Well, as others have pointed out, Pulp Fiction was one of the greatest movies ever, but to each his own.
Some that were very popular that I despised:
The Matrix and The Matrix Reloaded: Were they trying to outbore each other? Could the plots have been lamer? Could the action have been less interesting? Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: about the same, but this one with wires. E.T.: Just didn’t get it. Terminatory Two: The first one was great. But Linda Hamilton, who in the first was a sweet girl forced to be strong in the face of horrible danger was written in this one as such a bitch, I just couldn’t get into it. Good Will Hunting: Just struck me as how not-really-smart people imagined really-smart people to be. Blue Velvet was the only movie I’ve ever walked out of twice. And after all the on-screen abuse David Lynch heaped on Isobella Rossellini, she still married him. Dances With Wolves. Very long and very boring. I remember when they were going to play the “full uncut version” on television, and I just couldn’t believe this bloated turkey was to be inflated some more. The Full Monty and many other mindless pieces from across the sea certainly come to mind after ccwaterback’s absurd and likely-racist comment. But I’ll leave it to that one entry.
I think this movie is popular solely because of the the way C. Walken says the word ‘ass’. It is an hilarious pronunciation.
There’s a lot of hate in the room…
only once have i thought about walking out of a movie - i guess i’m careful about spending money on a movie - but as i was about to leave ‘Dumb and Dumber’ the two characters were in a DINER!!! and a version of an xtc song that i had never heard came on the juke box so i had to stay to the end to know who it was. (Crash Test Dummies)
I think that one big problem is that I didn’t find any of the characters to be very believable. Granted, this tends to be true of most Hollywood movies, but in this case it was a bit much. Let’s face it: guys as intelligent and philosophical as Jules don’t become street thugs. Anybody who watches Cops knows how rock-stupid your typical criminal is. I understand the basic idea (a gangster realizes that his lifestyle is wrong), but all of the sophisticated, college-level dialogue just put things a bit over the top.
BTW: I liked Chicago, E.T., Dances With Wolves, T2, The Matrix, and Matrix Reloaded. Most of the rest of them I haven’t seen.
Boy. Can’t we show some respect for each other here? It’s C.S., not the Pit, ok? :rolleyes:
I happen to find Pulp Fiction to be fairly solid filmmaking. There is no way you can sever the timeline like that and get away with it unless there are certain givens already, and you have an audience that is EAGER to suspend the usual rules. I would wager that every audience is. By the time the timeline has its schism, we are so completely drawn into the novella aspect of each Act ( helped along by the Title Cards ) that shifting around like that works. It just does. In a way that was never really attempted in mainstream cinema before this movie. Love it or hate it, the dynamic is interesting and it works on pretty much all levels.
One is aware of the fact that it’s all a put-on. The ultra-violence, the playing up to camera angles. The over-the-top dialogue. The hysterical laughs ( Wait ! Are you on a cellular phone??? I DO NOT KNOW YOU AT ALL, DO NOT COME TO MY HOUSE !! ) that come at the expense of others. It’s a hyperride.
On a cinematic/technical level, there are several moments that stand out as brilliant. The long Steadicam shots don’t bore, they draw you in. The shot of Bruce Willis walking across the abandoned lot, climbing through a small tear in a chain-link fence and continuing on to the apartment building, with a moving camera keeping up with him is a quick bravura moment. The fence is spring-loaded, and as he moves through the tear, the entire fence rips apart incredibly quickly to allow the Steadicam access through.
The use of wide-angle lenses is tasty too. How can Uma Thurman look amazing and burnt out in the space of 20 minutes? Lovely work.
Is it art? I dunno. Is it innovative filmmaking? Yeah. Is it a fun ride? You betcha.
I loved Pulp Fiction. I love Samuel Jackson and this had to be his best role, he’s made for it. The soundtrack was really good too. The other characters did good too.
Other ones I not only didn’t like, but couldn’t even get 45 or so minutes into:
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Chicago
Moulin Rouge(WTF was that?)
Matrix
Brazil
Saw the whole Greek Wedding, mediocre. With all the build-up & hype I was expecting better. Same with Full Monty.
I think part of Pulp Fiction, as with so many other movies, was the time it came out. Now everyone copies Tarantino, so you don’t remember how cool it was when it came out. It’s like The Matrix, now everybody’s doing swoopy-camera special effects.
Here’s my film that everyone loved and I hated: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Just because you don’t like a movie does not make it a bad movie. It simply means YOU DON’T LIKE IT. Also, if you like a movie it is not necessarily a good movie.
It’s easy to say something is ‘crap’ (meaning badly made or written or shot or whatever) if you don’t like it. Personally, I hate the Godfather movies, then again, I don’t like any gangster movies. They are still cinematic masterpieces. Beautifully shot and masterfully directed. Still don’t like them.
I also didn’t like Greek Wedding. Some people did. Who cares?
Sorry about the American-movie-going-public slam there folks. It just makes me wonder how a movie like Adaptation is such a disaster at the box office, and then some slop like “Futuristic Thugs Shoot Big Guns and Blow Up Cars” runs forever and makes zillions of dollars.
But I agree, movies are a very personal thing. I can like a movie and my best friend thinks it sucks. It’s all a matter of personal taste, and how you can personally relate to the story and the characters.
Pulp Fiction is a chick flick. Jeebus M. Crow!!! You should be forced by your significant other to watch 6 or 8 real chick flicks in a row. Something like:
You’ve Got Mail followed by My Best Friend’s Wedding backed up with Steel Magnolias then When Harry Met Sally with a Sleepless in Seattle chaser.
No movie that has
a) a heroine overdose,
b) brains splattered all over a backseat,
c) one man beating another to death,
d) The Gimp, and
e)an anal rape
can legitimately be called a chick flick. Period.
Also, what Film Geek said. I don’t like raw tomatoes. That doesn’t make them poison.
The majority of the movies being named here are actually decemt ,ovies… the dislikes are just boiling down to personal preferances, the question of why is this movie so popular will ever be answered when there are soo many diverse (is that sppleed right?) nationalities, races, peoples and opinions on this message board.
I have a theory though, that basically anyone who ‘slates’ a ‘good’ movie does so to get a reaction out of the avid fans of that movie.
But then Ive been drinking so maybe I shouldnt post…
Movies like Pulp Fiction , I put into the category of
Either you get it or you dont
the first few times I saw it I kinda didnt get it, then about time 5 it clicked and I saw all the little things in it that make it one of my favorite movies
another one of these is Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, most people who have seen it totally dont get it, but those who do, REALLY get it