Reservoir Dogs

You know those movies that are either so intricate or so moving that after the first time watching it, it never has the same effect afterwards, either due to an elaborate plot or the initial message? Yeah, Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs is exactly that kind of movie. This is not the first time I’ve seen this film, nor second or third and it won’t be the last. You may be saying, why keep watching it if it no longer moves you or has an impact like the first time? Well, the answer is simple, I can guarantee after each viewing of this movie you will find something new, even if it’s just something little, something imperceptible, but something none the less.

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 When I first decided to watch  “Pulp Fiction“, for starters I never saw any Quentin Tarantino film in my life. Secondly, I was under the impression that I wouldn’t like the movie considering the constant dropping of the f-bomb, the violence, the blood, and the gunshots. I was also under the impression that a person wouldn’t get his movies unless one was high.

I just didn’t see those kind of movies. Period. In retrospect, I am a fan of movies and at some point in time I had to see at least one of his fims in my lifetime, and this is a classic. So why not watch it now?

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Pulp Fiction

People always acted shocked when they found out I’d never seen Pulp Fiction. Blasphemy! I just never got around to watching the acclaimed cult classic that put Quentin Tarantino and Miramax on the map. In a sense, it’s not really an ‘indie’ film… I mean, it cost QT $8.5 mil, and features the A-List talents of John Travolta, Samuel L Jackson, Uma Thurman and Bruce Willis! Yeah, maybe they weren’t as well-known at the time, but Tarantino definitely dropped a fortune to have their public appeal. No doubt, this was a good choice…

Travolta and Jackson make for an irresistably dynamic duo as the right-hand men of a big crime boss. Drugs and debt run their business, and business is good. Tarantino regularly takes the opportunity to shock the viewer with the violent nature of their jobs, but these bloody sequences are fairly iconic of his work. The most memorable scene (perhaps) was Thurman’s mistake of snorting a line of HEROIN instead of cocaine. Silly Uma. The drug wreaks havoc on her body, and Travolta eventually must plunge a shot of adrenaline, through the breastplate, into her heart… You really can’t help but flinch. But that’s the point! (more…)

A few thoughts from some of the students who came to the festival in 2006 and 2008:

On why to go:

• “Sundance is not just about watching movies, traveling, or going on a vacation, but it’s about sharing an accomplishment.  It’s about sharing your love of movies with other people.  But most of all it’s about respecting the dreams that so many have worked so hard to pursue, produce, and accomplish, and that is why I am attending the festival.” (Emily Behrens, ‘08)
• “What draws me to watch an independent film is the fact that the film will touch me on some daringly real level….I watch independent films because there is a sense of truth that validates the lives we lead.” (Sharon Oegerle, ‘08)
• “Overall I am just hoping to see original and well made films that tell a great story while keeping me attracted to it without boring me.  And even if I don’t like any of the films I see I will still enjoy seeing how well these young film makers have done and to see what stories they have to tell.” (Bill Griswold, ‘08) (more…)

Michael Jai White is Black Dynamite!

Back in the day, films like Shaft, Foxy Brown and Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song styled funkalicious jazzy soundtracks, tough black heroes and heroines and corrupt white cops and politicians. A new genre was born, both celebrating and exploiting black culture, targeting urban African-American audiences with its style and subject matter. Some of the best of these films have become cult favorites, and have influenced new filmmakers such as Quentin Tarantino, whose Jackie Brown was an explicit homage to the genre he’d grown up on and loved.

Shaft was remade in slick Hollywood fashion by John Singleton (Boyz ‘n The Hood) in 2000, featuring Samuel Jackson in the title role. But for the original low budget style and campy flair you had to go to the bargain bin DVD versions, until now.

Scott Sanders’ blacksploitation spoof Black Dynamite premieres this year as one of the “Midnight” films at Sundance. If this trailer is anything to go by, the funky magic and excitement appears to be back. Black Dynamite looks hotter than TNT:
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