Fiction so pulp is ! awesome…

Ok people, I just saw Pulp Fiction the other day and have been completely blown away by the concept of non-sequential cinema (er..as you may have noticed from the title of this post [that’s ‘Pulp Fiction is so Awesome!’ for the slow people amongst you, though I’m sure most of you would’ve got it {yeah, right!}])!

OK, moving on..or back..or sideways, I’ve written about my experiments with downloading movies. Of course, even though the first attempt wasn’t all that successful (I downloaded a movie in Japanese with Swedish subtitles – ok, ok now shut up. I’ve had just about enough of people laughing their heads off on this. Yes, yes, you know I’m talking to YOU – you’ve had just about all the entertainment you could’ve derived from this episode, and that’s a hell of a lot – now just SHUT UP already…), I have persevered and have finally managed to get some great movies (in the right language) on my laptop.

So I started with Notorious by Alfred Hitchcock – Pretty nice movie – an interesting mix of adventure and romance. (As an aside, women with high cheekbones look sooo alluring in black and white – Ingrid Bergman in this movie, Madhubala etc.)

Then came the movie made out of the best book ever – To Kill a Mockingbird. Gregory Peck’s performance as that amazing hero Atticus Finch is just amazing. Just the right amount of reserve, steely grit and the sensitive side of a man who deals singlehandedly with two young curious, innocent kids; protecting them as much as he can from the gathering wave of hidden dark prejudices coming to the surface, while at the same time doing his duty to his conscience. Wow. I’ve said this before (too many times many would say J ) and I’ll say it again – if you haven’t read it, go read the book – NOW. Even the movie is a pretty true adaptation of the book (unlike most movies made out of books) and should suffice for those allergic to reading, though of course reading it is just amazing)

AND now we come to the movie that inspired this blog – Pulp Fiction (Next one to watch, I.e. downloaded already is ‘Thank you for Smoking’- its come recommended)

I just love the non-sequential story telling used by Quentin Tarantino in this movie. For the record I hadn’t watched any of his movies because going by the trailers of Kill Bill I thought that the movies would be dripping in gore and violence with shocking scenes created just for that – shock value. What a mistake!

AN amazingly stylized movie with amazing lines

Bruce Willis’,
”Zed’s dead baby, Zed’s dead”
“So..we’re cool?” (To Marcellus)
“You really want to pick that gun don’t you?”

Marsellus
“…this Mr. ‘spending the rest of his short life in agonising pain' here..."

And of course all the arguments between John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson - brilliant.

Its such a fast paced movie where you gotta sit on the edge of your seat to stay on top of the ball. And then when in the end all the inexplicable things that came across at different places in the movie click together and you get a glimpse of the sequence of events - it gives a series of 'Aha' moments.

Like Travolta and Jackson wearing beach volleyball attire when they go to return the briefcase to Marsellus. Travolta getting shot by Bruce.

And the briefcase itself! Its a mystery thats still going on. All you see is a golden glow emanating from it, no idea about its content. (This kind of object which is just and just a plot device with no value of its own is called a MacGuffin [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacGuffin ])

And and I forgot to mention Winston Wolf - such an amazing character. A professional 'cleaner' for the mafia. When there's trouble that needs to be managed - the mafia turns to Wolf to get it all clear. He was in a tuxedo, driving a Porshe Acquira and talking about respect (Somehow I find it awesome that all mafia movies/books talk a lot about honour and respect)- He was the epitomy of cool...

All in all, there's so much to be said about this movie - it has its own fanclubs etc. - but i gotta rush to download the next movie - so i'll leave you here :)

Update: Saw half of 'Thank you for Smoking' - absolutely hilarious!

Update 2: Another interesting movie concept I heard of recently. A colleagues friend was involved in the making of this ( http://www.rewindthefilm.com/ )film. Its a film thats shot entirely in reverse (Story: Three men including a blind man crack a safe, and then mutual deceits start to get the money for themselves). Even the dialogues are in reverse. And still it somehow makes sense. So many experiments with the traditional art of story telling. Its all good, all good. Evolution and experimentation is definitely the path to growth.