The Grandmaster Movie Review

Admittedly, I’ve never given the films of Wong Kar Wai a fair shake. I tried 2046 a few years back and found it, at the time, to be a little inaccessible and didn’t finish it. And from what I know about his style, I get the sense they require deep focus and a high level of mental commitment. Probably they key is to see his movies in the theater where there are no distractions. Anyone who wants to know what happens when a director of Chinese melodrama tackles the martial arts genre need look no further than The Grandmaster. I suppose it’s almost inevitable that every Asian director gets around to doing it at least once. But only Won Kar Wai can do it and make it about something that isn’t really action-oriented at all.

Short Cut Movie Review From My Collection: Kill Bill Volume 2

A Short Cut Movie Review is normally less than 400 words, but in some cases may go slightly over. This is my attempt to keep writing about as many films as I see without getting bogged down with trying to find more to say. They are meant to be brief snapshots of my reaction to a movie without too much depth.

It was hard to see after Kill Bill Volume 1 where the entire epic was headed and what the point of it all was, but then Kill Bill Volume 2 truly tied it all together. I judge it a better film overall when considering them as two separate entities if only because it feels much more complete.

I don’t much care for the opening black and white scene of The Bride (Uma Thurman) driving while narrating the events of her recent life. It’s a scene that I always thought was tacked on (likely a reshoot) when the Weinstein’s refused to allow Tarantino to release it as one four hour film. So the scene serves as an introductory recap of the first film.

What works really well in the Volume 2 is that we finally get to see Bill (David Carradine) in an early scene that shows how the massacre at the chapel went down. During the wedding rehearsal, The Bride finds him sitting outside playing his flute. The tense conversation gives way to feelings of comfort until the rest of the assassins arrive for mayhem.

Just about everything about this film works better including the lengthy flashback showing how The Bride learned her skills from Pai Mei, the unforgiving teacher for whom she nevertheless has tremendous respect. This sequence informs the double level of revenge she seeks toward Elle (Darryl Hannah) when she confesses to having killed Pai Mei. Also the whole section involving Budd (Michael Madsen) and The Bride’s burial in a coffin from which she manages to escape using a brutally painful Pai Mei technique. Then the final showdown between Bill and The Bride, staged not as a brawling climax but as a reflective, semi-apologetic, emotional comedown from all that has transpired over the course of the two films. We learn the nature of their relationship and fully understand both the tragedy and necessity of killing Bill.

“The woman deserves her revenge. And we deserve to die,” says Budd. Yes, but that doesn’t mean you go without a fight.

Tarantino’s epic turns on qualities like honor, fealty to ideology, and loyalty to family and loved ones. And most importantly of course, revenge for past transgressions. He accomplishes it all with great visual style ad flare while imbuing the ending with genuine emotion.

From My Collection: Kill Bill Volume 1 Movie Review

It always felt like Kill Bill needed to be taken as a single four hour movie rather than the two individual parts it was broken into. That seems obvious, right? It’s one story. It was conceived as one film and split up for marketing reasons. But not every multi-part film series necessarily has to be taken as one shot. As incomplete as any one of the Lord of the Rings films is, they can each be taken as films unto themselves individually. Kill Bill Volume 1 feels unfinished in a way that no other “first part” film has ever felt to me, and it all makes a lot more sense after seeing Kill Bill Volume 2.

Modern Classic Movie Review: The Matrix

There are those moments when going to see a new movie in the cinema can allow you to be a witness to a sea change in filmmaking. When The Matrix was released in March 1999 I don’t recall thinking much about it beforehand in the way of anticipation. But when the movie finished, I had but one thought in my head: “Tremendous!”

The Matrix utilized state of the art technology and equipment to employ special effects in ways that augmented the story rather than supplanting it like so much of the effects-driven tripe we see now. Beyond the fantastic look of the film, it’s also a movie that strives to say something interesting. It is philosophical in nature, asking the BIG questions about destiny, technological advancement, the nature of reality and the meanings of these things for humanity. Andy and Larry Wachowski, who wrote and directed the film, are clearly movie and comic book nerds (a term I use without derision) with a solid background knowledge of the classics.

Modern Classic Movie Review: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

From about the mid-1990s to the first years of the twenty-first century, starting with the mainstream introduction of Jackie Chan in North America, Asian martial arts films achieved something beyond the cult status they once had. It was probably a question of time and perhaps somewhat inevitable that eventually one would go on to garner the kind of awards that indicate a certain level of popular acceptance. That it happened only five years after Jackie Chan’s first US hit, Rumble in the Bronx, is somewhat remarkable.

When Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was released it quickly became one of the most successful subtitle films of all time. It was nominated for 10 Oscars – a record for a foreign language film. There were reports of applause in movie theaters at the conclusion of the first fight and chase sequence along the rooftops. Although it continued a grand tradition of martial arts films involving mysticism, the warrior’s philosophy, and seemingly supernatural powers, this was the first time it was not only seen en masse, but with stunning production value.