Trick 'r Treat (2007)

NIGHT 11

       "You should be more careful, there are rules..."

Trick 'r Treat (2007) Canadian horror anthology film produced by Bryan Singer and directed by Michael Dougherty.

The film contains four stories all taking place on Halloween night in a small town in Ohio. The stories over lap and all have the common thread of a mysterious small trick or treater named Sam who is witnessing all of the events of the story.

The acting in this movie is really good across the board, its almost a perfect mix of lesser known but very capable actors and actors you've never seen in your life that are quite good. Even the actors I realized aren't doing anything too far out of their usual range, but they're used effectively and each is playing a slight variation on what I've seen them do before.

Honestly I don't think there's anything 'bad' about this movie, but this is the best spot to drop one observation I thought of during this film. The only problem with all of these stories taking place in the same small town blocks away from each other on the same night is that multiplied against the horror film trope that people die in every story (even if they're not always the people you think who are going to die!) but all I started to think about is how the police department the next morning is going to have so many victims and missing persons that it's ridiculous. I guess that speaks to how realistic a lot of the violence and terror is portrayed in the film, so much so that I'm thinking about the police phones ringing off the hook the next morning!

The cinematography and direction are really good in this film, everything is lit perfectly the camera work is so effective that I was holding my breath during certain scenes and sequences. I think I want to watch this movie like ten more times just to study it honestly, that's how good I think this movie is.

I love how this film is a refreshingly new take on something as old as the anthology horror film. This is the eleventh anthology film I've reviewed this season with movies spanning over 50 years and this film is such a breath of fresh air! I love the way the stories over lap, sometimes in a way that you're not actually sure what story you're following until the film turns down a path and yet every character who's introduced is then reintroduced in a new light and paid off in an effective way by the end of the film.

The script is super clever I love how this film is really effective at taking you down a route in each story and when you think you know what's coming next the film then turns in an interesting way and pays it off effectively so that the twists don't seem forced or gimmicky. I like how this film has a variety of stories, it has a clever new take on a vampire story, it involves a serial killer and it has elements like the school bus sequence that are so dark I really worry for the mind of writer/director Michael Dougherty.


The last thing I have to mention about this film that I love so much is Sam. The framing device/character. I love everything about Sam and the way the film used him! The origin of this story started when Michael Dougherty was an animation student and he came up with the realization that Halloween is one of the few holidays that doesn't have a main character to represent it. Thus Sam the strange trick or treater was born and honestly, the way he was used and how well this character was thought out, I actually believe now that Sam is the representing character for my favorite holiday. It's a bold undertaking to come up with something like that and I really think Michael Dougherty pulled it off. I love the way this film uses him though because not only is he the one element every story has in common but the final story is effectively his story and as they wrap up the film they effectively tell you about Sam (as much as I want to know anyways) and tie it all into the point and the main theme of the movie. That's what makes this an effective film.

Trick 'r Treat (2007), is a real treat of a film. It's everything I wanted in an anthology horror film. It uses the format, it does it well and it does it's own thing at the same time. Honestly I feel like I could talk about this film all day.

5/5 Stars.

 Happy watching!




This review is part of my 2014 run of 13 Nights of Macabre Movies! Tune in tomorrow as check out another different take on the standard anthology structure with The ABCs of Death (2012).

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Gojira (1954)

     "As a scientist, no, as a human being, I can't allow that to happen!"

Gojira (1954) (ゴジラ), also known as Godzilla,  is the very first in a long line of Toho kaiju (monster) films. Director Ishirō Honda set out to make a very Japanese version of the very American giant monster movies like King Kong (1933) and The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953), however unlike those films which used the major time consuming stop-motion method to achieve its special effects, Honda hired special effects guru Eiji Tsuburaya to design a much quicker "actor in a suit" method to achieve a similar effect on film in far less time.

Gojira tells the story of a group of people affected by a giant half-mythical, half-scientific monster seemingly awakened by the recent increase of nuclear weapon use.

[Note: this review will refer to the 96 minute, original Japanese cut of the film.]

The score of this film by Akira Ifukube (who would go on to have a long career as a composer in Japan mostly on other Kaiju films) is a bit too repetitive for my taste but you can't say the main theme isn't memorable. It's strong powerful and really fits the film in a unique and wonderful way.

There's also a kind of interpersonal love triangle between a few of our main characters that, while I appreciate it being there a midst the larger events going on in the world, it didn't really do much for me and is almost too delicately handled for my tastes. But I like the way the relationships with Emiko actually helped tie into the defeat of Godzilla in the end. A lot of other films and stories can't combine the macro and micro stories in the end as well as this film did.

Honestly I don't even have much to complain about this film. Some of the models are very clearly less detailed models which can kill the illusion sometimes. This is mostly only evident with miniature planes and cars as the models of buildings are really spot on and for most of this film it's composed in a way that I really couldn't even tell Godzilla was a man in a suit!

One of my favorite things about this film is it's use of a giant monster as a war analogy. The way Godzilla strikes very suddenly, causes massive amounts of damage and then disappears without warning throughout most of this film really works as a stand it for war, weapons of mass destruction, or whatever other human-created hatred you can imagine. Also like all good war films, this film does a great job at showcasing the people and the families affected by the disaster. It's very hard to watch Ishiro Honda's beautifully laid out shots with the great amount of time he takes to show the destruction both (physically and emotionally) caused by this crisis and not think about turmoil and sorrow the people of Japan had recently faced not long before this film was made.

And in case you missed any of that there's a far less poetic approach bring your awareness to this by the characters discovering and clearly stating that this giant monster in front of them is the direct result of nuclear weapon use. The beautiful thing about all of this is it all plays out very much just like a moral tale, or a "what if" story with a warning without placing any blame on events of the past. Quite respectable and honorable in my opinion.

The major difference between King Kong (1933) and Gojira is the acting here is really quite superb. You may recognize a lot of the actors from Seven Samurai (1954) and other Akira Kurosawa films, and as I said before even though I didn't really care for some of the human element of the story but even so the film's actors are so great and believable that it really helps you get wrapped up in the story, which is SUPER important in a movie about a giant nuclear dinosaur coming from the sea to destroy Tokyo.

I also this is a small thing but I really enjoyed the "very Japanese" touch of our main characters debating the morals of "should we kill it?" Here's a giant monster from the sea and only the Japanese would have the sympathy to realize this is part of nature and argue that maybe we shouldn't kill this living creature. And (although achieved in a different way) it has a similarly bittersweet emotional coda at the end as King Kong has, where although we defeated the monster there's a potent feeling of sadness at the same time. Really beautiful actually.

And I can't end this review without talking about some of the more nuts and bolts filmmaking of this movie because it really is quite a masterpiece. So much of this film is well thought out and masterfully constructed that I really don't know where to start! Story-wise I love the way the film doesn't show Godzilla for the entire first stretch of the film, there's at least two attacks before we even seen the creature and even then it's only brief glimpses until at least the halfway point and after that the camera never even holds on him for long at all. Behind the scenes, lot of this was probably decided due to not being able to show the models and costumes for too long at a time but it really helps the viewer picture much of the horror and fear in their mind and build the anticipation far before Godzilla actually appears on screen.

The masterful cinematography of this film helps to sell a lot of it too. Well thought out upshots at the monster and really low lit, overall dark scenes of Godzilla against a dark sky just really sell the illusion. Also like The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms and King Kong the film has great special effects shots combining costumed monster shots with real stock footage and shots of people running away edited together really masterfully.

Gojira (1955) is really, really great film, it truely combines art and action masterfully. It's easy to see how it started such a long dynasty of Godzilla films, kaiju movies, and even Ultraman and Supa Sentai shows can trace their origins back to this single highly influential film.

5/5 Stars.

Happy watching!



I'm tackling all or most of the early Toho Studios' Godzilla and Kaiju films in anticipation of the newest Godzilla (2014) movie. Check back next time for this film's sequel, Godzilla Raids Again (1955).


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Day of the Dead (1985)

NIGHT 27

     "They are us."

Day of the Dead (1985) is the second sequel to Night of the Living Dead (1968), following Dawn of the Dead (1978) it was the final film in the "Dead trilogy", until Land of the Dead (2005) was made years later. Like those films this one is also written and directed by George A. Romero.

Day of the Dead starts months after the zombie outbreak. The story follows a group of survivors who are having trouble living with each other inside an underground military-medical compound that is otherwise pretty safe.

I like the soundtrack in this one, it's a bit too repetitive for my tastes personally, but it still probably has the best soundtrack of any of Romero's Dead films.

Like the previous films in Romero's Dead trilogy, this film offers up a theory to why all of this has happened to them. Unfortunately it's very similar in this film to Dawn of the Dead's theory, but they do take it a little bit further and say that it's possible God was getting angry with us because we're getting too close to him. Which is actually quite fitting for the scientific nature of this film.

[Spoilers!] I like how even though this ending is essentially the same as Dawn of the Dead (our characters escaping at the end of the film via helicopter), Romero finds a more interesting and unique way to do it with the jump to them in their paradise. It's a cool way to do it, and doesn't feel repetitive even though it's really the same ending as before.

[Spoilers!] I don't love the final act of this film where everything kind of devolves and falls apart. It is fitting for the story they set up and the theme of the film though, and even though it kind of just becomes a senseless bloody gore-fest even I must admit it is quite satisfying to see Captain Rhodes and his troops get what has been coming to them the entire film. I also never really felt like the tension was high enough for the main characters as they're escaping in the madness. At no point to I feel like they're ever not going to make it out.

I love the premise and the core roots of this film. When you boil it down, this is a story about struggle, and how peoples lack of communication and inability to overcome each others differences leads to destroy a good thing they had going. Romeo once again uses the zombie fiction as a way to hold up a magnifying glass to the human race" Saying even if we were all safe together somewhere we would be the reason for our own demise. And I love how none of the characters are actually incorrect, they just are all so stuck in their ways that they can't listen to the other people at all and realize if they worked together they could be doing a lot better. "That's the trouble with the world, Sarah darlin'. People got different ideas concernin' what they want out of life."

I really love how this film starts. A novice director would never start a film dropping you in the middle of the story like this, but it works so well! The film starts with the tail-end of a failed helicopter mission, only to find the previous commander has died, and the new guy is kind of a dick. Having the characters learning to deal with the way things are going to be now is a great way to introduce the audience to the world, characters and story.

This film has great acting all around, possibly only trumped by the great characters that this film has. I love how Romero basically makes up for his failure in the previous films at writing a female character by making our central lead her one of the strongest and most badass female characters in film history. She can literally hold her own against a whole crew of asshole military guys, and yet she's not one dimensional at all either. There's plenty of times in this movie that we see how dealing with these people and living like this takes a toll on her.

Day of the Dead also does a really great thing by advancing the zombie findings and lore in a way that makes perfect sense for the way they've acted in the previous movies. I think this was completely necessary for this film series and brings so much more to rewatches of the older films too! And despite there being a bit of a jump in the advancement of what the zombies can do, nothing seems out of place here thanks to the really solid story. And one of my favorite things is the theory of amputation after a zombie bite working if it's quick enough, it's such a bittersweet thing how we never actually get to see if it actually works or not!

And lastly the zombie makeup and special effects is leaps and bounds better here than it was in the previous films. It looks really spectacular. Also the way it works out, the makeup actually seems like they've been decaying over time thanks to the way the makeup technology is advancing and the story keeps taking place further and further away from the original disaster in each film.

Day of the Dead (1985) is my favorite of Romero's Dead films, there's so much accomplished in this small little film and gives you so much to chew (mentally) that I don't think there's been a zombie film as smart as this one since its release.

5/5 Stars.

 Happy watching!




Come back tomorrow as we're going to jump a couple decades, to this film's sequel Land of the Dead (2005) on the 31 Nights of Macabre Movies.

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Night of the Living Dead (1968)

NIGHT 24

     "They're coming to get you Barbara."

Night of the Living Dead (1968) is an independent horror film that was directed by George A. Romero and written by Romero and John A. Russo. This is the first "modern" zombie film and has since influenced countless other films and media.

An outbreak of flesh-eating, re-animated ghouls bring a bunch of strangers together to an abandoned farm house where they must survive through the evening without killing each other or getting killed by the monsters outside.

This film has really good characters. A lot of movies can't do characters as good as this film does. They're all super simple, yet they all have original personalities and feel unique (like real people). And with not much backstory or super explaining necessary either! This film would be a good study of how simply you can introduce a character that is completely unique and original with very little effort, most of them require just a couple of lines and then let the characters' dialogue and actors' interaction do most of the work.

The acting is pretty hit or miss in this film, the result of casting friends on an independent production. I really love Duane Jones as our lead Ben, and his counter Karl Hardman make's a very convincing mid-life, white-collar (somewhat) racist with a napoleon complex as Mr. Harry Cooper. However most of the female leads are horrible: I feel like the Barbara character could have been a bit more worthwhile with a better actor playing her and the Judy character is just plain laughably bad. Even Johnny (played by Russell Streiner), Barbara's brother is particularly good. It's rather unfortunate that he gets so little screen time compared to Barbara.

I like how this film actually does explain the disaster. I feel like the film just would be missing something if they didn't attempt to explain this strange phenomenon at all. The flip side of this is that when viewed today this explanation actually dates the film quite a bit. An attempted government coverup involving radiation? Yeah that puts this film right in 1968. Fortunately for Romero though, he builds off of this, in that he takes this trend and runs with it in his following Dead films (or at least the first three) and in each film offers up a separate "theory" for why the dead would be coming back to life. Pretty smart.

The reason this film stood out back in the day and I believe really still stands out is its social commentary. This film attacks a lot of the different politics of the day and uses this strange horror story phenomenon as a magnifying glass to look at American society as a whole in the 60s, just like what all great science fiction stories do. This film has a (then unheard of) black protagonist who struggles against a white man for power, there's social commentary on marriage with Cooper and his wife: "We may not enjoy living together, but dying together isn't going to solve anything," and of course the ill-equipped government mentioned above.

For all of the good that this film does at tackling politics of the day, it misses one major one: Women's rights. This film can be viewed as incredibly sexist when watched today, I'm sure this wasn't on purpose and was probably just a product of its time but it definitely doesn't help all that other stuff it was trying to tackle, mentioned above. Most of this revolves around the character Barbara, who after starting out as our entry character we're following in this world, she ends up just losing her shit and becoming a babbling invalid for the rest of the film. Some of this (to me) is understandable because she can't deal with the situation at hand and also loses (or at the very least abandons) her brother early on in the story. I personally, know plenty of people today that I feel like would act this way upon the collapse of society and our conventional way of life, male and female. So to me this would almost be acceptable if it weren't for the way that Mrs. Cooper and also Tom's girlfriend Judy are treated during the film.

There's also plenty of out of focus or poorly lit shots throughout. Some of this is due to novice filmmaking but it'd hard to say that any of it really takes away from the film.

One of the most magnificent things about this film is the legacy that followed. This film was never intended to be more than a one shot thing. But the quality of this film and it's originality and ingenuity have made it stand out in history and inspire a whole new sub-genre of horror films. That being said it's worth noting that this wasn't the first zombie film to ever be made, that title would go to the much older film: Bela Lugosi's White Zombie (1932). There was also plenty of zombie films that followed that one, all based on the "Haitian" voodoo zombie lore that is far different than our contemporary flesh-eating zombies. But strangely, very much like White Zombie both of these films involve a political look at the social class system of the day. More than a coincidence I would think...?

The direction in Night of the Living Dead is really solid. You watch this film and there's no question to how this film really jump-started George A. Romero's long career. I love so many scenes in this film, but I've got to mention the Graveyard scene with Barbara early on, this is so great on its own and as an introduction to this problem and as a first act of the film. The integration of the TV and radio broadcasts through out the movie is masterful. And I love the "daughter slaying" scene at the end of the film, it's such a direct hat tip/homage to Hichcock's Psycho (1960) that I can't help but love it.

(Spoilers to follow) The film actually ends on such a bittersweet and almost pessimistic note. Which is interesting because of how optimistic of a tone the film keeps for most of the story (something which seems very unusual for how the tone of most zombie films are today!) And yet it works very, very well. Really have no idea how a film where the whole point is a bunch of characters trying to survive, kills off all of it's characters and doesn't feel dissatisfying at all!

And lastly I need to mention how perfect of an idea this film was just from an independent filmmaking perspective. Almost the entire film was set in one location at the farmhouse and it has simple, yet compelling characters trying to survive through one night together. I wish I could come up with such a simply perfect idea like this!

Night of the Living Dead (1968) is such a highly influential independent horror film: literally every zombie film, game, comic etc. that is part of the zombie craze of recent years can be traced back to this film. And it still holds up surprisingly well for being made over 40 years ago!

5/5 Stars.

Happy watching!




Check back tomorrow for a sequel to this film (that may not be the obvious follow-up), only on the 31 Nights of Macabre Movies.

This film is in the public domain now, so there's really no reason for you to have not seen it. You can watch it or download it here, free of charge thanks to the Internet Archive.

Django (1966)

Intro
While pouring back through all the Tarantino films recently I realized a couple things:
1) There's not that many of them. I mean he's only one guy and he pretty much only works off of his own material that he wrote... which takes time, and thus this is very understandable.
2) His films make reference other movies constantly. Now call it what you want homage, reference or just plain theft but I'm thinking that a lot of people don't catch the majority of these references to other films because frankly, we don't have the film same exposure as a young Tarantino did going to the grindhouse theater constantly in his youth or working in a video rental store. However, hypothetically with the vastness of the internet and Amazon, Netflix etc. these films should be easier to get a hold of today, if you know what you're looking for that is.

So I figured there's probably more people out there, like me, who crave more Tarantino constantly and I could showcase some films that I'd consider essential viewing for Tarantino fans. And thus the 10 must-see films for Tarantino fans was born. Now let me warn you this is in no way a comprehensive list and there's no particular order to these either. There's probably hundreds of films that Tarantino references in his own films, and I found enough films I could write about to probably do this series again but that will have to wait until next time there's another big Tarantino release.

FINAL DAY: Django (1966)

Quentin Tarantino has said that his most recent film Django Unchained (2012) is a tribute to the work of Sergio Leone and Sergio Corbucci, the second being the director of this film. When Django came out it was a smash hit and supposedly has over 40 unofficial sequels or spin offs and Tarantino has said that his film is continuing in that tradition. The main character is named Django (obviously) as a tribute to this film, and the soundtrack borrows 5 songs from this film including it's title song, "Django." And Franco Nero, the original Django makes a small but awesome cameo in that film. Quentin Tarantino also lists this film, third in his top 10 spaghetti westerns only behind the second two films of The Dollars Trilogy(thanks to The Quentin Tarantino Archives).

Well, that's it for the 10 must-see films for Tarantino fans. I hope you enjoyed yourself and learned something new, I know I did!

"I've got all the help I need."

Django is an Italian-Spanish spaghetti western by director Sergio Corbucci. The film is set after the American Civil War, when a mysterious drifter rolls into a Southern town dragging a coffin he finds himself caught in a war between a racist ex-Confederate army and a band of Mexican revolutionaries, but he'll find he actually has history with both sides.

[This review will focus on the English-dubbed release that was released in the U.S.]

The characters and actors in this film are all surprisingly decent in this film. I found them all interesting and believable. I especially liked the introduction of the Southerner, Major Jackson who captures Mexican soldiers just to let them run free one at a time then use them as target practice. That really sets up a great antagonist that you really hate right out.

As you would expect, the dub is pretty bad for this film.

I didn't care for the "romance" of this film, luckily it wasn't focused on too much. But I need to see the original, because it's possible that the dubbed dialogue might be at fault for a majority of this. I felt like I understood what they were trying to do but it just wasn't as effective as it could have been. As it is now it seems really sloppy and corny.

I really can see why the character Django (and this film) has over 40 unofficial spin offs. The character is just really cool. He's an former Union soldier who has become a drifter and drags a coffin behind him through the mud, and I love how throughout the film people keep guessing why he has a coffin too; Asking if he's an undertaker, a coffin-maker, if there is someone inside or he's carrying it around for himself. And I'm glad the contents of the coffin weren't saved until the climax of the film either because I was told what it was when I first heard about the film [i.e. I'm glad it wasn't saved for the end like the twists of Planet of the Apes (1968) or Soylent Green (1973)]. And Franco Nero really blew me away too, apparently Sergio Corbucci found him working at a gas station and then turned him into an international star! He's got a great face, really awesome blue eyes and his acting in this film seems like a cool cross between the nonchalant Man with no Name character by Clint Eastwood and the typically righteous John Wayne character.

I like Luis Bacalov's score a lot in this film, his scores are not as often parodied or referenced as Ennio Morricone's work but they're just as effective, exciting and powerful.

I really enjoyed the direction of this film. The staging of all the action is really well placed, the cinematography is really simple and straightforward but very effective. I like how the Corbucci would really speed up the cuts during the intense action sequences so that you think you see more than you do. This is also double effective in the gory or bloody scenes where your mind just fills in the blanks and covers for anything you didn't actually see.

The world of this film is very original. How come in all the westerns I've seen I've never seen a western town after the rain so that the characters are just trudging through thick mud? I love the cloudy, overcast, abandoned and beat-up town that a majority of this film takes place in. It looks so much more "real" than all the American westerns, it really shows great thought (whether or not the mud was actually intentional or not!).

The story of this film is really great too. I like how this film kind of sneakily deals with the American Civil War and things that would have been relevant during this time without being too overt about it, the Klan substitute is a perfect example of this. I love all the twists and turns the story takes along the way, it's very original and clever and it just makes you feel so good afterwards. It really is an exciting film.

Django (1966) is a unique take on the western that's really exciting and at the same time very cool. Highly recommend. 5/5 Stars.

Happy watching!

Check out this original minimalist poster design I did for this film, click through to buy prints/posters etc. OR check out other movie posters I designed here. :)

This film is part of my month-long Tribute to Tarantino in honor of his latest film Django Unchained (2012) and his 20-year career. If you've missed any of my reviews so far, be sure to check out his filmography and click on any film you've missed.

And that's it for the 10 must-see films for Tarantino fans countdown thanks for reading!



Like this blog? You can support it by buying this film through these links:

Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo (1966)

Intro
While pouring back through all the Tarantino films recently I realized a couple things:
1) There's not that many of them. I mean he's only one guy and he pretty much only works off of his own material that he wrote... which takes time, and thus this is very understandable.
2) His films make reference other movies constantly. Now call it what you want homage, reference or just plain theft but I'm thinking that a lot of people don't catch the majority of these references to other films because frankly, we don't have the film same exposure as a young Tarantino did going to the grindhouse theater constantly in his youth or working in a video rental store. However, hypothetically with the vastness of the internet and Amazon, Netflix etc. these films should be easier to get a hold of today, if you know what you're looking for that is.

So I figured there's probably more people out there, like me, who crave more Tarantino constantly and I could showcase some films that I'd consider essential viewing for Tarantino fans. And thus the 10 must-see films for Tarantino fans was born. Now let me warn you this is in no way a comprehensive list and there's no particular order to these either. There's probably hundreds of films that Tarantino references in his own films, and I found enough films I could write about to probably do this series again but that will have to wait until next time there's another big Tarantino release.

DAY 7: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is Quentin Tarantino's favorite film of all time and he even goes so far as to call it "the greatest achievement in the history of cinema." He's put tiny references to this film in his movies throughout his career: The memorable scene in Pulp Fiction (1994) where Samuel L. Jackson eats a guy's food to intimidate him before he kills him is lifted from the introduction of Angel Eyes in this film, the opening shot of Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003) is a tribute to a shot in this film where Blondie is lying almost dead from dehydration in the desert and Tuco has his gun to his head (there's a screenshot comparison here thanks to The Quentin Tarantino Archives), and Lt. Aldo Raine in Inglourious Basterds (2009) picks a can of snuff off of a dead soldier and uses it just like Tuco does in this film. This film also is thought to have originated the Mexican standoff, which is one of Quentin Tarantino's film trademarks.

“Every gun makes its own tune.”

Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo [The Good, the Ugly, the Bad] (1966) known in the U.S. as The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, is an Italian spaghetti western from director Sergio Leone. This film is the third in a loose trilogy known as The Dollars Trilogy along with A Fistful of Dollars (1964) and For a Few Dollars More (1965), however this film takes place during the American Civil War which would make this film a prequel to the other two. This film is about three men: The Man with No Name, known here as "Blondie"(the Good), Angel Eyes (the Bad), and Tuco (the Ugly) who are trying to out smart each other to get to a 200,000 dollar confederate treasure.

[This review is of the original full Italian version of the film which runs about 175 minutes long]

I really like how simple and straightforward the story is, this allows for a lot of time with the characters and lets them pull the story forward rather than random outside events. I also like how despite not liking each other and trying to lose each other Blondie and Tuco constantly find they have to team up together throughout the course of this film to accomplish their own goals, this adds a very interesting dynamic of mistrust and humor to the film.

This film has some pacing issues, probably the worst part is how lengthy the first half of the film feels. I think this is because the antagonist, Angel Eyes is absent from the film for a good hour before returning at about the halfway point, and also it's not until about 40+ minutes into the movie that you find out that there is a treasure!

This film is packed full of great ideas: I like how Tuco, straight out of being stranded in the desert, is able to hold up an old gun shop owner; I like how Tuco is able to track Blondie by puffing on his cigarillo butts to see how close he is; I like the torture scene while the Union army is playing music; and I love how this film is set during the American Civil War. The idea of three gunmen who could careless about the war going on in the background is such a great idea, it really sets this film apart from the other two. And the part near the end where Blondie and Tuco run into a drunken Union Captain who is just so sick of the war might be the greatest single part of this film.

I really like the characters in this film. This film even gives a little more of a backstory to the Man with No Name and really gives him all the coolest moments in the film. Lee Van Cleef returns in this film playing a different (but just as cool) character called Angel Eyes. I also like how Tuco works not only as the comic relief for the film but can be very villainous in his own right, the introduction of his brother, who he hadn't seen in 9 years, really adds a lot of depth to the character as well more so than most Mexican comic sidekick characters in these type of films.

Ennino Morricone also returns as the composer for this film and this score might be the best of the three films. It really adds a lot of emotion to the heartfelt scenes, excitement to the action and the very memorable theme will really get you whistling along with it.

And lastly (as usual) I really like Sergio Leone's direction in this film. The amazing cinematography combines with the great story in such a cool way. I love how much of this film is actually silent, the characters convey so much with minimal speaking parts and the English dub actually adds more unnecessary dialogue than the original Italian version does.

Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo [The Good, the Bad and the Ugly] (1966) is an epic spaghetti western film that may be the greatest Italian western ever made. Stylish, fun and cool this film isn't to be missed. 5/5 Stars.

Happy watching!





This film is part of my month-long Tribute to Tarantino in honor of his latest film Django Unchained (2012) and his 20-year career. If you've missed any of my reviews so far, be sure to check out his filmography and click on any film you've missed.

The 10 must-see films for Tarantino fans countdown continues tomorrow, so be sure to check back!



Like this blog? You can support it by buying this film through these links:

Taxi Driver (1976)

Intro
While pouring back through all the Tarantino films recently I realized a couple things:
1) There's not that many of them. I mean he's only one guy and he pretty much only works off of his own material that he wrote... which takes time, and thus this is very understandable.
2) His films make reference other movies constantly. Now call it what you want homage, reference or just plain theft but I'm thinking that a lot of people don't catch the majority of these references to other films because frankly, we don't have the film same exposure as a young Tarantino did going to the grindhouse theater constantly in his youth or working in a video rental store. However, hypothetically with the vastness of the internet and Amazon, Netflix etc. these films should be easier to get a hold of today, if you know what you're looking for that is.

So I figured there's probably more people out there, like me, who crave more Tarantino constantly and I could showcase some films that I'd consider essential viewing for Tarantino fans. And thus the 10 must-see films for Tarantino fans was born. Now let me warn you this is in no way a comprehensive list and there's no particular order to these either. There's probably hundreds of films that Tarantino references in his own films, and I found enough films I could write about to probably do this series again but that will have to wait until next time there's another big Tarantino release.

DAY 4: Taxi Driver (1976)

Taxi Driver might seem like an obvious choice but I felt like putting it on this list because Tarantino has been adding a lot of little homages to this film throughout his career. Tarantino considers this film a masterpiece and frequently lists it in his top three favorite films of all time (once again thanks to The Quentin Tarantino Archives for compiling these lists.) This film has frequent Tarantino-collaborator Harvey Keitel in it and years later Tarantino even gave this films lead, Robert De Niro another role of a very socially awkward guy in Jackie Brown (1997). Tarantino's first script True Romance (1993) features a somewhat large subplot of a guy killing a pimp to save a young girl from her life of prostitution (just like this film) and he's even wearing a green army jacket when he does it (though this choice might've been thanks to Tony Scott the director of that film). In Bruce Willis' segment of Pulp Fiction (1994), Bruce Willis's character runs into a taxi driver named Esmeralda Villalobos who drives a cab that's very similar to the one in this film (kinda strange for a film set in the 90's no?) And most recently in Django Unchained (2012), Christoph Waltz's character Dr. Schultz uses a hidden mechanized derringer pistol similar to the one Travis builds in this film.

"All the animals come out at night."

Taxi Driver (1976) is a dark and moody character study of a lonely, frustrated and bored man directed by Martin Scorsese. The film follows Travis Bickle a former Marine living in New York City who begins driving a Taxi because he can't sleep at night. As the film goes on we see how sick of the world Travis really is.

I love the world that is portrayed in this film. I love how real it all feels, I like how scary some of the random people they show seem and I really like how you can almost feel the mood of driving around the city at night. Things like the cab drivers meeting up at diners between shifts to just sit around and talk really seem to ground this odd movie for me.

All the acting is good in this film but I was especially blown away by the young Jodie Foster as the young prostitute Iris. This was her first major film role, and at 13 it's no surprise that she got an Academy Award nomination for this part because she seems wise beyond her years in this film.

This is admittedly nitpicky but there seems to be a little bit of a missed opportunity to show how Travis feels after killing the man in the convenience store. He seems scared in the moment, but this is his first time killing a person (as far as we know) and the first time he actually does something about the "filth" and crime of the city. I would have liked more of a scene showing if he enjoyed it or if it scared him or if he felt bad about it or whatever, the film just kind of moves on after this.

One of the best things about this film is how interesting it is. I really think this is one of the best character driven stories on film and something about combination of the unique setting, strange characters and moody atmosphere really drags you into the film and keeps your attention.

I love how the film treats the lead character Travis Bickle. It's not too obvious about the oddness of Travis Bickle in the very beginning but as the film goes on you slowly start to realize that there might not be something right about this guy. You eventually seem him get strange obsessions in his head and even jump to weird conclusions. But I really like the very little things, like Travis will say something slightly odd and then you see the person talking to him kind of get uncomfortable or give a slight roll of their eyes, this something I'm sure most people can relate to. Robert De Niro's performance is really great in all of it's subtleties and how earnest he seems int this role. It's really hard not to feel for and like the guy.

The music of this film really adds a lot to the mood of it. The score was composed by Bernard Herrmann who is probably most well known for his collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock (Psycho (1960), Vertigo (1958), etc.) but also for the score to Citizen Kane (1941) & the opening to The Twilight Zone television show. Unlike most of his previous work however, the score to this film is predominately built around a jazzy saxophone line that seems to meander through the darkness of the city, really cool.

I also think it's really magnificent how the pace of this film seems to change with the mood of the main character we're following. At the beginning of the film Travis lacks direction, he can't sleep and the sequences seem really drawn out and dream like but later on as Travis' gets more fed up with the world around him scenes go by a lot faster and tension really seems to build effortlessly. The mood of this film is pure art, absolutely beautiful.

Taxi Driver (1976) is an very artistic film and probably the best character-driven story ever told on film. 5/5 Stars.

Happy watching!





This film is part of my month-long Tribute to Tarantino in honor of his latest film Django Unchained (2012) and his 20-year career. If you've missed any of my reviews so far, be sure to check out his filmography and click on any film you've missed.

The 10 must-see films for Tarantino fans countdown continues tomorrow, so be sure to check back!



Like this blog? You can support it by buying this film through these links: