Why Pulp Fiction is My Favorite Crime Film

Crime is my favorite genre of film, and I have a lot of knowledge of the genre and its tropes. I've seen the good, the bad, and the ugly. As I get closer to reaching a recorded 500 films watched since last summer, I decided to take some time and go to a Fathom event to enjoy one of my favorite films in theaters: Pulp Fiction. In this post, I will discuss why Pulp Fiction is my favorite crime film of all time (and possibly my overall favorite) and what I got out of seeing it on the big screen.

Quentin Tarantino is a very distinguished and stylistic director. His films have a distinct attitude and visual style that you don't find in any other films. In most cases, you love him or you hate him. Either way, you have to respect the man for generating such a cult following. This following seemed to have started after the release of Pulp Fiction. I saw this in theaters on Thursday as part of a nationwide one-night screening in celebration of the Tarantino XX film collection being released, as well as in anticipation of Django Unchained. This was my third time watching Pulp Fiction, and it was by far my best experience with the film. Most of Tarantino's films require multiple viewings to fully comprehend, enjoy, and appreciate because all the films he makes are so radically different from each other. Every time I watch his films, I pick up on something new. Not only did I notice themes and comic elements I had missed before, it was really awesome to experience such an iconic and legendary film with an audience. The audience was gasping and laughing at all the right places which made for a great experience. I was also happy with the big turnout. That gives me hope that some people still appreciate great cinema.

This is among the top 3 best-written films I have ever watched. I find myself drawn into the small talk about foot massages and five dollar milkshakes, totally engaged with the characters and their conversation. Quentin Tarantino does a spectacular job keeping every single line of dialogue in this film interesting, comical, or thrilling in one way or another. As a dialogue-driven film, this film needs it and also thrives on it. As I watched this in theaters, hearing the audience laugh at certain points also made me pick up on how much comedy is in this film. The comedy is also subtle and dark, but so well written that you aren't really sure if you are supposed to laugh or not. This film challenges the audience to think and experience beyond what they are comfortable with and throw themselves into the intertwining stories of so many great characters (Butch being my favorite).

Another reason I love this film is the acting is spot-on. While I'm not normally a fan of John Travolta, he gives it his all in this film. Sam Jackson of course is hilariously awesome as always. Bruce Willis' performance was my favorite because you come to see in his movies and interviews that he is a very soft-spoken man. Seeing the hurdles he jumped to play the part of Butch was very entertaining, and I can't imagine anyone else filling the role the way he did.

Some of my favorite films do what Pulp Fiction does best: balancing many subplots and having a lot of character's stories without overshadowing the main characters. Sin City does this well, which is also among my top 3 favorite movies (and crime films). I love how we don't follow Jules and Vincent throughout the film. We see a little bit in the beginning, a little in the middle, and more of them at the end. Throughout the film, the stories of Lance, Marsellus Wallace, Mia Wallace, and Butch are followed closely. While Vincent is the main character, it isn't always obvious in the film, and I really dig that. Quentin Tarantino so expertly walks us through each story, and not always in chronological order, and it makes for a very engaging and compelling experience.

I remember watching Pulp Fiction for the first time and thinking, "That's it? This movie is overrated." Not until I watched it a second and third time did I appreciate the value of this film, not only as a well-written, well-acted film, but as a cultural phenomenon that will leave fanboys like myself quoting this film until the day that we die. Pulp Fiction is truly the crime film of the century and has influenced American cinema in countless ways. This film has been imitated countless times (Lucky Number Slevin, namely) but no other film, director, or writer has ever come close, and probably never will come close to achieving what Quentin Tarantino has with Pulp Fiction. This film is a masterpiece on so many levels and should be viewed by anyone that considers themselves a fan of crime films. This film is not for everyone, not only because of the strong adult content but because of how different this film is from anything else. However, I cannot recommend this film enough because it has completely changed the way I watch movies. I look forward to watching this again and getting even more out of it than I did on my last viewing.




-Kevin A. Millward
Two Dudes Doing Movie Reviews

Scenes of the Crime Blog-A-thon: The Lookout

As you may know after reading some of my blog posts, one of my favorite actors (if not, my number one favorite actor) of all time is Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I've read up on him and I agree with many of his thoughts about the film industry as well as what an actor should be expected to do to prepare for a role. I've been watching every film that he stars in, and recently, I watched The Lookout.

In The Lookout, JGL stars as Chris Pratt, a once promising high school athlete who faces many challenges after being involved in a car wreck. I felt a bit of a Memento vibe when watching this film, as Chris forgets a lot of things and has to rely on notes to remember them. Chris works as a janitor at a bank, which he discovers is going to be robbed. He is forced into participating in the robbery, and finds himself in more danger than he initially anticipated.

The Lookout is one of those films you can take for face value and enjoy in one viewing. This film is not deep or extremely memorable in any sense, but it is well worth watching because of Joseph Gordon-Levitt's performance and because it is an all-around good crime film. The best thing about this film is the characters, which are easy to follow and develop a sense of compassion for. You can easily empathize with JGL's character because he's a good guy that gets caught in a bad situation. This could potentially be a good character study film as well as a crime thriller.

I can see where this film could get some criticism. Chris' therapist, Janet, is in one scene in the film and we never see her again. There are subtle (and not so-subtle) hints of a romantic/physical relationship between the two of them, and this subplot never really pans out. As a whole, this is a somewhat generic crime film from the standpoint that it sticks with many of the conventions of the crime genre, and doesn't bring a whole lot of new ideas to the table.

The Lookout is a film with great characters but a story most of us crime fanatics have seen many times before. I watched this film purely to see Joseph Gordon-Levitt in a different role and to continue my studies on a phenomenal yet underrated actor that I'm sure will garner some attention for his acting and directing talents.

MY RATING:

3.5 out of 5

-Kevin A. Millward

Scenes of the Crime Blog-A-Thon: Chris Reviews Black Dynamite

I have to give credit to Kevin for exposing me to this movie. We both have discovered a love for exploitation movies and recently there have been a lot of parodies of these types of films coming out (Grindhouse and Machete for example). Of all of the parodies of these types of films I have seen this is arguably the best. 

Black Dynamite is a former CIA Agent who sets out to avenge his brothers death after he is killed by pimps and drug dealers. He cleans up the streets and in the process uncovers a ridiculous plot that leads him to Kung Fu Island and eventually the White House!


Often times movies that are intentionally bad, feel very forced but in Black Dynamite it never feels that way. It feels like the filmmakers actually loved the material they are parodying and so they are able to strike the right tone. This is a film that is filled with amazing and memorable moments. There are moments of hilarious ineptitude such as the scene where the boom mic drops down into view and Black Dynamite continues to stare at it while he is delivering his lines. There are moments of pure absurdity such as the scene where Black Dynamite and his crew put together the secret plot of the Asians on Kung Fu Island who are trying to shrink all Black Men's penises by drinking Malt Liquor. Not to mention a plethora of fun and hilarious fight scenes.

Black Dynamite is an excellent example of a Bad movie that is very good. It shows bad filmmaking but not excessively, bad acting but that is funny and dialogue that is really bad but creatively bad. This is just a fun Action/Crime/Comedy film that is a must watch for any guy that has that juvenile sense of humor that makes us love films like the Naked Gun so much. So go on to Amazon this instant and order the blu-ray for only 10 bucks because it is well worth it!

MY RATING-

4.5 out of 5

-Chris "Da Franchize" Hart

  

Scenes of the Crime Blog-A-Thon: Chris Reviews Eastern Promises

(This post is being published as part of the Scenes of the Crime Blog-A-Thon with Furiouscinema.com.)

I've recently been on a bit of David Cronenberg kick. I started with A History of Violence then moved on to Eastern Promises as it is essentially a companion film to the former. After watching some of Cronenberg's earlier films such as The Fly and Videodrome it is interesting seeing the evolution the he has made as a director. Earlier in his career he liked to analyze the physical aspects of horror and violence with less emphasis on the psychological aspect but now it seems he has flipped his focus on that subject.

Eastern Promises is an utterly fascinating film that I think will likely take me a while to fully appreciate which has been the case with most Cronenberg films. It has the feeling of a much more conventional crime film than A History of Violence but still feels very fresh and unique.

The film tells the story of a midwife (Naomi Watts) at a hospital in London who delivers a baby whose mother dies during childbirth. She finds a journal written by the mother among the woman's personal belongings but is unable to read it as it is in Russian. She finds a card on the inside that leads her to a Restaurant owned by a major Russian Mob Boss (Armin Mueller-Stahl). The film weaves the story of the midwife searching for the relatives to take care of the baby with the story of this Russian Mob family and a driver for the Mob (Viggo Mortensen) who ascends to power.

This is a brooding Crime film that really explores the Russian Mob which is an area I have not seen explored in the genre before. One such interesting aspect was the significance of tattoos in the Russian Mob as they carry the life story of these mobsters. Not only does it explore interesting subjects but it also features some great acting. Viggo (very different looking in this!) gives a clearly great performance which he was nominated for Best Actor for and I think he is really what elevates this film from being a decent Crime movie to a great one.

The other aspect of what made this film great was David Cronenberg himself. His ability to make uncomfortable to watch fight scenes and truly realistic and ugly deaths is a rare skill. Specifically the infamous Bath House scene where Viggo is completely naked and fights off 2 mobsters armed with linoleum knives. Which brings up an interesting style choice that Cronenberg makes with this movie. There are no guns in the entire film, all kills are done with straight razors and knives which adds to the discomfort. While he is making more of a psychological analysis in this film he is still able to create those visually disturbing scenes which have been a staple in his films his entire career.

I don't want to give too much away about this film because I think everyone needs to see it. There are some interesting twists that happen that if I give away definitely ruin the movie. Suffice it to say though, Eastern Promises is an amazing film. It has a hypnotically brooding tone that makes it hard to turn away and just when you start to get bored it throws a shockingly violent and disturbing scene to get you back into it. So for anyone craving a good old violent mobster movie I encourage you to watch this one right now!

MY RATING-

4 out of 5

-Chris "Da Franchize" Hart  

 
 

Kevin Reviews Killing Them Softly

Brad Pitt is one of my favorite actors. He was awesome in Inglorious Basterds and Fight Club, and I'm very much looking forward to seeing him in World War Z (minus the CGI zombies). How did his performance fare in Killing Them Softly?

I had mixed feelings about this film. Brad Pitt gives the performance you would expect from Brad Pitt, nothing special here. He plays an enforcer of sorts that investigates after a mob protected card game is robbed. The robbery scene is thrilling and very well done, arguably the best scene of the film. I also liked the very end of the film, the last line spoken by Brad Pitt, specifically. He says: "America is not a country, its a business. Now fucking pay me." I liked how this film made commentary on the overly high value America places on money. Up until the end of film, Jackie (Pitt) is the non-materialistic representation of society. He is the least selfish character of the film, however, we see his other side when Richard Jenkin's unnamed character fails to pay him the full amount of money he owes him. My favorite part of this film was the underlying theme and message it sent to the audience, who must be smart enough to pick up on to really appreciate this film.

There are a lot of things I disliked about this film. From the start, the intro titles were very jarring and hard to watch and hear. This film is very dialogue heavy, which I didn't mind. What bothered me was how dull these scenes were. There wasn't a whole lot to engage myself in through most of the movie, which made me feel very detached from the story. I also found the scene where Ray Liotta is beaten to be more brutal than necessary for the context of the film. As desensitized as I am to violence, this scene disturbed me. That's not to say that it wasn't well done, because evoking that reaction out of me is a difficult thing to do. I felt a bit insulted because references to Bush and Obama were constantly being thrown at me. I was thinking, "Okay, I get it, this is set in 2008." Andrew Dominick was obviously insecure about how good of a job he was doing with the setting, and hitting us over the head with this was a bit obnoxious. Finally, I thought this film mimicked the style of Guy Ritchie, who's films I don't really like in the first place, so an imitation won't really strike me as anything special.

Overall, I would recommend Killing Them Softly only to those who enjoy crime films and want to see the economic side to the crime world, as well as those who appreciate the underlying themes and commentary made on our country. Not recommended for the faint of heart.

MY RATING:

3 out of 5

-Kevin A. Millward

Chris Reviews Lincoln

If you are a frequent reader of my reviews you should know by now that I am a sucker for Historical Dramas. History is something that I am passionate about and something that I spend as much time reading about as I do watching movies. So a film about Abraham Lincoln starring Daniel Day Lewis who happens to be my favorite actor looks like something that should be my favorite movie of the year. Did it live up to my expectations or fall flat on its face? Read below if you want to know the answer.

The Good-

As with every Spielberg film it is well shot and has high production values. The acting is good to great and their is significant emotional weight to almost every scene in this film. Daniel Day Lewis will get an Oscar Nomination for his role and could possibly be the frontrunner for the award which if he won would be his third. He has put forth the definitive performance of Lincoln, which I doubt will be matched anytime soon if ever. Also John Williams has put together another solid score that complements the film well.

The Bad-

This is a much smaller scale film than I was expecting. I was expecting an epic tale of the Civil War and Lincoln's leadership and instead what I got was a much more personal film that featured a lot of exposition. I am still trying to decide if this was a case of my expectations preventing me from appreciating a good film or if its as truly flawed as I think it is. The first act of the film with the exception of the very brutal and interesting opening battle scene is very dull. It picks up pace as the film goes along but overall this is a fairly unexciting, dry and pretentious film that seems more suited for the stage than on film. The excessive exposition reminded me of another Civil War film that was equally dull in "Gods and Generals" which I think may be a fair comparison to Lincoln. There is a moment in the film when Lincoln begins to tell a story and a man flips out asking if he is going to tell another story and that he cant hear another one, and that is how I was beginning to feel by the end of this film. There is just too many instances of people giving monologues in dark rooms for my taste. Spielberg has been experimenting in his last couple of film,War Horse was a very epic film that seemed too over the top and childish, Lincoln on the hand is much too small scale and subdued for the subject matter and lacks the excitement of his better films.  

Summary-

For all of my complaints about this film I still found it mildly entertaining. As I said Daniel Day Lewis gives a good performances that makes watching the film worth while. Overall though this is a very dull historical drama that is one of the weaker films in Spielberg's career.   

MY RATING-

A generous 3.5 out of 5     

Chris "Da Franchize" Hart

Chris Reviews Hitchcock

Some of the most fun films are the ones that take a look at the film industry itself. Films like Ed Wood come to mind, which is a fun look at one of the most inept filmmakers of all time through the lens of the always interesting Tim Burton. While I was hoping for Hitchcock to be a good movie due to my previous experience with films in the genre I really had no Idea what to expect. So is Hitchcock a film worthy of its namesake? Obviously you should read below to find out.

The Good-

Anthony Hopkins is great in this! Not only does he visibly look like Alfred Hitchcock but he really becomes him and explores the emotions of a truly disturbed man. The relationship between him and his wife is fascinating and Helen Mirren is great in the role. The two of them really carry this film and I would not be surprised to see one if not both of them up for Oscar Nominations for this. The rest of the cast is solid as well and the story is fun and interesting. It pays adequate homage to one of the greatest filmmakers of all time and is a fun film that can be appreciated by both movie buffs and the average audience member alike.

The Cons-

While this is a very solid movie, outside of the leading performances there is nothing spectacular about it. It is not as memorable as a film like Ed Wood which I think is more of a directing issue rather than a writing or acting one. Other than that there is nothing that really bothered me about the film.

Summary-

Hitchcock is a fun historical drama that really anybody can enjoy. The two leads are outstanding and should receive Oscar Nominations for their work and the story is very engaging. Despite those strengths it never elevates itself above being a good film when it could have been a great one.

MY RATING

3.5 out of 5

Chris "Da Franchize" Hart