Pulp Fiction

#8 at the time of writing.

I watched this film when it first came out, I've watched it recently (this year), and I've watched it in between - and I have felt different ways about it at different times. Masterpiece of punk rock filmmaking? Or overblown self-indulgent tripe? Actually, that dichotomy sums up how I feel about most of Quentin Tarantino's output.

The strongest parts of this film, for me, are the off-beat dialogue, the willingness to throw the standard Hollywood screenplay structure out of the window, and the playful retro-fetishism. The weakest parts are the uneven pace and the occasionally grating turgidity. Weaknesses that, I think, were not as apparent in Tarantino's previous, more pared-down, Reservoir Dogs - but that become variously more apparent in his later films.

Worthy of being in IMDb's top 10 films of all time? Well... we're still talking about it, I suppose.

I do admire Tarantino's ability to turn himself into a brand - he tells everyone how great he is with such confidence that everybody believes him, and he builds a whole folklore around his movies, like he will only ever make 10 movies, or all his movies exist in the same world.

Incredibly, this film reportedly cost only $8 million to make, $5 million of which went on the actors' salaries. And it was successful enough to relaunch John Travolta and Bruce Willis' careers (and push Uma Karuna Thurman's into a new gear). Money well spent.

Kill Bill (1 & 2)

#90 and #116 at time of writing.

If you think you might have been desensitised to screen violence, Kill Bill will test your boundaries. Some of it makes uncomfortable viewing. But then you can't help getting swept along as the camera worships Uma Thurman's deadly character; her vendetta is so pure that you have to root for her as she racks up the body count.

Unstoppably cool set pieces, dialogue, and over-the-top comic book violence - with splendid gashes of colour and toe-tappingly funky music - propel this revenge epic as it rampages through your brain at a record rate of homages-per-minute towards its tense and satisfying ending.

It's films like this that convince me that Quentin Tarantino and his actor buddies have the best jobs in the world. He offered Uma Thurman the script to Kill Bill, and her role as "The Bride", as a 30th birthday present. How do I get me one of those?