Repeated viewings

A quick one to try and get in under the 12 o'clock (self-imposed) deadline, which I've already missed on a couple of occasions anyway but backdated so that nobody would notice except now I'm telling you about it.

We caught the second halves of a couple of movies on TV tonight - Ghostbusters II and Kill Bill Part 1 and despite having seen them both many times over I got distinctly different things from them than I expected.

For Ghostbusters II, I'd forgotten or maybe just never noticed how sinister it is. The first film has its fair share of peril, but it's an impersonal evil. In the sequel, Dana Barrett is being deliberately targeted, and Janosz' single-minded obsession with her is downright creepy. It probably doesn't help my impression, however, that I had honest-to-God nightmares about the ghost nanny Janosz when the film came out. Peter MacNicol has weirded me out ever since.

What stuck out in Kill Bill was a bit more subtle, and really only changes a single scene: the fight between The Bride and O-ren Ishii, right at the end of the film. My memory of The Bride generally is that she's very capable and confident, and I don't remember any of the fights causing her any great concern - even though Gogo is difficult to beat, The Bride doesn't hesitate.

But when she's facing O-ren in the garden, even before O-ren draws her sword, there's an anxiousness to The Bride's movements. Even O-ren seems to be regretting the situation, and the jibe about being unable to fight like a samurai - and subsequent apology - feels like this is a much more personal fight for both than the film ever spells out.

Of course, maybe it's because O-ren is the first member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad that The Bride fights - she's not had to test her abilities against anybody so skilled in a long time, and after the Crazy 88 she isn't at her peak.

This is why I like rewatching films, though. Even if you've seen something a dozen times, there's always more to get out of it - although in this case, I could just be overthinking it.