Johnny DiLoretto is the director of operations for the Gateway Film Center, the Midwest's premier Independent movie house. He will be checking in from time to time over the upcoming months to keep us informed about all the kick ass events they have scheduled sure to keep your summertime blues at bay.
Q: Sunday June 8th Cinema Classics presents the 20th Anniversary Screening of "Pulp Fiction" at the Gateway Film Center. Wow, that was a quick twenty years. Why is this movie still important and worth seeing on the big screen?
A: Of course you gotta see this movie on the big screen! You have to see it in its element to be reminded of exactly how revolutionary and influential it was. It changed the way movies were made and had a direct impact on everything that came after it. For better or for worse. Mostly for worse, because people lifted Tarantino's techniques and bit off his writing style without the cinematic chops to make that stuff sing. You should see it to be reminded of how great it is.
Q: For us movie dumb asses, what makes director Quentin Tarantino special?
A: He's a savant. He has devoured, passionately devoured, all of cinema -- the classics, the crap, all of it. And he pukes it back out, in some instinctive way, so that you can see all of this amazing stuff happening in his movies -- he's referencing film history as he's blazing new narrative ground. He's conducting a score of tension and comedy and violence all the while spinning these exhilarating, musical exchanges of dialogue. He is - without fucking question - one of the true geniuses of modern American cinema.
Q What other Q Tarantino's films do you consider essential viewing for the casual movie fan?
A. You can't go wrong with any full-length movie he's directed. All of it. Reservoir Dogs, Jackie Brown, Kill Bill Vols. 1 and 2, Inglorious Basterds, Django Unchained. Of the stuff he's only written, you have to see True Romance, which features a mind blowing cameo by Gary Oldman as a psychotic, dreadlocked, pimp; and features one of the all-time great scenes between Christopher Walken and Dennis Hopper.
Q: What are the details for the movie again and when can I hear Cinema Classics?
A: You can see the movie at 2 p.m. on Sunday, June 8. It's $7.50 for just the film; or you can get eat brunch and see the movie for $15. We do a great brunch in The Torpedo Room.
Learn more about Johnny DiLoretto and other Pencilstorm contributors by clicking here.