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Reviews
Bubble (2005)
Soderbergh's minimalist view on a Gothic small-town 'love triangle': Well worth a glimpse
Lisa Swartzbaum of Entertainment Weekly opened the New York Film Festival screening of "Bubble" by introducing the writer Coleman Hough (a woman, to my minor shock). She said about 10 words and the screening began.
Upon the first scene, any film guru would note that it's amazingly captured on HD. Some scenes I couldn't believe weren't 35mm.
"Bubble" doesn't belittle the simple people it depicts, as many Hollywood-takes-on-small-town-USA films do, but really gives them great depth and complexity. Coming from a small town myself, I felt like I knew the people that were on the screen.
The neurotic "love" triangle that emerges in the film is wonderfully dark and comedic, as is the film entirely. From the assembly of the dolls in the factory to the simple lunch break conversations, everything has a seeded, underlying element of humanity that is both jocular and haunting.
Without giving away anything damaging to the story, "Bubble" is a great escape from Hollywood for both Soderbergh and the public alike with amazing performances by the non-professional leads and supporting cast and an ending that will make you say "Huh?"
8/10 (and for as much as I paid for tickets to the NYFF, Soderbergh should've been there dammit!)
Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)
See it twice...trust me.
Quentin Tarantino is a cinema god in my mind. The guy is brilliant. So when I bought advance tickets to see the second volume of Kill Bill, getting to the theatre an hour early, getting incredible seats, I was ready for KBv2 on opening night.
Sadly, I was disappointed. I felt terrible for not liking a movie made by my hero, and, in liu of the message boards, shared the same sentiment as others.
"There was too much dialogue, there wasn't enough action. Sure the acting was awesome, but the 'anti-climactic ending' left it in vain."
But that was Friday. When invited to see it again on Sunday, I felt I owed it to QT to see this film again. Besides, the first time I saw Reservoir Dogs I hated it, saw it again, and loved it. It turned out to be the best decision I made all year. I mean WOW! I must have fallen asleep because everything in this film was AWESOME!! The action, the humor, the dialogue, the ending, the acting, the cinematography. EVERYTHING ~! People are arguing which volume was best, but it's all one film, so just think of it as such. It's Quentin's masterpiece.
Nearly 4 hours of WOW.
So I beg to all of the haters of KBv2 to give it another shot. It changed me and my views. Go QT!!
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
Extreme gore/violence don't hinder its masterpiece stature!
I was lucky enough to experience Quentin Tarantino's new kung-fu-esque film "Kill Bill: Vol. I" on opening day. What a rush! To quote "Trainspotting," "Take the best orgasm you've ever had and multiply it by a thousand and it still doesn't come close."
The music, which is always a key aspect in Quentin's films, was dead on. The cinematography was beyond belief. Acting was superb, especially Uma, she came out like a rocket. The humor is the epitome of comedic excellence with jokes you wouldn't expect from a kung-fu flick, and others you would(like the spewing, lawn sprinkler-like blood effects). "Pussy Wagon." Haha! The action sequences rival all Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and Jet Li films put together. Just all around awesome. Plus, the ending leaves you begging for more!
Despite it's excellence, it's hard to believe that this received an R rating for a clearly worthy NC-17. The blood!?! The severed limbs!?! Although there was a lack of the recognizable Tarantino vulgarity(that I personally love), the gore covers the swearing's ground.
Still, "Kill Bill: Vol. I" takes the cake for the best film (so far) this year, quite possibly one of the best of the decade, and puts Tarantino back on the tongues of movie-goers of all sorts.
Identity (2003)
I'm still replaying it in my mind...
Definitely worth my 6 bucks. Identity totally blew my pessimistic expectations out of the water. Expecting a run-of-the-mill, "who done it" horror/crime thriller, this film kept me thinking about the storyline for days. A unique screenplay well acted and shot through its entirety, not to mention one of the most innovative twists in a horror film I have ever seen! Some might think that the revealed killer would make the entire movie lame and preposterous, almost making you want to throw something at the screen, but it must be placed into context of the mind behind the "killings". Simply brillantly directed by James Mangold, he really put the viewer into the mind of the deranged and troubled psychopath. I would recommend this film to anybody that wants to see a truely original, thought-provoking thriller.