This is a quick one this week... I just wanted to make a list of some of the best kids and tween films in my 80's world.

5.) The Never Ending Story : If you have never seen this watch it. 

4.) Flight of the Navigator/ Little Monsters : These movies are gems! I could not leave either off this list!

3.) ET the Extraterrestrial/ Labyrinth : If you have't seen this film then shame on you.

2.) Stand By Me /Monster Squad : These are perfect films! 

1.) The Goonies : This is seriously probably the best kids film ever made. Action, adventure. teen romance, over coming fear and boys becoming men! Oh and it's hilarious too! 

I told you this would be a quick one! I would expect that Kevin and me will be discussing these on the Podcast at some point. I will save my full opinions until then! Be kind to each other out there!

Honorable mentions :Explorers, Russkies, Wizard, Cloak and Dagger, The new Adventures of Pippi Long Stocking, The Garbage Pail Kids, The Dark Crystal.

I saw a post on "the Facebook" today that disturbed me on an emotional level. It ranked Tarantino's films worst to best and I did not like the order... I won't bore you w/ the order of that post, but I will give you my Tarantino Top 5! (please stay awake) These are in order!

5.) Death Proof : I have to be honest w/ you. When I first saw this film in the theater I didn't love it. I mean it had a cool way about it, but it sort of missed the mark for me... at first. I, of course ended up watching it again when it was released on DVD and I loved it the second time. I feel like this movie is violent in a campy and cartoony way, but it is also incredibly subtle. When I first saw it I felt like the dialogue wasn't quite as sharp as his other films, which I later realized is it's brilliance. You see he was spoofing the genre of grind house cinema. (which we already knew) So the fact that he still wrote interesting and memorable dialogue that is a little sub-par feeling is actually something he no doubt put a lot of thought into. And it's still incredibly snappy and smart... even when it feels like it isn't meant to be. The film also explores the slasher film genre to a "T"... it nails it. A bunch of hot chicks being stocked by a mad man... and like any good QT film the females are extremely strong and interesting characters who, like other scream queens before them, teach the "murdering madman" a valuable lesson by the films end. Don't dish it out if you can't take it. I think it's a deceptively smart film that I enjoy for different reasons every time I take another look at it. 

4.) Reservoir Dogs : This was of course QT's break out hit. It is a very simple story that becomes very interesting due to the characters, patented clean and smart dialogue and tension! This movie is full of testosterone! It is a bunch of men at there absolute worse and best all at the same time. This has been beaten to death but how smart is it to tell the aftermath of a diamond heist? So smart and so original to this day there hasn't been a heist film close to it ever since! A huge plus for this film is that he was able to get such a stellar cast... but more than that he was able to get incredible performances from them! It feels really natural w/ a dash of ultra heightened reality! 

3.) Jackie Brown : This film is cool plain and simple. Sure, you can argue that this film isn't "full QT cinema" because it's based on a book and not his original material, but he takes the material and makes it his own. His love for Elmore Leonard is so clear in this film. It's love letter. I love the cast of characters and Pam Greer makes this crazy (all but brief) comeback! And again... The tension in this film at times is on par w/ Hitchcock films like Rear Window and Rope! There is an unrest anytime Ordell Robbie is in a scene. This is a cool film full of low rest criminals and regular people doing things that are out of character in the name of love and money. It's under appreciated so I'm here to give it some love!

2.) Pulp Fiction : This is one of those films that changed what movies and story telling could be for me and a generation. I saw this in the theater w/ my Brother and my dad and I and remember leaving completely stunned at what I had seen. It was a movie that jumped around like some people ( like me) enjoy reading books. Since seeing that film I have come to realize that a good story can be told starting at any part... (If it's good)  the order of the events that happen shouldn't matter as long as it's all connected in some way and had engaging characters.. But that isn't what makes Pulp Fiction great... It's the instant interest you have in each of these characters we had never met before! We relate to them personally w/ into the first five minutes of the film. That's beyond talent... That is a gift for understanding people and relationships. That's applying life to cinema. At times when I watch PF or any QT films for that matter I think about seeing him speak in an interview and I realize he has somehow figured out away to insert himself into everything he does... in a very personal way. He does what he loves and he is authentic and that's why Pulp Fiction was such a hit... It's his heart... It's him loving movies on screen! 

1.) The KILL BILL's : At the end of the say art and taste come down to personal preference... I love these films because I love westerns, gangster films, action movies, melodrama, sword play, Kung Fu fighting not to mention strong women! I have said this a million times... This film has everything I have ever wanted in a film! I love the spaghetti westerns and the man w/ now name, and here he is creating "The Bride" the women w/ no name who is so cool, she gets named! This movie to me is so much more personal than his other films. It's not a secret that QT loves Hong Kong cinema and westerns... and the two genres go together and influence the other so much that it was a perfect marriage to combine the two. Each fight is both bad ass, personal  and remorseful. Each character that she tracks down has this immense will to survive and loyalty to Bill, but also this under laying shame for what they did to her. (except Elle) Bud says it best... " That woman deserves her revenge... and we deserve to die. But then again. So does she. So I guess we'll just see. Won't we?" This movie has a distinct black and white line... but that line the separates  them is gray and characters are constantly walking on it w/ the exception of a few. I can't split these films a part because they are meant to be seen together. Like all of QT's films he uses music to create feelings of nostalgia, tension and heightened action and violence. I feel like this film does the best job of using these elements as a whole. I think these films are perfect and that is why they are my #1. 

So that's my list... sorry if you think Inglorious Basterd's and D'jango should be on here... but sadly they just aren't his best work. They aren't bad films they just aren't as good has QT has been. Bottom line.

Be kind to each other out there. Try not to dish out any cold revenge.