Pulp Strikes Back
In modern Hollywood film making, the formula for a run-away box office hit is associated with star-studded actors, startling special effects, and a big price tag. The Quentin Tarantino masterpiece Pulp Fiction (1994) completely steps away from high production and focuses on the life and personality of the characters. A well-scripted screenplay, diverse cast of talented actors, and some interesting director decisions make Pulp Fiction a cult classic.
Pulp Fiction refers to a genre of American paperbacks produced from the late 30s to mid-50s, typically lurid in subject matter designed merely to entertain. Likewise, the movie takes a shocking though comedic glance at the greed, violence, and drama surrounding the Los Angeles crime scene. Mike LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle said, "The tone is darkly comic in the face of almost operatic violence.” Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and his philosophical partner Jules (Samuel L. Jackson) are hit men for LA mob boss, Marcellus Wallace (Ving Rhames). Their assignment is a routine extermination of some yuppie business partners. Later, the thugs are involved in a messy clean up of a headless corpse, who was accidentally shot in the face by a careless Vincent. That night, Vincent is to take his boss's wife, Mia (Uma Thurman), out for dinner. Vincent realizes that this is a test of his loyalty to Marcellus. Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis) is a last chance boxer on his final stretch. Paid by Marcellus to throw a boxing match, Butch revokes the deal. In the midst of avoiding Marcellus’ goons, he must retrieve his father’s gold watch, which has a dark story in and of itself. Upon retrieving the watch Butch runs into a few troubles, settles his dispute ...
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...e to get a rush of envy and ambition.”
Works Cited
Ebert, Roger. Rev. of Pulp Fiction. Chicago Sun-Times 14 October 1994. 22 October 1998 <http://www.suntimes.com/ebert/ebert_reviews/1994/10/945592.html>.
Howe, Desson. Rev. of Pulp Fiction. Washington Post 14 October 1994. 29 October 1998 <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpsrv/style/longterm/movies/videos/pulpfictionrhowe_a01b66.htm>.
LaSalle, Mike. “‘Pulp’ Grabs You.” Rev. of Pulp Fiction. San Francisco Chronicle 15 September 1995. 23 October 1998 <http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=//chronicle/archive/1995/09/15/DD26653.DTL>.
Pawelczak, Andy. Rev. of Pulp Fiction. Films in Review 46.1-2 (1995): 56-57.
Pulp Fiction. Videotape. Dir. Quentin Tarantino. With John Travolta, Samuel L.
Jackson, Uma Thurman, and Bruce Willis. Buena Vista Home Video, 1995. 154 min.
Pulp Fiction is a film that is structured around three story-lines. Vincent Vega is the lead in the first story. In the second storyline, Butch Coolidge is the lead, and Jules Winnfield, is the lead of the third. Each storyline targets a different series of incidents but they connect and intersect in numerous ways. “The film starts out with a diner hold-up staged by "Pumpkin" and "Honey Bunny," then picks up the stories of Vincent, Jules, Butch, and several other important characters. It finally returns to where it began, in the diner: Vincent and Jules, who have stopped in for a bite, find themselves embroiled in the hold-up”(Tarantino). There are seven narrative sequences:
Kuhns, William. “The Movie Columnists.” Movies in America. London: The Tantivy Press, 1975. 142-73. Print.
Jacobs, Diane. Hollywood Renaissance: The New Generation of Filmmakers and their works. 1977. New York. Dell Publishing.
The purpose of this essay is to reflect upon the teamwork and communication within the multi- disciplinary environment of the theatre suite. I will follow a patient on their journey along the Patient pathway, from their arrival in the anaesthetic room, through to them being handed over to the recovery staff. The patient pathway is described by the Department of Health (2007) as a timeline, on which every event relating to treatment can be entered. Events such as consultations, diagnosis, treatment, medication, diet, assessment and discharge can be mapped on this timeline. In this essay, I will use the Johns 1994 mode of reflection. The purpose of reflection, as stated by Johns (1994) is to promote desirable practice through the practitioners understanding and learning about their lived experiences. Patient trust and confidentiality will be maintained throughout, the patient referred to as Mrs X and any details will be improvised.
Ryzik, Melena. “A Lawsuit for ‘Hurt Locker,’ in Time for Oscars.” The New York Times. 04 Mar. 2010. Web. 24 Feb. 2011.
The Spanish American War started in 1898 and lasted about four months. Although the war might have seemed focused on freeing Cuba from Spain and gaining independence for Cuba and the Philippines, it was actually stimulated by nationalism and commercialism. Commercialism was a major factor when declaring war because the United States depended on Cuba and the Philippines for trade and business with other countries, especially in Asia and Latin America. Another major factor for the war was that the United States wanted to spread its Anglo-Saxon culture around the world and emerge as a world-wide power. Other minor motives for the war include the United States coming to the aid of the Cubans in their revolt against Spain and the feeling that the United States had the right to go into the Philippines because it had a superior culture.
There are movies that make you laugh, that make you cry, that blow you away with jaw-dropping, ever-so-satisfying action sequences. And there is Pulp Fiction, Quentin Tarantino’s masterpiece, an homage to the old Pulp Magazines and crime novels popular in the 1950s. Known for their incredibly dense and complex dialogue and excessive violence, Tarantino adds his trademark nonlinear chronology and thorough character development to create a movie that celebrates the fact that chance governs all of our lives. The film consists of multiple stories that tell of the criminals, gangsters and outliers of Los Angeles, the underbelly of society. It follows Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield as they embark on their mission to recovering a briefcase that
For 113 days during the summer of 1898, the United States was at war with Spain. Neither the president of the United States, nor his cabinet, nor the the queen of Spain, nor her ministers wanted the war wanted the war. It happened eventhough they made their best efforts to prevent it. It happened because of ambition, miscalculation, and stupidity; and it happened because of kindness, wit, and resourcefulness. It also happened because some were indifferent to the suffering of the world’s wretched and others were not (O’Toole 17). By winning the war the United States proved the the rest of the world and to itself that it could and would fight against foreign nations. For many years, world power had been concentrated in the countries in Europe. Nations such as Great Britain, France, Germany, and Spain had the most influence in global affairs. But a shift in power was gradually taking place as the United States matured. The young nation gained wealth and strength. Its population grew immensely, and many people believed it would become a major world power (Bachrach, 11) Spain was one of the many European countries that had territory in the United States. Spain controlled mostly some islands off the coast of Central America. The most important of these were Cuba and Puerto Rico. The United States was led to believe that the Spanish mosgoverned and abused the people of these islands. In fact, Spain did overtax and mistreat the Cubans, who rebelled in 1868 and again in 1895. Thus, the American people felt sympathetic toward the Cuban independence movement. In addition, Spain had frequently interfered with trade between its colonies and the United States. Even though the United States had been a trading partner with Cuba since the seventeenth century, Spain sometimes tried to completely stop their trade with Cuba. In Spain doing so, this sometimes caused damage to U.S. commercial interests. The United States highly disagreed with Spain’s right to interfere with this trade relationship. (Bachrach, 12) The United States was also concerned that other trading and commercial interests were threatened by the number of ships and soldiers Spain kept in the area. If the United States had to fight a war with Canada or Mexico, these Spanish forces could quickly mobilize against the United States.
“The immediate origins of the 1898 Spanish-American War began with the Wilson-Gorman Tariff of 1894. The American tariff…put restrictions on sugar imports to the United States; severely hurt the economy of Cuba, which was based on producing and selling sugar” (SparkNotes: The Spanish American War, 1898-1901,: Summery). Spain began imposing unreasonable high taxes on Cuba. Spanish troops ambushed and killed Cuba’s leader, José Martí and appointed General Valeriano Weyler as governor with orders to crush the Cuban rebellion. Weyler instituted concentration camps and forced the Cuban citizens into them so they could not aid the fight for freedom. These innocents starved and died from disease in the unlivable conditions of these camps.
Connelly, Marie. "The films of Martin Scorsese: A critical study." Diss. Case Western Reserve University, 1991. Web. 07 Apr 2014.
The only real way to truly understand a story is to understand all aspects of a story and their meanings. The same goes for movies, as they are all just stories being acted out. In Thomas Foster's book, “How to Read Literature Like a Professor”, Foster explains in detail the numerous ingredients of a story. He discusses almost everything that can be found in any given piece of literature. The devices discussed in Foster's book can be found in most movies as well, including in Quentin Tarantino’s cult classic, “Pulp Fiction”. This movie is a complicated tale that follows numerous characters involved in intertwining stories. Tarantino utilizes many devices to make “Pulp Fiction” into an excellent film. In this essay, I will demonstrate how several literary devices described in Foster's book are put to use in Tarantino’s film, “Pulp Fiction”, including quests, archetypes, food, and violence.
Ebert, Roger. Rev. of Almost Famous, dir. Cameron Crowe. Rogerebert.com. Chicago Sun-Times, 15 Sept. 2000. Web. 29 March 2011.
The first reason for the Spanish American War was public opinion. In 1895, American citizens took notice of a Cuban revolt against their corrupt Spanish oppressor. The Cuban insurgents reasoned that if they did enough damage , the US might move in and help the Cubans win their independence. Not only did Americans sympathize with the Cubans upon seeing tragic reports in the newspaper, but they also empathized in that the US once fought for their own independence from Britain. If France didn’t intervene, the Americans probably would not have won their freedom. As if this did not rally enough hate for the Spanish among the American Public, fuel was added to the flame by the Spanish General (“Butcher”) Weyler. He attempted to crush the rebellion by herding Cubans into barbed-wire concentration camps. In turn, the American public was outraged.
James, J. June 2013. Ten Things You Didn’t Know About Lars Von Trier. Dazeddigital.com. Arts and Culture.
The first character introduced by Leone to the audience is Colonel Douglas Mortimer (Lee Van Cleef), “a retired soldier and bounty hunter motivated not only by profit but also the thirst for revenge” (Bondanella, 257) of his sister’s rape and death. He is a professional, who stalks his target from a distance with an assortment of rifles rolled up in his saddlebags; but to contrast with this cold delusion, Mortimer dresses in his black preacher’s costume and is a habitual reader of the Bible. He represents the older, wiser generation, which is destined to be extinct. Next, Leone introduces Mortimer’s competition and opposite, Manco (Clint Eastwood), a young stranger with his cigars and poncho, who blends with his surroundings. He is a bounty hunter who kills purely for profit and approaches his victims directly. Finally, the audience is introduced to a doped-up Mexican killer, Indio (Gian Maria Volonté), whose degenerate pleasure in violence is linked to the moment, years before, when the death of Mortimer’s sister traumatized him sexually, and is constantly reminded of the incident by the chiming of the musical watch he carries, which matches Mortimer’s. (Bondanella, 257)