Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

The second this film was over, my friend turns to us and says "I could watch that film if it was four hours long." I say in return, "I want four more films just like this, right now." Hands-down, this is the best comedy I've seen this year. (OK, the comedy market wasn't that great this year, but bear with me.) It may be violent (dropping bodies off skyscrapers and NOT making the dumpster makes you wince) and it's slightly plot-heavy (whose daughter is the body in the car and whose daughter is the body in the shower?!), but it's so darn funny that who gives a rat's ass about those slight problems. Shane Black is back on top, this time as director as well as screenwriter (he wrote the undeniably awful Long Kiss Goodnight but opened everyone's eyes with the script for the original Lethal Weapon). What other screenwriter can take a classic caper plot, add in every cliché known to that genre, and at the same time include dialogue that has one character correcting another's parts-of-speech? I simply couldn't wait for the next scene, and it's been a depressingly long time since that has happened. Both main actors are the bee's knees -- Robert Downey Jr. as a petty thief suddenly thrust into the acting business and Val Kilmer as a gay cop (yes, the jokes are over-the-top, as if you couldn't guess) attempting to advise Downey Jr. on his acting role as a cop. Best of all, the lead actress Michelle Monaghan actually gets to show chops instead of being window dressing (well, she runs around in a pervy Santa suit for a bit; ignore if you're a girl). Obviously, I want you to run out and see this. If it's gone from your area, support Mr. Black by buying it on DVD. You will not be sorry.

year: 2005
length: 103 min.
rating: 4.0
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0373469/combined

Kung Fu Hustle

I hope that everyone had a chance to see Shaolin Soccer, the first of Stephen Chow's actor-director films to make it to the States. Miramax, as distributor, made a royal hash of its release and it was in my area for just a week and no more. I missed it, as a result, and had to wait another few months for its release on DVD. Well, it was worth it. Chow is far, far funnier than, say, Jackie Chan. His humor is less boisterous, less forced. He's still making a martial arts film, with the ubiquitous and required action, but incorporating unbelievably silly musical numbers (the one in the night club is a howler). Well, the same holds true of Chow's latest hit (the largest grossing film in China in 2004). I felt, though, that he was trying to do the same thing with vastly different material. I'm guessing this film is based on Shanghai's real past -- 30s gangsters and the havoc they wreaked on city residents -- and the violence of that time is translated to the screen. I wanted to laugh at how silly it's portrayed, but I was wincing as I did so. Which could be a desired effect, but I found it off-putting. Chow himself isn't as front and center in this film, and more's the pity. You'll understand when every scene he's in seems better paced and more fluid. I suspect that besides watching every Hong Kong pulp film he could (and the Matrix Trilogy over and over), Chow also is a fan of Jean-Pierre Jeunet, of the recent A Very Long Engagement and Amelie, and his weird, dark and funny flavor of directing. I reserve the right to change my rating once I've seen the film in a decent enough cinema. The screen I saw it on was not lit brightly enough, and I found myself squinting for most of the film. Irritating enough to potentially color my view of it. Or I'll wait until it's out on DVD, in digital grandeur. Plus bloopers. (I hope.)

original title: Gong Fu
year: 2004
length: 95 min.
rating: 3.0
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0373074/combined

Kill Bill: Volume 2

This film is better than the first volume. It's also better than Pulp Fiction. But before anyone jumps down my throat on that last one, the reason is because Quentin Tarantino seems to be learning how to create a film by not just cobbling together all of his influences. Having heard and read interviews of Tarantino (and if you've never heard him, it's worth it... once), I would be quite dense not to be aware that the man is driven by what has come before. This can be frustrating for the viewer, although it isn't so much for me because I enjoy his efforts at playing around with genre identification and trying to mix and match as many as he can. He certainly does that in this second part, but he also creates a nice (well, nice is far from the right word), cohesive, complete story. That's craft, and that's the difficult part. I wonder whether folks who haven't seen the first one would be lost in this one, but I consider them two completely different (and different types of) films. There's much more dialogue and less violence in this final part. I would caution some people from watching either, because although the violence is stylistic and meant to amuse as well as entertain (if nothing else, watch Volume 2 for the sword fight in the trailer), this may not be obvious (or desirable) to the inexperienced filmgoer. But you may not want to miss David Carradine. Thought Kung Fu was just another poorly acted 70s TV series? Clearly not.

year: 2004
length: 136 min.
rating: 3.5
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0378194/combined

Kundun

Watching this film reminded me of watching films like Waking Life. While visually and emotionally stunning, the pieces have to work extra hard to make up a whole. Martin Scorsese is yet again in his element, describing a cultural phenomenon in pictures, this time the life story of the Dalai Lama. And with non-actors to boot! The feel you get for life as a Tibetan monk and for the conflict between Tibet and China is unparalleled -- the making-of and tearing-down shots of mandala sand paintings, costumed religious dances, the swearing-in ceremony. Even on a tiny screen, the impact of these scenes is visceral. The "confrontation" between the Dalai Lama and Chairman Mao is almost funny, which sounds sacrilegious (and probably is). But, why do I give it a low-ish rating? Because Scorsese works so hard to present all the facts that you are left a bit adrift in how to put all the facts together. For instance, you understand the Dalai Lama's principle of non-violence, but aren't completely sure how it benefited the people of Tibet. And that's probably my main complaint about the film, that it shows us so much of the life of the Dalai Lama that we lose sight of the life of his beloved people. But, if you're up for a spectacle (although not a spectacular spectacular as in Moulin Rouge), this should not disappoint.

year: 1997
length: 128 min.
rating: 3.0
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119485/combined

Kill Bill: Volume 1

Quentin Tarantino is not for everyone. He does stuff with spouting blood that can be...umm...slightly disturbing. For instance, in this film you see torrents coming from people's bowels (I sure hope that's implausible) and severed heads. The way to handle that is to understand that to Tarantino this is all about style and homage, and little to do with anything else. Several times during the film you sit back and realize that you're watching the creation of a geeky former video-store clerk who rivals Peter Bogdanovich and Glenn Kenny in terms of film knowledge. There is an awful lot of "look what I just did!" Fortunately, that isn't all there is. Tarantino has crafted a film that bends gender, slips into parody (but not quite) of Japanese film, and reveals fresh ways of looking at film language. One of the final fight scenes in a snowy garden is nigh on perfect and captures every Samurai and western film every made. But with girls, not boys. Since this is only the first part of the film, I hesitate to judge its plot. The film is split into episodes that are not watched linearly, so the gaps won't be filled in until Volume 2. We get the gist, however -- a pregnant woman assassin gunned down at her wedding, out to get revenge on those who perpetrated the massacre. I admit I'm looking forward to the final installment next year, if only to see more bravura filmmaking.

year: 2003
length: 111 min.
rating: 3.5
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0266697/combined

Kiss of the Dragon

Sometimes it's a relief to watch a bad film and review it, because bad films are fun to skewer in print (for a near-perfect example of this read Stephen Hunter's review of Speed 2). Nearly everything about this film is laughable, and I well recognize that action films can in general be snickered at because they don't focus on story or characters or have thought-provoking themes. However, in this case, the filmmakers profess an understanding of the importance of those elements, which makes the film rather sad instead of laughable. OK, so, good Chinese cop (Jet Li) goes to France to assist in a police investigation helmed by a corrupt French cop (Tchéky Karyo) and gets involved with an American hooker (Bridget Fonda) whose child is held hostage by the French cop. These are not naturally bad actors. I would suggest watching them in High Risk, La Femme Nikita and Singles, respectively, since they are all painfully out of place and/or overacting in this film. Now, the action sequences are fantastic (watch for the cue ball and the guard house scenes), but how can they not be? Li is a master of kung-fu and has one of the best action directors choreographing his fight sequences. I guess I just have trouble sitting through films in which everything but the action itself makes me want to wince. Case in point, the director seems to love shooting sequences with either extraneous shots (why do we need to see Li's jacket fall to the floor in the big 40-against-one scene?) or without explanatory shots that would make the sequence run smoothly (how can we know where Li is positioned in the laundry chute?). And, the implausibility factor is notched way up as well, since Karyo and company perform shoot-em-up's all over Paris, particularly in crowded restaurants, alternately gunning down and beating up civilians. And his bosses don't seem to notice that perhaps he's not the hero cop everyone thinks he is? Gimme a break.

year: 2001
length: 98 min.
rating: 1.5
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0271027/combined