She Likes to Watch

You’d be hard-pressed to find two movies more diametrically opposed than “Pulp Fiction” and “Amelie.”

The first is a hip, hard-hitting bloodbath replete with cuss words, pop culture references and infinitely quotable dialog. The other? A whimsical French film about an adorable young do-gooder.

The two female protagonists (Uma Thurman in “Pulp Fiction” and Audrey Tatou in “Amelie”) both sport black bobs, but that’s where the similarities end.

Yet, for some reason, both movies are being screened in San Luis Obispo this weekend. It’s a golden opportunity to see two very different, but very good films.

For those of you who have spent the last 15 years searching your couch cushions for sustenance, “Pulp Fiction” is one of the best movies in recent history.

Direction Quentin Tarantino influenced scores of film students with his creative storytelling and liberal, yet stylish, use of violence and obscenity.

“Pulp Fiction” cemented Samuel L. Jackson’s reputation as filmdom’s ultimate badass. It resurrected John Travolta’s career (which he prompty ruined, of course).

It rocked, and continues to rock, successive generations of moviegoers.

In short, if you haven’t seen “Pulp Fiction” yet, WHY THE HELL NOT?!?

Catch “Pulp Fiction” on the big screen tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Fremont, 1025 Monterey St. in San Luis Obispo. Come a half-hour early for trivia and prizes.

Tickets are $7.50.

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On the other side of the spectrum is “Amelie.”

Originally titled “Le fabuleux destin d’ Amelie Poulain,” this French-language beauty is one of those rare movies that’s cute without causing nausea.

Audrey Tatou stars as the title character, a winsome yet lonely girl who works at a Paris cafe. When she discovers a box of childhood mementos left by a former tenant, she returns it to the man and is delighted by the results.

Inspired, Amelie decides to help the many unhappy people around her — including her father, the customers and clients at the cafe, a grocer’s much-abused assistant, and her neighbor, a man with bones as brittle as glass.

Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet and company make “Amelie” impossible to dislike, bathing the Paris scenery in lush greens and reds and adding a charming soundtrack. Characters are quirky, but very human.

To Jeunet’s credit, he throws in enough elements of the real world that Amelie’s story never seems trite.

(A self-taught auteaur, Jeunet has his share of darker visions, including “Delicatessan” — about cannibalistic city dwellers — and “City of Lost Children,” in which an scientist kidnaps children to study their dreams.)

“Amelie” plays at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Palm Theatre, 817 Palm St. in San Luis Obispo. Tickets are $7.50.

** Art courtesy of MovieWeb.com.