What the fuck kind of bullshit was that
(Note: This was the 70mm roadshow presentation of the film.)
This is a film about justice and tribalism and how the two lead to some strange, unsettling outcomes when the they are mixed together.
To the point, the film is filled with little moral thought experiments that underscore the idea of when we think it's wrong and right to kill, and explores how that's affected by which tribe they belong to. From Chris Mannix's tale of Major Warren burning down a prison, thereby killing a number of both Union and Confederate soldiers, to Warren himself goading General Smithers into trying to shoot him so he can shoot first, to Mobray's speech on dispassionate justice versus frontier justice, this is a film concerned with when dispensing lethal force is right.
But it's also concerned with how station and affiliation affect how others are treated and when something is truly just or honorable. Major West, despite his accomplishments and prowess, is derided and demeaned because of the color of his skin. Daisy Domergue is equal parts dismissed, patronized, and underestimated because she's a woman. It's no coincidence that one of the film's final scenes is a black former union soldier and a white rebel renegade cooperating to hang a woman in an excruciating fashion because it's the "right" way to honor a fallen comrade (who demeaned the both of them).
There's a lot to unpack in all of this. It's hard to say what Tarantino is saying beyond a broad level "who we are and where we're from shapes our view of what's right and who is fair game," but there's a lot there. The opening shot featuring a crucifix covered in snow hints at these broader themes, and details like the motley make up of Jody's gang to their wanton killing in order to save Jody's sibling lead in interesting thematic directions.
But apart from the larger thematic material, the film absolutely works at a basic narrative level. The first half of the film has a wonderful Clue vibe to it, with a series of characters slowly introduced and thrown together in interesting ways, where not everyone is what they seem, and the audience is left guessing, if not whodunnit, then who's going to do it.
The characters and performances are almost uniformly tremendous. Each of the major characters is well-sketched, and have interesting characteristics that lead to predictable but no less intriguing conflicts. The stand outs are Samuel L. Jackson, who is enthralling from the word go and nails the peak of the film with his monologue about the younger smithers; Jennifer Jason Leigh who gives a wonderfully unhinged performance as Daisy Domergue, and Tim Roth who has a delightful Christoph Waltz-ian flair to his bits of screen time. But everyone, from Russel to Goggins to Dern makes an impression.
The structure and performances help keep the tension high, whether in quiet moments in the stagecoach where it seems like things might become too rowdy, to the powder keg of the main cabin where mistrust grows and tempers flair. The first half of the film, where all the tension builds and is maintained, is more enjoyable than the second, where the answers are revealed, and the aftermath in interesting, but not nearly as engaging as the build of the mystery.
Still, despite (or perhaps because of) the usual Tarantino blood and guts and non-linear storytelling, the film in never boring, and while it works as a whole, the stage-like feeling of the production also allows individual scenes to feel like little vignettes, that could still be compelling or effective separated from the movie as a whole, even as they take on new meaning when juxtaposed.
I have my nits to pick -- Tatum feels a bit miscast (though his appearances are brief) and Tarantino's narration felt a bit obvious and unnecessary--but this is still a superb film from a great director. It's beautifully shot, with grand, frigid vistas that emphasize the isolation, and interesting camera movements that convey both the extra man spying on the proceedings and the heightened nerviness of individual scenes. It is also, for all its tension and thematic material, a damn funny movie, that had me chuckling more than a few times. I would not necessarily among my favorite Tarantino films, but that just speaks to the heights he's been able to hit. The Hateful Eight is still a fun, tense movie with some interesting thematic heft beneath the gunplay and quippy violence. It was well worth the cost of admission.
You have to watch the show before seeing this and you have to watch this after watching the show. This is arguably the best anime movie ever. I will not pretend to be an expert but it has everything. The action sequences are a million times better than anything in the show (Asuka's fight is incredible), the music is amazing, the religious symbolism and complex background metaphors are stronger than ever, and it stays true to what the show set forth. To be honest, I thought the final episodes to the show were some of the best and in my opinion it didn't need another ending but I am glad they made this. They made an already amazing ending, perfect. Fair warning, the movie is hard to watch at points and after the end it will piss you off but as you think about it more and more it just gets better and better. Watch this, it's a strong 9/10
Fun and slick movie but the second half wasn't the the kind of story progression I wanted to see. Also totally terrible fourth-wall speech there.
Characters that didn't have any logic. Annoying rebellious acts for no apparent reasons. "Wise" elder characters who bicker and are useless. Story line was inexcusably weak, character development was pathetic, and it was altogether a bad show. Original Airbender was good, this was not. Teen drama crap.
God Don Hertzfeldt is awesome. It's hard to give this a proper review, since there's so much to unpack, but it fits the ideas and theme Hertzfeldt has been working out in his work for some time now. It has concepts of identity, about what a human being is apart from their flesh and blood, about a sense of being unstuck in time and events feeling random, about what gives us comfort and what we try to hold onto in the unavoidable transience of our lives here. And of course, it's full of things like the letter from Emily's grandfather that are simultaneously hilarious and sad. How Hertzfeldt is able to make these crude-yet-complex drawings into something that feels so profound and so touching is still such a mystery, but I bow down to the alchemy he uses to make a story about time travel and transferred consciousness feel like the most earnest, human thing in the world.
Stephen Frears' Dirty Pretty Things is a flawed gem, beautifully shot. Anything beyond the synopsis would diminish the story that unfolds. Though it does get a little predictable, the two lead characters keep you there until the end.
Fantastic performances by Chiwetel Ejiofor and Audrey Tautou (though I didn't buy she was Turkish), with great support from Sophie Okonedo (The Slap) and Benedict Wong (most recently under utilised in Prometheus).
The final moments of the film are just wonderful and held me through the credits right until the final sound plays out as they end.
Totally Tautou!
