Black + White Friday: Pulp Fiction (Part II)

Continued from the last edition of Black + White Friday. Sorry I couldn't do this last week, but I got swine flu (naturally).


I really could work this for any Quentin Tarantino movie. He clearly uses classic cinemas (not necessarily "classic" as in "good", mind you) to influence his own work so you could black and white any of his movies and it'd be an interesting experiment. I am particularly interested in trying it with Death Proof. Hello future!


I won't include the grislier image of Vincent Vega's bloody bathroom death, but I like this shot because it looks like the way an old code Hollywood film would show a death, rather than the hot a mere few seconds later.


I think this sort of thing was more pre-code Hollywood, don't you think? :P


Probably my favourite part in all of Pulp Fiction is this scene where the weedy Jerry Seinfeld lookalike runs in, shoots at Jackson and Travolta, misses entirely and then... well, this. Brilliant moment. These two actually do sort of look like hitmen from an old movie. Or, maybe a movie from the '70s since Travolta has the long hair and Jackson has the afro.


Samuel L Jackson does more acting in this one screen shot alone that he's done in the last few years. It also reminds me of the scene in Jackie Brown where, for a minute or so, Jackson's character simply sits there are thinks. How rare is that?


You know before when I said before about that scene being my favourite in the movie? Running a very close second is Travolta's line reading of "Oh man, I shot Marvin in the face."


OH SWEET JESUS! I just happened to pause the player on this moment and what a moment. As if you needed any further proof that Amanda Plummer is freakin' INSANE in this movie look no further than this cap. I also love that it looks exactly like something out [rec] or The Blair Witch Project.


Hmm, I really like this shot for some reason. It feels quite "pulpy" and noir-y and the way it is framed is gorgeous.


I'm sorry that Samuel L Jackson seems to have hijacked this piece, but seeing him in this movie is just so surprising. I seriously forget how good he can be until I rewatch something like Pulp Fiction or Jackie Brown. It's amazing, really.

Lastly, I just wanted to throw in this clip I found on YouTube of Quentin Tarantino accepting the Palme d'Or! I'm not the biggest fan of Clint Eastwood, but knowing he was the president of the jury that awarded the prize does make me like him more. Also: Kathleen Turner! And, yes, Bruce Willis (as seen in the clip) is still sporting that disgusting bald head/facial hair combo (awful goatie) to this very day.

Black + White Friday: Pulp Fiction (Part I)

What if Quentin Tarantino's revolutionary Pulp Fiction was, in actual fact, just another cheap pulp knock-off from a studio who had a bunch of has-been actors on their books with contracts to complete before being tossed aside. What if said pulp film became a Cannes and Oscar-winning classic?

As I was going through and taking the screencaps I realised I was only about an hour into the movie so I decided to do two entries devoted to Pulp Fiction, because... really, why not?


Things we can learn from this experiment. Amanda Plummer looks just as crazy and deranged in black and white as she does in colour.


Remember when Samuel L Jackson was good? I try to as often as I can, but all he keeps making is shit and it gets harder and harder with each ever-frequent franchise that he signs himself up for.


See, this is why I love QT! Just small simple things like giving Ving Rhames' character a bandaid on the back of his neck. It's not entirely necessary, but I still dig them all.


I bet that, after many movies now of constant incredibly overt references to old school cinema, many forgot this scene was in Pulp Fiction. If he were to do it now people would say he's worshiping at the alter of bad cinema (as always, thankfully) and that it "takes you out of the movie" or whatever.


What would a pulpy B-movie be without a cigarette-smoking femme fatale? Uma Thurman is just so amazing in this movie, isn't she? It's staggering that Tarantino is the only director to have been able to harness her into multiple great performances.


I could have done this entire entry based around caps from the Jack Rabbit Slims sequence, but I chose not to. The entire scene is just brilliant. Everything from the acting to the writing to the composition to the dance to... everything.


I love how this looks like it belongs to a long lost scene from Sunset Boulevard! Except maybe without the Edwyn Collins on the soundtrack.


It's weird to say, but isn't this one of Christopher Walken's least insane performances?


I just love this shot.


I don't think they had guns like that in the 1950s, but it's fun to imagine isn't it? Something like Kiss Me Deadly would look a whole lot different, wouldn't it?

Part II will arrive, hopefully, next Friday.