Cinematic Throwbacks: December 1995/2005/2015

1995:

By 1995, I was getting pretty well versed in film, but I didn't quite get the hoopla surrounding Heat, Michael Mann's epic modern crime drama, which was to mark the first time legendary actors Al Pacino and Robert Deniro would share the screen together. (They were both stars in Godfather 2 but shared no scenes)

Honestly, I probably hadn't seen either of them in much by then. I knew OF them more by reputation, and hell, I was many years away from seeing a Godfather movie.

I didn't see this in theaters. I was dissuaded by the long runtime (and at the time I had to convince my mom to take me to anything R). Boy I wish I had seen this on the big screen though.

Pacino is the grizzled LA detective. Deniro is the hard boiled criminal. They're on a collision course once Deniro's crew (including Val Kilmer) robs an armored car.

The plot specifics are cool, but almost incidental to why the film works. The shootout sequence later in the film is great because it is so expertly staged.

The centerpiece of the film is the long-awaited meeting of the 2 leads. It's just a conversation in a diner, but a great scene. Two old pros just enjoying each other's presence. It brings the beat out in both. 

Pacino in particular is just a supernova in this, ridiculously entertaining and over the top in all the best ways. 

The cast is as deep as any film ever. Great character actor types like Tom Sizemore and Mykelti Williamson, rising stars like Ashley Judd and Dennis Haysbert...oh, and one other person.

Natalie Portman is in this. I didn't even know she was in it until it was pretty much out of theaters, but it made the video release highly anticipated. She shot this just after Beautiful Girls, and it's a very small part. She's Pacino's troubled stepdaughter, and only appears in like 3 scenes, but makes an impression.

There are people who LOVE Heat. It's constantly referenced on The Rewatchables. I think it's very good, but I do think it's too long, and there's a romantic subplot involving Deniro that falls flat. That knocks it down a little, but it's still a great film. 

2005:

Probably the saddest film of the 2000s (complimentary), Brokeback Mountain is of course the film about a pair of cowboys and their tragic love story over the course of a couple decades.

Aside from being known as an excellent film, it is probably best known for being robbed (others words, not mine) of the best picture Oscar in favor of Crash. I mean, I get why this film was so important to a lot of people. There have been more since, but in 2005 it was very rare to see a gay love story, particularly involving men. Now, I'm a defender of Crash, but I would have probably given the award to Brokeback. 

Now, a movie about 2 men in love is not for me. It's just not something I'm generally going to want to watch, but this film is so impeccably well made. And Lee won best director, and deserved to. The tone he maintains with the film is one of constrained emotion, where any outburst is especially effective. 

Heath Ledger gave one of the great understated performances of the decade. You'd never believe it was the same actor who would play Joker soon after. As someone who tends to keep their feelings to themself, I get how hard that might be to convert in a movie. Jake Gyllenhaal gets to be more outspoken, in a performance that is also great. 

Michelle Williams, who nabbed her 1st Oscar nomination, is heartbreaking as Ledger's wife, who catches on to what's happening too late and can't do a thing about it. 

The film's rather incredible female cast also has Anne Hathaway (in kind of her 1st serious role), Linda Cardellini, Anna Faris, and even a very young Kate Mara. 

The film is so damn sad. It's not one I just throw on on a whim. But sometimes you need to watch a film that makes you sad. And in late 2005, I found a lot to relate to in a story of a romance that is doomed. But that's a story for another time. 

2015:

Billed as the 8th film from Quentin Tarantino, The Hateful Eight sits as probably the man's most underrated film. It was preceded by 2 films that got a ton of critical acclaim and awards notice, and was followed by another one that got the same. 

Not The Hateful Eight. This film, despite being released at the same time of year as Django Unchained, got none of that. It got good reviews, but almost no awards.

The presentation of the film was a treat in itself. I went to see this on Christmas Day, and on film, complete with an intermission. I pretty much knew by the intermission that I was watching the best film of that year, one that has only grown in my estimation. 

The film has one of Tarantino's finest ensembles, all of whom gather inside a snowbound haberdashery, during a blizzard, set in Wyoming and some time after the Civil War.

Separated into chapters like some other Tarantino films, we start by meeting Kurt Russell, a bounty hunter transporting a wanted criminal (Jennifer Jason Leigh) to face justice. Along the way they pick up Samuel L. Jackson, another bounty hunter, and Walton Goggins, a newly minted sheriff. 

Once they reach their destination, the 8 is filled out with assorted shady characters played by Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern, and Demian Bechir.

This film is just a treat to watch all these actors bounce off each other while reciting that peerless Tarantino dialogue. This is the closest we've ever been to him doing a stage play.

Obviously, this being a Tarantino joint, there's going to be violence. And it's as shocking and brutal as ever. There's a real meanness to this movie, and that's a compliment. It's no less funny, though. 

It's a less complicated screenplay than other Tarantino films, what with it only taking place at 2 locations. It isn't told linearly, but there are no complicated twists to keep track of. 

But that dialogue! And the performances! Both rank at the very top of the filmography.

Gotta give endless kudos to Jackson, in his 1st major role in a Tarantino film since Jackie Brown. Not that he hasn't been great in stuff since then but this was his best performance by far in many years. As outrageous as it is that he didn't win the Oscar for Pulp Fiction, it is highway robbery that he wasn't even nominated for this.

Second best is Goggins, an actor who is a lot better known now than he was a decade ago, who is absolutely hilarious. They're the last 2 left standing, so I bet Quentin knew it. 

The only acting nominee to come from the movie is Leigh, who is fully committed to being as grotesque and crazy as possible (she spends most of the last act covered in blood). Russell is as cool as they come, another actor just made to recite that dialogue. 

Roth is delicious fun in a role that you wonder if it might have been earmarked for Christoph Waltz originally.

The amazing score by Ennio Morricone won the film its only Oscar (it was also nominated for cinematography). I think I had this film a little lower on my QT power rankings then than I do now. I think the fact this film was less discussed as others has helped it to feel fresher each time I see it. 

It's a masterpiece. I only put Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill Volume 1 ahead of it. 

When the prequel era ended in 2005, I don't think I ever really thought that it meant there would be no more Star Wars movies ever. And real ones, not that Clone Wars movie that came a few years later. Still, the franchise lay dormant for years, at least on the big screen. 

There was undeniable excitement on that day late in 2012 when it was announced that Disney had bought Lucasfilm from George Lucas. I obviously would have been thrilled to see more Lucas Star Wars, but the insane prequel backlash burned him out. I understand.

Quickly a new trilogy was announced, a continuation of the existing saga, so episodes 7 thru 9. 

Nothing was ever going to match the excitement of the prequel era, but it was still fun to hear all the little tidbits of news come out on these. Ooh, JJ Abrams is going to direct! He did a great job revitalizing Star Trek. Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher are all coming back? Who could hate that?

If you didn't have an emotional reaction to the trailers for Force Awakens, you are dead inside. Everybody was hyped for a return to Star Wars, whether you were correct and loved the prequels, or were an idiot and hated them and demanded a return to the original trilogy.

And the movie was an enormous success, kickstarting a whole new era of Star Wars, in which all the people who claim to be huge fans enjoyed all the new stuff, and even if they didn't enjoy it they reacted like adults. The end. 

Or not. But the backlash mostly escaped TFA during its initial run. 

I was never going to respond to this movie like I did to the prequels. It's just a bygone era that can never be repeated. And there was a little bit of resentment on my part to seeing how fully people embraced this movie after never shutting up for years about the prequels. 

But TFA is a very entertaining movie. It wasn't the first of what are now commonly called legacy sequels, but a lot of what this movie does set the template for his legacy sequels would proceed after. 

The integration of Han and Chewy into the story is great. Yeah, it's member berries, but seeing him step into the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon is great. Ford hadn't been this enjoyable to watch in years. Fisher is a little rougher, cause it was clear she hadn't acted much of late and I wouldn't call it a great performance at all, but her scenes with Ford are terrific. Hamill obviously only shows up at the very end, but the whole movie is about looking for him.

Where The movie really nailed it is the new main characters. I think Adam Driver was much more effective in the next film, but he is a suitably hissable bad guy here. John Boyega is fantastic as Finn, the stormtrooper deserter. And Daisy Ridley was an instant star, irresistible and plucky as Rey.

The first 2 acts where everything comes together are outstanding. It's the 3rd act where TFA falters. I've never been a big fan of it. The death of Han Solo is very poorly staged, and feels there just so Ford could finally get what he wanted way back in Return Of The Jedi. There's also a middling lightsaber duel, and another attack on what is basically a death star. I said at the time it was the only Star Wars movie where the 3rd act was the worst, and I stand by that.

These days I would probably put this movie around 7th in the 9 film Skywalker saga. 

Other non-deep dive flicks....

1965:

-Doctor Zhivago: Widely considered one of the greatest films of all time. I've never seen it. 

1985:

-Spies Like Us: Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd are the bumbling spies.

-The Color Purple: Steven Spielberg's acclaimed film that put Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey on the map. 

-Legend: Weird fantasy film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Cruise. 

-Out Of Africa: That year's Best Picture winner. 

-Brazil: Terry Gilliam's bizarre sci-fi flick. 

1995:

-Grumpier Old Men: A good sequel. This one brought on Sophia Loren, so Walter Matthau could have a love interest. 

-Jumanji: A board game comes to life. This was a big hit, but I was never that into it. I think the newer ones are better. 

-Waiting To Exhale: A group of women make terrible relationship choices, then blame the men for it. Elite soundtrack, though. 

-Dead Man Walking: Death row drama that won Susan Sarandon an Oscar. 

-Mr. Holland's Opus: Richard Dreyfus as a music teacher. This was weirdly a big deal at the time. 

-Dracula: Dead and Loving It: Mel Brooks and Leslie Nielsen teamed up for a dreadful Dracula parody. 

-Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead: One of those post-Pulp Fiction Tarantino ripoffs. 

-Father Of The Bride Part 2: I know I saw this in theaters, but I can't remember who was getting married this time. 

-Sense and Sensibility: I believe this was Kate Winslet's big breakthrough.

-Sabrina: I remember there being a lot of hype for this romcom remake, but it flopped. 

-Nixon: Oliver Stone directs Anthony Hopkins as Nixon. I recall not liking this much, but this might be worth a rewatch. 

-White Man's Burden: A bizarre movie that imagines a world where the races are reversed and white people are the minority. Talk about a movie that could never get made today. 

-Cutthroat Island: Pirate movie that was a legendary flop that ended a studio (Carolco) and seriously damaged the careers of both star (Geena Davis) and director (Renny Harlin). 

-Sudden Death: Jean-Claude Van Damme battling terrorist at a hockey game. 

-Four Rooms: Anthology movie that was kind of a big deal cause one of its segments was directed by Quentin Tarantino. 

2005:

-Match Point: Good latter day Woody Allen film, a serious entry co-starring a ridiculously hot Scarlett Johansson. 

-The Chronicles of Narnia: One of the more successful attempts at launching a post-Harry Potter fantasy franchise. 

-Fun With Dick and Jane: Mediocre Jim Carrey comedy. I think this is where we knew his career was in decline. 

-Memoirs of a Geisha: Dull would-be epic that I was excited about at the time cause it starred Zhang Ziyi. 

-King Kong: Peter Jackson's very long remake that I had no interest in at the time and have actually still never seen. 

-Syriana: George Clooney won his Oscar for this political drama that felt like homework. 

-Munich: Steven Spielberg's film about the terrorist attack at the Olympics. 

-The Producers: The Mel Brooks movie turned stage musical and here turned into a movie musical. I recall liking it. 

2015:

-The Revenant: Leonardo DiCaprio finally won his Oscar for this incredibly shot revenge drama. 

-Concussion: Will Smith as the doctor who discovered CTE in football players. Kind of a weird fit for an actual movie, but it's interesting. 

-Joy: Another "why is this even a movie" movie, but Jennifer Lawrence gave one of her best performances. 

-In The Heart of the Sea: Ron Howard's seafaring film about the story that inspired Moby Dick. 

-The Big Short: A very confusing movie about the 2008 financial crisis but done in a very amusing way. 

-Sisters: Lame comedy with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.

-Daddy's Home: Lame comedy with Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg. 

-Point Break: One of the all-time dumbest ideas was to do a Point Break remake but make it about extreme sports enthusiasts and not even cast stars in it. I didn't see it out of protest, and I continue to this day  

Coming in January...

All the big ones turn 30, including From Duck Til Dawn, and 12 Monkeys.