2009
Tag: Brad Pitt
video review : Thelma And Louise
The story of Thelma And Louise doesn’t really start to get interesting until it’s almost over. By then, the duo’s weekend plans, which started as a simple vacation to “the mountains”, have long gone awry; thanks in part to Thelma’s decision to bring her gun.
The final scene is poignant; it’s a hell of an ending; but the following flashbacks are counterproductive. Comedic and romantic undertones also lessen the impact of the movie; an unlikely chick flick that would be better if fully embraced the thrill of the chase.
my rating : 3 of 5
1991
video review : Once Upon A Time In Hollywood
Quentin Tarantino says he wants to retire after ten movies. This is number nine. If he were to ask me what I think he should do to end his career on a high note, I’d sum it up with one word; suspense. That’s what makes his best movies; Inglourious Basterds and Jackie Brown; the classics they are. They’re filled almost to the brim with moments of suspense.
There’s a scene in Hollywood in which one of its two leading men; Brad Pitt as stuntman Cliff Booth; drives a sexy hitchhiker girl to Spahn Movie Ranch, where she says she lives. She invites him on the premises to meet her hippie friends. The tension that follows could be cut with a knife, but it leads nowhere. The suspense doesn’t return until the movie is about to end.
That ending, in which members of Charles Manson’s killer cult target Cliff and his famous actor buddy Rick Dalton; Leonardo DiCaprio as the other leading man; is violent and enthralling. Most of what comes before it is relatively uneventful. A lot of the movie is spent watching Dalton act in movies that are more entertaining than the one you’re watching.
my rating : 3 of 5
2019
video review : Inglourious Basterds
“I think this just might be my masterpiece,” a character says to another just before the ending credits begin. It’s an obvious wink from director Quentin Tarantino. Inglourious Basterds is his best movie yet, even better than Jackie Brown and Reservoir Dogs, and he seems to know it. There’s no “might” about it. It’s a masterpiece. It’s also one of the best movies I’ve ever seen.
The story takes place during WW2 as Nazis, led by Hitler, seize control of France, killing Jews along the way. Their opposition? A small troop of Jewish soldiers whose primary goal is to kill Nazis and off their scalps for souvenirs. It’s a brutal battle with clever crossplots; scenes simmer with suspence until someone’s killed once their cover is blown; thrown in for narrative measure.
my rating : 5 of 5
2009
video review : 12 Years A Slave
There’s a poignant whipping scene involving soap, but the best part of this Slave story come at the end. It’s a beautiful Hans Zimmer song based on the main character. That it sounds like Time from Inception is a blunder, but listening to it is better than watching the movie.
That’s not a moral criticism. Watching a dramatization of an essentially innocent man, or woman, endure the hardships of slavery generally doesn’t bother me. It’s just that, plotwise, Solomon’s story, based on his 1853 memoir, doesn’t necessarily make for an interesting movie.
my rating : 3 of 5
2013