Required Viewing #1: A Bronx Tale

[StevePulaski]

A Bronx Tale is one of the most value-based coming of age dramas I have yet to see.

Rating: ★★★★

To kick off my new series, "Required Viewing," I contemplated long and hard on what film I should debut with. I wanted to be surprising and pick a film I found not wholly obvious. You all have heard me discuss Kevin Smith's Clerks and how it's my favorite film (and you'll all see it on here sooner or later), but I felt debuting the series with the film would be misleading and an uninspired choice.

I decided to go with Robert De Niro's directorial debut, A Bronx Tale, a coming of age drama set in the famous streets of New York, which is currently the top contender for my favorite film I watched this year. It depicts life in the Bronx in a brutally honest form, showing how a boy, named Cologero (Brancato Jr.) is given two separate educations growing up; a smart one from his well respected, bus driver father Lorenzo (De Niro) and a street one from the mob boss Sonny (Palminteri). Both of their philosophies are contradicting, yet pretty true in a certain way.

Why is it "Required Viewing?": A Bronx Tale is a criminally underrated drama when it is in no position to be one. It is directed by one of America's finest, has a story, I believe, a lot of people who don't know the film could benefit from, and is aspiring, crisp, but most importantly, is kept afloat by its strong belief in morals and values. The performances are remarkable, the script is polished, and the after-taste is a strong one, some may have for a while upon finishing it.

My original four star review of A Bronx Tale here, stevethemovieman.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=perfect&thread=2358&page=1

[StevePulaski]

May 2, 2012 21:32:50 GMT -5 @zender said:

Maybe to add a little more interest to this section you should do two movies at once, describing how they relate or how they complement each other. For example, this could be titled "Required viewing number one: A Bronx Tale and ..." This would mean that this section is more than just a summary of your 4 star movies.

Each movie will have its own section. And there are not just four star movies in here; some three and a half star films and some shorts will be posted as well.