Pulp Fiction (the movie)

xposts

This is something else I was enjoying in the rewatching as well -- he does quiet and calm brilliantly, while still keeping you engaged (that's the other element of those long Willis tracking shots, but also the pacing of the one on one conversations and much more besides).

Also, I think the scene with Willis and de Medeiros in the motel room on the night after the fight is a great *love* scene, period. I don't know if Tarantino ever gets any credit for that (though I note Chaki's post, in which case I don't know if Avery gets any credit for that, but at least in terms of directing it Tarantino needs a nod).

The soundtrack served, along with Enter the 36 Chambers, Sublime's 40 oz to Freedom, The Fugee's The Score, and the Resevoir Dogs soundtrack, to the albums most likely to be blared out of a room on my freshman year dorm floor. I was SO tired of hearing the Ezekiel 25:17 intro EVERY SINGLE FRIDAY NIGHT that I stopped listening to it entirely.

I think I got lucky with this in that I was in the grad dorms by this point rather than undergrad. We were a little more studious/psychotic, and even the Cure being playing a little too loud by me once got pounding on the wall from my neighbour.

it suffers from Monty Python syndrome in a bad way

I was also lucky there in my experience. (This is not to say other things weren't quoted as often around that time. There's also an issue of Bob Fingerman's Minimum Wage that has a bit which is the final word that ever needs to be said about overly quoted references by anyone ever -- logically, I will not quote it.)

Which I had totally forgotten until the end credits. Threw me for a loop!

December 13, 2008
Prosecutors charged Oscar-winning screenwriter Roger Avary with gross vehicular manslaughter on Friday, alleging that the author of such hits as "Pulp Fiction" and last year's "Beowulf" was driving drunk when he killed a passenger and injured his wife in a rural Ojai car crash.

Avary, 43, pleaded not guilty in a Ventura courthouse to manslaughter and other charges connected to the Jan. 13 single-car collision. Investigators said Avary was at the wheel of a Mercedes sedan late that night when he failed to make a curve and crashed into a telephone pole. Prosecutors said his blood alcohol level was above the legal limit.

Passenger Andreas Zini, 34, was killed in the collision. Avary's wife, Gretchen, was ejected from the vehicle. She suffered serious injuries but recovered.

Zini and his wife, Maria, 33, both of Italy, were visiting the Avarys on their honeymoon, said Mike Lief, the prosecutor on the case. Maria Zini was in a separate car when the crash occurred, he said.

Avary's attorney, Mark Werksman, said that his client is distraught. Avary, in a dark suit, attended Friday's hearing but did not speak.

Now that charges have been filed, Avary hopes to quickly resolve the case, his attorney said. Besides felony manslaughter, Avary faces two felony counts of causing bodily injury while intoxicated, charges that could bring 11 years behind bars. A pretrial conference is set for Feb. 20 in Ventura.

In a separate hearing Friday, Lief sought to raise Avary's bail to $80,000 from $50,000. But Judge Kevin McGee, noting that Avary has attended all court proceedings, turned down the prosecutor's request. The judge also gave Avary, who is out on bail, permission to travel outside the country.

Avary and co-writer Quentin Tarantino won an Academy Award in 1994 for "Pulp Fiction." Avary also co-wrote the screenplay for 2007's fantasy hit "Beowulf."

Reading a review not too long ago that said that Sam Jackson's Bible-quoting psychopath comes from Night of the Hunter, which is plausible, but when I watched 1972's 'The Ruling Class' with Peter O'Toole not too long ago O'Toole's character (esp. towards the end) struck me as a better touchstone. The movie even ends with a similar speech ("And they shall know that I am the Lord that SMITETH!!!".

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-avary28-2009nov28,0,3500921.story

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-avary28-2009nov28,0,3500921.story

Not exactly earth-shaking but some cool tidbits in this VF story

I especially liked the story of how Jackson ended up having to fight for the role
http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2013/03/making-of-pulp-fiction-oral-history#

lol @ the parenthetical here:

The script was sent out to actors with the warning “If you show this to anybody, two guys from Jersey [Films] will come and break your legs.”

They talked until sunrise. Tarantino told him he had two films in mind for him. “A vampire movie called From Dusk Till Dawn and Pulp Fiction,” says Travolta, who replied, “I’m not a vampire person.”

also wtf can't believe there's ANYTHING Travolta won't do

otm

A New Yorker profile of Travolta before the release of Get Shorty quotes Tarantino saying exactly that. Something like "He'll star in Look Who's Talking 16, where the CHAIRS talk."

it's funny how much these "making of" oral histories always break down to "and then a bunch of REALLY EXCITING meetings happened"

Daniel Day-Lewis was considered!

how weird would that be

At the wrap party, held on the Jack Rabbit Slim’s diner set, Walken danced alongside John Travolta. “Somebody said, ‘They should do a musical together!’ ” remembers Stoltz. (They were later both in Hairspray.)

"Somebody said, 'They should take a roadtrip together!'" (They were later both killed in an automobile accident.)

"Someone said, 'Travolta is SO gay!" (John Travolta has not come out).

i love how Travolta came up with the 'Batman' and 'Swim' moves in the dance scene!

yeah that was awesome. lol at the 9 year old Travolta winning the twist contest

http://nyookami.tumblr.com/post/43539515046

aw travolta was awesome Hairspray

I couldnt stand it any longer. Am watching it right now

Pulp. Not Hairspray

http://i.imgur.com/h8pW41T.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/liajkPb.jpg

and none of them were "bad motherfuckers"

Worst fairytale ending ever

Watched this last year - it still moves, but time has not been kind to the effect of the "5-dollar milkshake".

Haha, yeah I remember thinking that didn't sound all that expensive even in 1994.

I worked at a Friendly's back then. One of their milkshakes was about $2. McDonald's was a little over $1.

$5 dollar or 5 euro milkshake would seem a bit pricey to me tbh

what if it has bourbon in it

“My name’s Paul and I leave the rest to y’all.”
I like how, besides the dancing, Vincent Vega is a walking disaster through this film. He makes every single situation worse by his actions or inaction!

Had a boy in a grade 7 class this morning with wild red hair who wouldn't sit down. Was so tempted to go Sam Jackson on him--"You, Carrot Top" (points to desk)--but thought better of it.

I was trying to find J. Hoberman's review of Natural Born Killers--couldn't, but did scare up Stanley Kauffmann's Pulp Fiction review:

https://newrepublic.com/article/61392/shooting

Found the last couple of paragraphs interesting as a snapshot of an old-guard critic (Kauffmann was 78 at the time) confronted with a sea-change of sorts. If you love the film, and maybe even if you don't, you'll dismiss it as cranky old-guy whining. I have great patience with that perspective. (I wish he were still around, in part because I think he'd be taking a battering ram to the last few Wes Anderson films.)

“tried various keys in the lock and had at last picked the right one.”

Ha this is a good metaphor for why I don’t like Reservoir Dogs (and other things as well). Guess it’s just an elaboration on “trying too hard”

the last paragraph is pretty awful ad hominem trash though. glad fewer like him are no longer around to spew that shit. Does he just want to go back to the Donna Reed Show? ugh.