DJANGO UNCHAINED (2012)

 I'd given up on Quentin Tarantino back after he made that stupid DEATH PROOF/GRINDHOUSE thing and then that stupid talky-talk fantasy movie about World War II so I put off seeing this one until now. Surprisingly I thought this was a pretty decent take on and homage to the classic spaghetti-westerns and due to it's subject matter this has the feeling of something like GOODBYE UNCLE TOM sprinkled in there as well. It was also cool that Tarantino included the real Django, Franco Nero, in one scene and I think the main highlight for me was the great soundtrack. Of course most of these tunes are from some amazing classics of the Italian western genre and watching this made me want to go back and watch some of those again. I coulda done without the out-of-place modern rap jams but I knew this couldn't be perfect. Interestingly this is not in any way a remake of Django but is more closely a sort-of re-imagining of THE LEGEND OF NIGGER CHARLIE but I'm sure calling your movie that nowadays would get you lynched by the intolerant "social justice warrior"-filled masses. There is no shortage of the word "nigger" which in itself is a miracle in any modern movie and there's also not much skimping on the blood. In the two main shock scenes we get a bloody slave fight with eyeball violence and another slave ripped apart by dogs.
 Having seen a whole lot of movies that use the name DJANGO in their title I would have to say even though this is a newer big-budgeted Hollywood film, this is one of the better examples of what a western-exploitation film can be. I'm back on team Quentin. I'm sure he'd be so very relieved to hear this.

JACKIE BROWN (1997)

While Quentin Tarantino's idea to bring Pam Grier back from the 70's action star she was and put her into the spotlight with a starring vehicle is a good one there are a few problems I've always had with this flick.  The main one is the stupid replaying of one scene towards the end of the movie over and over from different points of view.  A more capable director could have easily edited every different viewpoint into one coherent scene instead of spreading it all out.  This could be simply done with some decent editing.  This also adds to the film being overlong which is a problem with most all of Tarantino's output.  There's also the issue of people doing things that seem way too dumb for them to be doing.  The cops being the most blatant but also Samuel Jackson's character who seems so street smart through most of the movie and then puts himself directly into a dangerous situation at the climax.  There are also some things I do appreciate about this movie though.  For one thing, I think it's the last time Robert DeNiro actually played a character and not just a parody of himself in stupid Hollywood comedies.  Sid Haig shows up as a judge and Bridget Fonda looks especially hot even though I don't have a foot-fetish like Mr. Quentin who shoots her from the feet up many times.  Also the soundtrack to this is awesome with blaxploitation tracks, Johnny Cash and even some music from VAMPYROS LESBOS thrown in.  And ultimately I understand most people that hate this film saw it after seeing PULP FICTION and that is a tough act to follow.  It doesn't have the violence or pace of that movie but I think taken on its own it's an interesting if not perfect movie from a decade that was otherwise full of garbage cinema.

RESERVOIR DOGS (1992)

 Yeah, yeah I know everyone and their mother has seen this one. It propelled Tarantino towards that ultimate fanboy status and all that crap. Looking at it now seeing where Tarantino ended up is kinda weird. I mean personally I think after KILL BILL it's been all downhill. Some might argue it but I think by that point he had reached his high point. The best thing about this movie is that it tells its story in about 90 minutes. There's actually stuff that was edited out, imagine that. It succeeds in building an uneasy feeling towards it's climax. Yeah there's plenty of talking but it works in a much smoother fashion than in his later work, at least for me. It's also successful in making everyone cool in a somewhat believable fashion unlike a bunch of females sitting around talking like movie-nerds as in DEATH PROOF. If you have never seen this then you're probably too young to remember when it was still fresh anyway.