Are You Talking To Me?

[shemthepenman]

i'm going to the pictures and was looking through what's on at my local cinema and turns out they are playing two of my favouritist films but the fuck wits have put them both on at the same time on different screens :/ so, you decide.

[QDeathstar]

Pretty easy choice.

[shemthepenman]

Pretty easy choice.

unfortunately, not for me. the trouble is they don't show old films with any regularity, so i don't know when or if i'll  ever get to see either of these on the big screen again--even film festivals are hit or miss. but, i am willing to go with whatever the poll says. . . 4 days to go, but with this stampede of votes, looks like yours might be the decider.

[Leanne]

I had to study Pulp Fiction to death at uni, and I got really sick of intellectuals telling me how amazing it is because of all the iconography and shite.  Yes, it has loads of symbols.  Yes, it uses a fractured narrative well.  I couldn't give a rat's arse about that though, because the movie just left me feeling like Tarantino wanted everyone to know how very super duper clever he is.  The awesome juxtaposition set up in Reservoir Dogs between the music and the action didn't work in Pulp Fiction because it had already been done.  Tarantino very quickly became his own cliche.

Taxi Driver, on the other hand, addressed issues more subtly and the performances were absolutely brilliant.  Scorsese is not a one-trick pony.

[shemthepenman]

I had to study Pulp Fiction to death at uni, and I got really sick of intellectuals telling me how amazing it is because of all the iconography and shite.  Yes, it has loads of symbols.  Yes, it uses a fractured narrative well.  I couldn't give a rat's arse about that though, because the movie just left me feeling like Tarantino wanted everyone to know how very super duper clever he is.  The awesome juxtaposition set up in Reservoir Dogs between the music and the action didn't work in Pulp Fiction because it had already been done.  Tarantino very quickly became his own cliche.

Taxi Driver, on the other hand, addressed issues more subtly and the performances were absolutely brilliant.  Scorsese is not a one-trick pony.

yeah, i mean, i'm not a big tarantino fan. reservoir dogs is in my top ten films of all time, but after pulp fiction he just played the same note over and over and over. . . having said that, i still really love that film and both films have a special place in the history of me. i watched pulp fiction recently with my daughter and she hadn't even heard of it, and was blown away. and it was really cool to watch her glued to the screen every now and again going 'what the fuck?'. i think sometimes we can forget how original it was, even if superficial. plus i think pulp fiction would really lend itself to the big screen. . . but then again, Taxi Driver is a masterpiece, and when i was about 13 or 14 i shaved my head into a Travis Bickle mohawk. i don't know. the people will decide.

[milo]

I am going to vote pulp fiction. I loved taxi driver the first couple times but I still love pulp fiction every time for the dialogue and story telling. With or without the gimmicks (and, admittedly , there are gimmicks) it is still an enjoyable movie for those that enjoy movies.

[just mercedes]

Taxi driver. Hands down. Pulp Fiction is dated already, but Taxi driver feels timeless.

[billy]

pulp's a bit arty farty but it has it's moments, taxi driver is the better film by far but who wants to look at a masterpiece when you can read a superman comic? great films are good but different films are few and far between. tarantino is shallow to say the least, his abstracts are obvious and the obvious is too abstract. still i go with pulp fiction. it's also pretty funny.

[ellajam]

I like Taxi Driver better visually.

[shemthepenman]

em, this is going well. at this rate, i'll have to have a poll on this poll to decide the outcome.

oh and i don't read much superman. i like supergirl though. also, if you want to read a good comic i would recommend the new batman rebirth #1 [not the first #1 the #1 after that one] and a four part mini-series called '4 kids walk into a bank'.

[billy]

one's good for laughs taxi driver isn't

[next]

Watch Boorman's Point Blank  instead.

[shemthepenman]

Watch Boorman's Point Blank  instead.

cheers, that's really helpful

[just mercedes]

What about Zabriski Point?

[next]

Zabriskie Point isn't my favorite film of Antonioni's. He really isn't cut out to make "cute"
semi-political love movies.  My favorite Antonioni film is Eclipse. But if you want to get all
hip and really cute, try his film Blow-Up. (Antonioni movies, by the way, are an acquired taste.
There is usually (earlier films) a whole LOT of time reserved for quiet, intellectual contemplation
of the crushing burden of existential loneliness we all must endure.
 (If you want movies that rapidly connect the dots, his ain't them.)

But getting back to the original question:  For some high-class crash-bang just oozing with the grim,
sexual masculinity of Steve McQueen, you should try Peter Yates'  Bullitt -- god how I LOVE this movie!

[shemthepenman]

Zabriskie Point isn't my favorite film of Antonioni's. He really isn't cut out to make "cute"
semi-political love movies.  My favorite Antonioni film is Eclipse. But if you want to get all
hip and really cute, try his film Blow-Up. (Antonioni movies, by the way, are an acquired taste.
There is usually (earlier films) a whole LOT of time reserved for quiet, intellectual contemplation
of the crushing burden of existential loneliness we all must endure.
 (If you want movies that rapidly connect the dots, his ain't them.)

But getting back to the original question:  For some high-class crash-bang just oozing with the grim,
sexual masculinity of Steve McQueen, you should try Peter Yates'  Bullitt -- god how I LOVE this movie!

the original question wasn't about what films i would like to see at the cinema if i had a magic wand [it'd probably be jaws]. it was, out of the two showing at my local cinema [taxi driver and pulp fiction] which one should i go see? in fact, it isn't really about which is the better film [i mean, i've got both of them on dvd, i could watch them now if i wanted], but rather which one would be the best to watch on a big screen, or even just to say "i've seen that at the cinema"?

[next]

. it was, out of the two showing at my local cinema [taxi driver and pulp fiction] which one should i go see? in fact, it isn't really about which is the better film , but rather which one would be the best to watch on a big screen, or even just to say "i've seen that at the cinema"?

But your poll unfairly sought to coerce us into providing an answer to a false dichotomy;
it lacked the answer: "Neither".  So you brought this on yourself, dude.

I could suggest any number of movies whose experience -- when watched in a large, dark
room filled with strangers -- would transcend the hell out of those two. But, at your
insistence, I'll refrain.

But REALLY, why watch those again? They've been seen to death. Watch something new.
Or stay at home and create something of your own.
 (Or venture outside and walk the mean streets.)

[ellajam]

The poll was clear and fine.
Did you go? What did you see? How was it?

[RiverNotch]

. it was, out of the two showing at my local cinema [taxi driver and pulp fiction] which one should i go see? in fact, it isn't really about which is the better film , but rather which one would be the best to watch on a big screen, or even just to say "i've seen that at the cinema"?

But your poll unfairly sought to coerce us into providing an answer to a false dichotomy;
it lacked the answer: "Neither".  So you brought this on yourself, dude.

I could suggest any number of movies whose experience -- when watched in a large, dark
room filled with strangers -- would transcend the hell out of those two. But, at your
insistence, I'll refrain.

But REALLY, why watch those again? They've been seen to death. Watch something new.
Or stay at home and create something of your own.
 (Or venture outside and walk the mean streets.)

*sneaks in a Jodorowsky film*

[next]

*sneaks in a Jodorowsky film*

Yesss... El Topo (or maybe Holy Mountain)