Monday, July 9, 2012

Romancing the Screen: Pulp Fiction

A new feature in which I watch something romantic--usually a movie from my Netflix instant queue--and give it a spin. It's not a review, more like an unnecessary commentary about nothing.

Pulp Fiction is not a romance. It's Quentin Tarantino's gangster movie about the lives of people intersecting one another over the course of a few days in Los Angeles. But like Tarantino, this blog puts its own spin on everything.

Pulp Fiction is a romance. Just not in the classical sense of what a romance is suppose to be (romantic). It's more of a romance movie for guys. Before I Love You Man with Paul Rudd and that dude from How I Met Your Mother you really only had one set of guys who set the standard on what being in a bromance is like. Enter Jules and Vincent.

They kill people and set a standard
for bromances everywhere.
While I hate the word bromance--there is no other way to describe the friendship between Jules and Vincent. The two are the most quoted characters of the movie. Even people who haven't seen the movie can quote the entire "royale with cheese" dialogue. The reason why is because the two just click together so well.

There's a segment of this movie that veers away from Jules and Vincent and focuses on Uma Thurman's character. John Travolta (Jules) has to take out Uma Thurman's character (who is married and is his boss' wife) to keep her entertained for the night. What follows is a heartfelt and gut wrenching night for Travolta's character or any man who has been on a date that is not a date but wants it to be a date.

Jules and Vincent's discussion of whether or not it's a date is one that I've been in before. If you date long enough there comes a point where you're not sure if you're dating anymore or hanging out. Vincent dismisses the idea and states "It's not a date." Only later does Vincent realize, that yes, he's on a date, and yes, he's a bit smitten with his boss' wife. Jules called it. Because that's what best buddies do.

Meet any guy and he will name Pulp Fiction as one of his favorite movies. Despite the cursing and the killing, and the drug use, it is a damn good movie because of these two. No other movie portrays a hetero friendship these days without making it a comedy or cracking gay jokes. Tarantino didn't have to do it. The characters stand on their own.

Oh, and if anyone knows why Tony Rocker Horror got thrown out of that window, I'd really like to know.

*Later this couple would be reincarnated as Turk and J.D. on Scrubs, but as doctors who save people rather than killing them. 
Posted by Adam at 6:56 AM

16 comments:

  1. I am not really a fan of this movie. I watched it once and that was enough for me. The one comment I do have...JULES and VINCENT??? I didn't remember the movie character's names, so my first thought when you mentioned them was Die for Me by Amy Plum?? (These are the names of the two male characters in her book.)

    Now I have to wonder where she got the names for her characters. It couldn't be from Pulp Fiction? NO...Our YA Crush Tournament nominees could not have any connection to this film, but now I feel compelled to ask her. Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I never would have realized this otherwise :)

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    1. I didn't even think of that connection. But now I'm curious as to whether it was done in honor of the movie? Please report back what you find out!

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    2. I have not heard of Die for Me before. I always imagined the characters were name for Jules Vern or something, although thinking about that now it doesn't make much sense.

      Yes. Report back what you find out. I'm sorry Pulp Fiction isn't a movie you like. It just stands out in my mind as being very guyish for a particular reason.

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    3. The character names are coincidental. Amy said she saw the movie "ages ago". She vaguely remembered that Travolta was Vincent. She didn’t remember there being a Jules in the film. This is GOOD NEWS.

      Adam- I would suggest that read Die for Me, but it is a series and I will definitely break some of your rules. There will be 3 books, I LOVED books 1 and 2, and I would HAVE to follow up to see if you like it :)

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    4. Thx for the info! I'm always surprised by these coincidences, but I think it would have been a little weird if she'd done it on purpose.

      I actually didn't love the first book - haven't read the second. Maybe I'll give it a go? I know a lot of people who really liked the first one. And, I would be interested in Adam's thoughts - if you ever get to it. It's a PNR. With Zombies! In Paris!

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  2. This post was pretty much gibberish until I got to your footnote on Scrubs. Then it all fell into place for me.

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    1. Sorry about that. I'm not good at movie plot descriptions. Book descriptions? Sure. Movies? Nooope.

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    2. Oh dear. This is one of those times when my comment sounded better in my head (ie less offensive) than when I put it online. I didn’t mean to criticize you. What I was trying to say is that I have not seen Pulp Fiction so I couldn’t really relate to what you were saying about the characters (although theoretically, It was clear). That is until I substituted Turk and J.D. into Jules and Vincent’s places and got exactly what you were saying. Actually, I have seen I Love you Man. Though I preferred Paul Rudd as the studious college student/Mr. Knightly in Clueless/Emma

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    3. I wasn't offended. It is kind of gibberish (most of everything I write is gibberish).

      Turk and JD... that was the last really well done comedy show on TV. I still miss Scrubs.

      I like Paul Rudd in Midnight Express with Reese Witherspoon. It's a quirky movie.

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    4. Um. Do you mean Overnight Delivery? I took me quite a while to figure out what you were talking about. I looked up Midnight Express, and...yeah it's a totally different kind of movie. I'm guessing you saw it recently to confuse the names?

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    5. Yes. Overnight Delivery. That's it. Because she drives a purple Hummer in it. I always forget the name of the movie. I've never heard of Midnight Express before.

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    6. Overnight Delivery : Midnight Express :: Fifty Shades of Grey : Between Shades of Grey

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  3. And I now have the song "Guy Love" in my head. Pretty much love this post though. I just watched Pulp Fiction (you know, for the 100th time) again this past week, so it's pretty timely. It's not my favorite Tarentino, because I'm a chick so of course I dig Kill Bill, but I won't begrudge the bromantic perfection that is Pulp Fiction. Also I Love You Man was a surprisingly decent movie, but then, I'll watch just about anything with Paul Rudd and/or Jason Segel<--the dude from How I Met Your Mother.

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    1. "Bromantic perfection" is the perfect way to describe this movie. I saw I Love You Man in theaters. I was not disappointed. I was recently told I look like Paul Rudd (although I don't see it).

      All I heard was Alyson Hannigan.

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