Pulp Fiction

Pulp Fiction is a 1994 American black comedy crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, who conceived it with Roger Avary. Starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Ving Rhames, and Uma Thurman, it tells several stories of crime in Los Angeles. The title refers to the pulp magazines and hardboiled crime novels popular during the mid-20th century, known for their graphic violence and punchy dialogue.

Tarantino wrote Pulp Fiction in 1992 and 1993, incorporating scenes that Avary originally wrote for True Romance (1993). Its plot occurs out of chronological order. The film is also self-referential from its opening moments, beginning with a title card that gives two dictionary definitions of "pulp". Considerable screen time is devoted to monologues and casual conversations with eclectic dialogue revealing each character's perspectives on several subjects, and the film features an ironic combination of humor and strong violence. TriStar Pictures reportedly turned down the script as "too demented". Then Miramax co-chairman Harvey Weinstein was enthralled, however, and the film became the first that Miramax fully financed.

Pulp Fiction won the Palme d'Or at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival, and was a major critical and commercial success. It was nominated for seven awards at the 67th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and won Best Original Screenplay; it earned Travolta, Jackson, and Thurman Academy Award nominations and boosted their careers. Its development, marketing, distribution, and profitability had a sweeping effect on independent cinema.

Pulp Fiction is widely regarded as Tarantino's masterpiece, with particular praise for its screenwriting. The self-reflexivity, unconventional structure, and extensive homage and pastiche have led critics to describe it as a touchstone of postmodern film. It is often considered a cultural watershed, influencing films and other media that adopted elements of its style. The cast was also widely praised, with Travolta, Thurman and Jackson earning particular acclaim. In 2008, Entertainment Weekly named it the best film since 1983 and it has appeared on many critics' lists of the greatest films ever made. In 2013, Pulp Fiction was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Plot
Faced with life's cruel irony, the unpredictable stories of a well-dressed pair of low-level hitmen; a gangster's statuesque moll, and a double-crossing prizefighter become inextricably intertwined, as the small-time crooks, Honey Bunny and Pumpkin, summon up the courage to hold up their favourite L.A. diner. Entrusted with retrieving a glow-emitting leather suitcase which belongs to their boss--the powerful crime kingpin, Marsellus--instead, the dark-suited gunmen, Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield, end up with a bloody mess. Fortunately--with men like Mr Wolf always around to handle a crisis--there's time to cool off in a long twist contest, while at the same time, the proud champion boxer, Butch, makes the decision of a lifetime. Soon, things will come full circle, as, once more, Jules and Vincent find themselves in the perfect dead-end situation, exactly where it all began: an all-too-familiar cafeteria. Is truth stranger than fiction?

Why It's a Beautiful Fiction

 * 1) This is Quentin Tarantino's magnum opus, the movie where he outdid himself with brilliant directing and writing skills.
 * 2) The film has an awesome storyline filled with elements of crime, humor and drama.
 * 3) The Non-Chronological order is done very well, and is very easy to put everything in order.
 * 4) And like in Magnolia, it's great to see how many different stories are somehow connected.
 * 5) Along with Reservoir Dogs, this is easily Tarantino's best written movie and it features a lot of amusing dialogue.
 * 6) Features a very fine ensemble cast.
 * 7) Spectacular acting performances, especially from Samuel L. Jackson, John Travolta, Uma Thurman, and Bruce Willis.
 * 8) Very cool and likable characters, like Butch, Marcellus, Mia, Mr. Wolf, and of course, Jules and Vincent; one of the most iconic duo of all time.
 * 9) Awesome cinematography.
 * 10) It has a fantastic soundtrack, featuring songs like "You Never Can Tell" by Chuck Berry and "Misirlou" by Dick Dale.
 * 11) Iconic poster design.
 * 12) Very memorable and iconic scenes:
 * 13) *Jules quoting the scripture Ezekiel 25:17
 * 14) *The dance between Vincent and Mia
 * 15) *Vincent accidentally killing Marvin
 * 16) *Butch saving Marcellus, and the latter confronting Zed
 * 17) *Jules and Vincent discussing European burgers
 * 18) *Vincent giving Mia an adrenaline shot
 * 19) *Captain Koons’ gold watch monologue
 * 20) *Mr. Wolf's plan
 * 21) *Pumpkin and Honey Bunny planning their robbery
 * 22) *The tense sequence at the pawn shop
 * 23) *The diner standoff
 * 24) These great quotes:
 * 25) *Royale with cheese.
 * 26) *Does he look like a b***h?!
 * 27) *You ever read the Bible, Brett?
 * 28) *ENGLISH, MOTHERF****R, DO YOU SPEAK IT?
 * 29) *Why do we feel it’s necessary to yak about bullshit in order to be comfortable?
 * 30) *Hamburgers! The cornerstone of any nutritious breakfast.
 * 31) *Bring out the gimp.
 * 32) *Aw man! I shot Marvin in the face!
 * 33) *Zed’s dead, baby. Zed’s dead.
 * 34) *If my answers frighten you, then you should cease asking scary questions.
 * 35) *I ain’t through with you by a damn sight! I’m gonna get medieval on your ass!

The Only Bad Quality

 * 1) At times, it can be a bit disturbing. The biggest example is the scene where Marcellus gets raped by Zed.

Reception
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 92% based on 107 reviews, with an average rating of 9.1/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "One of the most influential films of the 1990s, Pulp Fiction is a delirious post-modern mix of neo-noir thrills, pitch-black humor, and pop-culture touchstones." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 94 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.

The response of major American film reviewers was widely favorable. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times described it as "so well-written in a scruffy, fanzine way that you want to rub noses in it – the noses of those zombie writers who take 'screenwriting' classes that teach them the formulas for 'hit films'". Richard Corliss of TIME wrote, "It towers over the year's other movies as majestically and menacingly as a gang lord at a preschool. It dares Hollywood films to be this smart about going this far. If good directors accept Tarantino's implicit challenge, the movie theater could again be a great place to live in." In Newsweek, David Ansen wrote, "The miracle of Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction is how, being composed of secondhand, debased parts, it succeeds in gleaming like something new." "You get intoxicated by it," wrote Entertainment Weekly 's Owen Gleiberman, "high on the rediscovery of how pleasurable a movie can be. I'm not sure I've ever encountered a filmmaker who combined discipline and control with sheer wild-ass joy the way that Tarantino does." "There's a special kick that comes from watching something this thrillingly alive", wrote Peter Travers of Rolling Stone. "Pulp Fiction is indisputably great."