Pulp Fiction

Photo credit: TV Tropes

It is extremely hard for me to describe Pulp Fiction in an eloquent manner. Best leave it to the critics to do so.

"Outrageously violent, time-twisting, and in love with language, Pulp Fiction was widely considered the most influential American movie of the 1990s." - Rotten Tomatoes

"The new King Kong of crime movies...Ferocious fun without a trace of caution, complacency or political correctness to inhibits its 154 deliciously lurid minutes." - Rolling Stone

Quentin Tarantino did a spectacular job with intertwining the three different stories in this film all while telling them in a non-linear fashion. Not many films can successfully pull off either of these tactics, let alone both. The film is a dark comedy that follows the stories of a pair of small-time robbers, a couple of Los Angeles mobsters, and a boxer with unpaid debt. There is a major focus on the dialogue to establish the personalities of the characters and is often laced with profanity. Actually, that is a slight understatement: there is an obscene amount of profanity in this movie. It is also a very violent movie and involves a lot of drugs as well as sexual encounters. Needless to say, this is not a movie for children.

Pulp Fiction features a cast full of big-name actors, though some were not as prominent back then. For example, John Travolta, who played Vincent Vega, one of the hit men, revived his declining career. The film also helped Uma Thurman (Mia Wallace, the mob boss’ wife) establish her career in the movie business. Other famous actors in the movie were Samuel L. Jackson(Jules Winnfield, the other hit man), Bruce Willis (Butch Coolidge, the boxer who owes the mob boss money), and Christopher Walken, who made a short appearance at the beginning of the movie.

Although most of the characters were interesting and had memorable dialogue, one of my favorite characters would probably be Fabienne, Butch’s girlfriend. She may not have been a main character, but she was a perfect foil to her boyfriend and most of the other characters, for that matter. She came off as innocent with her big doe eyes and delicate features, as well as with her accent highlighted by her silly chattering.  It was a nice contrast to the roughness of the rest of the movie. 

Yet Another Peculiar Movie

"I would like, if I may, to take you on a strange journey."

And a strange journey it was. The singing pair of lips that began the movie pretty much guaranteed that The Rocky Horror Picture Show was going to be a bit peculiar. Although this was my first time seeing the movie, I knew that it was going to be a weird one. However, I did not know quite how weird it was going to be.

Photo credit: IMDB

I have always been a bit curious about this movie since I have overheard so many people talk about it and how outlandishly awesome it was. The movie temporarily slipped of the map for me until I saw The Perks of Being a Wallflower, which has an entire scene referencing it. With renewed interest, I was introduced to the world of Dr. Frank-N-Furter, a "sweet transvestite from Transsexual Transylvania."

Rocky Horror  was probably my favorite strange movie that I have recently seen. And if my last few posts haven't indicated a pattern, I have seen quite a few weird movies lately. Though, I will admit that I was a bit confused/lost during parts of the movie. However, I soon realized that I didn't really care because I was thoroughly entertained.

The costumes, the singing and dancing, and the nontraditional story line made the movie intriguingly crazy. Add to the mix the memorable and equally crazy quotes ("Hot patootie, bless my soul! I really love that rock n' roll!") and it's no wonder that Rocky Horror is considered by some as one of the most popular cult classics of all time.

Sleepy Hollow

Photo credit: Jessica Finson via Photopin

This week I decided to pay tribute to Johnny Depp. Johnny has quite the repritua of out-of-the-norm films under his belt. He is an exceptional actor who puts his own twist on every role he plays. And even though he tried to avoid the heart-throb title, many girls, myself included, find him dreamy. I mean, who could resist him? But I digress.

The movie I chose to watch was Sleepy Hollow. In the beginning, I thought that Ichabod Crane was more of a serious character, which is out of the ordinary for Johnny. Boy was I wrong. After he pulled out the crazy contraptions and gave a dramatic show for a small crowd, I knew it was just another weird role that suited Johnny. And who would be surprised that it was a Tim Burton film? The two seem to have pretty similar tastes in stories and have an interesting partnership going on. They have worked together on eight movies over the years.

Photo credit: Fanpop.com

Overall, the movie kept my interest. I have always thought the story of the headless horseman was somewhat spooky, but in a curious manner. Christopher Walken did an excellent job portraying this spookiness. And as always, Johnny made the character of Ichabod his own. The only thing I thought the movie was lacking was in developing the romance between Ichabod and Katrina. There was not much of a story line there, it just sort of happened without fully explaining it. But in the end, I am glad I raided my roommate's movie collection.

More Sparkles than Twilight

Photo Credit: netflix.com

Whenever someone makes a reference to a movie that I haven't seen, I am usually curious as to what I might have missed out. A while back, my friends made a reference to the Labyrinth, which sparked my interest. Part of my curiosity came from not knowing who David Bowie was. (I know, I know! I've been living a sheltered life.) What a surprise I was in for.

Labyrinth is an interesting movie, to say the least. I will admit, I was not expecting an almost-musical with puppets, nor was I expecting all the sparkles! I thought the movie was going to be dark, which it was, but not in the same creepy (and sparkly) kind of way. It was marketed as a family movie but I can tell you that had I watched it as a kid, I would have had nightmares! All the creepy goblins and a big, red furry thing with horns... I've had scary dreams from cabbage-patch dolls before, so those things would have for sure brought on night tremors.

Even though it may sound like I dislike the Labyrinth, I was quite amused. For one thing, David Bowie is very eccentric, which may explain the glitter. He sort of reminds me of a male version of Lady Gaga from the 80s. The hair, the make-up, and the pants! Oh gosh the pants! Add in the singing and dancing goblins, it was all so... strange. But from what I've heard, that is David Bowie for you.

I couldn't help making other comparisons throughout the movie. One of the first things that caught my attention was the dwarf that Sarah, the main character played by Jennifer Connelly, met at the beginning of her journey. His name was Hoggle, but Sarah made the mistake of calling him Hogwart, which immediately made me think of Harry Potter. Another thing that crossed my mind was the similarity to The Wizard of Oz. Sarah, like Dorthy, was on a journey through an unknown land and happened to make three interesting friends along the way.

Raiders of the Lost Ark

I have always known that the Indiana Jones series was an iconic movie, but I did not realize until I watched the first film just how spectacular they really are. My friends were actually commenting on many of the famous scenes from the movie that have been replicated in other movies. For instance, the scene where Indy uses a bag of sand or something as a weight to replace the treasure and the whole booby-trapped hidden temple ideas have been borrowed by other films such as The Rundown.

Ever since I became a fan of the TV show Bones, I have had a slight interest in archaeology. However, watching Raiders of the Lost Ark and all the adventures Indy has been on made the job seem even more interesting; though I'm not sure I'd ever like to go on such drastic quests. The movie was just overall exciting for me. It also had a little bit of everything in it. It is definitely an action-packed movie, but it also had a little scifi to it with the powers of the Ark of the Covenant and a tid-bit of romance in it as well, not to mention the  humorous overtones throughout the film.

I am quite glad that my friend suggested we start watching the Indiana Jones series for my educational purposes. I even learned a few fun facts. For instance, Harrison Ford was not George Lucas' first choice for the role of Indiana. Tom Selleck was originally offered the role but turned it down to film Magnum P.I. Also, the famous scene where Indiana shoots a crafty swordsman in the marketplace was slightly altered because Ford was sick and was not up for the intricately choreographed sword fight. Who knew you could learn something (albeit something relatively useless) while having fun?

First Up: Batman

Throughout the years that I've known them, my friends have tried to "educate" me about movies, though it has not always been consistent. Once they heard about my blog, they immediately began discussing the various movies that they should show me. While they were debating amongst themselves which ones they thought I would enjoy and which to skip over, they temporarily forgot that I was in the room. Needless to say, they are very enthusiastic about this mission.

The first movies to be crossed off of my list were chosen by my friend who is an avid Batman fan. He decided it was time for me to be introduced to Tim Burton's Batman and its sequel Batman Returns. Having previously seen Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight and the The Dark Knight Rises, it was hard for me not to compare the two series. Now I understand that the movies are based on different Batman comics, but they still had similarities. 

The most obvious parallels between the two series would be some of the characters that appear. For instance, the Joker was a central character in Batman as well as The Dark Knight. What I found most interesting, though, were the different mood the movies took. While the Joker in Batman, played by Jack Nicholson, was quite menacing, the Joker, played by the late Heath Ledger, in Nolan's series was pure evil. To me, The Dark Knight had a much darker tone to it. You can see this simply by comparing the two Jokers.

Photo credit: Luke M. Schierholz via photopin cc

Photo credit: batman.wikia.com

Another character that appeared in both series is Catwoman, but like with the Joker, she is completely different in the two adaptations. When we started watching Batman Returns, I thought that Catwoman would turn out to be a heroine like she was at the end of The Dark Knight Rises. However, I was taken aback when she turned out to be a psychotic woman in a leather bodysuit that she haphazardly sewed together. Overall, I found her to be quite the interesting character.

Although the latter made me question my obsession of penguins for a brief moment, I thoroughly enjoyed watching Batman and Batman Returns. However,  my preference lays with the most recent adaptation of Batman. I feel that newest renditions had a little more substance to them and I generally liked the darker mood of the movies. Nevertheless, I still look forward to finishing the original series. 

Mission: Must See Movies

Watching movies is a favorite pass time among people of all ages and ethnicities in this country, well all over the world, for that matter. There are countless movies in existence in every language imaginable, on every subject and in many genres. There are movies for everyone! Although I love watching movies, sadly I have not seen as many as I would like.

There seems to be this hypothetical list of movies that everyone absolutely must see in their lifetime. It almost seems taboo to have not seen one of these movies. I have been met on numerous occasions with expressions of shock and disbelief when people hear that I haven’t seen a certain movie. For instance, my friends all shook their heads when they first found out that I haven’t seen any of the Star Wars movies, which they are proud to say is no longer the case.

Over the years I have compiled a mental list of ‘must see’ movies, a list that seems to grow daily. Which brings me to the purpose of this blog. About a year ago I set off on mission to cross off as many movies on the list as I can. So far I have been successful; I have taken care of the first three Star Wars movies (yes, I started with Episode IV), Braveheart, Mary Poppins, The Matrix, and a few others that I’m drawing a blank on. It is my plan to chronicle the next portion of this self-imposed mission here.