If you are not a fan of Quentin Tarantino now, Django Unchained is the movie that will change your mind about him as a writer, storyteller and film maker. This is everything it has been made out to be and more. If you are already a fan of QT, then you know exactly what you are getting into. His 'voice' and fingerprints are all over Django Unchained. It's unmistakable. From the dialogue to the camera moves, you know exactly who is calling the shots. When I say that Tarantino is one of the greatest screenwriters of all time, it's because he doesn't waste the audience or the characters time with stagnant subplots that don't serve the main arc of the story. How else to explain that this is the fastest 2 hours and 45 minute movie you will ever sit through. I couldn't believe how fast the movie came and went. I wanted more.

What a great cast, which is littered with amazing performances from Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Kerry Washington, Samuel L. Jackson and Leonardo DiCaprio who OWNED every damn scene he was in. Waltz definitely deserved to win for Best Supporting Actor as no one else in the same category was in the same league as him, but come on, DiCaprio should have been nominated and had he been, he would have won. It's a shame that he was overlooked in this film because when he is on the screen, he is amazing to watch.

What I really love about the movie (beyond the writing and bloody shootouts of course) was Tarantino's bold decision to use contemporary music in a Western, You would think that hearing such wide and diverse songs, including Rap, would totally derail the movie. Think again. It's a stroke of genius on his part to let the story carry itself and not have to bow down to conformity of what is expected in a particular genre. For this, I give him all the props in the world. I enthusiastically recommend that every one see this movie asap. I recommend that you run to your nearest store and Buy this on DVD. Actually, I would wait a bit for the Deluxe Edition that is soon to hit the shelves. When it does, this bad-boy is going right alongside my other Tarantino flicks.

The cast doesn't end with those I've already mentioned. Be on the look out for Walton Goggins, Don Johnson, Jonah Hill, James Remar (who actually played two roles in the flick), James Russo, Tom Wopat, Bruce Dern, Amber Tamblyn (blink and you'll miss cameo), Michael Parks and of course the man himself, Tarantino. One last thing, you would think that a movie about slavery would be serious business and it is, but there is plenty of humor to be found throughout the film that lightens the mood somewhat, making the movie easily digestible to take in. One of Tarantino's all time best.

Ok, one last, last thing, it wasn't intentional, but I thought it was kind of ironic that my Library hand delivered both Django Unchained and Malcolm X on the same day, making this a unique double feature for me today. Think about it this way, it was Spike Lee Vs. Quentin Tarantino and we all know their war of words history between the two of them. But that's a discussion for another day..........

Yep, loved this. I'll pick this up in blu-ray, when I can find it a great price.

Yea I did

I'm still thinking the code around the text must be blocking or is transparent. I use font size 14 and the Glow code. 

I dig this movie SO much.  Seeing as I managed to get a ten dollar blu-ray of Inglorious Basterds about the same time this flick came out, so that gives me an idea of when we'll get an affordable version of this.  I know, I"m a skinflint.

What I love about the movie is often it will subvert your expectations... I'm reminded of a conversation that Mac and I were having about 3:10 To Yuma and how European and Spaghetti Westerns were more entertaining for us than American ones, and part of that is that the Euros were seeing the whole picture, warts and all, and exploring that from a distant fascination, while in the States we were too close to it and preferred the myth to the reality.  Dr King Schultz is definitely the embodiment of this, I think, he clearly loves America despite its' flaws and he loves the language as well, he had to learn English and he decided to learn it like a pro, he's easily the most articulate person in the flick, he so clearly enjoys being there, he's living the dream in a world where everyone else is clearly trying to survive.

The other big subverted expectation is the expectation that the wild west heroes are bold outlaws, but Django and Schultz operate in the strict letter of the law, they know how to use it and it keeps them from getting their brains splattered against the walls time and time again.

I also loved that they addressed the whole myth of the antebellum South (which, as we've seen with Paula Deen, is still alive and well), directly contrasting this so-called gentlemanly properly groomed beard cigars on the porch upper-class culture, sort of the Rural American version of Downton Abbey, with this horrible cruelty happening right outside (Kerry Washington in the hot box is a great visual example of this).  You know, you think of that ending where Django kills everyone and the walls of the estate are caked with blood and people reacted to that, but the whole movie set up that this sort of lifestlye is built on blood, all that ending did, for me, was show that world for what it is-- bloody, messy, and burning.

Thanks dude, will definitely check it out. Might have to start a thread just for this class in the Writing Section. Stay tuned....