Lifetime Movies: 1992

Some years it seems are real easy to pick, and others are either some great films or a lot of mediocre stuff. This year for me marks the beginning of independent cinema...sure there were small films before, with low budgets and young directors, but this is the year of Quinten Tarantino...save your Slacker and Soderbergs, and Francois Truffaut references for someone else...this is the year of RESERVOIR DOGS


I saw this early, early 1993 or 1994...it played on my colleges dorm cable...we had someone real hip programing those films in those days...I had just a few friends at the time and a lot of time to kill...so I gave this film a shot...the opening sequence of talk and guys wearing the same outfits, the talk of Madonna and familiar faces like Harvey Keitel just drew me in and I held on the whole time mesmerized.

I had an English writing class where I dissected this films color scene, the names of the men in the gang and what they metaphorically mean to their character...the color orange which in Francis Ford Coppola's world of the Godfather means death...the layers in an orange, the differences in each characters suit, that at first appears identical but in reality all are different, the homage Tarantino gives to other films that at the time were unknown to Americans...has Tarantino changes that much?...no he hasn't...even Death Proof has its moments.

Watching this film now is like walking into a time machine...it is not dated...it could have been filmed in the 1950s, 1970s, etc...but you see where Tarantino will go...he uses names here that have their soul in Pulp Fiction, True Romance, Jackie Brown, etc...these are characters in a play, and the play is totally in the hands of Tarantino...you feel that with all his films. I wish I could go back in time and rewatch this film and rediscover the magic of it...since the film I have 3 different DVDs of it...toys, posters, etc...the characters are like Greek heroes...the lines are poetry...1992 belongs to Reservoir Dogs.

Other films:
Scent of a Women: Pacino deserved an Oscar for like 5 others films before this...but sure he gets this...I would like to say that I was on board the Phillip Seymour Hoffman train starting with this film, check his filmography and see that he really never did anything before and it was years until Boogie Nights

Batman Returns: One of those films (and we have to make a list of this) that takes place during Christmas, and uses Christmas decoration, but is not about or never uses Christmas in the story...brilliant...it's dark, circus-like and I love that Catwoman suit...when you think about the time and the characters, Catwoman and Penguin were perfectly cast.

A Few Good Men: I am a sucker for a good Tom Cruise film..I thought Demi Moore was hot as F*$k..and the Jack Nicholson ending was great...one of my favorite endings.

Glengary Glen Ross: The acting is some of the best ever by an ensemble cast...each one if perfect...I could name them and say why they are great..but whatever...the Baldwin scene alone is one of the best monologues of all time...Mamet got alot of credit here for this film...I was on his bandwagon for years based on this film...I guess I was wrong...never really liked anything else he has done...I could watch this film over and over and just be in awe...I guess 1992 should be remembered by the perfect casting

1993 will be a tough one..for me there is no clear winner...even I may be surprised with what I pick...there are many good films...none that I think are GREAT...so maybe and just maybe Judgement Night has a chance.