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Kill Bill: Vol. 1, a review by Antares

Kill Bill Vol. I





Year: 2003
Film Studio: Miramax Films, A Band Apart
Genre: Action, Martial Arts
Length: 111 Min.

Director
Quentin Tarantino

Writing
Quentin Tarantino...Writer
Quentin Tarantino ...Original Characters By
Uma Thurman ...Original Characters By

Producer
Harvey Weinstein (1952)
Bob Weinstein (1954)
Erica Steinberg
E. Bennett Walsh
Lawrence Bender (1957)

Cinematographer
Robert Richardson (1955)

Music
The RZA ...Composer

Stars
Uma Thurman as The Bride
Lucy Liu (1968) as O-Ren Ishii
Vivica A. Fox as Vernita Green
Daryl Hannah as Elle Driver
David Carradine (1936) as Bill
Michael Madsen (1958) as Budd
Julie Dreyfus as Sofie Fatale
Chiaki Kuriyama as Gogo Yubari

Review. Whatever this overrated , Kill Bill vol. 1Natural Born Killers. Surreal scenes of senseless violence interspersed with quirky and campy characters dominate the breadth of this films duration. While this concept worked well in Reservoir Dogs and to a lesser extent in Pulp Fiction, it now seems as fresh as day old bread. Countless scenes that were by the director from his favorite films of the past are re-imagined in his own YojimboSamurai Assassin, to which Uma responds, yes you guessed it, Maybe Quentin should try his hand at commercials. Just think of all the material he could lift and re-use to pay Branded to Kill or Youth of the BeastSamurai Assassin, Sword of Doom or Kill!Samurai Rebellion. For a film with a vengeful female assassin, you only need to watch Lady SnowbloodRatings Criterion

(From Kill Bill Vol. I (2003) on December 9th, 2009)

Spotlight, a review by Antares

Spotlight (2015) 88/100 - I thought I'd never utter or type these words...I've lost my love for films. I've spent a lot of money amassing a large collection of DVDs, which mostly sit in folders, unwatched. Over the last few years, I've bemoaned the fact that a majority of the films coming out of Hollywood are complete crap. A couple of nights ago, I was searching through the Redbox website, and after meandering throughout all the cinemuck, saw Spotlight. I've been pretty much out of the loop as to what's been coming out over the last year, but I knew that this had won the Oscar for Best Picture. I grew up in Massachusetts during the time frame of these atrocities and having attended Catholic schools for 12 years, thought this film might be the one that restores the fire in the dying embers of my film flame... it did. I love a good "journalist investigation" film and this has to rank up there with some of the best. After I finished the film, I went on Criticker and read some of the reviews there. I was surprised to see so many people trashing it, from what I felt, was a misunderstanding of what the film was made for. It's purpose wasn't to make a groundbreaking, technical masterpiece, nor was it made to stir up the crimes of the Catholic church. It was made to show how important a Free Press is to OUR freedom and security. We live in a world where everything is being crammed into either a 15 second sound bite or a 140 character Tweet. It's all disposable information and that's what the corporations, who have taken over our country want. If it's disposable, it's also desensitizing and an apathetic and passive populace is easy prey.

Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is

(From Antares' Short Summations on April 15th, 2016)

My PILOT Marathon, a review by Rich

THE SHIELD - SEASON ONE - PILOT



Detective Vic Mackey leads an aggressive Anti-Gang unit called the Strike Team. They are ramping up their control in the Farmington district, while Captain David Aceveda is working to eliminate corruption in the precinct. Aceveda and Detective Terry Crowley team-up to bring down the Strike Team. Meanwhile, detectives, Dutch Wagenbach and Claudette Wyms, investigate a murder wherein a young girl was kidnapped by the victim's addict husband.

This episode introduces Detective Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis), old-style hardline cop with the most unorthodox crime fighting practices. This pilot illustrates how graphic, violent and gritty the series would probably become.
With the multiple cases happening across the pilot, a snitch on Mackey in his strike team, the murder of a young mother & trading of her missing 8 year-old daughter, drug busts, hookers, barbaric interviews, office politics, and pranks on Dutch, you can't fault this for entertainment.
The ending - superb, shan't spoil it for anyone, but I never saw it coming.
Cast deliver strong performaces, realistic feel, POV camera angles and a powerful script delivers a pilot that will force me to return and watch the full series.
 

(From My PILOT Marathon on May 13th, 2008)