Say what you will about Pulp Fiction, it’s legacy is undeniable. Not only did it guarantee a sustainable career for writer-director Quentin Tarantino but it ushered in a bold and groundbreaking era of independent film. But as with every trend-setting movie, not only were there worthy successors but a slew of knockoffs and cheap imitations. In particular, films like Things to do in Denver When You’re Dead, Suicide Kings, and Boondock Saints showed that not everyone could pull of Tarantino’s knack for creating vivid characters engaging in jazz-like dialogue while navigating the criminal underworld and the occasional dead body. One film that I feel gets unnecessarily lumped in with the “Pulp-le
How much do you know about your neighbors? How much do you REALLY want to know? Podcasts, documentaries, and social media continually whet our appetite with all things “true crime.” And in almost each and every product/story we get a glimpse of suspects and perpetrators through the lens of their neighbors, those who might seem to “know” them best, if only through proximity. But how much do they really know? Or is all just curiosity mixed with speculation and just the right hint of projection? 2001’s Lantana is an overlooked mystery that partially delves into this concept of the neighbors as both comforting presences and potential menace. But it’s also an examination of the people actually in
One of my favorite tropes in film and television is the “neighborhood hangout.” You know, that place where everybody knows everybody. That mythical haven where characters can spend countless hours, away from their loved ones and be sassed and supported by their surrogate family. The world of TV has given us Sam Malone’s Cheers, Luke’s Diner (Gilmore Girl), MacLaren’s Pub (How I Met Your Mother) and Monk’s Café (Seinfeld). Additionally, the world of cinema has presented Joe’s Diner (Waitress), Vianne Rocher’s shop in Chocolat, and Stan Mikita’s Donuts (Wayne's World), to name a few. Each of these fictional locales tap into a perceived need to escape from our actual lives to a proxy oasis of s
Welcome to the second installment in my Summer of the Bat series, this time focusing on my revisiting of the 1966-1968 Batman TV series, starring Adam West and Burt Ward as the Dynamic Duo. With one of the most iconic opening credits and theme songs ever! It all started for me with a sale on Vudu. Of course, I'd grown up watching reruns of the 60's series, and I had gone through the predictable cycle of liking it, finding it embarrassing, disavowing it, and now rediscovering the joy of the series. Because, as ridiculous as the show is, it's also a hell of a lot of fun. A few weeks ago, while scrolling through the sales on Vudu, I saw that they had each season for five to ten dollars. As I wa
As a lifelong lover of literature, there has always been one format that attracts me more than others: the short story. I find true joy and wonderment in any author that can captivate an audience and tell an engrossing tale with complex characters in anywhere between 1,000 and 20,000 words. Be it Edgar Allen Poe, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Anton Chekov, or Shirley Jackson to more modern authors like Stephen King, Jennifer Egan and Sarah Hall, I delight in the artistry and craft in engaging an audience quickly and allow them the ability to linger on what might happen next. It should then be no surprise that some of my favorite films have an anthology feel, that is large casts of actors and actre
