THE HATEFUL 8 (2015) – My rating: 8.7/10

What a great American Western Mystery. Witty, surprising, well acted, entertaining with non-stop action brought to you in pure Tarantino, outrageous, unpolitically correct style, with the use of the “N” word close to, if not more than 100 times. Minnie’s Haberdashery is where the Hateful 8 mostly took place in the freezing winter during a blizzard that was so forceful, neither man nor beast could survive. The Hateful 8 is split into 6 chapters: “Last Stage to Red Rock”, “Son of a Gun”, “Minnie’s Haberdashery”, “Domergue’s got a Secret”, “The Four Passengers” and “Black Man, White Hell”. For some reason, having the movie divided and labeled brought even more mystery and added to the question, what’s wrong with this picture? Quentin’s direction kept the audience guessing until the very end. No predictions here.  For 3 hours and 7 minutes, the surprises just kept coming.  The cast was brilliant. Kurt Russell plays John Ruth, a bounty hunter aka “The Hangman”, Samual L. Jackson plays Major Marquis Warren, a former soldier turned bounty hunter, Jennifer Jason Leigh plays Daisy Domergue, a fugitive being brought in for trial but ultimately to hang, Walton Goggins plays Sheriff Chris Mannix, a racist and the newly elected sheriff of Red Rock, Demián Bichir plays Bob the new haberdashery manager, aka “The Mexican”, Tim Roth plays Oswaldo Moleray also called the “Little Man” whose job is hanging convicted criminals, Michael Madsen plays Joe Gage, known as “The Cow Puncher”, Bruce Dern plays General Sanford Smithers aka “The Confederate”, Channing Tatum plays Jody Domergue, Daisy’s brother, James Parks plays O.B. the stage coach driver and Danna Gourrier plays Minnie Mink, the haberdashery owner.

I really like the Hateful 8, which has been nominated for several awards winning 7 so far. It borders on being a comedy but is a violent, racist, bittersweet story of crime and injustice, that takes place some time right after the Civil War with the use of very strong language, in the wild, wild west, told Quentin Tarantino style.

NOTE:  Tarantino attended a Black Lives Matters rally in 2015 and supported the violence against Blacks that caused him to be labeled as a cop hater.  Quentin says he’s not a cop hater but when he sees a murder, he must call it what it is and is not threatened by talk of boycotts.

[THE HATEFUL 8 is nominated for Best Supporting Actress, Cinematography and Original Score]

DJANGO UNCHAINED (2012) – My rating: 9.5/10

Oh my, what is there to say about Django, except the D is silent.  I went on a fantasy, gun totting, America at its worse, wanted for bounty killing spree ride that hasn’t been seen since the likes of Natural Born Killers.  And I was rooting for the killers all the way.  Django is an action packed thrill ride and a feel good movie that I don’t expect will win any Oscars however, this movie will go down in history as one of a kind.  The entertainment factors are endless.  The acting was superb and the German, played by Christoph Waltz was unsurpassed. With Quentin Tarantino as director and Leo Dicaprio as a shrewd plantation owner with Samual L. Jackson as his right hand lackey, what else would we expect.   Django  is up for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best sound Editing, Best Writing (Original Screenplay) and Best Cinematography.   I don’t expect any Oscars to be won but I can tell you Christoph Waltz took his character to a place we won’t soon forget.  Red Foxx and Kerry Washington rounded out a cast that was unforgettable.  I loved this movie and highly recommend it.

[Christoph Waltz won Best Supporting Actor! ]