(Footage of various Disney movies, as well as movies made by Miramax, plays out)
Doug (vo): It's Disneycember 2024, and I feel like I always start off these Disneycembers by asking this question, what's left? I'm not talking about the fact that Disney's had some difficult couple of years, so they are starting to get a little better. I'm talking about what's new to add to Disneycember. I mean, we've just added so many. Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar, even Hollywood Pictures somehow worked its way into the mix. What new element can I add? Well, for a while, a lot of people have been pointing out that Miramax is technically under Disney's name, and, yes, while that is true, I kind of said a while ago when I accepted the Fox movies that I wasn't going to do ones before Disney took them over, because it would just look weird seeing something like Alien with the Disneycember logo there. I thought Miramax, with a lot of its more adult-themed movies, kind of fell into that situation. But the more I thought about it, what the hell's wrong with me? That would look hilarious. The Crow, Clerks, Pulp Fiction with that little Disneycember logo there kind of looks amazing the more I look at it. And I can't pretend Disney hasn't also gone really grizzly over the years, so, yeah, screw it. Let's talk about the Miramax films. There's a lot of interesting stuff to talk about, a lot of classics, and even a few blunders. Did you know technically the Tom and Jerry movie was released by Miramax? That is wild that for a short bit of time, Tom and Jerry was under the Disney umbrella. That is so bizarre to me. But on top of that, we're going to look over all the stuff you're used to seeing from Disneycember. The animated movies, Pixar, video games, Fox, the works. And as usual, if it's a movie I've talked about either on a vlog or Untitled Review Show, I'm going to talk about it again here and include spoilers and also say whether or not my thoughts on it have changed, even if it isn't especially old. But like I said, people can change their minds in a short bit of time. Like every year, I'm so excited to go over all these, and I'm so excited you all are coming along with me on this journey. It really means a lot you stick around every year. So let's begin Disneycember: 2024: the Miramax edition...plus maybe a bajillion other things.
(The Disneycember logo is shown, before showing clips from Pulp Fiction)
Doug (vo): Well, I've mentioned Pulp Fiction before, so let's start off with it. Honestly, this film is so celebrated, so talked about, so admired, it's almost hard to find anything new to say about it. But sometimes, it's kind of the fun. You look at something that's so big, you take it for granted, and you almost forget about it because it's so big. So you look at it years later and you analyze whether it's as good as everyone said when it came out or is it worth all the hype or if some parts have aged well and some parts haven't. Because I think it's an understatement to say, everyone was imitating this movie after it came out. To some extent, they're still imitating this movie. When you think of a film about people with guns, told out of order, having these quirky conversations that almost sound like conversations you'd have in real life...and, oh, yeah, maybe wear black suits... (Posters of Grosse Point Blank, Get Shorty, Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, and Smokin' Aces are quickly shown) ...they're trying to imitate Pulp Fiction. At the time, really nothing quite like this had been seen. Like, okay, there certainly have been movies that were told out of order and there have been movies that had dialogue that sounded more realistic and talked about more everyday things. But combining those elements together along with a bunch of stuff the director just seems to like, like exploitation films and pulp magazines and philosophy and fast food and retro nostalgia and even some samurai imagery in there, it's pretty much a geeky college student making a movie that has everything he loves in it. But that geeky college student was so talented, he managed to get everybody onboard. Everybody was fascinated by this movie, because it was so different and it was so energized and it was so fun, but it also had a lot of depth to it, and a lot of questions, and a lot of theories.
Story[]
Doug (vo): Like I said, it is told out of order, but it's also several different stories, but they have a lot of characters that bleed over into these stories. One of them is about Jules and Vincent, and following their lives as hitmen. Another is about Vincent and Mia, who's tasked by his boss to take her out and show her a good time. And another is about Butch, who's a fighter who works for the same boss and is trying to run away.
Review[]
Doug (vo): So as you can already see, these aren't just random characters and random stories. Everything has a little bit of a connection back to something else. And I would go into more detail as to what happens in this movie, but honestly, it'd kind of be ruining things. Like, okay, there's some things I know everybody's aware of. We all know the dance sequence between John Travolta and Uma Thurman. We all know Samuel L. Jackson taking out a guy while quoting the Bible. We all know that great speech from Christopher Walken about the watch. There's some things that are just so big, they've worked their way into iconic pop culture. But honestly, if you haven't seen the rest of this movie, you really shouldn't know anything else about it. One of my favorite movie moments is I was showing this film to my family. I'm the only one who saw it at that time. And my mom actually said at one point, "I think I know what's gonna happen." And I said, "No, you don't." If you can actually figure out what's going to happen in this movie, you are deranged, demented, just...something's wrong with you, because no logical person should be able to predict what happens in this film, at least not to the extent of the details.
(Several clips focusing on the film's visual style are shown)
Doug (vo): And I think that plays to the fact that the style of the movie goes back and forth between being very sporadic but also very consistent. Again, you can kind of connect all these things to just what a geeky film school nerd is into. But there's a lot of things that people can relate to or latch on to, in a similar way that, say, George Lucas combined a lot of things he likes in Star Wars, myth and Flash Gordon and old serials and sci-fi. There's just a bunch of stuff he's mixing together that has a broad appeal to it. And I think the unexpected twists and turns this movie has, combined with conversations that most people do have at some point or something very similar, and characters that are very complex and very interesting and very fun to listen to and watch, does pull a lot of people in. This movie gives an audience something they didn't know they wanted to see.
(Footage focusing on the characters is shown)
Doug (vo): Like, yeah, sure, everybody knows John Travolta as this big star now, and, sure, he was in the 70s, but he kind of wasn't doing much around this time. Everyone points to this film as the movie that brought him back, and also introduced us to Samuel L. Jackson, which, yes, we've seen in other films, but, man, this made him a star. This movie made quite a few people big stars. And a big part of that is, yes, they all are doing a good job in the performances, but they're also all written really well. One minute, you can be talking about McDonald's. The next, you can be cleaning somebody's brains out of a car, or dancing at an old retro restaurant, or fighting somebody off with a samurai sword.
(Various clips resume showing, with the majority of them focusing on the main characters)
Doug (vo): But what makes the film a classic all these years later is, yes, there's a lot of energy and a lot of unexpected things that happen and a lot of likeable characters and writing, but there is some real depth going on in this movie. Like, this film has been analyzed to death, and it's still being analyzed, and it should be. There's so many things you can read into it, there's so many things I'm still finding out about this movie. The main focus seems to be around redemption and salvation, which, yeah, is a very common theme in movies, but this one analyzes it in a pretty fun and unique way. The main three people you follow, Vincent, Jules and Butch, are all in a world of crime doing bad things, and they all are likeable to some extent, but there's also different levels to how much they're in that world of crime and how much they're willing to let that bad side of them take them over. Vincent is very comfortable in this world, and mostly stays the same. Butch is very uncomfortable, and tries to get out of this world. And Jules is right smack in the middle. He's very comfortable in this world, hell, he kind of enjoys it, but then halfway through, he starts to change his mind and wants to get out. All three of these characters and stories are very interesting, and the way they end are equally interesting. With Vincent and Butch, you get a very definitive ending. With Jules, you really don't. It's kind of left open in the air what happens to him. And that is intentional, because he's the one that's in the middle now and trying to figure out what he's going to do.
(While various clips continue to show, a few of them focus on the scenes where Vincent is shown in a bathroom)
Doug (vo): There's a ton of little things you can continue to read into with this. Like, I never put together, every time Vincent goes to the bathroom, something bad happens. I just never made that connection until now. Why is that? I don't know. It could have a deeper meaning, or maybe it's just something kind of funny that Quentin Tarantino liked. You can honestly read into either one. It's just that kind of movie. And I think the reason it's told out of order does compliment that, because I do wonder what this movie would be like if it was told in chronological order. My guess is, it would still be good, but it wouldn't be as interesting. I feel like this movie really finds the most interesting moments, when you want to see them, and it delivers it to you. Like, I think after you get that clear ending with Vincent and that clear ending with Butch, it should be followed with that more open ending with Jules. You had two extreme outcomes with two extreme characters, and now, here's one that's a bit more vague, and after all the extreme insanity that you've seen, this feels right, and it wouldn't feel right if it was in the middle of the movie.
(Several clips focusing on the characters' conversations with each other are shown)
Doug (vo): Some people nowadays do see some of these moments as going on too long, particularly with the conversations that don't really connect to anything. And to some extent, I kind of agree. Back then, this was kind of new. You didn't really hear this kind of writing often, and you could very much argue it's building up to something, it does show what this life is like. There are a lot of moments where it's just sitting around and doing nothing and shooting the shit, and other times, where you're just trying to clean up after the violence you caused even if it was a mistake. But because the style has been mimicked so much, I can see people maybe looking at these moments and being a little bored by it, because we have seen a lot more writing like this after this film.
(Clips focusing on Jimmie, a friend of Jules, are shown)
Doug (vo): The only moment I call bullshit on is Quentin Tarantino's character constantly using the N-word, which, make no mistake, I think he uses this word very well with his characters. (The poster for Django Unchained is shown) I mean, if you were to take that word out of Django Unchained, it wouldn't really feel right, and I don't think it would feel right here. But even back then, when some white people said it as a joke, like they didn't really think many people were using that word for the original intent of that word, you know, using the soft ending and everything, this felt weird. Why is Jules even friends with this dweeb? Maybe I missed something there, but I just did not see a reason why this guy was in this movie, outside of Quentin wanting to give himself a role. Again, I could totally be missing something, I'm not gonna act like I'm an expert on this, but even back then, it felt off.
Final thought[]
Doug (vo): But still, I'm really not exaggerating when I say pretty much for about 10 years after this film came out, there was at least two independent movies trying to imitate what this film was doing. And honestly, several more in big Hollywood, like, I don't even think it was just independent movies. This film really did explode, and it deserved to explode. It launched the career of Quentin Tarantino, which, yes, he was known for Reservoir Dogs, but it didn't have nearly the impact this movie did. In fact, I think a lot of people say Reservoir Dogs was kind of training wheels for Pulp Fiction. And all these years later, people are still studying it and finding new things to discover. I wish I could break the mold and be that one film nerd that says, "Ah, it's overhyped and overpraised, people talk about it too much", but there really is a reason for it. Sometimes, you just can't dispute it. It's like Citizen Kane, it's like The Seventh Seal, it's like all these classics. There really is so much to explore. But it's also one of the few films that can be entertaining to the common viewer, too, people who aren't looking for anything that deep, they just want to be entertained. It's a great movie for great reasons. And hopefully, we're gonna be looking at a lot more great movies, as Disneycember is just getting started.
(A scene showing Vincent blowing a kiss and walking away is shown)