is the only genuine, landmark film I’ve ever seen cold, meaning that I
went into the theater with no significant expectations. I was at the
perfect age to enjoy the film – a senior in high school I think – and I
went in on the first or second day of its release knowing only that it
got good reviews and that two characters did the twist. I was blown
away like I never have been before or since and dragged a friend back
to see it the next day. I probably saw it two more times in the theater
and quoted it like a sheep for months after words.
Now I’m old and I don’t like the movie as much as I used to. Part of that isn’t really the movie’s fault. Pulp Fiction
is like Korn insofar as the original suffers because of hordes of
unbearable imitations. When you listen to Korn now, you can’t help but
hear a little bit of Kid Rock, Limp Biskit and Disturbed. In other
words, all of the hacks do the shit more or less invented by Korn
(following Pantera and Faith No More) so much, that it now sounds
hackneyed and fake even when the originals do it. Watching Pulp Fiction
again, a lot of that stylized dialog that once seemed so fresh nearly
made me wince, like Vince’s little spiel about how you “do not
mess with another man’s vehicle.” My near winces were not because QT’s
writing is hackneyed, but because about one in five films to have come
out after Pulp Fiction shamelessly rips it off.
For example, Pulp Fiction
is loaded with those mundane little discussions that seemed fresh
because of the novelty of putting mundane conversations in a film, or
at least in this kind of a film. Now that these conversations are in
every film, many of the originals seem just plain mundane.
So, I guess my favorite film of the nineties for the moment is no longer Pulp Fiction but, probably Leaving Las Vegas. Freeway may be ahead of Pulp Fiction, too. But that does not mean that Pulp Fiction
is not a great film. Here are a handful of reasons, aside from the
obvious – originality, superior writing, acting, directing, etc. – why Pulp Fiction stands apart from it’s imitators, and most other films.
- My favorite moment in this film. Jules is going on about divine
intervention and how his lucky break a few minutes ago couldn’t have
been mere coincidence. Vince’s gun goes off for no reason and blow’s
Marvin’s head off. Brilliant! At one point during the extras, Sam
Jackson argues that the film is about second chances and redemption.
This may be true, but the world of the film is still ruled by chance
and luck. Those second chances come or don’t come by chance. - The combination to the briefcase is 666. [Ed Note: We love Satan]
- The film is wantonly sexist and nobody seem to notice or care.
Nearly every woman in the film is a childish dim-wit, especially
Butch’s bitch. Even Mia, who is semi-smart reminds me of the part in As Good as it Gets
where the secretary asks Jack Nicholson how he is able to write women
so well and he says “First I think of a man. Then, I take away reason
and accountability.” - The film is pretty groundbreaking in how it handles race. I
think every character in the film is subject to a racial slur at some
point, but at the same time, it takes the proper approach to the slurs.
Instead of giving them tremendous weight, the slurs are treated as
virtually meaningless. Calling someone “nigger” is like calling him
“stretch” or “tubby,” because the blacks in the film aren’t vulnerable
little victims and because only gay rapist white trash are seriously
bigoted. Naturally, this angered people who trade on racism and
victimhood. [Ed Note: He's talking about Spike Lee] - That whole gay rapist white trash thing is ingenious. It’s one
of only a few instances of an event in a film that is both totally
unexpected and seamless. Sure, something similar happens in Deliverance
but if you had never seen the film and someone stopped it just before
Butch and Marsellus stumble into the pawn shop, it would take you at
least five years to guess what was going to happen next. And the gay
rapist white trash sequence actually makes the plot better, rather than
being an odd turn that only serves as an odd turn. This scene is
another example of how bits of chance and coincidence change the direct
and redirect the story. - While the events in the film are dictated by coincidence and
chance, the film is written carefully and things have a way of looping
back on each other. The jig-saw plot has obvious, big pieces, but also
smaller ones that are easy to miss, like how Vince insults Butch the
first time they meet and the next time they meet Butch is pointing a
submachine gun at him.
DVD Crapola
This is the big whoop-dee-doo special edition. There’s some
semi-interesting stuff, like a bunch of old interviews. There is no
commentary and no excuse. I simply don’t believe that Tarantino would
turn down any opportunity to shoot off his mouth. The best thing is an
episode of Siskel & Ebert in which they talk about Pulp Fiction and Tarantino’s influence. Both men are excited because Pulp Fiction
breaks all of the formulas of screenwriting that has dulled American
cinema. Ebert expresses his hope that the commercial success of Pulp Fiction
will usher in a new era of non-formulaic screenwriting. Oh well, it was
just a hope. But at least the Tarantino rip off is a new formula, and I
suppose increasing the number of formulas that hacks can choose from is
something. Also, this is one of the few times where Siskel outshines
Ebert.
The deleted scenes are OK. There’s also this thing where Michael Moore
sits with Tarantino and Samuel Jackson at the Independent Spirit
Awards, which is arguably worth watching one time.Ruthless Ratings:
- Film Overall: 10
- Direction: 9.5
- Acting: 9
- Story: 10
- DVD Extras: 7
- Re-watchability: 8
Special Ruthless Ratings:
- Number of conversations you had in high school trying to convince your Mormon friend to see the movie: 4
- Number of times you concluded with, “well, hopefully they’ll force you to watch it in college.”: 2
- Number of times the movie was paused to do something else: 1
- Your current high score in pinball is a super-human: 187, 855, 750
- Number of beers needed to fully enjoy the movie: 3
- Number of years since Tarantino’s made a freaking movie: 5
^ Top
Forum >