Mindcrime and I went to see Kill Bill yesterday at…
Mindcrime and I went to see Kill Bill yesterday at the Estrogen Mall. I originally wasn’t too eager to see it, but Mindcrime had seen everything else, and I have to admit I was curious, especially after seeing good reviews of the movie. I liked Pulp Fiction and didn’t mind Jackie Brown too much.
Tarantino’s latest film has some really nice moments, a great soundtrack and liquid cinematography, so kudos to the music/sound people and the DOP. Unfortunately, everything that Tarantino contributed to the film, i.e. the direction and writing, etc., was a complete mess. There was no story, no development, nothing to interest the audience except for eye-candy and music. I like a good fight scene as much as the next fellow, but this was one long fight scene, with no payoff, no emotional involvement as I didn’t know or care why any of the characters were doing what they were doing. The studio convinced Tarantino to split the film into two as it was too long; it’s too bad they couldn’t convince him to edit the thing down to a reasonable length, as there were many, many bits that should have been left on the cutting room floor, unecessary scenes that didn’t have anything to do with the story (mainly because there really wasn’t one). Yeah, so Uma Thurman (Is Uma a man or a woman, anyway? I can never quite tell) is getting revenge. For what? Why did they try to kill her? We’re never told, and I stopped caring about anything that was going on on screen after about 20 minutes. The guy sitting next to us eating a large meal was more interesting, though he didn’t have nearly as cool a soundtrack.
I could go on about this film, but it’s really not worth it. I’ve seen worse, more meaningless films, but this one was pretty close to the bottom. I wonder how many films are ruined because the director stops thinking of filmmaking as a collaborative effort and starts believing his own hype, to the point that the movie becomes his own little private wet dream. If I ever get to that point, hopefully I’ll have someone around to tell me to knock it off, because it really seems to result in awful films.
I don’t like to criticize films too much; it’s too easy, and it makes me sound petty. I know filmmaking is difficult, and it’s really hard to put something like that together. But someone needs to counter all of the praise this film seems to be getting for some reason.
Last night I went to a party at the large apartment residence of Iris, who took Trial Kitten off my hands about a year ago. It’s too bad Trial Kitten didn’t become Permanent Cat for me, but I think she’s much better off with Iris, who pampers her. I could have a cat where I am living now, but I am hesitant to put myself (and another cat) through that ordeal again.
