July 16, 2003
Killing Bill Twice
The Times reports that Quentin Tarantino's eagerly awaited film, Kill Bill, will be released in two parts, versus one. Kill Bill's press machine has been in overdrive, ever since it was Tarantino, after a five-year break, directing Uma Thurman in China, with lots of kung fu and wire work...yeah, you know the story.
About a revenge-seeking female assassin after being in a five year coma caused by a hit on her wedding day, the first part would still be released on October 10, it's up in the air when the second part will be. Since the trailers have been saying "In 2003, Uma Thurman Will Kill Bill," we suggest it might be nice for Miramax to release part 2 in 2003. Oh, Gothamist used "nice" and Miramax in the same thought. We haven't read the script; maybe Bill comes to life again for part 2. Or maybe she starts to kill Bill at the end of part 1 and then part 2 picks up with the rest of the killing. Hey, this could work.
In the article, Harvey Weinstein reasons that "Miramax is the house Quentin Tarantino built" with the watershed Pulp Fiction, and therefore Tarantino has "carte blanche" with his projects. Carte blanche Gothamist's ass, that's pure Miramax spin. Whatever, Weinstein probably wants to seem director friendly, after not getting a Best Director Oscar this past year. To add insult to injury, there was his quote from Paul Dergarabedian, a box office analyst: "Tarantino is something of an innovator who takes audiences into different realms." Gothamist is reminded of a Jeffrey Wells' piece about how Dergarabedian is over-quoted, really boring and a mouthpiece for movie studios and it smakes sense: "An innovator who takes audiences into different realms" is like what Tarantino's mom probably says about him. We doubt the non-Pulp Fiction like reception for Jackie Brown, an underrated gem (and very rentable movie if there ever was one - do it), made Harvey happy. We're excited about Kill Bill, but don't even try selling Gothamist that bill of goods about directorial carte blanche Harvey. Don't even.
A lively Bluejake discussion about a few crappy Miramax releases last year: Gangs of New York and Pinocchio.
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at this point, tarantino has to win people like me back- he's fucked up so many of his last films that i don't trust him anymore. i mean, he's such an egomaniac that he actually makes me ill.
His antics are more annoying than his movies. I mean, when you saw last few movies, those movies would be all his movies: Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Ficiton, and Jackie Brown. There was that awful Four Rooms segment, but...
I like what he's doing at Miramax with Rolling Thunder - really getting behind Asian films - but there's a Tarantino saturation point, he's such a whore on talk shows and is a camera hog...he's like the Jim Carrey of directors.
Yes, because of Rolling Thunder I got to see Chung King Express on the big screen. Had no idea about it before he released it. That's worth a lot, right? Well, it is to me. But Kill Bill is yet another big action film with a great trailer. Which worries me, if I'm going by this Summer's track record. But then I remember that like you said, Jen, his past films are all really good. I like Tarantino. He's a big film nerd like most of my friends, cept rich and famous. I think the trick is to just read his print interviews. Usually he has interesting things to say about film and is not mugging for the cameras.
It's about time a famous director brought the Kung Fu genre back into the spotlight for mainstream western audiences. I can't wait for this original blend of arthouse cinema and martial arts action.
Has anyone watched Reservoir Dogs or Pulp Fiction since they came out? They do not stand up against the test of time. They were funny, shocking, unpredictable and soo cool when they first came out, but view them now and the flicks are boring, silly and crazy self-indulgent. Very sad, but interesting from a "What stands the test of time?" perspective.
If it were your job, as Tarantino's publicist, to manage his reputation/comeback in the media what would you do?
To me, it seems pretty lazy and contrived to re-introduce him to the public in a feature in the New York Times. At least there's a minor news hook re: 2-parter. But I'm in the two glasses half empty camp. I mean how much excitement is there around Matrix Revolutions? "On Nov. 5, Zion is invaded by machines!" Whoopiee.
I'll take one really great movie, thanks. Spare me two mediocre halves and the extra $9 ... since now we'll need it to fork over to the thieves at the MTA.
Okay, this is off-topic, but how funny is it in "Queer Eye for the Straigt Guy - Ep. Butch" when Carson says, "Show me on the doll where the bad man touched you."??
It's quite likely, given Tarentino's penchent for overly-complex story structures, that Bill is, in fact, killed at the beginning of the movie and the rest of the film plays out in flashback.
Snore. Just what I don't need. That along with Bruce Willis and John Travolta cameos.
I'm about as anti-tarantino as it comes (mostly based on the argument that three and half films does not make one an auteur) but i still find myself sucked into his brilliant media machine. that article in the new yorker last fall about his publicist(i think this is what jen is referring to in her post) totally opened my eyes to the way his "image" has been deftly manipulated to give him such critical cachet. yeah, rolling thunder did some good work but can he be more grandiose? that trailer is completely over the top. and the website for the film's not much better. yet i'm psyched to see the movie. damn him and his spin doctors!
While QT is certainly the single-most influential director of the 1990s, you're fooling yourself if you think that "Kill Bill" is going to be anything other than a helluva B-movie thrillride. QT and Harv have admitted as much. I can't see any benefits from splitting a movie conceived as a single piece into two, other than the obvious financial upside. I say worst. Let's hope it's just the Buzz Machine talking and that this rumour never comes to fruition.
He was in the Spin Doctors?
He needs a better spin doctor to create any excitement around his dated, video store geek, played-out self. Even sweaty Uma in an ugly tracksuit swinging a sword isn't enuf.
btw, JJBHL is probably the funniest nickname I've heard in ages. props.