Deadly Cinema

[Johann]

I think I'll write a little more about Kill Bill vol. 1 than I have- I'm taking an hour break from this unbelievably gorgeous city- it's just too good to not say something else about it.

There would be mountains of criticism to aim at Tarantino if he hadn't seen it coming before he lensed his greatest work yet:

-Uma Thurman has got some ugly-ass toes
-Do we need to see decapitations and scalping?
-Would you let your girlfriend drive a truck named the "Pussy Wagon?"
-The gratuitous violence is too excessive and it is a bad influence on the youth of today.

Fuck all that- QT delivers a ham-handed knockout punch with vol. 1. The editing is rapid-fire and pristine. Each cut is a cut to a new perspective, a new bit of info, a new cinema, a great cinema, a way of telling a story with a camera that both honors all the films that influenced it and forges a new standard.

Kill Bill might be the film that inspires me to make a movie of my own. I have to think about it hard, because making movies is an ass-kicking vocation.

The "Shaw-scope" opening, the seranading by Nancy Sinatra, the gunplay, swordplay, laser-sharp dialogue, California cool and Japanese jigoku make a clear case for Tarantino's cinematic immortality.

He hit the nail on the head with this flick.
You cannot look away from the screen. Electric images, dynamite soundtrack (par for the course). Tarantino is someone who deserves recognition.
Fuck those QT fans who salivate over his cinema- he made that movie for people who worship films, not for sycophantic
hip-wannabes.

Awesome job, Quentin. You have a fan from Canada who truly appreciates what you do.

[HorseradishTree]

Very nice points.

In elaboration to the gratuitous violence affecting youth today thing, they shouldn't blame Tarantino for this. First off, if anyone hadn't noticed, the movie's rated R. Therefore, this puts the responsibility onto the parent. If you don't want violence in your kid's life, DON'T TAKE THEM TO AN R RATED FILM. Nincompoops. When I saw it, a guy brought his toddlers in. This doesn't seem very responsible to me.

It's not QT's fault that so many parents are taking their kids to this film. He also didn't make the film with a target demographic of 12-17. He didn't have demographics in mind. People should really quit whining already.

[HorseradishTree]

Whoa, just realized i sounded deathly hypocritical, being only 15 and having seen the film. Lemme rework that. I'll think of something soon enough.

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by HorseradishTree
If you don't want violence in your kid's life, DON'T TAKE THEM TO AN R RATED FILM. Nincompoops. When I saw it, a guy brought his toddlers in. This doesn't seem very responsible to me. It's not QT's fault that so many parents are taking their kids to this film.

I agree. It's the parents' fault, and I've also observed the same phenomenon. As a mental health professional, I am perhaps a bit more aware of the damage that exposure to R-rated material can do to preteens. It's not only the intensity of the images but the messages implied, for instance, about violence as a viable and righteous course of action.

The answer is certainly not censorship. Providing information to parents is paramount. I think the ratings system does a decent job but can be improved. I'm becoming a bit concerned about some of the sex and violence in PG-13 movies. Many parents fail to recognize the difference between PG and PG-13. The latter now includes material that only a few years ago would earn a film an R.

Another complaint I have is the Board's inflexibility and failure to take into account the overall message of a film. Take Billy Elliott and I Capture the Castle, good films with positive, inspirational messages for youth. I didn't take the kids because they were rated "R". Curse words said in anger and an exposed breast are not reason enough to deny kids the important messages contained therein.
That's my opinion anyway.

[tabuno]

If I had to choice having a teenager see graphic violence which seemed to lack a moral underpinning except revenge as in Kill Bill, I think The Missing to be on a higher moral ground as well as exposing violence in a light much more to reality and more valuable to society.

[Johann]

I'm seeing Kill Bill vol.1 again at the Max Linder Panorama cinemas tonight.

the website: www.maxlinder.com

About parents- you are dumb as a stick if you take your child to Kill Bill. I wouldn't let my kids see Kill Bill unless they were 14, mature for their age and WITH ME. That tag "parental advisory" seems to have gone out the window. It has been treated like a joke, and if I ran a theatre I would strictly enforce it. (The Pacific Cinematheque enforces an age 18 restriction- they have turned away families from Europe who want to see a film from their native land because their son or daughter is not 18!)

What is wrong with cineplexes? Enforce the fucking law! parents have a hard enough time as it is.
Worrying if little Johnny is sneaking into Kill Bill should not be on their minds...