Oh shit, that's right. I have to hand in my SJW card for a "they look the same" violation, don't I? Totally thought that was her. What the hell has Vivica Fox been in since Kill Bill, then? *checks Wikipedia* holy hell, that's depressing. Like a thousand credits over the past ten years, but it's all been movies I've NEVER HEARD OF, plus some Canadian TV show.greycrusader wrote: ↑Wed Jan 31, 2018 4:52 am Jab, I believe you are confusing the lovely Ms. Fox with the equally alluring and ageless Vanessa Williams, vis-a-vis the role on Ugly Betty.
Yeah, I... really didn't find her THAT attractive, either. I go for unconventional beauty myself (Leelee Sobieski is one of my all-timers, and I was WAY more into Molly Holly in the WWF than the augmented blonde brigade of Trish Stratus & Torrie Wilson), but watching Kill Bill and seeing guys just fall all over how beautiful the comatose Bride was felt... off, somehow. I don't know anybody who's really into her aside from Tarantino (who called her "the thinking man's sex symbol", whatever that means). I mean, she's good-looking, but "Great Beauty" she ain't.Regarding Ms. Thurman as an example of "Failed Hollywood Hype Machine"...I must admit, I NEVER understood the HUGE push she got; limited acting ability, poor chemistry with most of her male leads, and an aloof, reserved on-screen persona. She was also pretty much the definition of unconventionally attractive-very tall, lanky, and lovely, but with a large nose, high forehead, and a rounded jawline. Yet the entertainment industry of the time acted as if she was one of the most beautiful women alive, which I couldn't comprehend (I also never understood the same bit with Jamie Lee Curtis, though the woman was charming enough on-screen). If you've seen Cats and Dogs, the entire story is thrown off by casting the more typically pretty Janeane Garafalo as the "plain one" next to Ms. Thurman.
I think some of the appeal was definitely for her breasts, which were pretty great in the nude roles she did (when she was a fair bit younger). It was the '90s, after all- the "Gwyneth Paltrow/Natalie Portman" look hadn't been ordained form on high just yet.
Sadly, being cast as Xena probably marked her as a "B-Movie Actress" for life, especially in the 1990s. Typically actors didn't move from TV to movies that often.I still think the movies would have been improved exponentially by casting Lucy Lawless as the Bride-because who are you going to call if you have to put a beat down on sword wielding yakuza thugs and a psycho school-girl with a meteor hammer-Xena the Warrior Princess or Mia Wallace? Besides,the "Flawless One" is among the few non-fat/non-musclebound actresses to utterly bedazzle this humble commentator.
Yeah, a "Reach" weapon is a HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE advantage in a real-life fight, effectively keeping you permanently out of range. It's why guys with longer arms are deadly in boxing, too. Hard to replicate in M&M without just doing what I did with Sagat- because he's so tall and powerful, I just gave him a higher Attack & Defense value, to reflect how he can hit without being struck in return.PS: Jab, you're dead right about how hard it is to simulate the type of weapon wielded by Gogo Yubari, because I recently designed and submitted an "official" GR bad guy with just such a trademark spiked ball-and-chain. Basically tacking on a slew of enhanced combat advantages to the weapon, but restricting them to users with high STR, AGL, and FGH traits. The M&M mechanics just don't work so well for hand-to-hand combat with "reach" weapons that do more than cause damage.
I think a more "realistic" way to depict ranged weaponry like that is to actually give DEFENSIVE bonuses as well- boosts to Parry to reflect how you can't just slash Gogo with a sword, because that Meteor Hammer controls the distance between the two of you.