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Had myself a bit of a Tarantino fest over the weekend, indulging in a double feature of Kill Bill, Volume 1 and 2. For some reason, I couldn't be convinced to see Volume 1 when it came out last year, first expecting it was too violent for my tastes and--once persuaded to see it by a friend who emphasized the intrinsic Quentin-ness of the violence--never found time to catch it while it was still running on the big screen.
Fast forward to last night, when seven bucks bought me admission to the magical world of Quentin, times two. Volume 1 was thoroughly, unabashedly entertaining, an impressive feat considering my general aversion to violence. I was surprised to find myself disappointed that it was over. It was as if Quentin made the film with the awareness that fight scenes lasting longer than a few minutes tend to bore me and, thankfully, he kept them short and sweet (and quite entertaining, at that). Volume 2 was grittier, especially a sequence that--while not nearly as graphic or gory as other violent scenes--was truly disturbing in that "Bring out the Gimp" sort of way that only Quentin can master. And I'll be damned if I'm not suffering from an irrepressible case of Uma Thurman worship. She looked exquisite and made me want to run out and sign up for ass-kicking lessons.
Of course, one can't mention a Tarantino flick without gushing about the music. Even after watching Volume 2--with its own clever soundtrack--my ears were still ringing with the beautifully eerie Zamfir closer from the first movie, not to mention the gritty contributions of former Wu Tang Clan producing wiz RZA, new stuff from Ennio Morricone and that ghostly Sonny Bono tune sang by Nancy Sinatra. Cool.
Tarantino is a rather intriguing young lad, isn't he? With regards to music, he's made some comments that ring incredibly true with a true music geek like myself. Around the time Pulp Fiction was released and people were first introduced to Quentin's eclectic musical tastes, he was asked by a reporter how he chooses the music for his films, to which he replied, "I just use songs I'd put on mix tapes for my friends." Love it, Q. You can make me a mix tape anytime, you prince of strangely attractive geekiness.
Posted by ayelet at May 10, 2004 08:49 PMErrr....go shopping with QT:
http://hollywoodlog.typepad.com/hollywoodlog/2004/04/spontaneous_day.html
I wanna go shopping with QT.
Posted by: Vidiot at May 14, 2004 10:30 AMCraig pulled up your site this evening and read the Quentin post out loud to me just now. We did the EXACT same thing in the last couple of weeks! Could not have said it better. I loved the first movie, and the music, cinematography and casting were so amazing that I was riveted from first second to last. Craig went with a friend of ours to see 2 while I stayed home with Mia. The next week I went with a girlfriend while he stayed home (and he was bummed to have to wait to talk about it with me!). Fabulous, both of them. Apparently they were meant to be one long movie. I thought they made a very good decision to do it this way. Fabulous, and in several months we WILL buy the boxed set! YAY QUENTIN!
Side note... have you heard that Quentin is dating Sophia Coppola? (we also loved Lost in Translation) Not exactly the prettiest kids in the world, but they sure would turn out some amazing films...
Posted by: Aviva & Craig at May 11, 2004 08:20 PMI heard that RZA took up playing instruments and learned how to read and write music for the movie. The original material he came up with is amazing-- I anticipate the next Wu Tang album to be their crowning achievement.
Tarantino also pushed his own limits in this movie, as well as Uma Thurman. He's the kind of filmmaker that leaves his collaborators better off for their commitment. They come away feeling like they have gotten better at their respective crafts.
Posted by: James at May 11, 2004 12:34 PM