DJANGO UNCHAINED (2012)

Just saw Django Unchained, the newest film from Quentin Tarantino. And for the most part it is a pretty good film, damn near his best. I didn't want to write just another review as most everyone who has seen it has written some very well thought out reviews. I just wanted to point out the things I liked and the things I didn't. First the rating I give Django is a solid.....
  B+

King and Django..two men on a mission

Things I liked:

1.) The cast: top notch. One of the strongest casts in a Tarantino film since Pulp Fiction. From Jamie Foxx as the titular hero Django, who is soft spoken but one bad ass character. He wields guns like Uma Thurman wielded swords in the Kill Bill films. Christoph Waltz is excellent as Dr. King Schultz, a German dentist cum bounty hunter who frees Django, and enlists his help to track down some wanted men. Leonardo DiCaprio is perfectly villainous as Calvin Candie, the plantation owner who holds Django's wife as one his slaves. Samuel L. Jackson is unbelievably evil as Stephen, Calvin's house slave who really is more than meets the eye. Kerry Washington as Django's wife, Broomhilda, is ravishing and low-keyed hut effective in the quieter moments. Don Johnson as Big Daddy, another plantation owner who seeks payback on Django and Schultz who have crossed his path.  

2.) The music score: the songs were pretty cool but I actually enjoyed the music score itself even more. At times sweeping, at times epic, at times humorous...it all comes together for a perfect music score.

Django meets Calvin Candie

3.) The opening sequence: which sets the tone of the film as King tries to parlay Django's freedom from the Speck brothers which begins quite humorous but then turns very violent.

4.) The scene at Big Daddy's plantation and then the subsequent posse scene which is hilarious.

5.) The arrival of Django and Schultz as Calvin's place, Candyland. It's here where we get to meet Samuel L. Jackson's character, who takes an immediate dislike to Django.

Calvin gives a lesson to his guests

6.) The dinner conversation scene with the leads all charming and nice until....they are not.

7.) The explosive shoot-out where Django's just goes ballistic at Candyland.

8.) The finale

Stephen questions Broomhilda

Things I didn't like:

1.) Kinda long...at 2 hours and 45 minutes. Could have been trimmed by 20 minutes but that's a minor quibble.

2.) The ruse by Schultz and Django kind of leads to a big kind of head scratching moment when Calvin wants one more thing from Schultz before the deal is done..but I can kind of understand Schultz's reasons. You have to see the film to understand the moment I am talking about. Once again a minor quibble.

3.) Some scenes are really, really graphic. Like a man getting torn limb from limb by dogs. Definitely not for the faint of heart. Does it go overboard? Depends on your taste.  But at least is buffered by Tarantino's witty dialogue and usual banter. Be warned the language is very harsh as well. But it does fit the time period for the most part.

That's about it as far as dislikes...so as you can see more likes than dislikes. Hence my rating of B+.

Be My Guest: June Hill Dentzer

My guest for the month is a friend of mine I met on Facebook. Her name is June and we've been friends since last summer. We share a love of movies and comic books. And she graciously accepted my invite to come on Hero Worship for a little Q & A. Take it away June..

1. If you don't mind, could you feel in my readers on what makes June who she is.

Your likes, dislikes, hobbies, etc...

I've been a registered nurse in an emergency room for the past 14 years. I suppose this has made me pretty intense, though I really always have been. I am ridiculously opinionated. I love film, and the types of films I watch vary widely from 70’s grindhouse to art cinema, indie films, horror, superhero movies...just about anything except really stupid comedies.  In my spare time I dabble in photography and I’m passionate about pop surrealism and art vinyl toys, and I’m in recovery from a $70 a week comic book habit.

2. What are some of your favorite films? Modern and classic

I love everything by Quentin Tarantino, and I’m currently really enjoying the Dutch films of Paul Verhoeven, especially The Fourth Man, Spetters, and Turkish Delight. I love old Hammer horror films, like The Legend of Hell house, I love Corman films, old musicals like Singing in the Rain. I love Hitchcock films. I love Almodovar films...The Skin I Live in is one of the best modern films I’ve seen in a long time. Or really violent films like Ichi the Killer.

3. Describe your first movie-going experience. Like where, how old, with who, etc...

The first movies I can remember seeing were both with my Aunt Suzie. She took me to see Bambi and a version of A Christmas Carol...I don’t remember which one. There was a scene looking up from the grave that I remember being pretty freaked out by. I can also remember going to the drive in with my parents and being told to sleep in the back of the station wagon. I saw Up the Sandbox and I think it was What’s Up Tiger Lily? that way

4. What is your favorite film genre?

I love a really black comedy. Or a really violent film, preferably with brutally homicidal women. I giggled all the way through Kill Bill the first time I saw it.

5. Who are some of your favorite actors/actresses?

I have a lot of favorites. I love Angela Bettis. She was chilling in the movie May, and more recently All My Friends Are Funeral Singers. I like Chloe Moretz and Juno Temple. Keep an eye on them. They’re young but I think will go far. I like Michael Fassbender. He’s been showing an interesting range lately.

6. What films upon first viewing did you not like, then later on when re-watching them,

loved the hell out of them.

Bad 80’s horror films and Corman style B movies. Years ago I was a bit of a movie snob, preferring a more cerebral indie film or foreign films. I couldn’t appreciate a more low brow type film. Now I can’t get enough of them!

7. What are some of your favorite film quotes?

 There's a passage I got memorized. Ezekiel 25:17. "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy My brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay My vengeance upon you." Now... I been sayin' that shit for years. And if you ever heard it, that meant your ass. You'd be dead right now. I never gave much thought to what it meant. I just thought it was a cold-blooded thing to say to a motherfucker before I popped a cap in his ass. But I saw some shit this mornin' made me think twice. See, now I'm thinking: maybe it means you're the evil man. And I'm the righteous man. And Mr. 9mm here... he's the shepherd protecting my righteous ass in the valley of darkness. Or it could mean you're the righteous man and I'm the shepherd and it's the world that's evil and selfish. And I'd like that. But that shit ain't the truth. The truth is you're the weak. And I'm the tyranny of evil men. But I'm tryin', Ringo. I'm tryin' real hard to be the shepherd.  Jules..Pulp Fiction

8. What classic films that are widely loved, could you care less about?

Casablanca. I watched it once and didn’t care for it at all.

9. If you threw a movie theme party, describe how you would do it. The costumes, decorations, food, etc..

Wow...that’s tough. Obviously a Tarantino themed party...probably with all the food in the shape of feet.

10. Who's the biggest film fanatic that you know? Besides yourself of course.

No question about that...Chris Dallis, my boyfriend. I met him online. On our first date, I told him “ I’ve gotta warn you...I like movies” Chris-“Great! I like movies too!” Me- “No, I mean I REALLY like movies”. This led to a four hour discussion that proved that while I loved film, I knew NOTHING about it at the time. And how sexy it is to finally find another movie nerd. He has since proceeded to educate me on all the finer aspects of film. Just today he received Tim Lucas’s All the Colors of the Dark, the ultimate work on Mario Bava, on which he dropped a startling sum

11.Describe the perfect way for you to watch a movie.

Curled up on my couch with Chris with NO interruptions. I love to go to the theater but all too often find that at least half of the people there are absolute jerks. The best theater experience I’ve had was at Whip It...I was the only person in the theater. It was delightful!!

12. And finally, who are some of your favorite film characters?

Maggie Gylenhall’s character in Secretary, Angela Bava’s in May, and the Bride in Kill Bill. I always love the homicidal women, and the whole rebirth through S&M theme of Secretary is a delight. Sorry...I’m a bit off. My therapist says it’s okay


Wow..what awesome answers June gave. Does she not sound cool or what? I would like to thank her for being my guest this month and I hope everyone enjoyed having her here as much as I did.

Nick Fury met Hawkeye a few years ago, well their counterparts did....

I recently did a post about Chris Evans (Captain America) meeting Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow) in a comedy years ago before suiting up as the Avengers. Well another pairing of future heroes took place back in 2003 when Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury) and Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye) co-starred in the action film S.W.A.T. Jackson was the leader of a s.w.a.t. unit while Renner was cast as Colin Farrell's (part of Sam's unit) ex-partner who turned rogue. Jackson and Renner didn't share too many scenes together but I thought it was cool that the future Fury and Hawkeye were in a movie together almost a decade before the Avengers assembled. Just another cool and random piece of trivia.

Action Movie For The Day: THE LONG KISS GOODNIGHT (1996)

You see this is why there should be more women driven action pictures. Women can make credible action heroes just like men, if not better. Geena Davis is awesome as Samantha Cain, a women suffering from amnesia, who is living the quiet life with her young daughter and dating a nice guy. Samantha has hired low rent private eye Mitch Hennessey to solve the mystery of her past. When a man shows up at Samantha's house to kill her, her reflexes takes over and she kills him. It seems Samantha was a former CIA assassin named Charlie Baltimore who was left for dead. Well the bad guys want to finish the job this time and soon Charlie and Mitch are on the run, taking down bad guys left and right. This movie kicks ass and Geena Davis rocks it as the super assassin Charlie. If you thought Uma Thurman was one lethal lady in Kill Bill, you need to check out Charlie. Deadly with her hands and even deadlier with a gun. She mows down the bad guys with lethal efficiency. Samuel Jackson holds his own as the wise cracking detective Mitch, who gets in on the action later on in the movie. They end up making quite the team. I brought up Uma, because Kill Bill seemed to borrow a little of the plot from this film. A wronged lady comes back to exact revenge and to save her little girl. And this film delivers all the action you could want and then some. Loaded with devious bad guys, snappy one liners, awesome gun battles and fight scenes, Long Kiss is a must see. And also has a very cool music score that brings more energy to the already fantastic action scenes. Good selection of songs too. Geena shows she can hang with the big boys Mel, Arnie, Bruce and Sly quite easily. From the writer Shane Black of Lethal Weapon and The Last Boy Scout.
B+



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Mitch Henessey: What I'm saying is, back when we first met, you were all like "Oh phooey, I burned the darn muffins." Now, you go into a bar, ten minutes later, sailors come runnin' out. What up with that?