I went looking around trying to figure out what the next film in the end of July Binge-Watch would be.  I was feeling in the mood for a black and white horror movie so I started looking through the catalog of the Universal Monsters, but none of those films were tripping the trigger tonight.  Then, I noticed Nosferatu.

Nosferatu was an all-time classic from 1922 in Germany.  It was originally an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula and wound up having to be destroyed.  However, some copies survived and they became a classic.  The film was eventually released in the United States in 1929.

The movie is a silent picture, meaning that the only dialogue inside the film appears on screen to be read.  The version I saw had the words in German, and then translated into English at the bottom.  Yet, calling this a silent movie is a misnomer because there were no moments in the film where it was silent.  There was an amazing score playing constantly, helping to create the mood of the film.  The subtitle of the film was actually “A Symphony of Horror.”

Probably the most significant thing that Nosferatu has going for it is a distinctly horrifying lead performance.  Max Schreck played Count Orlok, the vampire known as Nosferatu (“The Bird of Death”).  Schreck is as creepy as you could possibly be and the film does a tremendous job of maximizing the use of Schreck to maintain that fearsome appearance.  There are a couple of iconic moments in the film that anyone familiar with vampire/horror movies would have seen.  Count Orlok rising from his coffin is one such scene.

If you are a fan of horror movies or cinema at all, Nosferatu is a film that you must see.  It is a film that took the medium to new heights and inspired countless filmmakers since.

The end of July Binge-watch continues with one of my favorite animated Batman films that I have ever seen.

They had created a new animated series called Batman Beyond, where a young kid named Terry McGinnis becomes a new Batman and old man Bruce Wayne helps him through.  The classic Batman voice, EYG Hall of Famer Kevin Conroy, returned as the old man and there were some great futuristic Batman episodes.  The show was successful and led to this full length animated version.

And how better to up the ante with our Batman Beyond than to bring back the Joker, with his own iconic voice, Mark Hamill?

This is such a great adventure, but it takes it to another level because the film weaves together a real emotional story to bring the Joker into the future.  It is a way that messes with Bruce, Commissioner Barbra Gordon, and Terry.

I would even go as far to say that the flashback the movie includes is one of the best scenes in any Batman movie, animated or live action.  The pain and anguish shown in that scene is real and what happened with Joker, Batman and Robin was forever compelling and affected all three forever.

The third act was also some of the best action, Batman vs. Joker, that you will ever see.  Terry uses the differences between his Batman and Bruce Wayne’s Batman to put himself into a position to stop the Joker.  There was a fantastic use of Ace, the Bat-Hound as well.

Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker is worth the time to watch.  It is one of my favorite Batman films, and perhaps, my number one animated version of the dark knight.

Save it for the stage.

It’s that kind of show.

The next film for the End of July Binge-watch is a documentary of a stage show called The Life of Reilly.  It was the one man show from Charles Nelson Reilly, actor, instructor, storyteller.  Charles Nelson Reilly tells the story of his life as a child in the Bronx with his dysfunctional family.  Charles spares no warts as he relays the stories of some of the horrors that he lived through.

It is surprisingly emotional as Charles moves from one story to another.  He tells about the time he went to the circus and the tent burned down.  He talked about his mother and her racist, obnoxious, mean-spirited personality and his father and his alcohol abuse stemming from his depression over losing a potential job with Walt Disney.  Charles tells how he got into an acting class with an amazing list of award winning actors.

Charles Nelson Reilly is a natural story teller and he can find the humor in anything.  You can tell how the audience is completely enthralled by the way Charles lays out the story.

I laughed.  I cried.  I laughed again.

This is sincerely one of the great performances of a one man show that you will ever see.  Charles Nelson Reilly died not to long after the final two shows of his tour, the shows that they recorded this film from.  Ironic considering one of the earliest jokes in the show was about how people thought CNR was dead when he wasn’t.

If you like Charles Nelson Reilly, this movie is a must.  If you are at all interested in a character of a man, The Life of Reilly is your film.  It is an intimate portrayal of a man’s life, silly and sorrowful.

This is a movie that I have heard about a couple of times on the Top 10 Show podcast that I like to listen to.  I have heard John Rocha sing its praises and, recently, I re-listened to an episode with guest Rachel Cushing and she included this film on her list as well.  Their descriptions were intriguing for me and I had hoped to see it.

So I am starting a three day July binge-a-thon for the Classic Movies since there is not a large number of new films to see (I have to get to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, but other than that…) and so I thought I would start with this one.

Westerns are not my favorite genre, but there is no denying that, if done well, it can be remarkably compelling.  Unforgiven is more than just a Western, but one of the great movies Clint Eastwood ever made.  I would venture to say that The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is right on the verge of matching that Eastwood classic.

Rachel and John talked about how some people thought the film was boring, but I have no idea what these people were watching.  I would agree that there is a slow build to the story, but I never once felt as if I were bored by this story.  I was completely engaged and fully enthralled with the true story.

Brad Pitt was absolutely astounding as Jesse James.  I would even go as far as to say, for me, this was my favorite performance of Brad Pitt’s career.  He was hauntingly good in every scene, portraying the different sides to the charismatic criminal.  Casey Affleck was nearly as great as the coward Robert “Bob” Ford. The fear and anxiety was palpable for Affleck, and you were never sure exactly what was going to happen, despite the title being a gigantic spoiler.  Bob was such a fan of Jesse James that you can see how he goes from idolizing him to fearing him.  Affleck displays this wonderfully.

The rest of the movie was littered with great performances from a great ensemble.  Sam Rockwell as Bob’s brother Charley, Jeremy Renner as Jesse’s cousin Wood, Mary-Louise Parker as Jesse’s wife Zee, Paul Schneider as Dick Liddle, Garret Dillahunt as Ed Miller and a small role for Frank James, Jesse’s irreparable brother, played by Sam Shepard.

The only role that threw me off a bit was political analyst James Carville as Governor Crittendon.  The role was small, but seeing Carville on screen and not talking about the Democratic Party was weird.  I mean, he was fine performance wise, but I was distracted by him for a few moments.

Director Andrew Dominik has created a masterful Western that retells the legendary story of the death of a man who had become as much of a myth as anyone in the old West had done.  The film is a beautifully shot and developed and the cinematography is special.  There is so much to love about this movie, especially if you enjoy tightly written and developed character pieces.

This year is the 40th anniversary of the first ever movie featuring the Muppets from Jim Henson’s company and I got  a chance to see it on the big screen thanks to a screening by Fathom Events. I had a smile on my face the entire time.

The movie is the story of how the Muppets came to be and how they made the movie that they were showing.  It was filled with fantastic corny jokes, running gags, and just roll-your-eyes humor that has been a trademark of the Muppets since day one.

And the music is brilliant.  I found myself singing along with the songs as each one appeared, staring with The Rainbow Connection, performed by Kermit the Frog in the middle of his home swamp.  Movin’ Right Along is another personal favorite which truly highlights the bromance between Kermit and Fozzie Bear.  Dr. Teeth (who, when I was a child, always scared me) and the Electric Mayhem perform Can You Picture That?  and Miss Piggy’s love ballad, Never Before, Never Again.  The finale with the song Finale: The Magic Store is a perfect finish to the music.  I remember listening to these songs on cassette tape and just loving them.  The music is created by Paul Williams and Kenneth Ascher and they do it masterfully.

As with any Muppet project, there are a ton of cameos appearing because everybody wants to be in a Muppet movie.  Bob Hope, Telly Savalas, Steve Martin, Dom DeLuise, Orson Welles, Mel Brooks, Madeline Kahn, James Coburn, Edgar Bergen, Milton Berle, Richard Pryor, Paul Williams, Big Bird, Carol Kane, Elliot Gould and Cloris Leachman.  That list of stars is beyond anything you could expect today and shows how much love these actors had for Jim Henson’s creations.

We also had Charles Durning appearing as Doc Hopper, the villain of the piece who chases Kermit across country trying to get Kermit to be the spokes-frog for his fried frog-legs restaurant.

There was such joy in the movie and I saw much more in this film than I saw the first times I saw it as a child.  There are a lot of beats in the film that are intended for the adults in the room, and the children will have a great time following along.  This is why the Muppets are such an engaging and entertaining group.

Jim Henson and Frank Oz did most of the heavy lifting here.  Henson performed Kermit, Rowlf, Dr. Teeth while Oz did Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear and Animal.  Dave Goeltz was Gonzo the Great, Zoot and Dr. Bunsen Honeydew.  Richard Hunt was Scooter, Janice and Sweetums.  Jerry Nelson was Floyd Pepper and Camilla.  All of these Muppet performers had other roles as well, showing the versatility of the group with voices and acting.

The movie takes the idea of meta to another level-  Meta-Meta perhaps.  Or maybe Muppet-meta, with tongue planted fully in cheek (Kermit made a joke about his tongue early in the movie).  At one point, they give the screenplay of the movie to the Electric Mayhem so they can catch up on the story without presenting a bunch of exposition because repeating it all would bore the audience.  Brilliant.

The movie may drag a bit in the middle, but there is so much wonder around it that any criticism I may have for the movie feels lackluster.  This is a film that feels magical after 40 years and have stars made of felt.  The Muppet Movie is a triumph.

This is an old classic tale that Disney made into a rather predictable, yet beautiful story of love and acceptance.

The Princess and the Frog has been a known story for years when Disney created an animated version in 2009.  The animation was beautifully rendered and the music took great inspiration from jazz.

Tiana (Anika Noni Rose) was a young and hard-working waitress who, during the 1920s, was saving her tips in order to fulfill her dream.  The opening of her very own restaurant.  Prince Naveen of Maldonia (Bruno Campos) arrives in New Orleans in search of a wealthy southern belle to wed after his parents cut him off from the family fortune.  Naveen runs afoul of the local voodoo priest, the Shadow Man, Doctor Facilier (Keith David), and he turns the prince into a frog.  Facilier enlists Naveen’s valet Lawrence (Peter Bartlett) to scam wealthy social climber Lottie (Jennifer Cody), daughter of wealthy Southern sugar mill owner Eli “Big Daddy” La Bouff (John Goodman), into marriage.  They would then steal her family’s money.

The story is needlessly complex for such a simple tale.  Many of these characters provide little to the advancement of the story.  Lottie, who was one of Tiana’s oldest friends, seemed to change characteristics depending on the plot.  There were too many instances of this in the film.

However, it was beautifully animated and the characterization of Tiana was solid.  She was the best of the characters in this film.  The city of New Orleans was another character in this movie and comes through wonderfully.  The design of the characters, especially Dr. Facilier was great and distinct.  And there was a trumpet playing alligator. You don’t see that every day.

The Princess and the Frog was decent, but it was not as memorable as many of the Disney animated films we have had.

I was looking for a movie to watch this afternoon when I came across Running Scared, a film from the 1980s starring Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines as a couple of hard-boiled cops from Chicago.  I remember seeing this movie in the theater and being a big fan of it so it was the perfect choice for this afternoon.

Problem was, on this viewing, I hated it.

I suppose it was the difference of viewing this movie as a 50-year old man compared to viewing it as a 17-year old kid.  Much of the stuff in this movie was much more aligned for the kid, because it did not ask much of me mentally and I had to suspend all kinds of intelligence for the story to come even close to working.  There are no cops like this in the country and, if there were, they would not be cops for very long.

Positives:  Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines are good together and they have all kinds of witty banter.  The dialogue between them was strong and their friendship was heart-warming.

After that, nothing else was worth my time.

Jimmy Smits was the bad guy, Julio Gonzales, and this guy had zero realism to him.  He was a cartoon villain who could somehow keep getting released after clear criminal acts.  The third act showdown is so unbelievable and made no sense whatsoever.

This makes me wonder what other films from my childhood that I loved would be crap in my eyes today.

Earlier this week, Collider Live brought up Harry and the Hendersons and Josh Macuga stated how much he liked that movie. So when I came across it on Netflix tonight, I thought I would watch it.  I had seen pieces of the film before, but never the whole thing.

It is very much an 80s movie.  It is an action/comedy similar to many of the movies we saw during the 1980s.  There is some definite silliness and the plot is fairly formulaic, but there is a charm and a heart that takes the film to a higher level than it might have been.

Coming home from their camping trip, George Henderson (John Lithgow) and his family hit a legendary Bigfoot with his car.  Believing that they had killed the beast, they put the corpse on the roof of the car and took it back to Seattle, Washington with them.

However, turns out, the Bigfoot was not dead and a late night ransacking of their kitchen looking for food was in line for the Sasquatch.

As the family tried to determine exactly what they were going to do, they discovered that the Bigfoot, nicknamed Harry, was more than just an animal.

John Lithgow was solid in the role of George Henderson, the man who at first tried to get rid of the Bigfoot, but eventually came around to love the creature.  Don Ameche played Bigfoot museum manager Dr. Wallace Wrightwood and David Suchet (who played Hercule Poirot) was big game hunter Jacques LaFleur, who had been chasing Bigfoot for decades.  These are both fairly typical characters that fit into the 1980s films like this one.

Harry was the fish out of water type character here as the Hendersons struggled to re-find Harry and then get him safely back into the woods.  Harry, played by Kevin Peter Hall (who was also the Predator in the Arnold Schwarzenegger film), is very lovable in a realistic way.  No CGI here, only practical effects and they help give Harry his charm.

There is not much to the movie beyond the message of family and respecting life, even animal life, but it is an enjoyable watch with some cute comedic moments.

While it may not be an all-time classic, it is certainly worth a lazy Saturday night watch on Netflix.

I had only seen the original Godfather once before I watched it earlier today, but I had never seen The Godfather Part II at all.  I can see why some people believe that the movie is one of the greatest sequels ever made.

To be honest, though, I found the original to be my favorite of the two.

The Godfather Part II tells two stories concurrently.  One was the ongoing events in the life of Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) as he continues his ascension into the position of head of the Corleone crime family.  The second story gave us the background of a young Vito Corleone (Robert DeNiro) growing up in Corleone, Italy and how he started moving up the ranks to become the Godfather.

Pacino and DeNiro are at the peak of their skills in this movie as their performances are amazing.  The film feels like a continuation of the story started in The Godfather and seamlessly flows on.  There are some shocking moments that I could not believe were happening.  I am impressed that, despite over 30 years since its release, I had not heard the details of a couple of the story points (in particular, the one dealing with Diane Keaton.

I must say there were two problems I had with the film.  It did feel a little long, especially in the first hour or so.  The film picked up in the second half as many things happened that I did not see coming.

The second issue is that Michael Corleone has become such an unlikable character that I found it harder to support him as the protagonist.  I know the theme is how life choices can be unavoidable and can take someone down a bad path, but he is almost unrecognizable from the first film.   While that is a fascinating development for a character, I wanted someone to root for and that was lacking.

However, as a character piece on the development of a villain, The Godfather Part II is harrowing.  Al Pacino deserved to have won the Oscar for this performance, though he did not.

I feel like a major gap in my movie viewing has now been filled as I cannot say any more that I have not seen Godfather Part II.  I do not plan on watching Godfather Part III any time soon though.

I wanted to do something special for the 200th Doc’s Classic Movie Review and so I chose one of the great movies in cinematic history, The Godfather.

I had actually only seen The Godfather once and it was just a few years ago on the big screen at a Fathom Event so it fits right into the idea for #200.

Francis Ford Coppola directed the film and co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, who wrote the original novel that the film was based upon, that told the story of the five families of organized crime in New York, specifically about the Corleone family, led by Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando).  Corleone was aging and a failed assassination attempt slowed him down even more.  His son Sonny (James Caan) initially would make decisions, but  eventually, the power of the family would fall down to Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), war hero who wanted to stay out of the family business but only found himself pulled back in.

The film is beautifully shot and the imagery we get is as iconic as it comes.  The music is a perfect blend with what we see on the screen.  The music paints us a picture of the family and its continuous growth.

Michael Corleone changes dramatically as the film progresses, starting as the young man back from war who wanted to stay free of the family business to the vicious, cold-blooded Don at the end, taking steps that even his father would not take.

Marlon Brando and Al Pacino are revolutionary in their performances.  Both men are simply astounding and deserve every accolade that they received.

The remainder of the cast is spectacular as well.  We have James Caan, Abe Vigoda, Diane Keaton, Sterling Hayden, Robert DuVall, Talia Shire, Richard Castellano among others.  There is not one misstep among the cast.

The Godfather was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and won for Best Picture, Best Actor (Marlon Brando), and Best Adapted Screenplay.

The Godfather is one of the greatest movies ever made.

Next up is a movie that I have never seen… The Godfather 2.

Holy cow.

I have never been much on foreign films where I have to read the subtitles, but I had heard enough of the online community rave about this movie (from Collider’s Perri Nemeroff to the Top 10 Show) that I had it on my queue over at Netflix.  Looking though for Doc’s Classic Movies Reviewed #199, I came across Train to Busan and thought I’d give it a chance.

Holy cow.

I am so glad that I chose to watch this.  You become so invested in the characters and the story unfolding here that you forget that you are reading the movie.

A group of passengers boarded a train in an attempt to escape the sudden outbreak of zombies plaguing South Korea.  The word was that the city of Busan had been a safe haven so far, or so they heard.  The train was not free from the monsters and the uninfected passengers struggles to remain one step ahead of the horde.

This just well may be the best zombie genre movie that I have ever seen.  I loved those comedic zombie movies such as Zombieland and Shaun of the Dead, and there has not been a dramatic zombie film that I would put on their level.  Train to Busan is the one.

Seok-woo (Yoo Gong) is a fund manager who was escorting his daughter Su-an (Kim Soo-ahn) to his estranged wife in Busan.  Seok-Woo couldn’t care less about anyone else and his work was taking him away from Su-an consistently.

Sang-hwa (Dong-seok Ma) and his pregnant wife Seong-kyeong (Yu-mi Jung) are also on the train.  Other passengers include a pair of elderly sisters, a high school baseball team, Yon-suk (Eui-sung Kim), a CEO who was out for himself and no one else, among others.

You really get connected to these characters which make it all the more difficult when they succumb to the zombie herd.  Some of the deaths are heroic and others are downright cowardly, but they all provide an emotional burst that I had not expected.

Little Kim Soo-ahn was absolutely spellbinding as Su-an.  She gave the performance of a lifetime in a role that would be challenging for any adult to pull off.  She showed us her fear, frustration, disappointment, grief, and a deep look into the heart of the little girl who showed her father, by example, just what a jerk he was being.

The action was tense and stressful.  Choreographed beautifully, the zombies were true threats inside the restrictive confines of the train cars.  You can’t help but feel claustrophobic as the film moves along.  It does have some of the same beats as Chris Evans’s sci-fi epic Snowpiercer, but the zombies provide a more threatening presence than Snowpiercer had.

Bloody, violent and chaotic, Train to Busan is on-the-edge-of-your-seat action from early on in the right up to the very end.  You’ll be holding your breath throughout the film.  It is an amazing piece of work.

My Cousin Vinny becomes the 198th film reviewed in the Doc’s Classic Movie Reviewed section at EYG.  I had seen a video on YouTube from a lawyer who was looking at how accurate the film was in courtroom procedures.  It did very well, with many scenes being considered great for even teaching how to do things.

Joe Pesci is Vinny, the lawyer, and his fiance is played by Marisa Tomei.  They have to go down to Alabama to be the lawyer for his cousin Bill (Ralph Macchio) who, along with his friend Stan (Mitchell Whitfield), have been incorrectly charged with murder and they need Vinny’s help.

The problem is that Vinny has never won a case and has plenty of things he had no clue about.  The judge (Fred Gwynne, famous from The Munsters) has it out for Vinny because of the way he dresses and acts.  Vinny, from New York City, has troubles around Alabama as the “fish out of water” and unable to sleep.

My Cousin Vinny is one of the best in court films you are going to find, with the lawyering that is done by Vinny is so entertaining that it is engaging and thrilling.  The film is very funny and has some of the best dialogue you are going to find.

There is a ton of chemistry between the entire cast here.  The ensemble is tremendous with the exception of the public defender with the stuttering problem.  I dislike that character and I actually fast-forwarded through his part.

Marisa Tomei won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in this movie, and her scene as the witness in the trial is one of the best scenes in the movie.

My Cousin Vinny is a fantastic movie and I love watching it any time I can.

I found a Top 10 Show Re-list this morning and it was Top 10 musicals.  I like musicals so I was excited about doing the list.  I was also looking for a film to make #197 in the push toward 200 in the Doc’s Classic Movies Reviewed section here at EYG so I decided that Singin’ in the Rain, which I thought I had seen as a youngster, would work well.

I was completely engulfed in this movie.  I loved it from the opening until it was finished.  I do not remember anything from the film, except of course for the iconic song and dance of Gene Kelly with his umbrella, singing and dancing in the rain, spinning around on a lamppost.  That I recognized and remembered but everything else was new.

I had no idea the number of songs that I recognized that were actually in this movie.  My toe was a-tappin’ as each new song came up.

The film started with a huge surprise as well.  A voice … the first voice I heard int he movie.  It was Aunt Harriet!  Aunt Harriet, played by Madge Blake, from the 1966 Batman TV series, was there playing a reporter on the red carpet.  She was uncredited, but she was unmistakable.

Singin’ in the Rain tells the story of two movie stars of the silent film era, Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) and Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen), and their shaky transition from stars in silent pictures to the world of talkies.  The film also focuses on the relationship between Lockwood and a fledgling stage actress Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds).

My personal favorite character was Cosmo Brown, played brilliantly by Donald O’ Connor.  He was the supporting and comedic break the film needed and every time he was on screen, I was laughing out loud.  His sensational routine during the song “Make ’em Laugh” was astounding.  He had great chemistry with Gene Kelly as well as the pair’s performance of “Moses” was another highlight of the movie.

Gene Kelly practically glowed throughout much of the movie.  His face was as bright as a sun and he was clearly having a great time.

Every dance routine was breathtaking and as good as anything you could see today.  The finale production of Broadway Ballet is as extensive as ever and the fact that this was 1952 only make the accomplishment all the more amazing.

I will admit that the character of the studio head R.F. Simpson (Millard Mitchell) was not very realistic.  I expect the head of a studio to be more dispassionate of the art and more about the money.  R.F. was very supportive of his stars and of his actors and would have been a great boss to work for, if such a Hollywood exec actually existed.

But that is a minor gripe as the film was just tremendous from start to finish.  I loved this movie and I can see why it is mentioned among the greatest films, not just musicals, made in history.

I noticed that the Doc’s Classic Movies Reviewed section here at EYG is reaching a milestone.  This is film number 196 reviewed in the section so we are on a path to 200.  Number 196 will be Martin Scorsese’s early 80s film, The King of Comedy.

While the movie itself flopped at the box office, The King of Comedy received positive critical reviews.  The King of Comedy is a dark comedy featuring Robert DeNiro as downtrodden sad sack, Rupert Pupkin, a wannabe comedian whose start as an autograph hound put him in the orbit of famous late night talk show host Jerry Langford (Jerry Lewis).

In order to get rid of Rupert, Jerry tells him to contact his assistant and he would have him on his show.  Jerry had no intention of following through on that promise, but Rupert was fairly delusional.  Living in his mother’s basement, Rupert would fantasize about meetings with Jerry and a deep, close friendship between the two men.

After being turned away from the offices of the show, Rupert decided to abduct Jerry and use him as a bargaining chip to get everything he wanted.

DeNiro is solid here, but I really did not like Rupert.  He was a sociopath and delusional.  In the third act, you are given a window into the background of the character and you understand him more, but for most of the movie, he is an annoying man who simply would not listen to what people were telling him.

Sandra Bernhard was a co-star of the film as Rupert’s friend Masha who was an obsessed fan of Jerry.  She was downright crazy and she helped Rupert accomplish the kidnapping of Jerry.  Some of the scenes between Bernhard and Lewis are hilariously awkward.

The ending of the movie leaves the audience wondering exactly what happened as the last few scenes could either be reality or more of the delusions from Rupert.

The character of Jerry Langford feels as if he were a Johnny Carson-type, and it is known that Scorsese offered the part to Carson at first, but Johnny turned it down.  Jerry Lewis was very stoic throughout the film and I could have used a little more fire from him during parts of the movie.

But DeNiro is wonderful in a very off-putting performance.  The King of Comedy shows how the life of a celebrity is difficult and how they sometimes have to deal with the crazy fan/stalker and how they could turn to a danger in a heartbeat.

The movie holds up today and actually would work extremely well in the toxic environment of social media and the dangers of fandom.  Though it is one of Scorsese’s least successful films, The King of Comedy is a strong work that is deeper than first glance.

I filled a hole in my movie viewing list this afternoon by watching Quentin Tarantino’s classic Reservoir Dogs.

I had never seen Reservoir Dogs so when I came across it on Amazon Prime with a lazy Sunday afternoon, I figured the time was perfect.  So I turned the show on and was enthralled by the movie.  It was really great.

The dialogue, like all Tarantino movies, was just sharp and popping.  Just listening to these men interact with one another was so amazing.  You can definitely see how this led into Pulp Fiction with the dialogue.

The opening scene with the whole group sitting around did make me think of the opening scene of Pulp Fiction with Honey Bunny.  However, as soon as that scene was over, suddenly…BAM… we are in the middle of a Tarantino film.  Blood everywhere.  Screams from Tim Roth.  Me…no idea what was happening.

I have always loved Tarantino’s use of the disjointed narrative to tell his story.  For whatever reason, when other filmmakers try to copy it, it never seems to work.  For Tarantino, it works beautifully.

The interaction between Mr. White (Harvey Keitel) and Mr. Orange (Tim Roth) made me care for both characters even though I hardly knew them and I knew (or thought I knew)  that they were bad people.  When Mr. Pink (Steve Buscemi) joined the pair, things only got better.

Tarantino brought into the story an air of mystery as Mr. Pink deduces that their jewelry heist that led to the violent shoot’em up came about because they had a mole in their ranks.  This little mystery is remarkably compelling until we discover who the undercover cop among them is.

Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen) was crazy as could be.  I saw him as the villain for the first part of the movie and a problem for the characters that I had connected with.

As with any Tarantino movie, there is a lot of blood and violence and swear words.  I was not a fan of the use of the N-word, which was dropped several times.  There did not seem to be any purpose for the word and, because it really did not have a reason to be in the story, it felt as if it were gratuitous.  At best, it might inform some of the traits of the characters, but those traits did not come into play at all.

There was a lot of humor and tension throughout.  There are times when you are basically holding your breath because you don’t know what is going to happen next.  And that is great storytelling.

I am glad to have finally seen Reservoir Dogs after so long.  It was worth the time.