much to absorb here, Robert, thanks! I am fairly sympathetic your your perspective, but I really do think Kill Bill 2 is great, on an entirely different level than the pure stylistic exercise of Kill Bill 1, which was about as relentlessly bloody as it gets.

KB2 isn't a ripoff of its obvious influences, but a summation and examination of their underlying meaning. The violence in 2 for me had real weight and import, was the opposite of the kinetic exploitation thrill-ride that was 1.

For me KB2 is deeply character-driven, takes on Fate and Will with a clear eye and seriousness of purpose, and Uma, first among all the excellent main characters, is quite astonishing.

The long, slow scenes with Carradine at the end are almost unbearable in their gentility, accumulating tension and inevitability. I thought this was the fulfillment of Tarrantino's promise - far less glib than his previous high-point Pulp Fiction.

KB2 had a real and lasting impact on me - it has penetrated my psyche with the force of myth and I have had dreams about it.

KB2 isn't perfect - Tarrantino still can't resist the impulse toward too-clever-by-half dialogue, but here it is the exception rather than the rule. Above all, he has created something profound.

Oh, and I also love Ella Enchanted, but in part because of how excited my almost-5 year-old daughter gets about it.

I guess the above turned out to be a short review - I expanded it and posted it here

I disliked Kill Bill 2 as well. I thought the first one was at least fast paced enough to hold my interest. Here, not even the trademark Tarantino dialogue served a purpose. The only high point was Carradine. See here (shameless plug alert):

http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/08/15/035226.php

What disappoints me about this is not that you didn't enjoy "Kill Bill 2" (which is Tarantino's take on spaghetti westerns, and if you don't like it, don't see "High Plains Drifter" because it has midgets - and I think Tarantino was restrained compared to what he working from - watch "How the West Was Won" or HPD, or "Fist Full of Dollars" or "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" or even "The Searchers" and tell me KB2 wasn't totally in line with them) but because you expect Hollywood, which already panders to low expectations, to make product which has no challenge to your expectations at all.

Maybe the reason critics said "Connie and Carla" was a bland mish-mash of "Some Like It Hot" and "Victor-Victoria" was because that is all it was.

i think missing the first one (Kill Bill 1) prolly made ur confusion too great to get the style change and hence the greatness of the fabric of this film.