Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair (10/10): Tarantino's Masterpiece.

“Revenge is never a straight line. It's a forest, And like a forest it's easy to lose your way... To get lost... To forget where you came in.”

The year was 2003, my friends and I wanted to check out a movie and despite not knowing much about film back then, we decided Kill Bill seemed like an interesting choice. I’ll never forget what an amazing experience I had that day as I was being introduced to Quentin Tarantino’s wacky and bizarre characters. I had only heard of his other films but had never watched them so this language was new to me. No one writes characters like Quentin Tarantino does and perhaps that is why I have more affection for this film than I do Pulp Fiction (although I absolutely love it as well) since it was my introduction to his mind. It’s hard to put into words how I feel about this film. It was impossible to shake off the unique experience of witnessing the Bride’s wrath unfold as she awoke from her four year coma only to find out that she’d lost her unborn baby and her soon to be husband in a church during her wedding rehearsal. Who was this Bill guy and how could he do such a terrible thing? Why would he send his team of personal assassins to kill her? Tarantino decides to take Hattori Hanzo’s own advice about revenge not being a straight line and present this revenge film in non-linear fashion. It’s up to us to piece the scenes together and enjoy the ride. And what a ride it was! The action scenes are highly entertaining and over the top, and the film works as a modern homage of the Japanese films Tarantino grew up loving. Kill Bill is as stylish as it gets. There are very few films that manage to deliver such an amazing visual style and combine it with such an elaborate narrative. Substance and style fit in perfectly in Tarantino’s world to deliver another masterpiece. As much as I was blown away by Volume 1 (and I think it is a much more entertaining watch), I still regarded Volume 2 as the better half since we get more of Tarantino’s wonderful dialogue and everything is executed with perfection. 

“When fortune smiles on something as violent and ugly as revenge, it seems proof like no other, that not only does God exist, you're doing His will.”

Just like Tarantino’s film, this review is all over the place. It’s hard to organize my thoughts and try to write a coherent review. There is so much that one can say about this film, but there is no way I can leave out the performances. Uma Thurman has never been better and I’m sorry but there is no other female character that stands a chance next to her. Once we are introduced to David Carradine as Bill in volume 2 our hatred towards him begins to shake as it’s impossible not to feel some degree of sympathy for his character. The scene where he sits down with her and begins speaking to her about superhero mythology is fascinating. Our disgust towards Bill isn’t close to the level of hatred we feel for the other villains, like Lucy Liu’s O-Ren Ishii who is a completely threatening one. There is a memorable scene where she executes her wrath towards one of the Yakuza bosses who questioned her. The face off between her and the Bride at the end of the first Volume is also gorgeously shot. Then there is Daryl Hannah as Elle Driver, perhaps the most hateful villain in this film. With her one-eyed patch and her non-stop whistling she was a delight on screen and an excellent match for Uma Thurman.  I still can’t get over that whistling tune she constantly hummed. Both Michael Madsen and Vivica Fox also get their opportunities to shine as part of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, but it’s Thurman who carries the film from beginning to end. There is not a moment in the film where the pacing begins to drag, everything is perfectly tuned and Tarantino’s symphony has been perfectly orchestrated. The soundtrack to this film is simply amazing and it plays a huge role in the story as well.   

   

“It was not my intention to do this in front of you. For that I'm sorry. But you can take my word for it, your mother had it comin'. When you grow up, if you still feel raw about it, I'll be waiting.” 

And I will be waiting for that third volume as well. Bring it Tarantino!

“The lioness has rejoined her cub, and all is right in the jungle.”

My Review: The Man with the Iron Fists (2/10)

¨When it comes to money, things get funny¨

The Man with the Iron Fists is yet another early contender for worst film of the year. It seems like this year I have watched far too many terrible movies, and am in desperate need for the first breakout movie of the year. RZA directs this kung fu action/comedy film which fails at many levels. First of all it has too many characters crammed into one film. RZA intended this movie to be over four hours long and divide it into two parts, but instead of that they edited everything and made it into one 100 minute movie. That really hurt the pacing of the film which moves at a ridiculous pace and seems to hurry everything. The film doesn’t works as either an action film or a satire because in the first place the action scenes are quite terrible and in the second it is far from being funny. The script also lacks some clever lines and a better story, while the acting in this film is terrible. I know that in some way this film tries to pay homage to the 70´s Shaw Kung fu films, but it still was messy, and the spoofs really didn’t work. This is one of those movies I really don’t want to spend too much time talking about because I feel it was a complete waste of time. The film may be presented by Quentin Tarantino (because he is friends with RZA and has had his music on many of his own screenplays), but it is far from his work. RZA could have used some help from Tarantino because this is another proof that making violent films isn’t an easy thing.

The film begins by introducing several different characters which are all linked to Jungle Village. A blacksmith (RZA) narrates the action as he tells us what is going on. The leader of the Lion´s clan, Gold Lion (Kuan Tai Chen), has been brutally murdered by Silver Lion (Byron Mann) and Bronze Lion (Cung Le) after they hear that the Governor´s gold is going to pass through their village. Gold Lion was assigned the task of protecting the gold while it was being transported, and now that he has been betrayed, Silver and Bronze Lion prepare an army to steal the gold. In the meantime, Gold Lion´s son, Zen Yi (Rick Yune) decides to avenge his father´s death and attack those responsible. Zen Yi is defeated however by Brass Body (Dave Bautista), who works for the Lion´s clan, but before he´s killed, the blacksmith manages to save him and escape. Silver and Bronze Lion manage to steal the governor´s gold and hide it in Madam Blossom´s (Lucy Liu) brothel. Jack Knife (Russell Crowe), an emissary of the Emperor, happens to be staying at the brothel when all this occurs. While these events are taking place, the blacksmith is caught by Brass Body and has his arms severed. Jack Knife decides to help the blacksmith and makes iron arms for him. They join forces along with Zen Yi and together they face the Lion clan in a blood bath.

As you can tell there are a lot of different things going on at the same time and way too many characters for a short film like this. Everything just seemed so disconnected that it never even worked as a spoof. I really didn’t care much for any of the characters either, and to say that there is no character development whatsoever is an understatement. I also had a lot of issues with the editing of the film with so many chops here and there. The action scenes never felt believable, and everything felt like a complete waste of time. This film may have had some interesting actors working here, but it is just terrible. Please skip this film.

http://estebueno10.blogspot.com/

My Review: Detachment (8/10)

¨A child's intelligent heart can fathom the depth of many dark places, but can it fathom the delicate moment of its own detachment? ¨

Detachment is a very interesting film although I wouldn’t say it`s entertaining. It raises a lot of questions and social issues without giving many answers, but it does make us aware of many problems that our society is facing when it comes to the educational system and parents lack of involvement in it. I thought Detachment was a beautiful film and despite it being a narrative it didn’t seem like one; it is sort of poetic at times and has some great use of imagery. Adrian Brody is such a talented actor, and despite winning the Oscar for his brilliant work in The Pianist, I think he is very underrated in Hollywood. He is so good in this movie, and in my opinion it`s his best performance since The Pianist. He was one of the reasons why I wanted to see this film; the other being that it was directed by Tony Kaye, the man responsible for American History X, which is on my list of favorite films. His films are powerful, thought provoking, and Detachment is not the exception. He can make memorable films although you wouldn’t necessarily call them entertaining. In Detachment we are introduced to a very common problem: education. Kaye makes us wonder whether or not education is the teacher or parent`s responsibility. Probably both, but unfortunately neither seem to be doing a great job and our society is losing its educational battle. Kids seem to find values somewhere else and base their self worth on what their friends think of them, meanwhile parents and teachers seem to do nothing about restoring their value. Parenting and teaching are great responsibilities, and as Brody says in one of his monologues in the movie there should be prerequisites to parenting and not anyone should be allowed too.

Adrian Brody plays a substitute teacher, Mr. Barthes, who believes he has the perfect job because he doesn’t have to carry the burden of identifying or carrying for his students. He can travel from one school to another. He is a lonely, quiet, and sad man who doesn’t like attaching to anyone. He seems to have some disturbing memories about his past and doesn’t like to talk about his problems so traveling from place to place is a good way to remain detached to society. His life will change when he gets his latest assignment at a very problematic school run by Principle Carol Dearden (Marcia Gay Harden). The students in this school give the teachers a very hard time and many of them seem to be going through a living hell. Mr. Barthes identifies with some of the teachers and students here. Mr. Seaboldt (James Caan), Ms. Madison (Christina Hendricks), Ms. Perkins (Blythe Danner), Mr. Wiatt (Tim Blake Nelson), and Dr. Doris Parker (Lucy Liu) are all part of the school faculty and all seem to be going through some sort of personal hardship. Mr. Barthes begins to identify himself with some of these people like Ms. Madison who seems as lonely as he is. He also begins to give special attention to one of his students named Meredith (Betty Kaye) who despite being talented doesn’t really value herself. Another person who begins to influence Mr. Barthes is a young hooker named Erica (Sami Gayle) who he picks up from the street and begins to care for as a child. As much as Barthes wants to remain detached to people he begins to identify with many of them and without realizing it attaching to them.

Detachment has a great cast. As I mentioned before this is Adrian Brody`s best work since The Pianist, but I also have to give a lot of credit to young Sami Gayle who delivers a powerful performance as the lonely hooker who is taken advantage of and really has no self worth whatsoever. Director Kaye seems to raise this issue quite a bit since there are many characters who have little or no self value and in a way Brody`s character tries to teach them that they have value and don’t have to live based on the expectations or values given to them by others. James Caan and Christina Hendricks also give believable performances as part of the faculty. They are very different in character, but I think we all can identify them to some of the teachers we`ve had in the past. There are some very strong performances in this film and also some great dialogues. The script was written by first time screenwriter, Carl Lund, and it really is thought provoking. The imagery that Kaye uses is also very beautiful. There is a sense of claustrophobia as we see these long shots closing in on the school hallway, and emptiness when we see the abandoned classrooms. Detachment might not be an entertaining film you can watch with your friends, but it is a very interesting and thought provoking film.

http://estebueno10.blogspot.com

My Review: Kung Fu Panda 2 (6/10)

¨ My fist hungers for justice! ¨

Po has returned to save China once again in Kung Fu Panda 2; with the same writers (Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger), but a different director (Jennifer Yuh). Many consider that the original Kung Fu Panda is DreamWorks’s best animated film to date; in my opinion their best one is How to Train Your Dragon, but Kung Fu Panda was still a great movie. I had my concerns with the sequel because I knew it was going to be hard to meet expectations. Cars 2 failed in this respect for Pixar, but Kung Fu Panda 2 worked a little better. This film isn’t nearly as good as the 2008 original, but for a sequel it works really well; it probably won`t win an Oscar (Rango seems to have it pretty much locked up this year, although I didn`t like it), but it is still very entertaining and the entire family will have a good time with this movie. The best thing about the film is the animation. Guillermo del Toro was brought in as the creative consultant for the Art Department and it really paid off because the look of the film is impressive and so are the visuals. The story is actually the weakest link, but it works mostly thanks to the characters we grew to love in the first film. There is also an interesting villain, voiced by Gary Oldman, so that was also a plus, but the story was really predictable. After the first 15 minutes you knew exactly what was going to happen at the end. Jean-Claude Van Damme also has a small role as the Master Croc, and it was fun to hear him.

Po (Jack Black) is living in the temple with the five kung fu warriors he has always idolized since he was little: Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Viper (Lucy Liu), and Crane (David Cross). They seem to be training very hard as we hear Po breathing very heavily, but they are actually all staring at how many breads Po can fit into his mouth. Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) calls for Po and tries to teach him about finding inner peace. Po is more of an action kind of Panda and is waiting to show off his kung fu skills as the Dragon Warrior (title which he achieved in the first film). His opportunity comes when the Village where his father Mr. Ping (James Hong) lives is attacked by a group of wolves who are stealing all the metal from the village. The wolves are gathering metal in order to create a secret weapon that will put an end to Kung Fu. They all work for the evil White Peacock named Shen (Gary Oldman) who is threatening to conquer China with this new powerful weapon. There is something about Shen that bothers Po and reminds him of his forgotten past. Po begins to have flashbacks about his childhood and discovers that Mr. Ping is not his actual father. Along with his friends, Po begins a quest to stop Shen before it`s too late, and at the same time discover the truth about his past.

Kung Fu Panda 2 is not as fresh and fun as the first film, but it still was a lot of fun. Po is really a fun character and one can`t help but be reminded of Jack Black when watching Po trying to do his kung-fu stunts. Po is not only voiced by Jack Black, but he seems to be inspired by that character. In the same way there is a scene where we see Master Croc (voiced by Van Damme) do one of his singular moves from his action films. Jack Black is an incredibly funny actor and we find some of that comedy in Po`s animation. Gary Oldman also brought a lot of things to his new character, and he is always great at playing the villain. Kung Fu Panda 2 might not be as good as the original, but that doesn’t mean you won`t have fun with this family friendly film. My only complaint relies in the story, but the animation and visuals make up for it. Kung Fu Panda is a fun film you can enjoy with the family, but not much more than that.

http://estebueno10.blogspot.com/