+11
PULP FICTION: It might be Tarantino's best. I don't know. I really don't. I think by any standardized metrics, it is the most successful at being Tarantinoesque, without crawling up its own ass. But, as one of those rare specimens who thinks his later work is more interesting than his earlier work, I'm clearly a fan of him going full-on ass excavation. Which is probably why Pulp Fiction didn't make my list, nor did any Tarantino, because I just didn't want to get into figuring out which one belonged.
Pulp Fiction is the movie that allowed QT to prove to himself that his weird hybrid of exploitation films, French and American New Wave and junk pop references had bank. It was a pat on the back for him to realize re-appropriating and re-contextualizing moments of neglected films, could be as artistically impactful as hip-hops discovery of the sample. It gave him the room to do something as simple and emotionally resonate as Jackie Brown, before recoiling from such sincerity, and going full on junk gangbusters with Kill Bill. It gave him the courage to rewrite history for his own narrative benefits and reinvigorate genre work with Hateful 8, Django Unchained, Death Proof, Inglourious Basterds, then possibly make one of his most challenging, rewarding, strange, daring and emotionally complex films of his career with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. All of these other films are a mixed bag of aggravating self indulgence and the kind of cinematic poetry you can only get to if your willing to indulge yourself to such an extent. And they are all indebted to Pulp Fiction, which figured out a way to do it perfectly and concisely (at least for QT) and with great mass appeal. Thankfully though, he didn't worry his mind too much about perfection as he continued with his career, which has been one of the best in all American cinema. Hopefully, he will continue to fascinate and annoy in equal measure well past his 'tenth film'.