"Toby? Toby Wong. Toby Wong? Toby Wong. Toby Chung? Fucking Charlie Chan..."

I was originally going to put one of the more famous lines from the movie as the title, but I remember laughing so hard at that line that I just had to use it.

I'm also going to apologize for the lack of enthusiasm in my writing today; I did a ridiculous amount of time on the Wii Fit earlier and have thus since decided to rename the damn thing Wii Hurt.

Anyway, today's topic of choice is the timeless classic:

This movie has been a favorite of mine for the longest time and I can't remember a time where I didn't like it.

This post comes based off the fact that I was on the king of all Tim Roth kicks the other day after watching Lie to Me (FOX, Weds. 8:00pm) and I launched myself onto a Reservoir Dogs kick. I needed that Tarantino humor and the gore that usually goes hand in hand with it.

So, let's begin, shall we?

Reservoir Dogs is the lovechild of Quentin Tarantino and his obsession with 70's films. Primarily, those of the Grindhouse persuasion, Noir, and Expose films.

Dogs is a film about six men; each playing a part in a jewel heist that eventually takes a turn for the worst. While the film only focuses on roughly half the team in nice little vignettes about each of the main characters, it's clearly given that there is, in fact, a rat on the team. One of these men in a cop and although it's revealed about halfway through the film who, the impact it has on the relationship of two of the dogs is very effective. The film ends with a bang and some vagueness on just what exactly had happened.

The film plays out through a series of flashbacks, something Tarantino seems to enjoy greatly. It works for the film, keeping it under wraps just exactly what happened and the chaos of the heist is only ever described by the characters (okay, so there's like, one scene where the end result of the heist is shown).

The casting was a magnificent choice, as I usually have problems with Tarantino's casting until after I see the film. I went into this film knowing absolutely nothing about it, something I did when I was handed a copy of Boondock Saints, which has become one of my top ten favorite movies of all time.

This movie wasn't any different in making that list.

Now, let me just say this: I fucking love Tim Roth. I think the man is a god among actors and he's just crazy talented. I mean, come on! Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead was hilarious and his turn as a human lie detector on Lie to Me is unbelievable.

So, forgive me if this is biased. But fucking deal with it 'cause Tim Roth's the shit.

And so is Harvey Keitel, another major player in this movie.

Roth and Keitel have always been part of the Tarantino Trifecta in my mind, with Madsen, yet another of the Dogs, taking the top rung.

Roth plays Mr. Orange, one of the primary, and I'm going to say primary because some will argue that the entire band of Dogs were the main characters, and that Joe the Boss and Nice Guy Eddie are just as important. And don't get me wrong, they are, but they aren't the prime characters.

The Prime characters are as follows: Orange: played by Roth, White: played by Keitel, and Blonde: played by Michael Madsen, in one of his most notorious roles to date as the crazy one out of the six.

Roth and Keitel have an interesting relationship in this movie, one I would have liked to see more exposition on, but alas, this is Tarantino, and he only gives what you don't really wanna see. Keitel and Roth's characters are obviously very close, but without giving too much information, it provokes backstory in my head that probably shouldn't happen. Hahaha. Yeah....

Okay, so moving on to other characters, Steve Buscemi plays a skeevey skeezebag, Mr. Pink. Tarantino himself plays the late Mr. Brown, and Eddie Bunker, may he rest in peace, plays Mr. Blue. Lawrence Tierney plays Joe, and Chris Penn, may he also rest in peace, plays his dopey son, Nice Guy Eddie.

Between the dialogue, which is brilliant, by the way, and the somewhat tame amount of gore (for a Tarantino, that is), there's some truly amazing acting and seriously awesome shot sequences.

I highly recommend this movie. There's some kind of algebraic equation that states: If you like Reservoir Dogs, you will not like Pulp Fiction; and vice versa.

So, if you liked Pulp Fiction and have yet to see this, number one: shame on you, and number 2: possibly avoid this movie.

"Are you gonna bark all day, little doggy, or are you gonna bite?"

Z