I wish those were Nazi zombies Pitt was killing...

while he jumped a pirate shark in his ninja cycle?

Isn't Brad Pitt rumored to be in World War Z? You might get some of your wish.

I hope this movie turns out amazing. I'm hyped as hell for it. Tarantino has definitely proven he can "bring" it.

niice the besst

I am quite excited about this movie but I'll pass on the 20 page review of Superman Returns.

personally, though I know I'm not one to talk having bashed it mercilessly myself, I think people will come around to viewing Superman Returns as the overlooked gem that it is. So he doesn't have to put that much effort into defending it, but hell, i'll read it since I know everything there is to know about that darn movie.

So you've "bashed ['Superman Returns'] mercilessly", and now that QT's revealed he liked it so much he's gonna write a 20-page defense of the thing, you've suddenly decided it's an "overlooked gem"?

...

Just saying.

Personally, I've always liked 'Superman Returns'. Didn't bother seeing it in cinemas since it had got so many bad reviews, and I was never really a fan of Singer's 'X-Men' movies either. Then I caught it on Sky Movies and was absolutely blown away. I got so caught up in the emotion of the thing, I couldn't believe the same guy directed 'X-Men' and 'X2'. If Singer hadn't also directed 'The Usual Suspects', I'd have thought it was a fluke.

As for Quentin, he makes pretty entertaining films. 'Reservoir Dogs' is pretty watchable, and 'Pulp Fiction' is always fun to see. 'Jackie Brown' is easily his best film. But 'Kill Bill' was pretty bloated. Vol.1 played like a massive montage, and while Vol.2 was a marked improvement (everything in the desert involving Budd and/or Elle is pretty damn good), by the time we get to the final act, it all kinda falls apart a bit. 'Death Proof' was simply horrendous. That film went for huge swathes of time with the narrative gone on hiatus. Best parts were with Kurt Russell, but those were few and far between.

I hope 'Inglorious Basterds' is going to be fun to watch. I'm intrigued by what's been said so far. So fingers crossed.

I'm also interested to hear what he has to say about 'Superman Returns'.

So many bad reviews? It has a 77% on RT. The only bad reviews come from message boards.

Those must've been the ones.

I appreciate the effort to keep us honest, Reebee7. I hate revisionist history myself. Superman Returns certainly wasn't as knocked by critics as it was by fans.

But that said--it certainly was a disappointment to a lot of fans. One thing to consider is that Rotten Tomatoes' scoring is a little misleading: as you know, RT only considers whether a critic's review was generally positive (fresh) or generally negative (rotten). The score is the average.

So all that 77 percent really tells us is that slightly more than 3 out of 4 critics thought that SR was at least a little better than average.

Regardless, your point still is true: that definitely does not mean SR was a badly-reviewed film.

Metacritic goes RT one better by actually giving grades to each individual review--I don't think anyone could disagree that it's a far more accurate system.It came up with an average of 72, which includes four raves (grades of 100), but a lot of reviews that found it mediocre--11 reviewers from major magazines and newspapers graded it 60 or below.

The other interesting about Metacritic is the score from users: 5.7 out of 10. That's pretty rough.

Anyway, I agree: you're right, Superman Returns certainly wasn't hit with a lot of bad reviews. It had some raves. But a lot of reviewers also thought it was lackluster.

Personally, I thought it was OK, but nothing too exceptional. I certainly didn't find it half as entertaining as Superman II. But that's just me.

On a final note, I have to (respectfully) question Hunter on calling Kill Bill a masterpiece. This really points out Metacritic's strength: RT shows a score of 85 for both parts, while the average for 1 and 2 on Metacritic is 76.

That said, it doesn't matter what the critics think: it's Hunter's opinion, and if Hunter thinks the Kill Bill films constitute a masterpiece, he entitled to do so.

Personally, when I hear "masterpiece," I think, say, of Godfather I and 2. For another pair of films, I'd say Batman Begins and The Dark Knight damn near constitute one. To get even more "genre," how about Evil Dead 1 and 2? Those two definitely constitute a masterpiece of the genre. (Army of Darkness--while lots of fun--isn't in the same league.)

But the Kill Bill films? Lots of great scenes, sure, but they're spread out over two films. It's certainly one of the worst-paced storylines in years: The first half blasts along with action, with little time for character, while the second half has tons of character moments but it drags along for large chunks before getting going again. And excuse me, but how many viewers really thought the eventual showdown with Bill was all that exciting?

Kill Bill blew its load in Part One, with what was truly a masterful sequence in the whole House of Blue Leaves battle. Part Two has some good stuff--Pai Mei training, obviously--but it's just not all that exciting, and it's a huge letdown after a first film that promised so much.

Great movies keep ratcheting up the tension and the action to an excitement level that's paid off in a great, satisfying climax. Kill Bill, taken as a whole, completely fails this most basic tenet of filmmaking. Sure, QT had flown in the face of conventional wisdom before, and it paid off (Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction). It doesn't here.

Kill Bill is a collection of lots of cool scenes, and a bunch of cartoon characters who are colorful in QT way but do not resemble fully-realized people in the slightest. I'm not saying it's not an interesting film (or films, however you want to put it), but it really strikes me as hyperbole to claim it's a masterpiece.

Again, respectfully.

Oh, and finally: I do have high hopes for Basterds, too. I like what I've seen so far. I'm very hopeful this will be a return to form of the excellent QT work of the past.

(BTW, sorry this was long. Just kinda got rolling there.)

the screenplay was very entertaining and i could see the film in my mind while I read it. With a great actor like Brad Pitt in a major role, I have strong faith that IG-B will be a good film, but a masterpiece? Who knows? We'll find out this summer.

and i LOVE that photo of QT :-D

You would.

I would have preferred if QT took his time making this film instead of rushing it. But it sounds really good!

Come on QT, Kill Bill ain't half bad.

I'm really interested in reading Tarantino's defense of Superman Returns. And seeing as Kevin Smith gave the film a pretty good beating during one of his "Evening With" DVD's I'd pay good money to see Kev Smith and QT debate the merits of that movie.

P.S.
That's a pretty insane picture of Tarantino.

Yeesh, Kevin Smith sure does talk a lot of trash for a guy who hasn't made anything resembling a good movie in over 12 years. Actually, that's probably being too kind to Kevin Smith.

And you sure do talk a lot of trash about Kevin Smith for a guy who hasn't made any movies at all. :)

I'll have you know that my video of my cousin's dance recital got some good notices from the family...well, except for that scathing review from my aunt, but still...

I just hope you used in-camera titles and transitions to truly express your vision.

Superman Returns was horrible. I can't believe that anyone would spend any time writing such a long review of it. 20 pages? Good grief! You would think that anyone that was paying attention to the movie saw it for what it was; crap. At no point did the story ever make any sense, there are so many plot holes it's unbearable to watch and so is the scenes where they keep showing Kumar in extreme close-up for long periods of time without any dialog. Wtf? Indeed.

I think the guy's a good director and he sure knows where to pick his influences from, but as time passes I get sick of seeing him in his own movies and i'm hoping beyond hope that there aren't any "epic" dialogues like those in the first half of Deathproof. Some of that was just painful.

Tarantino has yet to disappoint, in my opinion. Sure, Death Proof wasn't 'art', but it was a cheap thrill and a fun ride for what it was.

um... it was definitely art. maybe not a masterpiece but a calculated piece of sophistication.

can't wait to read his superman return thoughts. or see his movie. and everything else that has to do with him.

Good lord, Death Proof was agonizing. Especially the "full" version. It wasn't so miserable in the Grindhouse version because QT had to cut a bunch of his long, meandering dialogues--the ones in his early films were entertaining, but these were just dull and poorly written. So the Grindhouse version wasn't all bad. But the full DVD version of DP made me damn near suicidal. Outside of Vanessa Ferlito now-restored erotic dance, it has nothing to recommend it over the tighter Grindhouse version.

I cant wait to read this Superman Returns review. I didnt hate the film but i didnt think it was genius either. curious to see what he says about it. apparently he has told Brandon Routh that he wants to work with him in the future.

killer neck scar brad pitt.

I guess the masterpiece statement leads us to consider kill bill's place in Tarantino's filmography and cinema of the last decade.....However i'm not going there....: ) but for my money both vol 1 and 2 are amazing! I feel if Kill Bill was the 'whole bloody affair' it would be old QT's masterpiece.
Oh and the Basterds trailer was great !

Now IB, THAT sounds like fun.

I'm also intrigued by his 'Superman Returns' review too. I can't imagine what he'll say about it. He was the first one to really point out how gay 'Top Gun' really is. He has interesting insights.

I liked Superman Returns, as well. It's one of the few "comic book" movies I can stand. And I see all the comments about how it "sucks," but never any real reason as to why.

I know I am in the minority here but I LOVED Superman Returns. Despite its obvious flaws, of which every movie has, it is to me one of the best character explorations of a superhero. I think it gets alot of unfair flack because of the various stages of developmental limbo and years of fans pontificating on what "their vision" of a Superman movie in this day and age should be. Yeah there should have been more action, and yes the son messes with canon, but the story can still move foward, and Singer had enough sack to do what he did and I applaud him for it and would love to see his sequel.

In Tarentino I trust, I can't wait over Inglorious Bastards.

And while I didn't love Superman Returns, I don't know why everyone jumps the wagon to say its awful. Kevin Spacey, to me, and maybe Parker Posey were the only things that were cringe worthy. I didn't think it was that awful.

I liked Spacey, Posey not so much. I thought Superman was a better than good movie that could have been great had it done things a little differently. It doesn't have to be action packed, I think it's a very awesome character epic. But it has some flaws that hold it back. It will be interesting to see this review.

I gotta give respect to the man for writing 20 pages about something that in no way affects his career. Superman Returns was a quality movie that made Superman into a Christlike figure (which might be why Smith didn't like it) I thought Routh was a great Superman.

I can't wait for Inglorious Basterds. I'm more excited for Avatar because of all of the good press it has gotten so far but I can't wait for this movie, especially because he has been working on it for so long.

lols @ -81.

I have been talking up Superman Returns for years, several times on this very site. Anyone with a decent knowledge of the comic book mythology and the Donner / Salkind films should be able to appreciate it.

I think that only faint familiarity with the original films helps, but if you actually watch them in sequence, SR falls apart.

In Superman 2, Superman tells the world he will never leave again. (I'm paraphrasing there) Then, according to SR, he forgets that promise and disappears for 5 years to visit his home planet which should actually have been blown to bits - not to mention the fact that that krypton is made of kryptonite and would just kill him and/or rob him of his powers long enough to strand him in the void of space... thereby killing him. Oh, and in the Donner Superman, a small piece of said Kryptonite around Supe's neck nearly kills him, but in SR he can lift an entire continent made of the stuff, just by trying really hard. Also, the plot for Superman 1 was a nefarious land-grab scam by lex and the plot for Returns was... a nefarious land-grab scam by lex. It's fine for one film but when looked at as a trilogy, two movies about Lex Luthor as an evil Realtor is at least one to many.

Anyway, I liked SR better than a lot of people, but it doesn't hold up to any scrutiny. Especially when the old films are considered.

He would not have lost his powers when he went to Krypton because he would not of had powers anyway. Superman gets his powers from the yellow sun, where as a Krypton had a red sun. No yellow sun = no powers. Plus, he took a spaceship there and back...

The longer that Superman stays close to a yellow sun the stronger and closer to omnipotence he becomes. This is brought to light in the Doomsday story line. This also speaks to his return to earth in Superman Returns weakened, barely able to stop the jet from crashing to earth. As far as Kryponite goes, well of course the movies were made by entirely different filmmakers almost a generation apart, there are bound to be some plot holes.

The Kryptonite mass that he lifted was highly diluted. Remember, as Luthor says, the crystals take on the attributes of its surroundings. Well, this was surrounded by Kryptonite but also millions of gallons of mineral, salty ocean water. It took on both, which is why the giant land mass is blackish green, whereas Luthor's kryptonite dagger is the usual, very bright green of Kryptonite.

Not that this was a perfect idea, but it does kind of help explain it.

BTW does anyone else see Brando from the Godfather in Pitt from this movie? It just got my mindgrapes going about recasting the Godfather for today. An ensamble cast with an unlimited budget, that would be a fun post.

Superman Returns is a highly underrated film. The way I like to think of it is: It was a great movie, but only a good Superman movie. The cinematography was awesome, and it was a great character driven, dramatic action film. People wanted more action, perhaps justifiably. We waited years and he didn't throw a punch, so I understand why some people thought it less than ideal. But it was not as teribad as people make it. I'm excited for this defense of it.

I suggest everyone who didnt like Superman Returns to watch it again soon. It was great!

I agree. At leats one MAJOR flaw, but for the most part, smart and witty stuff, well made and intelligent.

Still available on Itunes are Bryan Singer's video production diaries. All 25 of them are great but the one where Singer goes to New Zealand to help Peter Jackson with King Kong is particularly facinating. I encourage everyone to go check it out.

KILL BILL a masterpiece..? Facepalm anyone?

I loved the Superman Returns film.
The reason I think so many people hated it is because they don't understand the character of Superman. Most people just want to see Superman beat the crap out of someone (which would be cool to see).

Boy, I dunno...I'm interested in what Tarantino has to say because I'm afraid I'm with the thumbs down crowd here.

There were plot holes you could drive a dump truck through...from the flying back to his red sun home, to all of a sudden getting over his allergy to kryptonite for no apparent reason at the very end.

And frankly, the main 'scheme' by Luthor was more warmed over real estate BS...this time not even as plausible as Superman I. Wasn't he trying to create an island in the ocean that looked like a piece of charcoal or something?

The one thing I will say is that the shuttle/plane sequence was pretty much worth the price of admission right there.

I second that last sentence.

speak for yourself, i loved death proof.

Death Proof was awesome.