Great Movies- Pulp Fiction

The Worst Movies I Have Ever Seen Vol. IV

A sickening piece of trash.

My god. This "sequel"(there's no narrative connection) to the 1986 oddity earns every bit of it's reputation

R.I.P. James Earl Jones 1931-2024

The Year in Review- 2004

It was the year Clint Eastwood and Hilary Swank got ready for a fight and Leonardo DiCaprio took flight with Martin Scorsese. Mel Gibson got crucified, Jamie Foxx was blind, and Alexander Payne taught us about wine. Spiderman and Shrek owned the summer box office while the artsy crowd got caught up with Jessie and Celine. Here are the ten best films in order for 2004.

1. "Million Dollar Baby"(2004) Clint Eastwood staked his claim as possibly the biggest living legend in Hollywood with the staggering one-two punch of "Mystic River", and the greatest boxing movie this side of "Rocky" and "Raging Bull". The sheer quality of the man's directorial output is enough to put him in rarified air, even if you erased his movie star run from the previous four decades. A crusty Clint guided Hillary Swank to her second Best Actress Oscar(the first was for "Boys Don't Cry"), as she infused her unlikely pugilist Maggie Fitzgerald with believable strength and a disarming sensitivity. Morgan Freeman reached his artistic peak as their punchy, gym-dwelling sidekick, before he seemingly lent his dignified presence to every project put in front of him. The gut-wrenching third act, which I won't spoil for those unenlightened readers that still haven't seen it(shame on you), overcame mild controversy to knock out some stiff competition at the Academy Awards for the coveted Best Picture and Best Director(Eastwood) statues.

2. "The Aviator"(2004) An high-minded Leonardo DiCaprio formed a fateful alliance with his directing hero Martin Scorsese in the year 2000, as he set out to permanently silence naysayers and make his limiting pin-up boy reputation a distant memory. The titanic hunk spread his acting wings as Howard Hughes, in this briskly-paced 170-minute biopic that covers the aviation pioneer's life from the late 1920s to 1947. Hughes became one of the wealthiest men in the world during this period, and his brief glory included forays into moviemaking and relationships with various starlets, before crippling bouts with OCD led to a reclusive and painful descent. Cate Blanchett won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar and confirmed her standing as a fantastic female performer by channeling another one, Hughes' most celebrated conquest, Katharine Hepburn.

3. "Sideways"(2004) Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church are both excellent as aging best pals with wildly-dissimilar approaches to life and love in another low-key instant classic from writer-director Alexander Payne("Election", "About Schmidt"). Their bittersweet trip through California's wine country is alternately funny and moving, and the fact that neither man was a marquee name, should have worked against it. Instead, wine sales actually increased because of Jack and Miles(not Merlot, though). Payne's intelligence and unique insights made "Sideways" an Oscar dark horse and one of the year's most pleasant surprises. Virginia Madsen(also an underappreciated non-"star") was nominated for her melancholy waitress.

4. "Spider-Man 2"(2004) This spectacular sequel is not only a high point for the Spidey series but the entire overstuffed genre as well. It seems to be a rule that the second film in a superhero franchise is often the best, as the filmmakers are more confident in the knowledge that the public has embraced the characters and world they established the first time around(see "Superman II" and "Batman Returns"). Director Sam Raimi continues to derive inspiration from 1960s comics as Peter Parker realizes the heavy toll that crime-fighting has taken on his personal life. Can he have a relationship with Mary Jane(Kirsten Dunst) AND stop the destructive Doc Ock(Alfred Molina)? From Tobey Maguire's affecting angst to Alvin Sargent's tight screenplay to a show-stopping elevated train sequence, this remains the "Spider-Man" movie to beat.

5. 'Kill Bill: Vol. II"(2004) The Bride is back, in the superior sequel to Quentin Tarantino's epic comeback/revenge fantasy. QT's kung fu wet dreams were brought to life in memorable fashion in 2003, and it's a huge testament to the strength of the Tarantino brand that audiences ate up all four blood-splattered hours and asked for more. Uma Thurman was injured on her path to immortality, as her focused heroine finally gets around to killing Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah, and the elusive title character himself, David Carradine. Hardly a straighforward affair, 'Vol. II" has surprises and juicy dialogue aplenty that sealed our devotion to the "Pulp Fiction" writer-director. The long-rumored "Vol. III" seemed like a sure thing(sigh).

6. "Before Sunset"(2004) Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy did something remarkable when they reunited nine years after their refreshing yet largely-forgotten 1995 romance "Before Sunrise". They talked. And they talked. Then they talked some more. Richard Linklater's laidback stroll through Paris struck a chord with melancholic romantics, and such dazzling wordplay is the real special effect in an early 21st Century marketplace. Like all good sequels do, it made the original even better, and the critical groundswell meant we got to meet up with Jesse and Celine a third time in 2013's "Before Midnight". One of modern cinema's greatest couples was officially born.

7. "Shrek 2"(2004) Moviegoers may be all Shreked out, but in 2004 we couldn't get enough of this swamp-dwelling green ogre and his Scottish accent. DreamWorks animation's greatest asset became a box office behemoth that summer, ultimately becoming the third highest-grossing film of the decade(behind "Avatar" and "The Dark Knight"). His pop culture-peppered trip to Far, Far Away may not be as timeless as the 2001 original, but there's still some big laughs in this $150 million sequel(wow), thanks to the awesome vocals of Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy and returning director Andrew Adamson. Oh, and the scene-stealing Puss in Boots, perfectly-voiced by Antonio Banderas, making a spin-off inevitable. A third installment promptly arrived, with much less creative energy, in 2007.

8. "The Passion of The Christ"(2004) Nine years after his Oscar-winning triumph "Braveheart", Mel Gibson got back behind the camera for the ultimate umm, passion project, and the results were impossible to predict. It turned out that the martyred exploits of William Wallace were merely a warm-up, as the intensely-personal "Christ" came to represent a seismic shift in the public's preception of Gibson. The handsome and popular star of countless hits in the '80s and '90s morphed into a provocative figure, unafraid to enthusiastically discuss his faith- a topic that most celebs wisely shy away from. You don't have to share his beliefs(or condone any drunken rants) to recognize that this is an extraordinary piece of filmmaking. A graphically-violent depiction of the last twelve hours in the life of Jesus(a committed Jim Caveziel) told in a dead Aramaic language? Christian zealots weren't the only ones swarming the theater, but only mad Mel could tell you if the $370 million domestic box office was worth the chilly blowback.

9. "Ray"(2004) The emergence of Jamie Foxx as an acting force was another one of the big stories of 2004. The same year that he took on a villainous Tom Cruise in "Collateral", Foxx was the total embodiment of the legendary Ray Charles, making the Best Actor race something of a no-brainer(sorry, Leo). His transformative mannerisms allow viewers to fully accept the former "In Living Color" star in the role of the blind, piano-playing pioneer before he even embarks on his soul-music career in the 1950s. Director Taylor Hackford("An Officer and a Gentleman") follows the standard biopic formula with lengthy detours into drug abuse and womanizing, but the central performance is more than enough to keep the film(and the audience) humming along.

10(tie). "Hotel Rwanda"(2004) Don Cheadle's brave hotelier saves the lives of a thousand African refugees during a 1994 genocide that went curiously underreported despite the loss of a million lives and the presence of 24-hour news channels(I guess the OJ Simpson saga was more interesting). The power of film turned our attention to those tragic three months in a devastating drama that earned comparisons to "Schindler's List". If director Terry George wasn't virtually unknown, "Rwanda" might have seen similar treatment during an awards season dominated by the media-made Eastwood-Scorsese rivalry. The world turned a blind eye to these atrocities, and I'm not proud to say that I barely knew it happened. You shouldn't be, either.

10(tie). "Finding Neverland"(2004) A post-"Pirates" Johnny Depp took a break from swashbuckling to make a brief return to the kind of quiet, unassuming characterizations that endeared him to the masses in the first place, before the pull of blockbuster booty proved too difficult to resist. Depp is London playwright J.M. Barrie whose platonic relationship with a single mother(the lovely Kate Winslet) and her five boys inspired the creation of his classic "Peter Pan" in 1903. You're likely to be just as caught up in the whimsy as young Freddie Highmore, who also brightened up Depp's next endeavor "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". Marc Foster("Monsters Ball") directs.

Honorable Mentions- "Miracle"(2004) Kurt Russell coaches the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team. "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"(2004) Jim Carrey can't get over Kate Winslet. "Man on Fire"(2004) Denzel Washington defends Dakota Fanning. "Mean Girls"(2004) This Tina Fey-scripted comedy is Lindsay Lohan's legacy. "The Machinist"(2004) Christian Bale was committed to his craft. "Hellboy"(2004) Gillermo del Toro comes to our attention. "Troy"(2004) Brad Pitt is Achilles in Wolfgang Petersen's historical epic. "13 Going on 30"(2004) Jennifer Garner is a charmer in this comic fantasy. "Napoleon Dynamite"(2004) Cult comedy about a high school nerd. "Van Helsing"(2004) Hugh Jackman is a CGI vampire hunter. "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban"(2004) Did Alfonso Cauron direct the best one? "The Terminal"(2004) Steven Spielberg strands Tom Hanks at the airport. "The Notebook"(2004) Rachel McAdams(and every other female) falls for Ryan Gosling. "King Arthur"(2004) Antoine Fuqua directs the Disney version of the Dark Ages. "I, Robot"(2004) Will Smith + sci-fi= $$$.

"Garden State"(2004) Natalie Portman had Zack Braff looking like the next Woody Allen. "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy"(2004) Will Ferrell's funniest movie? "The Clearing"(2004) Willem Dafoe kidnaps and kills Robert Redford. "Supersize Me"(2004) McDonald's is bad for you. "Fahrenheit 9/11"(2004) George W. Bush was bad for you. "The Door in the Floor"(2004) Jeff Bridges and Kim Basinger are a depressed Long Island couple. "The Bourne Supremacy"(2004) Paul Greengrass makes Matt Damon an action icon. "The Manchurian Candidate"(2004) Denzel Washington and Jonathan Demme remake the '62 Frank Sinatra flick. "Collateral"(2004) Tom Cruise is a stone-cold hitman for Michael Mann. "Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement"(2004) Garry Marshall and Anne Hathaway gave Disney a hit sequel.

"Melinda and Melinda"(2004) Is life a comedy or a tragedy? "Shark Tale"(2004) DreamWorks Animation goes underwater. "Vera Drake"(2004) does illegal abortions in 1950 London. "Friday Night Lights"(2004) Billy Bob Thornton and Texas high school football. "The Incredibles"(2004) Pixar presents a family of superheroes. "Alfie"(2004) Jude Law is a womanizer. "Kinsey"(2004) Sex education with Liam Neeson. "National Treasure"(2004) Nic Cage is a Disney do-gooder. "The Polar Express"(2004) Robert Zemeckis and Tom Hanks pioneer motion-capture technology. "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason"(2004) Is it better than the first one. "Closer"(2004) Julia Roberts, Jude Law, and Natalie Portman in Mike Nichols' brutal relationship drama. "Splanglish"(2004) Adam Sandler gets(semi) serious with James L. Brooks. "The Woodsman"(2004) Kevin Bacon is a recovering pedophile. "Meet the Fockers"(2004) Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller are joined by Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand in this huge hit sequel. "The Assassination of Richard Nixon"(2004) Sean Penn lights up this little-seen 1974-set indie as psycho salesman Samuel Byck. "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events"(2004) Jim Carrey is Count Olaf.

R.I.P. Donald Sutherland 19-2024

The world was saddened to learn of the death of Donald Sutherland

A Critical Reevaluation- Wolf

Thirty years ago today, O.J. Simpson led the LAPD on a low-speed chase in his white Ford Bronco to precipitate the most surreal, insanely-obsessed over news story of the 1990s. Over on the East Coast, the NY Rangers were celebrating with the Stanley Cup. No wonder Jack Nicholson's new whiskers weren't coming up at the watercooler. "Wolf" seemingly had everything going for it, and was expected to be one of 1994's most-talked about films. That didn't happen. "Forrest Gump" happened. "Speed" and "The Lion King" happened. As a 14 year old boy, I was intrigued by a sexy trailer image of the Joker and Catwoman in a passionate embrace. "Wolf" was definitely for grown-ups, with it's measured pace, publishing-house politics, and melancholic themes about aging and loss of vitality. The film didn't totally flop financially- $131 million was generated worldwide by it's starry leads($65 million in the U.S), but it was largely forgotten in the years that followed. When it entered the afterlife of HBO/Cinemax in '95, I realized something the rest of the world needs to know. "Wolf" is actually amazing.

Jack is surprisingly subdued as sad-sack editor Will Randle, which may have disappointed those expecting an encore of "The Shining"(Stanley Kubrick turned down the directing job) or the show-stopping histrionics of "A Few Good Men". This subversion of expectations ultimately works in the wolfman's favor. How many guys over age fifty are filled with energy and vigor? Jack is one of the few actors in history than can hold your attention with a simple look, and he's blessed with a killer supporting cast. I hope I don't have to tell you that Michelle Pfeiffer was sent from heaven to make Hollywood productions better, and she brings all her beauty and class to Laura Alden, the pouty rich girl and Will's unlikely love interest. Nicholson and Pfeiffer make the most of their witty exchanges, building on a screen relationship that began with "The Witches of Eastwick". There's a version of this movie that focuses more on her hardbitten character. I think we'd all watch that.

But Pfeiffer has a worthy rival for screentime in "Wolf". James Spader is a slimy young corporate creep that also turns into one. Okay, sign me up. I'm sold. I need the DVD nearby at all times, in case streaming availability ever becomes an issue. As if Pfeiffer and Spader weren't enough, the film features an atmospheric Ennio Morricone score and the talents of Christopher Plummer, Kate Nelligan, Richard Jenkins, and David Hyde Pierce("You're my God"). Don't blink or you'll miss a David Schwimmer cameo, the same year that "Friends" premiered.

Oh, and this guy. I have to call attention to Indian actor Om Puri as the spooky decrepit doctor that owns a seven-minute scene with Jack. I assume he's been studying supernatural wolf transformations and sightings for sixty years. It feels good to be a wolf. Power without guilt, love without doubt. Will won't bite him, though. This movie is awesome.

Rick Baker, the greatest make-up man of all time, continues what he started in 1981's "An American Werewolf in London"- the John Landis classic routinely cited as the highpoint of this subgenre. Like Landis, Mike Nichols("The Graduate") wasn't an obvious choice to direct. Nicholson had been nursing Jim Harrison's script since the early '80s, before landing on his "Carnal Knowledge" pal. Rewrites from Wesley Strick("Batman Returns") and Elaine May helped draw Pfeiffer to the project.

"Wolf" has a wild third act designed to appeal to summertime audiences. Most of it's 125-minute runtime is quiet and restrained, a scary movie for people who don't like scary movies. Nichols ditches subtlety for some demon-wolf action that trumps anything in "Twilight". I'm hear to tell you that "Interview with the Vampire" wasn't the only elegant horror film in 1994. As I age and grapple with irrelevance, I'm certain that Will Randle's old-guy insecurities will register even more, but I'll just have to get by without a rejuvenating animal bite and a much younger girlfriend. Nicholson hasn't worked since 2010, and his long absence from movies makes "Wolf" more special(sadly, Nichols died in 2014). So, take a break from monotonous 21st Century IP and fire up this hidden gem the next time it's on Tubi. You'll be howling at the moon.

Great Movies- Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

Forty years ago today, the PREQUEL to "Raiders of the Lost Ark", perhaps the most revered film of the early 1980s, was released to a rapturous public on Memorial Day weekend. The box office total for this second Indy outing was predictably huge- $179 million in the U.S., coming in third for the year behind "Beverly Hills Cop" and Ghostbusters". It's safe to say that crowd-pleasing fun was being perfected at this time. But with the exception of a giddy Roger Ebert(four stars), the same level of critical respect has eluded "Doom". Leonard Maltin and People magazine were downright hostile. A summer backlash over the film's darkness and violence(and the equally anarchic "Gremlins") led to the creation of the PG-13 rating for the heart-ripping, child-enslaver Mola Ram. Director Steven Spielberg, the industry's most powerful figure, supported the move and appeared remorseful during publicity for 1989's "Last Crusade". A recent rewatch for this article revealed than an apology was never necessary. Join me as I explain in great detail why every childhood should include in trip to India in 1935.

It's anything goes in a Shanghai nightclub. I like Dr. Jones in a white tux, a clever nod to James Bond and a neat contrast to the famous "Raiders" opening and all the dirtiness to come. Producer George Lucas hired the husband-and-wife writing team of William Huyck and Gloria Katz("American Graffiti") in 1982 to craft a "Gunga Din"-style adventure complete with black magic and human sacrifice(original writer Lawrence Kasdan was uninterested in those ideas). The "Star Wars" creator was adament that Nazis and Marion Ravenwood not be included, allowing Kate Capshaw to sing in Mandarin for Chinese crime boss Lao Che(Roy Chiao). Indiana ends up with two unlikely sidekicks while concluding some perilous business in the Far East.

Ke Huy Quan is indeed very funny as Short Round, an energetic 12 year old orphan that presumably became Indy's guide in Shanghai. The character was an instant fan favorite and the perfect counterpoint to the impending gloom and doom, and Quan soon found himself cast in Richard Donner's "The Goonies", another Spielberg adjacent project. The endearing actor became an Oscar winner for 2022's "Everything Everywhere All At Once", after a long absence from the screen. "The Dial of Destiny", the fifth film in the franchise, missed out on a crowd-pleasing opportunity.

Yes, that's Dan Aykroyd, SNL original and ghostbuster, leading Indy, Willie Scott, and Short-Round to a getaway plane(or is it?).

We're only 15 minutes in, and we have another breathless escape as Willie informs Indy that Lao Che's parachuting pilot has bailed on the trio. An inflatable raft that slides down the Himalayas into a river is the reason I never really joined the "nuked the fridge" chorus in 2008. Spielberg and Lucas always knew they were making a total escapist fantasy.

You ever notice how extras and bit players in old movies are always a million times more convincing than the clean cardboard cut-outs that populate films today? Indian shaman D.R. Nanayakkara didn't speak a word of English, and had to be slowly fed all his lines offscreen by Spielberg. His village's impoverished children are disappearing, along with three sacred stones passed down from the Hindu gods. A Thuggee cult that haunts the region are the obvious culprits. I was well into adulthood before I realized that Indy transitions from treasure hunter motivated by "fortune and glory" to a noble figure that can't let such evil persist over the next ninety minutes.

Wilhelmina Scott isn't good at roughing it, even after trading her tight beaded dress for Indy's shirt and pants. I was also well into adulthood before I appreciated Kate Capshaw's performance. The then-29 year old actress was always smarter than the "screaming damsel in distress" that made her famous, and she played the part exactly as she was told- as an homage to the screwball era where men and women constantly bickered before falling in love. She's a brave trooper throughout, and speaking of love, was richly rewarded in the end. Kate married Spielberg in 1991.

"Don't come up here!" I love that. Harrison Ford hurt his back on those elephants and was sidelined for a month. With a Jake Steinfeld workout regime in preparation for his "Raiders" reprisal, Ford looks even more godly than he did the first time around. With all due respect to Sylvester Stallone and Tom Cruise and Eddie Murphy, he's the biggest movie star of the 1980s.

We've arrived in Pankot Palace for my least favorite scene in the original three. I'm not going to talk about cultural insensitivities or a white savior narrative, like some revisionist writers. Nobody cared about that before 2014. This movie is a live-action cartoon. I simply never found the gross-out gags at the dinner-table funny. It took me a long time to realize that Philip Stone was in "The Shining" and Roshan Seth was in "Ghandi".

Indy thinks he might score with Willie(again, the '80s were better), and ends up fighting a Thuggee creep instead. Which, of course, leads to a trap door. Is the capital building of Pankot, India really a front for sinister forces?

In "Raiders", it was snakes. "Last Crusade" would bring rats. Here we have BUGS, in a booby-trapped, skull-crushing room. The team gathered 30,000 beetles and 50,000 cockroaches. God-damn, Spielberg! That's a real stick-bug on the hand of a sedated Kate Capshaw in her silk pajamas. Buckets of bugs has to be the most unique foreplay of all time. "Doom" is universally considered the third best '80s Indy movie, but this moment is AWESOME. Pure cinema, and there's more to come.

The trio enter the temple of death- an early Lucas title suggestion. Nobody's seen anything like this in years. Shout out to cinematographer Douglas Slocombe and production designer Elliot Scott for their "horrific, subterranean" work(Spielberg's words). It's been pointed out by the superduo themselves that they were going through break-ups in 1983- George split from wife Marcia Lucas and Steven was on-and-off with Amy Irving. I don't know why they insist on explaining and apologizing for "the all darkness". Every kid in America was elated.

Is Mola Ram(Amrish Puri) the best Indy villain? Belloq doesn't rip anybody's heart out and I'll bet you can't name any of the Nazis. Indy is sickened by this ghoulishness and gets himself captured when he makes an unsuccessful play for the Sankara Stones.

The 1980s started with Han Solo frozen in carbonite and ended with Biff Tannen becoming Donald Trump. Sequels have to go darker. You've already got the people, so take them for a ride. The Blood of the Kali Ma, a mystical mind-control potion, puts Jones in a cursed trance. This Black Sleep is very bad for Willie and Short Round, who become Thuggee prisoners. This isn't at all what "E.T." fans were expecting. I understand Spielberg feeling like perhaps he betrayed his audience with this PG-13 hellscape that's as scary as "Poltergeist". But that only makes the last 30 minutes even sweeter.

"I'm alright, kid". Is there a more rousing moment in '84? Maybe the Crane kick, maybe the Ghostbusters "Savin' the Day". Maybe Axl Foley and Patti LaBelle arriving in Beverly Hills. What a year. Shorty breaks the spell with a friendly flame in just enough time to rescue Willie. Think about how radically different movies became when Spielberg and Lucas took power. Ten years earlier, it was quiet classics like "Chinatown" and "The Conversation"(also featuring Ford), and "The Godfather Part II". It's like night and day.

No disrespect to early 21st Century heroes like Jason Bourne, Ethan Hunt, John Wick, and the Avengers. But I'm glad I grew up watching Ford fight back pain and a bearded Thuggee enforcer(Pat Roach) with a soaring John Williams score in the background. The young maharaja has a voodoo doll of Indy that almost puts Jones through a rock-crushing conveyor belt, until a torch-wielding Shorty frees him from the trance.

Some say that Spielberg and Lucas turned movie theaters into amusement parks. I fail to see the problem, Pauline Kael. With "Return of the Jedi" ruling the '83 summer box office, a similarly-showstopping finale would be required one year later. The minecart chase was originally conceived for "Raiders", but the dynamic duo revisited the idea when the hired Huyck and Katz to script "Temple". The result is an astonishing six-minute sequence even by today's standards. Miniatures and stop-motion photography were seamlessly combined with the rollercoaster footage by Dennis Muren's ILM team, and they were rightly rewarded with the Best Visual Effects Oscar.

So, what is cinema, exactly? It's the Titanic sinking, it's the T-Rex, it's the T-1000, it's "2001: A Space Odyssey". It's Dr. Jones cutting a rope bridge to send Thuggee cultists crashing into alligator-infested waters. It's about the most fun that can be had with clothes on. We used to build shit in movies, and this bridge was constructed in Sri Lanka and was as dangerous as it looked. The cutting/plummeting scene could only be done once, and the hanging and close-ups were captured at England's Elstree Studios. Mola Ram betrayed Shiva and gets his head bashed on the rocks below, while the British Indian Army blasts his remaining crew. Indy gets what he was after for the only time in the series.

Remember when the hero got the girl?

I think I went through a pretentious period in my late teens/early twenties where I didn't think this was a great movie. Fuck that. Never again. The proof is preserved forever on Disney+ and all the DVDs and Blu-rays still floating around(go get one). Spielberg's next two efforts were "The Color Purple" and "Empire of the Sun"- good movies that haven't been talked about nearly as much as "Temple of Doom". It's an hour an 58 minutes of twisted bliss. How many Marvel movies will still be around in forty years? Indy II is top-tier entertainment from the greatest purveyors of it. "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" is one of the world's greatest films.