Zed's dead, baby. Zed's dead

No 9 - Pulp Fiction

Director - Quentin Tarantino

This is the film that really showcases Tarantino's dialogue (and it is his dialogue which is his true strength). He is very good in situations where he has several stories going on at once - this is a classic example of a successful use of chapter based storytelling, accompanied by incredible performances and a totally boss soundtrack.

If you have to find a central point to the film, it probably falls on Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Jules Winnfield (Samuel L Jackson) - 2 heavies who work for a mobster called Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames). They might not be the protagonist for every chapter (Bruce Willis' boxer Butch also takes the spotlight at times) appear in all of the stories and are pivotal to the tale.

I'm not going to go into detail on all of these chapters, as they have all been assessed to the hilt. However, I just want to talk about a few factors of the film.

This film drips with effortless cool. So effortless that it seems lazy. The film manages to be cool without really trying. This is probably helped by the music throughout (after all - anything would look cool when paired with Neil Diamond.... even though its actually a cover by Urge Overkill in the film). But what is impressive is that elements that shouldn't work at all, end up working. Just look at the picture of John Travolta above - taken from the film's single coolest moment: the twist competition at Jack Rabbit Slims. Firstly, he has lank and greasy slicked back hair and secondly he has the most 90's suit ever seen.... and yet he remains cool.

Same with Jackson, he appears wearing a bloody PERM and yet he still looks too badass for words.

As I've already mentioned, the film's coolest moment is the Twist scene... It manages to be almost nonchalant in the dance, a very cool scene which is now iconic. The nonchalance is important. There are a lot of films out there which are self conscious in their drive to be cool. Obviously Tarantino tries hard to make sure his movies come out as stylish, but it never feels forced. That is an impressive feat and ties me into my next part.

Tarantino has always been lauded for his dialogue, and throughout the film you can see why. The casual conversation occurring through out scenes was pretty revolutionary at the time. Whilst most people discuss the famous Royale with Cheese conversation, I'm much more impressed by Tim Roth and Amanda Plummer's conversation about the intricacies of bank robbery. It is all discussed in a matter of fact and straightforward manner. He also manages to make believable characters with distinctive voices.

Whether it is Fabienne's stilted dialogue with her adorable use of words or L Jackson and Rhames speaking with distinctively 'black' dialogue (whatever the hell that means). He also knows how to lift his quotes. Is there anything more chilling then L Jackson quoting the bible?(then again, he can say anything and sound badass)

There are some moments which don't quite work (Christopher Walken will never be a convincing kindly child friendly character), but the worst is Tarantino himself with his character of Jimmy. A man who grates throughout (I'm not a fan of Tarantino's voice or delivery and find him jarring in every one of his cameos) but who mainly makes me feel uncomfortable through his excessive use of the N word (a word which is liberally used throughout the film, but notably only by black characters). By having Jimmy use it so casually (rather than as a racist insult) it leaves a strange taste in my mouth and is the only part of the film which draws me out of the world.

This is a dark film. A film which successfully shows drug use (and subsequent overdose). Shows an awful lot of violence and an awful lot of abuse. Yet, The Simpsons decide to parody a dark film's darkest moment. Where two men are gagged and bound in order to be subsequently tortured, raped and (it is hinted) killed by a redneck, Dorien Tyrell and a gimp.

It is such an odd choice for a Simpsons reference. What the fuck?!

Throughout the film we spend time with Wallace, the true central crux of the film and a mysterious (and possibly paranormal?) thread throughout it all. After all.... why has Wallace got a plaster on the back of his neck? What is in the suitcase?

Quite the mystery...

A fabulous fabulous film.

It's hard for many people to believe that there are extraordinary things inside themselves, as well as others. I hope you can keep an open mind.

No 452 - Unbreakable

Director - M Night Shyamalan

I'M BACK!!!

I'm so sorry people. I've been busy. Bloody busy. Caught up on all those award winning films that I missed and was also introduced to Indian cinema (not Bollywood though....)

IMPORTANT BREAK BEFORE UNBREAKABLE POST

Watch ROBOT..... it is insane

It is genius.

So....

Unbreakable. Think back to when Shyamalan was fresh and exciting. Here he has given us a wonderful idea. Placing the superhero concept into the real world. Only, PROPERLY in the real world. We're not talking about Batman Begins.... we're not talking about Kick Ass... we're talking about the actual real world, where a superhero probably wouldn't even realise they had special powers.

The film follows that journey of discovery as Willis' David Dunn slowly learns what his powers are. The moments of discovery are almost all universally great. Whether the grand scale of the train crash at the heart of it, or the subtlety of Dunn's realisation that he's never been ill. They're beautifully underplayed. Subtle and elegant (a characteristic which is lost in later Shyamalan films.... though I do have a soft spot for Lady in the Water). The highlight, for me, being the moment he is with his son - bench pressing and simultaneously learning of his strength. It has a joyful playfulness throughout and the way that the initial concern fades to delight.

The journey has pitfalls throughout, and there are some really tense scenes which I don't want to spoil - but the hero worship from Dunn's son, and the problems which arise, are very powerful cinematic moments.

Despite this journey of discovery being the crux of the film, Dunn seems like a very one dimensional character. Only a one dimensional character with cool powers. The real focus, should be on Samuel L Jackson's Elijah Price. Brittle boned, bitter and the film's link to the comic book world which inspired it.

His character is fleshed out through flashbacks. It is his persistence and his research which drives Dunn's journey and therefore you need to know what makes him tick. As the film progresses (and reaches the traditional SHOCK reveal), that understanding and knowledge becomes all the more important.

The other thing that's important to notice is that despite everything (and Price is a bitter, sulky, grumpy little crippled man) - Samuel L Jackson still comes off looking like a total badass.

Seriously.... I think that man is impervious to uncool.

The film is at its best when Jackson is there. Manipulating events and forcing Dunn to question himself, and for the most part, he keeps the film fresh and fascinating.

However, the film isn't ALL about discovery.... once the action kicks in it does lose its ways a bit, but there are still the same nice touches which have been throughout. It could have just done with being about 20min shorter.

Right - I'm going to watch more films with The Superstar Rajni now.... The man is like a God out there.

Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering

No 449 - Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Director - George Lucas

This may be controversial, but you know what?

Whilst there are some massive MASSIVE flaws with the film (which I'll discuss in a bit) - there are some really exciting bits. Lets focus on the positive shall we. Firstly, there is something which I've omitted from my previous Star Wars blogs - John Williams' excellent score. It is always a dramatic highlight of every film, underpinning the action with a real sense of drama and excitement. When it comes to the new trilogy, the score has been dramatically improved. I mean, cast your ear holes over at the frankly amazing 'Duel of the Fates' which acts as Darth Maul's theme. It is a frankly epic and terrific piece of music. John Williams is an amazing composer (it is such lazy blogging to continuously point to another person's blog.... but still).

In fact, besides John Williams score, Darth Maul is probably the saving grace of the first film, his growly voice and his domineering presence just ripples through the film and lifts it above the problems which are littered throughout. Incidentally, whats happened to Ray Park? He's vanished off the map a bit hasn't he? His fight scenes are really exciting, and inject action into the film - and he has a duel ended lightsaber, which is pretty fucking cool! Who wouldn't want one.

The film's biggest crime is that for large amounts of time it is quite boring, and that's mainly down to the code of the protagonists. Jedis are boring. The reason that the original trilogy works is that Luke doesn't know how a Jedi should act, Vader and the Emperor are evil and Yoda has gone a bit nuts. It is only Obi Wan who plays the wise sage and he is only fleetingly in the series. With the prequels we have a series of films entirely populated by wise and emotionless sages. It means we have a phenomenal cast of people speaking in a gentle monotone and not showing any emotion. Ewan McGregor, Liam Neeson, even Samuel L Jackson spends the film sitting and nodding sagely. SAMUEL L JACKSON?!

So, naturally you welcome the moments of action in the film which lift the tedium of politics, and jedis, and borderline racist aliens. The lightsaber fights are one part of it, but the pod race is another example of dramatic tension and pacing. It shows that Lucas can still shoot big action set pieces. He just chooses not to.
There are two other things of note within the pod race sequence. Firstly, CGI Jabba has none of the presence or icky slimy realness of his puppet self and what is Warwick Davies doing as an extra?

So, I find the dullness of Episode 1 a great crime, but there are also the two grievances which are frequently raised by the fanboys. Firstly the retconning. The fact that by introducing Midi-chlorians, Lucas manages to cheapen the idea of The Force to nothing but a biological oddity. But also, his inclusion of C3PO and R2D2 is actually detrimental to the series. Obi Wan spends an entire trilogy having massive adventures with the droids, and then come ep 4 he states that he's never seen them before. Yeah, they're only robots but you'd still remember them from all your big adventures.

Finally though. We have the Gungans. And I refused to believe that they were as bad as I remembered them being. However, after 30 seconds of Jar Jar lowering the quality of the film i wanted to just kill him. His arrival comes along with jokes about farts and poo and slapstick and the most annoying voice since Chris Tucker in the Fifth Element.

Even Brian Blessed can't save the Gungans.... and he is almost pure undiluted awesomeness.

EDIT

Shit.....
I forgot something.
Basically you can get a whole better idea of The Phantom Menace by watching this instead: