Empire Magazine (2008) Greatest Movies List - #141: Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs

Odds are you know the story of Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs by heart, and the odds are greater still that the first you became familiar with the story was when you saw the 1937 Walt Disney animated musical, directed by David Hand. The Brothers Grimm were the ones who first popularized fairy tales in the 19^th century, but it was the creator of Mickey Mouse who created the versions we all know in the 20^th and 21^st century. Comparing the work of the Brothers Grimm with the cheerful films of Uncle Walt is like comparing Game of Thrones to Frozen: they both feature princesses and elements of fantasy, but one has a lot more blood and murder.

Of course by removing the more mature parts of the Grim fairy tales and using colourful animation as well catchy tunes to tell the story, Walt Disney pictures managed to reach millions of viewers and cemented their movie as the definitive version of the fairy tale. Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs was Hollywood’s first full-length animated feature and the earliest in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, but it is constantly being rediscovered by new generations of children even though it was released 78 years ago. I can’t recall exactly when, but I know I watched it as a kid sometime in the early 90s, most likely in a classroom. Nothing will calm down a group of toddlers like the sight of the seven dwarfs singing “Heigh-Ho, it’s off to work we go.”

Knowing the story is one thing, but for a real pop culture challenge try remembering the names of the seven dwarfs off the top of your head. That’s right up there with knowing the names of Santa’s reindeers or the names of the Magnificent Seven. I can’t do it, but I do remember my favourite dwarf was the mute and bald dwarf Dopey because of how silly he behaved.

Both girls and boys usually love the animated movie, but of course nowadays the idea of a princess cooking and cleaning for seven guys who go work all day in a mine seems somewhat antiquated. Add to that she is eventually placed in a coma and falls in love when the first guy who kisses her while she is asleep, and there is a lot here to anger feminists the world over. This is probably why in 2012 alone there were two new live action versions of the film that featured a much more proactive Snow White. Mirror Mirror has her becoming essentially a stick-up artist with the dwarfs, and Snow White and the Huntsman has her picking up a sword and storming the castle of the evil stepmother for a final showdown. Apparently the studios really wanted to emphasize the “action” part of a live-action version of Snow White.

Although those new versions are definitely more progressive in terms of giving the female protagonist a lot more to do other than cooking and cleaning, it does still feel like something has been lost from the early animated version. The Walt Disney version is a product of its time, when a female character in movies was at best a prize to be rescued, but seen today the movie still has a certain magic. It’s a simple story with lots of cutesy characters and a damsel in distress, yet if it has lasted for close to eight decades Walt Disney must have done something right.

Empire Magazine (2008) Greatest Movies List - #97: Reservoir Dogs

One of the most surprising things about Quentin Tarantino’s debut film Reservoir Dogs (1992) is the fact that it has never been adapted for the stage. They will make a show out of Beauty and the Beast , Monty Python and the Holy Grail , and even Spider-Man , but somehow a movie in which most of the action takes place in a warehouse has never made it to Broadway? In any case, this was the movie that announced the arrival of the insatiable film fan that could regurgitate everything he had learned watching movies at the video store into stories filled with sudden bursts of violence, sharp-dressed characters, awesome soundtracks, and crackling dialogue. Since this violent piece of American cinema came out at a time when I was still learning basic math in elementary school there was no way I would watch this on the big screen. However as the years went by it became a cult classic, and even a classic of the independent movies genre, and was re-released on special edition DVD for its

Empire Magazine (2008) Greatest Movies List - #49: Evil Dead 2

What do you get when you mix buckets of fake blood, creative camera operators, the humour of the Three Stooges, and a man with the most recognizable chin in Hollywood? You get Evil Dead II (1987), the horror classic that somehow manages to remake the original in the first 15 minutes and yet feel entirely original. Even though it is mostly set in a cabin in the woods, that staple location in the horror genre, it feels like a roller coaster ride. This is especially true once the film's hero, the scrappy Ash Williams, embraces the madness by arming himself with a sawed-off shotgun and attaching a chainsaw where his hand used to be. "Groovy" indeed. This gore-soaked franchise has had a long run, starting off with one low-budget movie directed by a young Sam Raimi and then growing into two sequels, a remake, comic books and a TV show with three seasons. My starting point was the third entry, Army of Darkness, which moves the action to the Middle Ages with the same

Empire Magazine (2008) Greatest Movies List - #102: The Hustler

Robert Rossen’s The Hustler (1961) is proof that any sport can be used for good cinematic drama even if that sport is pool. Although this is not a game that involves a massive sport arena and bloody boxing gloves, things can get dramatically interesting if the monetary stakes are high, and visually arresting if the filmmakers shoot from the right angle. It also helps a lot if the man putting his money on the table is played by a young Paul Newman in a career-breaking role. Prior to watching the film I had a vague idea of the meaning of the word “hustling” and a rather passive interest in the game of pool. It’s a fun game to play if you are having a couple of nachos and chicken wings on a Friday evening with friends, but I didn’t see it as a spectator sport. Watching The Hustler in the classics section of Netflix two years ago was a bit of an education since it shows the sport as a way of life for some people, and a huge source of revenue for big time gamblers. Newman star as

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