Lazy Saturday Review: Pulp Fiction

A film I have mentioned many times in other reviews, I always make comparisons - especially in reviews of Quentin Tarantino's other films - of the 1994 classic Pulp Fiction.  The reason I always do is because of its mix of many genres - drama, action, comedy, thriller, suspense, and one of my favorites, gangster.  It is a two-and-a-half hour pleasure to see, and I am glad to finally review it.

This film is what the title is - a piece of different fictional stories that tie together throughout the story.  One is about two hitmen, Jules Winnfield (Samuel Jackson) and Vincent Vega (John Travolta) who go out to murder one under the consent of their mob boss, Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) and a chain of twists follow; another is of Vincent taking Wallace's wife Mia (Uma Thurman) out for dinner while he is taking a vacation; and the last one is of a boxer (Bruce Willis) who tries to find his gold watch before leaving the city because he gypped Marsellus into making lots of money.

The story is very complicated as it is better explained by watching than by verbally telling.  No matter what one says, however, it is a very entertaining film and is the perfect film to watch if one is having a lazy day.  Pulp Fiction feels like a mind-controlling film as it takes you into this fantasy world with this unbelievable ensemble of characters.  And its out-of-chronology sequence (reminiscent of Welles' Kane) feels like it makes very little sense while making lots of sense at the same time.

What makes this film such a classic is the way Tarantino approaches this film, with the uniqueness of many many references throughout the film to other films.  For example, when Willis meets the driver of the taxi, Esmeralda (Angela Jones), her ID is familiar to the shot of Travis Bickle's in Taxi Driver.  Little things like that show how charming there is in this film and how much care was put into this movie.

What steals the show is the writing done by him and Roger Avary.  Knowing that the small-talk done by Jules and Vince or Mia and Vince was deliberately scripted shows how creatively smart the writing is.  The stories are brilliantly well-written and it feels like even though the "f-word" is said many times throughout the film, it feels like a work of poetry like not having it would have made this film less great.

Overall, this film is as close to perfect as it gets.  What makes its legacy unforgettable is how it makes fun of other films for being too familiar - much like what a Clockwork Orange and Bonnie and Clyde proved at the time of their releases.  From the unique direction to what I consider the strongest ensemble of all time, Pulp Fiction receives a 4/4.

American Pie

One of the most popular teenage movies of the late 1990s, American Pie is a classic.  It is ridiculous, insane, and absolutely hysterical with its well-written dialogue.  This film also features one of the best ensembles for a comedy, which is just one of its many positives.

The story is set up perfectly: the movie is about fours seniors in high school who create a pact that they will lose their virginity by the time prom night strikes.  There are many antics involved and as they four meet many new people progresses the story.  In the end, will all four of them actually have sex?  Or is there something else to discover?

This is such an innocent film while not being innocent at all.  It is so disgustingly creative that I find it hard not to enjoy this movie.  There is always something that will make you laugh once - whether it be the bathroom scene or the infamous pie - the film shows it's immature and is proud of it for every second there is.

American Pie is not a perfect film.  Indeed, it is very good, but just not perfect.  With that said, this movie is still entertaining.  The acting is as solid as it gets, the writing is top-notch, and the soundtrack and direction are incredibly hysterical as well.  It is hard not to appreciate this hour and a half, low-budget independent film.  American Pie receives a 3/4.