Cannes Film Festival 2013

'Pulp Fiction' and 'Jackie Brown' hit Blu-ray so hard they leave a mark

Plus an exclusive glimpse at the extra features for 'Pulp'


While I was away at Fantastic Fest, I got so crazy busy that I was unable to interview Pam Grier and Robert Forster about "Jackie Brown," which is one of two Quentin Tarantino films arriving on Blu-ray this week.

Bummer.

I mean that sincerely, too.  I love "Jackie Brown."  I think if you counted how many times I've seen each of Tarantino's films, "Jackie" would be the clear winner.  It's the emotional journey the film takes me on that I keep going back for.  Everytime I reach the reprise of "Across 110th Street," I feel the same surge of adrenaline and emotion, the same sensation of running towards the future, free and finally realizing what that means.  I love the performances, the cinematography, the dialogue, the relationships, the soundtrack.  It didn't feel like a 1997 film when it came out, and it still feels timeless.  The Blu-ray transfer is superlative, rich and film-like, and it sounds amazing.

It's been a lot longer since I've seen "Pulp Fiction."  I've been a fan of Tarantino's since well before "Reservoir Dogs" came out.  When the film was casting, a friend of mine slipped me the script, and as soon as I saw that page at the beginning with a list of influences, I knew I was reading the work of someone with a direct line to my inner film nerd.  By the time "Pulp Fiction" opened in the US, I was positively rabid to see it. 

The buzz out of Cannes was amazing, and we went to the opening night prime time show at the Chinese Theater.  Sold out.  Packed.  Palpable excitement in the house before the film began.  If you only know the film from home video, you have no idea how audiences reacted to it in the theater.  Applause.  Huge waves of laughter.  Even screams in certain places.  It was an audience participation experience, and it was magical.  I left drunk not only on that one movie, but drunk on movies in general.  I still think it's sort of unreal that the film became a bona fide box office sensation, and I'm glad it happened, even if it led to a glut of crappy imitators later.  I'm glad it happened because every once in a while, we need to have a happy accident like that, a movie that succeeds simply because of the pleasures it offers, and not because of marketing muscle or brand name recognition.

Revisiting "Pulp Fiction" on Blu-ray, watching the film for the first time in over a decade, I fell in love with it all over again.  All the things I remembered loving, I still love, but I'm glad I gave myself a long time between viewings because the film worked on me as something fresh this time, with all the smaller details really popping because of how long it's been since I've seen them.  And again, the transfer here is incredible.  I wish I had the financial ability to buy film prints and the right set up to play them, but I don't, and probably won't.  For now, the standard set by some of these Blu-ray transfers is about as close to a film print as I can imagine.

We've got a clip for you that's embedded at the top of the story today that features Samuel L. Jackson talking about the experience of shooting the film, and it's just a glimpse at the extras that are featured on both discs.  Even if extra features don't interest you, these transfers are worth the upgrade, and these stand as some of the very best examples I've seen of how a film can benefit from a high-definition transfer.

Still doubt my word?  I'm going to give you a chance to see for yourself, as part of a giveaway.  "A giveaway of what?" you ask.  Ahhhh... check this out...

1 GRAND PRIZE WINNER RECEIVES
1 Signed Jackie Brown Blu-ray Cover (Signed by Pam Grier and Robert Forster)
1 Jackie Brown Blu-ray
1 Pulp Fiction Blu-ray

3 RUNNER'S UP EACH RECEIVE
1 Jackie Brown Blu-ray
1 Pulp Fiction Blu-ray

Pretty swanky, right?  Four opportunities to win.  And one of you gets bragging rights with a special cover signed by Jackie Brown and Max Cherry.  But how?  How are we going to decide who gets the special shiny things?

Easy.  I'm going to pick the four winners from this comments section.  All you have to do is tell me which character from "Pulp Fiction" you'd like to see in another movie, and what that movie would be.  Personally, I'm still waiting for Tarantino to make "The Shepherd," a movie about Jules walking the Earth like Kung-fu, doing everything he can to be a good man.  I'd watch the crap out of that.

But how about you?  Leave your answers here, and the best one posted by Monday morning, 9:00 AM PST, is the grand prize winner, with three runners-up also to be chosen.

Can't wait to see what you guys come up with.

"Pulp Fiction" and "Jackie Brown" are in stores now.

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Next 84 Comments
  • Default-avatar

    rockie

    Eric Stoltz as Lance - Drug dealing in cali adventures. He never gets to take the robe off by the way, and all he eats is cereal. @rockiewarantz


    October 6, 2011 at 6:34PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    ptmcniff

    I'm interested in The Continuing Adventures Of English Bob. What happens when this bartender/hitman ends up the only employee left in Marcellus Wallace's dying criminal empire? (Tagline: "His name's not Paul, and this shit isn't just between y'all.")

    October 6, 2011 at 6:37PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    Brian Owen

    I'm not going to try and get clever in here with some obscure character (Diner Patron number 4!), and besides my obvious desire to see more Winston Wolf being all smooth operatorx1000 the character I've always wanted to see continue is Bruce Willis as Butch. Is Willis one of my favorite actors? Yeah. So I'm selfish there. But I also thought Butch was one of the great unsung badasses of the 90s. Pick up with him in South America, aged and worn. The man has pride, we know that. How does that pride deal with having run from LA and letting himself go? I love Bruce Willis. I loved Butch. I want more of that gold watch-wearing, boxer-killing mofo.

    Brian Owen
    @bistrowen

    October 6, 2011 at 6:38PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    matthewteague

    I would love to see Jules on his quest to elevate himself above his past. But more than that, I would LOVE to see Butch Coolidge, and a story about what he is doing now, maybe intersecting with Jules in fascinating ways? I felt like that story line in "Pulp" was from another movie, a movie I really, really wanted to see.

    October 6, 2011 at 6:38PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    SteveHolt

    Brett in Fight Club.

    October 6, 2011 at 6:38PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    Brian Owen

    I'm not going to try and get clever in here with some obscure character (Diner Patron number 4!), and besides my obvious desire to see more Winston Wolf being all smooth operatorx1000 the character I've always wanted to see continue is Bruce Willis as Butch. Is Willis one of my favorite actors? Yeah. So I'm selfish there. But I also thought Butch was one of the great unsung badasses of the 90s. Pick up with him in South America, aged and worn. The man has pride, we know that. How does that pride deal with having run from LA and letting himself go? I love Bruce Willis. I loved Butch. I want more of that gold watch-wearing, boxer-killing mofo.

    October 6, 2011 at 6:38PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    Brian Owen

    Posted twice. Don't know why. Sorry.

    October 6, 2011 at 6:39PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    Killa Cam

    Eric Stoltz gets shaken up by the whole adrenaline needle fiasco and flees. He enrolls at a state school and gets his education degree, then he has to handle an unruly bunch of Iowa farm kids in high school.. why can't they just be cool man?? @ComfortableCam

    October 6, 2011 at 6:41PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Eegah01_talkback_profile

    eegahchaka

    I'd want to see a Ringo and Yolanda spin off, where Ringo after having his manhood defeated in front of Yolanda during the diner heist, there relationship starts to go sour. Afraid he'll lose her, he schemes up one big score, to win here back and make the big $$$ at the same time. But the big score is WAY over his head.

    October 6, 2011 at 6:42PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Boxer_with_headphones_talkback_profile

    CH101

    I'd like to see a prequel about Brett and his cohorts: Flock of Seagulls and that Jerry Seinfeld looking dude. Either a Coen-esque or Pineapple Express-style dark comedy about these ne'er-do-wells working crap jobs in the criminal underworld. Of course, Marvin shows up somewhere along the way, as well as that briefcase.

    October 6, 2011 at 6:42PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    Lord Punch

    I'd like to see the continuing adventures of The Briefcase. Judging from the reactions of the various characters, we know it is notorious. And priceless. Maybe we can see it's journey in the past, and into the future. I'm imagining THE RED VIOLIN, but with a Tarantino twist.

    October 6, 2011 at 6:42PM EST Reply to Comment
    • All_purpose_icon_talkback_profile

      drew Lord Punch, you are a winner. Please send me your contact information.

      October 18, 2011 at 5:34AM EST
    • All_purpose_icon_talkback_profile

      drew Ahem. Send that to drew at hitfix dot com.

      October 18, 2011 at 5:38AM EST
  • Default-avatar

    TOMMY

    Since you already said mine, I'll just say Winston Wolf. I guess the movie would be of him going from crime scene to crime scene, but eventually wanting to leave it behind and settle down after "one last clean-up."

    The more I think about it, I wish PULP FICTION could live on as an FX series, maybe one character per episode, like the proposed 4th season of ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT.

    October 6, 2011 at 6:43PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    brett henggeler

    I want to see a prequel with Pumpkin and Honey Bunny that chronicles their previous robberies in an homage to Bonnie & Clyde.

    After that we get a sequel that takes place AFTER they have that fateful meet-up with Jules in the diner. They realize the error of their ways and find their way back to him and become disciples, spreading The Truth, The Way, and The Light of [Jules]

    @brettheng

    October 6, 2011 at 6:47PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    jeremy

    Write a comment...I would pick Harry Keitel's character The Wolf from pulp fiction. It would be cool watching him "fix" things.

    October 6, 2011 at 6:48PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    ken_stachnik

    I would pick Fabienne as my character.
    The film would be something between Night on Earth and Short Cuts. All of the characters would be tied together by a ride in her cab, and then over the course of the film they would overlap with not only the story being told, but other characters in the Tarantino film-verse.
    Characters would include a pre-Kill Bill The Bride on her way to Texas to get married, Seth Gecko on his way to visit Richie in prison, an elderly Hans Landa on his way to get some Apple Strudel, Ofcr. Marvin Nash on his way from the hospital after having his ear reattached, Ted the Bellhop on his way to work and of course Earl McGraw, who'd be visiting his old friend Max Cherry.

    October 6, 2011 at 6:51PM EST Reply to Comment
    • Sorry meant Esmarelda Villalobos not Fabienne, that's what I get for multi-tasking

      October 6, 2011 at 8:39PM EST
  • Default-avatar

    Bralseg24

    Mia's adventures on Fox Force Five. Including one writer's struggles to come up with a good joke for Mia's character. Ketchup!

    October 6, 2011 at 6:52PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    Dominic

    I would love to see a prequel focusing on Christopher Walken's character. I remember the burst of laughter elicited from the audience when he finished his story to young Butch and think his story could make a pretty great movie. Also, Chris Walken as the main character in a Quentin Tarantino movie would be pretty spectacular.

    October 6, 2011 at 6:53PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    teapot37

    How about Esmeralda Villalobos transporting a variety of seemly and unseemly characters in the night? You could make it a little like "Drive", a little like "Collateral", and a lot unlike Jimmy Fallon's "Taxi".

    October 6, 2011 at 6:53PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    Vincent Zahedi

    "Are We In Inglewood?" The story of Lance and Jody as they clumsily navigate a clientele of hired killers, known criminals, and various other freaks of the L.A. scene, until they attempt to trailblaze away after "one last score." Cameos by Winston Wolf, Esmerelda, and Mia and Marcellus Wallace.

    October 6, 2011 at 6:53PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    doyles_law

    I'd love to see Eric Stoltz's Lance team up with Brad Pitt's Floyd from 'True Romance' in a stoner comedy. Or better yet a blatant remake of 'Pineapple Express'.

    October 6, 2011 at 6:55PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    YayMayorBee

    I would like to see a Tarantino movie following Captain Koons in the Vietnam era that riffs on 60's cinema, the war, and the counter-culture in the same way "Basterds" riffed on WWII, men-on-a-mission films, and German cinema in the '30s and '40s.

    October 6, 2011 at 6:59PM EST Reply to Comment
    • All_purpose_icon_talkback_profile

      drew You, sir, are a winner. Please contact me at drew at hitfix.com with your information.

      October 18, 2011 at 5:37AM EST
  • Default-avatar

    Chris

    I want the rom-com of how The Wolf and Raquel met and fell in love. Directed by Penny Marshall. For real.

    October 6, 2011 at 7:00PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    Anthony

    Buscemi as the Buddy Holly waiter. He's actually Mr. Pink, trying to adjust to the real world again after serving time in a state penitentiary. He fucking hates Buddy Holly, and he hates waiting tables having to rely on tips for a living. Moving on and bettering himself is this frenzied misanthrope's main objective, but his past comes with a hefty karmic price tag.

    October 6, 2011 at 7:01PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    indy2003

    For me, the obvious answer would be Jules. Pulp Fiction is a film stuffed to the gills with terrific characters and great scenes, but whenever Jackson is onscreen the movie rises to an entirely different level. It's the most electrifying work of Jackson's career, and I'd love to see Tarantino revisit that character. Another plus: the character's depth could provide an opportunity for the director to explore the kind of mature, emotionally nuanced territory he offered in Jackie Brown.

    October 6, 2011 at 7:01PM EST Reply to Comment


  • I want to see Fox Force Five: The Movie


    Ketchup.

    October 6, 2011 at 7:01PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Solid_talkback_profile

    Solid Muldoon

    I've always been fascinated by Marvin. He's "our guy" right? Then why is so scared of Jules and Vince? Why is he standing in the corner pissing his pants? He ratted the preppy boys out, right? He works for Marcellus?

    I'd like to see a prequel of Marvin's introduction to Marcellus. How he thought a life of crime might gain him riches and respect. But then it just gets in deeper and deeper until he realizes he's sold his soul.

    October 6, 2011 at 7:19PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    ehendricksonmba

    I want to see the story of a young Antoine Roccamora - the football scholarship that brought him from the Pacific islands to USC, the injury that forces him from the game and makes him destitute, and how a random encounter with Marcellus Wallace let him become the most feared enforcer in the LA underworld, until he caught the eye of a young bride named Mia (that's right - she lied to Vincent!)

    October 6, 2011 at 7:23PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    YankeesJets2310

    "Medieval" A prequel about how Marsellus Wallace came into power.

    October 6, 2011 at 7:30PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Th_hulkav_talkback_profile

    John-Locke

    How's about a story Linda Kaye's "shot woman" turning vigilante. A timid housewife has finally gotten over the traumatic experience of being violently car-jacked by a diamond thief on the run (Mr Pink), one day she witnesses a bizarre road incident and is helping to assist a driver with a nasty broken nose when she's caught in the hip by a bullet meant for the driver. After extensive surgery and months of physiotherapy, she's determined to never be a random victim of violence again, she's going to clean up the streets of her town by herself.

    October 6, 2011 at 7:32PM EST Reply to Comment
    • All_purpose_icon_talkback_profile

      drew You're the grand prize winner. Please give me your address at drew at hitfix dot com.

      October 18, 2011 at 5:42AM EST
  • Default-avatar

    blwatts

    I'd watch a Vincent Vega and Mr. Blonde aka Vic Vega movie about them hanging out in Amsterdam, maybe along the lines of In Bruges

    October 6, 2011 at 7:41PM EST Reply to Comment
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