47/50: Reservoir Dogs

This is the second to last film in the Quentin Tarantino pictures that I had on my list. The only one remaining is the newest - Inglourious Basterds.

Like I mentioned in my Kill Bill post, Tarantino has a way of telling a story in flashbacks and language so well that we understand everything without actually seeing it.

Reservoir Dogs is a film about a heist - a heist that we never actually see.

Joe Cabot (Lawrence Tierney) has pieced together a crew of individuals to pull off a heist. In case anything goes wrong, the individuals had been instructed to not divulge anything personal about themselves - including their names.

So, they are given the aliases of Mr. Blonde (Mark Madsen), Mr. White (Harvey Keitel), Mr. Orange (Tim Roth), Mr. Pink (Steve Buscemi), Mr. Blue (Eddie Bunker) and Mr. Brown (Tarantino).

Of course, something goes wrong. The police are clued into the heist by a mole somewhere in the organization, and Mr. Blonde goes on a shooting rampage.

(BEST TO NOT READ MORE IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN IT)

Anyway, during the shootout Mr. Brown is killed during the getaway and Mr. Blue is killed at the scene. Mr. Orange is shot in the stomach and Mr. White is able to get him back to the gang's hideout. Mr. Pink also makes it back to the hideout - and with the loot in tow as well.

The rest of the film is trying to weed out the mole and figure out what exactly they are going to do now.

Again, it is so amazing that I was able to go this long without anything important being revealed to me. Sure, I knew all about the ear cutting scene, and Mr. Pink complaining about being called Mr. Pink, but the actual plot and all of the important spoilers I was able to stay away from - and I am glad I did. I think it made me enjoy the film even more.

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43/50: Kill Bill, Vol. 2

As I said in yesterday's 'post' I have decided to combine the two Kill Bill films. I know it is technically two movies - but it is more or less one film split into two.

First off, I have to admit, I never much thought of Uma Thurman as one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood. The Poison Ivy part in Batman was supposed to go to the most beautiful woman in Hollywood, and it went to her - but I just didn't see it. Well, despite being covered in blood for most of the films, I can see now what others were thinking - she looked amazing.

So, Thurman stars as the Bride in this revenge-filled film - both Kill Bill, Volume 1 and Kill Bill, Volume 2.

In the first film, we see that the Bride was 'killed' on the night before her wedding - while pregnant. She is found by the local police and taken to the hospital, where she laid in the hospital in a coma for months.

Once she came to, she escapes a nasty orderly and one of Adam Sandler's pals, and claims her revenge upon the people that put her in the hospital.

If my memory serves, during the first film the Bride takes on Vernita Green (Vivica A. Fox) and also O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu).

The first of the two films is much more bloody - the scene where the Bride takes on Ishii is amazing as she fights an entire mob of people before having to take on Ishii herself.

The second film is a little less bloody - and I have to admit I thought it was going somewhere else at the conclusion, but I am so glad it didn't. It would have taken away from everything we were building towards.

In Volume 2, the Bride takes on Budd (Mark Madsen) and Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah) before finally making her way to her primary target, Bill (David Carradine).

Quentin Tarantino has a pretty great way of telling a story without telling it in a straight way. He is all over the place with flashbacks and out of whack placement of parts, but somehow it all comes together - and it works here just as well as in Pulp Fiction.

Like I said, I fell in love with Thurman and her quest to find those who tried to kill her - did kill her fiancé - all while she was pregnant.

The movies weren't perfect - I felt there were some extremely slow scenes that I guess ere needed for the overall effect of the film, but I didn't really enjoy. It took away from the action sequences and her journey. I was not a fan of the slow, somewhat boring scenes between Bill and the Bride (the flashback scenes, not the end sequence). And, I definitely did not enjoy the part (that was really drawn out) between the Bride and Pai Mei (Chia Hui Liu), her training master.

Overall, however, I was thoroughly enjoyed. Not as much as Pulp Fiction, but the story was great and told in an amazing way. And, like I said, so glad they went the way they did for the ending - I would have been totally pissed if they went the other way.

If this were two grades I would probably put the first film higher. I felt it was more action packed and had less slow-down scenes. But, this is an overall grade for the pair of films.

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