Slaves, Death, And Other Happy Topics

Westerns. The word that makes most people think of grainy movies made in the sixties and seventies somewhere in Europe and dubbed in American; probably starring John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, or Henry Fonda. We think ponchos, ten gallon hats, Native Americans, saloons, bank robberies, Mexican stand offs, the quick draw. We rarely think Germans and shiny blue suits. Well today’s film might change that. This is Django Unchained.

German bounty hunter, Dr Schultz (Christolph Waltz), frees young slave Django (Jamie Foxx) to help him be his temporary partner in order to track down the Brittle brothers, three men who had previously been in charge if Django and his wife, Broomhilda (Kerry Washington). The two bounty hunters form a bond as Schultz teaches Django how to present himself in public and be a master with a gun. Django, with only natural talent for the job to offer in return, becomes Schultz full time partner over winter, and they plan how to free Broomhilda from plantation owner, Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio). Candie is famous for breeding 'Mandingos', slaves who fight one another to the death with just their hands for the owner's amusement and betting purposes. Schultz and Django pose as traders of Mandingos looking for a slave to take back and fight in Europe. Their plan is to purchase one of Candie's best Mandingos and also Broomhilda, seeing as she is just a meaningless slave, so that she may be reunited with Django again. But Stephen (Samuel L. Jackson), Candie's loyal house slave and foreman trustee, does not trust Django for one second; something about a black man on a horse tickles him the wrong way and he is determined to find the bounty hunters' plot.

Candie was such a successful plantation owner
because he was always ahead of the competition.

There is a possibility that Tarantino has a supernatural gift in terms of his ability to perfectly cast a film, except  one character - but we will come to that. Despite Django being specifically written for Will Smith, Jamie Foxx adapts to the role without even a shadow of a doubt. He is effortlessly cool and he portrays Django's range of emotions, sometimes without saying a word. In his eyes you see the pain, the sadness, occasionally the happiness that Django would feel. DiCaprio's first outing as the antagonist is one of his most succesful to date. How he did not get nominated for an Oscar is beyond me. Acting so well to the extent that when he actually cuts his hand in a scene, he carries on to the horror of his cast mates. Incredible. Tarantino describes it as 'mesmerizing.' Christoph Waltz, needless to say, is outstanding. Nominated, rightly, for an Oscar, his second one under the direction of Tarantino. This is a team that works together. The comic relief of the film, but also the plot driving centre, along with Django. His character is complex but Waltz makes it seem effortless. Another brilliant performance. But the real stand out is Samuel L. Jackson. Not an Oscar performance, but the character that induced the most reaction from the audience. The reaction of hatred. Stephen is such a slimy character with a superiority complex that just makes him detestable. Superbly portrayed by Jackson. Horridly enjoyable.

The newest Django meets the oldest Django in a quick cameo.

On to the man behind the camera. Quentin Tarantino. This is a man who turns out hit after hit and Django is no different. Incredible shot, as all westerns are, with a soundtrack to die for. Funny and heartbreaking. Fitting action that suits all adrenalin needs. It is clever, it is strong, it is slightly controversial. It is simply all encompassing. That being said, the film is not flawless. It is just a tiny bit too long. Only minor cuts need to be made, just to take out the smallest sensation of, 'we have aaagggeesss left,' or, 'this film is soooo long.' It's only a slight feeling of 'too long' but it's there all the same. Not a huge issue, but an issue nonetheless. Secondly, and more irritatingly, is Tarantino's own appearance in the film. Normally a welcome addition to his films, but here, in his peculiar attempt at an Australian accent, something just is not right. He is next to impossible to understand and it completely jars with the rest of the film entirely, considering the rest is so well acted. Again, a small mistake that just takes something away from the film. But apart from these two small, irritating issues, Tarantino is in full stride.

A great film. Pretty much exactly what you would expect from Tarantino, Django Unchained is hilarious, action packed, touching, and down right cool. Some fantastic performances and a killer soundtrack, combined with some amazing cinematography pushes Django above the competition. Not Tarantino's best, but it is up there.

Best Bit? The scene with the early KKK complaining about their bag-masks will keep you laughing for ages after the film has finished. Plus, a great little cameo from Jonah Hill.

Die Hard. Again. And Again. And Again. (Part 2)

Here's the second part of my Die Hard reviews. The first part is here. Five years after the second Die Hard was released, a third installment came out. Then it'd be another 12 years before we'd see anything Die Hard related in the cinemas. How did they keep a franchise going despite the massive gap in time? How did they adjust? Lets have a look, starting with Die Hard: With A Vengeance.

John McClane, (Willis) now almost a full-blown alcoholic, is on suspension from the NYPD. However, when a bomb goes off in a department store and the police are stuck for answers, a mysterious man named Simon (Jeremy Irons/ Graham Greene) phones and asks for McClane. He states that if the police want answers, McClane has to complete the tasks Simon tells him to. Task one: Wearing a rather offensive sign in the rough part of town. Fortunately for McClane, Zeus Carver (Samuel L. Jackson) steps in to protect him from a group of thugs. Not so fortunately for Zeus, this means he is now involved in Simon's games. Simon gets McClane and Zeus to run around town trying to stop bombs that he has rigged. However, Simon is planning a little more than he's letting on.

Both McClane and Zeus were extremely suspicious of the phone.

Despite being an alcoholic, being suspended and having not spoken to his wife, McClane continues to prove how cool he really is. By adopting a slightly more I-don't-care attitude, Willis provides a better performance than his second outing as the character. He brings the same wit and bad ass-ness that he's brought for the first two movies but this time they it comes with a fresh dowsing of pessimism. However, the stand out  performance of the movie comes from Samuel Jackson as Zeus. Continuing Die Hard's theme of having a handy black sidekick is presented with a twist this time around. Zeus is strong willed, sassy and powerful. He's very funny, if not very racist. The antagonists, Jeremy Irons and Graham Greene are superbly dark and smart. Their plots provide more twists than either of the first two movies and they create such a tense atmosphere which makes the film extremely exciting.

The Die Hard science begins to get a little bit out of control in this movie. There's ridiculously high and yet survivable falls, surfing on giant dump trucks, and goons with even worse aim than ever before.  But all of this only helps to make the movie all the more fun to watch. My least favourite aspect of the movie is not the slowly sinking realism but the incredibly annoying choice of music. Throughout dramatic moments of the movie, we are treated to an instrumental version of 'The animals went in two by two hurrah hurrah'. (Technically known as When Johnny Comes Marching Home). Something about it doesn't fit.

Overall, another good movie. Not as good as the first, slightly better than the second. Good fun and definitely worth a watch.

Best Bit? Personally, I have a soft spot for the dump truck chase in an underground system of water tunnels.

And finally we come to the fourth and (currently) the final installment in the series: Die Hard 4.0 (Or Live Free Or Die Hard)

So the plot of the last movie is slightly more nerdy than the others. This time, the terrorists are hackers and they're developing a system that can systematically shut down the entirety of the United States, one bit at a time. McClane (Willis) gets involved after he is sent to bring internet hacker Matt Farrell (Justin Long) to Washington. Soon after he arrives at Matt's apartment though, unknown assailents begin shooting at Matt and McClane. After getting him out safely, McClane turns to Matt to gain some insight from his hacking knowledge and together they plan to bring down mastermind Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant) and his assistant Mai Linh (Maggie Q). Unfortunately for McClane (and in some ways, fortunate for Farrell), Lucy Gennaro McClane (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), John's daughter, gets caught up the whole ordeal and despite her disliking of her father and his attitudes to things, she relies and trusts in him to stop the terrorists.

Thomas Gabriel never understood the idea of
 going on a date and showing one's guns.

In the twelve years that John was absent from our cinema screens, a lot changed in his life. He lost all his hair, stopped talking to his ex wife and daughters, became a much angrier and older man. Willis continues to develop and adapt the character we've grown to love but still sticks to his roots. The years have aged him, and he shows us that. Also a brilliant performance from Justin Long. Admittedly it's a role that he plays more than any other, the awkward nerdy teenager. But the contrast between Willis and Long is so perfect it makes the movie great fun to watch.

Die Hard science goes to a whole new level in this movie. Death seems to become a thing of the past, or at least all of the characters have developed super strength. Cars are driven into helicopters, people are run over but able to continue fighting and fighter jets will destroy half a city on a very vague order.  However, being a more modern movie, the special effects, camera work, and general appearance of the entire film is a league above the other three movies. Probably the most silly out of all four movies but also one of the easiest to watch. There's lots of action and lots of explosions to keep your eyes busy.

In my personal opinion it's the weakest of the four films but compared to a lot of action films released nowadays, it's still of a better quality. It's fun and it's everything we love from Die Hard, if not a bit more exaggerated and silly.

Best Bit? The fight scene between Mai Linh, John McClane, and Matt Farrell. A whole new level of fight scene with use of cars, elevator shafts and a combination of them both. Or extremely tense tunnel scene when cars are flying all over the place.


A great set of movies. All worth a watch. And don't forget, yippee ki-yay, motherfuckers.