Quentin Tarantino continues his quest to fight history's great oppressors by way of the movies in Django Unchained. Inglourious Basterds conjured up a squadron of tough Jewish-American soldiers who took Nazi scalps and chased down Hitler with the help of a French Jewish theater owner, a British film critic turned lieutenant and a Allies-affiliated German movie star. Django Unchained doesn't literally bring the forces of cinema to bear against slavery in the same fashion, but it does use tropes of Spaghetti Westerns and exploitation films to build the character of a former slave who learns to shoot and eventually faces down the residents of a plantation in order to retrieve his wife. There's something inarguably rousing about Tarantino's exuberant revisionist history, about the way he rewrites wretched eras in the past so that those who suffered are able to have their bloody revenge.
more »
Quentin Tarantino wants you to know that if his depiction of slavery in Django Unchained disturbs you, the reality was much grislier. "I'm here to tell you, that however bad things get in the movie, a lot worse shit happened," the filmmaker told a British Academy of Film and Television Arts crowd after screening his hotly anticipated spaghetti western in London. more »
Quentin Tarantino is one of America's most celebrated living filmmakers and his latest film - currently due out Christmas day - is highly anticipated. But even a critically acclaimed filmmaker can have a dud, even if some fans might disagree. Tarantino himself weighed in on what he considers his least accomplished work.
"Death Proof has got to be the worst movie I ever [made]," Tarantino told THR. "And for a left-handed movie, that wasn't so bad, all right? So if that's the worst I ever get, I'm good. But I do think one of those out-of-touch, old, limp, flaccid-dick movies costs you three good movies as far as your rating is concerned."
Death Proof was part of Grindhouse, a double feature along with Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror. The duo didn't exactly score at the box office either. It took in just over $25 million domestically on a budget that reportedly reached $67 million. Not all turned out dismal though, it did receive a 65 percent on Rotten Tomatoes among critics - not horrendous though certainly not gangbusters.
Tarantino recently hinted to Playboy that his latest film Django Unchained may signal the sunset of his filmmaking career, saying that he wants to "stop at a certain point."
"Directors don’t get better as they get older. Usually the worst films in their filmography are those last four at the end. I am all about my filmography, and one bad film fucks up three good ones … When directors get out-of-date, it’s not pretty."
[Sources: Huffington Post, THR, Box Office Mojo]
There aren't many more clues to be had about Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained in this exclusive Yahoo! Movies trailer, or in the director's latest interview with The Hollywood Reporter. But he does share a nifty story about a young fan who wrote herself into a third chapter of Kill Bill. more »
If Quentin Tarantino's demonstrative hand gestures don't distract you too much, here's an interesting clip in which the Django Unchained director discusses the influence that crime novelist Elmore Leonard had on his formative years as a screenwriter and filmmaker, as well as his appreciation of actress Pam Grier. more »
Quentin Tarantino has one of the most eagerly awaited films of 2012 and most audiences won't get a first glimpse until Christmas, but that hasn't stopped speculation that it may be an Oscar contender and may be one of the Pulp Fiction filmmaker's best to date. Yet, Django Unchained may be the beginning of his filmmaking sunset, the director hinted.
more »
RZA is feeling good about his directorial debut, The Man with the Iron Fists. In this Behind-the-scenes featurette, the Wu-Tang Clan leader says he didn't think he could top his musical work with the hip-hop group (or as a solo artist), which, he explains, led "to some of the greatest climaxes of my life." Okay! But after teaming up with "my boy Quentin Tarantino" and Hostel director Eli Roth to "make a fat joint of my own," RZA proudly proclaims "I have topped it." more »
If there's a case to be made that turning one's dark, twisted fantasies into plays and movies is good for the soul, Martin McDonagh is Exhibit A. The platinum-haired Irishman has given the world some breathtakingly black comedy, such as his 2003 play about a child serial killer The Pillowman and, as of Friday, the slightly lighter Seven Psychopaths. But if he's nursing a tortured soul, there was very little evidence of it when I interviewed him at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. more »
Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained had me at hello — or at "Dj-" if you will (the "d" is silent) — so at this point trailers and clips are just icing on the spaghetti "Southern." If I'm speaking a foreign language to you, forgive my excitement for Tarantino's latest neo-exploitation bonanza and just dive right into Movieline's rundown of the gunshots, dead baddies, and gleefully inside-baseball genre winks in the second trailer for Django Unchained.
more »
Also in Thursday morning's round-up of news briefs, Daniel Day-Lewis will be honored in another awards-season ceremony. An Afghan film that won awards at festivals heads home. And Girls creator Lena Dunham continues on her winning roll.
more »
Quentin Tarantino is directing a parade of stars on his latest - and very anticipated - feature. Leonardo DiCaprio, Samuel L. Jackson, Jamie Fox, Jonah Hill, Christoph Waltz, Kerry Washington, Don Johnson - and apparently, Quentin Tarantino. The Pulp Fiction filmmaker is set to make one of his trademark cameo appearances in his pre-Civil War feature Django Unchained, which will be released Christmas day.
more »
Speculation and excitement have been building among Quentin Tarantino fans for the Christmas-day release (in N. America) of Django Unchained, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Samuel L. Jackson, Jonah Hill, Christoph Waltz and Kerry Washington. But for those Tarantino fans just jonesing for a Tarantino fix ahead of that roll out, Lionsgate and Miramax are teaming up on a massive Quentin Tarantino Blu-ray disc boxed set.
more »
Also in Wednesday afternoon's round-up of news briefs, recent Toronto International Film Festival Gala Inescapable is headed to U.S. theaters. Tech and media moguls are among Forbes' list of America's richest individuals. And, an actress of the video at the center of rage among some Muslims worldwide, Innocence of Muslims is suing the film's producer and YouTube.
more »
Glowing reviews and powerhouse performances from Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams have made Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master a hot ticket among actors and industry operatives — with the exception of Tom Cruise's ex-wife Katie Holmes.
Celebrity spotters tell us that Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, Jason Sudeikis, Susan Sarandon, Steve Martin, Sam Rockwell, and filmmakers Spike Jonze and Quentin Tarantino are among the famous faces who've caught the movie during its limited release in New York and Los Angeles. more »
For those movie buffs counting the days until the Dec. 25 release of Django Unchained, here's an early Christmas plum: A Spanish-language trailer for Quentin Tarantino's slavery retribution fantasy. Set two years before the Civil War, Django Unchained stars Jamie Foxx as the title character and Christoph Waltz as the bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz. more »
