Review the last movie you viewed (NO LISTS) IV

[impy13]

I watch TWBB with the once and future Miss impy last night, our first time seeing it since the theater.

It's still one of my favorite movies ever, but now I laugh through the whole thing. That's okay though.

 

[LMP]

I watch TWBB with the once and future Miss impy last night, our first time seeing it since the theater.

It's still one of my favorite movies ever, but now I laugh through the whole thing. That's okay though.

I picked up the 2-discer today, too. One of my 10 favorites now.

Between this and the raves I think we're losing him, folks.

How did I miss this and the Snow Dogs jokes two days ago?

I'm getting rusty.

I love how both insults can reference Cuba Gooding Jr. movies.

 

[lazarus]

I was considering the Boat Trip poster, but it just wasn't gay enough for my purposes.

 

[RedRocksU2]

Pulp Fiction

Amazing, of course. There isn't really much more to say that hasn't been said. The script is sharp and generally hilarious, the cast is among the best ever assembled in a single film, and the storytelling is brilliant. Slowed down a bit for me during the Gold Watch segment, but came right back to life as soon as Jules and Vincent popped back on-screen.

"English, muthafuka! Do you speak it?"

9/10

9/10?



10/10 in my book.

I'm curious, why not a 10? what was missing IYO?

 

[Lancemc]

Depth? Substance?

 

[lazarus]

Depth? Substance?

Without trying to sound like a Tarantino apologist, the substance is the deconstruction of the crime genre, and the film being somewhat about cinema itself.

If you discount that, you have to do the same with a lot of Godard, Truffaut, and most of the New Wave, for starters.

Also, there is certainly an arc with the Jules character, and even if it sounds ridiculous, there's more than a hint of existentialism behind the whole thing.

 

[Lancemc]

I was joking. I'm a big fan of what QT does with his work, especially Kill Bill and its wuxiakungfuwesternanimebmoviegirlpowerpulplovefest appeal. I still don't buy the whole argument behind any greater character depth though. I'd argue that's all on the surface as requisite piece to the genre deconstruction.

 

[lazarus]

You don't think there's depth with The Bride? Maybe you feel that whatever weight there is should be credited to the perfs of SLJ and/or Uma, but it's still there.

 

[Lancemc]

Oh, no, I was referring to Pulp Fiction with that. Should have worded better I suppose. I adore the Bride's character arc, which feels surprisingly genuine to me.

 

[lazarus]

I know Sam Jackson has become kind of a caricature by this point, but I found him pretty powerful in Pulp Fiction. I wouldn't say he was moving, or anything like that, but he certainly sold the dilemma and conversion of his character, despite how funny most of his dialogue is and the references to Kung Fu.

"I'm tryin', Ringo. I'm tryin' real hard...to be the shepherd."

 

[LMP]

I know Sam Jackson has become kind of a caricature by this point, but I found him pretty powerful in Pulp Fiction. I wouldn't say he was moving, or anything like that, but he certainly sold the dilemma and conversion of his character, despite how funny most of his dialogue is and the references to Kung Fu.

"I'm tryin', Ringo. I'm tryin' real hard...to be the shepherd."

And that's what made his character in Jackie Brown disappointing by comparison.

I think I like Jackie better than the Kill Bills, but I've never watched Vol. 1 and 2 back-to-back before. That may change things.

 

[LemonMelon]

9/10?



10/10 in my book.

I'm curious, why not a 10? what was missing IYO?

Bruce Willis felt out-of-place to me. I felt it should have generally centered around the two hitmen rather than branching off into another separate storyline. That wouldn't really be an issue if I enjoyed that segment as much as the others, but it really slowed down for me there.

But everything else? Fucking brilliant.

 

[LMP]

Bruce Willis felt out-of-place to me. I felt it should have generally centered around the two hitmen rather than branching off into another separate storyline. That wouldn't really be an issue if I enjoyed that segment as much as the others, but it really slowed down for me there.

But everything else? Fucking brilliant.

I can't stand the cab ride and "oral pleasure" scenes, but love the rest of the segment. You can't not like the whole Gimp sequence and Walken's monologue. Plus, it has the balls to kill off the most featured character, Vince, half-way through the movie.

And you get to see someone get sliced by a kitana (sp?) sword. Shit son.

 

[LemonMelon]

I can't stand the cab ride and "oral pleasure" scenes, but love the rest of the segment. You can't not like the whole Gimp sequence and Walken's monologue. Plus, it has the balls to kill off the most featured character, Vince, half-way through the movie.

And you get to see someone get sliced by a kitana (sp?) sword. Shit son.

Oh, fuck. That's true. I completely forgot about Walken's part. Must have laughed for 10 seconds straight there.

Nevermind, it's a 9.5/10 now.

 

[LMP]

The delivery of it is pitch-perfect.

"...so he hid it, in the one place he knew he could hide something: his ass."

Then in the Gold Watch segment, Marcellus says my favorite non-Jules line of dialogue:

"I'm prepared to scour the the Earth for that motherfucker. If Butch goes to Indochina, I want a ****** waiting in a bowl of rice ready to pop a cap in his ass."

 

[LemonMelon]

Can't forget dead nigga storage, man. That's another brilliant non-Jules bit.

 

[LMP]

Can't forget dead nigga storage, man. That's another brilliant non-Jules bit.

Eh, I'm not a big fan of Tarantino sticking himself in there like that, or the delivery of the line. It's a good line, but to me, it comes off as contrived.

Good thing The Wolf wins at everything.

---

Back to the TWBB DVD for a second, the deleted Fishing sequence is awesome. I could see why it was cut, it's not necessary at all to the story and it covers territory addressed in other places (the assumption that the derrick explosion is God smiting Plainview for not letting Eli deliver his blessing).

It does have a fantastic part with Abel Sunday and Plainview talking about the explosion, with Plainview verbally pwning him and his "lunatic" son. Fucking love it.

 

[monkeyskin]

Won't it be great if Tarantino would make a proper film again and not just a self indulgent fan boy wank fest with sub par dialogue?

(BTW I'm not a fan of Kill Bill Vol 2, but Vol 1 was better on a repeated viewing.)

Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown are three of the best American films of the 90s and he kept his homages in line with the film at hand.

 

[lazarus]

I think I like Jackie better than the Kill Bills, but I've never watched Vol. 1 and 2 back-to-back before. That may change things.

You really should. Because it is one hell of an impressive package.

The funny thing is that QT was supposed to edit the whole thing together and release it as "Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair", but it never materialized. No theatrical release, no DVD. I remember reading a quote about him saying he wanted to move on to other things, but then why hype it to begin with? It couldn't really take that long to fuse the two parts, right?

Anyway, yeah, do that mini-marathon, you won't be disappointed.

Also, you're spot-on about SLJ in Jackie Brown. Not a very compelling character, though you could say the same about Fonda & De Niro as well. Pam Grier and Robert Forster more than make up for it though. Arguable that those two give the best performances in ANY Tarantino film. She was robbed of a nomination if you ask me. Nice to see him get recognized by the Academy, though. That final shot...damn.

 

[Lancemc]

Kill Bill has become far and away my preferred Tarantino. Just a brilliantly entertaining collage of pulpy goodness and sincere homage. Nearly every scene and character is just dripping with charisma, and I really thing it's his most sincere film as I said. The kind of stuff he should be making.

I wish he would put together The Whole Bloody Affair, if only for a theatrical release, since I missed Vol. 1 in theaters, so I got a sort of half-assed theatrical experience for that one. Jackie Brown is still my favorite film he made in the 90s though, if only for the two lead performances and the soundtrack.

 

[LMP]

Also, you're spot-on about SLJ in Jackie Brown. Not a very compelling character, though you could say the same about Fonda & De Niro as well. Pam Grier and Robert Forster more than make up for it though. Arguable that those two give the best performances in ANY Tarantino film. She was robbed of a nomination if you ask me. Nice to see him get recognized by the Academy, though. That final shot...damn.

Michael Keaton was enjoyable in the small part he had, and it's always great to see Chris Tucker get shot in the trunk of a car.

I wonder why it's not as well-regarded as Pulp and Reservoir Dogs - it's just as competently made, if not technically better than both.

I've seen all of his films, but a mini-marathon would be nice.

Where do you guys fit Death Proof into his filmography? I loved both cuts of it, but it does reek of overindulgence during certain parts.

 

[lazarus]

JB isn't regarded by the general public as well because it doesn't have the same energy as the first two. But critically I think it has a much better standing.

I thought Death Proof was great, but it seemed like a little break after the giant KB project. I still haven't seen the extended cut.

 

[LMP]

The extended cut adds the lapdance sequence that was a missing reel in the Grindhouse Cut and after the death of the first set of girls, you see Stuntman Mike start to stalk the next set of girls sooner.

 

[Lancemc]

Death Proof is definitely his weakest effort yet, but I still liked it more than most people I talked to about it. It definitely thrives best among its proper Grindhouse company though, as it's a shame many people didn't get the experience the real deal in theaters.

 

[lazarus]

Death Proof is definitely his weakest effort yet

Clearly you haven't seen his segment of Four Rooms.

 

[Lancemc]

I haven't.

Let's just say weakest feature length then.

 

[LMP]

Where do you guys stand on True Romance, Natural Born Killers, and From Dusk 'Til Dawn?

I've only see TR and Dusk, but enjoyed them both to a certain extent. Tony Scott's a capable action director, but I think his tone is way off what Tarantino's intent probably would have been. Dusk is insane, but hard not to enjoy.

 

[Lancemc]

I liked True Romance the first time I saw it. It's a decent lovers-in-the-run story, but hardly exceptional in any way. From Dusk Till Dawn is 50% of a great movie waiting to happen. George Clooney and Selma Hayek's bare flesh make it particularly memorable.

Haven't seen NBK, but everyone who has has told be it's awful.

 

[LMP]

I felt the same way about True Romance, but the Sicilian scene between Walken and Dennis Hopper is one of my favorite scenes ever.

The idea of two different styled halves of a film sounds cool, but in Dusk it totally seemed like either a massive amount of drugs were taken while the script was being written, or it was written when Tarantino and Rodriguez were about 13 years old.

Interestingly enough, apparently NBK and True Romance came from the same original script, just split down the middle or something.

 

[lazarus]

Oh Lance, you really should see NBK. Whatever you think of what Stone's trying to say in the film, and how successful he is at it, it's a visual tour-de-force, and a pretty seminal film of the 90's.

It's certainly better than True Romance and FDTD, which are guilty pleasures but not much else.