Movies

For months, I've been viewing movies from yesteryears I've always wanted to see but just didn't had the chance. Below are some of my thoughts about them:

• I felt like kicking myself in the head for not having seen Pulp Fiction for the past 18 years. A precursor to postmodern cinema, this movie made me appreciate Quentin Tarantino more than ever. Although the Kill Bill movies were solid affairs, Pulp Fiction towers most of its contemporaries during its 1994 release. Just great storytelling and cinematic style ripe for critical study, by which there already have been essays about. Do yourself a favor and see this film, pronto!
• I don't understand how The Shawshank Redemption gets the nod as the top-rated movie in the Internet Movie Database. (And yes, I downloaded the film for the same reason). There is a deep and inspired beauty that slowly creeps and hugs you until the climactic end, but as far as style, performance, and direction are concerned, there's a lot more than other films have done before. Nonetheless, as I've read in the forum of that very same site, it's the message that has catapulted the movie into great heights, a claim that I would have to wholeheartedly agree.
• Boogie Nights kinda hits the common ground Pulp Fiction has already threaded. The greatest appeal that the film has is its sensitive subject matter dealing with the adult entertainment industry, which lends to its shock value. However, I feel the film's storytelling - how disparate elements of the movie was tightly tied together into a cohesive narrative -  should be the one considered about Boogie Nights more than anything. Kudos to Paul Thomas Anderson for that.
• I don't get what has made Patrick Swayze such a highly-coveted leading man during the height of his acting career. I soon understood everything when he played the made lead role in Dirty Dancing.  Power and sensuality combined, his performance packs a wallop to the viewers and is one of the biggest reasons for the film's success.