Sweet 16 (Tier 2): Pulp Fiction vs. Punch-Drunk Love

We are getting down to the truly spectacular. Who can make it to the Elite 8?

PULP FICTION

"The writer-director appears to be straining for his effects. Some sequences, especially one involving bondage harnesses and homosexual rape, have the uncomfortable feeling of creative desperation, of someone who's afraid of losing his reputation scrambling for any way to offend sensibilities." - Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE

"Essentially a weird series of nonsequiturs. I'd rather be watching a sequel to the much-maligned Little Nicky, a Sander film that was at least trying to do something interesting, than this failed experiment in fusing high and low culture." - Lou Lumenick, New York Post

The winner will move on to the next round. The full bracket is attached below.

 

I love PDL so much. But Pulp Fiction was a revolution

 

Yeah have to go with Pulp Fiction but it’s really close. Neither one are particularly close to top 8 all time but I don’t have many of those left anyway

 

Pulp Fiction, as I never gave PDL enough credit. I do need to watch it again, but this one put QT on the map for sure.

 

It is crazy how far Pulp Fiction has made it. It is maybe Tarantino's third best.

 

I was so happy for a second when PDL was winning, haha.

 

i personally agree with you but it’s easily the one with the most cultural cache

 

Pulp Fiction being here is less surprising than PDL. Not that PDL isn’t great, but it has far less cultural weight and seems to be one of those films that gets way more love on this site than it would get in most places.

 

There are definitely two tracks here, the typical canon that you would always see and the left-leaning twenty-to-thirties cinephile track.

 

True. There is also the luck of the matchups (see: Jaws). PDL had a fairly easy road until now — Mean Streets isn’t overly beloved, and everyone knows 8 1/2 is a classic but many haven’t seen it and will default to what they know.

 

Jaws is also a GOAT tho.

my hot take is people on this site are holding the fact that jaws happened to be a “blockbuster” and set the stage for future movie studio blockbuster chasing against it unfairly, the movie itself is dare I say perfect

 

I openly said that was a knock against the film. However, even without that, it wouldn't be one of the sixteen best films of all time.

 

16 greatest films since 1960*

but yes. I voted for Jaws at least once but it doesn’t stack up against a good chunk of the films in the bracket

 

I'm not getting the Jaws hype

 

With 75 percent of the vote, Pulp Fiction will face Raging Bull in the Elite 8.

 

Im good with this too....

 

i’m fine with it, as much as i love PDL