Enjoyed the article. As a Pennsylvanian (and dedicated beer drinker ;), I grew up with Yuengling. It is a staple of refrigerators throughout PA, as well as a point of pride. For a mass produced Am lager, Yuengling is far and away better than Coors, Bud, and yes PBR (the trucker hat of beers--this trend will die).

That being said, it's still an American lager--not the tastiest or interesting beer in the world. Meh. Good for watching the ballgame I suppose.

I feel I need to give a shout out to my local brewery: Troegs. A small craft brewery in Harrisburg PA (only available in a 3 hr radius of Harrisburg). I love stopping by the brewery with my growler to sample their new "scratch" series (basically test beers they release in limited quantity) or fill up with my favorite beers (IPA, Nugget Nectar, their double bock). Chis and John Trogner (the owners, brewers) make world class award winning beer (2 bronze medals at the Brewers Association 2008 World beer cup!).

I say all this because if you like beer it is worth your while to find a local craft brewery. You can get a growler filled fresh from the tap--make friends--get to know the owners/brewers--support a local business--(did I mention the tasty FRESH beer?).

If you live in PA, MD, Del, NJ, parts of NY, VA and WV ask for Troegs at your local watering hole! http://www.troegs.com/

A really good website about beer: http://beeradvocate.com/ (informed reviews about any beer you can think of).

Beer!

I'll grant you that "Reservoir Dogs" borrowed perhaps too heavily from "City on Fire," but what film in particular did "Pulp Fiction" rip off? Sure many elements nodded and winked at Don Siegal's 1964 version of "The Killers" (the 1946 Burt Lancaster version is worth seeing too, but an essentially different film), and the Bruce Willis/Butch character story line is also kind of a wink toward Robert Wise's "The Set Up" starring Robert Ryan (cool film--shot in real time).

"Pulp Fiction" is a better distillation of influences than you give it credit for. Tarantino certainly has a habit of laying on a little thick with "spot the influences" winking, but it gets a little boring when people with lazy opinions charge him with plagiarism then fail to provide any insight or any knowledge of the films he was supposed to have ripped off. It's almost as boring as Tarantino fanboys. Almost.

I agree! How dare people not think exactly the way you think. Obviously your point of view is the only correct one. There should be, some sort of standard imposed on films, a CODE maybe, so that we don't offend or prostitute anyone. How about this Nell?:

http://www.mutoworld.com/HaysCode.htm

Nell, I am SO on board with this. There are too many contradicting voices in cinema today. Me hate complexity! Me want to SMASH complexity! Give me Doris Day wrapped in the flag frolicking in a field of daisies! Shirley Temple as a tap dancing warrior for all that is good and classy! ABBA could be our background music as we clean up all the filth and obscenity. Maybe we could bring back the blacklist too! What do ya think?

I totally agree Xrandadu. Way better performance than Jack Warden as Benji in "The Sound and the Fury."

You wrote: "What about Sergio Leone's remake of Yojimbo?"

Good point. There's also John Sturges' version of "The Seven Samauri." Of course Kurosawa was massively indebted to and used many of the same themes and elements that JOHN FORD used. Kurosawa also used the plots and motifs of many Shakespere plays for his films: "Throne of Blood" is "Macbeth." "Ran" is "King Lear." "The Bad Sleep Well" is "Hamlet."

Do we consider John Carpenter a hack for "ripping off" Howard Hawks' "Rio Bravo" for "Assault on Precinct 13?" (Of course Hawks can also be accused of self plagiarism with 1968's "El Dorado"). Is the original Star Wars any less of a film because it borrowed elements from Kurosawa's "The Hidden Fortress?" Round and round we go.

Look, there's a lot to criticize Tarantino on; his films are for the most part shallow exercises in style and technique with a lot of macho posturing (possibly compensating for inadequacies?). Perhaps this is what people like Klytus and others who dislike Tarantino are trying to convey in their inarticulate and uninformed way.

After reading Sey's last two articles I'm convinced she is the gymnastics equivalent to Walter Sobchack (the fans of course are Donny):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjYJ7zZ9BRw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyFpOp8Ft0Q

Cab305 said to melthough:"Did you serve in the military during a time of war...just cause you were born here doesn't make you an american (sic)."

Well, I DID serve in the armed forces during a time of war. As a veteran I feel it is my duty to publicly revoke your citizenship. You fail at patriotism and you fail at the basic understanding of what it means to be an American. (And BTW AMERICAN is capitalized you illiterate traitor.) Ignorance like yours should be publicly ridiculed. Small children should be instructed to point at you and laugh. Old ladies should be instructed to throw small stones at you. Failure. You are an utter failure.

And just so you know, I'd take one melthough over a platoon of the likes of you any day.

Excelsior!

They could have just watched Romero's Dawn of the Dead instead :)

Seriously though, very interesting. It certainly raises questions about the blurring of public spaces and private spaces. Along the same lines, Naomi Klein writes about this in her book "No Logo."

And people laughed at hippies in drum circles at the parking lots outside of Phish concerts. LOL!

MMJ's new album "Evil Urges" has been getting a ton of play. Their single "I'm Amazed" has been the song of the summer for me.