So I thought that after I saw D'Jango Unchained that I could actually enjoy and like other Quentin Tarantino films, but I don't know if that logic will end up working for me. In The Hateful Eight Mr. Tarantino does more of a western than his previous film. It actually looked really good, and it wasn't really that disgusting and gross until over half-way through the film with several funny moments along the way. The film is about a bounty hunter who is taking a woman to a town to be hung, who comes across another bounty hunter going to the same town. Due to a blizzard, the two men are trapped with a motley group of individuals in an old inn as they wait for the snow to clear up. Eventually it becomes almost a 'who done it mystery' that reminded me of an Agatha Christie play. Honestly the film had a lot of potential, but upon first viewing I was very bored most of the film. Tarantino's signature of very long back and forth heavy dialog scenes between characters was epic in this film. Samuel Jackson played the lead Major Marquis Warren, and he did an excellent job, but there is no mistake that he was Sam Jackson; the character embodied the man rather than the man embodying a certain character (this is seen in common with Harrison Ford, Bruce Willis, and Tom Cruise typically). Kurt Russell played John Ruth who was the bounty hunter taking his captive to the town to be hung. His character is a pretty straightforward rough and tumble guy, who doesn't take any nonsense. Not really that interesting of a character, but honestly none of the characters in this film really were. Walton Goggins played the new sheriff of the town that both bounty hunters are going to ultimately, and he is perhaps one of the more interesting characters as you're uncertain where he stands with much of what is going on. Tim Roth, Bruce Dern and Channing Tatum have good supporting roles, but they were all rather static.
Now Tarantino I think was going for a very stylized western (that takes place in Wyoming), and he pulled it off. I wouldn't say that I didn't like it, but I didn't really like that much either. How he presented the film was like a narrator telling a story with chapter headings and everything (quite literally), and I found it more distracting than interesting or entertaining. The cinematography was good, aside from the fact that it was all snow, so it became a little old after a while, and it's hard when the entire film essentially takes place in one large room. I wasn't really a fan of Ennio Morricone's score; it worked for the film, but listening to it on it's own, not that good. I'm not certain how he got an Oscar nomination for it, even though he is a fine composer. The screenplay was written well, but the ultra dialog dense moments should have been pared down a lot, and I wasn't particularly fond of the ending, and there wasn't really any character development, or as much as there could have been. I'm not certain what Tarantino was going for, but I could definitely see how it could be construed as being entertaining, and extraordinarily politically incorrect. If you like Tarantino films then you'll probably enjoy this one as well. Oh, I've now seen Star Wars: The Force Awakens 3 times now and like it much better than the first time, although I still have several of the same critiques about it, and the last time I saw I was actually kind of bored at different points in the film. It's beaten Avatar for the top domestic spot at the box office, and it looks like it may go all of the way to the top of the international and all time spot as well. I think Disney spent that 4 billion dollars acquiring Star Wars very well. Oh, and the world is still falling to pieces, happy new year, and I'm now 30 years old! Wow, time just keeps flying. May the Force be with us all, I think we're all going to need it.Quentin Tarantino interview
The Hateful Eight clip
Captain America: Civil War trailer (looks really good)
