[Closed] Pulp Fiction

The only Tarantino film which I struggled to get through (from memory) was Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.

I didn't like the style of it plus most of the characters and found it pretty boring in places. I really enjoyed the Bruce Lee scene though, but the ending was way too gratuitously violent for me. It was a good twist and I deliberately didn't read anything about it before seeing it so it was a genuine surprise to me.

Tarantino films I've most enjoyed are (in no particular order):
- Reservoir dogs. It hasn't aged well but Tim Roth was good in it.
- Inglorious Bastards. Although it being an alternative history take on world war 2 was a minus for me, it is pretty fun.
- Kill Bill 1&2. I loved Hong Kong martial arts films as a kid and this is like a big budget western version. Loved both of them and would happily watch them again if they were on tv right now.
- Jackie Brown. I thought this film was great, yeah it's not as violent or action packed as his other films but I think it's decent.
- Pulp fiction. Love, love, love it!
- Django unchained. It has parts that for me that are very uncomfortable viewing. It's still a great film imo with a great cast.
- The hateful eight. I thought that this was decent, a kind of a who done it but with a Tarantino slant.
- True Romance. Some great scenes, especially the one with Christopher Walken and Dennis Hopper.

His other films just didn't do it for me. Not terrible but either too pretentious or just pretty average films.

I forgot about True Romance, Tarantino wrote the script but didn't direct. It was better than anything he directed.

Ezekiel 25:17.

Jus sayin....

His other films just didn’t do it for me.

Other than the films you mention, what others has he done? Can’t think of any other than once upon a time

Reservoir dogs, pulp fiction, true romance, all good films, very good. Pretty much the rest of tarantino is awful in my view.

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is my new fave Tarantino film.

Yeah, I've never seen The Matrix.

Yeah, I’ve never seen The Matrix.

Also shit. Ha.

Since we’re doing confessions, did anyone else not hate Jackie Brown?

i love it. i particularly like the opening credits.

The only Tarantino film which I struggled to get through (from memory) was Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.

A few hours of my life I’ll never get back. Absolutely nothing happens, then there’s 5 minutes of gratuitous explosive violence, by which point I couldn’t care less about any of the characters anyway

I love Tarantino films, but this is just dull, self-indulgent toss

Some of the silly internet conspiracy/plot theories are quite fun, although I've never followed any of them particularly far down their respective rabbit holes.

Watch it, then ask google what's in the suitcase 😉

(actually, I'll confess up front to being particularly dim when it comes to screamingly obvious plot elements, perhaps everyone else can figure out the contents of the case without resorting to google).

@spin

Tarantino’s second film and the beginning of his downward trajectory.

This

Reservoir dogs was a great opener. Pulp Fiction is fantastic filmmaking from start to finish.

Everything else he has done is of varying quality. His dialogue is strong but it shouldn't be at the expense of the storyline, it should serve it. Hateful 8 fell foul of that when I had really high hopes.

Just to make everyone feel old, Pulp Fiction came out 27 years ago

I have a sweater with the logo on, which I got free as a promo thing when buying the VHS tape for my then GF.

Still wear it regularly, it's so comfy. That's had a good innings, eh?

Tarantino’s second film and the beginning of his downward trajectory.

I beg to differ, Jackie Brown was on the same level IMO - just different and less catchphrase-y.

But is that supposed to be a criticism anyway? Citizen Kane was Orson Welles' first film.

I love Tarantino films, but this is just dull, self-indulgent toss

I like Once upon a time but then I am also a dull, self-indulgent tosser so explains why.

I liked him in Dusk Til Dawn.

The Once Upon A Time in Hollywood is a an alternative take on teh Manson Family. If you're not interested in something that existed in real life (with a twist) then maybe you've missed the point of the film 🙂

I liked him in Dusk Til Dawn.

Salma Hayek was the undisputed star of that film.

Salma Hayek was the undisputed star of that film.

I mean, if that scene doesn't stir something in you then you may be dead inside.

I'm also a big Jackie Brown fan. One of his best for me.

Great guitar sound too...

Pulp Fiction is a good film if you treat it like it is meant to be treated - I.e. like a super violent pulp comic strip. It is a series of set piece 'encounters' that exaggerate the characteristics of the players. It is not a magnificent storyline designed to sweep you away and get you 'invested' in the characters.

Jackie Brown

If you don't love her by the end there is something wrong with you too!

Other than the films you mention, what others has he done? Can’t think of any other than once upon a time

Death Proof, From Dusk Till Dawn, umm...

Death poo more like.

Inglorious barstewards, that's particularly bad, Django in chains is okay. Kill Bill... Kill me rather than make me watch it now like. Thankfully I have not seen too many of the really bad ones in cinemas at least, hateful eight I did though. So bad.

His films from kill Bill onward are all flawed to various degrees but still interesting.

I always like to see what he does with a genre, what references he makes etc.

There's usually plenty to enjoy but they are flabby and undisciplined.

Essentially though, he doesn't feel very relevant now. Like his time has passed.

Death Proof, From Dusk Till Dawn, umm…

From dusk till dawn isn't technically a Tarantino movie. I forgot about death proof however, Never even seen that one..

What about tarantinos other movie, ‘natural born killers’.
“ The film is based on an original screenplay by Quentin Tarantino that was heavily revised by (Oliver) Stone”. (Wikipedia)

As for pf again, I think that we all invested in the characters. (Though, it may have been down to the directors use of very close shots of the primary actors).
Tarantino is a huge fan of Sergio leone. Remember the opening shots of ‘the good, the bad, and the ugly’, with the bounty hunters faces taking up nearly all of the screen.
Think of the space given over to ving Rhames head with the Elastoplast, or the look of utter malevolence in Samuel l Jackson’s eyes as he washes down that big kahuna burger with the sprite.

Afair, the only camera shot in pf that gave any sense of distance was the one with the aforementioned ‘twilight zone’ music.

Aside from the excellent soundtrack, the sound recording on pf was outstanding, lending a great sense of ambience. A world away from the vague mumblings on rd.

Pf is up there with ‘hereditary’ as one of my favourite movies.

Pulp Fiction is great but Jackie Brown is perfect.

I enjoyed pulp fiction when it came out, but it has aged badly, he has always been more about cinematic style. I disagree with Tarantino films having good dialogue, I find it more caricature than character based.

Jackie Brown and Django unchained are probably his best, inglorious bastards his worst despite a star making turn from Christoph Waltz.

He does tend to have good soundtracks though.

There’s usually plenty to enjoy but they are flabby and undisciplined.

Essentially though, he doesn’t feel very relevant now. Like his time has passed.

This sums Tarantino up for me. He reminds me of Seinfeld - it seemed fresh and original 30 years ago, with characters sitting around talking nonsense about trivial stuff. Now it just seems dated. Pulp Fiction is an iconic 90s movie though and is entertaining, even if I think it's a bit overrated by the superfans.

Love Pulp Fiction, definitely in my top 5 films. Marc Maron interviews Tarantino in his latest podcast today, should be a good listen but hope the editor does a good job.

Used to be one of my favourite films, but when I tried to watch it again recently I gave up about halfway through. It felt painfully dated, despite its being deliberately painfully dated when it came out. I'm almost scared to try rewatching Kill Bill now!

Have you seen any Tarantino films? If not, it’s a good one to start with… if you have you’ll know if you like them or not.

I dunno about this. Pulp Fiction is the one IMO where he pulls it off, the others - not so much, for me. It's a shallow film about stories, not a story in itself. It's all about the images and style which is why it's lightweight fluff, really, despite each scene being heavy in itself. The characters are all stereotypes - whilst it contains emotion, you aren't emotionally involved with anyone in it. And there's plenty of very black humour indeed.

I couldn't watch Reservoir Dogs. Too visceral and violent for me. I can handle violence as long as it doesn't come with pathos. Same reason I didn't like Kill Bill.

Used to be one of my favourite films, but when I tried to watch it again recently I gave up about halfway through. It felt painfully dated,

I had the same thing when I tried to rewatch Fight Club a few months ago. I used to watch it probably once a year back in the day and then realized I hadn't watched it in years. Got bored and changed to something else after about 10 minutes.

Bump.

Just accidentally sat through Once Upon a Time in Hollywood last night, felt like Tarantino's 'Hail Caesar'.

Surprisingly enjoyable, I like Brad Pitt and DiCaprio and even the general pace of the movie felt OK (if you've got nowhere else to be). Final scene was a bit gratuitous for my taste but I'm a delicate little flower these days. File it under 'revenge porn' alongside Inglorious Basterds.

I think 'Hollywood' is probably my favourite QT film, and at the moment at least, possibly my favourite film.

I understand it's not for everyone, I think spending 5 mins reading about Sharon Tate and the Manson family (if you don't know the story) on Wiki will enhance the film for anyone. I allows a simmering tension to build as it goes along telling the story of a washed up TV cowboy and his friend. Otherwise it might just seem like a bit of an over-long slightly awkward Bromance film with amazing visuals. For example, I think if you don't know the back story the scene at the Ranch could be a bit boring, 5 mins of Pit trying to speak to an old Friend who seems to be living with a lot of young women, if you do, there's an expectation of something nasty happening any moment.

As for Pulp Fiction, it's a great film, I didn't like it first watch, like Reservoir Dogs it's a very harsh film, back in the early 90s there weren't many films with such graphic violence and shocking stories, I didn't see the story, just the shocking parts, 2nd viewing when I was less sensitive to it, it's a good story. I've watched a chronological-ish cut on YT, it doesn't really work because it's not the jumping time-line that confuses, it's the multiple stories happening at once, it makes more sense in the order of the original.

I thought Jackie Brown was great, it's not as remarkable as his others, it's simpler, more toned down, but it's a great film. Django is brilliant, so is Inglorious, The Hateful 8... it's an hour too long but still okay. I wasn't a fan of Kill Bill, again too gory in parts, but years after it was released I watched them again and really enjoyed them. Death Proof is rubbish, I gave up.

I think if you don’t know the back story the scene at the Ranch could be a bit boring, 5 mins of Pit trying to speak to an old Friend who seems to be living with a lot of young women, if you do, there’s an expectation of something nasty happening any moment.

I was being my usual dense self when watching it so didn't know the back story or even particularly twig what was going on at the ranch but there were enough wee hints that it was a really effective scene, sort of outwardly innocent enough but you and Brad Pitt both know there's something not right.

I do need to read up more on Sharon Tate, didn't particularly understand the scene in the cinema.

Death Proof is rubbish, I gave up.

He was probably doing a lot of coke at the time.

Thing I didn't like about Once Upon a Time.. was the scenes of the film making, the cowboy film (gawd, I think it was, can't even remember properly). Was just so long and dull, had no relevance to the plot of the actual film I was watching. Just a huge lump of out of context scenes from another film dumped in the middle. Rest of the actual film was brilliant. Loved it.

I do need to read up more on Sharon Tate, didn’t particularly understand the scene in the cinema.

There's not much too it, if you hadn't guessed the Women in the film falling over suit cases etc was the real Sharon Tate, so it's Sharon watching herself on the screen, intermingled with flash backs of her being trained by Bruce Lee for the fight scene which is then shown being acted by the real Sharon Tate, so that's kind of confusing but cool.

Really though, it builds her character, QT didn't want her to have too much dialog and when she does speak it's never really part of the plot, just chit-chat, Sharon in the film is supposed to be sweet and innocent and perfectly lovely, she's not arrogant or a diva, she treats everyone well, picks up hitch hikers and and honestly wishes them well, this all adds to the peril you know how the film will end, and it makes it harder to watch. They took some slack because Margot Robbie had so few lines in the film, but it's how the character is portrayed, you're just supposed to marvel at her beauty and innocence, like how people used to see Movie Stars in the 60s.

Obviously, being QT there has to be a shot of her feet looking slightly grubby, the dirty old man.

I have deliberately avoided Tarantino’s movies since then, I think he’s massively overrated, he just isn’t as clever as he thinks he is

Bears repeating. Very mixed output I thought.

RD was good, witty dialogue. PF was flat out funny.

Then it appeared that he stopped being edited and disappeared up his own back end. JB was dullsville. Kill Bill was awful, and at least twice as long as it needed to be. The badly spelled Basturds film, I fell asleep in and haven't bothered rewatching.

He's clever, but, clever for clever's sake doesn't make good films. He's good at dialogue. And picking soundtracks.

OK, I guess I read too much into the cinema scene 😁

Genuinely surprised at the dislike for Inglorious Basterds, yeah the ending gets silly, but otherwise I thought it was a fairly punchy, easy watch. In fact given the choice I'd probably watch I.B. again rather than P.F. although perhaps just because I've watched P.F. so much in the past.

Basterds is a funny one. I watched it for the first time recently and thought it a bit... meh. Not sure why to be honest, it's original and has some cracking performances from the nazi baddie, and Pitt is always good. Maybe I just wasn't digging the war setting in that context.

Hollywood though, wow, I absolutely love that film. Probably seen it five times already. It's just spellbinding. Showing that golden age of the movie industry, plus the weird way it's telling a story you already know but different. Makes you suspend belief. Just like a good movie should.