Kill Bill

Cover of Kill Bill: Vol.1
Description
Director	Quentin Tarantino
Date	2003-04
Famous Actors
Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Daryl Hannah
v t e

Kill Bill is a two-part 2003–2004 action/thriller film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. Kill Bill was originally scheduled for a single theatrical release, but with a running time of over four hours, it was separated into two volumes: Kill Bill: Volume 1, released in late 2003, and Kill Bill: Volume 2, released in early 2004.

Related articles[link]

• Kill Bill Volume 1
  • Kill Bill Vol. 1 Original Soundtrack
• Kill Bill Volume 2
  • Kill Bill Vol. 2 Original Soundtrack

Characters[link]

• Beatrix Kiddo
• Bill
• Deadly Viper Assassination Squad
• Earl McGraw
• Edgar McGraw

See also[link]

• Wikipedia books: Kill Bill

Lucy Liu
Lucy Liu at the 2011 Kung Fu Panda 2 premiere
Born	Lucy Liu (1968-12-02) December 2, 1968 (age 43) Queens, New York, United States
Alma mater	University of Michigan (B.A.)
Occupation	Actress, producer, singer
Years active	1989–present
Partner	Will McCormack (2004–present)

Lucy Alexis Liu (Chinese: 劉玉玲; pinyin: Liú Yùlíng; born December 2, 1968) is an American actress, singer and film producer. She became known for playing the role of the vicious and ill-mannered Ling Woo in the television series Ally McBeal (1998–2002), and has also appeared in several Hollywood films including Payback, Charlie's Angels, Chicago, Kill Bill, and Kung Fu Panda. In 2012, Liu joined the cast of the TNT original series Southland.

Personal life[link]

Liu was born in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York. In high school, she adopted her middle name "Alexis".^[1] She is the youngest of three children born to Cecilia, who worked as a biochemist, and Tom Liu, who was a civil engineer.^[2] Both of Liu's parents were immigrants from Taiwan of Chinese descent. Her grandparents were born and raised in China.^[3] She has an older brother, John,^[4][5][6][7] and an older sister, Jenny.^[8] Liu has stated that she grew up in a "diverse" neighborhood. She learned to speak Mandarin Chinese at home and began studying English when she was five years old.^[9]

Liu attended Joseph Pulitzer Middle School (I.S.145). She graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1986.^[10] She enrolled at New York University and transferred to the University of Michigan, where she was a member of the Chi Omega sorority. Liu earned a bachelor's degree in Asian Languages and Cultures. In Michigan, Liu worked as a waitress.^[11]

In 2004, Liu was engaged to Zach Helm, whom she had met the year before. She called off the engagement and immediately began a relationship with Will McCormack.^[12] She lives with her brother John and his wife in New York.^[13]

Career[link]

1989–1999[link]

In 1989, Liu auditioned for the University of Michigan's production of Alice in Wonderland during her senior year of college. Although she had originally only tried out for a supporting part,^[14] Liu was cast in the lead role.

Liu had small roles in films and TV, marking her debut. She was cast in The X-Files in "Hell Money" and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys in "The March to Freedom" before landing a role on Ally McBeal. Liu originally auditioned for the role of 'Nelle Porter' (played by Portia de Rossi), and the character Ling Woo was later created specifically for her. Liu's part on the series was originally temporary, but high audience ratings secured Liu as a permanent cast member. Additionally, she earned an Emmy^[15] nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series and a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy Series.^[14] In Payback (1999), Liu portrayed Pearl, a young woman who works for the Chinese mafia.

2000–2006[link]

Liu was cast as Alex Munday in the Charlie's Angels film with Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz. The film opened in November 2000 and was a hit, earning more than $125 million in the United States. Charlie's Angels earned a worldwide total of more than $264 million. The sequel, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, opened in June 2003 and was also ranked highly, earning more than $100 million in the U.S., and a worldwide total of more than $259 million. In contrast, Liu starred with Antonio Banderas in Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever, a critical and box office failure.

In 2000, she hosted Saturday Night Live with Jay-Z. Liu starred as lawyer Grace Chin on Ugly Betty in the episodes "Derailed" and "Icing on the Cake". In a 2001 episode of Sex and the City entitled "Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda" she guest starred as herself, playing a new client of character Samantha Jones, who does public relations. She starred in the Sex and the City inspired TV show, Cashmere Mafia on ABC. Liu also made a cameo appearance on the animated shows Futurama (as herself and/or robot duplicates thereof in the episodes "I Dated a Robot" and "Love and Rocket") and The Simpsons (on the season sixteen episode "Goo Goo Gai Pan").

In 2002, Liu played Rita Foster in Vincenzo Natali's Brainstorm (aka Cypher). Soon thereafter, she appeared as O-Ren Ishii in Quentin Tarantino's 2003 film, Kill Bill. She won an MTV Award for "Best Movie Villain" for the part. Subsequently, Liu appeared on several episodes of Joey with Matt LeBlanc, who played her love interest in the Charlie's Angels films. She also had minor roles as Kitty Baxter in the film Chicago, and as a psychologist opposite Keira Knightley in the thriller Domino.

In Lucky Number Slevin, she played the leading love interest to Josh Hartnett. 3 Needles was released on December 1, 2006. Liu portrayed Jin Ping, an HIV-positive Taiwanese woman.^[16]

2007–present[link]

In 2007, Liu appeared in Code Name: The Cleaner, Rise, a supernatural thriller co-starring Michael Chiklis in which Liu plays an undead reporter^[9] (for which she was ranked #41 on "Top 50 Sexiest Vampires"),^[17] and Watching the Detectives, an independent romantic comedy co-starring Cillian Murphy. She made her producer debut and also starred in a remake of Charlie Chan, which had been planned as early as 2000.^[14] The film is still being worked on for a release in 2012 or 2013

In 2007, Empire named Liu #96 of their "100 Sexiest Movie Stars".^[18] The producers of Dirty Sexy Money created a role for Liu as a series regular. Liu played Nola Lyons, a powerful attorney who faced Nick George (played by Peter Krause).^[19] Liu voiced Silvermist in Disney Fairies and Viper in Kung Fu Panda.^[14]

In March 2010, Liu made her Broadway debut in the Tony Award-winning play God of Carnage as Annette on the second replacement cast alongside Jeff Daniels, Janet McTeer and Dylan Baker.^[20] In March 2012, she was cast as Joan Watson for Elementary. Elementary is a American Sherlock Holmes adaption, and the role Liu was offered is traditionally played by men.^[21] She is also doing the TNT TV show Southland playing Police Officer Jessica Tang.

Activism[link]

Liu speaking at the USAID Human Trafficking Symposium in September 2009

Liu, who is an artist in several media, has had three gallery shows showcasing her collage, paintings, and photography.^[22] She began doing collage mixed media when she was 16 years old, and became a photographer and painter.^[13] In September 2006, Liu held an art show and donated her share of the profits to UNICEF.^[13][23] She also had another show in 2008 in Munich. Liu has stated that she donated her share of the profits to UNICEF.^[13]

In 2001, Liu was the spokesperson for the Lee National Denim Day fundraiser which raises millions of dollars for breast cancer research and education.^{[citation needed]} In 2005, Liu was appointed an ambassador for U.S. Fund for UNICEF. She traveled to Pakistan and Lesotho, among several other countries.^[14] She also hosted an MTV documentary for the MTV EXIT campaign in 2007, produced to raise awareness of human trafficking in Asia.^{[citation needed]} Early in 2006, Liu received an "Asian Excellence Award" for Visibility.^{[citation needed]} Liu is a supporter of marriage equality for gays and lesbians, and she became a spokesperson in 2009.^[24]

Liu is also a singer for the musical group The Bullitts.

Filmography[link]

Television[link]

TV guest appearances[link]

Producer[link]

Video games[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lucy Liu

• Lucy Liu at the Internet Movie Database
• Lucy Liu at Emmys.com

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (July 2011)

Tomoyasu Hotei (布袋 寅泰, Hotei Tomoyasu^?, born February 1, 1962 in Takasaki, Gunma, Japan) is a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter, composer, record producer and actor. Hotei rose to prominence in the 1980's as the guitarist for Boøwy, one of Japan's most popular rock bands, before starting a solo career. In 2003, he was ranked number 70 on HMV Japan's list of the 100 most important Japanese pop acts.^[1] He ranked second in a 2011 poll on who the Japanese people thought was the best guitarist to represent Japan.^[2] Hotei is best known internationally for his song "Battle Without Honor or Humanity", which has been used in numerous films, commercials, and video games, most notably Quentin Tarantino's feature film Kill Bill.

Life and career[link]

Born to a Korean father and a Japanese/Russian mother, Hotei first began playing the guitar in junior high school. In high school, his band Blue Film finished runners up in a school contest to Death Penalty, a band led by Kyosuke Himuro. Hotei was expelled shortly before graduation, because, when warned about his long hair he replied "Jesus had long hair!" Shortly after, he went to Tokyo where one day he received a phone call from Himuro. The two had never really known each other but hit it off and went on to hold auditions for a new band, which in 1981 became the six-member Boøwy. The band became major stars in Japan,^[1] even playing the Marquee in London in 1985, and in 1986 released their first million selling album, Beat Emotion.

When Boøwy broke up in 1988, Hotei established himself as a solo artist. He also made two albums with Koji Kikkawa as Complex,^[1] both of which went to number one in the national charts. Hotei frequently records overseas and has collaborated with many foreign musicians, including; playing on The Stranglers Hugh Cornwell's 1993 solo album, on stage with David Bowie at the Nippon Budokan in 1996, and at the closing ceremony of the 1996 Summer Olympics with Michael Kamen.^[1] He later recorded Guitar Concerto with Kamen.

He has also worked with Andy Mackay of Roxy Music, guitarist Chris Spedding and Mike Edwards of Jesus Jones. Hotei also sometimes tours Europe, including at a number of major festivals. His regular drummer in recent years, Zachary Alford, has previously played with Bruce Springsteen and David Bowie. Hotei's 1998 album Supersonic Generation, recorded in part with Apollo 440 and Ofra Haza, was released in 14 European countries.

In addition to many bestselling solo albums, Hotei composed and performed the score for Hiroyuki Nakano's Samurai Fiction, as well as starring in the film. He composed threes tracks for the cult classic American film Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas together with Ray Cooper. Hotei's best known song "Battle Without Honor or Humanity" was used in Quentin Tarantino's feature film Kill Bill, the PlayStation 2 version of Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA, and Michael Bay's feature film Transformers. Hotei recorded a cover of John Lennon's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" for Merry Axemas: A Guitar Christmas, an instrumental guitar Christmas album featuring tracks from guitarists including Richie Sambora, Jeff Beck, Joe Perry, Eric Johnson, Steve Vai and Steve Morse.^[1]

The Nintendo DS game Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan features his song "Thrill". The game's sequel, Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii, features another Hotei song, "Bambina" (Both songs are cover versions.). Hotei is featured in "Grace" on the Apocalyptica album Worlds Collide. The song is featured in the game NHL 09.

On July 30 and 31, 2011, Hotei and Kikkawa reunited as Complex for two nights at the Tokyo Dome. All proceeds were donated to aid the victims of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.^[3]

On February 1, 2012, Hotei performed a concert at the Saitama Super Arena to celebrate his 50th birthday. Former Boøwy drummer Makoto Takahashi appeared as a special guest and together they played Boøwy's "Justy" and "No. New York".^[4] Hotei made his directorial debut in April 2012, with the stage play Psychedelic Pain, for which he also wrote the music.^[5] On May 8, it was announced that Hotei will move to London in June, in hopes of starting an international career.^[6]

Personal life[link]

Tomoyasu Hotei married singer Kumiko Yamashita in January 1986, they divorced in November 1997.^[1] He is currently married to Miki Imai, who is also a singer and actress.^[4] On June 14, 2007, Hotei assaulted his friend and punk rock singer Kō Machida.^[7] The incident happened when the two men got into an argument about a band they planned on forming together.^[7] Machida filed a police report on the 18th, and Hotei was ordered to pay a fine of 300,000 yen on October 1.^[8] Hotei and his wife will move to London, England in June 2012.^[6]

Discography[link]

Singles[link]

• "Dancing with the Moonlight" (April 3, 1989)
  • Released only in the UK in two mixes on 12" inch and 7" inch vinyl.
• "Deja-vu" (December 12, 1990), Oricon Singles Chart Peak Position: #2^[9]
• "Beat Emotion" (June 29, 1991) #1^[9]
• "You" (December 4, 1991) #12^[9]
• "Lonely Wild" (July 22, 1992) #5^[9]
• "Saraba Seishun no Hikari" (さらば青春の光, July 28, 1993) #8^[9]
• "Surrender" (サレンダー, March 30, 1994) #2^[9]
• "Bara to Ame" (薔薇と雨,December 14, 1994) #13^[9]
• "Poison" (January 25, 1995) #2^[9]
• "Thrill" (スリル, October 18, 1995) #1^[9]
• "Last Scene" (ラストシーン, January 24, 1996) #3^[9]
• "Inochi wa Moyashitsukusu tame no Mono" (命は燃やしつくすためのもの, May 24, 1996) #13^[9]
• "Circus" (October 23, 1996) #3^[9]
• "Change Yourself!" (August 1, 1997) #6^[9]
• "Thank You & Good Bye" (January 28, 1998) #9^[9]
• "Bambina" (バンビーナ, April 16, 1999) #2^[9]
• "Nobody is Perfect" (May 12, 1999) #10^[9]
• "Vampire" (August 30, 2000) #8^[9]
• "Love Junkie" (October 25, 2000) #11^[9]
• "Born to Be Free" (January 1, 2001) #14^[9]
• "Russian Roulette" (February 6, 2002) #9^[9]
• "Destiny Rose" (October 17, 2002) #8^[9]
• "Nocturne No.9" (August 27, 2003) #13^[9]
• "Another Battle" (アナザー・バトル, June 30, 2004) #17^[9]
• "Identity" (February 23, 2005) #21^[9]
• "Back Streets of Tokyo" (August 23, 2006) #19^[10]
  • A collaboration with Brian Setzer.
• "Stereocaster" (November 8, 2006) #17^[11]
  • A collaboration with Char.
• "Still Alive" (August 4, 2010) #20^[9]
• "Promise" (May 18, 2011) #10^[9]

Studio albums[link]

• Guitarhythm (October 5, 1988), Oricon Albums Chart Peak Position: #2^[12]
• Guitarhythm II (September 27, 1991) #1^[12]
• Guitarhythm III (September 23, 1992) #2^[12]
• Guitarhythm IV (June 1, 1994) #2^[12]
• King & Queen (February 28, 1996) #1^[12]
• Supersonic Generation (April 29, 1998) #4^[12]
• Fetish (November 29, 2000) #8^[12]
• Scorpio Rising (March 6, 2002) #6^[12]
• Doberman (September 26, 2003) #9^[12]
• Monster Drive (June 15, 2005) #10^[12]
• Soul Sessions (December 6, 2006) #16^[12]
• Ambivalent (October 24, 2007) #10^[12]
• Guitarhythm V (February 18, 2009) #5^[12]

Compilations albums[link]

• Guitarhythm Forever Vol. 1 (February 17, 1995) #1^[12]
• Guitarhythm Forever Vol. 2 (February 17, 1995) #2^[12]
• Greatest Hits 1990–1999 (June 23, 1999) #1^[12]
• Tonight I'm Yours / B-Side Rendez-vous (January 26, 2000, two albums) #4^[12]
• All Time Super Best (December 7, 2005) #5^[12]

Live albums[link]

• Guitarhythm Active Tour 91-92 (April 8, 1992) #2^[12]
• Guitarhythm Wild (April 28, 1993) #3^[12]
• Space Cowboy Show (March 19, 1997) #3^[12]
• Space Cowboy Show Encore (April 25, 1997) #8^[12]
• Rock the Future Tour 2000-2001 (March 22, 2001) #15^[12]
• Tomoyasu Hotei Live in Budokan (December 26, 2002) #18^[12]
• Monster Drive Party!!! (September 14, 2005) #25^[12]
• MTV Unplugged (June 27, 2007) #38^[12]

Soundtracks[link]

• Beautiful Noise (1993)
• Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
• SF Samurai Fiction (July 29, 1998) #29^[12]
• New Battles Without Honor and Humanity (新・仁義なき戦い/そしてその映画音楽, November 29, 2000) #41^[12]
• KT -Original Motion Picture Soundtrack- (May 22, 2002)
• Electric Samurai (March 30, 2004) #24^[12]

Other albums[link]

• Battle Royale Mixes (December 24, 1996)
  • Limited release.
• Guitar Concerto (June 1, 1998) #14^[12]
  • Collaboration with Michael Kamen.
• Battle Royale Mixes II (July 23, 1998) #18^[12]
  • Limited release.
• Guitarhythm Box (December 24, 2008) #52^[12]
  • Contains Guitarhythm I, II, III, IV, a preview of V, and a live DVD.
• Modern Times Rock'N'Roll (Party Mix) (November 25, 2009)
  • iTunes Store limited digital download.
• Modern Times Rock'N'Roll (December 23, 2009) #12^[12]
  • Cover album of Western hits. Also released as a limited quantity USB flash drive on the same day.
• Hotei Memorial Super Box (February 1, 2012) #23^[12]

Other appearances[link]

• Merry Axemas: A Guitar Christmas (1997)
• Tribute Spirits (May 1, 1999)
• "Hot Chocolate" (January 25, 2006)
  • A single by Rip Slyme. Appears on "Battle Funkastic ~Rip Slyme VS Hotei~", a mash-up of Hotei's "Battle Without Honor or Humanity" and Rip Slyme's "Funkastic".

Home videos[link]

• Guitarhythm (July 11, 1989)
• Guitarhythm Active Tour '91-'92 (March 25, 1992)
• Guitarhythm Wild (June 16, 1993)
• Serious Clips (July 27, 1994)
• Guitarhythm Serious! Climax (May 17, 1995)
• Cyber City Never Sleep (May 24, 1996)
• H (October 9, 1996)
• Space Cowboy Show (April 25, 1997)
• Space Cowboy Show Encore (1997)
  • Only given to those who bought Space Cowboy Show on both VHS and DVD.
• SSG Live "Rock the Future" (October 7, 1998)
• Greatest Video 1994-1999 (July 16, 1999)
• Tonight I'm Yours (May 16, 2000)
• Rock the Future Tour 2000-2001 (May 16, 2001)
• Hotei Live Jukebox (July 25, 2001)
• Live in Budokan (July 29, 2003)
• Beat Crazy Presents Live @ AX (May 21, 2003)
• Doberman DVD (November 3, 2003)
• The Live! Doberman (June 30, 2004)
• Top Runner Full Version (March 30, 2005)
  • Limited release.
• Monster Drive Party!!! (September 14, 2005)
• All Time Super Clips (May 15, 2006)
• All Time Super Best Tour (June 26, 2006)
• Hotei presents "Super Soul Sessions" Brian Setzer vs Hotei vs Char (July 27, 2007)
• MTV Unplugged (June 27, 2006)
• Hotei and The Wanderers Funky Punky Tour 2007-2008 (April 23, 2008)
• Tōdai-ji+G.V. / Time and Space (November 25, 2009)
  • Limited release.
• Hotei+Tōdai-ji Tomoyasu Hotei Special Live -Fly into your Dream- (November 25, 2009)
• Guitarhythm V Tour (November 25, 2009)
• 30th Anniversary Anthology I "Souseiki" (September 14, 2011)
• 30th Anniversary Anthology II "Ifuu Doudou" (September 14, 2011)

Filmography[link]

• SF Samurai Fiction as Rannosuke Kazamatsuri (1998)
• New Battles Without Honor and Humanity as Tochino Masatatsu (also known as Another Battle, 2002)
• Red Shadow Akakage as Rannosuke Kazamatsuri (2001)
• Akai Tsuki as Colonel Osugi (2004)

In popular culture[link]

• "Battle Without Honor or Humanity" was featured in the American movies Kill Bill, Transformers, Hotel for Dogs, and Team America: World Police, and in the games Dance Dance Revolution SuperNova and Pop'n Music Carnival 13. It also made an appearance in a first season episode of My Name Is Earl, and has been used in a variety of automobile ad campaigns worldwide. It is also the intro theme used during the Colin Cowherd radio show syndicated in the United States via ESPN Radio. The song was also used in the trailer for the PlayStation 3 game Gran Turismo HD.
• "Russian Roulette" was featured in an opening video of the PS2 game Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny.
• "Bambina," "Russian Roulette," and "Nocturne no. 9" were featured in Konami's Guitar Freaks mixes 4/3 and 8/7, and Drummania V, respectively.
• "Bambina" and "Thrill" were also featured in the video games Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 1 and 2.
• "Identity" was used in the Japanese TV commercial for the Nintendo Gamecube video game Star Fox Assault.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website (Japanese)
• Official fan club site (Japanese)
• Official blog (Japanese)
• Official MySpace (English)
• Tomoyasu Hotei at the Internet Movie Database