hamdan Reviews

Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

(yawn) Please finish. Too much of nothing.

[3/10 · 26 October 2003]

OMG! I was incredibly bored watching this two hour cut'em'up film which is the long awaited 'fourth film' for the beloved pop-director Quentin Tarantino. I did get blown away by Pulp Fiction and equally impressed by Reservoir Dogs and Jackie Brown. But where as his previous films build a lot on excellent characters and their makeshift relationships (for instance), I found nothing of that in Kill Bill vol.1. What is this film about?? Apart from a (unlikely) samurai blonde and her misunderstood misguided search for revenge, this film tell nothing of who these people are or what they do for this 'mysterious' Bill. No plot what so ever! There is a scene where Uma Thurman kills some 50 sworded men which probably goes on for 40 minutes, where I desperately hoped for that bloody scene to end - just because it was so extremely tedious. I felt nothing for any of the characters in the film. A two hour show off from QT who seems to have run out of stories to tell. It is so disappointing since Jackie Brown seemed to be such a mature film in QT's collection, and hoping he would evolve more towards this direction. Off course we must take into consideration that hyped films bring strong criticism, BUT that does not forgive that Kill Bill vol.1 has no story or plot. If you fancy watching some bizarre cut'em'up-gore-samurai film, why not watching the real Japanese thing (or something). Neither does Tarantino bring us something new, nor give us a story or characterization worth watching. The only thing that can forgive QT is IF Kill Bill Vol.2 is so ingenious that it brings the two films together is some new revolutionary body of film. Lets hope so.

P.S I love Battle Royal

Bruce Almighty (2003)

Not only a poor comedy but a cynical moral overdose

[1/10 · 26 August 2003]

First of all, Bruce Almighty is a poor shallow comedy. Everyone loves slapstick but this film purely plays on Jim Carrey's wellknown trademark.

This film is not a poor comedy, it is another of those films that help fuel the fear into American.

Few obvious messages in the film: A woman's place in society is to serve her man. Mexicans (Latin's etc.) are the new danger. They are dangerous gang members - lets ridicule them. Russians are unhygienic cynical and are to be avoided.

The film is full of it. It's actually quite scary.

A moral overdose that serves the new world order brought forth to you by a cynical elite.

Buddy (2003)

Polished average shallow audience pleaser

[4/10 · 23 August 2003]

It a bit peculiar that a story that is placed in a part of Oslo where a very high percentage of the local residents is from an Asian background does NOT EVEN SHOW ONE ASIAN OR AFRICAN person, not even as an extra. That fact probably describes Norwegian race relations in general. - However.

NO SPOILERS - ONLY A BRIEF INTRODUCTORY DESCRIPTION:

Buddy portrays four young people living in a flat-share in Oslo. The protagonist are two young men that don't manage to direct their life in any serious fashion, and one might say that the film could be about being indecisive and avoiding responsibility - a sort of fear of growing up. The narrative plays on typical teenage dreams and fantasies and lifestyle role models. Quite the cliché. Although the story is mildly funny, the acting is good and as a 'young person' one can sort of identify with the characters `crazy' situations and complicated love affairs, I don't find the story or the characters very believable. To polished and lacking in depth. This film uses all the classic audience pleasing tricks to make an entertaining film that has as much intellectual depth as `Friends' (yes that show on TV).

Has Norwegian film finally found its identity?: Audience pleasers in well known American style.

How about watching Lukas Moodysson's Tillsammans (Together).