Reservoir Dogs (1992)

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Starring: Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen

When a simple jewelry heist goes horribly wrong, the surviving criminals begin to suspect that one of them is a police informant.

I know I’m in the vast minority here – and you can crucify me for saying this – but I hated this movie. Quintin Tarantino’s movies require an acquired taste, and I guess I haven’t acquired that taste yet. I found this utterly boring and quite annoying, actually.

So, most of the film is set in a warehouse. The Reservoir Dogs are a bunch of thieves. A Heist – which is not shown to the audience – went wrong, and now the thieves are trying to figure out which one of them is the “rat”, who alerted the cops. They suspect one of them is an undercover cop, so the film sees the men talking, yelling, swearing, talking, yelling, swearing, talking, yelling, swearing…oh, whatever, I hated this! I swear, almost the entire movie revolved around these men arguing about who the rat is!! Ugh, enough already; this is so not my kind of entertainment!!

I mean, need I say more? There was nothing else happening here, and very little was actually shown to the audience. For most parts, the viewer had to envision what happened. I quickly loose interest in movies with too much dialogue. Add a couple of swear words in every single sentence and I’m tempted to hit the STOP button on my remote.

When they had that 5-minute conversation in the beginning of the movie about tipping in a restaurant, I should have stopped already. I don’t normally enjoy neo-noir crime movies. Did I enjoy ‘Reservoir Dogs’? Well, the answer to this is obvious: it’s a resounding NO!!

‘Reservoir Dogs’ received 36 award nominations, winning 13.

Would I watch it again? NO.

American History X (1998)

Director: Tony Kaye

Starring: Edward Norton, Edward Furlong, Beverly D’Angelo

Living a life marked by violence, neo-Nazi Derek finally goes to prison after killing two black youths. Upon his release, Derek vows to change; he hopes to prevent his brother, Danny, who idolizes Derek, from following in his footsteps.

By the time the film ends, it feels like a good movie. I however can’t deny the fact that ‘American History X’ was mostly an unpleasant viewing experience. With all the racist remarks and foul language, it really was not a pleasure to watch. I’ve said this so many times before but can’t stress it enough: I hate any kind of racist depiction in movies. In this day and age I don’t want to be reminded of racial issues. We are – or should be – all equal.

What I admire about the film, though, is its good script, good character development, good photography, and good performances by the entire cast. Edward Norton, especially, was fantastic, and he owned every scene he was in.

Edward Norton stars as Derek, an arrogant neo-Nazi who was jailed for cold-bloodedly shooting hijackers. Derek’s younger brother Danny is a kid with an attitude, and is quickly following in the Derek’s footsteps.

When Danny’s history teacher asks him to write a paper on Derek – called American History X – Derek’s life is told through backflashes (shown in black and white) as Danny writes the paper. With Derek now being released from prison, he is a changed man. His girlfriends and friends are still part of a gang destined to ‘set things right’ in America.

‘American History X’ deals with many different issues – mostly racism – and due to its subject matter, I did not really enjoy the movie. This is not my kind of entertainment. As mentioned, the ending almost made me believe this was a good movie in its entirety, but it just wasn’t my cup of tea.

‘American History X’ received several award nominations including an Oscar nomination for Best Lead Actor (Edward Norton).

Would I watch it again? No.

Riders of Justice (2020)

Director: Anders Thomas Jensen

Starring: Mads Mikkelsen, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Andrea Heick Gadeberg

Markus goes home to his teenage daughter, Mathilde, when his wife dies in a train crash. All appears to be a tragic accident until a mathematics geek, who was also a fellow passenger on the train, and his two colleagues show up.

Fate is an interesting thing. It has its own plan for every individual, whether for the better…or not.

Trivial events lead to Emma and her daughter Mathilde taking the train instead of the car. When mathematician Otto gave up his seat on the train for Emma, fate was in his favour, but sadly not for Emma, and she was killed in what appeared to be a freak accident.

Otto believes nothing happens by chance, and he finds evidence that proves the accident was no accident. It turns out a key witness in a gang-related case and his lawyer were also on the train. Eliminating the witness, meant the gang members would go free. The gang in question: The Riders of Justice.

When Otto approaches Emma’s husband, Markus (Mads Mikkelsen) with his findings, Markus is skeptical at first, but when irrefutable evidence indicates it was indeed no accident, Markus vows to avenge Emma’s death and take out the gang members. With the help of Otto and his friends Lennart and Emmenthaler, they track down the Riders of Justice. Hungry for revenge and justice, Markus – a hardened soldier – is about to unleash his fury.

‘Riders of Justice’ is miles better than vengeance movies like ‘John Wick’ (ugh, hate that franchise!). It has more substance and character development than any John Wick film could ever wish to have. ‘Riders of Justice’ also has emotional depth, and fantastic performances all round. I also loved the subtle humour.

‘Riders of Justice’ takes us on a wild ride in a movie full of surprises. In a way, the film reminded me of films like ‘Rendel’ and ‘Nobody’. I loved it!

‘Riders of Justice’ received 43 award nominations, winning 9 including Best International Feature, Best Supporting Actor, Best Actress, Best Original Score, Best Visual Effects, Best Actor, and Best Narrative Feature.

In Danish.

Would I watch it again? Yes.

The Sting (1973)

Director: George Roy Hill

Starring: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw

I’m beginning to think there’s something wrong with the way I view (older) films. ‘The Sting’ is yet another highly rated movie I found slow and boring. Maybe its just that older movies were generally slower moving than most of today’s films; I don’t know. I suppose films were more about character development back then, and that we – as the newer generation – prefer films to move along at a faster pace. So, yeah, maybe the problem does lie with me. I simply did not find this movie entertaining – or interesting enough – for my liking.

The moment the film started with that instantly recognizable theme music that put a smile on my face, I honestly believed I was going to love this movie. Turns out the best thing about the movie (for me) was just that theme music. Had the film been about 25 to 30 minutes shorter, I might even have enjoyed it more.

The film is about con artist Johnny Hooker (Robert Redford) who attaches no value to money. He spends it just as fast as he steals it. Easy come, easy go. When his partner Luther is killed by crime boss Lonnie Donnegan’s men, Johnny teams up with another con artist, Henry Gondorff (Paul Newman), to take down Lonnie. Corrupt police lieutenant William Snyder (Charles Durning) is also after Lonnie, and Johnny.

Together with a handful of con artists, Johnny and Henry certainly went to quite an elaborate set-up to get to Lonnie. It seemed a bit excessive for them to go to such great lengths when they had more than enough opportunity to capture him – without all their mumbo jumbo make-believe efforts. I just didn’t buy it.

Halfway into the movie I became bored and started watching the clock. This might be a high-rated, multi-award winning movie, but it is so not my kind of movie. I couldn’t get into its premise or the characters. Being con artists, I didn’t really root for them and never viewed them as protagonists.

‘The Sting’ won 7 Oscars: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Costume Design, Best Editing, Best Original Score. Interestingly, I seem to agree with these nominations, but as a whole I did not enjoy the movie.

At the time of release the film earned $156 million on a budget of $5.5 million. It was followed by a sequel in 1983.

Would I watch it again? No.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008)

Director: Mark Herman

Starring: Asa Butterfield, David Thewlis, Rupert Friend

Through the innocent eyes of Bruno, the eight-year-old son of the commandant at a German concentration camp, a forbidden friendship with a Jewish boy on the other side of the camp fence has startling and unexpected consequences.

‘The Boy in the Striped Pajamas’ (sometimes spelt Pyjamas) is a disturbing war movie told from the perspective of an 8-year old boy, Bruno (Asa Butterfield). When his father is promoted, they move to the countryside where they live near a concentration camp. Bruno believes the camp to be a farm, and the slave, Pavel, working for them to be a farmer. (Before the war, Pavel was studying to be a doctor.)

Bored and longing for friends, Bruno befriends an 8-year old Jewish boy, Shmuel, in the camp. He visits regularly – one boy a prisoner and the other one free, with a fence separating them. The film so well illustrates the innocent and naïve nature of children. Not realizing Shmuel is actually a prisoner, Bruno envies him for having friends to play with. Bruno doesn’t understand the horrors of war.

German children are brainwashed with derogative teachings about Jews, but for Bruno there is no divide between them. ‘The Boy in the Striped Pajamas’ is sad and disturbing in so many different ways. This is a very well scripted film with fantastic performances. Asa Butterfield in particular was excellent as Bruno. Prepare yourself for a shocking finale!

‘The Boy in the Striped Pajamas’ earned $44.1 million on a budget of $12.5 million. The film won several awards including Best Actress and Best Film.

Would I watch it again? Yes.

Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022)

Directors: Kyle Balda, Brad Ableson, Jonathan del Val

The untold story of one twelve-year-old’s dream to become the world’s greatest supervillain.

‘Minions’ was a prequel to ‘Despicable Me’. ‘Minions: The Rise of Gru’ is a sequel to ‘Minions’ and also serves as (another) prequel to ‘Despicable Me’. Oh, Hollywood, you never get enough of your sequels, prequels, remakes, reboots and spinoffs, do you?

The dysfunctional yet adorable Minions with their infectious laughter are back for yet another adventure, and once more up to their hilarious antics. For this installment in the ’Despicable Me’ franchise we go back to Gru’s childhood, when he had dreams of becoming a supervillain.

Gru is up against the Vicious Six, a team of supervillains. He received an invitation to audition for them, but it doesn’t quite go as he had hoped. Thanks to their ignorance, he manages to steal the legendary Zodiac Stone. He gives the stone to minion Otto for safekeeping but Otto – attaching no value to the stone – trades it for a Pet Rock.

Gru is then kidnapped by Vicious Six member Knuckles, and demands the Minions bring back the stone or Gru will be killed. And so a hilarious, fantasy-filled adventure begins as we follow the minions in their quest to retrieve the stone. There are so many funny moments in the film! ‘Minions: The Rise of Gru’ also cleverly mocks so many superhero movies. See if you can guess which ones. Oh, everyone loves those cute Minions!

With ‘Minions: The Rise of Gru’ having earned $940.7 million at the box office on a budget of $100 million, no doubt there will be another sequel to a prequel which will serve as a prequel to a sequel…

Would I watch it again? Yes.