Quentin Tarantino‘s Pulp Fiction opened exactly 20 years ago today, on 10.14.94. No Tarantino film since has felt as fresh and nervy and perfectly in synch with the times. Where that movie was “at” was exactly where Hollywood and 30ish yuppies and the culture-at-large were “at”…only nobody knew it until they saw it. And then it happened…pow! That was the peak, and it’s been a long slow downhill swirl for Tarantino ever since. Imagine the glory of being Tarantino and being able to say “Fucking-A, I did that,” but also the agony of waking up every day and knowing you’ll never fucking do it again. QT’s next is The Hateful Eight, which I saw performed live in downtown LA last April. It’s so far below Pulp Fiction…I don’t want to talk about it. The reason that the John Travolta-Uma Thurman dance scene wasn’t 100% perfect was, of course, due to the fact that Travolta wore gold-toe socks. I believed 20 years ago and I still feel today that those gold tips take this scene down a notch. It’s obviously not a big thing, but it’s just enough to get in the way.