Pulp Fiction Analysis

Harold and Maude, a movie directed by Hal Ashby and released in the 1970’s, did not receive much attention and popularity when first released. Since the movie depicted obsession with suicide through a 20-year-old character Harold, the movie received backlash because during the 1970’s there were high rates of suicides among teenagers and college students. However, over time college students found the movie very entertaining, therefore bringing the movie into the lights and making it a cult hit. In Blue Velvet, a neo-noir mystery film directed by David Lynch and released in 1986, received a variety of critical responses from a wide range of audience, but this movie’s unique style earned Lynch his second nomination for Best Director. The idea of innocent getting caught in a web of evil is portrayed through the character Jeffrey Beaumont, who first encounter’s a severed ear in a grassy abandoned field. In this paper I will compare and contrast these two movies that include key actors Bud Cort, played as Harold, and Kyle MacLachlan, played as Jeffrey and include a few key points that have made these movies enjoyable to watch.

1. Sobchack’s argument pertaining to on -screen violence that she wrote thirty years ago was that any violent acts portrayed in movies back then was to emphasize the importance of an element in a story, an emphatic way of engaging the viewers and forcing them to feel what the movie was about. It gave them a sense of the substance of the plot which would allow them to feel for the characters and yearn for good to overcome evil. In other words, the effort made to engage audiences through depictions of violence created violence that was artistic and well done, or as Sobchack writes, violence was “aestheticized.” Violence was incorporated into film in a stylistic

In his book, More Than a Movie: Ethics in Entertainment, F. Miguel Valenti examines nine “hot buttons” of violence – “creative elements that filmmakers use to manipulate viewers’ reactions to onscreen violence.” (99) These elements, posited by researchers conducting The National Television Violence Study (Valenti, 99) are “choice of perpetrator, choice of victim, presence of consequences, rewards and punishments, the reason for the violence, weapons, realism, use of humor, and prolonged exposure” (Valenti, 100) .

Fight Club: every white man’s favorite movie and my worst nightmare turned reality. Much of the novel version of Fight Club struggles with this issues of toxic masculinity, feminization, and emotional constipation. No character addresses these topics better than Robert Paulson, better known as Big Bob; it is his character that serves as a catalyst for both The Narrator, and Project Mayhem.

Quentin Tarantino’s American crime film “Pulp Fiction” is organized through three separate but interrelated storylines. There is one story that constructed by three distinct stories. At the beginning of the sequences, titles are shown on the black screen which provides a recognizable source for narration.The first story-Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace’s wife- is about Vincent Vega (John Travolta) who is responsible for spending time with his boss Marsellus Wallace’s wife, Mia (Uma Thurman). The second story -The Gold Watch- is about the espace of prizefighter Butch (Bruce Willis) from Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames).

“The Godfather Part II” is the second movie in the Godfather trilogy, and mentioned as one of the best movies of all time. Is this a fair criticism of the movie? Well, the only way to find out is to dissect a movie and what makes it great. A movie can be critiqued in a variety of ways, but one of the main criticisms is how the visuals explain the story, and bring it to life. The story of a movie, and how it flows, is the pivotal component that draws viewers in and keeps their interest. With movies, one effective way to critique a movie is to observe the believability, and impact of the acting. Film is a visual media, this is a known fact, however, fitting music can contribute to setting the mood, and tone of a movie. What most makes a movie worth watching is the story, and how it is laid out throughout.

The film Pulp Fiction was an immediate box office success when it was released in 1994 and it was also well received by the critics, and celebrated for the way it appeared to capture exactly a certain pre-millennial angst and dislocation in Western capitalist societies. The term post-modernist, often used to refer to art and architecture, was applied to this film. The pulp fiction refers to popular novels which are bought in large numbers by less well educated people and enjoyed for their entertainment value. The implication is that the film concerns topics of interest to this low culture, but as this essay will show, in fact, the title is ironic and the film is a very intellectual presentation of issues at the heart of contemporary

Having once worked as a video store clerk back in the day, it is obvious that Tarantino had access to and was clearly influenced by a wide-range of films, spanning across a variety of genres, ranging from: Japanese Anime, Horror, Detective, Westerns, Martial Arts films and many more. Often referencing and imitating other movies, characters, plots, and stylistic inclinations of those films, Tarantino constantly intermixes these various elements of the multiple films in new and unsuspecting ways, making the viewers aware of the familiar (in terms of expectations) being made unfamiliar. For example, Jackie Brown (1997) is an acknowledgement to Blaxploitation films, and a gritty crime drama, Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003) is a typical modern day revenge story, but features man hand-to-hand combat and sword fights that one might associate with a typical Martial Art film, and finally Django Unchained (2012) is a western in itself, but also has elements of black comedy in

Pastiche used in film is generally incorporated to create a nostalgic tone. However this is not the case with ‘Pulp Fiction’ as the strategy is used to pay homage and show appreciation towards 1950’s pulp fiction texts and influential films. Tarantino alludes to various aspects, techniques and scenes from other Hollywood movies into his own. Tarantino stated, “I always hope that if one million people see my movie, they see one million different movies” . Elements from Hollywood movies such as weapons, costumes, camera angles, themes and famous scenes are injected into ‘Pulp Fiction’. His film blurs the line between cinematic styles and genres. Intertextuality is a significant factor within Tarantino’s work, as by reinventing the old he is able to preserve originality and create a sense of dimension within his work. Tarantino refers to ‘Pulp Fiction’ not as a movie but as multiple movies. An example of pastiche within the film is present in the scene in which Marcellus Wallace coincidentally recognises Butch in his car while walking across the street. This action mimics the scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” where Marion’s boss recognises her as he crosses at traffic lights. Through this pastiche Tarantino is able to show his appreciation and influence of Hitchcock’s infamous films while also applying the scene in a postmodern context. Another occurrence of pastiche appears in Butches weapon of choice; a baseball bat and chainsaw. These weapons of choice pay homage to the films ‘Walking Tall’ and ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’

Pulp Fiction is a black comedy crime film written and directed Quentin Tarantino (1994). The film’s “narrative follows the unpredictable actions and reflections of two hit men who philosophically meditate out loud about the Bible, loyalty, and McDonald’s hamburgers” (Corrigan, White, 368). The movie goes against the three-act structure of classic films as the story is told out of chronological order making the film so memorable to its viewers. Tarantino’s film begins in a coffee shop and also ends in the same shop. In the beginning of the film, it appears to be a soft, moist, shapeless matter of mass but as the movie progresses the audience can take away much more from the mundane acts they view on screen. The film’s odd narrative

Fight Club is a unique film that has many different interpretations consisting of consumerist culture, social norms, and gender roles. However, this film goes deeper and expresses a Marxist ideology throughout; challenging the ruling upper-class and a materialist society. The unnamed narrator, played by Ed Norton, represents the materialist society; whereas Tyler Durden, played by Brad Pitt, represents the person challenging the controlling upper-class. Karl Marx believed that the capitalist system took advantage of workers, arguing that the interests of the upper-class class conflicted with that of the common worker. Marx and Durden share the same views about the upper-class oppressing the materialist, common worker. By interpreting Fight Club through a Marist lens, the viewer is able to realize the negative effects a capitalist society has on the common worker by seeing the unnamed narrator’s unfulfilled and material driven life in contrast to the fulfilling life of Durden who challenges the upper-class. The unnamed narrator initially fuels the upper-class dominated society through his materialistic and consumeristic tendencies; however, through the formation of his alter ego—Durden—the unnamed narrator realizes the detriment he is causing to himself and society. He then follows the guide of Durden’s and Marx’s views and rectifies his lifestyle by no longer being reliant on materials. Also by forming fight club, which provides an outlet, for himself and the common worker,

The movie A Time to Kill is engrossed in the emotions that revolves around hatred, this hatred originates from racism in the south. It begins with the brutal rape of a young black girl, Tanya Hailey. The rape was committed by two rednecks in a pickup truck. Tonya’s father Carl Lee Hailey takes the law into his hands and lashes out by killing the rapist. Charged with two counts of murder, he is assigned the young and brilliant lawyer Jake Brigance, who still believes he is able to receive a fair trial. With the trial beginning, viewers get to see this hatred somehow rise to become more significant. Focusing on the relationship between Carl Lee and Jake Brigance, and its impact on the southern town. The producers of this movie tried to make the audience or the viewers understand how these people in the south struggle with this hatred of racism, facing segregation head on and its judicial system. A Time to Kill is based on the first novel by John Grisham. Directed by Joel Schumacher, with the strong performances from Samuel L. Jackson as Carl Lee Hailey, the avenging father, and Matthew McConaughey as Jake Brigance, the lawyer. This paper will be analyzing some clips and scenes from the movie, and discussing how every visual aspect of a film's language especially cinematography. For example, shots, sounds, settings, and movements can give the audience a clear sign of emotions, motive, and clues as to what the filmmaker feels and

In "Pulp Fiction," he employed a non-linear technique and cemented his status as an avant-garde filmmaker. Quentin

I am planning to write about the 1999 film Fight Club, directed by David Fincher. This movie is about a nameless insomniac office worker (the narrator) who has become, as he views, a slave to consumer culture. He begins attending support groups for diseases he doesn’t have to subdue his emotional state, and he begins to sleep again. He meets Marla Singer, another fake attendee of support groups, she is an incredibly mysterious woman who is obviously a bit crazy, yet the narrator seems drawn to her. On a flight for his job, the narrator meets the character Tyler Durden, a hip, stylish man who sells soap for a living. When the narrator's apartment blows up, he calls Tyler and begins to live

The film, Good will hunting (Bender et al., 1997), is an American classic flick which is lauded for its fresh and ordinary approach towards depicting situations that is realistic and relatable. In the film, Good Will Hunting (Bender et al., 1997), this is clearly show up that, savagery Will Hunting experienced as a youngster and after that shows as a grown-up; along with flashes of a sweet attitude towards his companions and mental virtuoso. It is about a young man struggle to find himself. He is unwillingly treated to a psychologist just to keep him out of trouble. In this journey, he finds out what he is and what matters to him the most. This movie uses strong and effective technique on evoking emotions and empathy to the audience through exposing them to various technicities of filmmaking such as color, camera technique and many more. After reading the book (OpenStax 2016), we can have adopted different kinds of psychological theory to explain this movie. Good will hunting is related with Erikson’s psychosocial theory of personal development (Neu-Freudian theory),Freud’s psychoanalytical theory and the five-factor model of personality (Big-five: OCEAN).