Pulp Fiction revisited (1 Viewer)

[Robert Anthony]

Haggai: Yeah, just one line like that probably would have made all the difference.

although I do gotta say that when Marvin DOES get shot--I couldn't believe I was laughing at that. I think it's mostly the argument they have right afterwards that does it though--they have all the concern of someone who accidentally spilled a soda on the floorboards instead of splattering brain on the upholstery.

 

[Christopher_Ham]

I don't know about you guys, but I often find myself using Pulp phrases like "Now that's a tasty burger."

 

[Haggai]

Music question: on the collector's edition soundtrack (one of the bonus tracks), and in the final credits of the movie, there's the song "Strawberry Letter #23" by Brothers Johnson. If you don't know the title, think back to the scene in Jackie Brown, where Ordell puts Beaumont in the trunk of the car, and then drives around the block. This is the song that comes on when Ordell starts the car ("Hello, my love...").

What I'm wondering is, where was it in Pulp Fiction? Maybe it was subtly in the background somewhere, but I can't figure it out. Or maybe it was in a scene that got cut from the movie? I'm pretty sure it's not in any of the deleted scenes on the DVD, since I just re-watched those again.

 

[JerryCro]

It was playing near the beginning when Jules and Vincent are walking down the hallway , coming out of one of the apartments.

 

[Jack Briggs]

We interrupt your thread with a brief cautionary note: When offended or concerned about another member's comments, please use the report-this-post function instead of making an issue of it in the thread. The line and/or post in question would then be handled quietly.

In Zachary's defense, I do not think he intended what he said in the way it was taken. But in everybody's interests, it has been removed.

Now back to your thread.

(I rescreened this film for the first time in ages only a few weeks ago. Though I applaud the use of nonlinear storytelling, sometimes the film perilously treads to the edge of pretentiousness. But it pulls back just in time. Overall, a fine film, but I'm not among those hailing it as a cinematic masterpiece.)

 

[Mike Williams]

It's really convenient that someone used a particularly and historically offensive word in a public forum, but if anyone does happen to be offended, then please just report it so it can be dealt with privately. Public offense, private dealing. Nice.

Moving on though, I too am a big fan and oft user of the line "Mmmmm . . . that is a tasty burger!" . . . and I feel it doesn't achieve its full effect without the Mmmmmm. Try it out.

 

[Haggai]

Just cued this scene up again on the DVD, and I can't really make out what they hear in the background as they pass by a couple of the other apartments. You're probably right, there aren't many places in the movie that it could be in, but I can't tell where it is when I watch that scene.

 

[Haggai]

I had never delved through all of the articles included on the 2nd disc of the Pulp Fiction SE DVD until now, and there's some good stuff in there. A particularly entertaining article is from early 2001, by Brian Koppelman, one of the screenwriters of Rounders and Knockaround Guys. He wrote about "The Anxiety of Tarantino": for any moviemaker who is doing any crime/guys-with-guns scene in the post-Reservoir Dogs/Pulp Fiction era, it's the fear that no matter how well you think your ideas are working, you might be doing nothing more than a Tarantino rip-off, even if you weren't thinking about it on any conscious level.

Here's a link to the article (with a rather shambolic lack of formatting).

 

[NicolasC]

I saw this movie with a friend of mine when it first came out in theaters. All I knew about the movie was it's director and his previous movie (Reservoir Dogs) because it got re-rated in Quebec from 16+ to 18+ because of the ear scene. And I was blown away! I kepted saying to her it was the best movie I had ever seen. She wasn't as enthousiatic as I was. I have since seen all of QT's film and I have to say he is my favorite screenwriter and director. Can't wait for KB v. 2!

 

[DaveF]

I watched "Pulp Fiction" for the first time this afternoon (blu-ray). I skipped it when it debuted in 1994, thinking that I would not like it as I wasn't into this type of film in my 20s. 24 years later, my tastes are somewhat different and I thought I'd give it a go. (And rather than start a new thread, it's more fun to resurrect a decade old thread )

I mostly didn't like it.

It was mostly engaging, though the Vincent and Jules sequences were intermittently boring at times. Visually, I enjoyed being taken back to the era of the low- to mid-budget non-franchise movies of the '90s. I miss those. The "story", what there was of one, I followed. It was interesting to see an early form of the multi-perspective, non-linear story telling that's become much more common.

But while technically I could appreciate it, as a movie, it wasn't any fun. It felt like an exercise in trying to shock and offend the viewer. There was nothing to care for. No character, no story, no through-line to get behind, identify with, or otherwise enjoy. Based on pop-culture references from friends over the past nearly-quarter century, I expected "The Gimp" to be a big thing. Meh. A guy in a full-body BDSM suit with no real purpose to the movie. I also was expecting it to be filled with quotable one-liners and intriguing in-context conversations. Also a let down. Nothing quotable for me. And the "mundane" conversations were ... well ... mostly mundane.

I need to do some reading as to how it was groundbreaking compared to the styles of the late '80s and early '90s.

It may be that I missed out. This feels like a film that if you had the taste in movies this targeted and you saw it circa 1994, this would rewrite your brain and you'd forever be referencing it. Coming it to it almost 25 years later, a curious bit of cinematic history but not "fun".

 

[TravisR]

It may be that I missed out. This feels like a film that if you had the taste in movies this targeted and you saw it circa 1994, this would rewrite your brain and you'd forever be referencing it.

You are correct.

 

[Bryan^H]

Interesting. I can think of 100 different quotes that come to mind from it:
I love the scenes of black comedy which is pretty much the entire film like this one:



and the Mia Adreniline shot scene I thought was hilarious.
Still one of my favorite films of the 90's.

 

[TravisR]

Interesting. I can think of 100 different quotes that come to mind from it:

Half of the things I say in any given day are stolen from Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction.

 

[John Dirk]

It may be that I missed out..

Respectfully, I think so. It's a matter of perspective and opinion I guess. This is one of my "go to" films when I need to just relax and enjoy some classic material. QT can spin a story like few others can.

 

[Walter Kittel]

I'm a little bit surprised that I did not post about this film during its earlier period.

I did not see Reservoir Dogs until it was released on DVD. Either I wasn't aware of the film during its theatrical run, or perhaps it was a brief run and I missed the film. Really can't say. The point being that I had heard some of the buzz surrounding Pulp Fiction and caught it on opening weekend. I tend to be director-centric and subscribe to the theory that the director is the single largest influence on the film that eventually reaches the viewer. Anyway, Pulp Fiction was my first exposure to Quentin Tarantino. I was hooked as soon as the credits switched over to Kool and the Gang's Jungle Boogie.

It only happens rarely and it is difficult to describe; but there is an almost electric spark of recognition that occurs in my mind when I first experience a new (to me) director's work and it resonates with me. The sense that a new creative talent is emerging and the possibility of future 'great' films exists. Pulp Fiction, and by extension Quentin Tarantino was one of those times. I've been a huge fan of Tarantino's work over the years and it started with Pulp Fiction. (Paul Thomas Anderson with Boogie Nights and Martin Scorsese with Taxi Driver are two other notable examples of that phenomena for me.)

Probably seeing the film in 2018 for the first time, after the genre and style has been so often referenced and recreated does lessen the impact of Pulp Fiction.

Dialog and narrative and music selection are probably the strongest elements of Tarantino's work, for me. I enjoy his B movie sensibilities quite a bit and love that aspect of his work.

- Walter.

 

[John Dirk]

I'm a little bit surprised that I did not post about this film during its earlier period.



Probably seeing the film in 2018 for the first time, after the genre and style has been so often referenced and recreated does lessen the impact of Pulp Fiction.

That's a great point!

 

[Scott Merryfield]

It may be that I missed out. This feels like a film that if you had the taste in movies this targeted and you saw it circa 1994, this would rewrite your brain and you'd forever be referencing it. Coming it to it almost 25 years later, a curious bit of cinematic history but not "fun".

Dave, have you seen other films from Tarantino, especially earlier works such as Reservior Dogs and Jackie Brown? Pulp Fiction was my first exposure to QT, and similar to Walter Kittle's comments above, I was immediately hooked. Not many current film makers write dialog as unique and interesting as QT, IMO. There's a rhythm to the on screen conversations that is lacking in most modern films. Pulp Fiction illustrates this perfectly.

 

[skylark68]

I was 17 or so when this film came out. It made a huge impression on my circle of friends. We quoted that film backwards and forwards for several years afterwards. Funny thing though is that I really disliked Reservoir Dogs, which I didn't see until a few years later. I've enjoyed almost all of QT's later films, particularly Inglourious Basterds. I was a bit disappointed in Hateful Eight though. I liked the first 2/3rds of the film but the ending just didn't do anything for me at all. It was actually fairly predictable.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I was 17 or so when this film came out. It made a huge impression on my circle of friends. We quoted that film backwards and forwards for several years afterwards. Funny thing though is that I really disliked Reservoir Dogs, which I didn't see until a few years later. I've enjoyed almost all of QT's later films, particularly Inglourious Basterds. I was a bit disappointed in Hateful Eight though. I liked the first 2/3rds of the film but the ending just didn't do anything for me at all. It was actually fairly predictable.

The Hateful Eight is not a favorite of mine, either. But even film makers I really like occasionally come out with a movie I don't care for, so it's not a big deal to me. I'm in complete agreement with you regarding Inglorious Basterds, too. I thought that was one of QT's best films. The tension of the opening scene is just incredible.

 

[JohnRice]

I've had a 25 year love/hate relationship with QT. I think a lot of people forget their first exposure to him was "True Romance". When I spent $550 on my first, really crappy DVD player in... what... '95? I promptly went across the street to pick out a couple DVDs. No internet and you had to choose from what the store had, so it was Dirty Dancing and Reservoir Dogs. LOL. DD for my wife and RD for me. RD kind of fascinated me, because it had a guy sitting there, bleeding to death for an hour, only to get smoked before he had a chance to actually bleed to death.

Through the years, I would deny being a QT fan. In fact, it might actually annoy me if someone called me one. Then I looked at the movies I own, and almost every QT flick is in there. I'm NOT a stinking QT fan. I'm a Coen fan, hell yeah! QT? NO WAY!

The truth is, I almost always enjoy his movies, at least the residual adolescent in me does. The only one that rubbed me the wrong way was Django. I probably need to watch it again, but I felt like I was being lectured to about morality by a person who's stuck in the mind of a 15 year old boy. Which is kind of how I perceive QT. He takes the dreams of 15 year old boys and puts them into movies.

BTW, it's interesting how many of you dislike "The Hateful Eight", because in a way, I think it might be his most mature film. It's Agatha Christie. It's QT's Western version of "And Then There Were None". I was amused by how blatantly he played with the audience, but I've only seen it once.