sarea | Kill Bill, car, books

gnrationfo has recast "Kill Bill" with his friends in the starring roles, and I'm O-Ren Ishii. W00t! Jade got cast as Go-Go Yubari, my personal bodyguard. Bwahahahahaha. Fo, this article on Jessica Simpson is for you. Saw Kill Bill this weekend w/ my mom. We liked it, though I had a few issues. My issues w/ "Kill Bill Vol. 1":

1) Didn't find The Bride all that sympathetic. Maybe it's Uma, I don't know. But I don't know enough about her past, etc., to actually feel sympathetic toward her plight. For all I know, she deserved it. When she defeats her opponents, I don't feel any sort of vindication, the way I did, say, when Keanu Reeves beat the crap out of Hugo Weaving.

2) The Bride's atrophied legs. OK, that's great, insert a bit of realism, show us what kind of willpower, etc. she has. But when you've got that juxtaposed with her arms apparently not just NOT atrophied, but in better shape than ever before, that's when I'm like, oh whatever.

3) The Bride dispatching that mass of assassins. Pretty damn boring, especially since it went on for so long, and there were no plot ramifications or emotional resonance. There was also not that much pretty fighting going on (she just kept running them through with her sword; what's so interesting about that?), so all in all, it was kind of a waste.

4) The extremely long pauses. Okay, I understand about drama. I understand about anticipation, tension, etc. But they went on TOO LONG. Long after the tension had already passed. Get an editor.

5) The crazy gushing blood. Again, I understand that this was an artistic choice. I'm not saying it was "wrong." But I do have to say that after awhile, it just seemed stupid and excessive.

6) Vernita Green missed???? I don't care if it was through a cereal box! She's supposed to be a badass KILLER! Don't even tell me that she couldn't aim through a cereal box. She keeps a gun in there; surely she does that because she knows how to work the situation. WhatEVER.

7) But my biggest beef has to be the way O-Ren went out. It was SO LAME. She was supposed to be this total badass! She barely put up a fight!! Unacceptable, especially considering she was fighting The Bride, who should have been (and appeared) exhausted from her fight w/ the mass of assassins.

Now, yes, I get that The Bride supposedly had mad skillz. I get that she was imbued with a sense of vengeance. I get that O-Ren couldn't last too long, or it would make Vernita look even lamer. But still. Considering we got so much of O-Ren's background (and if anyone, I sympathized with her, not The Bride), considering she became top dog of Japan's crime syndicate (not an easy feat, being a) young, b) female, and c) a Chinese-Japanese mutt), considering she was a member of the Deadly Viper Assassin Squad, I expected and needed her to put up an amazing, blow me away fight. If she was going to go down, she wasn't going down easy.

She went down with barely a whimper. Disappointing, to say the least. And her being good? Wasn't just for her character's sake (or to equal the build up that she got). It was also for the sake of The Bride, who I would have respected much more if Vernita and O-Ren had been more difficult to kill. As it was, Go-Go put up the best effort, but even that wasn't as good as it could have/should have been.

Yet despite all those issues, I would see it again. <g> It was very well done, those elements aside, and some of the shots were truly gorgeous. Lucy Liu gets the best entrances (I think her entering the restaurant was my favorite part of the film). I also really liked all the shots in the snow; I don't typically think Lucy is all that attractive, but I have to say that this film made her very attractive (except during the fighting, in which she just looked puny).

I've also gotten a new car to replace the Vette -- a 2004 Corolla. I love it. It's so pretty, and perfect for what I need. It's in Lunar Mist (aka "silver"), and the only thing it's missing is a compass. Got it this weekend; my dad flew up to help me haggle w/ the car folks (I hate that part), and then he drove with my mom in the Vette back down. Initially they were going to take Talis, but they saw how crazy he was, and decided against it. Now I'm supposed to fly with Talis down at some point. My dad so doesn't get how much I hate flying. "Just come down for a long weekend!" he says. Um, if I'm flying anywhere, I'm staying for a significant period of time, thanks.

What else ... Oh, I (finally) finished 3 books. I'm unofficially doing that 50 book thing, and I'm 7 away. W00t! I didn't actually read all 3 in the last week ... a couple of them were ones that I had dragged on and on for one reason or another. They were: Bad Heir Day by Wendy Holden (this was OK, had some clever moments, but I didn't like the heroine all that much and the story was kind of lacking); A Nerd in Shining Armor by Vicki Lewis Thompson (I've wanted to read this one for a long time, as it had been rec'ed to me by several sources, but while it was cute, it didn't really stand out for me; maybe it was too hyped or maybe I've read too many romances ... fanfic tends to be better!); and Stranger Things Happen by Kelly Link (really enjoyed this one; my favorite was "Travels with the Snow Queen"). Now I just have to finish the other 3 books that I'm halfway through, and I'll be good.