The Name of the Rose review

 Number 506 on the top 1000 films of all time is the mystery historical drama 'The Name of the Rose.'

Set in a 14th century Benedictine Abbey in Northern Italy, Franciscan friar William of Baskeville (Sean Connery) arrives with his novice Adso (Christian Slater) to discover a gruesome murder has taken place. When William begins investigating, more murders start happening. F. Murray Abraham and Ron Perlman co-star.

At its heart, this was a who-dunnit in a historical setting. William and Adso were stand-ins for Sherlock and Dr Watson with William even saying "it's elementary." Who-dunnits should be gripping thrillers brimming with tension, but I was bored for most of the film.

Neither Connery or Slater were great in the lead roles. Connery was playing himself and Slater was playing a wet blanket of a character. This was only Slater's second film role. He wasn't great, giving a lifeless and dull performance. It didn't help that his character was an audience proxy, providing exposition where necessary, and where it wasn't necessary too, except for the weird moment where the village girl sleeps with him, because of... reasons. This love story was a big subplot, but it wasn't convincing at all. As William rightly points out, Adso is confusing lust with love.

The Name of the Rose was also excruciatingly slow. Much of the film focussed on singing monks and church politics. I get this is set in an abbey, but it didn't make for the most entertaining of cinema. By the time, we had meandered to the film's conclusion, I had all but lost interest.

The Name of the Rose was a plodding affair, devoid of dramatic tension or interesting characters. A while ago I wrote an article about films that could put you to sleep. If I were to write another one, the Name of the Rose would surely take the top place.

True Romance review

 Number 344 on the top 1000 films of all time is Tony Scott's romantic crime drama True Romance.

I am watching this film out of order as I recently saw it in the roof-top cinema in Peckham, South London.

Penned by Quentin Tarantino, True Romance tells the romance of Clarence and Alabama. Clarence (Christian Slater,) a comic book store worker is unknowingly set up with call girl Alabama (Patricia Arquette.) A whirlwind romance and shotgun marriage later. Clarence confronts Alabama's pimp, Drexel (Gary Oldman) and unwittingly steals 500k of Drexel's coke. However, the coke actually belong to the mob. And they want it back. Val Kilmer, Christopher Walken, Brad Pitt, Samuel L. Jackson and James Gandolfini round out the supporting cast.

    Released in 1993, this was one of Tarantino's earliest ventures and, arguably, one of his most original. I've been critical of Tarantino's latest film - Once Upon a Time in Hollywood for being more of a homage than an actual movie - a similar criticism I also reserved for Kill Bill Volume 1. Yet that wasn't the case here. A quick pace and plenty of plot twists keep this film hurtling toward its thrilling conclusion.

    One such plot twist is Samuel L' Jackson's quick demise. Upon meeting Drexel, he mocks him relentlessly before Drexel blows him away. Plus a pre-Soprano James Gandolfini was utterly menacing as mobster Virgil. Sure you could argue that the fight scene with Alabama burdened on the ridiculous, but it was also great to see such a brilliant performance from Gandolfini.

Tarantino and Tony Scott also paced this film well. There aren't any too many dialogue scenes and there are plenty of comedic scenes the keep the content light. most of these were due to Brad Pitt's character of stoner Floyd. Reportedly, he improvised most of his dialogue which worked to great effect. Especially when he is interrogated by the ominous Gandolfini.

   This film climaxes in classic Tarantino fashion. Clarence meets a hot-shot movie exec to offload the coke in the hopes of fleeing the country with Alabama. However, the dead broker has flipped and is wearing a wire. On top of that, the mobsters have tracked down Clarence. Cue a massive shootout between the cops, the mobsters and the exec's security guards. Cue blood, bullets and everybody dying except for our heroes Clarence and Alabama. Although Clarence does dance with death for a second.

Reportedly Tarantino originally wanted to kill Clarence but Tony Scott convinced him otherwise. I think that's the better decision. The film is called True Romance and in a very twisted way it is a romance - the two loves Clarence and Alabama will do anything for each other - even kill. Seeing them walk into the sunset was more effective than seeing Alabama cry over Clarence's gravestone.

Again you can argue that the violent conclusion is gratuitous which is is. But by the same admission, it's also classic Tarantino. if you're not into that then you shouldn't be watching a Tarantino film. Especially this one. But if you want to watch Tarantino at his best, True Romance is the film for you.