"If you gave me a million years to ponder, I would never have guessed that true romance and Detroit would ever go together."

I would never have guessed that Tony Scott and Quentin Tarantino would ever go together, but what a pleasant surprise this romantic crime thriller turned out to be. Thanks to a sharp and witty script and entertaining characters True Romance was extremely cool. The best way I can describe this film is to take Patricia Arquette's character's words and sound like a broken record: all I could think of while watching this film was Quentin Tarantino you are so cool; Tony Scott you are so cool; every single actor in this film you are so cool, True…

Film 14 of The June Challenge

"I look back and am amazed that my thoughts were so clear and true, that three words went through my mind endlessly, repeating themselves like a broken record: you're so cool, you're so cool, you're so cool."

First of all, the cast. This film has Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, Dennis Hopper, James Gandolfini, Christopher Walken, Brad Pitt, Gary Oldman, Chris Penn, Tom Sizemore and Samuel L. Jackson. And Val Kilmer as Elvis. Now that is one impressive cast and this...this is one impressive movie.

Even though this was directed by Tony Scott, Tarantino's script ends up completely taking over the film. Not to put down Scott's direction or anything - this is probably his…

Film #40 of Project 90

” So you see, way back then, uh, Sicilians were like, uh, wops from Northern Italy. Ah, they all had blonde hair and blue eyes, but, uh, well, then the Moors moved in there, and uh, well, they changed the whole country. They did so much fuckin' with Sicilian women, huh? That they changed the whole bloodline forever. That's why blonde hair and blue eyes became black hair and dark skin. You know, it's absolutely amazing to me to think that to this day, hundreds of years later, that, uh, that Sicilians still carry that nigger gene.”

Written by Quentin Tarantino and directed by the late Tony Scott, True Romance is a pleasant mixture of…

"Now the first time you write a script, that's the hardest. I don't give a shit if you're fuckin' Billy Wilder or Aaron Sorkin. Remember that guy in California? The guy up in that fuckin' video store that wrote all them screenplays? I'll bet you green money that first little white page he took a letter on, that was the bitch of the bunch. First one is tough, no fuckin' foolin'. The second one... the second one ain't no fuckin' Mardis Gras either, but it's better than the first one 'cause you still feel the same thing, y'know... except it's more diluted, y'know it's... it's better. I threw up on the first one, you believe that? Then the third one...…

Jesus, how many pop culture references can you fit into a two hour movie? I'm not complaining, mind you, but I really noticed this time around. This is before Quentin Tarantino knew how to tone that shit down. But yeah, holy shit what a movie. Tony Scott made a great romance/action/drama from QT's script and they couldn't have assembled a greater cast. I like how the big names like Dennis Hopper, Christopher Walken, Val Kilmer and a few others are in small roles and only have a few scenes. It feels so exploitative that way; getting big names in small roles to sell the film. Probably some QT influence there. Speaking of Val, how pissed was that ego Maniac, spending…

New Directors Project - 5/50
Tony Scott - 1/5

Admittedly, making True Romance my first Tony Scot film is probably a mistake, as it's hard for me to watch this film without staring at the shadow of its up-and-coming writer, one Quentin Tarantino. And it's hard not to when the protagonist feels like a fantasy version of his younger self - a Sonny Chiba geek with an Elvis obsession and a romantic heart. It's also hard not to when characters are sitting around watching A Better Tomorrow II and getting into dual-wielding mexican standoffs, but eh.

Speaking of, Tony Scott shoots these action sequences beautifully. The standoff I mentioned, as you'd expect, EXPLODES into violence, with rapid cuts showing flies…