Archive for January, 2004

A couple of film critics for the Star Tribune discuss Kill Bill’s Oscar snub:

C.C.: The shutout of “Kill Bill Vol. 1″ is a sad sign of the motion picture academy’s stodgy approach to the nomination process. The film was the coolest of the cool last year, made with a craftsmanship and excitement for the possibilities of filmed entertainment that was matched by only a handful of features. For anyone interested in seeing movies that push the limits, it was the film to beat last year. Ignoring it because its creative roots reach down to disreputable low-budget revenge flicks is unforgivable snobbery.

J.S.: To have nominated “Kill Bill” would have reduced the prestige of winning an Oscar to one step above getting the Key to the City of Omaha. The movie was an exercise in excess and self-indulgence. Yes, some of the imagery was impressive — the first time. But writer/director Quentin Tarantino was operating under the premise that anything worth doing once was worth doing four more times. His biggest accomplishment was convincing the studio that the movie was so brilliant that it couldn’t be cut and, thus, had to be released in two installments. I could have cut it down to about half an hour — including the trailers.

C.C.: Baloney. If “City of God,” a Brazilian ghetto crime drama that’s at least as bloody and wrenching as “Kill Bill,” deserves a best-director nomination, Q.T. was robbed.

The teaser trailer for Kill Bill Volume 2 is now online in Quicktime format. I like the black & white 1950′s era style for it.

UPDATE: Apple now has the teaser at their site as well.

This is probably just Tarantino thinking outloud rather than a serious film idea, but you never know:

“I’ve thought of prequels and sequels,” he said. “I had this great idea where we wait five years and come back not with the Bride as the main character, but Vernita’s (Vivica A. Fox) daughter as the main character. It would be fifteen years in the future, and the Bride (Uma Thurman) would be in a wheelchair.”

The theatrical release date for Kill Bill Volume 2 has officially been pushed back to April 16th, 2004 in the US. It was originally scneduled for a February release. Rumor is, its worldwide opening may be at the Cannes Film Festival.

UPDATE: FoxNews has Quentin’s explanation of the delay:

Tarantino told me that we will not be seeing “Kill Bill: Vol. 2″ until April instead of the planned February release. “To make that date I would have had to come back from promoting ['Vol. 1'] and go right back into editing,” he said. “I had to take a break.”

Not sure quite what to make of this, but there’s a Kill Bill DVD on Amazon Marketplace for sale for about $26. The seller has a very high rating and a ton of transactions, so it may be legit.

UPDATE: Amazon has opened pre-orders for the Kill Bill DVD.