comment #1

JD says ...

The other secret weapon was the decision to cast Zoe Bell, a stunt-woman, in that role. It's unheard of to see an actor's face so clearly while they're in that kind of non-CGI perill

comment #2

Breedlove says ...

This seems to be getting really positive reviews and a lot of good buzz. Looks like a hit. I'm wondering if Rose Mcgowan might come out of this as the break out star. She really hasn't done much of note other than date Marilyn Manson and get killed in 'Scream,' but she's all over the place right now and looking hot as hell.

comment #3

travis b says ...

when i heard that the car chase was done using zero cgi i was sold. a couple friends and i were watching the old mad max films a few weeks back, and afterwards, we were all talking about how much more exciting the car chases were when there were actual cars and not just a bunch of cartoon imagery rolling across the screen.

comment #4

Mark says ...

if only Tarantino had directed Matrix II....

comment #5

D.Z. says ...

Mark: Then you couldn't tell what was going on in the fight scenes, because the camera would zoom too close, and you'd get blatantly fake squib shots over actual choreography.

comment #6

jeffmcm says ...

Here we go again...

DZ, why don't you just put "Ibid" in all of your posts and save yourself some energy re: Tarantino?

comment #7

Mark says ...

the Darryl/Uma fight in Kill Bill is 10 times more memorable than any action sequence in either Matrix sequel.

comment #8

AJW says ...

If Tarantino had completed the car chase with CGI but you couldn't tell, why would that make a difference?

comment #9

jimjonesiii says ...

yep.
at least when you see movies with a heavy baggage of production notes, scoops, inside information and, why not, prejudice.

comment #10

jimjonesiii says ...

...that certainly makes a difference

comment #11

jeffmcm says ...

I don't think it's clear what you're talking about, Jimjonesiii.

comment #12

Craig Kennedy says ...

"If Tarantino had completed the car chase with CGI but you couldn't tell, why would that make a difference?"

It wouldn't...but the state of technology is still such that you can tell. Some of us grizzled ones enjoy the old-timey thrill of the possibility that someone could actually get killed doing a stunt. That sounds a little weird when I read it back aloud, but there it is.

comment #13

D.Z. says ...

Mark: "the Darryl/Uma fight in Kill Bill is 10 times more memorable than any action sequence in either Matrix sequel."

What fight? They just run towards each other, and Hannah's character gets her eye poked out. That's a cop-out, not a fight.

comment #14

jeffmcm says ...

You must have been in an anger coma during the five minute long brawl that precedes the eye-poke.

comment #15

Craig Kennedy says ...

"anger coma" HAH!!!

comment #16

D.Z. says ...

What brawl? It's off-screen. Elle's encycopledia recital is longer than any action in the film.

comment #17

jeffmcm says ...

I don't know what you're talking about. There is an on-screen fight between Daryl Hannah and Uma Thurman in Michael Madsen's trailer in the middle of Kill Bill 2 that lasts multiple minutes.

comment #18

D.Z. says ...

The actual fight lasts seconds.

comment #19

jeffmcm says ...

So first there was no fight, then there is a fight but it's off-screen, then it's on-screen but it lasts mere seconds?
This has got to be a bright twelve-year-old on the other end of this thing.

comment #20

D.Z. says ...

jeff: "So first there was no fight, then there is a fight but it's off-screen, then it's on-screen but it lasts mere seconds?"

It's not a fight, because the majority of the action's off-screen, and the climax of the fight is the only part given screen-time.

comment #21

jeffmcm says ...

It is a fight, because people are fighting and you can see it happening.
Fuck!

comment #22

jeffmcm says ...

I just checked it on DVD. The fight lasts 2 minutes and 20 seconds and virtually none of it is off-screen.

comment #23

D.Z. says ...

jeff: "It is a fight, because people are fighting and you can see it happening."

Actually, you can't see it happening, because as much as Quentin claims to be a true a gorehound, he can't shoot action worth shit.

"The fight lasts 2 minutes and 20 seconds and virtually none of it is off-screen."

You said multiple minutes. Now you're just saying two.

comment #24

AJW says ...

I won't pretend to know about the state of CGI technology, but I find it doubtful that if QT completed the majority of the chase scene on actual roads and included some computer edits/explosions/what not that we would really be able to tell. If it turns out that the jaw-dropping sequence during the climax of Children of Men was aided by such stuff would you or Wells immediately turn your backs on it? If they had included in the liner notes, "By the way, we didn't actually stage and execute a 10 minute long fucking amazing action sequence because that would just be ridiculous; we took a couple shortcuts but you can't tell," would that truly lessen the movie?

comment #25

Craig Kennedy says ...

You seem to be talking about CGI enhancement while I was thinking of a blue screen type deal where everything is done on the computer. No worse than the old school blue screen, but I'm drawing a distinction between real and fake. There's something visceral when you know it's real. Like the car chase in Bullit for example. It's got nothing on a scene you could fake, but knowing it's really Steve McQueen really driving the streets of San Francisco at speeds in excess of 100 MPH is thrilling.

comment #26

jeffmcm says ...

DZ, stop. You've lost. You can complain about the action being edited too quickly if you want to, but that is the limit of your legitimate complaining. The fight scene exists. The camera is in the room with the fighters and pointed at them. The fight lasts for almost two and a half minutes of screen time, and 2 and a half, being more than one, is a multiple.

Complain about Tarantino if you want (and you clearly do), but be honest and fair when doing so.

comment #27

D.Z. says ...

jeff: It's more like an altercation than a fight.

comment #28

jeffmcm says ...

Tell me your address so I can come over and have an altercation with you - the kind that results in you getting thrown to the ground repeatedly, knocked through walls, and snuff water thrown in your face.

Or, just admit that you're being disingenous and arguing for the sake of arguing.

comment #29

D.Z. says ...

jeff: "Tell me your address so I can come over and have an altercation with you - the kind that results in you getting thrown to the ground repeatedly, knocked through walls, and snuff water thrown in your face."

See, a fight would result in people getting bruised, not just shoved.

comment #30

Craig Kennedy says ...

You could just CGI the whole thing in and that way now one gets hurt.

comment #31

jeffmcm says ...

DZ, that last point contains zero content.

comment #32

The Movie Man says ...

Guys you know D.Z. is still gonna see GRINDHOUSE, because then he wouldn't have fresh material to bitch about, but QT, and the Weinsteins still get his money, while D.Z. is wondering somewhere Tarantino didn't return his call about that script he was hoping he'd read.

comment #33

Craig Kennedy says ...

That's the funny thing Movie Man: the guy who has the most consuming hatred for the man and his films also seems to have an intimate knowledge of every frame of film Tarantino ever shot. It's ok DZ, I hated the head cheerleader in high school because she wouldn't date me too.

comment #34

D.Z. says ...

MovieMan: "Guys you know D.Z. is still gonna see GRINDHOUSE, because then he wouldn't have fresh material to bitch about, but QT, and the Weinsteins still get his money,"

The satisfying thing is they're gonna actually need my money, now that Harvey totally blew it.

cj: "That's the funny thing Movie Man: the guy who has the most consuming hatred for the man and his films also seems to have an intimate knowledge of every frame of film Tarantino ever shot."

It's always important to have an objective hatred.

"It's ok DZ, I hated the head cheerleader in high school because she wouldn't date me too."

We didn't get cheerleaders at my high school, because we didn't have any sports teams, because our douchebag administrators didn't think it was important to replace all the concrete where sports were played during breaks with grass fields. Of course, a couple of kids later showed them, when one of the pair broke his head playing football. Fortunately, the poor guy was-at least to my knowledge-alright, but the school just figured banning football was the solution. There were some chicks I wanted to bang, but fortunately, I don't care anymore. Anyway, if I wanted to sell a script to anyone lowbrow, I'd rather it be Trey and Matt, since they're not condescending assholes who swipe
scenes from other films to get attention, and can actually write their own material. Plus their fanbase doesn't consist of people who jerk off to fake gore.

comment #35

Craig Kennedy says ...

I actually see where you're coming from DZ. I sat down within the last year and started watching all of Jerry Bruckheimer's movies to put my seething hatred into some kind of perspective and so I'd know what I was talking about whenever I took a crap all over him. I made it as far as Armageddon and finally had to quit in disgust. As a guy who loves a good WWII film, the prospect of sitting through Pearl Harbor was more than I could stomach, though honestly I'm not sure how I made it as far as I did. Lots of bourbon I'm guessing.

comment #36

D.Z. says ...

cj: "I sat down within the last year and started watching all of Jerry Bruckheimer's movies to put my seething hatred into some kind of perspective"

I'm still trying to find the right opportunity to fit in Flashdance.

comment #37

jeffmcm says ...

Trey Parker and Matt Stone are very similar as film/TV makers to Quentin Tarantino. More than half their material is their versions of scenes borrowed from other movies or TV shows or the news. They have a huge amount of gore in their projects.

Stop lying about why you hate Tarantino so much. Admit it to us, or yourself, but just stop.

comment #38

Craig Kennedy says ...

Sadly, Flashdance was something of a high point.

comment #39

D.Z. says ...

jeff: "More than half their material is their versions of scenes borrowed from other movies or TV shows or the news."

Um, no, they parody scenes borrowed from other movies or tv shows. Quentin actually copies scenes.
And their gore is part of the joke, not just something to fill in the blanks when they can't pull off action scenes.

comment #40

D.Z. says ...

Oh, and as for the chase scene, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Road Warrior, and even A-Team did it better.

comment #41

frankbooth says ...

Jeff,

There was no fight because they're just actors and they were pretending.