and I think that they have got the characters just about right - Luke is played by Chris, Lois plays Leia, Peter is Han, Brian's Chewie, Stewie is Darth Vader and R2-D2 and C-3PO are Cleveland and Quagmire. Now you might be wondering where is Meg, but if you are a fan of Family Guy you should know she is the figure of ridicule; she does appear in them, but she doesn't have the best roles. However, by the time they get to It's A Trap!, it is clear that they have exasperated all the roles possible for characters. Therefore, characters like Joe, Carter and Mort have multiple roles in the films. In addition, they have to invade Seth McFarlane's other shows, so they include Klaus and Roger from American Dad. It works just as well. There are also the usual cameos from the likes of Adam West and James Woods, but also ones from Carrie Fisher, James Caan and Judd Nelson.
To conclude, if you haven't seen any of the Star Wars films, watch them in the right order (4, 5 and 6 first). They are clearly better than the prequels and this is the best of them all. However, just don't watch them in 3D...
