Django!

Quentin Tarantino is truly a bold filmmaker. If you couldn’t tell he really, loves spaghetti westerns. But for his version of a spaghetti western, he doesn’t just explode the conventions of the genre; he uniquely and creatively molds all aspects of the genre into a sincerely fun experience. 

Django Unchained stars Jamie Foxx as a slave who is purchased by a roving dentist/bounty hunter named Dr. King Schulz (Christoph Waltz), who agrees to free him and help him find his wife (Kerry Washington) if in return he will help track down a trio of killers called The Brittle Brothers. What proceeds is the growth of an unusual friendship and a whole lot of violence and excitement. 

This film is beautifully constructed in which, Django goes from being a slave to being not only a free man, but also a professional bounty hunter, trained by Schulz and becomes his partner. There are encounters with an amusing predecessor of the KKK (played by Don Johnson), a small town sheriff who is not what he seems and, the very proper southern plantation owner, Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio), along with his right hand man, house slave Stephen (Samuel L. Jackson), who is absolutely hilarious in every one of his scenes. 

Frequently, Tarantino gets us to laugh at the most outrageous situations and then we stop for a second feeling uncomfortable, just before going ahead and laughing at the next shocking situation. But there is not that is exactly the reaction he wants. 

He also wants the audience on the edge of their seats in tense moments and very emotionally touched in others, and it’s his use of completely inappropriate humor in such a deliberate manner, and to such a brilliant effect, that makes his films what they are. His ability to do this is just one of the things that separates him from his imitators. 

Another one of his great qualities is his ability to fold quotes from other films (and even his previous work) into his movies. In this film there’s one particularly moment that comes directly from Kill Bill. The moment takes barely a second, but it’s a moment of great violence and beauty.Tarantino also uses music from his favorite other films and recreates them in clever ways to enhance his unique way of directing even more. The soundtrack for Django Unchained makes use of music from a number of westerns in a mix with a few original songs and splendid mash-ups but everything seems to flow together genuinely. 

Django Unchained is kind of a typical Tarantino film in that it’s a lot of violent, bloody fun, BUT also in that it deals with a very serious topic in a mocking manner. Nevertheless I advise everyone to go see this film whether you like Tarantino or not!

Django Unchained and Christoph Waltz

Over the holidays, I managed to make it to the movies three times. Two of those three times were to see the new Quentin Tarantino spaghetti western flick “Django Unchained”. Django was an absolutely brilliant film, combining all the qualities you expect from a Tarantino flick and then some. You were given the proverbial Tarantino gore, witty banter, and slew of absolute brilliantly written characters, but also saw the intertwining of an unforeseen amount of humor (the KKK scene? BRILLIANT) with a compelling love story that drove the film’s protagonist throughout this entire elaborate and entertaining plot. All while taking place in the cruel and slavery infested era that is the 1850’s south.

What made “Django Unchained” even more incredible, and what I personally loved about it, was the absolute exceptional casting and performance by the actors. While they were all brilliant, Christoph Waltz (Dr. King Shultz) was on another level as far as I’m concerned. What astounded me about Waltz’s performance was that he was not only able to portray this very intellectual character so fluidly with his unconditional charm and enunciated vocabulary, but also capture the roughness and danger that is the bounty hunter. As you know, he won the Golden Globe for best supporting actor for this performance and still awaiting to see if he can go for two for two with his Oscar nomination in the same category. Waltz won the Oscar two years ago for his role as “Hans Landa” in Inglorious Basterds. I think it’s safe to say that if Waltz should work exclusively on Tarantino films for the rest of his career, well he’d be just fine.

Oscar Buzz

It's still a few months away, but I'm looking forward to watch this years Academy Awards as I do every year. I love watching the Oscars because it's an opportunity to see films at their best. Audiences get to see the best in the industry from Best Cinematography, Best Director, Best Score, Best Original Screenplay, etc. I also love seeing the celebrities and how they come to support fellow actors/actresses and to watch the show. It's always a spectacular show to watch. 

This year, comedian actor Seth MacFarlane (creator of Family Guy, American Dad, The Cleveland Show, and the motion picture Ted) will be hosting the 85th annual Academy Awards and I predict it will be a great show as usual.

The first Academy Awards were given in 1929 at the Hotel Roosevelt in Hollywood, California. The awards have changed for the decades and the awards currently are given to over a dozen categories and include various types of films. Annually, the Academy awards is televised in more than 100 countries, and is the oldest award ceremony in media.

Douglas Fairbanks

Wings

Again the first Academy Award ceremony took place on Thursday May 16, 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. The First host was actor Douglas Fairbanks. Fairbanks was known in Hollywood for his roles in The Thief of Bagdad, Robin Hood, and The Mask of Zorro.  

The First Motion Picture to win the award for best picture was the film Wings. Wings was a silent film about World War 1 fighter pilots.The first Academy Award ceremony I remember seeing as a kid was in 2004 when Million Dollar Baby took home the Best Picture award. I loved the experience of it especially watching Chris Rock host the show. Some awards that were given that night were Jamie Foxx for Best Actor for his role in Ray, Hilary Swank for Best Actress in Million Dollar Baby, Morgan Freeman for Best Supporting Actor in the film Million Dollar Baby, Cate Blanchett in The Aviator, Clint Eastwood for Best Director of Million Dollar Baby, The Incredibles received Best Animated Film, and Robert Richardson for Best Cinematography in the film The Aviator.

A lot of great awards have been given over the years and I look forward to seeing which movies take home the awards this upcoming year in February. Some films predicted to be in the Best Picture Category include: Lincoln, Life of Pi, Les Miserables, Argo, The Master, Anna Karenina, and Flight.                                                                                                                                                                      

Django Unchained

I had posted earlier this semester about how I’m a huge fan of western movies, but I couldn’t help but express my excitement for Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming western, Django Unchained! As Quentin Tarantino has an incredible appreciation for the classic spaghetti westerns, I am eager to see what references and homages Django Unchained has in store.

The film stars Jamie Foxx as the Django, a slave living in the South who has been separated from his wife and sold in an auction. After being rescued by the German bounty hunter King Schultz, the two team up to take the bounty on the criminal Brittle Brothers and save his wife from the plantation owner Calvin Candie. 

Django Unchained has an incredible cast, including Foxx as Django, Christoph Waltz as Schultz, Leonardo DiCaprio as Calvin Candie. The film even features a cameo by Franco Nero, who starred in the legendary spaghetti western Django as the titular character. What I found particularly interesting in this casting is that DiCaprio, who normally plays protagonists such as Romeo in Romeo + Juliet and Dom Cobb in Inception, is playing the villain in the film. I was also slightly surprised that Christoph Waltz was not cast as the villain after his incredible performance as Colonel Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds; as a huge fan of Waltz I am very excited to see his performance!

Django Unchained opens on Christmas Day; the trailer can be viewed here, and even features the Ennio Morricone song "L'estasi dell'oro" from the soundtrack of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: