My Top 48 Movies of the Last Decade: Part IV

I know it took longer than it should’ve, but damn it I finally finished the list!

Previously…

My Top 48 Movies of the Last Decade: Part I

My Top 48 Movies of the Last Decade: Part II

My Top 48 Movies of the Last Decade: Part III

—————————————

And now the top 12:

12. Spider-Man 2 (2004)

Director: Sam Raimi/Writers: Alvin Sargent, Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, Michael Chabon

Spider-Man 2, in my mind, is an indie movie behind the guise of a summer blockbuster. Remove the red and blue spandex and you’ve got a light drama about a young man trying to deal with a secret that could jeopardize the relationships with his career friends, his family, and the love of his life. In fact, Tobey Maguire spends more time as Peter Parker than being Spider-Man. It has to be the least amount of screen time we actually see a titular superhero in a superhero movie. There are tender quiet moments, like scenes between Parker and pre-villain Dr. Octavius, played by indie favorite Alfred Molina that compliment the intense action sequences at the end of the movie. It’s definitely a daring move for a supposed popcorn movie. Luckily, we would continue to see this shift towards respectability for comic book movies in the decade, leading up to some great movies like Iron Man and The Dark Knight.

The franchise has some classic comic book series to work from and here Raimi and company picked one of the most recognized, the “Spider-Man No More” plot line. Oscar-winning screenwriter Alvin Sargent, with the help of Sam Raimi, went through dozens of earlier drafts to come up with a fantastic final script. Admittedly, there’s also some elements from another exceptional sequel, Superman II, but there are enough comic book elements to appease the purists.

And it’s great to see a passionate Sam Raimi working. Here he’s set loose, not restrained by any studio meddling. His Evil Dead-style rapid fire direction fits perfectly into this ever kinetic comic book world. Amazing sequences like the Doc Ock hospital sequence (amazing) and the elevated train fight just looks like Raimi was having fun. The use of “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” and Mary Jane’s run through New York City with a wedding dress on are quirky odd choices, but it works.

Some of these movies on the list are ones that have affected me personally and I can easily say that this movie has. The love story may be simplistic, but it’s one that I can certainly relate to. Of course, the stylized action and comic book goodness helps. This is the best comic book movie (not superhero movie, there’s a slight difference) of the decade. All hail the perfect Spider-Man movie!

—————————————

11. Minority Report (2002)

Director: Steven Spielberg/Writers: Scott Frank and Jon Cohen

Minority Report, intentional or not, is a perfect allegory for the post-September 11th/Patriot Act world. In the Spielberg-directed sci-fi classic (that’s right, I just used that word), in 2054 in a futuristic Washington D.C., a method has been developed where crime can be predetermined and arrests can be made before the crime is ever committed. Justice is no longer put in the hands of a jury but a select few, hidden behind bureaucracy and glass walls. So where does that leave “innocent before proven guilty”?

Inevitably the tables are turned and the man leading the charge in this “Pre-crime”, Tom Cruise’s John Anderton, is himself chased by the system he was desperately trying to uphold. The setup might be retreading on some concepts we’ve seen before but it’s brought together so well thanks to Spielberg’s undeniably steady hand, that it all seems fresh and new. In the sub-genre of sci-fi chase films, like Total Recall or THX-1138, Minority Report pushed the reset button. Since then there have been many imitators like Paycheck and The Island and one that’s a notch above (see the number 9).

In the film, scenes that would seen as mundane are expertly shot. Crafted like only a one of the best living directors can. That’s Spielberg for you. Nearly each frame of the movie should be hung on walls and appreciated in art galleries; that’s how beautiful I think the movie is. And each action scene in the movie is something you’d expect the master of action to do. The chase scene in the alleyway and the fight scene in the assembly plant are some of best constructed and most intense I’ve seen. Minority Report is up there with Spielberg’s previous great popcorn movies, like Jurassic Park and Raiders of the Lost Ark. I can rightly compare it to some of his best dramatic work like Saving Private Ryan. It’s one of his best.

Performance wise, Tom Cruise expands on what could have been just Future Mission:Impossible. It’s a safe role for Cruise, though, as he delivers lines like “Everybody runs” like they were marketable catchphrases. Luckily it’s not Cruise just playing Cruise, here he adds enough depth and emotion that all that familiar Cruise-smarminess is forgiven. The smarminess, in fact, comes from Colin Farrell who plays John Anderton’s foil. It’s a great match up and the few minutes the two are on screen are a highlight.

A popcorn movie and a terrific allegory for the tumultuous times we were in (or still in), Minority Report is one of the smartest action movies I’ve ever seen and one of the best sci-fi movies of the decade.

—————————————

10. Zodiac (2007)

Director: David Fincher/Writer: James Vanderbilt

Director David Fincher has been here before, sort of.

Zodiac and 1995’s Se7en share a lot in common at first glance. Both deal with the hunt for an all too smart serial killer. Each film has a pair of detectives on the hunt for the killer. The similarities end there though. Zodiac is smarter and is leaps and bounds above Fincher’s previous serial killer movie Se7en. In fact, Zodiac is David Fincher’s best film. It’s a twist on the serial killer thrillers we’ve all grown tired of, which began with Fincher’s quintessential Se7en. Zodiac is the serial killer movie to end all serial killer movies.

It starts out like all the others, and if you don’t know the history then you’d expect this to end like all the other Ashley Judd/Morgan Freeman thrillers. The real Zodiac Killer was never caught, so how can there be a satisfying end to this serial killer movie? John Doe was caught and Fincher would never dare alter history in order to deliver the necessary amount of closure. So, halfway through the movie it stops being a police procedural and becomes a story of obsession.

One of the real life men who followed the trail of the Zodiac Killer was San Francisco Chronicle cartoonist Robert Graysmith, played in the film by Jake Gyllenhaal. When the killer’s trail goes cold, the story shifts from the cops’ point of view to his story. It’s an amazing performance from the actor, who plays the role as young and naive at times, but then shifts to a man completely obsessed. He loses a lot in his quest to solve the case long thought dead. And why does he do it? Is it for the fame? The same thirst for fame that drove the Zodiac killer to play cat and mouse with him? Or is it just the need to solve one of the biggest cases in history? “I like puzzles”, Graysmith shyly says.

Perhaps his ultimate reward is knowing he’s solved the unsolvable. In probably the best discussion in a cafe booth since Heat, Gyllenhaal’s Graysmith lays it all out for Detective Dave Toschi (played by Mark Ruffalo). He starts from the beginning, and with the use of salt and pepper shakers, goes beat by beat, and like a lawyer’s closing statements, states his case. It’s an amazing scene and an interesting character piece, one that shows of Gyllenhaal’s potential.

It blows my mind that this movie didn’t receive the awards acclaim that it deserved (especially one for Fincher’s perfect camerwork). Zodiac is without a doubt one of the most underrated of the decade. Everyone involved are at the height of their talent and Zodiac does what so few movies do, entertain and solve real life murders all at the same time.

—————————————

9. Children of Men (2006)

Director: Alfonso Cuarón/Writers: Alfonso Cuarón, Timothy J. Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby

The look and direction in Children of Men, by Alfonso Cuarón, is surely some of the most influential of the decade. Spielberg’s Minority Report started the whole new age of a blue grainy future and Cuarón raised the stakes. It’s a bleak world, where women can no longer give birth. It’s filled with terrorism, an immigration problem, and an ever present police state (sounds familiar, right?).

Clive Owen stars as a man hired by a rebel group to escort a woman who’s new found pregnancy could be humanity’s only hope. It’s a classic leading man role played with the classiness that only someone like Owen can bring. Children of Men is one reason why Owen is one of my favorite actors around. He’s a man who isn’t entirely sure of the cause he’s brought in to fight for. His friends die and he’s ready to just give up at times but he ultimately has hope. And that’s what the movie is about: hope. Sure the movie is riddled with death, like so many others on this list, but as war is happening around them, Owen and his fellow rebels find out that the most important thing is human life.

As to hit the nail on the head, Cuarón constructs an action sequence that feels all too poignant now. Owen and the mother of the first born child in years make their way through a warzone. Bystanders are shocked and in awe, soldiers put down their arms and the gunfire that rang so heavy earlier stops. It’s all too clear what the film is trying to say.

Sequences like that are all throughout. There are two sequences in particular that rank as some of the best of the decade. Both are single take shots (or carefully edited to look like single takes) and they’re amazing to say the least. Here’s one:

Children of Men is an action movie, a drama, and a fantastic allegory for our world today (or what it’ll soon be). It’s without a doubt THE best sci-fi movie of the last ten years.

—————————————

8. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

Director: Michel Gondry/Writers: Charlie Kaufman, Michel Gondry, Pierre Bismuth

This is the best love story of the last decade.

I’d be lying if Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind didn’t affect me personally. And I wasn’t the only one apparently, as the movie is now a favorite of so many. It speaks to everyone who’s been in a relationship, and more specifically those who’ve dealt with a breakup. It’s tough getting over a breakup, so what if there was a way to completely erase all the memories of your ex? That’s just what the movie deals with, as Jim Carrey’s quiet introvert Joel Barish sets to complete erase ex-girlfriend Clementine, played by the lovely Kate Winslet, from his mind.

It begins simply enough, with what looks like a love-at-first-sight story. But then the movie delves into a  journey through the brain. Director Michel Gondry captures the look and feel of memories and dreams so well. As the procedure to complete erase Clementine from his mind begins, we’re with Joel in his head as he suddenly resists the mental erosion. Joel tries to save his memories and it turns into an amazing chase movie.

Carrey plays subdued and quiet so well here. It’s his best performance since The Truman Show. It’s a shame that he just doesn’t stick with brilliant independent fare like this. And it’s no surprise that Winslet gives plays the object of affection, as she’s too damn adorable not to love. But the brilliance is that she’s lovable at times but she’s way too complex, just like a real woman. While a Sandra Bullock or a Jennifer Aniston would’ve turned Clementine into a vapid simpleton, Winslet makes it real.

It helps that the script is quite amazing. It did win the Academy Award for Original Screenplay, deservedly so. Writers Charlie Kaufman, Michel Gondry, and Pierre Bismuth constructed a möbius strip of a film. It becomes a brain teaser as its non-linear approach complicates things. It wraps around itself while making its point quite clear: love is irreversible. The couple meet in the beginning and in the end, but under two different circumstances, and each time it looks like they’re destined to be together (yeah it’s complicated).

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is high concept, yes, but with it has the adequate amount of heart to make it one of my favorites.

—————————————

7. Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Director: Edgar Wright/Writers: Edgar Wright & Simon Pegg

Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost. Yes, you know what you’re getting when you hear those names together.

Their first collaboration together was the fantastic UK TV show Spaced. It’s now one of my favorites and I always seem to go back and rewatch the short run of 14 episodes every chance I get. The show was made for my generation as it was injected with some references of some of my favorite things like The X-Files, Star Wars, and The Matrix. There was one reference in particular that looked to hint at the trio’s first feature: a Resident Evil-Zombie love fest.

The transition from TV screen to silver screen was smooth to say the least. Their feature length zombie love fest Shaun of the Dead is equally as fun and hilarious as Spaced. Writers Wright and Pegg revel in the beloved territory made famous by George A Romero. It’s not a spoof but a loving tribute, much like their next film Hot Fuzz, the movie stands alongside the best of them. It’s also its own unique creation, a romantic zombie comedy. And we have to thank Shaun of the Dead, because without it there would be no Zombieland.

The romantic comedy part involves the titular Shaun (Pegg) who has to win back his girlfriend. He’s caught in a rut; his stale job, his crummy living arrangements with a bad roommate (his best friend), and the same dead end bar that he drags everyone to almost every night. He’s never taken a big leap or taken charge of his life, that is until the zombie apocalypse happens.

It’s the hero-wannabe’s guide to zombie survival. Yeah, by the end it would seem that Shaun has doomed all his friends to be zombie-chow, but at least he tried his damnedest. Speaking of zombies, there are signature zombie touchstones and with complex characters involved it’s even more emotional. Dawn of the Dead ’04 suffered from cardboard cutout players and the less I talk about the Zombie-baby the better. When familiar events play out, like Shaun’s mom being infected and his best friend being chomped by the undead, it’s definitely more intense.

Shaun of the Dead is one of my favorite movies ever because it speaks to me and in turn that makes it one of my favorites of the decade.

—————————————

6. The Incredibles (2004)

Director/Writer:  Brad Bird

This is my favorite Pixar movie. I’m not going to dismiss every other Pixar flick but The Incredibles is the movie that is on a different level. Admittedly, it’s hard for me to care for non-human characters. I can still get emotionally attached to rats, robots, and toys, but it’s not as effective as when humans inhabit the lead roles. Would I have teared up during Up if the main characters were talking silverware? Maybe not.

The Incredibles, on the surface, looks like any other animated kids’ action movie. But underneath it’s a lot more.

Much like Spider-Man 2, the movie deals with what it takes to be a superhero. After a new law banning all superhero activities is passed, all caped crusaders are forced to hide behind their alter egos and take white collar jobs. Mr. Incredible, your run-of-the-mill Superman type, is forced to hang up the tights and become a family man. But after years of being secretly extraordinary, Bob, as he’s just now known, has a sort of midlife crisis. He starts sneaking in crimefighting at night and goes on “business trips” in order to put the suit on again. He hides all this from his family, too. Think of it as the superhero version of American Beauty. It’s definitely not your run-of-the-mill kids’ cartoon.

As he says, “They keep inventing new ways to celebrate mediocrity.”

He sees his family forced to hide all their powers. His wife is Elastigirl, now known as Helen, is just another stay at home mom. His son has The Flash superabilities and his daughter is another Invisible Girl, but all have to pretend to be just normal members of society. It’s not until an old foe of Mr. Incredible’s returns and brings out the entire family to become the titular Incredibles.

The action is what you’d expect, it is a big summer blockbuster. Sequences in which the whole family join in on the explosive fun are particularly thrilling, especially the first family action sequence, in which the group destroys several henchman and flying saw robots. The mayhem begins and the music swells but then the action is abruptly cut off, as if to say “that’s enough of that.” Writer/Director Brad Bird knew exactly what he was doing and he saves the best action for the third act.

This is Bird’s second animated movie and it’s quite a leap for an animation director to out-action and out-drama many big summer blockbusters. Here he infuses the styles of early James Bond films and 50′s era action serials into his classy superhero world. That along with the amazing score from Michael Giacchino makes the movie feel retro without being old fashioned.

The Incredibles is more than just an animated movie. It’s a brilliant take on the nuclear family and a surprisingly mature action movie.

—————————————

5. No Country for Old Men (2007)

Directors/Writers: Joel Coen & Ethan Coen

No Country for Old Men is undoubtedly a Coen brothers’ movie. Without knowing that it was adapted from a Cormac McCarthy novel, someone could easily say it was an original script by the brothers. The movie feels like something out of the Blood Simple/Fargo/Miller’s Crossing world the two  directors have built over the years. Here death comes easy and lessons are fleeting, but it’s a darkly comedic ride along the way.

Llewelyn Moss’ (Josh Brolin) discovery of 2 million dollars in the middle of the vast Texas desert starts the story rolling. After finding it in the aftermath of a drug deal gone wrong he decides to keep it. His only problem is that, as the movie’s tagline says, there are no clean getaways. Moss avoids some of the hitmen but he can’t escape the unstoppable force of Anton Chigurh, played bone-chillingly by Academy Award winner Javier Bardem. Chigurh is death, plain and simple. And just about everyone he comes in contact with meets their end. It’s what Brolin is running from and tries desperately to fool, but as an old timer says near the end of the film, “you can’t stop what’s coming”.

I can’t help but to be reminded of Raising Arizona and the bounty hunter who haunts Nicolas Cage’s dreams. Or the false steps made by just about every character in Blood Simple. Or the hapless kidnappers in Fargo. No Country has elements from several other Coen works. They make the material all their own.

By the end of the movie, after death deals its final cards, all that’s left is Tommy Lee Jones’ Ed Tom Bell, the sheriff who’s been one step behind the chaos. He see the destruction and is disgusted by it and he just doesn’t understand it. In the end, it’s Ed Tom’s story that’s the most important. He’s a man trying to deal with his own mortality and the constant battle between good and evil. It’s not a simple concept to wrap your head around, and neither is the film’s ending. If you come in expecting anything resembling closure then you’ve forgotten that this is a Coen brothers movie and it’s one of the best movies of their career.

—————————————

4. Memento (2001)

Director: Christopher Nolan/Writers: Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan

Christopher Nolan directed and scripted, based off a short story by his brother Jonathon, this brain teaser of a movie. I can honestly admit that it took me a second viewing to completely “get” the film.

Two parallel storylines revolve around Guy Pearce’s Leonard Shelby, a man who suffers from anterograde amnesia (basically he has short term memory loss). Leonard’s illness was brought on during an intruder attack that that killed his wife. Now, with written notes and tattoos covering his body, Leonard is determined to find his wife’s killer.

Revenge isn’t easy though. The people who he thought he could trust, like cop friend Joe Pantoliano and bartender Carrie-Anne Moss, end up using him for their own selfish purposes. The problem is he can’t remember that they aren’t who they say the are.

He can’t even trust himself as he finds out there are things in his past that he’s buried away in his mind. Memories are what he can’t keep, which makes him a tragic figure. Leonard’s illness prevents him from feeling grief because he just can’t remember why the reason why he’d feel that grief. Like he says half way through the film, “How am I supposed to heal if I can’t feel time?” It’s a scary thought that one of the most important things we have, our memories, may not be our own and are forever out of our reach.

The movie capsulizes memory so well, encapsulating the little moments that Leonard remembers with his wife. A hairbrush, an old paperback book, and a ragged teddy bear; they’re the truth to him like the notes he’s constantly writing himself. But, in the end, the truth is what someone else makes of it.

Nolan made an impressive second feature with Memento. His direction fits well in the indie realm (which may be way his approach with Batman Begins and The Dark Knight never really hit me as much as I hoped). Action scenes are slim as the dialogue and psychological warfare dominate the movie. Nolan has yet to top the mind-fuckery that this movie put me through. It’s hard to forget Memento.

—————————————

3. There Will Be Blood (2007)

Writer/Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

This film is hard to pin down.

First and foremost it’s Daniel Day-Lewis who pushes the movie past ordinary to masterpiece. Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview is the performance of the decade. A businessman and psychopath, Plainview is obsessed with being at the top. What ever gets in his way will be torn down and destroyed. He’s a brush fire that engulfs acres of forest and reduces it to ash.

“I have a competition in me. I want no one else to succeed,” Plainview says.

There’s more to him than what’s said but it’s never examined fully. Like there’s an origin story as to how Plainview became the power-hungry capitalist that he is. We get a sense of it from the expressions of Day-Lewis’ face and what he chooses to talk about to those few people he’s close to, but it’s never revealed. It’s better to not know, actually. Day-Lewis says more without saying a word and that’s amazing.

The script by director Paul Thomas Anderson is unlike any of his previous work. If there’s anything close to There Will Be Blood, it’s Punch Drunk Love. Adam Sandler’s repressed, neurotic, and angry Barry Egan seems like a warm up compared to the densely constructed character of Daniel Plainview. And I don’t think any other writer could come up with “I drink your milkshake”, which is the film’s most iconic piece of dialogue and the best line of the film. It’s the exclamation point at the end of the film.

Anderson’s earlier directorial work has plenty of style and expertise but it’s nothing compared to the gorgeous camera work here. which is extraordinary and understandably compared to Stanley Kubrick’s technique. Anderson films the desert fields with the right amount of beauty and solitude; it’s the perfect backdrop to this dark tale. It feels like There Will Be Blood was the movie that Anderson was working towards for years.

Underneath the basic story of the rise (and fall) of an oil tycoon in America is the story of capitalism versus religion. Money versus faith. Moreover, it’s about power. Daniel Plainview, on his quest to drain the oil from the plains in California, runs into a young pastor, Eli Sunday, who has a small God-fearing town under his perish. When the Sunday gets in Plainview’s way, that’s when things become fiery. Eli Sunday is the acres of forest that Plainview’s fire burns to ash.

The final seconds further prove the point, basically slamming it through your skull, that There Will Be Blood is a masterpiece of a movie.

“I’m finished!”

—————————————

2. The Departed (2006)

Directed by Martin Scorsese/Writers: William Monahan, based on the screenplay by Felix Chong & Alan Mak

The Departed is Martin Scorsese at his best and it helps that it’s in the genre where he started. Scorsese makes it blatantly obvious he’s entering a world he hasn’t been in for a while. At the start of the movie, The Rolling Stone’s “Gimme Shelter” plays over the reveal of Jack Nicholson, it calls back to Scorsese’s two classic crime movies Goodfellas and Casino. The sweeping camera, the fast cuts, the perfectly cut montages; it’s incredible that the director hasn’t lost his touch in the more than four decades he’s been working.

I’ve seen this movie way too many times. At least three times while it was in theaters and countless other times on DVD, and eventually on Blu-ray. I’ve seen it on my iPod, on a laptop computer, on my 40 inch HDTV, on a 60 inch rear projection TV, and of course on an 80 ft silver screen. No matter how I saw it, the movie still resonated through. In other words, the movie is resoundingly re-watchable.

And what’s best about seeing the movie again is seeing it with those watching it for the first time. There are moments in the film that guarantee gasps or cries of “oh no!” and it’s amazing to watch the reactions. It’s like clockwork. The movie is expertly designed, from the direction to the editing to the acting to the script, so that you’re in for a solid emotional experience. I know the whole comparing a movie to a rollercoster ride is cliche, but I can say The Departed is the only movie where it makes sense. When DiCaprio’s boss and mentor, played by Martin Sheen, gets thrown off a building, there’s a slow motion shot of him free falling to his death. When I saw it in theaters the air left the room when the moment came on screen. It was equal to a first drop in a roller coaster.

The final twists and turns in the ride come in the end, when the bodies start piling up. It’s called The Departed for a reason. Needless to say there’s one dramatic death after another. It was a bit too much for me when I saw it for the first time but now I see the brilliance of it. Death is something quite befitting a movie like this, a gangster movie. Underneath the gangster crime pic exterior is a nihilistic take on the world we live in today. Death and nihilism seem to be the themes of the decade and The Departed puts it to the forefront.

An exchange between someone and Costello at a bar says it all:

Costello: “How’s your mother?”

Mat at bar: “I’m afraid she’s on her way out.”

Costello: “We all are. Act accordingly.”

Now I think I might see The Departed one more time.

—————————————

1. Kill Bill (2003/2004)

Director/Writer: Quentin Tarantino

“Do you find me sadistic?”

What makes this tale of revenge, Kill Bill, my favorite movie(s) of the last ten years? Well, it started months before the first movie ever hit theaters…

Volume 1 was released in the fall of 2003, during my senior year in high school. I was taking a creative writing class and one of the writers that influenced me most was Quentin Tarantino. This was around the time I was just beginning my obsession with movies and Tarantino was one of the reasons why. I loved the non-linear approaches in Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs so much so that I “took” that approach and used it in some of short stories I wrote. I even wrote a story about a band of robbers trying to make a getaway…Reservoir Dogs, anyone? Okay, so I was ripping him off, but imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

At this point Kill Bill was a few months from release and I was, of course, very excited. The teaser trailer came out and I was even more excited. I played it over and over again. The music, the editing, the action was all great; and this was all in the teaser trailer. Side note: I have to say that this teaser is the best movie trailer of the last decade.

Soon after that, I read the script. It’s no wonder the film was split in two because the script itself is about the size of a book, coming in at 222 pages. Then I bought the CD soundtrack and of course I played it endlessly; “Battle Without Honor or Humanity” being my favorite track. I mean I’ve never been so excited for a movie before or since (me 17 had a lot to do with it, of course).

Then I saw the first movie, Kill Bill: Volume 1.

What I remember from that first viewing, because it has been nearly 7 years now, was the headache I had after the movie. But it wasn’t a bad headache, not at all. It was more like coming home from an intense headbanging rock concert. Of course, after that, I saw it again and again.

Volume 1 included one of the greatest action sequences ever filmed, The Showdown at the House of Blue Leaves. It was was loud and striking (quite literally), and is definitely the highlight of the first film. It’s interesting that in 2003 martial arts master Woo-ping Yuen served as choreographer for Volume 1 and a little movie called The Matrix Reloaded. In both films there’s an awesome battle between the respective heroes and several dozen enemies. While the whole Neo versus one hundred Smiths started out as a fantastic fight, incorporating real hits and several stuntmen, it turned into a CGI circle jerk. The Bride versus The Crazy 88 battle, however, doesn’t have an ounce of CGI in it and it’s all the better for it.

Volume 2 is my favorite of the two films. It’s more of a performance, dialogue-driven film which is more in line with what Tarantino is known for. He proved finally that he could do action now it was time for several sit down talks. He does the impossible and pulls fantastic performances from B-list actors like Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah, Michael Parks, and Gordon Liu. There’s a good chance that no matter how long they keep making films, Kill Bill will always be their best work.

I love Uma Thurman, but more than half of her filmography is nothing worthwhile. But in Volume 2 she gives the performance of her career. It might have something to do with her connection to the director. The “Q & U” who are credited for creating the character of The Bride are Quentin and Uma. Both thought up of the idea of a “Blood Spattered Bride” years ago on the set of Pulp Fiction. That led to Tarantino handing Thurman the script on her 30th birthday. So, whether Thurman was really Tarantino’s muse on the project or whether it was just a creepy obsession (see the gratuitous close ups on Uma’s size 11′s), it worked. Thurman gave it her all physically in Volume 1 and emotionally in Volume 2.

While the last act of Volume 1 is non-stop katana action, Volume 2‘s last 20 minutes slows things way down and just becomes a sit down conversation between the titular Bill (David Carradine) and Uma Thurman’s The Bride. In the original script, there was a final more expanded duel between the two. It would’ve been cool, yes, but it would not have been as effective as the emotional last words the two have.

The resolution could’ve been simplified. The Bride could’ve exacted her revenge against the man who killed her unborn child and tried to kill her right there and then in his villa. But as skilled swordsmith warned The Bride earlier: “Revenge is never a straight line.”

Tarantino would continue to work to perfect the technique of building the tension to the last possible second by just having characters sit down and talk in Inglourious Basterds. With Kill Bill, he left his second indelible mark on cinema, the first being his classic Pulp Fiction.

Bill: “I overreacted.”

The Bride: “You ‘overreacted’? Is that your explanation?”

Bill: “I didn’t say I was going to explain myself. I said I was going to tell you the truth. But if that’s too cryptic, let’s get literal. I’m a killer. A murdering bastard, you know that. And there are consequences to breaking the heart of a murdering bastard. You experienced some of them.”

From beginning to end (and from beginning to end) nearly every piece of dialogue, every shot, every frame, every piece of music is still burned in my mind. That’s why Kill Bill is my favorite movie of the decade.

The Bride: “How did you find me?”

Bill: “I’m the man.”

—————————————

END