Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair (2025) Review

Kill Bill The Whole Bloody Affair
Year: 2025 (2004)
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Country: US
Language: English

When I first saw Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill Vol 1 & II on DVD (I wasn't old enough to see it in the theatre) I was very impressed with the first installment, but very disappointed by the second. I felt like the second part of Kill Bill was poorly paced, compared to the first, and as a whole didn't flow very cohesively. I saw the film(s) once, and told myself that if it ever became one long movie I'd watch it again. Surprisingly, Tarantino decided to re-edit & re-release Kill Bill as one full movie.

The Bride (Uma Thurman) must kill her ex-boss and lover Bill (David Carradine) who betrayed her at her wedding rehearsal, shot her in the head and took away her unborn daughter. But first, she must make the other four members of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad suffer.

Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair is Tarantino's intended version of the story, before studio's interfered and split the story into two halves to make it more commercially feasible. This experience isn't just the two films awkwardly stitched together. There are a few noticeable changes, such as the cliffhanger ending being removed from Vol 1, as well as minor edits that improve the pacing of the overall story. I went into the theatre being concerned about the 4hr 35 min run-time, but left feeling like very little time had passed. 

I love that Kill Bill is an ode to cinema; the Bride's journey of revenge is also a journey through film genres. We get a venture into Blaxploitation, Western (traditional & spaghetti), Kung-Fu, Samurai, and nearly everything in-between. The memorable Crazy-88 scene is made more jaw-dropping as it is presented in color, looking more impressive than ever before. The cinematography, soundtrack, and acting all add to Tarantino's homage to cinema. 

As two separate films, I thought Kill Bill was fairly forgettable apart from a couple of fight sets, but presented as one long epic it's clearly a masterpiece in story-telling. This is a must-see in the theatre, especially since it will very likely never make it to streaming. 

Hamnet (2025) Review

Title: Hamnet
Year: 2025
Director: Chloe Zhao
Country: US
Language: English

I knew Chloe Zhao was a one-of-a-kind film-maker after I saw Nomadland at TIFF. I said to myself "this film will win Best Picture at the Oscars", I was probably the only person who declared so early on, and it turns out I was right. Eternals (2021) was a bit of a miss for most audiences, but I understood it as a means to get future funding for a passion project. Hamnet (2025) is clearly the passion project. It's a return to her auteur style of film-making. 

After losing their son Hamnet to plague, Agnes and William Shakespeare grapple with grief in 16th-century England. 

Clearly inspired by Terrence Malick (Days of Heaven), Hamnet is a very deliberately paced film that is as visually stunning as it is emotionally devastating. When Zhao's camera is not fixated on close-ups in search of intimate moments, it is panning around nature, shooting through forests and trees, sometimes looking up towards the heavens. The understated score, by Max Richter, quietly intensifies the drama unfolding around us. His instrumental On the Nature of Daylight is used with heartwrenching effect in the finale.

The acting by Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley is remarkable. They have undeniable chemistry & their range is essential to pulling off such a demanding performance. Buckley's role as a grieving mother is especially challenging, but she had me in the palm of her hand the entire film. If this film is guaranteed any awards, Buckley is going to win Best Actress. 

For me, Hamnet is not the clear "Best Picture" winner that Nomadland was; primarily because we have a few heavy hitters like One Battle After Another and Sinners to contend with. It also has to contend with viewers comparing it to Shakespeare in Love, which has aged badly, and many people view a mistake considering Saving Private Ryan was also in contention that year. Hamnet is a great film that I certainly intend to watch again.