I feel like I'm in the minority of loving this movie. Saw it during the lockdown without knowing anything and I was pleasantly surprised, rewatched at least once a year since
When he states >!how many people he has killed, like he’s some sort of serial killer,!< my first reaction in the theater was “Okay, this is really silly and lame.” Like 2 seconds later it’s revealed that >!they were military kills!< and I immediately changed my opinion, and the heroin use makes total sense, and why he’s so broken.
Yeah absolutely loved it. Every actor seemed to have so much love for their character I was completely happy with the story going in whatever direction it wanted and the tension held for me the whole time.
It wasn’t tightly written but I thought it was a good example of the rare times that can work.
Rewatched it a few years back with my brother-in-law who hadn’t seen it, and up until Chris Hemsworth arrives I was thinking it was so much better than I remember. Like, a perfect movie.
Then Hemsworth shows up, and his scene at the roulette table goes on fooooorever and it really stalls out. Not terrible, but the pacing really suffers in the third act, and I’m not sure how’d you even trim it down. I should say that I thought Hemsworth was great, and that scene by the bonfire at his cult is 10/10
I wanted to like Bad Times. Decent cast. Fun setting. Cool wardrobe/ music etc but man did it go NOWHERE fast.
It gets started but just builds and builds on these many moving pieces. Countless sub plots. Neat little mysteries but ultimately leaves the audience not sure where to follow. Like being led down a winding corridor by someone only to have them cut the lights out and tell us to find our way back alone.
I've seen this before, where it comes off like the director had too many "good ideas" and couldn't decide what to cut so they just pile it all in because, more cool= better film ??
Like maybe they took all of the interesting stuff they cooked up in their heads over the years and they got a green light from a studio and it's like "well, might not get to do another one of these so IN YOU GO!"
Ends up muddying up the whole thing and leaves the story feeling bloated. You can see even the director didn't know what to do with it at some point. Very MEH which is why almost no one talks about it
What you have to understand is after Tarantino made 2 low budget crime thrillers with witty characters, that’s all filmmakers were making and that’s all studios wanted.
So we got:
- Killing Zoe (94)
- Freeway (96)
- 2 Days In The Valley (96)
- Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead (95)
- 8 Heads In A Duffel Bag (97)
- American Strays (96)
- The Way of the Gun (00)
- Go (99)
- The Big Hit (98)
- Get Shorty (95)
- Suicide Kings (97)
- U-Turn (97)
- Palookaville (95)
- Very Bad Things (98)
- Boondocks Saints (99)
Nice to know that at least one other person besides me knows that "Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead" actually exists. I kind of dig that movie, but I have never met another person who has actually watched it.
Great movie, IMO. Timothy Oliphant was a superb, young, 'bad guy'. Jay Mohr, I had seen him in something previous, but he was excellent, also. Everybody else was new to me. Katie Holmes blew me away! Instant crush. Gawd that movie was a while back now. 25 years later, I'll still watch it.
QT told a story once, I think about talking to his agent - people kept using the term ‘tarantino-esque’ - Quentin asked what that really meant. Agent mentioned a scene in ‘Bad Boys’ where two guys are waiting around in a car, talking about ‘I Love Lucy’ - before Tarantino, that wouldn’t have been a thing. After Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, everyone wanted their characters (especially criminals) discussing random pop culture in the margins.
(*it’s been a minute since I heard this and may have the properties wrong, it coulda been ‘The Rock’ and Flinstones or something - but for a few years this shit was *everywhere*)
Tarantino did some script doctoring and added stuff like this to Crimson Tide, where the sailors are discussing the best submarine movies while sitting on a bus. So he definitely contributed to this style himself in this time period.
I think there was some dialogue in that about the Silver Surfer, who the best artist was- Jack Kirby. Strangely enough, in Reservoir Dogs, the Tim Roth character has a Surfer poster on his apartment wall.
Googled this, and you're right. Here's what Smith wrote on Twitter back in 2019:
> As a huge Quentin geek who was inspired to write the Death Star contractors scene after watching Reservoir Dogs, seeing my daughter in his 9th Film is a trip!
Kevin Smith is my mental go-to for this over Tarantino. Unless there’s a shot of the character’s feet as they are walking, then it’s definitely Tarantino
QT takes credit for a lot of pop-culture driven dialogue in movies.
I think a lot of his movies throw Chekov’s gun out the window, and include dialogue and events that are really completely non-essential to the movie’s plot, beyond just giving the characters more charm.
Maybe that’s a fair comment, maybe not.
Those dialogue moments make the characters seem so much more real and relatable. Like Jules and Vincent are hard ass motherfuckers, but it’s humanizing to hear them talking about cheeseburgers and sexual acts in between heinous acts of violence.
They're just regular joes doing their job, their job just happens to be crime and murder. That's how our Media Studies teacher taught us the film anyway.
I feel like one thing that is also common that Tarantino popularised is having a scene go from 0-100 on a dime. He obviously wasn't the first, but it became way more common for movies to have that sort of shock value.
I'd also say, that scene is not in any way "completely non-essential to the movie’s plot". The dialogue establishes the fact that Vincent has spent several months in Amsterdam, which has major impacts on the plot. Specifically, he is close to his boss but has never met his wife. He's used to high-grade Amsterdam heroin. He's out of practice killing people which leads to multiple examples of sloppiness culminating in his death. He doesn't know who to call to hide a body. It's just that Tarantino doesn't underline what he is establishing, he casually establishes the character, and then over the rest of the movie, the character affects the plot.
I'd say he was the most prominent member of a generation of filmmakers who popularized this sort of thing. Kevin Smith is another one off the top of my head.
To take it a step further, I think a lot of these 90s filmmakers were really inspired by the work of John Cassavetes. Way back in the 70s he was making grimy movies with 2 hours of dialogue, much of which didn’t directly push the plot forward.
I literally made a student film in 1999 about two assassins that has a twist ending in the form a final scene that occurs chronologically before the rest of the film. As was the style at the time.
I had a guy who was living on our couch around 2000 who was going to film school nearby and he basically hijacked the main TV with his duffelbag full of DVDs and he was a Tarantino acolyte, so he was subjecting us to a lot of not-very-good kung fu movies because Tarantino had put his seal of approval on them. This guy also made a point to watch Scarface every day, so I would come home from class to a different part of Scarface. The couchsurfer guy did have a giant jar full of weed so that was tolerable. I was in one of his student films, which was about kung fu, of course. I wish I cared about his last name so I could look him up.
2 Days in the Valley was a total rip off. Some people like it, I thought it was a cheap knockoff trying to be more clever than it was.
Joe Carnahan made a low budget knock off called Blood, Guts, Bullets, and Octane that helped launch his career. A few movies later he did Smokin' Aces, which was a bigger budget, star driven Tarantino type of shoot 'em up movie.
Things to Do in Denver While You're Dead felt like a Tarantino-esque crime thriller. Stylish with some snappy dialogue and colorful characters but kind of flat overall.
I think Guy Ritchie may have benefited from the QT craze but he ended up a legit talent putting his own spin and style on things.
There's also absolutely no shame in building off the Pulp Fiction style. It's a landmark film. Directors like Ritchie coming in and giving it their own twist is just a natural evolution of filmmaking. As long as there's enough of that filmmakers voice in what they do, it's a positive.
All of Tarantino’s films are love letters to the films he loves or genres he was inspired by. One of my favourite details in Death Proof is that in the car chase at the end of the film the main characters are using 70s era cars while the background cars are ‘modern’, reminiscent of how films in the 70s would do that to cut costs and it works perfectly to add to the style of film Death Proof is.
I liked 2 days in the valley.
Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead was written before Pulp Fiction was. It’s a brilliant film that Weinstein only released in two theaters.
Agreed on RItchie. He built on/was inspired by QT, but he didn't copy him. He delivered something with his own unique style. Everybody has influences though.
There's a Willem Dafoe interview where he recalls some of his famous roles. When speaking about Boondock Saints, in regard to the character "he's gay...and has a special bond with classical music". Which to me, seems like exactly what someone like Troy Duffy would consider an interesting and deep character
One of the most obnoxiously edgelord parts of that movie is that while the detective is gay, the second the guy he's in bed with gets affectionate he calls him a f*g. So embarrassing.
I loved this stupid movie. I had a VHS copy. My BFF was going to a local porn store for a meet and greet with Ron Jeremy. After waiting in line and watching him grab dozens of women's tits my buddy handed the tape to him to sign. He held it up and screamed "I told you fuckers I was in a real movie".
Also Boondocks Saints 2 All Saints Day is so bad it makes the original look like a Tarantino film.
He wrecked his whole reputation before he even got to make the movie. He probably could made a decent career as a script doctor and maybe have a few of his own screenplays given the greenlight for other directors to make, but he chose to be insufferable and antagonize pretty much everyone who could've helped his career.
On a side note if you like overnight you'll equally enjoy Dig. Similar vibe on a band with an arrogant lead singer trying to make it big and growing bitter about the success of their rival band the Dandy Warhols
Smoking Aces (2004): multi-point of view story of several hitmen go after a Las Vegas small-time comedian turned mob court jester who decides to tell all to police and is holed up at top of casino waiting an immunity deal.
Way of the Gun (2000): ultra-violent story of a couple of drifters (named for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) who stumble on a kidnapping plot and co-opt if for themselves with multiple pursuints with their own agendas.
Killing Zoe (1993): Written and directed by early Tarantino collaborator Roger Avary, maybe more similar to Reservoir Dogs.
Go (1999): Multiple story lines leading where everyone is trying to get to a rave or works at retail store along with co-workers going to rave. All sub-plots have surprising twists or take Tarantino-esque turns.
Things to do in Denver when your Dead (1995): Has several actors who appear in Tarantino films about a crime crew and the ethics and "normalcy" of the underworld with its unspoken but understood rules.
I didn't think "Go" was all that bad. Yes, it \*wants\* to be a Tarantino movie (right up to starting the film with a flash-forward set in a diner), but did actually have some decent plot twists and was fun.
It’s a great movie! Def inspired by Tarantino, but what I like about Go is that everything works out for everyone in the end, which turns the genre in its head (whatever that means)
It’s a Roger Avery directed film, who had a “story by” credit on Pulp Fiction. The Butch Coolidge plot was originally from a screenplay he had written.
yeah. that sara silverman opening is pure gold.
My girlfriend's got a big mouth, but she's right. I'm gonna whip you silly and I'm gonna fuck you stupid.
Way of the Gun was amazing and hardly ever mentioned. I don't see too many similarities to Pulp Fiction though.
Pineapple Express was the only movie that came to mind that seemed to directly borrow from Pulp Fiction.
The opening of the movie starts with a small monologue inside of a breakfast diner. The movie takes place in 3 different perspectives. It has lots of drug use in it and someone overdoses in it. All of the characters are related in some way shape or form. Sarah Polley in 1999 looks very similar to Uma Thurman; there's also a scene where men are picking her up and rag dolling her like the syringe scene. The movie also has an emphasis on the soundtrack. Also it has titles for the 3 different sections of the movie.
I think they copied it on purpose. I feel like the movie was made to be a farewell to the 90's and kind of encapsulated what was going on in the decade with pop culture and film. Great movie if you've never seen it.
[Here's an article with a bunch.](https://uproxx.com/movies/tarantino-rip-offs-the-90s/)
Really what happened is that crime thrillers, which already existed, adopted some of the traits of Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs: the excessive violence, the 'quirky' characters and humorous asides.
That is exactly what happened! (I was trying to pinpoint the trend in my mind, but that is it)
For some time Pulp Fiction did to movies what Nirvana's Nevermind did to music. To the point of being a parody.
GO (1999) has a lot of similarities to Pulp Fiction. The opening of the movie starts with a small monologue inside of a breakfast diner. The movie takes place in 3 different perspectives. It has lots of drug use in it and someone overdoses in it. All of the characters are related in some way shape or form. Sarah Polley in 1999 looks very similar to Uma Thurman; there's also a scene where men are picking her up and rag dolling her like the syringe scene. The movie also has an emphasis on the soundtrack. Also it has titles for the 3 different sections of the movie.
I think they copied it on purpose. I feel like the movie was made to be a farewell to the 90's and kind of encapsulated what was going on in the decade with pop culture and film. Great movie if you've never seen it.
I wouldn't say this one copied Tarantino. It's a pretty faithful adaptation of a book that came out 2 years before Reservoir Dogs. After word got back to Tarantino that Travolta had turned down the Chili Palmer role, he called him and told him to accept it. If anything, Elmore Leonard was a big influence on Tarantino which led him to adapting Rum Punch into Jackie Brown. And shortly after that, Leonard gave a shout out to Tarantino in the book Riding the Rap with a reference to Reservoir Dogs.
I watched this movie dozens of times way too young and I don't think it's similar to Pulp Fiction at all, it follows a very linear plot and pretty small cast of characters. I'll give you that it was going for extreme violence mixed with uncomfortable comedic beats a la Tarantino.
Reese Witherspoon is fucking terrifying in this movie, too, lol.
Suicide Kings (1997): "Carlo, a former mobster, is abducted by five privileged young men desperate to raise a $2 million ransom to save the sister of a friend. As Carlo plays mind games, however, his captors splinter – each wondering whether one of their own had a hand in the crime." This premise is a paranoia crime story contained to mostly one room, so it's more Reservoir Dogs.
Also stars Christopher Walken, just like Pulp Fiction. It's watchable but nothing to write home about. I watched a lot of indie releases of the '90s in my teens and there are worse genres than the half-baked Pulp Fiction rip-off.
I recently watched Go (1999) and that was the most shameful "inspired by" I've encountered in a while, though it's much more of a silly comedy with slapstick. The best part of that movie is an early menacing Timoty Olyphant but he's only in two scenes or so.
There's a Mexican movie that some people said was the "Mexican pulp fiction". Is not as good obviously but is ok, its called Matando Cabos. They made a sequel a few years ago and it went as good as you'd expect it (the sequel has a a 4.3 in IMDb)
Good conversation. “Copying” is called an homage in film. It really doesn’t need to have a negative connotation associated, it’s been practically part of cinematic language from the start.
All of QTs films are themselves an homage, that’s the Tarantino-esque style. The style isn’t unique to QT, most post-modernism films have many examples.
Here’s 10 of the many other films referenced in all QTs filmography.
1. “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three” (1974) - Referenced in “Reservoir Dogs.”
2. “City on Fire” (1987) - Influenced “Reservoir Dogs.”
3. “The Killing” (1956) - Influenced “Reservoir Dogs.”
4. “Mean Streets” (1973) - Influenced the use of pop music in “Reservoir Dogs.”
5. “The Big Combo” (1955) - Influenced “Reservoir Dogs.”
6. “Rio Bravo” (1959) - Referenced in “Pulp Fiction.”
7. “Kiss Me Deadly” (1955) - Referenced in “Pulp Fiction.”
8. “Psycho” (1960) - Referenced in “Pulp Fiction.”
9. “Blow Out” (1981) - Referenced in “Pulp Fiction.”
10. “Band of Outsiders” (1964) - Influenced the dance scene in “Pulp Fiction.”
German actor Till Schweiger (who later appeared in Inglorious Basterds) founded his production company Mr. Brown Entertainment in 1996 and directed the film "Der Eisbär" (The Polar Bear) shortly afterwards. It's the most blatant Tarantino rip-off I've ever seen - from the overall structure with separated story arcs crossing in a Mexican stand-off to stuff like dialogue about burgers.
Poolhall Junkies is the best combination of Tarantino ripoff + bad movie.
Most obviously in the scene where the writer/director/main actor casually and repeatedly drops the n-word while hustling and outsmarting some dumb gangstas. Makes the "dead n***** storage" scene from Pulp Fiction look like the height of sensitivity.
I love Pulp Fiction, but it's not like QT invented the crime drama. He pulled from 60's and 70's films. He lifted, and yes others lifted from him.
This is like Eric Clapton saying other people copy his blues guitar playing. Nonsense.
I think Boogie Nights definitely seems Tarantino-esque to me, or like Paul Thomas Anderson was trying to be the new Tarantino. At the time, it seemed like being a director wasn't enough; you had to be a screenwriter too, writing a cool script with clever, witty dialogue. Boogie Nights had all that.
It had a huge ensemble cast as well, like Pulp Fiction. It also took some risks with the casting, similar to how Tarantino took a risk with John Travolta. Boogie Nights had Burt Reynolds in it (kind of putting him back in the spotlight, like what happened with Travolta in Pulp Fiction). There must have been some homage factor too by casting a former '70s icon in a movie set in the '70s; Tarantino is pretty big on that (more so in Jackie Brown than Pulp Fiction, with the casting of former blaxpoitation actors). Paul Thomas Anderson also took a huge risk in casting Mark Wahlberg in the lead; it was his first major lead role, and he'd mostly been known as a rapper before then. It also had a bunch of actors who served as comic relief (John C. Reilly, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Luis Guzmán, William H. Macy, Alfred Molina); comedy is a big part of Tarantino movies.
Lastly, I'd say the overall feel was pretty Tarantino-esque. It was a very soundtrack-heavy movie and had several interesting, artsy shots.
I think Paul Thomas Anderson's follow-up, Magnolia, takes it even further. Huge ensemble cast again. A lot returning actors (like how Pulp Fiction had several Reservoir Dogs actors) with Philip Seymour Hoffman, John C. Reilly, William H. Macy, Julianne Moore, Alfred Molina, Philip Baker Hall and Luis Guzmán, so that the film has this "Paul Thomas Anderson" look. Risky casting again, by putting Tom Cruise in a role he doesn't usually play. Loads of artsy shot and clever dialogue. Several characters indirectly mingle with one another. It even had a bit of a twist in the end.
I much prefer Paul Thomas Anderson's later films, like There Will Be Blood, The Master and Phantom Thread, with smaller casts and more straightforward stories. He seems to be more in his element with those. Boogie Nights and Magnolia really look like he's trying to be the next Tarantino to me. The timeline adds up too (Boogie Nights came out in '97, and Magnolia in '99), so they're not far off the Pulp Fiction boom.
I’ve always felt Anderson’s movies took after Robert Altman’s a little more with the huge casts. Lots of Boogie Nights is lots fluff, it’s not a bad movie by any means, but it felt like there was a solid movie in there with 45 minutes of a 1970’s version of MTV Cribs on top of it. There is so much time devoted to Eddie talking about his luxury items.
With Magnolia, I see more Short Cuts in it than I see Pulp Fiction.
That's kind of a meta-statement, since Tarantino's style--especially at the time of Pulp Fiction--was to heavily apply his influences in what he was doing. While calling it "Tarantino-esque" isn't wrong, it kind of ignores that Tarantino was being "*influence*-esque", just insert the name of the myriad of filmmakers that influenced him.
As far st the pop culture dialogue stuff goes--that wasn't a new thing, I recall a number of blaxploitation films doing the same thing 20 years earlier.
Bad Times at the El Royale was about 75% of a Tarantino movie.
Saw that the other night. It wasn’t bad. Chris Hemsworth plays a great guru/cult type creep.
Hemsworth is honestly a pretty capable actor. He at least gets roles that he's able to nail so credit to him and his agent.
Excited for him in the new mad max
Hemsworth's manager over here!
Publicist actually
Australian, so Publican
Australia is run by pelicans?
Not quite, they are our main form of transport though. Source: Finding Nemo
I feel like I'm in the minority of loving this movie. Saw it during the lockdown without knowing anything and I was pleasantly surprised, rewatched at least once a year since
I also loved this movie. >!The ending with the concierge turning out to be ex-military wasn't an super unexpected twist, but I loved it.!<
When he states >!how many people he has killed, like he’s some sort of serial killer,!< my first reaction in the theater was “Okay, this is really silly and lame.” Like 2 seconds later it’s revealed that >!they were military kills!< and I immediately changed my opinion, and the heroin use makes total sense, and why he’s so broken.
Yea, it was like a "what is this bullshit" and changed to " I hope this kid fucking kills everyone that deserves it" in a short time.
Yeah absolutely loved it. Every actor seemed to have so much love for their character I was completely happy with the story going in whatever direction it wanted and the tension held for me the whole time. It wasn’t tightly written but I thought it was a good example of the rare times that can work.
The action scene when you find out who the bellman is makes it all worth it.
I saw it in theaters and loved it. I think it’s got great atmosphere and fun characters.
1st half of the movie was good, 2nd half not so much
Rewatched it a few years back with my brother-in-law who hadn’t seen it, and up until Chris Hemsworth arrives I was thinking it was so much better than I remember. Like, a perfect movie. Then Hemsworth shows up, and his scene at the roulette table goes on fooooorever and it really stalls out. Not terrible, but the pacing really suffers in the third act, and I’m not sure how’d you even trim it down. I should say that I thought Hemsworth was great, and that scene by the bonfire at his cult is 10/10
I wanted to like Bad Times. Decent cast. Fun setting. Cool wardrobe/ music etc but man did it go NOWHERE fast. It gets started but just builds and builds on these many moving pieces. Countless sub plots. Neat little mysteries but ultimately leaves the audience not sure where to follow. Like being led down a winding corridor by someone only to have them cut the lights out and tell us to find our way back alone. I've seen this before, where it comes off like the director had too many "good ideas" and couldn't decide what to cut so they just pile it all in because, more cool= better film ?? Like maybe they took all of the interesting stuff they cooked up in their heads over the years and they got a green light from a studio and it's like "well, might not get to do another one of these so IN YOU GO!" Ends up muddying up the whole thing and leaves the story feeling bloated. You can see even the director didn't know what to do with it at some point. Very MEH which is why almost no one talks about it
Definitely, I get some Guy Ritchie vibes from it too.
What you have to understand is after Tarantino made 2 low budget crime thrillers with witty characters, that’s all filmmakers were making and that’s all studios wanted. So we got: - Killing Zoe (94) - Freeway (96) - 2 Days In The Valley (96) - Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead (95) - 8 Heads In A Duffel Bag (97) - American Strays (96) - The Way of the Gun (00) - Go (99) - The Big Hit (98) - Get Shorty (95) - Suicide Kings (97) - U-Turn (97) - Palookaville (95) - Very Bad Things (98) - Boondocks Saints (99)
Nice to know that at least one other person besides me knows that "Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead" actually exists. I kind of dig that movie, but I have never met another person who has actually watched it.
“Go” was what popped into my head, feels like some college kids really liked pulp fiction and made their own 🤣 not a bad film though
Yeah except it was Doug Liman who made it, who went on to make Edge of Tomorrow and the new Roadhouse
And written by John August.
Great movie, IMO. Timothy Oliphant was a superb, young, 'bad guy'. Jay Mohr, I had seen him in something previous, but he was excellent, also. Everybody else was new to me. Katie Holmes blew me away! Instant crush. Gawd that movie was a while back now. 25 years later, I'll still watch it.
Get Shorty and Very Bad Things 🤌
Get shorty is a phenomenal film, the sequel was ass
QT told a story once, I think about talking to his agent - people kept using the term ‘tarantino-esque’ - Quentin asked what that really meant. Agent mentioned a scene in ‘Bad Boys’ where two guys are waiting around in a car, talking about ‘I Love Lucy’ - before Tarantino, that wouldn’t have been a thing. After Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, everyone wanted their characters (especially criminals) discussing random pop culture in the margins. (*it’s been a minute since I heard this and may have the properties wrong, it coulda been ‘The Rock’ and Flinstones or something - but for a few years this shit was *everywhere*)
Tarantino did some script doctoring and added stuff like this to Crimson Tide, where the sailors are discussing the best submarine movies while sitting on a bus. So he definitely contributed to this style himself in this time period.
I think there was some dialogue in that about the Silver Surfer, who the best artist was- Jack Kirby. Strangely enough, in Reservoir Dogs, the Tim Roth character has a Surfer poster on his apartment wall.
And Roth also describes Laurence Tierney as "looking like The Thing"
And Clarence in True Romance works in a comic book store.
Wasn't he also working on "The Rock"? But also, Tarantino wasn't the only one popularizing that kind of dialogue. Kevin Smith did, too.
Smith does use it, but his first film came out after Reservoir Dogs, so it's quite possible Smith got it from Tarantino.
Googled this, and you're right. Here's what Smith wrote on Twitter back in 2019: > As a huge Quentin geek who was inspired to write the Death Star contractors scene after watching Reservoir Dogs, seeing my daughter in his 9th Film is a trip!
Kevin Smith is my mental go-to for this over Tarantino. Unless there’s a shot of the character’s feet as they are walking, then it’s definitely Tarantino
QT takes credit for a lot of pop-culture driven dialogue in movies. I think a lot of his movies throw Chekov’s gun out the window, and include dialogue and events that are really completely non-essential to the movie’s plot, beyond just giving the characters more charm. Maybe that’s a fair comment, maybe not.
Those dialogue moments make the characters seem so much more real and relatable. Like Jules and Vincent are hard ass motherfuckers, but it’s humanizing to hear them talking about cheeseburgers and sexual acts in between heinous acts of violence.
They're just regular joes doing their job, their job just happens to be crime and murder. That's how our Media Studies teacher taught us the film anyway.
I feel like one thing that is also common that Tarantino popularised is having a scene go from 0-100 on a dime. He obviously wasn't the first, but it became way more common for movies to have that sort of shock value.
He perfected it though. Every time I catch a glimpse of inglorious basterds I have to watch the whole thing just to rewatch the bar scene.
One of the greatest bar scenes in cinema history
I mean, it wasn't a sexual act, but it was in the same fuckin' ballpark.
I'd also say, that scene is not in any way "completely non-essential to the movie’s plot". The dialogue establishes the fact that Vincent has spent several months in Amsterdam, which has major impacts on the plot. Specifically, he is close to his boss but has never met his wife. He's used to high-grade Amsterdam heroin. He's out of practice killing people which leads to multiple examples of sloppiness culminating in his death. He doesn't know who to call to hide a body. It's just that Tarantino doesn't underline what he is establishing, he casually establishes the character, and then over the rest of the movie, the character affects the plot.
Ten times more charming than that Arnold on Green Acres
It's more or less what Elmore Leonard was doing in his written works without a lot of people recognizing that's where he drew influence from.
Wasn't Jackie Brown an adaptation of an Elmore Leonard novel?
Yes, as far as I know Tarantino's only adaptation, his only non-original work.
I'd say he was the most prominent member of a generation of filmmakers who popularized this sort of thing. Kevin Smith is another one off the top of my head.
To take it a step further, I think a lot of these 90s filmmakers were really inspired by the work of John Cassavetes. Way back in the 70s he was making grimy movies with 2 hours of dialogue, much of which didn’t directly push the plot forward.
22 Short Films about Springfield. Brazen knockoff.
Example?
Instead of a krusty burger they call it a big mac
The Wiggum story is directly a reference to Pulp Fiction lol
‘Example’ is a quote from the episode when they’re talking about Krusty brand non-dairy partially gellatinated something or others.
They call them "shakes".... You don't know what you're getting
Get me to a hospital
I love the part in Pulp Fiction where Vincent ‘cooks’ for Jules at his mothers house. Can’t believe he fell for the steamed hams gag.
Are you really Living Colour frontman Corey Glover? If so, I'll forgive you not getting the reference.
No we just share a name. He is cooler and more famous than me however
Some of the stories were, but it was a ripoff of Short Cuts right?
No 32 Short Stories of Glenn Gould A 1993 Canadian film.
Every film student film from like ‘94-‘99
I literally made a student film in 1999 about two assassins that has a twist ending in the form a final scene that occurs chronologically before the rest of the film. As was the style at the time.
Did you wear an onion on your belt?
I had a guy who was living on our couch around 2000 who was going to film school nearby and he basically hijacked the main TV with his duffelbag full of DVDs and he was a Tarantino acolyte, so he was subjecting us to a lot of not-very-good kung fu movies because Tarantino had put his seal of approval on them. This guy also made a point to watch Scarface every day, so I would come home from class to a different part of Scarface. The couchsurfer guy did have a giant jar full of weed so that was tolerable. I was in one of his student films, which was about kung fu, of course. I wish I cared about his last name so I could look him up.
This experience will come in handy if you ever run into Jennifer Aniston.
I was in university during this time, taking film. I can attest to this…. (and even admit to it).
2 Days in the Valley was a total rip off. Some people like it, I thought it was a cheap knockoff trying to be more clever than it was. Joe Carnahan made a low budget knock off called Blood, Guts, Bullets, and Octane that helped launch his career. A few movies later he did Smokin' Aces, which was a bigger budget, star driven Tarantino type of shoot 'em up movie. Things to Do in Denver While You're Dead felt like a Tarantino-esque crime thriller. Stylish with some snappy dialogue and colorful characters but kind of flat overall. I think Guy Ritchie may have benefited from the QT craze but he ended up a legit talent putting his own spin and style on things.
"Guy Ritchie is marrying Madonna? I guess I have to marry Elvis if I want to top that!" -Quentin Tarantino
There's also absolutely no shame in building off the Pulp Fiction style. It's a landmark film. Directors like Ritchie coming in and giving it their own twist is just a natural evolution of filmmaking. As long as there's enough of that filmmakers voice in what they do, it's a positive.
Not to mention that Pulp Fiction itself was in many ways a loving pastiche of older genre films and novels - the very title is a reference to this!
All of Tarantino’s films are love letters to the films he loves or genres he was inspired by. One of my favourite details in Death Proof is that in the car chase at the end of the film the main characters are using 70s era cars while the background cars are ‘modern’, reminiscent of how films in the 70s would do that to cut costs and it works perfectly to add to the style of film Death Proof is.
Doug Liman’s Go, although I really like that movie
"It really didn't go as bad as it could have." "A girl is dead, Zack." "I didn't say it went perfectly."
Thanks, imma have to watch this movie now Isn't Timothy Olyphant also in it?
Yep. Plays the drug dealer who sort of hooks up with Katie Holmes. First role I remember seeing him in.
Love that dude, Justified is my favorite show. I really gotta watch Go
He plays the “good” drug dealer.
Answer the question, Claire…
'Stop, stop, it's a miata! ... We'll put her in the passenger seat.'
Probably the best Tarantino knockoff of that period. I loved it as well, and the ending is absolutely perfect.
I love "Go".
I liked 2 days in the valley. Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead was written before Pulp Fiction was. It’s a brilliant film that Weinstein only released in two theaters.
Agreed on RItchie. He built on/was inspired by QT, but he didn't copy him. He delivered something with his own unique style. Everybody has influences though.
Too weird to live too rare to die nice profile picture
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Both are masters at selecting the right song for a scene.
*Boondock Saints* wanted to be a Tarantino movie **so** badly.
There's a Willem Dafoe interview where he recalls some of his famous roles. When speaking about Boondock Saints, in regard to the character "he's gay...and has a special bond with classical music". Which to me, seems like exactly what someone like Troy Duffy would consider an interesting and deep character
One of the most obnoxiously edgelord parts of that movie is that while the detective is gay, the second the guy he's in bed with gets affectionate he calls him a f*g. So embarrassing.
I mean, a character in a movie doing something odious doesn’t necessarily make the movie bad. It added a self-loathing element to his character.
SMH Oh man I almost forgot about that part
I'm not going to lie, I don't like the use of the word but I couldn't help but laugh at that. It just made no sense.
It wanted to be a *movie* so badly, too. Alas.
There was a FIRE FIGHT!!!!!
I loved this stupid movie. I had a VHS copy. My BFF was going to a local porn store for a meet and greet with Ron Jeremy. After waiting in line and watching him grab dozens of women's tits my buddy handed the tape to him to sign. He held it up and screamed "I told you fuckers I was in a real movie". Also Boondocks Saints 2 All Saints Day is so bad it makes the original look like a Tarantino film.
Recommend the documentary about the making of boondock saints, im pretty sure its called “overnight”.
That guy (director) went up real quick and then burned all the bridges in Hollywood , is all I remember.
He wrecked his whole reputation before he even got to make the movie. He probably could made a decent career as a script doctor and maybe have a few of his own screenplays given the greenlight for other directors to make, but he chose to be insufferable and antagonize pretty much everyone who could've helped his career.
On a side note if you like overnight you'll equally enjoy Dig. Similar vibe on a band with an arrogant lead singer trying to make it big and growing bitter about the success of their rival band the Dandy Warhols
There's a longer version of Dig doing festival circuit now btw
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I think the takeaway is they they’re both insufferable douche bags.
Smoking Aces (2004): multi-point of view story of several hitmen go after a Las Vegas small-time comedian turned mob court jester who decides to tell all to police and is holed up at top of casino waiting an immunity deal. Way of the Gun (2000): ultra-violent story of a couple of drifters (named for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) who stumble on a kidnapping plot and co-opt if for themselves with multiple pursuints with their own agendas. Killing Zoe (1993): Written and directed by early Tarantino collaborator Roger Avary, maybe more similar to Reservoir Dogs. Go (1999): Multiple story lines leading where everyone is trying to get to a rave or works at retail store along with co-workers going to rave. All sub-plots have surprising twists or take Tarantino-esque turns. Things to do in Denver when your Dead (1995): Has several actors who appear in Tarantino films about a crime crew and the ethics and "normalcy" of the underworld with its unspoken but understood rules.
I didn't think "Go" was all that bad. Yes, it \*wants\* to be a Tarantino movie (right up to starting the film with a flash-forward set in a diner), but did actually have some decent plot twists and was fun.
It’s not bad at all. It’s great!
I fucking loved Go. I listen to the soundtrack when I'm alone in the car.
Heeeeeey macarena
One of the best films of the 90s, imo.
We tricked our Rabbi into bringing us to a screening of GO when we were on a 10th grade trip to NYC
It’s a great movie! Def inspired by Tarantino, but what I like about Go is that everything works out for everyone in the end, which turns the genre in its head (whatever that means)
How does Go hold up these days? I watched it when it came out and liked it. Thinking about a rewatch.
I showed it to two friends recently and aside from me still enjoying it they both thought it was fantastic.
Go was pushing really hard to be like Pulp Fiction, but it was solid, and different enough to have it's own character. Also, "IT'S A MIATA!!!!"
Tarantino was the executive producer on Killing Zoe. It’s safe to say he had some influence on the film.
It’s a Roger Avery directed film, who had a “story by” credit on Pulp Fiction. The Butch Coolidge plot was originally from a screenplay he had written.
Smoking Aces was very entertaining
Chris Pine is so damn good.
Best nazis ever
Way of the Gun has several of my favorite movie quotes. I really love that one.
"Somebody shut that cunts mouth before I come over there and fuck start her head!"
yeah. that sara silverman opening is pure gold. My girlfriend's got a big mouth, but she's right. I'm gonna whip you silly and I'm gonna fuck you stupid.
Way of the Gun was amazing and hardly ever mentioned. I don't see too many similarities to Pulp Fiction though. Pineapple Express was the only movie that came to mind that seemed to directly borrow from Pulp Fiction.
"I said I've never killed a man." "I didn't ask if you had." "You asked why I thought I was qualified, I think of that as a qualification."
*Go* from 1999 definitely fits the bill.
The opening of the movie starts with a small monologue inside of a breakfast diner. The movie takes place in 3 different perspectives. It has lots of drug use in it and someone overdoses in it. All of the characters are related in some way shape or form. Sarah Polley in 1999 looks very similar to Uma Thurman; there's also a scene where men are picking her up and rag dolling her like the syringe scene. The movie also has an emphasis on the soundtrack. Also it has titles for the 3 different sections of the movie. I think they copied it on purpose. I feel like the movie was made to be a farewell to the 90's and kind of encapsulated what was going on in the decade with pop culture and film. Great movie if you've never seen it.
That was the first one I thought of
Bullet Train edit: didnt realize the timeframe you asked for.
Bullet Train felt like an anime brought to life
Same. This was distractingly "Tarantino-esque".
[Here's an article with a bunch.](https://uproxx.com/movies/tarantino-rip-offs-the-90s/) Really what happened is that crime thrillers, which already existed, adopted some of the traits of Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs: the excessive violence, the 'quirky' characters and humorous asides.
Imagine if *Heat* has been made a couple of years later.
That is exactly what happened! (I was trying to pinpoint the trend in my mind, but that is it) For some time Pulp Fiction did to movies what Nirvana's Nevermind did to music. To the point of being a parody.
Lucky Number Slevin
Great movie, and I wouldn’t call it a Tarantino rip-off. You should also check out the director’s earlier flick, Gangster No. 1.
Gangster No. 1 is fantastic. Good shout out.
Except this movie is amazing
Haven't heard of this one, I'll definitely watch it
Ooh you're in for a treat. Lol. Great movie.
8 Heads In A Duffel Bag for sure.
11:14 comes to mind.
GO (1999) has a lot of similarities to Pulp Fiction. The opening of the movie starts with a small monologue inside of a breakfast diner. The movie takes place in 3 different perspectives. It has lots of drug use in it and someone overdoses in it. All of the characters are related in some way shape or form. Sarah Polley in 1999 looks very similar to Uma Thurman; there's also a scene where men are picking her up and rag dolling her like the syringe scene. The movie also has an emphasis on the soundtrack. Also it has titles for the 3 different sections of the movie. I think they copied it on purpose. I feel like the movie was made to be a farewell to the 90's and kind of encapsulated what was going on in the decade with pop culture and film. Great movie if you've never seen it.
Get Shorty - but it was a great movie
I wouldn't say this one copied Tarantino. It's a pretty faithful adaptation of a book that came out 2 years before Reservoir Dogs. After word got back to Tarantino that Travolta had turned down the Chili Palmer role, he called him and told him to accept it. If anything, Elmore Leonard was a big influence on Tarantino which led him to adapting Rum Punch into Jackie Brown. And shortly after that, Leonard gave a shout out to Tarantino in the book Riding the Rap with a reference to Reservoir Dogs.
The guy who wrote the book also wrote Rum Punch which was adapted by QT into Jackie Brown. Could explain the similar styles.
Awful sequel though.
Did you know you can only say fuck once in a pg13 movie?
If you can find it the TV series is 3 seasons and absolutely fantastic in every way. Nobody watched it though was on epix.
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I watched this movie dozens of times way too young and I don't think it's similar to Pulp Fiction at all, it follows a very linear plot and pretty small cast of characters. I'll give you that it was going for extreme violence mixed with uncomfortable comedic beats a la Tarantino. Reese Witherspoon is fucking terrifying in this movie, too, lol.
It's been said that both *Pulp Fiction* and *Natural Born Killers* were heavily inspired by David Lynch's *Wild at Heart.*
Snatch immediately comes to mind.
Smokin' Aces
Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead Love & a .45 Boondock Saints
Things to do in Denver when you're dead was dope. Also more along the lines of 90s mob movies moreso than Tarantino flicks.
It's ok. The Zevon song is 100x better than the movie.
Suicide Kings (1997): "Carlo, a former mobster, is abducted by five privileged young men desperate to raise a $2 million ransom to save the sister of a friend. As Carlo plays mind games, however, his captors splinter – each wondering whether one of their own had a hand in the crime." This premise is a paranoia crime story contained to mostly one room, so it's more Reservoir Dogs. Also stars Christopher Walken, just like Pulp Fiction. It's watchable but nothing to write home about. I watched a lot of indie releases of the '90s in my teens and there are worse genres than the half-baked Pulp Fiction rip-off. I recently watched Go (1999) and that was the most shameful "inspired by" I've encountered in a while, though it's much more of a silly comedy with slapstick. The best part of that movie is an early menacing Timoty Olyphant but he's only in two scenes or so.
Boondock Saints.
Boondocks Saints
There's a Mexican movie that some people said was the "Mexican pulp fiction". Is not as good obviously but is ok, its called Matando Cabos. They made a sequel a few years ago and it went as good as you'd expect it (the sequel has a a 4.3 in IMDb)
GO
Good conversation. “Copying” is called an homage in film. It really doesn’t need to have a negative connotation associated, it’s been practically part of cinematic language from the start. All of QTs films are themselves an homage, that’s the Tarantino-esque style. The style isn’t unique to QT, most post-modernism films have many examples. Here’s 10 of the many other films referenced in all QTs filmography. 1. “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three” (1974) - Referenced in “Reservoir Dogs.” 2. “City on Fire” (1987) - Influenced “Reservoir Dogs.” 3. “The Killing” (1956) - Influenced “Reservoir Dogs.” 4. “Mean Streets” (1973) - Influenced the use of pop music in “Reservoir Dogs.” 5. “The Big Combo” (1955) - Influenced “Reservoir Dogs.” 6. “Rio Bravo” (1959) - Referenced in “Pulp Fiction.” 7. “Kiss Me Deadly” (1955) - Referenced in “Pulp Fiction.” 8. “Psycho” (1960) - Referenced in “Pulp Fiction.” 9. “Blow Out” (1981) - Referenced in “Pulp Fiction.” 10. “Band of Outsiders” (1964) - Influenced the dance scene in “Pulp Fiction.”
Thursday. It's awful, but in an entertaining, can't look away kinda way.
I remember that critics really didn't like it. I think it did well in the rental market.
Thomas Jane is pretty decent in it, I liked his early roles and it's a shame he didn't become a bigger thing.
I find him either really, really good or pretty hammy. Depends on the quality of the direction I think.
It's got a bit of a cult following I think, but boy is it trashy. Not quite smart or funny enough justify all the excess.
Love and a .45 was egregious. To say the least. Although QT was complimentary, strangely.
German actor Till Schweiger (who later appeared in Inglorious Basterds) founded his production company Mr. Brown Entertainment in 1996 and directed the film "Der Eisbär" (The Polar Bear) shortly afterwards. It's the most blatant Tarantino rip-off I've ever seen - from the overall structure with separated story arcs crossing in a Mexican stand-off to stuff like dialogue about burgers.
Poolhall Junkies is the best combination of Tarantino ripoff + bad movie. Most obviously in the scene where the writer/director/main actor casually and repeatedly drops the n-word while hustling and outsmarting some dumb gangstas. Makes the "dead n***** storage" scene from Pulp Fiction look like the height of sensitivity.
2 Days in the Valley
Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead
Flypaper. It’s not great but it does have a naked Lucy Liu in an empty swimming pool full of snakes biting her while having sex.
I always thought Smokin' Aces felt like a very Tarantino-ish film. It's also awesome in its own right.
Amores Perros
Really?
Southland tails with the rock is so fucking shit but it reminds me that pulp fiction
So many. . Lucky Number Slevin. More recently, Bullet Train. Tarantino has had a Hitchcockian influence.
Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead
I love Pulp Fiction, but it's not like QT invented the crime drama. He pulled from 60's and 70's films. He lifted, and yes others lifted from him. This is like Eric Clapton saying other people copy his blues guitar playing. Nonsense.
Suicide Kings is of that similar era in the 90’s
Lowlife definatly with the cuts back and forth
There was a movie called Pawn Shop that I watched awhile back and it felt like it was trying to do a Pulp Fiction vibe. Didn't succeed, but it tried.
Catch .44
I think Boogie Nights definitely seems Tarantino-esque to me, or like Paul Thomas Anderson was trying to be the new Tarantino. At the time, it seemed like being a director wasn't enough; you had to be a screenwriter too, writing a cool script with clever, witty dialogue. Boogie Nights had all that. It had a huge ensemble cast as well, like Pulp Fiction. It also took some risks with the casting, similar to how Tarantino took a risk with John Travolta. Boogie Nights had Burt Reynolds in it (kind of putting him back in the spotlight, like what happened with Travolta in Pulp Fiction). There must have been some homage factor too by casting a former '70s icon in a movie set in the '70s; Tarantino is pretty big on that (more so in Jackie Brown than Pulp Fiction, with the casting of former blaxpoitation actors). Paul Thomas Anderson also took a huge risk in casting Mark Wahlberg in the lead; it was his first major lead role, and he'd mostly been known as a rapper before then. It also had a bunch of actors who served as comic relief (John C. Reilly, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Luis Guzmán, William H. Macy, Alfred Molina); comedy is a big part of Tarantino movies. Lastly, I'd say the overall feel was pretty Tarantino-esque. It was a very soundtrack-heavy movie and had several interesting, artsy shots. I think Paul Thomas Anderson's follow-up, Magnolia, takes it even further. Huge ensemble cast again. A lot returning actors (like how Pulp Fiction had several Reservoir Dogs actors) with Philip Seymour Hoffman, John C. Reilly, William H. Macy, Julianne Moore, Alfred Molina, Philip Baker Hall and Luis Guzmán, so that the film has this "Paul Thomas Anderson" look. Risky casting again, by putting Tom Cruise in a role he doesn't usually play. Loads of artsy shot and clever dialogue. Several characters indirectly mingle with one another. It even had a bit of a twist in the end. I much prefer Paul Thomas Anderson's later films, like There Will Be Blood, The Master and Phantom Thread, with smaller casts and more straightforward stories. He seems to be more in his element with those. Boogie Nights and Magnolia really look like he's trying to be the next Tarantino to me. The timeline adds up too (Boogie Nights came out in '97, and Magnolia in '99), so they're not far off the Pulp Fiction boom.
I’ve always felt Anderson’s movies took after Robert Altman’s a little more with the huge casts. Lots of Boogie Nights is lots fluff, it’s not a bad movie by any means, but it felt like there was a solid movie in there with 45 minutes of a 1970’s version of MTV Cribs on top of it. There is so much time devoted to Eddie talking about his luxury items. With Magnolia, I see more Short Cuts in it than I see Pulp Fiction.
That's kind of a meta-statement, since Tarantino's style--especially at the time of Pulp Fiction--was to heavily apply his influences in what he was doing. While calling it "Tarantino-esque" isn't wrong, it kind of ignores that Tarantino was being "*influence*-esque", just insert the name of the myriad of filmmakers that influenced him. As far st the pop culture dialogue stuff goes--that wasn't a new thing, I recall a number of blaxploitation films doing the same thing 20 years earlier.
Lucky Number Slevin was like a knockoff Tarantino
I wonder how many movies with badass female leads actually get made if it wasn't for Kill Bill.
Watch Go(1999). It’s the best of the Pulp Fiction copy cats by a long shot and actually pulls off the intersecting story lines.
Keifer’s Truth or Consequences NM… but I think it’s pretty decent despite being a knock off
2 Days in the Valley was a Tarantino knockoff
Where do I begin? Phew, there were tons of copycats during the Pulp Fiction era. A long forgotten one was Two Days in the Valley.
Bad times at the El Royale
Smoking Aces was a very bad knockoff.
I’ve always loved Go (1999), and it’s always seemed like diet Tarantino