Quentin Tarantinos 1994 sophomore featurePulp Fictionwasnt just a major break out hit.
The Boondocks Saints (1999)
Make no mistake, Tarantino thinks the killers in his movies are cool.
Flypaper (1998)
Slippery characters on the loose, in one sticky situation.
McQuarrie starts the movie with some Tarantino-esque dialogue and shocking violence, which goes heavy on the misogyny.
Unfortunately, writer/director Tom Schulman has no idea what to do with that premise.
Instead of just accepting that he had a crazy enough idea, Schulman overdoes the humor and wackiness.
Comeau and Kristy Swanson, who plays the Americans nervous wife, go too broad with the material.
And then David Spade shows up.
Suicide Kingsproves the limitations of such thinking.
And in those moments, viewers realize that theyre watching n edgy take onLittle Red Riding Hood.
No one asked for an edgy take onLittle Red Riding Hood, not even in 1996.
Somehow thoughFreewaymanages to overcome that ill-advised concept, thanks to a strong cast.
I cannot yet speak to the quality of the sequelFreeway II: Confessions of a Trick Baby.
Truth or Consequences, N.M (1997)
Truth or Consequences, N.M.doesnt begin like a Tarantino style film.
Sutherland tries to find a balance between the over-the-top mayhem and the love between its central characters.
As a consequence, the movie works in installments.
The buckwheats moment illustrates how badly writer Scott Rosenbergs script yearns for a sense of cool.
Director Gary Fleder, in his debut, matches the idiosyncratic dialogue with an almost Gothic visual sense.
The pair are also, of course, tlaking about buckwheats and misfits.
No, not at all.
But Stone pushes the material so far into ridiculousness that it entertains.
Furthermore, the ensemble cast has more in common withShort Cutsa few years earlier, orMagnoliaa few years later.
All that said,2 Days in the Valleycould perhaps benefit from pulling more from Tarantino.
Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
Guy Ritchieisnt just borrowing from Tarantino.
Hes also riffing on fellow EnglishmanDanny Boyle, whose debutShallow Gravealso released in 1994.
Talkington didnt seePulp Fictionbeforehand, but he sure did seeReservoir Dogs.
So why isLove and a .45ranked so high?
Part of the distinction comes from Liman building on his previous film, the breakoutSwingers.
The film that follows has lots of crime, violence, and wit.
But Sonnenfields wiz-bang direction makes it stand out from others on this list.
In other words, it sounds like the worst possiblePulp Fictionknockoff.
Blank gives Cusack his ideal role, a man who buries his insecurities behind a veneer of cool.
It also features Dan Aykroyd as a rival contract killer who wants the hitmen to unionize.
