![]() That scene in and of itself is worthy of this list. His story begins with a flashback to his childhood and a wonderful monologue (delivered by Christopher Walken) about the family heirloom Butch’s dad smuggled out of Vietnam in his rectum. Pulp Fiction’s second segment is about a boxer named Butch (Bruce Willis), who refuses to go along with the mob’s orders to throw a fight. The twisty, multipart Pulp Fiction is almost like an anthology of short films, constructed from the scenes other directors leave out of crime movies: the anxious minutes and hours before and after a big job. (Be warned: This list will contain spoilers for every one of these films.) But each is catchy and exciting just on its own … like a hit single from a classic album. ![]() They’re more effective in the context of their entire movies. The best of these scenes - namely, the 18 listed below - are like short films or playlets, compressing Tarantino’s themes and obsessions into finely crafted miniatures. It’s not uncommon for Tarantino to stick with one conversation or conflict for 10, 15, 20 minutes, or more. In all the films he’s written and/or directed (including his latest, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which just opened this past weekend), he parcels out plot via set pieces. Tarantino also has the ear of a playwright and can pen pages upon pages of entertaining dialogue and monologues, developing stories and characters through what initially seems like idle chitchat. Tarantino is an action-film savant, who after a lifetime of watching kung fu matinees and spaghetti Westerns has absorbed the best ways to orchestrate shootouts, chases, and fight scenes so that they play like the grindhouse’s greatest hits. Back in 1992, by the time that scene ended, a lot of viewers were eager to follow these characters - and this moviemaker - wherever they might go. The conversation sounds like what folks really talk about … whether or not they’re about to go rob a bank. The Reservoir Dogs intro is funny and cinematically vibrant, and it has the ring of truth. His debut film Reservoir Dogs begins with his own voice on the soundtrack, delivering a well-thought-out, colorfully profane analysis of the Madonna song “Like a Virgin.” For the next seven minutes, Tarantino - along with his cinematographer Andrzej Sekula and the editor Sally Menke - explore the dynamics of a diner table, populated by well-dressed mob goons, all bullshitting about ’70s pop songs and the pros and cons of tipping waitresses. Quentin Tarantino makes one hell of a first impression.
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