Topic: Django Unchained (2012)

[Najemikon]

So guys, what are your thoughts on DJANGO UNCHAINED or the old Django movies in general? The film this thread is a discussion for.

Phew.

Anyway, yeah, I liked what I saw some years ago, actually, but at the same time, I had little time for them. Too many westerns and Leone already does this better than anyone. Still, and god forbid I stoke any fires, but as you said earlier, now QT is doing one inspired by them, I want to look them up again.

[samuelrichardscott]

Well obviously Django is a good starting point, but also Django Kills, Keoma and A Bullet for the General are worth checking out.

One's I want to see and looking for opinions on include The Great Silence, The Four of the Apocalypse, And God Said to Cain and No Room to Die. I know Raro have released some good discs in Italy and I've seen some impressive boxsets online from Koch in Germany, but often not English friendly.

[Jimmy]

One last thing and I'll leave the topic...

The second quote is the reason of the first one... Take it as you wish, but the day that happened I was angry because of your attitude and nothing had change on that subject. But I'm not a guy who can't intereract with someone because he made me feel like I've wasted my time for years writing reviews...

Anyway as I said enough of enough, I don't want to annoy anyone with this off-topic tangent we took today.

Yes, you did. But more recently, such as when I questioned the legitimacy of those titles that clearly were straightforward porn, you got very angry. There's no talking to you on this subject. You have blinkers on.

Ever the Master of twisting words, eh, Jimmy? Please find where I said that. Never have, because I never thought that.

[samuelrichardscott]

One last thing and I'll leave the topic...

Before you go, any views on  the films I mentioned or any recommendations?

[samuelrichardscott]

Sony in Spain have released a teaser poster.


Love the poster. Me want.

[Najemikon]

There is an English version too. That is a great poster...

http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=33643

[Antares]

I'll wait until it only costs me a buck on Redbox, just like I did for his last crapfest.   

[samuelrichardscott]

Official synopsis has been released by Sony:

    Set in the South two years before the Civil War, DJANGO UNCHAINED stars Academy Award®-winner Jamie Foxx as Django, a slave whose brutal history with his former owners lands him face-to-face with German-born bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Academy Award®-winner Christoph Waltz).  Schultz is on the trail of the murderous Brittle brothers, and only Django can lead him to his bounty.  The unorthodox Schultz acquires Django with a promise to free him upon the capture of the Brittles – dead or alive.

    Success leads Schultz to free Django, though the two men choose not to go their separate ways.  Instead, Schultz seeks out the South’s most wanted criminals with Django by his side.  Honing vital hunting skills, Django remains focused on one goal: finding and rescuing Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), the wife he lost to the slave trade long ago.

    Django and Schultz’s search ultimately leads them to Calvin Candie (Academy Award®-nominee Leonardo DiCaprio), the proprietor of “Candyland,” an infamous plantation where slaves are groomed by trainer Ace Woody (Kurt Russell) to battle each other for sport.  Exploring the compound under false pretenses, Django and Schultz arouse the suspicion of Stephen (Academy Award®-nominee Samuel L. Jackson), Candie’s trusted house slave.  Their moves are marked, and a treacherous organization closes in on them.  If Django and Schultz are to escape with Broomhilda, they must choose between independence and solidarity, between sacrifice and survival…

    Written and directed by Academy Award®-winner Quentin Tarantino, DJANGO UNCHAINED is produced by Stacey Sher, Reginald Hudlin and Pilar Savone.  The executive producers are Harvey and Bob Weinstein, Michael Shamberg, Shannon McIntosh, and James Skotchdopole.  DJANGO UNCHAINED will be released in the U.S. on December 25, 2012, and internationally by Sony Pictures.

[Antares]

   Set in the South two years before the Civil War, DJANGO UNCHAINED stars Academy Award®-winner Jamie Foxx as Django, a slave whose brutal history with his former owners lands him face-to-face with German-born bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Academy Award®-winner Christoph Waltz).  Schultz is on the trail of the murderous Brittle brothers, and only Django can lead him to his bounty.  The unorthodox Schultz acquires Django with a promise to free him upon the capture of the Brittles – dead or alive.

    Success leads Schultz to free Django, though the two men choose not to go their separate ways.  Instead, Schultz seeks out the South’s most wanted criminals with Django by his side.  Honing vital hunting skills, Django remains focused on one goal: finding and rescuing Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), the wife he lost to the slave trade long ago.

    Django and Schultz’s search ultimately leads them to Calvin Candie (Academy Award®-nominee Leonardo DiCaprio), the proprietor of “Candyland,” an infamous plantation where slaves are groomed by trainer Ace Woody (Kurt Russell) to battle each other for sport.  Exploring the compound under false pretenses, Django and Schultz arouse the suspicion of Stephen (Academy Award®-nominee Samuel L. Jackson), Candie’s trusted house slave.  Their moves are marked, and a treacherous organization closes in on them.  If Django and Schultz are to escape with Broomhilda, they must choose between independence and solidarity, between sacrifice and survival…

    Written and directed by Academy Award®-winner Quentin Tarantino, DJANGO UNCHAINED is produced by Stacey Sher, Reginald Hudlin and Pilar Savone.  The executive producers are Harvey and Bob Weinstein, Michael Shamberg, Shannon McIntosh, and James Skotchdopole.  DJANGO UNCHAINED will be released in the U.S. on December 25, 2012, and internationally by Sony Pictures.

this is clearly Tarantino's comic book phase. The structure of his last three films is just like the visual assault from a good comic, plus the random nature of the screenplay, with his love of chapters. It's the fact he has embraced this style and still observed traditional film conventions that make him one of the most important film-makers working today, considering every other mainstream director is going for 3d this, cgi that on everything. If he falls into the trap of thinking this is the only style audiences want, he will quickly run out of steam, but I expect he will prove to be more versatile.

Would you like to recant this statement highlighted in red Jon?  

[Najemikon]

Nope. Being a Western, there is little chance of me disliking this film, but what I said stands. If this film shows no progression, he's treading water. If the next two show no progression then I'll probably still enjoy his stuff but he'd run the risk of becoming a self-parody, which would be a shame. But, and this is important, regardless of what he does from here, Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction are amongst the best films of the 90s. Kill Bill is one of the coolest of all time and Inglourious Basterds had moments of genius. If I do get to a stage where I don't look forward to his films and consider that his best work is behind him, nothing will change the fact that his best work is amongst the best of anyone. It always will be.

Actually, I wouldn't be against him having a complete flop, because when the best filmmakers lose focus they come back with something special.

[Achim]

First trailer has been released (look out for the cameo at the end of it):



Looks like it's a blaxploitation western... To say it with Leo's words: You had my curiosity, now you have my attention.

[samuelrichardscott]

I simply cannot wait for this.

[Antares]

[Alien Redrum]

After watching Jackie Brown, I immediately got hold of Foxy Brown and Coffy, both of which are pretty bad. Jackie Brown was not only significantly better, it treated Pam Grier with the respect she deserves and she didn't have to get her tits out to do it. Tarantino takes the spirit of the originals and applies talent, based on a genuine fundamental grasp of European film techniques.

Before I proceed with this, let me say while I don't think Tarantino is talentless, he is unoriginal. Many of his memorable moments in his movies are lifts from other films. That doesn't mean he makes bad movies, but he does rip off a lot. He would have no career without the '70s. None whatsoever. That said, I have all of his movies and have enjoyed them much to my dismay. He tends to take the best of exploitation/grindhouse/sexploitation/etc. from various movies of the '70s and mashes them into one film. He's hacky, yes, but so is Bay and Bay is one of my favorite directors.

Now, you can't compare Jackie Brown to Coffy or Foxy Brown because you are comparing apples to oranges. I don't consider Jackie Brown a blaxploitation film at all. It starred one of the genres greatest actors, absolutely (with even a cameo by Sid Haig, who was in many of the films during that era as well, rock!), but at the end of the day it was based on an Elmore Leonard book. Black stars + soul soundtrack does not make a blaxploitation film.

In addition, you are greatly mistaken about Grier not getting respect in the '70s. Jack Hill (writer and director of both Foxy Brown and Coffy) has always gone out of his way to credit Pam Grier for the dialog in those films. While he may have written the scripts, he allowed Grier to develop the character. Hill has said this in numerous interviews, explaining that he didn't 'speak black' and she made the movies better than they should have been. She got the roll in Coffy because of her acting, not her great tits (although I'm sure they helped   ). I guess the point is, her willingness to do nudity might have helped her career, sure, but her talent was what her got her the roles that propelled it. Here's Jack Hill talking about her (note, language and head shot at the clip at the end).



Plus, Jackie Brown had a budget 3 times the amount Foxy Brown and Coffy combined (adjusted for inflation). The latter movies were made for one thing only: to make money. The studios were going after an untapped audience (obviously), so they were popping out films left and right to ride this new wave. Jackie Brown was made as an attempted homage to that genre. While it failed (mainly for it wasn't written for a black audience, which is pretty much the major requirement for blaxploitation, as well as the reasons I mentioned above), it is the best thing Tarantino has done to date (and I wish he would do more movies from Leonard's work).

With all that, note, I'm not criticizing you by any means for not liking those movies. Exploitation in any form is hit or miss for most people. You like it, cool, you don't, that's gravy too. I just wanted to point out that comparing Jackie Brown to any film in the blaxploitation genre (and Coffy and Foxy Brown in particular) is not fair to those glorious films of the '70s.

Kudos to you for checking them out, though! Even if you didn't like them, you gave them a shot (and I also agree with you, aside of my feelings of Tarantino as a filmmaker, he does make it possible for films I love to get out there on DVD that may not have otherwise).

If you haven't already, I suggest you give Across 110th Street and Black Ceaser a shot. Same genre, but they both take a more serious route and both are damn good.

Back on topic, I am looking forward to Django. My only problem with it is I wish they had gone with Idris Elba (Stringer Bell on The Wire) as Django as the rumor had it last year. I think Jaimie Fox is a great actor, but Elba is far more intimidating and has much more charisma. Plus, I'm really curious how this is going to play out since he lost his editor last year. And one of the best things about Tarantino's films has always been the editing.

[samuelrichardscott]

Official site has a game to play:
http://unchainedmovie.com/game/