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Post by Shovelman on Jul 24, 2009 22:08:23 GMT -5
#11 Pulp Fiction You know that theory that odd-numbered Star Trek movies are weaker than the even-numbered Star Trek, I think the same theory applies to full-length Tarantino movies starting with Reservoir Dogs. Reservoir Dogs is overrated....f*** YOU ALL, I think it is! Then there's Pulp Fiction which I will obviously get into. Of course that came the weak Jackie Brown. Afterwards came the very awesome Kill Bill(I'm counting both movies as one). Finally there's Death Proof, the obviously weaker Grindhouse movie, but I think if it was shown first instead of Planet Terror I would be less hostile to it. So by that logic, Inglorious Bastards will RULE! Ok, enough of this and let's talk Pulp Fiction, woo! Tarantino hit his peak with this. This movie plays fast and loose with it's time line always keeping the viewer on their toes. The movie even stops as John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson discuss the value of a foot massage until they have to "get into character." Random violence happens over a pop tart. And then there's Christopher Walken monoluging over how he shoved a watch up his ass for 2 years. This movie's gotta to be seen to be believed. Awesome Moment 1: the funniest fatal head shot ever Awesome Moment 2: Mia's revival from a heroin OD Awesome Moment 3: Winston the Wolf
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Post by Shovelman on Jul 24, 2009 22:08:47 GMT -5
and that's it for tonight, it all ends tomorrow!
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Post by Mr. Emoticon Man on Jul 24, 2009 22:12:46 GMT -5
Seen and liked Goodfellas, but I've never seen Pulp Fiction and likely never will.
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thelesserevil
Super Trooper
Thinks RKO is A-OK
Splat
Posts: 1,449
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Post by thelesserevil on Jul 25, 2009 4:56:33 GMT -5
Nice list so far, haven't seen some, have seen some, and Pulp Fiction is awesome.
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Post by Shovelman on Jul 25, 2009 9:05:12 GMT -5
#10 The Terminator This is the movie that made Arnold who he was and that was awesome. Yeah, he's been in other movies before The Terminator but he was always some overly muscular dude without a body count or puntastic one-liners...besides Conan. The Terminator was different in establish the Arnold template: a high body-count, the puntastic one-liners(even though he just utters plain one-liners here) and a way of never dying. This is important to realize because there's a slight twist here, Arnold is the bad guy here. So the image of Arnold as a savior from humans, clones, Satan or The Predator this is now an image of an unkillable cyborg ready to kill so a machine war can happen. This is why I love James Cameron, he always knew how to twist conventions into something more, especially the time travel aspect which now has a paradox named after it. I like my head not exploding so I'm not going to say what it is but it makes the Back to the Future paradox looks mundane and typical. And to think, James Cameron directorial career, disregarding Piranha II. Awesome Moment 1: "I'll be back!" and he did come back...WITH WEAPONS Awesome Moment 2: Kyle Reese and The Terminator finding Sarah Conner at the Tech Noir Awesome Moment 3: The Terminator Exoskeleton rising up from the flames.
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Post by Shovelman on Jul 25, 2009 9:07:51 GMT -5
#9 Clerks Remember when I said Kevin Smith has done one better movie than Dogma, this is it...obviously. Kevin Smith comes here with a raw, cheap look at the life of clerks and then came the View-Askewiverse and all the college cult appeal, but all well-earned college cult appeal...not the creepy Hot Topic college cult appeal. Kevin Smith has a sense of dialogue here that seems real. Take the scene where Dante and Randall are debating about the status of the Death Star Contractors from Return of the Jedi. It really does feel like two nerds without lives outside of movies talking really talking about it....and for the record, I am one without the job. While Kevin Smith has come close to equaling Clerks, he has not topped it even though the drawing poster of Zach and Miri Make a Porno comes close. PS: The Zach and Miri is funny, but not as good as Clerks, Clerks II, Dogma or Chasing Amy Awesome Moment 1: The Star Wars scene Awesome Moment 2: Silent Bob speaks...it blew my brother's mind when he did Awesome Moment 3: "My love is a ticking clock....BERZERKER!"
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Post by Mr. Emoticon Man on Jul 25, 2009 10:01:11 GMT -5
Seen and liked Terminator; but, like I've said before, I've never seen Clerks.
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Post by Shovelman on Jul 25, 2009 13:00:43 GMT -5
#8 Once Upon a Time in the West Sergio Leone loves his shot compositions, that's one thing. He loves them so much that for the most part, one of his movies suffer from him holding it to the long, long past the point of interest. But Once Upon a Time in the West is different however. There are long shots but however, there always something about them to keep a viewer's interest. The opening scene is basically 12 minutes of three guys waiting for some guy on a train. Now the Leone of A Fistful of Dollars would shoot it in a fashion where the scene would be lucky if I still retained interest after the second minute. But no, Leone advanced his story-telling skills for a tension-filled 12 minutes where you know something is going to happen, but you don't know what or how awesome it may be. The whole movie is structured like that, especially with the sudden yet brief violence. And yes, the shot compositions are like watching a painting come to life, as usual for Leone. Awesome Moment 1: Henry Fonda killing a family Awesome Moment 2: Jason Robard's entrance Awesome Moment 3: The final shootout between Henry Fonda and Charles Bronson
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Post by Shovelman on Jul 25, 2009 13:04:26 GMT -5
#7 Hard Boiled Alright, since I already talked about John Woo's American career with Face/Off(except Windtalkers...it's alright but Woo can't do large-scale action that war movies require) now I'm going to briefly talk about his Asian career. He and a then unknown Chow Yun-Fat made the awesome A Better Tomorrow...which broke Asian box-office records. Then came the slightly weaker A Better Tomorrow II with an ending action scene filled with enough action for 5 action movies! But his legend exploded with The Killer...I haven't seen it but apparently it's awesome. Now came John Woo's Asian swan song with this movie, Hard Boiled. John Woo must've heard about going out with a bang cause that is what this movie is, one continuous bang after another. The greatest accomplishment is that there's just three main shootouts, all at least 5 minutes long with the ending hospital shootout about 30 minutes long and yet, none of them are boring. Also, between the shootouts there is a human core to it all. We care about Chow Yun-Fat and Tony Leung in this and if they survive. Of all Woo's American movies only Face/Off comes close to having a human core to it. And yes, I will say this, the body count is IN the triple-digits. Awesome Moment 1: The John Woo tracking shot...it's like a normal one but with a body count of a couple dozen Awesome Moment 2: Chow Yun-Fat sliding down a stair railing killing three guys Awesome Moment 3: The Warehouse massacre
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Post by Mr. Emoticon Man on Jul 25, 2009 14:01:17 GMT -5
Never heard of either of those two movies.
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Post by bob on Jul 25, 2009 14:07:11 GMT -5
Never heard of either of those two movies. same here
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Post by Shovelman on Jul 25, 2009 14:56:29 GMT -5
I'm not surprised...one's a 60's western and the other's from China
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Post by Mr. Emoticon Man on Jul 25, 2009 14:57:37 GMT -5
Yup. That'd explain it.
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Post by Shovelman on Jul 25, 2009 15:01:13 GMT -5
#6 Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope This may be the most heavily flawed movie on this list. Yes, Luke Skywalker whining about converters at the Tochi Station is cringe-worthy. Yes, we have to buy the fact that Han Solo is smart enough to make calculations of any kind, let alone the ones to light speed. Yes, Princess Leia can't keep a consistent accent. Yes, there's the trench that leads to the Death Star core that's easily accessible by missiles. But I don't care about them too much for a few things. There was a sense of giddy fun in this, a newness to it all. The effects are larger than life. There's laser swords and the force that can do anything! ANYTHING(not really, I'm just saying it to annoy someone...he knows who he is)! It's all very noisy and very aggressive but it all comes together for this not to be a movie but an experience, that none of the other movies could top. Awesome Moment 1: The destruction of Alderan Awesome Moment 2: The opening scene with the ships Awesome Moment 3: Obi-Wan giving Luke the lightsaber
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Post by bob on Jul 25, 2009 15:08:22 GMT -5
big fan of this one (see Star Wars apprecation thread for reference)
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Post by Mr. Emoticon Man on Jul 25, 2009 15:10:53 GMT -5
Star Wars is always good fun.
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Post by Shovelman on Jul 25, 2009 18:03:58 GMT -5
#5 Jacob's Ladder Adrian Lyne and a religious thriller...at first glance, it's a combination headed for disaster. I mean Lyne is the guy who made the horrible Flashdance and the slightly-less horrible Fatal Attraction. The rest of his filmography is erotic thrillers that probably suck but have boobs in them, except Unfaithful that looks it doesn't suck. So for Lyne to make this is weird enough to make a robot's head explode from the illogical nature of it. However, without Lyne's usual sex-filled tricks comes this frightening look at life and death from a Vietnam vet. Religious iconography abound as Tim Robbins has to figure out what his happening in his civilian life after he was horribly stabbed by the VC. Then the ending, an ending so forceful and so sudden that it literally stopped me dead...granted, a clever person can probably figure it out but I am not a clever person. Awesome Moment 1: the ending Awesome Moment 2: the gurney ride to hell Awesome Moment 3: the horn coming out of Jezebel's mouth
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Post by Shovelman on Jul 25, 2009 18:08:39 GMT -5
#4 The Lion King The best Disney movie ever and considering such competition as Beauty and The Beast, Bambi and The Little Mermaid that is no small feat. This movie truly opened animation up to all ages. This movie never talks down to anyone, especially with Mufasa's death. We see him fall into the Wildebeast stampede. You know how traumatizing it is to an 8 year old...I should know, I was that traumatized 8 year old. But before I go all doom and gloom on it, there are moments of levity with Timon and Pumbaa & Zazu that provide a nice balance to the gloom. Even the villain, Scar, has comedic moments but they're brief before he does some more evil planning. Unfortunately, this was also the peak of the Disney renaissance as none of the movies that followed where equal The Lion King for it's power and majesty even though Mulan came close. Awesome Moment 1: Mufasa's death Awesome Moment 2: Simba's return to the Pride Lands Awesome Moment 3: Rafiki using martial arts to kick the hyenas asses.
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Post by Mr. Emoticon Man on Jul 25, 2009 19:20:03 GMT -5
I've never heard of one of those... and the other is the bane of my younger years; I rue the day it was created and released.
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Post by The Raven on Jul 25, 2009 19:29:08 GMT -5
I've never heard of one of those... and the other is the bane of my younger years; I rue the day it was created and released. Not a Jacob's Ladder fan, huh?
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