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Whacking Permalink Archive 4 October 2004 Who's gonna win? Up until two weeks ago, I'd have said Labor by a nose. Now I think it'll be the coalition by that nose. Even Newspoll - which shows Labor ahead in two-party-preferred figures - shows them behind in key marginal electorates. The professional pundits seem to be favoring Howard. But then again, they favoured Hewson in '93. Prediction? The coalition by 4 seats, with the Greens having the balance of power in the senate. Then again, a Labor victory won't surprise me in the slightest. Should Howard win a 4th term, the left in this country will simply go out of their minds with rage. That alone makes it worth hoping for. If
Howard loses, I hope that the Shooters
Party has something to do with it.
I caught up with the DVDs of Kill Bill vol.1 and Kill Bill vol.2. Tarantino's opus, split into two movies at the last minute, is unlike anything Tarantino - or anyone else for that matter - has ever done before.
Vol.1.... The giant showdown between The Bride and the yakuza army is the movie's centrepiece, and it's a bloody yawn. I find wire-fu pansy fight choreography - just as in The Matrix and Crouching Tiger - incredibly dull, and this sequence just goes on and on and bloody on. Quite simply, it sucked so much energy out of the movie that by the time the final confrontation happened, I just didn't care anymore. Pity really, because there was so much I enjoyed about the movie. The inspired anime sequence showing the backstory of O-Ren Ishii, Sonny Chiba's philosophical swordsmith/sushi chef, the brief and brutal battle between The Bride and GoGo Yubari, the kitchen scene with Vivica Fox, the beautiful cinematography and the magnificent soundtrack. The film ends with an interesting plot development, though with the entire backstory yet to be told. While Vol.1 certainly had it's moments, I was hoping for considerably more from the next instalment. Vol.2.... ...and it delivered. A drastically different creature to Vol.1, Vol.2 has everything the first lacked: a compelling narrative, character development, actual tension, more sedate pacing and a genuine sense of gravitas. I won't give away any plot points: seeing this movie unfold in such an unexpected way is the chief pleasure of the film. This time, Tarantino does his genre-hopping completely within the confines of the story telling, rather than having it seem like a disconnected series of stylistic film school wanking sessions. This time, it's style with substance. A few brief comments; -
for the first time, Darryl Hannah manages to a) look hot, and b) give
a good performance. The last act of the film - involving David Carradine as Bill - is unlike anything you could expect and may be Tarantino's finest moment. Overall,
Kill Bill shows Tarantino at his best and worst. Thanks largely
to vol.2, it's mostly his best. Recommended.
The Green Left Weekly is throwing a hissy fit over Animal Farm:
Memo
to commies: you idiots lost. Get over it.
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Super-quick
plot summary: Uma Thurman as 'The Bride' awakes from a coma four years
after being shot at her own wedding. She goes after the assailants: her
former colleagues in a squad of international assassins, led by Bill (David
Carradine).
