Just a job to do - Pulp Fiction and Inglorious Basterds

5/20/16 Pulp Fiction, Best Original Screenplay, 1994, #94 American Film Institute, National Film Registry, #28 BBC


6/10/16 Inglorious Basterds, Best Supporting Actor,  2009


I have been struggling with how to write these reviews, and I still am. Regarding Pulp Fiction which somehow is on so many Best of lists and is a 'must-see' film - why? Apparently it changed film making and storytelling. Um, okay. I saw this movie around twenty years ago, but didn't remember any of it, just that I didn't like it, so I wanted to try and watch it again to see if I had changed. Well, I do think I have changed, but my opinion of the movie has not. I didn't like it, and even worse, I just didn't care. It seemed so self-indulgent. As for Inglorious Basterds, I kind of liked it the first time I watched it; I thought it was an interesting story, and I enjoyed Melanie Laurent's performance as Shoshana/Emmanuelle, and there are several other actors in brief appearances who are worth watching (Michael Fassbender, Diane Kruger, Daniel Bruhl among a few), and of course, Christoph Walz in his Oscar-winning role as Hans Landa, the sadistic SS Colonel. But, the second time around, I was disinterested. It was like the novelty of it had worn off, and to be honest (please don't shoot me), Walz's performance was good, but it seems that when a director needs a sadist/evil guy, they say "Is Christoph Walz available?" (see him in Big Eyes, and the new Tarzan movie). I'm sure he can do so much more. You have probably already seen both of these movies, possibly more than once, and maybe you even think they are fabulous. All I can think of is, two more off my list.

Speaking of the list, here are the numbers:
793 - number of movies to watch/blog that have won an Oscar
22 - the number of movies to watch/blog that are on the American Film Institute 100 best films
541 - number of movies to watch/blog on the National Film Registry (some of these films go back to the early 1900s so we'll see how that works)
46 - the number of movies to watch/blog on the BBC's list of best 100 American films

Thank goodness there is a lot of crossover, and if I work really hard, I can finish the AFI list this year. It's coming up on the 4 year anniversary of starting the blog. Some days it's easier than others, but it's still fun.