1994
Directed by Quentin Tarantino
One of the first questions I ask when I go on a date with a guy is "what's your favorite movie?" There is a 95% chance that the answer will either be Fight Club or Pulp Fiction. I would say 100% but my boyfriend answered Bugsy Malone (much to my horror). Maybe he just wanted to screw with my statistics. In any case, while I did enjoy this, I do think it is slightly overrated and certainly not the best Tarantino film. This opinion usually sparks an interesting discussion during the date, because men love it when young women tell them they're wrong.
Man, this is a hard film to summarize, as there are a few intersecting stories that are told in a nonlinear manner. I think I will just steal the IMDb summary: "the lives of two mob hit men, a boxer, a gangster's wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption." I don't feel too guilty about not taking the time to write my own synopsis because, really, who hasn't seen this movie?
Once again, I feel the need to quote Roger Ebert: "Tarantino is too gifted a filmmaker to make a boring movie, but he could possibly make a bad one." I certainly wasn't bored with this but I did I like it? I would say yes, although there were some sequences I could have done without. To use the correct scientific term, parts of this movie were too Tarantino-y for me. Of course, you know I am going to have to complain about the rape scene. It was just so off the wall and random. I suppose it was there for shock value, which isn't very valuable at all.
I would still consider this a great film. I think I prefer movies that just happen to be directed by Tarantino, rather than a movie that has his style stamped on every shot. Personally, I felt rather suffocated.
RATING: ****-
Interesting Facts:
Julia Louis-Dreyfus turned down the role of Mia because of her scheduling commitments to Seinfeld.
Body count of 8.
I've known that one day we would have to face up to discussing Tarantino, and I've not really been looking forward to it, as I'm never really all that sure about where I stand ..
ReplyDeleteI think I have a problem in that I don't really want to stand shoulder to shoulder with all the hoards of adolescent males drooling over all the violence and whose critical acclaim goes as far as proclaiming how cool' his stuff is. You know what I mean ..whatzisface in 'Clerks' and his mates no doubt go on - and on .. "Hey dude, pulp fiction is, like, so cool' ''Yerr dude, like so super cool'
But then I have to admit this is not that bad a film. I loved trying to unravel the time-line, and there is some clever stuff in it. Maybe too clever at times, but, what the heck.
Although I'd put it well above 'Fight Club', I'd never list it in a list of favourite films though.
Maybe it's like the first experience a lot of young men have with more thoughtful filmmaking (as opposed to Michael Bay type movies). Did you not like Fight Club?
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