Thursday, June 27, 2013

MOVIE WEEKEND: DJANGO UNCHAINED

Gentle Readers . . . and Maxwell,

Today I present for your consideration Django Unchained (2012, Rated R, Available on DVD).



German dentist turned bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) buys a slave named Django (Jamie Foxx) who can help him find some men he wants to kill for the bounty on their heads. Schultz teaches Django to work with him, and eventually their goal becomes the rescue of Django's wife, Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), a slave to evil Mississippi plantation owner Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio), who is aided and abetted by his long-term slave, Stephen (Samuel L. Jackson).

I love this movie. Yes, it's violent, and yes, it's filled with repeated use of the n-word and many other profanities. However, it's a Quentin Tarantino film. You get what writer/director Quentin Tarantino always brings to the table. Tarantino won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for this movie. He deserved it.

The acting is excellent. Christoph Waltz won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (it was his second Best Supporting Actor win; the first was for Inglorious Basterds, also a Tarantino film that I like very much).

Jamie Foxx makes an excellent Django. I read on the Internet Movie Data Base (IMDB) that Tarantino wrote the role for Will Smith, who turned it down. I'm glad he did. I don't picture Smith having the gravitas and the cojones that Foxx brings to the part.

DiCaprio is so evil that now I can't stand him, and Samuel L. Jackson is just plain sickening.

This movie most definitely is not for children. You might watch it with older teens who are interested in history and important filmmakers.

The thing is, I think you're a Tarantino person, or you aren't. Tarantino films are not for the squeamish or faint of heart. I am a Tarantino lover. Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction are outstanding, and I rank Django Unchained as highly as those two. I have yet to see a Tarantino movie I didn't think was brilliant.

I was not going to see Django because I read some reviews that said it's racist. I mentioned this to Rita at SoulComfort's Corner, who watched it on DVD and liked it. She said, Of course it's racist. They're in the south during slavery.

I knew that if Rita liked it, then I probably would like it, too. Rita was right.

Favorite Young Man also think Django is great. We talked about the way Tarantino aestheticizes violence. The man has a style that's all his own.

I also love the trademark Tarantino comic relief. In one scene, a group of Regulators (forerunners to the KKK) are out in the dark, wearing white hoods with slits cut in them for their eyes. A number of them complain that they can't see properly while wearing the hoods. The Regulator whose wife made the hoods whines, Gripe, gripe, gripe. He's upset because the other men don't appreciate his wife's work.

Django Unchained has The Janie Junebug Highest Seal of Approval.

Happy Movie Viewing! I'm still editing.

Infinities of love,

Janie Junebug

47 comments:

  1. I agree you are either a fan of Mr. Tarantino or not. I am so I also enjoyed this movie quite a bit. I think ever part was cast exquisitely.

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    1. It's always nice to have another Tarantino person around.

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  2. I'm not really a fan of this kind of movies but you got me intrigued! I'll add it to my must-watch list. Thanks :)

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  3. I haven't decided if I'll watch this one. I did like Glorious Basterds even though it was also quite violent.

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    1. I think Django is better than Inglorious Basterds. But I love Basterds, too. Christoph Waltz is a great actor.

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  4. I'm not too big on anything violent. My family thinks I am ALMOST ready to watch a PG movie instead of just G.

    ha!

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  5. I liked Pulp Fiction. I really like Leo. I'll add it to the queue! Thanks.

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    1. I hope you like it. I was surprised that Leo could pull off such an evil character.

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  6. I agree totally. And I don't think Will Smith would have been as good in this role as he usually is in his others.

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    1. He might have surprised us, but I think Will Smith made the right choice.

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  7. Not normally a fan of violence in film, I am such a Tarantino fan, I love his brilliance. You just can't describe his movies and I guess either you become a rabid fan or you don't like them at all. I don't think there's a middle ground as far as Tarantino goes.

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    1. I don't like violent movies either, but there's just something about Tarantino. He has a style all his own.

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  8. "DiCaprio is so evil that now I can't stand him, and Samuel L. Jackson is just plain sickening."

    So true, Janie.

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    1. I wonder if it's difficult for them to play those parts. After I saw Tom Cruise in a couple of bad guy roles and found out what a jerk he can be, it seemed as if the nasty characters came naturally to him.

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  9. Woo HOO! I've actually seen most of the movies you mentioned in this post! That is a FIRST! So whattaya know? I guess I'm a Tarantino fan, too. (And didn't even know it.)

    Have a super weekend!

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  10. Happy editing to you!

    This post reminds me that I've got to finish watching Django. I have a rather odd relationship with Tarantino. I love his movies and think he's brilliant. Pulp Fiction will forever be one of my all-time favorite movies...yet I double I'll ever watch it in its entirety again. There are moments in his movie that push past my limits - and even though I appreciate them, I can't always handle them. So I take my Tarantino in doses.

    I really enjoyed what I saw of Django - especially the dentist. But I hit my limit early in DiCaprio's introduction & needed a break. I think I'm ready to go back now, especially if there's Samuel L. Jackson to be had. :) Oh, and that scene with the KKK hoods was hysterical.

    Have a great weekend, Skankalicious!

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    1. Oh, I love it when you call me Skankalicious.

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  11. That it's a Tarantino film says it all!

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  12. I thought you might love it, too! Got to end up another Tarantino classic!! I totally agree with you. If you are not a fan of his movies you might not like it but I, also, am a big QT fan.

    I cannot picture Will Smith in the role. Jamie Foxx owned this role--to the teeth! :)

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    1. Definitely a classic. How do you feel about Kill Bill?

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  13. I love Basterds, but I think Django is even better.

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  14. I have seen the shorts of this movie but have wonder if I would like it or not maybe I will get to see it at some point I don't watch a lot of movies......

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    1. You do so much for your family that you don't have time for movies.

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  15. I haven't seen this movie, and don't know that I will. I like Tarantino; husband doesn't. I think DiCaprio is one of the best actors ever. He just 'becomes' every character he plays. I never think about the character being played by DiCaprio or that he's doing a great job in the part. He just IS that character.

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    1. DiCaprio most definitely inhabits this character.

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  16. Why do people think that ignoring tales of racism in the past will make racism then and now go away? (rhetorical) Now, I want to see this more than ever.

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  17. As much as I would like to say that I'm a Quentin Tarantino fan, I'm just not. I get that he is brilliant, but I just don't like his movies. But I completely respect those that do like him. I don't think there's anything wrong with his movies, they just aren't for me.

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    1. That's why I sad you're a Tarantino fan or you aren't. And it's okay that you aren't. His stuff isn't for everybody.

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  18. This is very interesting, I actually learned a lot of movies that I didn't know like the movies are Tarantino's. The Inglorious Bastards was my children's favorite and I watched it easily 3 times on the tv. I only recently heard of the movie Reservoir Dogs when I was introduced to the song Stuck In The Middle With You. Thank you Janie.

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    1. Stuck In The Middle With You was popular quite a few years ago. I love the way Tarantino uses it in Reservoir Dogs.

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  19. Good review there gal
    Will get it on DVD
    X

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  20. Dear Janie, I've never viewed a Tarantino film, and probably won't start with this one. I do agree with Rita that showing racism in action in the South after the Civil War is being true to history. However, I find it all so appalling after the courses on Black and Southern History, which I took at grad school, that I simply cannot stomach films that show the violence that I've visualized from my reading and from my own experience of racism through the years--the 40s and 50s and 60s especially. Any film about racism, whether it's about the USA or another country--about being prejudice toward minorities just hits me in the solar plexus and I can nauseous--literally. Peace.

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    1. Dee, I intended to add one of my little notes stating that you wouldn't like this movie. I'm sorry I forgot to do so. I certainly understand your feelings.

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  21. Tarantino is on the edge. I like action movies, but I'm not wild about really violent. Call me a wus.

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  22. I watched it, but kept hiding my eyes.

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    1. Because if you can't see it, then it's not happening.

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  23. Good review. Always like the music in his films.

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  24. Not seen this. But I watched the Tsunami movie. Yes it was sad. That was a family that united but most didn't.
    www.thoughtsofpaps.com

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  25. Just saw the movie - All you need is Love. Very good movie. Pierce Bronson played a great part. Lady in movie has been fighting cancer. Then a few days later heard P. B.'s daughter died of cancer. He probably drew on his first hand knowledge - when he played the part. Great movie.

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