Movie Notes: Sweet And Lowdown

Synopsis
Jazz guitarist Emmett Ray (Sean Penn) is an arrogant sleazeball but also the second best guitarist in the world.

Synopsis
Jazz guitarist Emmett Ray (Sean Penn) is an arrogant sleazeball but also the second best guitarist in the world.

I saw Pulp Fiction in the theaters back in ’94. It did go places its contemporaries didn’t, and certain scenes had a shock value that evoked uncomfortable reactions — I recall laughing quite a bit at the most sordid of them (Bruce Willis in the basement). The film was unique while openly paying homage to a mish-mash of ‘70s directors.

Synopsis
Mobster / movie producer Chili Palmer (John Travolta) enters the music business, weaving his way through various corrupt industry characters to break a rising star.

This is the film version of a hit Broadway musical that was based on a Mel Brooks film: an inverted, laughable situation that unfortunately, this film never touches on. The basic gist is that Broadway producers Max Bialystock (Nathan Lane) and Leo Bloom (Matthew Broderick) strive to stage a play so terrible that it’s a guaranteed flop — allowing them to run off with the investor’s money. Could this business model be applied to a Silicon Valley startup? Never mind.