#95 - Pulp Fiction

A burger-loving hit man (John Travolta), his philosophical partner (Samuel L. Jackson), a drug-addled gangster's moll (Uma Thurman) and a washed-up boxer (Bruce Willis) converge in this sprawling, comedic crime caper fueled by director and co-writer Quentin Tarantino's whip-smart dialogue. Their adventures unfurl in three stories that ingeniously trip back and forth in time, resulting in one of the most audacious and imitated films of the 1990s.

I'm starting to question the methods AFI used when determining which movies to include in this list.

I did not like this movie. I'm not a Quentin Tarantino fan really, but I did enjoy "Reservoir Dogs" and both "Kill Bill" movies. It's pretty much Quentin Tarantino himself that I don't like... I think he may need ritalin. If not ritalin, then he needs to switch to decaf, to be sure.

I don't enjoy gratuitous violence and swearing. Now, I'm no prude... I've been known to release a litany of curse words that would make most people blush... but these characters seemed to swear just for swearing's sake. That's just wrong. I say if you accidentally smash your thumb with a hammer or need to show dominance to your husband, let the expletives fly. Other than that, there just doesn't seem to be any need. And the violence in the movie was well-placed, for the most part... but the scene where *SPOILER ALERT* Marcellus gets raped could have been changed to something a bit less graphic. And by the way, when Butch escapes and goes upstairs, gets the sword, and heads back down to help Marcellus, why was he walking so slow? Good gravy, some guy is getting completely violated down there, maybe time might be a factor. I'm just saying.

I'm not saying the movie was horrible. I thought John Travolta was great, as well as Samuel L. Jackson... that man is a genius. But although the movie had several points where I didn't fear for my own safety, it just wasn't my kind of movie. And it wouldn't have cracked my top 100 movies.

So, if you like violence, swearing, and Quentin Tarantino, rent this movie. As for me and my house, we will stick Jim Carrey movies. Yup. I'd give this one a two out of five bowls of popcorn... and I added too much salt and not enough butter to those bowls. Enjoy.