Kevin Bacon

Eh, I dunno, certainly Mr. Orange, and maybe Jules and Butch all seem to be the clear "heroes" in their stories--maybe not quite in the traditional sense, but no less than the Basterds and Shoshanna.

I'd put her over Russell and probably along with SLJ. Goggins was MVP in my eyes.

I was actually underwhelmed by the violence itself when it broke out, but it was that last chapter when everybody was dead or already dying that made it worthwhile to me. I'd agree that the actual violence felt underwhelming and hollow, but that had more to do with my lack of connection with really any of the characters by that point. By the time the violence actually starts, we've just found out that one of our two "good guys" is actually a fucking monster who's hardly better than the racist scum he opposes, and the other is amongst the very first killed off. I didn't feel like I had any reason to really care about most of these remaining characters, which hurt the tension of anybody dying. Compare that to, say, the tavern scene in Inglourious Basterds (which for my money is QT's best movie), where the tension is so high because we want these main characters to get out of here alive and carry out their plan. The only true goal our characters had were all pretty low-stakes in the scheme of things. Once there's true motive there, once we start to really learn something about these people as a clear direction comes into focus, and everybody's just trying to make it out alive, that's when the movie most shined. Which isn't to deny that the first two and a half hours or so were bad, mind you, they were still wildly entertaining character building and stage-setting. I'd actually argue that the part of the movie that let down the most was the initial outburst of violence, because if that emotional/plot-based incentive had been behind it, the whole movie would've been amazing. And if there had been some form of clear direction from the outset, some purpose beyond "get Daisy to Red Rock to hang", I think the whole thing would've worked better. But let's not forget that I thought the movie ruled still. There were just some things that kept it from its full potential, same as Django (the awkwardly-paced final act, in Django's case).

Man, movie's been out a whole day and nothing? A slight step down from Django but very good nonetheless. It does take a very long, leisurely route to the finale--but once it got there, it delivered and then some. Did an excellent of establishing each of these men as indeed hateful monsters who are guilty of racism, murder, torture, and rape (in a flashback that possibly rivals the Zed scene as the most unnerving thing Tarantino's put in a movie). But, likewise, I struggled to really connect to any of the characters enough to be invested in the violence until after it happened. Yet, much like Reservoir Dogs, the movie shines in the aftermath of said violence, making unlikely allies and giving genuine surprises, building that connection that had been absent before. It must be said that while there was no show-stealer performance begging for all the awards like Waltz and Dicaprio, Goggins and Jason Leigh are both fantastic, so good that they threaten to outdo Jackson, who's perfected this type of character to the point that it's hardly even impressive anymore. Goggins wasn't stretching too far from Boyd Crowder, but it's so great to see him getting the kind of showcase he got here on the silver screen. 9/10

Remember how exciting it was when Spider-Man 3 nearly made 60M in its opening three-day weekend?

New Orleans and Birmingham, I can do either of those. Fucking awesome. So is this going to be in all those theaters on Christmas Day through the whole two weeks, or is the movie actually going to be touring around and hitting all these cities? It seems like they would've mentioned that if it was the case but the "roadshow" moniker is pretty confusing. I need to know if I should request a specific day off work a couple weeks in advance or if I can just go whenever I'm off.

Anything resembling a list of theaters that will be showing this yet? I'll travel to see it, but I have to know where. If it's in NOLA, no questions asked, I can drive two and a half hours to see it. Atlanta, about five hours away, do-able, if drastic. If neither of those cities get it then I may be out of luck.

This was fucking awesome.

It's okay, The Americans, you're still a winner in my heart! Here's to another year of hoping the Emmys pull their heads out of their asses.

Ash vs Evil Dead is a month and a half away and fuck everything else.

So this made its way back to TV for season two (only on FXX this time) and it's still really damn good.

While Tarantino is obviously a living legend, Gareth Edwards has been really fucking good so far. Monsters was great and any problem with Godzilla had nothing to do with his direction, he knocked that shit out of the park.

Basterds Dogs Fiction Django Kill Bill Jackie Brown Death Proof RD and Pulp Fiction are usually interchangeable depending on my mood. Basterds too, to a lesser extent, but after constantly re-arrganging those three for years I've settled on it as the true numero uno.

Yeah while pacing is pretty much the biggest problem with Django it doesn't really apply to any of his other more revered stuff. Basterds and Pulp Fiction have pretty much perfect pacing and Kill Bill/Reservoir Dogs are both fine in that department as well. I'd probably also throw Jackie Brown in with those two but then again I'm one of the people who has absolutely no clue why some love that movie so much.

I don't have nearly an encyclopedic enough knowledge of movies to have any kind of meaningful ranking, but I can spout off a few of my favorites. Fincher is tops, and I also love Tarantino, Kubrick, Scorsese, Rian Johnson, Michelle McClaren, Sam Raimi, maybe Louis CK (for his work on Louie), Adam Wingard. I don't know shit about writers outside of television. If you mean people who both direct and write their own movies, that's a pretty short list. I got Tarantino, Kubrick, and Raimi from that list, but most of the more prolific writer/directors are great at one (usually directing) and would be much better off if they left the other job to someone more talented than they. I can't imagine how much better Nolan and Cameron's movies would be if they'd just work from better scripts that they had nothing to do with. Hell, Michael Bay might be an acclaimed director if he was directing from good scripts.

While QT is an interesting nickname for David Fincher, you're not far off. And nothing wrong with recent Tarantino. In fact, the one that came out before Django is the best one.

I was behind this as a fan of the underdog show or movie that gets unfairly piled on before release, but looking back, the writing was kinda on the wall. Season one was good because of the awesome setting, direction, and performances from MM and Harrelson. This season replaced the setting with seedy LA, the director with the guy from the Fast and Furious movies, and the awesome leads with another awesome lead but crammed him in an ensemble with Vince Vaughn, Taylor Kitsch(!), and Rachel McAdams. So the only thing left over is Nick Pizzolatto, and Nick Pizzolatto the writer kinda blows. Oh well. At least Fargo's still got the magic.

Just got caught up with the "series(?) finale" and man that was so fucking perfect. I almost want it to be over because of how great of an ending that was.

Thinking about Louie's potential submissions now has me peeved that Michael Rappaport didn't get a Guest Actor nod for "Cop Story". Why do I even casually follow an organization that does nothing ever but disappoint me? (except that one time they gave Breaking Bad all the awards)

Yeah, I missed writing. Still, Martindale did nothing interesting performance wise, it's kinda laughable that of the great performances in the past two seasons (Rhys in S2 was good enough to at least pose a mild challenge to Cranston and McConaughey) she gets free nods just for showing up.

Well if they didn't inexplicably ignore FX's programming you'd see The Americans and Justified getting just desserts for their excellent seasons (in particular The Americans). But of course, the only thing from either show to get any credit is Margo Martindale in The Americans, which is pretty much just because she's Margo Martindale and for no other reason.

I was kinda worried that it reminded me a bit too much of My Name is Bruce early on but it sure won me over by the end.

Definitely my favorite from Nolan.

Was Life of Pi even really considered a contender for Best Picture? In fact, the uninspired choice would've been Lincoln. Argo, Django, Pi, Playbook, ZDT, all interesting choices in their own ways. Likewise, in 2013 it was Wolf of Wall Street that lost out--in fact, I'm not sure I recall speaking to anybody who thought Gravity was the best picture of the year. And even this year, Boyhood was absolutely the predictable choice and I'd say Birdman is one of the most interesting winners in years.