Everyone Says I Love You (1996)
Everyone Says I Love You is Woody Allen’s entry to the musical genre. It knows it is; the narration recognizes it early on. That’s just one part of this movie’s reflexivity on the musicals genre, and as a film that’s part homage and part satire, it works exceedingly well.
The film follows a few members of a family as they have their own run-ins with love. The ensemble cast is headed by many recognizable faces, including Edward Norton, Drew Barrymore, Julia Roberts, Goldia Hawn, Alan Alda, a young Natalie Portman, and of course, Woody Allen himself. The film follows these characters with different degrees of commitment, and to be honest, I found Allen’s character’s storyline the least engaging. But really, all of the plotlines and character arches are at least interesting, and the jumping around interspersed with collective moments where they all intersect really makes the film move with an upbeat energy.
In some ways it’s surprising that the film can stay so kinetic. Allen uses very long takes during his group dialogues amongst the ensemble cast, refusing to cut sometimes for entire durations of scenes. This style excels here; the cast is able to stay in character for a whole conversation, and the arguing and conflicts among the characters stay unbroken by editing, retaining their tension and humor throughout an entire shot.
These long fluid ensemble shots are part of the reason the film harkens back to earlier MGM musicals of the 40s and 50s. At the same time, it also makes the film seem theatrical, in both its execution and the sometimes purposefully hammy performances and silly mishaps. Like a good play, every character is developed and performed well, and all of them have their own very active roles in the central theme of love.
The songs satisfy as well, being able to both advance plots or characters as well as being catchy and fun to listen to. Allen wanted a musical with ordinary actors singing their own parts, so the songs don’t sound like they’re straight off of Broadway, but it’s just another aspect of appeal for this film. By the way, according to Wikipedia, Goldie Hawn was asked to sing worse than she really does to sound more ordinary, and Drew Barrymore’s the only actor who had to have their voice dubbed – she said it was too bad even for the ordinary voice feel Allen was going for.
Anyway, from Norton’s opening number singing around a park (I got feelings of Enchanted and (500) Days of Summer from it) to the always enjoyable Patrick Crenshaw singing from beyond the grave, the film stays alive with signature neurotic Woody Allen humor, a few plotlines to follow, excellent ensemble work, and interesting music. Everyone Says I Love You is an excellent movie for anyone who enjoys musicals, Woody Allen films, or really, just good, funny movies.
Final rating: 9/10
–James A. Janisse
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
It’s hard to believe that “Reservoir Dogs” is Tarantino’s directorial debut. The film is simultaneously funny, brutal, clever, vulgar, retrospective, and introspective. This movie is a fantastic way to start a career, and remains today a film with few weakpoints.
The movie follows a group of men on a diamond heist. Hired by Joe and his son Nice Guy Eddie, the men know nothing of one another and refer to each other as their codenames, which are colors – Mr. White, Mr. Blonde, etc. There is no Mr. Black.
The story is told in the now-trademark Tarantino style of non-linearity. The criminals’ pasts are shown in seamlessly integrated flashbacks, fleshing out the character relationships as we watch them deal with a heist gone wrong. The film’s present-line plot is amazingly simple – wait in the warehouse for the others and try to figure out who the snitch could be. The execution of this story, with revelations at expert points, is what makes the movie so outstanding.
The acting helps as well. Tarantino uses other actors who are undoubtedly familiar but not A-list stars, and brings out fantastic performances from all of them. I don’t think I’d be starting any arguments if I said that this was Steve Buscemi’s greatest role. It may be in the way Tarantino uses his camera, employing long, unbreaking shots that allow the actors to act out their scenes more theatrically. Their signature clever and lengthy dialogues are uninterrupted by editing, and the characters seem more realistic and natural because of it.
What proves Reservoir Dog’s quality is its re-watchability. Every time you see this film, you can pick up even the smallest bit of dialogue that you may not have heard, and because Tarantino crafts his dialogue so carefully, every bit is worth hearing. Tarantino uses his dialogue and backstories, as well as his talented cast, to make compelling characters. In fact, one of the shortcomings of the movie is the relatively little amount of information we know about its characters. When they’re so interesting and well-acted, you can’t help but want to know more, but sadly, the film leaves many things unaddressed.
Besides that, the only other complaint I have about the film is Tim Roth’s somewhat abrasive acting while he’s bleeding to death. I’m not saying it isn’t good, but it does get a little irritating after repeated views. Agonizing screams aside, the film is also a pleasant one to listen to. The soundtrack is truly upstanding, with a collection of music that meshes so well together, and that is worked diogenicaly into the film with Stephen Wright as a deadpan broadcaster.
Between his long, flowing, continuous shots and his ear for a badass soundtrack, as well as a fantastic job by the cast of the movie, Tarantino made his first feature film a classic. As long as you can stand some violence, there is no reason that you shouldn’t see Reservoir Dogs.
Final rating: 9/10
–James A. Janisse
