part III
Raising Arizona (1987, Joel Coen) This sophomore effort by the Coen brothers (Ethan was cowriter-producer) was persuasive evidence of their talents. Shot by Barry Sonnenfeld, it's an offbeat, screwball cartoon with a skilful cast (Nicolas Cage, Holly Hunter, John Goodman) that milks laughs from such unexpected gags as a baby flying off a car's roof.
Rashomon (1950, Akira Kurosawa) When a Japanese warrior is killed, the police interrogate witnesses, only to find in each retelling of the event that there is no one true version. The first major post-war Japanese film to be released in the United States, Rashomon emerged as the definitive cinematic treatment of point of view.
Repulsion (1965, Roman Polanski) The undercurrent of most horror movies is the fear of sex. Polanski's hat trick was to make that fear explicit, yet even more seductively terrifying. Slowly, inevitably, he creates madness out of everyday life - in this case, that of a quiet young manicurist (Catherine Deneuve) who, repelled by intimacy, blossoms into a delusional murderer.
Reservoir Dogs (1992, Quentin Tarantino) Imagine The Godfather's Luca Brasi and Scarface's Tony Montana debating Madonna's early work over coffee ... and you'll have a rough idea of how Tarantino turned the gangster movie upside down. The film's non-linear retelling of a botched robbery - and its ultra-cool, pop-culture-spouting characters - connects with the viewer on a magically clever artificial plane.
Ride The High Country (1962, Sam Peckinpah) Before Peckinpah could let loose with The Wild Bunch, he had to bury the Old West for good. Here, the cowboys and Indians and endless panoramas of Ford and Hawks are gone, replaced by colourful memories exchanged between Joel McCrea and Randolph Scott's ageing former lawmen as they transport gold.
The Road Warrior (1981, George Miller) Refining and expanding his Mad Max concept (brave loner outwits thugs in a feral future outback), Miller came up with the best non-American action-adventure movie ever made. Its relentless narrative thrust and stylish barbarity anticipates James Cameron's Terminator. Mel Gibson - still padded with baby fat - first demonstrated here the mythic lethal weapon he could be.