Coming Attractions - DJANGO UNCHAINED

Quentin Tarantino ranks right up there with Christopher Nolan and J.J. Abrams as one of the most influential filmmakers in Hollywood, at least for me, because his films are some of the best that I've ever seen and I have made sure to watch them all multiple times, hoping to glean something new about the art of filmmaking with each viewing. RESERVOIR DOGS is one of the most impressive debut films that I've ever seen from a first-time feature director and I consider both PULP FICTION and INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS to be his masterpieces, with honorable mention going to his throwback to blaxploitation films JACKIE BROWN and his two-part revenge epic KILL BILL. Tarantino is a self-admitted film buff who grew up working in a video rental store where he amassed an unrivaled knowledge of all things film, a knowledge he now puts to use in crafting films that pay homage to the movies (some more obscure than others) that he loves. I believe him to be more talented as a writer than a director, with a knack for writing skillful exchanges of dialogue that are fascinating and absorbing, vivid and memorable characters re-created from the recycled remains of old stock characters, and the ability to tell a story that feels both fresh and fondly familiar.

But, as is the case with a lot of great filmmakers, Tarantino likes to take his time between movies, the longest of which being the six-year gap separating 1997's JACKIE BROWN and 2003's KILL BILL: VOL. 1, and often talks about several different future projects to the press, making it unclear exactly what he intends to do next. So you can imagine my excitement when it was announced that DJANGO UNCHAINED, the latest film from the mind of Quentin Tarantino, was to be released on December 25th, 2012, a welcome Christmas present to fans of all things Tarantino. DJANGO UNCHAINED is set in the Deep South, where Django (Jamie Foxx) is a slave desperate to be reunited with his wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), who has fallen under the ownership of the sadistic slave owner Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio). Living in Mississippi, Candie owns and operates a plantation that he affectionately refers to as "Candyland," where female slaves are used for sex and male slaves are pitted against each other in death matches for sport. Django finds unexpected hope in the form of Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz), a former dentist turned bounty hunter, who frees Django from his captors and offers to help rescue Broomhilda from Candie in exchange for his help in tracking down the elusive Brittle Brothers (M.C. Gainey, Cooper Huckabee, and Doc Duhame), wanted men with rewards out for their capture that Schultz intends to collect.

Why am I so excited for DJANGO UNCHAINED? For starters, I'll flat out see anything that Quentin Tarantino writes and directs because he has yet to let me down, and nothing I've heard about DJANGO has convinced me that this latest work will be the exception. I'm also a huge fan of Leonardo DiCaprio, who has managed to shed the teen heartthrob image he earned with TITANIC and become one of the best leading men working in Hollywood today with acclaimed films like INCEPTION and THE DEPARTED under his belt. But I have a feeling that here in DJANGO UNCHAINED we'll be seeing DiCaprio like we've never seen him before as he steps into the villainous shoes of Calvin Candie, the antithesis of the protagonist roles that have become his bread and butter, and I can't wait to see what kind of performance he has in store for us. Christoph Waltz, since winning Best Supporting Actor for his turn as Colonel Hans Landa in INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, has seen his talents in wasted in dull fare like THE GREEN HORNET and WATER FOR ELEPHANTS, so I'm looking forward to seeing him re-team with Tarantino, who wrote the part of Dr. King Schultz specifically with Waltz in mind for the role. Don't forget Jamie Foxx, and Tarantino has again assembled a top notch cast here, and I'm excited to see what he does with it.

I'm also excited for DJANGO UNCHAINED because Tarantino uses a lot of classic elements from Spaghetti Westerns in his films and the thought of him making an actual Western set in the Deep South is an enticing one, to say the least. What makes his films so good is that he himself loves movies and each of his own films, at their core, are love letters to the films of the past that have influenced him. He has credited three films in particular, DAY OF ANGER, THE GRAND DUEL, and DJANGO, as the driving forces behind DJANGO UNCHAINED, and I intend to see all three of them in the hope that I'll be able to recognize their DNA at work once I finally get to glimpse UNCHAINED. Some consider this proof that Tarantino is unoriginal, but I think it takes considerable talent to re-work something that has been done so many times before into something fresh and new, retrofitted with the trademark style that has become so recognizable to Tarantino fans everywhere.

And if nothing that I've said up to this point has convinced you that DJANGO UNCHAINED is one of the must-see films of 2012, I leave you with the teaser trailer below, which was released earlier today. It's going to be a long wait until December 25th, so I encourage you to check out some of the other films that Quentin Tarantino has to offer, because the man hasn't made a bad film, plain and simple. Thanks for reading and enjoy the trailer --- I know I did!