Hello there, it's time for another episode of Thursday Movie Picks, a weekly series hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves where you share three movies to fit the theme of the week each Thursday.
This week's topic is one of my favourites, intersecting stories. I loved puzzles growing up, and this kind of films are not so different from puzzles. They fascinate me for the unexpected turns they may take, I don't know, they are just beautiful to me. Let's get started, shall well?
Babel (2006)
In Morocco, a kid tests a rifle and shoots an American woman on a vacation with her husband. This incident will have consequences in other country, and other people's lives. Iñárritu's final piece of the Death Trilogy, Babel is a beautiful drama about loneliness generated by cultural, geographical and psychological boundaries.Pulp Fiction (1994)
Don't you really know what this film is about? Okay, this is what happens: a couple decides to rob a coffee shop; two hitmen must recover a briefcase from their employer, a mob boss; one of the hitmen has to take out the boss's wife; a boxer is paid by said boss to lose. (Un)Luckily the lives of these criminals meet and here you go, one of the best movies ever! Seriously, Pulp Fiction is just perfect. The soundtrack, the humour, the violence, and all those connections with Reservoir Dogs. And Samuel L. Jackson of course.
Little Pieces sounds interesting. I love Pulp Fiction but wasn't crazy about Babel.
ReplyDeletePulp Fiction is excellent! I would like to see Babel and never heard about Little Pieces
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen Little Pieces but the other two fit the theme extremely well. I wish I could say I was crazy about them but I wasn't. Babel had parts that I enjoyed but I hated Pulp Fiction from beginning to end.
ReplyDeleteI went looking for films from different periods to look at how the idea has been approached through the years. These are the three I ended up with.
Vantage Point (2008)-The various stories related to an attempted assassination are told from numerous vantage points. Over plotted but still engrossing film, some story threads are better realized than others. Strong cast includes Sigourney Weaver, Dennis Quaid, Forest Whitaker and Édgar Ramírez.
Detective Story (1951)-One day in the life of the detective squad of the 21st Precinct. The intersecting story of the various people who pass through their doors includes: a sweet but dotty old lady; an embezzler and his girl; a pair of blustering burglars and a naive shoplifter (Lee Grant). One of the officers, Detective Jim McLeod (Kirk Douglas) is a tough cynical man whose obsessive pursuit of an abortionist could lead to personal disaster. Both Grant and Eleanor Parker as McLeod’s wife scored Oscar nominations.
Grand Hotel (1932)-“Grand Hotel...always the same. People come, people go. Nothing ever happens.” So it seems to the desk clerk of the title building but this tells the tale of many intermingling stories. Creaks a little with age but contains some really fine performances, Joan Crawford’s best early work, the Barrymore brothers, but also some less distinguished ones, Garbo in particular seems stiff in many scenes. The genesis of the all-star picture this holds the distinction of being the only Best Picture winner to do so on a sole nomination.
I haven't heard of the third one, but I loved Pulp Fiction and I've been wanting to see Babel.
ReplyDeletePulp Fiction is an undisputed classic that fully deserves to be on the list. I went another route with my picks or it would certainly be there. Babel was quite effective for me, but I don't love it.
ReplyDeleteBabel and Pulp - great picks!! I've not seen Little Pieces though.
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