Review: Django Unchained

 

For the past ten years, Quentin Tarantino's cinematic output has been focused entirely on revenge fantasies. Over the course of five films (four, if you count Kill Bill Volumes I and II as a single film) Tarantino has explored revenge across multiple, pulpy genres (including the Kung Fu flick, the war film, and the ultraspecific 1970s/80s muscle car movie mini genre) taking on the natural urges for payback felt by wronged contract killers, Jews during the Holocaust, and the female victims of sexual predators.

Tarantino's latest foray into the revenge milieu is Django Unchained, a pre-Civil War Western/Blaxploitation film set against the backdrop of Southern slavery. Like the other films of Tarantino's revenge period, it's not for those weak of stomach or short on patience. But amid the stylish gore and slick modern musical cues, Django actually has some interesting things to say about slavery and filmic revenge.

Question for the Week of Jan 14-20: Movie + Soundtrack

What are your favorite movie soundtracks?

Movie scores are always fun to talk about; most film fans are pretty passionate about the score/music to their favorite pictures. I'll take this question as "which movies do I own both in video and audio." I find that if a movie has a soundtrack that good, I'd probably get the movie as well....

In my case, there's even more to consider: CDs used to be really expensive, so buying a movie's soundtrack when it wasn't in the top 40 or whatever meant that you thought it was really, really good. A few of these discs I picked up for $18, *shudder*.

[UPDATE: This post went up at 10AM and I just took 10 minutes of my lunch break to fix any typos. The 9 or so people who already saw this aren't being treated as well as everyone who showed at 1:15PM or later, and I'm sorry for that. I couldn't come in to edit until now...]

Pulp Fiction - there's really nothing left to say about the soundtrack. Unfortunately, many of its songs have been overused to death in lame ads, so, in all honesty, I probably wouldn't like hearing them anymore. You've screwed me again, corporate America!

Grosse Point Blank - although I don't own the second cd (no seriously, there were a lot of songs in this movie), I was taken with the picture - and its excellent soundtrack - from the first time I saw it. I caught a free preview with one friend, saw it two days later with a girl I was dating, then saw it again with a friend a week or so after that.

I wanted to use the scene where Debi plays The Specials, but I can't find it.

The Mystery of Rampo - this is a fantastic Japanese film, artistic and intellectual, but engages you very early on; yet it's very emotional. Between those last four compliments and the inventive plot, the style, the acting, and the cinematography, The Mystery of Rampo really bears every grace that a picture can have.

Great Moments in Film Hero Failure

Nobody's perfect, right? We all make mistakes, and I think that too many pictures show characters that are either error-prone to an insane degree or altogether too perfect.

And so we come to one of my favorite moments in film - in an ironic way. Gleaming the Cube is the 1980's Christian Slater skateboarding pic that makes everyone laugh at the ridiculous impenetrability of its title. There are some nice things about this pic: the acting isn't bad, especially for a teen movie, and I like that Slater's lead has a Vietnamese adoptive brother that he adores. I also love the silliness of our lead trying to fight major drug gangs with his deck.

Just Watched Django

I just saw Django Unchained with DJ; yes, we watch films together sometimes. It was a complicated experience - although Django is a "good" movie, and I laughed harder than I expected, I had no way to understand what I was feeling afterwards, much less try to explain it.

One/both of us will follow up on this pic later. If you want a (forced) recommendation: It made me laugh hard, had some strong performances, and was shot beautifully; the issue of slavery was not-disrespectful and felt horrifying, QT worked tension on me like he hasn't since Pulp, and somehow, I actually didn't flinch at every n-bomb, after a while.

Also: holy s--t, $14 for a ticket?

(Lousy) Cell Phones in Film

How ridiculous is the usage of cell phones in film?

I'm on record, if in a slight way, as decrying the TV/Film approach towards science. However, we've come to a point where certain cliches have grown to prominence, and I should take the time - the time in this absurd future date of 2013 (2013: Rise of the Origins of the Dark!)- to point one out. In this case, it's the convenience of cell phone reception and its use in film. I'm glad that someone made a video highlighting it:

MRQ XII - Weird Mix-Pack Version

Oh my goodness, it's been such a long time since the last round of Movie Review Quickies. I didn't try to fix that, as I post much more frequently now. The MRQ before that was all horror, fitting for Halloween, but I wanted this one to be more... chaotic. Surprises let you know I care, right?

The length of each review is also a mix - a few are short, and one is a bit long. I'll probably try a truly quick run through another 7 films at the middle/end of Winter 2013. In fact, next time, I think it'll be a quick spin through 7 of my guilty pleasure films, or maybe movies I've changed my opinions about... I have individual links so you can just jump to any review you want (they'll be up by 11AM [UPDATE: 12:30PM, oops]), and I hope you enjoy what I'm covering: The Expendables, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, Showdown in Little Tokyo, Orgazmo, Foolproof, Blue Velvet, and Super Troopers.

The Expendables

Only the most extreme boredom and mind-draining labor could make me watch a movie that I expected to hate. Which is fortunate, because that's exactly the mood that I was in when I queued this up. The Expendables is a fairly fun picture that does somehow successfully recycle old 1980's action stars and tropes for a decent (if hollow) picture.

On the one hand, folks like Stallone and Statham have their careers because they have strong charisma and a physicality that lends itself nicely to violent films; both of them can also act just fine, even if they rarely seem to take on challenging projects. At the same time, folks like Eric Roberts, Dolph Lundgren, and Mickey Rourke are in this picture to give a massive callback to "the old days" of b-grade action pix. Looking at their IMDb pages says it all, really.

At the same time, though, we have Jet Li appearing as a callback to 90's action movies, which makes him incongruous. And it's in his casting that you can start to pull out some important threads from the sweater here. Li is there to kick people and make it look amazing - he's never developed to give him any real depth. Nor is Lundgren - he does nice work as the bad guy, but it's a very bare-bones sort of role and the script could've done more with him, easily.

Question for the Week of Jan 7-13: Unsolicited Advice

Do you have any ideas for how to improve some of the problems you discuss here? Lots of people talk about things that bother them - that's only complaining unless you try to make things better...

Nice one! Now, I could rely on the typical response - that I feel drawing attention to these issues is an effort to improve the state of affairs. It's a true statement, and I am the sort of person to point out problems so that we're aware of and can deal with them. But I like being atypical, too, so I can offer one constructive example right here and now.

Y'know how Arnold Schwarzenneger films used to be a blast, and then they started getting worse and worse? I mean in terms of things like being well-written, having a solid story, etc etc. Y'know how the same thing happened with Sylvester Stallone's films? I think I have a fairly suggestion for how they can turn things around a bit; it's asinine to offer such advice to professionals when I'm not even in their profession, but...

I think that guys like that should start taking non-lead performances, and/or star more in ensemble films. I want to believe good things about Stallone's acting abilities; every time I look at the guy, I remember Rocky. I've liked several of his roles, but it always comes back to that damn boxing, and the fine work he did therein.

Reviewing with Others, Pt. 35: The Typewriter

Some site notes before we get started: for one, if anyone cares about my schedule, my next Reviewing with Others posts will be the seminal gay picture Swoon, followed byGut, a thriller. My schedule has been a bit weird lately, but I'm still posting more than 4x/week. That should drop back to a steady 4 by the end of this month, though.

Also, for my End of 2012 back-patting session, I tried to limit myself to 5 favorites per type of entry. I was shocked that I didn't include the Fan-made Gem with "Achilles' Last Stand" playing over a clip from Game of Thrones (which I still haven't watched). I'm not ashamed to state that the clip brings me raw joy, I'm just ashamed it didn't get mentioned.

Back to today's news: I've seen the documentary film The Typewriter (in the 21st Century), and reviewed it over at Man, I Love Films. Follow that link to learn how my viewing experience went...

I'll see you all tomorrow or Friday, depending on how quickly I can edit this week's Question.
Half a Film Student

Hollywood Studios Fear Gay Films (still)

Last Saturday, I was shocked to learn that some film-studio types want to make the same stupid mistakes over and over again. I'm less shocked by the poor choices than I am by the predictability of the subject matter. Today's post is all about this problem....

It's been a while since I learned that Soderbergh was going to make a film about famous piano player Liberace. I didn't know that Michael Douglas would be taking the lead role, nor that Liberace's young male lover would be played by Matt Damon - I found both of those facts out when I read Saturday's Yahoo! article on the film. And I do think that article is worth reading...

Apparently, Steven Soderbergh shopped his story to every studio, asking for a $5 Million budget for a movie that would have 3 oscar winners attached. And one of those stars was Matt Damon, who just left a very popular action franchise... Yet no Hollywood studio wanted to do the project. They were all put off by how "gay" Soderbergh's picture would be...

Looper Parody Fan-made Gem

What would you do if you met your past self? What would you do if you met your future self? Rian Jordan's fine Looper asked those questions, and showed us its answers - at least, as constrained by the intense, action-fueled violent situation that serves as the story's main premise. A scifi/romance would've played differently.

I had a fine time watching Looper - yes, I'll review it soon - and was happy to see its great success ($166M on a $30M budget). However, if  you know me personally or read the opening paragraphs of my site's About page, you know I seldom say "I'm not gay" - rather, "I'm the only man I'm attracted to."

Save the Date Review

[Update: I finished revising this review at about 1PM; it needed a few tweaks, so the six of you that read it early today might want to come back.] Save the Date is about two contrary and complex sisters, as well as their relationship with each other and the men in their lives. As you can see by looking over my recent on-site Reviews (this is the 99th), I haven't had a lot of time to watch thoughtful pictures aside from my Reviewing with Others indie movie entries. I can say that even if I wasn't starved for some "real" cinema, I would have enjoyed this film greatly; and I don't care about the kiddie, blockbuster, and Oscar-bait flix that are in theaters now - Save the Date definitely deserves to be in wide release, too.

At the start, we see the artistic Sarah (Caplan) as she works on her black and white drawings. We learn that she's uncomfortable about moving in with her guitarist boyfriend, Kevin (Arend). Her sister, Beth (Brie), is helping her move. The tension that Sarah feels over such a relationship "big step" is overt, but we also pick up on the dynamic between Sarah and her sister: Beth is clearly the upbeat, sort of vanilla, sibling who has her act together, whereas Sarah is just living her life with no real plan or goal. Their interaction doesn't just provide plot exposition, it sets up the realistic vibe of the relationships - a realism we will see play out between all of the characters over time.

Beth, conveniently enough, is getting hitched to Kevin's drummer, Andrew (Starr), and all of them help Sarah and her man move in together. The problem comes at the next scene between the two men... Kevin wants to marry Sarah - when Andrew sees the ring, he suggests that Kev propose on stage, at their next gig. After a series of failed warnings, the guitarist pops the question in front of everybody, and the flighty, barely-reading-for-cohabitation Sarah just walks away.

Question for the Week of Dec 31-Jan 6: Best Against-Type Role

Some actors appear in the same types of roles over and over. What's the biggest or best surprise you ever got from a performer taking an unexpected role?

WOW! Brilliant question, easy answer: Mad Dog and Glory, and it's even better because it's a double-switch. In John McNaughton's 1993 romantic dramedy, Robert DeNiro plays not the typical cop: he's a shy forensic photographer. His life is quiet and lonely and simple. He is not brave, and he may very well have "given up" on life being anything other than a slow grind. Meanwhile, Bill Murray plays a hardcore mob boss who tries to do standup - and bombs every joke. You can see this perverse idea in the trailer, below.

Enough Already, Texas Chainsaw Massacre

I still remember the first time I saw The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I was already experienced with horror films by then, having seen many Friday the 13th films, Peter Jackson splatter pics, and even several Dario Argento movies. A film student girlfriend suggested we watch this seminal pic, and I agreed.

And holy s--t, 1974's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a seriously-disturbing movie.

Nothing about the antagonist's actions make sense; it's not even as clear as "you laughed at them, now they want you dead" - you have a handful of total psychos, and you don't know when their freakness will come out swinging. It's an utterly unexplained situation, which makes it all the scarier; like all stark survival experiences, motive means nothing. I'm at least partly unsettled because I know the bad guys were based a bit on Ed Gein, the serial killer who used his victims bones and flesh for household arts and crafts projects...