Tag: The Hateful Eight

SXSW Movie Reviews: Us and Them

by MCDave

Without getting overly political, it’s impossible to ignore the growing divide between the wealthy and the working class in developed nations all across the globe. Such an observation serves as the core principle behind Joe Martin’s feature film debut, Us and Them. This SXSW selection also stars newcomer Jack Roth, son of Quentin Tarantino regular Tim Roth (Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs and The Hateful Eight), in a diabolical role that shows the apple doesn’t far from the acting tree.

Danny (Roth) is a bitter and frustrated working class Brit who’s fed up with the class warfare that plagues society. In a plan to get back at the wealthy elite, he and two fellow accomplices hold a prominent banker and his family hostage and broadcasting the entire ordeal over social media in hopes of starting a political revolution. Yet, things fall apart quickly when Danny’s helpers begin to deviate from his big-picture objective.

Joe Martin’s Us and Them represents a worthwhile achievement that benefits most from its clever non-chronological storytelling and a brilliant lead performance from Jack Roth. Told through multiple chapters, the film offers laugh-out-loud British wit to complement its thrilling kidnapping tale. In its brightest moments, the film rings reminiscent of iconic Guy Ritchie works like Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. However, writer and director Joe Martin eventually loses sight of his overriding voice on the focal point of the feature, watering down his once-poignant socio-political message. However, Us and Them still manages to impress with its unpredictable characters and an unforeseen resolution that ties a satisfying bow on the debut feature.

GRADE: 3.5/5

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Here Are Your 2016 Oscar Winners!

by J.C. Marquez

After coming up short on five previous Oscar nominations, Leonardo DiCaprio won his first Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in “The Revenant.”  The film’s director, Alejandro G. Inarritu, won his second consecutive Academy Award for Best Director–becoming the first director to win back-to-back awards in the category since Joseph L. Mankiewicz won in 1949 and 1950 for “A Letter to Three Wives” and “All ABout Eve”.

Brie Larson’s much talked about performance in “Room” earned the actress her first Academy Award for Best Actress, beating out previous winners Cate Blanchett (2014) and Jennifer Hudson (2013).

It was also a huge night for “Mad Max: Fury Road”, as the film took in a total of six Academy Awards (but failed to win for Best Picture and Best Director).

Below is the complete list of winners from tonight’s Academy Awards:

 

Best Picture: “Spotlight”

Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, “The Revenant”

Best Actress: Brie Larson, “Room”

Best Supporting Actor: Mark Rylance, “Bridge of Spies”

Best Supporting Actress: Alicia Vikander, “The Danish Girl”

Best Director: Alejandro G. Inarritu, “The Revenant”

Best Score: Ennio Morricone for “The Hateful Eight” 

Best Song: Sam Smith and Jimmy Napes for “Writing’s on the Wall” from “Spectre”

Best Original Screenplay: Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy, “Spotlight”

Best Adapted Screenplay:  Charles Randolph and Adam McKay, “The Big Short”

Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki, “The Revenant”

Best Film Editing: Margaret Sixel, “Mad Max: Fury Road”

Best Sound Editing: Mark Mangini and David White, “Mad Max: Fury Road”

Best Visual Effects: Mark Ardington, Sara Bennett, Paul Norris, and Andrew Whitehurst, “Ex Machina”

Best Sound Mixing: Chris Jenkins, Ben Osmo, and Gregg Rudloff, “Mad Max: Fury Road”

Best Costume Design: Jenny Beavan, “Mad Max: Fury Road”

Best Makeup: Damian Martin, Lesley Vanderwalt, and Elka Wardega, “Mad Max: Fury Road”

Best Production Design: Colin Gibson and Lisa Thompson, “Mad Max: Fury Road”

Best Animated Feature: “Inside Out”

Best Animated Short: “Bear Story”

Best Foreign Language Film: “Son of Saul”

Best Documentary Feature: “Amy”

Best Documentary Short: “A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness”

Best Live Action Short: “Stutterer”

 

Are there any actors who you feel were wronged by tonight’s results or did the Academy get it right? Sound off in the comments below!

Geekscape Movie Reviews: The Hateful Eight

by MCDave

Rare filmmakers have the tendency to eclipse the content of their work, both in style and public recognition. Quentin Tarantino arrived at that status long before he re-modernized the western-film genre with his 2012 all-around critical and commercial success, Django Unchained. Tarantino laces up his cowboy boots once again with his latest entry, The Hateful Eight, a film that almost never happened after Tarantino vowed to abandon the project when its script was leaked all across the internet. But despite his rigid and reactionary declaration, cooler heads prevailed and Tarantino returns to deliver another fine addition to his well-rounded filmography.

Bounty hunter John “The Hangman” Ruth (Kurt Russell) is transporting his prisoner, Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh), to the town of Red Rock, Wyoming where she stands to be hung for crimes committed. But when a blistering winter storm forces him and a band of untrustworthy fellows to take shelter in a stopover along the way, tensions begin to mount. And with a steep $10,000 reward on Daisy’s head, The Hangman will operate under any means necessary to ensure that he survives the storm and that justice prevails.

Hateful1

The Hateful Eight surfaces as another rare and bold story from an Oscar-winning mind unlike any other. This time around Quentin Tarantino uses a western backdrop as a bit of an homage to the classic stage play. The film incorporates an exceptionally-timed intermission to divide Tarantino’s newest irregular story into two fully different subsections. The first of which is used as an introductory to our eight mysterious characters. But throughout the second half of the film, the characters reveal their true colors culminating in a bloody and gruesome showdown that’s to be expect from Tarantino. As always, it’s the film’s absorbing dialogue and the director’s keen eye for camera work that turns a nearly three hour story into a wildly engaging thrill ride. The Hateful Eight never tries to mask a valuable life lesson or tell some profound, insightful message. It’s an experience created simply to entertain, and it achieves that with unburdened ease.

Hateful2

Despite the feature’s stylish successes and Oscar-caliber screenplay, The Hateful Eight reveals a few weaknesses. For starters, the cleverly implemented intermission is a foregone necessity. Without this brief separation from the story, The Hateful Eight would have been a far less enjoyable one-sitting watch. Furthermore, Tarantino has long ditched the normal tendencies of screenwriting. As a result, this time around he decides the characters are of much less importance than the wildly epic tale he aims to construct. Consequently, any strong emotional attachment to the movie is out of the question. Instead, the audience is expected to sit back, relax and enjoy the twisted and perverse concoctions of a storytelling genius.

Quentin Tarantino’s latest effort falls shy of his highly regarded, Django Unchained. However, The Hateful Eight is still a strong piece of filmmaking in its own right. Tarantino continues to deliver superb direction in support of a brilliantly crafted set of characters brought to life by a gift team of performers. Even if Jennifer Jason Leigh stands as the most likely cast member to receive an Oscar nomination, it’s Samuel L. Jackson who steals the show with an onslaught of hilarious one-liners. You should expect to literally laugh out loud, a lot. And if you can stomach another gory finale from Tarantino, then The Hateful Eight is something you should savor.

GRADE: 4/5

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Here’s The Beautiful Final Poster For ‘The Hateful Eight’!

by Derek Kraneveldt

Briefly: We’re finally just a few weeks away from Quentin Tarantino’s highly anticipated The Hateful Eight, and The Weinstein Company has just debuted a beautiful final poster for the upcoming feature.

In The Hateful Eight, set six or eight or twelve years after the Civil War, a stagecoach hurtles through the wintry Wyoming landscape. The passengers, bounty hunter John Ruth (Russell) and his fugitive Daisy Domergue (Leigh), race towards the town of Red Rock where Ruth, known in these parts as “The Hangman,” will bring Domergue to justice. Along the road, they encounter two strangers: Major Marquis Warren (Jackson), a black former union soldier turned infamous bounty hunter, and Chris Mannix (Goggins), a southern renegade who claims to be the town’s new Sheriff. Losing their lead on the blizzard, Ruth, Domergue, Warren and Mannix seek refuge at Minnie’s Haberdashery, a stagecoach stopover on a mountain pass. When they arrive at Minnie’s, they are greeted not by the proprietor but by four unfamiliar faces. Bob (Bichir), who’s taking care of Minnie’s while she’s visiting her mother, is holed up with Oswaldo Mobray (Roth), the hangman of Red Rock, cow-puncher Joe Gage (Madsen), and Confederate General Sanford Smithers (Dern). As the storm overtakes the mountainside stopover, our eight travelers come to learn they may not make it to Red Rock after all…

The film obviously looks to bear the same incredible style and slick dialogue as all of Tarantino’s other work, and as such, we can’t freaking wait.

Take a look at the gorgeous image below, and be sure to let us know what you think! The Hateful Eight hits theatres on December 25th!

Hateful

The Official Trailer For ‘The Hateful Eight’ Is Here

by Shane O'Hare

Quentin Tarantino’s eighth theatrical release is almost upon us, and the folks over at the Weinstein Company have just released the official trailer. It oozes with style, energy and an aesthetic that has me excited as hell. Check out The Hateful Eight below!

https://youtu.be/6_UI1GzaWv0

In THE HATEFUL EIGHT, set six or eight or twelve years after the Civil War, a stagecoach hurtles through the wintry Wyoming landscape. The passengers, bounty hunter John Ruth (Russell) and his fugitive Daisy Domergue (Leigh), race towards the town of Red Rock where Ruth, known in these parts as “The Hangman,” will bring Domergue to justice. Along the road, they encounter two strangers: Major Marquis Warren (Jackson), a black former union soldier turned infamous bounty hunter, and Chris Mannix (Goggins), a southern renegade who claims to be the town’s new Sheriff. Losing their lead on the blizzard, Ruth, Domergue, Warren and Mannix seek refuge at Minnie’s Haberdashery, a stagecoach stopover on a mountain pass. When they arrive at Minnie’s, they are greeted not by the proprietor but by four unfamiliar faces. Bob (Bichir), who’s taking care of Minnie’s while she’s visiting her mother, is holed up with Oswaldo Mobray (Roth), the hangman of Red Rock, cow-puncher Joe Gage (Madsen), and Confederate General Sanford Smithers (Dern). As the storm overtakes the mountainside stopover, our eight travelers come to learn they may not make it to Red Rock after all…

The Hateful Eight hit’s select theaters Christmas day, and you can catch it EVERYWHERE January 8th 2016!

Check Out The First Trailer For Tarantino’s ‘The Hateful Eight’

by Bigyanks

The trailer for The Hateful Eight premiered today, and it looks awesome. The visuals of the snow covered mountain backdrop is just stunning. Coupled with witty Tarantino dialogue, we should expect some good times. At first glance I visually saw a cross between Reservoir Dogs and the training montage from Django Unchained.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnRbXn4-Yis

In THE HATEFUL EIGHT, set six or eight or twelve years after the Civil War, a stagecoach hurtles through the wintry Wyoming landscape. The passengers, bounty hunter John Ruth (Russell) and his fugitive Daisy Domergue (Leigh), race towards the town of Red Rock where Ruth, known in these parts as “The Hangman,” will bring Domergue to justice. Along the road, they encounter two strangers: Major Marquis Warren (Jackson), a black former union soldier turned infamous bounty hunter, and Chris Mannix (Goggins), a southern renegade who claims to be the town’s new Sheriff. Losing their lead on the blizzard, Ruth, Domergue, Warren and Mannix seek refuge at Minnie’s Haberdashery, a stagecoach stopover on a mountain pass. When they arrive at Minnie’s, they are greeted not by the proprietor but by four unfamiliar faces. Bob (Bichir), who’s taking care of Minnie’s while she’s visiting her mother, is holed up with Oswaldo Mobray (Roth), the hangman of Red Rock, cow-puncher Joe Gage (Madsen), and Confederate General Sanford Smithers (Dern). As the storm overtakes the mountainside stopover, our eight travelers come to learn they may not make it to Red Rock after all…

Are you excited for Tarantino’s next feature? Let us know down below.

‘The Hateful Eight’ premiers in select theaters on Christmas Day. Nationwide on Jan. 8, 2016.

New ‘The Hateful Eight’ Poster Puts Kurt Russell and Jennifer Jason Leigh Front and Centre!

by Derek Kraneveldt

Briefly: We still have some time to wait until The Hateful Eight‘s December release date, but this new poster is pretty damned cool.

The stylized image features stars Kurt Russell and Jennifer Jason Leigh trekking through a mountainous environment, and it looks as though two of the eight symbols on the poster are greyed out, making me think that we’ll see similar posters for each of the other main characters.

Take a look at the poster (via EW) below, and let us know what you hope to see in the film!

Hateful

In The Hateful Eight, set six or eight or twelve years after the Civil War, a stagecoach hurtles through the wintry Wyoming landscape. The passengers, bounty hunter John Ruth (Russell) and his fugitive Daisy Domergue (Leigh), race towards the town of Red Rock where Ruth, known in these parts as “The Hangman,” will bring Domergue to justice. Along the road, they encounter two strangers: Major Marquis Warren (Jackson), a black former union soldier turned infamous bounty hunter, and Chris Mannix (Goggins), a southern renegade who claims to be the town’s new Sheriff. Losing their lead on the blizzard, Ruth, Domergue, Warren and Mannix seek refuge at Minnie’s Haberdashery, a stagecoach stopover on a mountain pass. When they arrive at Minnie’s, they are greeted not by the proprietor but by four unfamiliar faces. Bob (Bichir), who’s taking care of Minnie’s while she’s visiting her mother, is holed up with Oswaldo Mobray (Roth), the hangman of Red Rock, cow-puncher Joe Gage (Madsen), and Confederate General Sanford Smithers (Dern). As the storm overtakes the mountainside stopover, our eight travelers come to learn they may not make it to Red Rock after all…