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1994: Pulp Fiction
It's really hard to find a movie better than Pulp Fiction in terms of the best of 1994. My distant runner-ups were Oliver Stone's career best Natural Born Killers, Robert Zemeckis' beautiful Forrest Gump & Frank Darabont's excellent The Shawshank Redemption. I'm sure there are other films in 1994, but the fact that they are forgettable means either I didn't like them or I haven't seen them. 1994 was an ok year for films.
Pumpkin (Tim Roth) & Honey Bunny (Amanda Plummer) are having breakfast in a diner, while they discuss robbing the diner and taking wallets from the customers. They initiate the hold-up, but the scene breaks off and heads to the next chapter after the title credits.
While Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson), a hitman for the mob, drives, Vincent Vega (John Travolta), another hitman, talks about his experiences in Europe, including French fast food outlets and hash bars in Amsterdam. They head to an apartment complex to retrieve a briefcase from Brett (Frank Whaley), who has transgressed against their boss, Marcellus Wallace (Ving Rhames). While heading upstairs to the right apartment, Jules tells Vincent about how Marcellus had someone thrown off a fourth floor balcony because this person had given his wife a foot massage. Vincent informs Jules that Vincent has to escort Marcellus' wife while Marcellus is out of town. The two get into character and go to retrieve the briefcase and dispatch Brett, while Jules recites a bible passage.
Vincent & Marcellus Wallace's Wife.
In a near-deserted cocktail lounge, Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis), an ageing prizefighter, accepts a large sum of money from Marcellus to take a dive in his next fight. Jules and Vincent show up at the lounge, now dressed in t-shirts and shorts and Vincent has a brief conflict with Butch before returning the case to Marcellus. Vincent then heads over to his drug dealer Lance's home, where he buys some high grade heroin. He thens head over to Mia's home to escort to Jack Rabbit Slims, where they have an enjoyable evening, until they return to Mia's and Mia mistakes Vincent's heroin for cocaine. She O'Ds and Vincent quickly takes her to Lance's house and they manage to save her. Vincent and Mia decide to keep this a secret.
The Gold Watch.
Butch dreams of when he was a child and when he was paid a visit by Captain Koons, who was friends with Butch's father during WW2. Butch's father died in POW camp and, before he died, he gave Koons his gold watch to give to Butch. Butch decides not to through the fight and he accidentally kills the opposing fighter. He jumps into his getaway taxi, where the death obsessed female cabbie informs him of the fighter he killed. They converse, until she gets Butch to where he needs to be. He heads into a hotel room where his wife is staying. His wife Fabienne (Maria De Meideries) finds next morning that she forgot to pack the gold watch. Enraged, Butch heads back to his home to retrieve it, where he runs into multiple disturbing and violent situations.
The Bonnie Situation.
The film returns to Jules and Vincent executing Brett. After they kill him, another man busts out of the room and starts shooting at them, missing them everytime. The astonished Jules and Vincent shoot him dead. Jules believes this is a miracle and that God intervened and it is a sign for him to retire from being a hitman. They drive away from the apartment building with one of Brett's associates, Marvin (Phil LaMarr) in the back. Vincent asks Marvin for his opinion on the miracle and accidentally shoots him in the face. The car and the hitmen are now stained with blood and brain matter.
The two hitmen head to Jimmie of Toluca Lake's (Quentin Tarantino) home, where they are informed that Bonnie, Jimmie's wife is due back from work soon and that they need to get the situation under control soon or Jimmie will get a divorce. They call Marcellus, who sends in the Wolf (Harvey Keitel), who immediately takes charge of the situation. He orders Jules and Vincent to clean out the car and change into the shirts and shorts. After the situation is under control they head to breakfast.
Epilogue
Jules and Vincent head to a diner for breakfast and discuss more about Jules' decision to retire. Vincent heads to the bathroom and while he is in the bathroom, Pumpkin & Honey Bunny hold up the diner. The two diner bandits and Jules engage in a Mexican stand-off, where they negotiate what happens now.
Described as "a cultural wasteland", Pulp Fiction could well be the most influential film ever made. The sheer amount of iconic scenes is outstanding; Jack Rabbit Slims, Ezekiel 25:17, The Wolf, The Diner Hold-up, the list goes on. Laced with killer dialogue and unforgettable characters, I might go one step further and say Pulp Fiction is the most popular film of all time (at least, tied with Star Wars). The non-linear and sequenced storyline is part of the fun with Pulp Fiction. It brings you a range of cool, violent and downright hilarious situations and the dialogue is brilliant in each scene.
Quentin Tarantino's masterpiece is only what it is with it's Oscar-winning script, full of pop culture references and excellent dialogue. The characters are extremely well-written, especially Jules Winnfield, a bible quoting, burger loving hitman. To pick my favourite scene is hard, but there really is none better than the Jack Rabbit Slim Twist Contest or Royale With Cheese. Most importantly, this movie is movie for movie lovers made by the ultimate film buff. This is easily the best of Tarantino's career.
The performances from it's ensemble are all-round brilliant. Ving Rhames is good as Marcellus, Tim Roth is great as Pumpkin and Eric Stoltz makes a good screen presence in about 10 minutes of screentime. The other cast members work well, but four performances in this film stand out. Bruce Willis proves himself to be an actually good screen actor, not a movie star. Uma Thurman is at her Oscar-nominated best as Mia Wallace, a cheeky gangster's wife, a performance only matched by that of Kill Bill. The stars of the show are most definitely Samuel L. Jackson & John Travolta, who are dynamic as a pair of the most likeable killers ever put on screen. Their chemistry is magnetic and the presence is greatly appreciated.
The soundtrack to this film was the first CD I ever owned and I instantly loved it. It's full of great tracks and dialogue from the film.
Pulp Fiction is the Royale With Cheese, The Big Kahuna burger or any other reference from the film. In a word, it's awesome.
It's really hard to find a movie better than Pulp Fiction in terms of the best of 1994. My distant runner-ups were Oliver Stone's career best Natural Born Killers, Robert Zemeckis' beautiful Forrest Gump & Frank Darabont's excellent The Shawshank Redemption. I'm sure there are other films in 1994, but the fact that they are forgettable means either I didn't like them or I haven't seen them. 1994 was an ok year for films.
Pumpkin (Tim Roth) & Honey Bunny (Amanda Plummer) are having breakfast in a diner, while they discuss robbing the diner and taking wallets from the customers. They initiate the hold-up, but the scene breaks off and heads to the next chapter after the title credits.
While Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson), a hitman for the mob, drives, Vincent Vega (John Travolta), another hitman, talks about his experiences in Europe, including French fast food outlets and hash bars in Amsterdam. They head to an apartment complex to retrieve a briefcase from Brett (Frank Whaley), who has transgressed against their boss, Marcellus Wallace (Ving Rhames). While heading upstairs to the right apartment, Jules tells Vincent about how Marcellus had someone thrown off a fourth floor balcony because this person had given his wife a foot massage. Vincent informs Jules that Vincent has to escort Marcellus' wife while Marcellus is out of town. The two get into character and go to retrieve the briefcase and dispatch Brett, while Jules recites a bible passage.
Vincent & Marcellus Wallace's Wife.
In a near-deserted cocktail lounge, Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis), an ageing prizefighter, accepts a large sum of money from Marcellus to take a dive in his next fight. Jules and Vincent show up at the lounge, now dressed in t-shirts and shorts and Vincent has a brief conflict with Butch before returning the case to Marcellus. Vincent then heads over to his drug dealer Lance's home, where he buys some high grade heroin. He thens head over to Mia's home to escort to Jack Rabbit Slims, where they have an enjoyable evening, until they return to Mia's and Mia mistakes Vincent's heroin for cocaine. She O'Ds and Vincent quickly takes her to Lance's house and they manage to save her. Vincent and Mia decide to keep this a secret.
The Gold Watch.
Butch dreams of when he was a child and when he was paid a visit by Captain Koons, who was friends with Butch's father during WW2. Butch's father died in POW camp and, before he died, he gave Koons his gold watch to give to Butch. Butch decides not to through the fight and he accidentally kills the opposing fighter. He jumps into his getaway taxi, where the death obsessed female cabbie informs him of the fighter he killed. They converse, until she gets Butch to where he needs to be. He heads into a hotel room where his wife is staying. His wife Fabienne (Maria De Meideries) finds next morning that she forgot to pack the gold watch. Enraged, Butch heads back to his home to retrieve it, where he runs into multiple disturbing and violent situations.
The Bonnie Situation.
The film returns to Jules and Vincent executing Brett. After they kill him, another man busts out of the room and starts shooting at them, missing them everytime. The astonished Jules and Vincent shoot him dead. Jules believes this is a miracle and that God intervened and it is a sign for him to retire from being a hitman. They drive away from the apartment building with one of Brett's associates, Marvin (Phil LaMarr) in the back. Vincent asks Marvin for his opinion on the miracle and accidentally shoots him in the face. The car and the hitmen are now stained with blood and brain matter.
The two hitmen head to Jimmie of Toluca Lake's (Quentin Tarantino) home, where they are informed that Bonnie, Jimmie's wife is due back from work soon and that they need to get the situation under control soon or Jimmie will get a divorce. They call Marcellus, who sends in the Wolf (Harvey Keitel), who immediately takes charge of the situation. He orders Jules and Vincent to clean out the car and change into the shirts and shorts. After the situation is under control they head to breakfast.
Epilogue
Jules and Vincent head to a diner for breakfast and discuss more about Jules' decision to retire. Vincent heads to the bathroom and while he is in the bathroom, Pumpkin & Honey Bunny hold up the diner. The two diner bandits and Jules engage in a Mexican stand-off, where they negotiate what happens now.
Described as "a cultural wasteland", Pulp Fiction could well be the most influential film ever made. The sheer amount of iconic scenes is outstanding; Jack Rabbit Slims, Ezekiel 25:17, The Wolf, The Diner Hold-up, the list goes on. Laced with killer dialogue and unforgettable characters, I might go one step further and say Pulp Fiction is the most popular film of all time (at least, tied with Star Wars). The non-linear and sequenced storyline is part of the fun with Pulp Fiction. It brings you a range of cool, violent and downright hilarious situations and the dialogue is brilliant in each scene.
Quentin Tarantino's masterpiece is only what it is with it's Oscar-winning script, full of pop culture references and excellent dialogue. The characters are extremely well-written, especially Jules Winnfield, a bible quoting, burger loving hitman. To pick my favourite scene is hard, but there really is none better than the Jack Rabbit Slim Twist Contest or Royale With Cheese. Most importantly, this movie is movie for movie lovers made by the ultimate film buff. This is easily the best of Tarantino's career.
The performances from it's ensemble are all-round brilliant. Ving Rhames is good as Marcellus, Tim Roth is great as Pumpkin and Eric Stoltz makes a good screen presence in about 10 minutes of screentime. The other cast members work well, but four performances in this film stand out. Bruce Willis proves himself to be an actually good screen actor, not a movie star. Uma Thurman is at her Oscar-nominated best as Mia Wallace, a cheeky gangster's wife, a performance only matched by that of Kill Bill. The stars of the show are most definitely Samuel L. Jackson & John Travolta, who are dynamic as a pair of the most likeable killers ever put on screen. Their chemistry is magnetic and the presence is greatly appreciated.
The soundtrack to this film was the first CD I ever owned and I instantly loved it. It's full of great tracks and dialogue from the film.
Pulp Fiction is the Royale With Cheese, The Big Kahuna burger or any other reference from the film. In a word, it's awesome.