From: owner-chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org (chakram-refugees-digest) To: chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org Subject: chakram-refugees-digest V5 #170 Reply-To: chakram-refugees@smoe.org Sender: owner-chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk chakram-refugees-digest Tuesday, July 5 2005 Volume 05 : Number 170 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [chakram-refugees] OT: Kill Bill [cr ] Re: [chakram-refugees] Mouth To Mouth on XWP [cr ] Re: [chakram-refugees] Bruce Campbell book signing appearance [cr Subject: [chakram-refugees] OT: Kill Bill I don't know if this is too OT for the list, but (prompted by watching Zoe Bell in 'Double Dare') I finally got round to watching Kill Bill. My only excuse is that the movie is mostly about big bad chicks and swords.... Umm, I'll spoiler-space my few random comments just in case.... s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s First, gotta say, Tarantino chose some cool music in places. 'Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)' was sung so softly, gently and lyrically, it emphasised the violence by contrast. (I don't think it was the Nancy Sinatra version, but it's so long ago.... ) And Gheorge Zamfir's flute was haunting as always. OTOH, that irritating theme that 'Elle Driver' (Darryl Hannah) was whistling when she was walking in to kill Uma, keeps going through my mind and won't stop. Aaargh! The first fight was a cracker. Uma and the black chick (plus of course their stunt doubles including Zoe) - it was a real no-holds-barred room-wrecking murderous brawl. Well, 'brawl' is wrong, that suggests something undisciplined, these were two professional killers out to kill each other. (It reminded me strongly of the fight between Sidney and her black room-mate in Season 3 of Alias. Maybe J J Abrams was doing what Rob Tapert calls a 'homage' to Tarantino - they undoubtedly know each other, since Tarantino has guested as a villain on Alias. But I digress...) That fight would stand comparison with any fight on Xena, I think. And I loved the moment where, 'Vernita's little daughter walked in and the two of them abruptly stopped fighting - 'Want a coffee?' Anyway, that fight actually impressed me much more than the Uma-massacres-the-Crazy88 in the teahouse, which was rather too cartoonish to believe. All these adversaries with swords standing around Uma and none of them managed to stab her in the back? (I know it's been noted how the villains in XWP used to queue up for their turn to get whacked by Xena, well this was far more obviously so). Okay, so Tarantino wasn't worrying too much about reality. I had a moment of incredulity when Uma arrived in Japan, walking through the terminal with her sword - 'How did she get _that_ through Customs?' Besides, if I was going to assassinate a gang boss and walk right through her entire bodyguard to do it, I wouldn't want a sword, I'd want something like an Ingrams (gun nuts can tell me if that's the optimum choice). With several spare magazines. Never mind. Come to think of that, howcome the whole Crazy88 gang couldn't muster up so much as a Saturday Night Special between them? Maybe it's a Tokyo gang thing.... only swords allowed. Gogo, the teenage psychopath with the ball and chain (what used to be called a 'morning star' in mediaeval times, I rather think) was really well cast - she just had the look of a psychopathic killer. Her eyes were scary. But I don't think Xena would have barged straight into that hornet's nest head-on (and Sidney certainly wouldn't) - they would have done something much more subtle. Nowhere, by the way, did anyone call those Japanese swords 'katana' - except, I think I caught the word in a bit of Japanese dialogue somewhere. Of course, if Kill Bill had come out a few years earlier, there are definitely a couple of scenes that Rob couldn't have resisted 'homaging'. The fight between Uma and O-ren Ishii (after she had waded through the cast of thousands or at least 88) in the snow-covered courtyard, with that cute little waterclock going gurgle-click in the foreground - I don't think Rob could have resisted that. Anyway, Tarantino (or his DP) has a good eye for style, sufficient (along with the actors) to carry the movie.... because the story certainly doesn't, it's only barely enough to hang the scenes on. If you thought there were plot holes in Friend in Need or Fates, you certainly don't wanna try analysing Kill Bill. cr ========================================================= This has been a message to the chakram-refugees list. To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe chakram-refugees" in the message body. Contact meth@smoe.org with any questions or problems. ========================================================= ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 5 Jul 2005 08:06:21 +1200 From: cr Subject: Re: [chakram-refugees] Mouth To Mouth on XWP On Sun, 03 Jul 2005 11:46, IfeRae@aol.com wrote: > I just finished everybody's fav ep --Fishsticks --in my revisit to S5. > Still cracks me up. Reminded me that ROC got to hang upside down, just > like Lucy in Gurkhan. Ah, the fun our girls had. > > I know a lot of folks (including perhaps TPTB) thought Fishsticks too much > of an aberration from "normal" XWP. I beg to differ. We had Gabs rising > out of the water with a knife between her teeth. The ep even presaged the > Norse trilogy, where amnesiac Xena has flashes of her real life during the > marriage ceremony. Certainly we had typical Gabs, who chose hanging around > questionable individuals (her "children" in this case), rather than running > away like heck when she had the chance. Sorry to disagree. (Well, not really, you'd be disappointed if I didn't, wouldn't ya? :) It was a total aberration. The tone was completely wrong. It just had nothing whatever to do with XWP. There's a certain limit to which you can push absurdity, and IMO Fishsticks was just way the wrong side of the line. It didn't even make logical sense. By that I mean, there is just no explanation for how Gabs would or could (or why she should) experience 'flashforwards' to some seventies-style TV sitcom. Every other anachronistic ep had some rationale. The 'modern' eps (Xena Scrolls, Deja Vu, Clones, Soul Possession) were entirely logical in there setting. You Are There was, aside from the plot device of Nigel the reporter, quite in keeping with the general ambience of the series, so the anachronism of Nigel and his cameras was acceptable (IMO). But Fishsticks just had no reason to exist. And as for those embarrassing deformed mutants - since when were genetic abnormalities funny? Excuse me a moment while I go and laugh at a cripple..... I did try to re-watch it - I really did - if only for Alex and Meighan's Bronx couple - but the moment those 'kids' appeared on screen I turned the thing off in embarassment. Not even the thought that it proves Gabs' genes are recessive, defective and wholly disgusting, could save it for me..... > Perhaps the most notable XWP thread was the use of mouth-to-mouth > resuscitation -- first when Lolita/Crustacea/Gabs revives Hagar/Joxer > during his flashback of how they met, then when Joxer revives real Gabs at > the end. Off the top of my head, I can think of that life-saving technique > between Gabs&Xena in Doctor, Fins, Abyss, Valkyrie, Coming Home, and AFIN. > Not sure, but Gabs might've used that in Haunting, after she's taken the > "pinch" off Xena. We also have Debt (Xena/Lao Ma), Bitter Suite > (Xena/Callisto and I think Gabs/Joxer), Animal Attraction (Amarice/Armand), > and I believe Lifeblood (Cyane/Karl Urban character). > > Anyway, it struck me what an interesting bit the mouth-to-mouth was in this > kick-butt action show. I'm somewhat heartened to realize it may have been a > more pervasive theme than crucifixions (which I'm not inclined to count). Off the top of my head - just six, I think. Destiny, Deliverer (Gabs), Bitter Suite, two in Ides, one in Fates. I'm probably forgetting some, though. Of course, that's only counting main characters - it ignores all the ones in the background in Destiny, Ides, and Livia's victims in 'Eve'. Also not counting Gabs in Fates 'cos that spoilsport Xena stopped it. cr ========================================================= This has been a message to the chakram-refugees list. To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe chakram-refugees" in the message body. Contact meth@smoe.org with any questions or problems. ========================================================= ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 5 Jul 2005 08:10:45 +1200 From: cr Subject: Re: [chakram-refugees] Bruce Campbell book signing appearance On Thu, 30 Jun 2005 11:26, Xena Torres wrote: > >Narnia? Is this something a middle-aged person living in the 21st Century > > should know about? (Gods, I hope it's not a rock >group. Do they have > > "rock" groups anymore? ) > > Oh my god. I am really SCARED that so many people do not know about this. > The Chronicles of Narnia is a seven book fantasy series written by CS. > Lewis. I am sure I will get the date wrong, but I believe they were written > in the 50s. Most people tend to read them around grade 6 or 7 (I read them > in grade 5 myself). They are just WONDERFULLY magical books with great > characters and stories and everyone should read this series. > > Of the 7 books, three I believe (it's been a LONG time) were made into a > television series by a British station back in the 80s. Great for kids, but > adults will shudder. ;) > Personally, I have a sneaking regard for 'Alice in Wonderland' and it's companion, 'Looking-Glass'. There's quite a lot of satire in Alice if you look at it the right way. (Maybe it needs a twisted brain like mine to see it). cr ========================================================= This has been a message to the chakram-refugees list. To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe chakram-refugees" in the message body. Contact meth@smoe.org with any questions or problems. ========================================================= ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 4 Jul 2005 14:28:59 EDT From: KLOSSNER9@aol.com Subject: [chakram-refugees] Man With the Scremaing Brain--B.C. Variety, June 27, 2005, reviewed The Man with the Screeming Brain, directed by Bruce Campbell and written by Campbell and David M. Goodman. It's a Sci-Fi Channel Presentation (reviewed at a film festival) so it will probably be on TV eventually. Reviewer Dennis Harvey writes (in part)-- Cult-beloved thesp [actor] Bruce Campbell's feature directorial debut, "The Man With the Screaming Brain," is an amiable goof that looks like it was cobbled together in a hurry, on a shoestring. Bulgaria-shot silliness has Frankenstein-like hijinks wreaking havoc with characters and their body parts during hectic days in fictive city Bravoda (actually Sofia.) Helmer [director]/co-scenarist, who's started to cut a burlier figure in middle age, plays archetypal ugly American William Cole. ... Mad scientist type Dr. Ivan Ivanov (Stacy Keach) and his hip-hop- obsessed, halfwit flunky Pavel (Ted Raimi) have nearly completed DNA experiments that could ensure risk-free organ transplants. Enter alluring but crazy Roma [gypsy] woman Tatoya (Tamara Gorski), a hotel maid who wants William to be her new man, and soon William, Yegor and Jackie end up in the possession of Ivanov and company. Subsequent transplant surgeries result in William sharing his body with fellow brain-inhabitant Yegor, while Jackie's consciousness is placed in a break-dancing robot. Script feels very casually slung together, with situatons of varying inspiration and development allowing room for some improv [improvisation]. Presentation is mediocre, with production design sharply limited beyond existing locations, and indifferent lensing. [I'm not sure if "lensing" is Variety-slang for direction or photography.] Result is a comedy that doesn't build, lacks structural integrity, and often falls flat. But it's also winningly loopy, with bizarre incidental ideas and performance riffing making for a series of parts that almost make up for the faults of the whole. Larkish spirit of the enterprise is contagious. Clearly having the time of their lives are Keach and Raimi. Raimi and co-writer David M. Goodman are Campbell confederates going all the way back to the original "Evil Dead" 25 years ago. /// Besides Campbell and Raimi, Gorski is a Renaissance alumnus. Keach is (or was) the only real star in the cast. Most of the other actors are Bulgarian. Boeotian ========================================================= This has been a message to the chakram-refugees list. To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe chakram-refugees" in the message body. Contact meth@smoe.org with any questions or problems. ========================================================= ------------------------------ End of chakram-refugees-digest V5 #170 **************************************