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.

Grade:

46/50: Sixteen Candles

What a difference.

I was so hoping that Sixteen Candles wouldn't be another Pretty in Pink. Honestly, I enjoy the Breakfast Club and Weird Science, but I just could net get into Pretty in Pink.

Sixteen Candles just had so much more going for it, and I really came away enjoying it.

Again, we have a young lady, Samantha Baker (Molly Ringwald), who is jonesing on one of the most popular boys at school, Jake Ryan (Michael Schoeffling). It also just so happens to be her sixteenth birthday - and her sister is getting married the next day.

Oh, and because of all the commotion at her house for her sister's wedding - her entire family, including those visiting for the wedding - have forgotten her birthday.

Meanwhile, Jake has noticed that Samantha stares at him, and well he actually starts to 'notice' her.

Then there's The Geek (Anthony Michael Hall), who has a huge crush on Samantha, and is trying desperately to get laid and impress his friends. The Geek is able to talk to Samantha, and this gets him to be friends with Jake as he tries to find out more about her.

Finally, we get the very odd and not entirely need - but very glad he was - Long Duk Dong (Gedde Watanabe). An exchange student who is staying with Samantha's grandparents, and comes for the wedding. He heads to a dance with Samantha, finds a lady and gets totally plastered at a party - he was hilarious.

And really, that is what made all of the difference comparing this movie with Pretty in Pink. The latter film was just far too serious for my taste. It as lacking the comedy that The Geek and Long Duk Dong provided so well in this film.

Another thing I really enjoyed about this film was the way the romance developed. Samantha and Jake are the whole point of the film, but they aren't even together at all through most of it. Sure, we get that kiss at the birthday cake, but (SPOILER ALERT) that was their only real interaction throughout the entire film (SPOILER OVER). And, I loved it.

This probably ranks around the sames as Weird Science for me in the John Hughes' films. Breakfast Club is still the king of the pack for me - that film was able to mix the comedy and the drama so well, it has to be at the top.

Grade:

45/50: Valyrkie

I wasn't too familiar with this particular part of World War II. It is actually good to know that this actually happened.

Anyway, Valkyrie is a code name for an attack on Adolph Hitler by rogue Germans during World War II. This was not covered in any of my world history classes in high school or college, so I was unaware that this happened. I am actually happy that there were some people that chose not to follow Hitler's Nazi regime.

Well, this film is based on that attack on all that subsequently happened. Tom Cruise stars as Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, a soldier who gets his hand blown off and loses an eye all for Hitler's Nazi Germany. Upon getting released from the hospital, Cruise's character (much easier to type, sorry) is promoted and thus begins his plans for Operation Valkyrie.

Cruise's character attempts the assassination on Hitler's life multiple times before the bomb actually goes off and they assume that Hitler has been killed - throwing into action the arrest of all SS officers.

This was a decent film, but honestly I felt like something was missing the entire time. Nothing really captured me like other films of this nature have - this was no Saving Private Ryan.

I normally am not a huge fan of Cruise, but here he was very good. Plus, he was the only true star in the film - a lot of secondary actors filled out the other roles.

Grade:

Who? What? Where? #26

So, for someone who claimed they wouldn't get a chance to get anymore,

Mad Hatter has breezed through for his second straight (third overall) victory. He correctly identified Mr. Ed Helms to the left as the character Paxton Harding in The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard.

Well, Jess, Matt and Fletch may have another person to worry abut as Mr. Hatter continues to climb the rankings.

Congratulations, Hatter!

I am on vacation this week, so I will not be able to check who wins until I return - next week's is already scheduled to go - but I will have no winners mentioned and the standings will not have been updated.

The concept is simple: each week I will place a photograph of a character within a film. It is up to you (the participant in the game) to tell me the following:

1) The name of the actor (or what the actor goes by in his acting profession).

2) The name of the character in the movie.

3) And, the name of the movie.

Each correct answer gets you a point - so if you get all three correct on a given week, you can get three points. I will keep a running chart each and every week. As of now, this will be played for bragging rights only - but we shall see what the future holds.

So here is week #26:

Standings:

Jess - 26 points

Matt - 17 points

Fletch - 13 points

Mad Hatter - 8 points

Nick - 6 points

Mrs. Kano - 5 points

44/50: Killers

Well, once I put this on the list I sort of figured what the response would be. People told me to skip it, it's horrible.

So, I went into this film expecting the absolute worst, and I came away liking it a bit more than I expected. So, I guess the worst your expectations are you can feel any film is better than it actually is.

Killers stars Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl. I do not hate Kutcher's career, but for some reason I really have no film that sticks out that I enjoyed him in. He was great in "That 70s Show", but his movie career has definitely been mostly miss than hit - I guess the lone movie I truly enjoy of his is Butterfly Effect.

As for Heigl, I have sort of lost all respect for her. She was the cute girl that stayed in the background of all of those movies you watched when you were younger - no one really knew who she was. Then came her breakout role in "Grey's Anatomy" and Knocked Up. And I was actually excited for her career. But, the inevitable happened and she became way bigger than she should be - at least in her mind.

Anyway, back to the film. Kutcher is Spencer Aimes, an assassin who falls for Heigl's Jen Kornfeldt. He gives up his life as an assassin, which she doesn't know about, to live in suburbia and settle down.

Well, the expected happens and Aimes is called back into action, only find that his boss, Holbrook (Martin Mull), has been killed - and there is a huge bounty placed on his head. And, everyone is trying to kill him.

Jen, of course, finds out about his true identity and is thrust into action in order to save both of their skins. All the while struggling with if she knows the man she married - and if she will stay with him in the end.

I enjoyed the action and a few of the jokes tossed around. I didn't hate Kutcher in the role, and I tolerated Heigl. It was pretty funny to see Tom Selleck as Jen's father though.

Like I said, I didn't absolutely hate it because that it what I was expecting. But, it isn't amazing - I tolerated it.

Grade: