Carrie [1976] (5 Stars)

I decided to watch "Carrie" again this evening after hearing about the death of Piper Laurie, who played Carrie's mother, Margaret White. I didn't know Piper very well. She made many films, but I only ever saw her in "Carrie" and "Twin Peaks". Her performance in "Carrie" was a work of genius. She plays an evil woman who sends shivers down my spine. She's a Christian who's convinced she's doing the Lord's work, while she's actually following the Devil. Margaret White reads the Bible. She probably knows the Bible well. Christians fall astray when they believe things that aren't in the Bible. These extra beliefs usually take priority over what the Bible says. Margaret repeatedly says that "the first sin was intercourse". How can anyone who knows the Bible believe something as stupid as that? In Genesis 1:28, before Adam and Eve fell into sin, God said "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the Earth". In other words, God commanded them to have intercourse. The first sin was disobeying God, which is described in Genesis 3. I've heard theologians argue about whether Adam and Eve had intercourse before sinning. I assume they did, but it doesn't matter. If it had been important, it would have been described in the Bible.

It's shocking to see Margaret White make the sign of the cross with a knife. She can no longer distinguish between good and evil. She can praise God and commit murder at the same time. Piper Laurie has the ability to realistically portray a truly evil person. She was nominated for an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress. She should have won.

Piper Laurie
January 22, 1932 – October 14, 2023

Carrie [1976] (5 Stars)

IMDB recently sent me an email reminding me that it's prom season in the USA, recommending a few films that feature proms. "Carrie" was the first film in the list, and rightfully so. It's the first film that people think of when they talk about high school proms. I didn't have any of the other films in the list, but I immediately remembered another film that I own. Then a third film occurred to me. I decided to do a mini-marathon for the prom season. So when is the prom season? There isn't a fixed date, but usually it's the end of May, after the final exams. Some schools have the exams earlier, meaning that the senior prom is at the beginning of May, so the whole of May can be considered prom season.

Three films isn't enough for a marathon, so I've added a few more films that are about high schools in general. As I write this I have a list of seven films in front of me. I can think of other films, but I'll probably stick to these seven. Probably.

Incidentally, in Germany the film is called "Carrie: Des Satans Jüngste Tochter", i.e. "Carrie: Satan's Youngest Daughter". That annoys me. The whole point of the film is that Carrie isn't a bad girl, she just has certain special abilities. Sometimes I get the impression that companies don't bother to watch a film before they release it in a different country.

Sissy Spacek had been making a few films since 1972, but "Carrie" was her breakthrough role. She's still making films today, and she's had several Academy Award nominations as Best Actress, but nobody doubts that Carrie White is the outstanding role of her career. It was the role she was born to play. She had a manic facial expression that has to be natural. It's not a face that anyone can play. The only other actress who could have come close was Shelley Duvall.

The film was also raised to the level of a masterpiece by the casting of Piper Laurie as Carrie's mother, Margaret White. She realistically portrays a woman who puts her religious convictions above her love for her family. That's always a recipe for disaster.

Margaret has a warped idea of Christianity. She encourages her daughter to pray in front of this statue of Jesus. I could understand a statue of Jesus on the cross, because that's a common Christian symbol, but why a statue of Jesus being shot with arrows? If it really is Jesus. I've read that Saint Sebastian was tied to a tree and shot with arrows. Maybe it's supposed to be him, but I'm not aware that Saint Sebastian was ever a significant saint for the Catholic Church.

The significance in the film is that Margaret is killed in a similar pose, pierced by knives instead of arrows.

Carrie goes to the prom. If I'd been an American, I would gladly have invited a girl with a beautiful smile like that. I wouldn't care whether or not we became prom king and queen. I would have felt like a king dancing with her body pressed against mine.

The happy smile turns into screams of horror. It's not Carrie's fault. She's not a daughter of Satan. If the other girls in her school hadn't bullied her, she would never have reacted so violently.

This is the first film in my high school mini-marathon. Wait till tomorrow to see what my second film will be.

Success Rate:  + 16.8

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Bolt (4 Stars)

Disney Wednesday #10

This is a film I'd never heard of before today. My grandson Oliver wanted to watch a film, and he picked "Bolt" while clicking through the selection of animated films on Disney Plus. It's a film made by Walt Disney in 2008. I was honestly surprised how good it is. Despite being a relatively new film, it has a lot of the magic of Disney's old films.

Penny is a 7-year-old girl who lives in Los Angeles. Her mother takes her to a pet shop to get a dog, and she picks a small white puppy that she calls Bolt, because of the black mark on his left side.

The first question I asked is what dog breed he is. The film makers based his general appearance on the Swiss White Shepherd dog, but they've made him smaller and less hairy. All I can say is that if this dog doesn't exist, he needs to be invented. That's a task for dog breeders.

That was just the introduction. Five years later Bolt is a super-hero. Sort of. He's become a television star called Bolt, and Penny is his co-star. He has super strength and he can fire heat rays from his eyes. The difference between Penny and Bolt is that she knows it's a TV show, but Bolt doesn't. As a result, when Penny is kidnapped at the end of an episode, he has to be kept separate from her until the next episode is filmed, so that he thinks he really has to rescue her.

I could ask questions about how they make the special effects of rays shooting out of Bolt's eyes while he's filming, but let's suspend disbelief.

When Penny is kidnapped, Bolt doesn't want to wait for the filming to resume to find her. He breaks out of his trailer and searches for her. Film studios are a confusing place for a small dog. He hides in a cardboard box, not knowing that it's a package due for shipment. The box is sealed, and when it's opened he's in New York. This is an even more confusing place for a small dog.

Bolt meets a stray cat called Mittens. She's a fan of his television show. She tries to explain to him that his super strength and heat rays are just make believe, but he doesn't understand. For him the show is real life. She helps him return to Los Angeles, hitching a ride in trains and trucks. Most of the film is a road movie, as Bolt and Mittens travel across America. On the way they pick up a hamster called Rhino.

In Los Angeles, the show must go on. There's a stand-in dog for Bolt, but he's not as good as the real thing. He can't act as well, and Penny misses Bolt.

I didn't like most of the children's films that I've watched over the last few months. "Bolt" is different. It's a good film that I'd like to watch again.

Success Rate:  + 0.1

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Carrie [1976] (5 Stars)

This is the 27th film in the Stuttgart Fantasy Film Festival.

All the other films in the festival are new films, as to be expected in a film festival. "Carrie", made in 1976, was included in the programme to celebrate Stephen King's 75th birthday. Before the film began, a prize was offered to the first person to say when Stephen King will become 75. My hand shot up immediately. It's tomorrow. I've always known when his birthday is, because he has the same birthday as me. My prize was the film "Jakob's Wife" on Blu-ray. I've never seen it, so I'll be glad to watch it some time in the next few days.

This is a classic film, a masterpiece of cinema which most of my readers will already know, so I shan't write anything about it. On the other hand, I was sitting at a table with three of my friends after the film, and I was shocked to hear that none of them had seen it before. Terrible! But at least they've seen it now.

Success Rate:  + 16.8

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Grease (4 Stars)

Netflix Thursday #10

Today I watched "Grease" for the first time ever. It's true, I've never watched it before, and only the news of Olivia Newton-John's death has inspired me to watch it.

It's a colourful film with a lot of catchy songs, but the "greatest musical of all time"? Not even close. There are three musicals in my top 100 films list: "Tommy", "The Wall" and "Evita". All three are much better films, in different ways.

I enjoy the singing. That's why I've given it a high rating. The problems are with the story and the casting, which is why I couldn't give it a higher rating.

The film takes place in 1958. It begins with Danny Zuko (John Travolta) and Sandy Olsson (Olivia Newton-John) having a summer romance. She's an Australian on holiday with her parents in America. Where exactly in America are they? The original musical was set in Chicago, but that's obviously not where the film takes place. The location is deliberately kept vague, but it looks a lot like California.

Sandy's parents change their mind and stay in America. When Sandy enrols in Rydell High School she sees Danny again, but he acts differently. He's with his clique, the Thunderbolts, and he's a cool guy, so he can't admit to them that he's fallen in love. As the school year progresses they find their way back to one another.

Now for the problems with the infeasible story. Why would a family turn a holiday into a permanent stay? It's not impossible, but it's rare enough to merit an explanation. We never see Sandy's parents, which also seems unrealistic. When a teenage girl has a boyfriend the parents (especially the father) are always hovering in the background. Sandy's image transformation in the final scene from an innocent girl in a long dress to an aggressive young woman in tight leather isn't explained. Maybe she's doing it to make Danny like her more. There are lots of possibilities, but the film doesn't tell us anything.

As for the casting, it must be the film with the oldest high school students ever. The school clique that accepts Sandy, the Pink Ladies, is made up of actresses who are 22, 27, 31 and 34. No attempt is made to make them look younger. They look like parents, not schoolgirls. Danny's ex-girlfriend Cha Cha is played by an actress who's only 30, but she looks at least 40. The film's casting wasn't taken seriously, and it shows.

The film's best scene (and songs) is the final scene at the fairground. I doubt I'll watch "Grease" again, but I might watch the last 10 minutes for light entertainment.

Success Rate:  + 59.0

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Pulp Fiction (5 Stars)

Dancer's Top Films #50

This is Quentin Tarantino's second film, made in 1994, two years after "Reservoir Dogs". Many of the scenes look like a reunion of the Reservoir Dogs actors. Of the six dogs, four of the actors appear in "Pulp Fiction": Quentin Tarantino, Harvey Keitel, Steve Buscemi and Tim Roth. Their characters were all killed in "Reservoir Dogs", so some people have come to the conclusion that "Pulp Fiction" is a prequel that takes place in the same universe as "Reservoir Dogs". This is reinforced by the fact that a fifth Reservoir Dog (Vic Vega) has the same family name as one of the gangsters in "Pulp Fiction" (Vincent Vega). This is impossible, because the Reservoir Dogs were men who didn't know one another's names. It's not a shared universe, it's just Quentin Tarantino using good actors that he's worked with before.

I'm aware that it's not just these two films. There have been attempts to tie all of Quentin Tarantino's films together, including "From Dusk Till Dawn". That's just ridiculous. Is Mia Wallace the same person as Beatrix Kiddo in "Kill Bill"? Impossible! I've read the arguments in favour of a single universe, the Tarantinoverse, but I shan't quote them here because I don't believe they hold up. The only thing I like about the theories is that the word Tarantinoverse sounds so cool.

Most films tell a story with a single consistent narrative, unless they're true stories. A typical film goes from A to B with only minor deviations. "Pulp Fiction" is full of random incidents which have an influence on the main narrative. This gives "Pulp Fiction" the feeling of a true story, without it actually being true. Important characters are introduced late in the film. If someone who had never seen the film read a summary of the plot he'd say it's bad screenwriting. It breaks all the rules. And yet the end result is a work of pure brilliance.

The gangsters Jules (Samuel L. Jackson) and Vincent (John Travolta) are professional killers. They're friends who work together for their boss, Marcellus Wallace, but there's one big difference between them: Jules believes in miracles, Vincent doesn't. Only Jules survives to the end of the film. Is it his faith that saves him? I'll let you decide for yourself.

This is a trademark Quentin Tarantino scene of people looking into a car trunk, although Vincent is distracted. Maybe a girl dressed in a mini-skirt is walking by.

Here's another Quentin Tarantino trademark, a foot close up. Do you recognise the actress? I'll give the answer at the bottom of this post, so don't read on until you know.

I shan't keep you in suspense with the second actress with naked feet. It's Angela Jones, playing a barefoot taxi driver called Esmarelda. I don't get it. Isn't it too difficult to drive a car without shoes?

Never mind the feet, I'm more interested in Angela's beautiful face. There's an aura of evil about her. Is it just the way she looks in the film? I'll never know.

The film is well known for its non-linear narrative. Today I watched it while asking myself if it would be better if the scenes had been re-ordered to make the film chronological (with slight rewriting, of course). For the first half of the film I wasn't sure, but by the end of the film I was convinced that the non-linear narrative is advantageous to the plot. The first half tells Vincent's story, and the second half tells Jules' story, even though they appear together in some of the scenes.

Did you recognise the feet in my little test? They belong to Uma Thurman. We'll see a lot more of them in "Kill Bill".

Success Rate:  + 24.7

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Despite the recently added daisy-chaining of my top 100 posts, here's a summary of my films so far as an assistance to my new readers.

51. Evita (1996)
52. Assaunt on Precinct 13 (1976)
53. Death Proof (2007)
54. Falling Down (1993)
55. Adaptation (2002)
56. The Raid 2 (2014)
57. Summer in Orange (2011)
58. Flowers of War (2011)
59. Scream (1996)
60. Scream 2 (1997)
61. Reservoir Dogs (1992)
62. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
63. The Gift (2000)
64. From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
65. Ip Man (2008)
66. Ip Man 2 (2010)
67. Snatch (2000)
68. Lock, stock and two smoking barrels (1998)
69. Tragedy Girls (2017)
70. Gladiator (2000)
71. Enter the Dragon (1973)
72. Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982)
73. The Legend of 1900 (1998)
74. Young Frankenstein (1974)
75. The Virgin Psychics (2015)
76. The Man who would be King (1975)
77. John Rabe (2009)
78. The Paperboy (1994)
79. The Walk (2015)
80. Perfume (2006)
81. The Green Mile (1999)
82. Little Nicky (2000)
83. Monster (2003)
84. Gloomy Sunday (1999)
85. We are the night (2010)
86. Dark Water (2002)
87. What to do in case of fire (2001)
88. The Shining (1980)
89. Azumi (2003/2005)
90. The Mummy (1999)
91. Wie Feuer und Flamme (2001)
92. Attack of the 50 Foot Centerfold (1995)
94. Titanic (1997)
95. Mad City (1997)
96. Leon (1994)
97. Iron Rose (1973)
98. Kick-Ass (2010)
99. Rush Hour (1998)
100. Bella Martha (2001)

Mad City (5 Stars)

Dancer's Top Films #95

There are a few things that amaze me about this 1997 film. Why did it fail at the box office? Why is almost unknown today, despite having two of the world's top actors? Why do the critics hate it so much? Why, why, why? It was made by the legendary Greek director Costa-Gavras. His films are always very special, with a unique style that sets him apart from other directors. His films all have a political message, while remaining entertaining. We don't have the feeling that he's lecturing the viewer, even though he probably is.

Sam Baily (John Travolta) is a man who's been fired from the Museum of Natural History in a fictional Californian city called Madeline. It shouldn't be confused with the small town with the same name. He visits the museum with a gun, hoping to persuade his ex-boss to give him his job back. His gun accidentally goes off, and he shoots his friend and former colleague Cliff, the museum's remaining security guard. In a panic he locks the doors.

Still in the museum is a group of schoolchildren with their teacher, as well as Max Brackett (Dustin Hoffman), a reporter for a local television station. It's become a hostage situation, even though Sam never wanted to hurt anybody, especially not children. From here on there are fascinating plots that run side by side. Max sees this as an opportunity to become famous by having an exclusive news story, so he coaches Sam on what to say to the police. He interviews Sam live on air, after previously giving him advice on what to say and what not to say. He tells Sam from the start that he has to give himself up, but not straight away. First Sam has to play the media to become popular before he walks out of the museum.

But there are conflicting forces. While Max's news reports make Sam out to be a normal, everyday man with the best intentions, Max's former boss phrases his news reports to make Sam out to be a malicious criminal. There's only one truth, but the media is twisting the story in opposite directions, depending on which news channel you tune into.

There's a scene in which Sam Baily is interviewed by Larry King, who appears in the film playing himself. He's a famous television host who died yesterday. I didn't pick this film deliberately because of him. I'd forgotten that he appears in it.

Larry King is an outsider, so he's not as personally involved with the story as Max, but he judges Sam very harshly. In the interview he says things that insult Sam. I wonder if he would have behaved like that in real life.

In the course of the film, Max slowly loses his selfish interest in coaching Sam. He begins to like him, and he genuinely wants the best for him. Sam isn't a bad man by any means. The children in the museum aren't afraid. He gives them chocolate and fizzy drinks from the vending machines. They're sad when they have to leave. In the scene where the first two children are released they're terrified of the reporters and attempt to run back into the museum. The media is more of an enemy than the man with a gun.

The film throws up interesting questions about the nature of truth. Is truth what happens or what you believe? The news media promises to report the truth, but they twist the truth, sometimes intentionally, but usually quite by accident. Philosophers have argued for hundreds of years about the nature of truth, and they're still far from reaching a consensus. When Pontius Pilate asked Jesus "What is truth?" he received no answer. As a result he decided that Jesus was innocent. Is truth something that is best not talked about, because every attempt drags it down into untruth?

My father used to say that for every truth there are hundreds of lies. My father was a simple, uneducated man, so I assumed this was a famous quote that he'd picked up somewhere, but it seems to have been his own wisdom.

People who know me know that I'm painstakingly honest. I never tell a lie under any circumstances, and even when I realise I've said something wrong unintentionally I panic and have to put it right. Honesty is a good quality, isn't it? However, I have a bad quality that stands alongside my honesty. It's not enough for me to be honest, I want everyone to know that I'm honest. That's pride. If I were a better man I'd just tell the truth and let people believe whatever they want about me, but I feel the need to stand up and defend myself when someone doubts my words.

Let me give you an example. I first watched this film in 2012. At the time my daughter Fiona was studying sometimes in Birmingham, sometimes in Stuttgart. After seeing "Mad City" I talked to Fiona about it in Facebook. She was fascinated, and she said she'd like to watch it. I put the DVD at the side of my computer. A few months later she returned to England. When she was at the computer (we shared my computer) I pointed at the DVD and said, "That's the film you wanted to watch". She replied, "I never said I wanted to watch it. You're lying!"

Wow! That hurt me. If a stranger calls me a liar it merely annoys me, but hearing those words from my own daughter hurt me immensely. So later, when I had the computer to myself, I scrolled back through the chat logs. It took me almost two hours. Then I went to Fiona and told her, "I can show you where you told me you wanted to see the film". Her reply was, "I don't want to see it". That hurt me even more. I had proof that I wasn't lying, but she didn't want to see it; she preferred to go on believing I was lying. I didn't discuss the subject again, even though I was hurt.

Fast forward to February 2020. I was now living in Germany, Fiona was still living in Birmingham. Fiona told me she was pregnant. I was overjoyed, but Fiona's mother, my ex-wife, was in a state of panic. She thought Fiona wouldn't be able to cope. She kept telling me that I should go to Birmingham to help Fiona before and after the birth. I said No, because I thought I would be in Fiona's way. My ex-wife said I should be close, so she found a cheap flat for me in Bloxwich. I refused again. A few days later I was talking to Fiona in Facebook, and I told her that her mother wanted me to spend more time in England. Her reply was, "My mother just said that she never said that, and I believe her, so I would appreciate if you could stop lying".

This was the second time she'd called me a liar. I didn't take it as passively as the first time. I told her that I wouldn't talk to her again until she apologised. The next day I asked my ex-wife about it. She told me that she couldn't remember what she'd said. Then she showed me some photos Fiona had sent her in Whatsapp. I spotted the conversation that Fiona had mentioned. My ex-wife had denied saying I should spend more time in England. I challenged her and asked her why she'd said it, and she was very vague. She just said she was probably busy and didn't think about what she was writing. I asked her to tell Fiona I'd told the truth, which she did the same day.

I waited for an apology from Fiona. None came. A month later Fiona came to visit us. I remained in my room and avoided her, waiting for her to come to me and apologise. It was the same as the first time. She knew that I wasn't lying, but she preferred to believe I was lying.

In November Fiona visited again with her baby on her arm, my new grandson Samuel. That melted my heart. I had to spend time with Samuel, so I talked to Fiona as well. We had pleasant conversations. Then she returned home. Since then I've reverted to the way it was before. I don't write to her on Facebook. I'm still waiting for the apology. I forgave (but didn't forget) the first time she called me a liar. If I forgive her the second time, there'll be a third time, and a fourth, and a fifth. She needs to learn to respect me as the most honest man she's ever known.

Am I stubborn? Yes. Am I stupid? Maybe. It's the way I am. I have good qualities and bad qualities. My worst quality is that I'm proud of my good qualities.

Success Rate:  - 4.8

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Carrie [1976] (4½ Stars)

Today I watched the 1976 adaptation of the Stephen King novel "Carrie". It was his first novel, and it was also his first novel that was adapted for film. Since then the number of films based on his novels and short stories has increased from year to year. I read an article in Empire Magazine which stated that exactly 50 films had been written based on his writings, but that was 15 years ago. I don't know if there's an up-to-date list. I might have to write one myself, scraping the information together from IMDB.

Some of his films are better than others. "Misery" is one of the best films ever made, partly due to the phenomenal performance of Kathy Bates. Of the films I've seen, "The Tommyknockers", a made-for-television movie, stands out as particularly bad. I watched it more than once and I was baffled because there were things in it that just didn't make sense. Then I read the book, and there was an ah-ha effect. In the book everything is written perfectly, but things were left out of the film or changed, ruining the story. It's a very good book, so let's hope a second attempt is made to make a good film.

"Carrie" is an amazing book, especially considering it was Stephen King's first full-length novel. It's a rarity that a book's heroine becomes the monster at the end. It's much more common for the bad guy to do good than for the good guy to do bad. The reader feels for her and wants there to be a happy ending, but the ending shocks the reader. There are similarities with Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein".

The film profits from the superb acting by Sissy Spacek in the title role. She was relatively unknown at the time, and "Carrie" projected her into stardom. Piper Laurie is also excellent as Carrie's mother, in her first film after taking a break from acting for 15 years. In the past I've criticised her acting as wooden and unnatural, but today I changed my mind after paying close attention to her performance. The character she plays is a wooden character, a woman forcing herself to be something she's not. Piper Laurie's acting perfectly portrays this.

It could be argued that Brian De Palma's pacing isn't ideal. After the big climax at the high school dance the film slows down to a crawl before reaching the epilogue in Carrie's home. The 2013 version moves more quickly into the final scenes. I really have to watch it again in the next few days so I can make  a better comparison.

Success Rate:  + 16.8

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Austin Powers: Goldmember (4½ Stars)

There's been a two month delay, but I'm finally concluding my viewing of the Austin Powers Trilogy (which should only have lasted a week). I have a perfectly good reason for the delay: I forgot about the third film! I even put the Blu-ray box set back in the cellar last month because I thought I'd watched it all. No I hadn't. Yesterday I realised my mistake and ran down into the cellar in panic to get the box set back.

Don't worry, my cellar is well organised. I have five bookcases for my DVDs and Blu-rays, well sorted in alphabetical order. I found the Austin Powers Trilogy filed under A where it belonged.

My main intention of this post is to write about Verne Troyer, but I can't resist mentioning the Japanese twins Fook Mi and Fook Yu. Austin is admiring their rucksacks. I'm not so self-centred. I'd be looking somewhere else.

Now let's get back to Verne Troyer, or rather the character Mini-Me that he plays in the film. He was created by cloning Dr. Evil's DNA while he was frozen in suspended animation. This was a shock to Dr. Evil at first, but he soon accepted Mini-Me as a replacement for his son Scott who wasn't evil enough to take over the family business.

Mini-Me partook willingly in Dr. Evil's plans, even if it meant that he had to go to prison.

One of the advantages of being so small is that people don't notice Mini-Me sneaking up on them with a gun.

They really ought to make chairs in his size. And beds. And everything.

In this film Scott finally decides to become evil, so his father accepts him back. Poor Mini-Me feels rejected, so he changes sides. He becomes a British secret agent, which involves him dressing up to look like Austin Powers. Once a clone, always a clone.

Verne Troyer
January 1, 1969 – April 21, 2018

"Verne was the consummate professional and a beacon of positivity for those of us who had the honour of working with him. It is a sad day, but I hope he is in a better place. He will be greatly missed" (Mike Myers).

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Mad City (5 Stars)

Once more I have to stand up to the serious film critics and tell them they're wrong. This film has had mostly unfavourable reviews, but I consider it to be brilliant, like all the films directed by Costa-Gavras (real name Konstantinos Gavras). He doesn't make many films, but the ones he makes are all masterpieces. This is no exception.

The natural history museum in Madeline, California has been forced to make cutbacks. Sam Baily, one of the two security guards, has been fired. He's so ashamed that he can't tell his wife about it. He goes out every day and sits in a cinema watching films until it's his normal time to go home. He begs his former boss, Mrs. Banks, for another chance. When she refuses he goes back with a gun to persuade her. He's not a bad man. He just wants his job back. That's all.

While talking to Mrs. Banks Sam's gun accidentally goes off, badly injuring his friend, the other security guard. Sam panics and locks the museum's doors. He's locked in the museum with Mrs. Banks, a class of young children and the reporter Max Brackett, who was visiting the museum to interview Mrs. Banks about the cutbacks.

Max used to be a reporter on one of the big national channels. Two years ago he was fired for being a loose cannon, and he now works for a small local television station. He sees this hostage situation as a chance to get his old job back. He talks to Sam, advising him on how to talk to the hostage negotiators. Max thinks that Sam has an important story to tell, so he advises him on what to do to become popular with the American public. He makes Sam no promises. He tells him he'll have to go to jail when he leaves the museum, but if he plays his cards right it'll only be a short sentence, and when he leaves jail he'll be offered a television show.

Sam and Max spend three days together with the "hostages". Max coaches Sam in what to say and do. For instance, when the first two children are released Max tells Sam that one has to be black so that nobody will accuse him of racism.

The children aren't scared of Sam. They sit fascinated when he tells them stories. He unlocks the vending machines to give them snacks. Significantly, when the first children are released they're scared of the reporters who rush to interview them and try to run back into the museum.

John Travolta has never been one of my favourite actors, but he's very impressive in this film. It's probably his best performance ever, even better than his role as Vincent in "Pulp Fiction".

In his earlier years I considered Dustin Hoffman to be the world's best actor. Who else came close to him in the 1960's, 1970's and 1980's? This was his last really great film. He's lost his magic over the last 20 years. Let's hope he can get it back.

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Pulp Fiction (5 Stars)

30 films to watch before you die, #15

When someone quotes the Bible at you it's worth checking to see if they're right. In "Pulp Fiction" Jules (Samuel L. Jackson) says:

There's a passage I got memorized. Ezekiel 25:17. "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee".

So I checked my Bible, and what did I find?

"Because the Philistines acted in vengeance and took revenge with malice in their hearts, and sought to destroy Judah, this is what the Lord says: I am about to stretch out my hand against the Philistines, and I will wipe out the Kerethites and destroy those remaining along the coast. I will carry out great vengeance on them and punish them in my wrath. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I take vengeance on them".

Even allowing for variations between different translations Jules' quote is way off. On the other hand, would you discuss theology with someone who's pointing a gun at your head?

Having said that, let me say something about the difficulty I had with picking "Pulp Fiction" for my 30 films list. I restricted myself to a maximum of one film per director. In the case of Quentin Tarantino, what should I pick? All his films are good, and I can't even decide what my favourite is. If someone asks me I usually name the film of his that I watched last. At first I put "Reservoir Dogs" in the list, because it was his first film as director. Then I replaced it with "Django Unchained", because I thought that my list doesn't have enough recent films. Finally I picked "Pulp Fiction" because most people say it's his best. It certainly is very good, but is it his best? I don't know.

One thing struck me today while watching the film is that all the characters, even those in smaller roles, were familiar to me. I'm not saying it because I've watched the film before. What I mean is that the dialogue introduces the characters, and within a minute of them appearing on screen I feel that I know them. Does any other director have such skill at character development?

When reviewing other films in my 30 films list I gave three suggestions for further viewing. I shan't limit myself today. These are the other films made by Quentin Tarantion, all brilliant and deserving to be watched if you haven't seen them already.

• Reservoir Dogs (1992)
• Jackie Brown (1997)
• Kill Bill (2003-2004)
• Death Proof (2007)
• Inglourious Basterds (2009)
• Django Unchained (2012)