Seeing 'Pulp Fiction' on the Big Screen in Tokyo!

Pulp Fiction at the Shin Bungeiza. Photo by Brett Homenick.

I just came back from the Shin Bungeiza theater in Ikebukuro, which has been on quite a roll with the impressive lineup of movies it's been screening of late. Tonight's screening was Pulp Fiction (1994), which I hadn't seen in its entirety since the '90s. I've been thinking about checking this particular title out again, and seeing it on the big screen was the perfect opportunity. Oh, and it was a digital projection, not 35mm.

The screening was absolutely packed. I arrived about 10 minutes before the screening, and, since I didn't buy my ticket ahead of time, I had to sit in the front row, which actually didn't turn out as bad as I thought it would. 

Pulp Fiction at the Shin Bungeiza. Photo by Brett Homenick.

I guess I should point out that I was never really that big a fan of the movie. In fact, I've never been over the moon about any Quentin Tarantino movie. The only flick of his I haven't seen is Reservoir Dogs (1992), and the reason for that is, well, I just don't want to.

Quick side story: I mostly gave up going to the movies from about 2001 until 2005 because I was usually bored or disappointed by the movies I saw back then. One of the few exceptions was Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003), which I saw mostly due to Sonny Chiba and the other Japanese stuff in it. If I told you that I skipped seeing Vol. 2 (2004) until a year or so after it came out on home video, would that make my opinion of the first Kill Bill clear enough?

As for Pulp Fiction, I just don't see any greatness here. I don't find the humor funny, the characters are uninteresting, and the best ideas and lines are all taken from better sources. I definitely don't think it's bad, but I wouldn't call it one of the best films of '94 -- and certainly not of all time. Some good stuff is there, but I don't think any scene is 100% successful, including the final sequence, which is probably the best one in the whole movie.

With that being said, I'm glad I got to revisit the film on the big screen, which is undoubtedly the best way to experience movies, but I'm afraid it only reconfirmed my original opinion.