Kill Bill, Vol. 1 and Chungking Express

I've been on a bit of a Tarantino kick recently, and it's been fun and perhaps even mildly cathartic. (Does 'mild' even work in a sentence with 'cathartic'?) Never having seen either volume of Kill Bill in its entirety, I decided it was about time. So I recruited a housemate and my fleece blanket behind which to hide and went for it.

It is a testament to the director that one can watch this film, at least 80% of which is comprised of violent fight scenes, and not become bored, desensitized, or overwhelmed. Okay, maybe I did get a bit overwhelmed at times but that's why I had Stefan's left arm and my blanket. In any case, Uma Thurman is so kickass, and, as all viewers before and after me, I was obsessed with the crazy teenage killer girl. The dead eyes!

The soundtrack is killer, as is the expected pastiche of genre. It was a rather unconvincing tale, but I didn't have a second to contemplate the irrationality of it all while I was watching it, which is yet another testament to Tarantino. Other favorite bits: Daryl Hannah's white trench coat embellished with trompe-l'oeil belts and buckles, every scene of Uma Thurman's utter bad-assity.

I was told by a professor that Wong Kar-Wai is the Korean Tarantino. Not sure I see that after watching my first of his films. "Chungking Express" (1994) is fresh and real, impressive, but not consistently engaging. Each half of the film is dedicated to a separate story; both detail the heartbreak two young cops experience after breaking up with a girlfriend. The most engaging and beautiful parts of this film were the scenes in which one of the cops speaks to the inanimate objects in his apartment. This film is beautiful because it shows, simply, instances of people and our yearning to connect with anyone or anything at all, and the lengths to which we go to do so. Certain scenes are unspeakably gorgeous, but I was irritated at times by the all too consciously moving camera. It's impressionistic and ephemeral, and thusly true to life.

Movies I plan to see in theaters over break:

-Hugo (Scorcese + 1930s Paris + animation...!@#$%^&*)

-Shame (sex and psychos. enough said.)

-perhaps $3 showings of The Guard and The Rum Diary (only to show my undying love of JD)

-A Dangerous Method (Cronenberg's new film. What's that you say? I get to poke fun at psychoanalysis AND Keira's pout in the same motion picture? Jackpot.)