10-15-2003, 10:43 PM
I saw Kill Bill last saturday, and I had extremely mixed feelings about it.
first off, i think it is one of the most beautiful movies to come out in a good while. It was completely stylzed, but it was done so well that it didnt bother me, it actually impressed me. Every shot seemed to have this amazing aesthetic symmetry to it (I had chills during the whole Uma Thurman vs. Lucy Liu fight scene because i loved that setting so much. The atmosphere was amazing).
Also, the way in which many scenes were shot, not just the way they looked was impressive to say the least. Tarantino has a real eye for positioning the camera. For instance in the scene in which she is looking at the collection of swords, it is a small room, but tarantino has us looking from the floor, from the cieling, through walls etc, but it is all seamless. And, of course, i shouldnt even have to mention that scene in Liu's club where the camera followed like 8 people around, but there we no cuts, it was just crazy crane work.
but all this doesnt mean that i loved the movie. I'll be the first to admit that I have a strange fetish for kung fu movies, but im picky. The violence doesnt bother me, but be consistant, am I supposed to be laughing, or wincing? The fake spraying blood was hilarious, but it seemed to kill the mood sometimes. I know the whole movie is supposed to be taken lightly, but it seemed like 2 different movies. Sometimes completely cool, with ateleast some semblance of realism, and then sometimes randomly off the wall and silly. I know tarantino was making his little homage to the old school films that he loves, but it was so self indulgent in that sense. Half of it was like an inside joke that only tarantino would get. somewhere in america he is giggling like a school girl.
I guess I loved the form, but was unimpressed with the content. A lot More than i can say about the Matrix.....among other things
first off, i think it is one of the most beautiful movies to come out in a good while. It was completely stylzed, but it was done so well that it didnt bother me, it actually impressed me. Every shot seemed to have this amazing aesthetic symmetry to it (I had chills during the whole Uma Thurman vs. Lucy Liu fight scene because i loved that setting so much. The atmosphere was amazing).
Also, the way in which many scenes were shot, not just the way they looked was impressive to say the least. Tarantino has a real eye for positioning the camera. For instance in the scene in which she is looking at the collection of swords, it is a small room, but tarantino has us looking from the floor, from the cieling, through walls etc, but it is all seamless. And, of course, i shouldnt even have to mention that scene in Liu's club where the camera followed like 8 people around, but there we no cuts, it was just crazy crane work.
but all this doesnt mean that i loved the movie. I'll be the first to admit that I have a strange fetish for kung fu movies, but im picky. The violence doesnt bother me, but be consistant, am I supposed to be laughing, or wincing? The fake spraying blood was hilarious, but it seemed to kill the mood sometimes. I know the whole movie is supposed to be taken lightly, but it seemed like 2 different movies. Sometimes completely cool, with ateleast some semblance of realism, and then sometimes randomly off the wall and silly. I know tarantino was making his little homage to the old school films that he loves, but it was so self indulgent in that sense. Half of it was like an inside joke that only tarantino would get. somewhere in america he is giggling like a school girl.
I guess I loved the form, but was unimpressed with the content. A lot More than i can say about the Matrix.....among other things