Mean Streets

meanstreets_5
Originally uploaded by janvaneyck

Let me emphatically say the I love Mean Streets. The very first time I saw this film was in a 70’s film genre class and I remember being riveted to my seat, but when the lights came up it was apparent that I was one of the only people of the 30+ film students that were.

This still mystifies me.

Mean Streets is a different Scorsese than we would get if we walk into a theatre today. It’s more raw, chaotic and carefree – yet it is in essence the very thing that led up to Travis Bickle and even the men of Scorsese’s modern work. This is a film about a New York that’s crumbling but loved, affluent but poor, artistic yet visceral, masculine and familial. All of these things are the very essence of what makes a Scorsese film Scorsese.

As you would imagine, the real standout element to Mean Street is the element that most people remember Scorsese for in his films even now – his leading man. Scorsese’s muse may now be Leonardo DiCaprio, but DiCaprio’s way was paved by none other than Scorsese’s original muse Robert DeNiro. Mean Streets was the first collaboration between Scorsese & DeNiro and it’s immediately evident why they worked together for so long. In a film where Scorsese knows exactly what he’s doing, DeNiro is the one element that absolutely shines as though he were made for that world.

I really can’t say a lot about Mean Streets because I truly believe it’s a film that should be discovered by the viewer. It’s a film that helped define one of the most prominent directors of the Hollywood pantheon and a film that entices you to see more.



Director: Martin Scorsese

The Pick-Up Artist

The second on the list of films I watched New Year’s Eve was a netflix rental of something I had never seen and only vaguely heard of, it was a movie called The Pick-Up Artist starring Robert Downey Jr. and Molly Ringwald.

The Pick-Up Artist isn’t so much a description of the story as the main character Jack Jericho in a nutshell. Jack is a ladies man who actually practices pick-up lines in the mirror and prides himself on his ability to score beautiful women. He keeps track of them on a piece of notebook paper he carries in his back pocket. One day Jack hits on Randy and they have a tryst, when she later blows him off Jack becomes obsessed with tracking down Randy and proving to her that he is the man for her.

I am really glad the trailer for the film is on the DVD because I got to see just how great the false advertising was. This movie is billed as a romantic comedy between Ringwald and Downey but in reality it’s a convoluted love story that involves Dennis Hopper as Randy’s drunk father who owes money to the mob and Randy attempting to pay off his debt.

Seeing Downey in this movie was a kick. This movie was down before he added the Jr. to his name and he couldn’t be more than about twenty. Perhaps it is merely the pure youthfulness that surrounded him in this movie, but he almost seemed to not be able to fit into the chauvinistic role he was written. He is still just as darn entertaining to watch as ever, even in a mediocre movie.

In the end I really didn’t enjoy The Pick-Up Artist as a movie. I did think it was merely entertaining just because the film itself was so strange; once we were half way through the movie we had to keep watching just because we couldn’t figure out where the film was going or what absurd means it would take to get there. I watched this film start to finish and there are still plot points that I don’t understand, but I think that this is what happens when you watch a cheesy melodrama from 1987.

Director & Writer: James Toback
Jack Jericho: Robert Downey Jr.
Randy Jensen: Molly Ringwald
Flash Jensen: Dennis Hopper
Phil Harper: Danny Aiello
Alonzo Scolara: Harvey Keitel

Jack Jericho: Did anyone ever tell you you're too good to be true?
Randy Jensen: No only that I'm too truthful to be good.

Reservoir Dogs

Reservoir Dogs
Originally uploaded by complejidadciclomatica

I heard Quentin Tarantino say once that he made a film before Reservoir Dogs that wasn’t worthy to be melted into guitar picks. Luckily Reservoir Dogs is good for a lot more than guitar picks.

The story of Reservoir Dogs is simple; a crime boss has a fence for some uncut diamonds that he wants to steal from a local diamond wholesaler so he hires 6 goons to pull the job, it should be simple – in and out. However, the actual heist goes sour fast and the goons that do manage to escape begin to think that there is a rat in their midst and they begin to tear each other apart.

This story is simple, but the way it is told is not. Tarantino blazed on the scene by making a film that was beautifully complex and layered and just off-beat enough to really sink in. It’s told through two time lines: the present and flashbacks for each important character so you can see how they got there. We are lulled into complacency with a witty speech about Madonna’s Like A Virgin and why tipping waitresses should not be a societal norm, then we are plunged directly into the after effects of the heist without ever seeing the actual heist.

This film would not be as entertaining as it is without a cast of phenomenal actors to fully realize the quirky characters within. Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen) is the hardened con who has done time for his boss and lost a bit of his sanctity for human life along the way. Mr. White (Harvey Keitel) os the old and wisened criminal who wants out of the heist clean but feels ultimately responsible for the bullet Mr. Orange took to the gut. Mr. Pink (Steve Buscemi) is the nervous, by the book con who wants to split. Mr. Orange (Tim Roth) is the undercover cop, shot in the gut. Mr. Brown (Tarantino) is the cheeky criminal who doesn’t make it out of the heist. All the performances are great, and the flashbacks are phenomenal. With each one we learn something else about the character and how they have gotten into this situation.

Tarantino is known for making super-violent films. However, while violence does occasionally bother me, I am the first to say that of all the films I’ve seen Tarantino does violence and gore in some of the most artistic ways I’ve ever seen. Reservoir Dogs is no exception. The Tarantino scene that shocked the world is in this film – and it is surprisingly less gory than you’ve been led to believe. Mr. Blonde chops off a bound and gagged police officer’s ear…and it is nail biting and stomach turning, but you actually don’t see a dang thing.

With this film Tarantino took the film world by storm, and I hope to emulate that someday as well.

Writer & Director: Quentin Tarantino
Mr. White: Harvey Keitel
Mr. Orange: Tim Roth
MR. Blonde: Michael Madsen
Mr. Pink: Steve Buscemi
Mr. Blue: Eddie Bunker
Mr. Brown: Quentin Tarantino
Eddie: Chris Penn
Joe: Lawrence Tierney
Officer Nash: Kirk Baltz

Joe: With the exception of Eddie and myself, whom you already know, we're going to be using aliases on this job. Under no circumstances do I want any one of you to relate to each other by your Christian names, and I don't want any talk about yourself personally. That includes where you been, your wife's name, where you might've done time, or maybe a bank you robbed in St. Petersburg. All I want you guys to talk about, if you have to, is what you're going to do. That should do it. Here are your names...Mr. Brown, Mr. White, Mr. Blonde, Mr. Blue, Mr. Orange, and Mr. Pink.
Mr. Pink: Why am I Mr. Pink?
Joe: Because you're a faggot, alright?