I can't say that I did much in the way of productivity today. I figured after a long work week, and especially a long day on Friday that I was entitled to a little bit of laziness, which is precisely what I mostly was today. I did however begin going through the edits for Book II of a Warrior's Tale, and I do have to say that I am pretty excited about its prospects and how it's shaping up. Towards the end of doing nothing all day I watched Django Unchained with my sister and brother in-law starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Samuel L. Jackson. I have to say that I was very dubious about the film since it was directed by Quentin Tarantino, and also it just didn't look that appealing to me. I couldn't have been farther from the truth. Granted that there was the gratuitous gore an violence that there is in every Quentin Tarantino film, but this film I actually thought was good, and the 2 Oscars that it won in 2013 were certainly well deserved. Jamie Foxx as Django was well played, and the growth in the character from beginning to end was pretty sweet I do have to say. Christoph Waltz, who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, certainly deserved it. His character, Dr. King Schultz, was the best, most humorous and most interesting of all the characters on-screen I personally thought. Then there was Leonardo DiCaprio who played the slave and plantation owner Calvin Candie and wow did he play him well, vicious and charming in all. It was a different role for him since he usually plays the distressed hero, but this time he was the vicious villain, and boy can he pull that off well. Then there was Sam Jackson as Stephen (Calvin Candie's chief servant) and boy was he a mixture of humor and grief, but he pulled it off strongly and well. You know it would be nice to see him have a leading role in a film that isn't related to action that is actually good, but he seems to be contented to play supporting roles in films. The screenplay written by Quentin Tarantino was good, it also won an Academy Award, but there were boring lulls every now and then, but it kept pace relatively well and kept you interested more to the point. The cinematography was excellent, but I also mostly liked how the music was done for the film, which was a combination of original score and songs that were adapted for the film (aside from the few raps songs that were included). The film had a flair of fantasy to it like the old western films used to have which was really cool. It is definitely something that I would watch again, and if you can stomach the violence and gore (blood flying and spattering everywhere; people getting shot in...uncomfortable places), not to mention the very, very, highly foul language then I think you will enjoy this film. Fair warning though, it is rough and brutally dramatic at times so don't go thinking it is a plain action film. This is actually the first Tarantino film I've seen that I've liked; perhaps he'll surprise me again. I give the film an "Admirable Ability;" it was good, but not great. It could have been cut 15 minutes shorter give or take, and I didn't like all of the gratuitous violence and flagrant usage of certain words which I shall not repeat, but it did have a good ending I do have to say. Well I hope that most of you are having a relatively good weekend. The world is still spinning, yet seems to continue to grow darker; it sucks. Auf Wiedersehen!
Django Unchained Interviews
Django Unchained Scene