34. Pulp Fiction (1994)
Directed by Quentin Tarantino
Screenplay by Quentin Tarantino & Roger Avary
Starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Harvey Keitel, and Bruce Willis
Oscar Nominations: 7 Oscar Wins: 1 (Best Original Screenplay)
Say what you will about his film making, one can never accuse Tarantino of not having style. The man has it in spades. Down to the soundtrack choice, everything is just so cool. You go to a Tarantino film for the whole package. The visuals, the acting, the music, and most of all, the dialogue. Dear God is the man awesome with his dialogue. The way the characters speak, the dialogue coming out rapid fire, the little pop culture references. This is how I wish people talked. yes, a lot of it is profanity but it doesn't really matter. People are still witty. The structure of the film is also a plus. It's kinda disjointed and the best segment is the second with Uma Thurman and John Travolta but the entire movie is fun and great cinema.
A special note needs to be paid to the acting on this one. Having great dialogue is awesome but if your actors can't act, it means nothing. All of the actors strike it out of the park. Uma Thurman is one of my favorite actors but she is definitely in her element in any Tarantino film and this one especially. Her Mia Wallace is both sexy and someone who wants to have fun at the same time. She has excellent chemistry with John Travolta and their dancing scene is one of the best I've ever seen. Bruce Willis as well is great as a pugilist who has to escape a mobster. He has a surprising amount of honor and he meshes so well with the film as a whole. Finally, Sam Jackson. What is there not to love about Sam Jackson's part in the movie? Equal parts warrior and philosopher, he is the highlight of the film and the main reason to watch it. I could just watch his scene where he pontificates in the diner so many times and never get tired of it.
33. Psycho (1960)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Screenplay by Joseph Stefano & Samuel A. Taylor from a novel by Robert Bloch
Starring Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin, and Martin Balsam
Oscar Nominations: 4
It takes a lot of nerve to kill off your main character in the first hour of the film and that is just one of the reasons that Psycho works as well as it does. It shocks you. While we take for granted the twists in the movie now, back then this was a shocking movie and the ending was the king of all awesome endings. No one saw it coming and that is why the movie works. The death of Marion Ross is something that everyone expects but you see the plot at the beginning and you don't expect her to die. You expect something to happen with the suitcase of money that she stole from work. But nothing happens. It's like the movie actually changes half way through and takes you by surprise in the process.
Really, it's hard saying anything about Psycho that hasn't already been seen. The music is terrific, the acting is top notch, there is nothing wrong with this film at all. The only reason that it doesn't rank higher is that there are a few hokey moments and the movie does take a few minutes to get going and there are a few times that it stalls. Still, the suspense to perfect. By the way, the Hitchcock cameo is about seven minutes in. He in a window wearing a hat.
Next Time: "I'm having an old friend for dinner." "From that fateful day when stinking bits of slime first crawled from the sea and shouted to the cold stars, "I am man!", our greatest dread has always been the knowledge of our mortality. But tonight, we shall hurl the gauntlet of science into the frightful face of death itself. Tonight, we shall ascend into the heavens. We shall mock the earthquake. We shall command the thunders, and penetrate into the very womb of impervious nature herself."
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