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Movie Takes
Django Unchained
Taranteenies love their Tarantino. Those who think for a living may not.
Beginning with the opening screen card, which informs us that people in Texas in 1858 were living “Two Years Before the Civil War,” the historical errors and anachronisms in Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained come thick and fast. As in Inglourious Basterds (2009) there is even an orthographical mistake inserted into the title to indicate the author’s contempt for conventional ideas of, well, convention, at least as it relates to linguistic or historical accuracy. In the film we are told that the “D” in the name of the film’s ex-slave superhero, Django (Jamie Foxx), is silent. But the spelling of the name, presumably taken proleptically from the great French jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt (1910-1953) of the Quintette du Hot Club de France by way of Sergio Corbucci’s spaghetti western Django (1966), was invented in the first place in order to signal to French speakers that the name was to be pronounced not in the usual French way but comme en anglais, avec un “D” avant (like Jim of Jules et Jim). In other words, the D is not silent but otiose.
So, too, we have ante-bellum Klansmen and Jim Crow laws out of their time, an account of Wagner’s Siegfried eighteen years before its premiere, and a lurid amalgam of “Mandingo fighting,” Wild West-style six-gun shootouts and “Wanted, Dead or Alive” bounty-hunting all taken straight from the movies. Furthermore, we must listen to an elaborate theory of “scientific” racism based on an idiosyncratic version of phrenology from a slave-owner named Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio) — the sort of thing that really belongs to the 20th century eugenics movement which did so much to launch the “progressive” era in America. In slave days, nobody felt the need to demonstrate the inferiority of the Negro. The world in which Django teams up with a German dentist named King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) to hunt down and murder dead-or-alive fugitives for the bounty on their heads and, then, to rescue the former’s wife, named Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), from bondage, is clearly as fantastical as “Candyland,” which not coincidentally is the name of Mr. Candie’s Mississippi plantation.
Mr. Tarantino’s contempt for history extends even to his defense, in the wake of the Newtown shootings, of the usual gore-fest that this movie, in common with its predecessors, quickly becomes. He modestly compared himself to Shakespeare whose plays, he supposes, were like his own movies in containing lots of “violence” and who was, like himself, thus blamed for inciting “violence in the streets.” This is no more historically accurate than anything else about the movie, but for some reason critics and commentators have not thought it worth their while to mention the fact. I suppose this is because Django Unchained is so obviously cartoonish throughout that no one ever expected of it so much as an approximation of historical accuracy. As with Pulp Fiction, the author advertises up front that he is speaking to us with no serious purpose but merely as a connoisseur and pasticheur of pop-cultural trash which he has found amusing.
Here, he imitates the spaghetti westerns of the 1960s and 1970s, as will be clear from the opening frames, but he grafts onto his ever more fantastical tale of frontier honor, as he did onto the World War II story in Inglorious Bastards, what is obviously intended as a sort of politico-social commentary. Slavery, it seems, like Nazism, was a very bad thing — who knew? — and therefore anyone in any way associated with it must have been almost unimaginably evil. Certainly Mr. Tarantino is unable to imagine it except in the most luridly unrealistic fashion. As a result, we have absolute license to delight in anything that is done to such people — first, because they have made the fatal decision to get involved in slavery (or Nazism, in the earlier film) and, second, because they are so unlike real people that they have already been robbed of their humanity in any case. Like the victims of Dr. Schultz’s dead-or-alive bounty-hunting, they must be regarded as beyond the pale of civilized movie-making and therefore fair game for Mr. Tarantino’s sick fantasies of violent death.
Those, too, would doubtless have passed unnoticed — just Quentin being Quentin — but for the Newtown massacre, which actually caused the movie’s premiere to be delayed. Could there have been a twinge of conscience there, or only advice from a PR guy? But there was more criticism of the auteur for his script’s casual use of a well-known racial slur — where, of course, it suited him to plead that this, at least, was historically accurate — than there was for his graphic portrayal of hecatombs of human slaughter, the victims being slave-owners and their lackeys. Spike Lee, for one, criticized his frequent use of “the n-word” as a form of “disrespect” to his own ancestors, though if they were my ancestors I would have found much worse disrespect in seeing them presented as one-dimensional figures in an unashamedly anachronistic cartoon that made light of their sufferings by making them, like their deliverance from them, merely fantastical.
Why has there been no critical complaint about Mr. Tarantino’s disguising the real evils of slavery under a thick impasto of exaggeration? For the same reason, I guess, that there has been so little, and that little mostly muted, of his obvious delight in a counterfeit presentation of what bullets and high explosives can do to the human body. However distorted the pulp fiction and B-movies on which Mr. Tarantino relies for his model, they nearly always retained some tether to reality — on which, therefore, they could shed some light, however dim. Django Unchained, like Inglorious Bastards and Kill Bill before it, has none. Distortion and therefore falsity is of its very essence. And that should also tell us something, too, about the nature of the thrill some if not all the Taranteenies are getting from the supposedly “true to life” blood and guts that here and there, even in the media, people have lately complained of. When that’s the only truth you care about, it’s a pretty sure bet that that isn’t true either.
About the Author
James Bowman, our movie and culture critic, is a resident scholar at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. He is the author of Honor: A History and Media Madness: The Corruption of Our Political Culture, both published by Encounter Books.
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Frank Drackman| 1.25.13 @ 6:31AM
Mr. Bowman, if that really is your name, just what makes you a "Resident Scholar, Movie(cudos for not calling them "Films")and Culture critic?
Just because women of all ages/races/creeds seek out my life essence doesn't make me an expert on Women(Sex Yes, Women No)
OK, I havent seen "Django" yet, you know, that whole Aurora thang. Umm not worried about getting shot, but thanks to that Joker you can't sneak a smoke outside the exit anymore...:(
Quick! If you're such an expert which character in "Reservoir Dogs" objected to tipping? Which one cut off the cop's ear, and which one shot the poor ear-less cop? And for the extra point name the actor in each role...
Tarantino is a Genius in his own Mind, and 300 years from now obnoxious teenagers will be saying "English Motherfucke*, DO YOU SPEAK IT?" Just like people used to quote Shakespeare back before the pubic schools became a minor league for the State Prisons...
I'll even try and see how far I can get into my day using nothing but Tarantino dialog, try it sometime..
OK, working "Jackrabbit Slims" into a Convo is a little challenging...
Frank "Mr. Pink*"Drackman
Albert Constantine Jr.| 1.25.13 @ 9:07AM
Mr. Pink (Steve Buscemi) didn't believe in tipping, and you, Dr. Drackman, are definitiely an Elvis (as opposed to Beatles) man.
Frank Drackman| 1.25.13 @ 9:16AM
Who are Mr. Pink, (Steve Busemi), Mr. Blonde(Mike Madsden)and Nice Guy Eddie(Chris Penn)
and I'm Jim Morrison all the way....
Umm not in a gay Jack in Wi way...
Frank "Mr. Bald" Drackman
c. j. acworth| 1.25.13 @ 10:04AM
And I want to know who shot Nice Guy Eddie?
Albert Constantine Jr.| 1.25.13 @ 10:15AM
Peter Roth, before he started robbing restaurants as "Ringo"...
Albert Constantine Jr.| 1.25.13 @ 10:10AM
I'm glad you cleared up that "not in a gay way" before you launched into your rendition of "Touch Me" [and Uma didn't offer "Doors" person, or "Rolling Stones" guy amongst her either/or choice while breaking those uncomfortable silences on her dinner date at Jack Rabbit Slim (and would naming your hip trendy restaurant with a $5 shake "Jackrabbit Slim" make you a "Steve Forbert" guy)].
Frank Drackman| 1.25.13 @ 12:02PM
Actually I didnt get into the Doors until that Oliver Stone( I know, he's a Commie) movie with Val Kilmer, in fact I've tried to model my personality into an amalgam of Doc Holliday/Iceman/Jim Morrison, without the Tuberculosis and Heroin OD of course...
Frank "I'm your Strawberry" Drackman
Diefledermaus| 1.25.13 @ 1:33PM
Becasue he gets paid. You do it to make yourself seem smart.
Doctor Right| 1.25.13 @ 7:40AM
Putting aside discussions about the proper way to pronounce "Django" (honestly, who cares? It's his name, he can pronounce it any way he likes), I've always considered Tarantino a completely juvenile hack who tried to presentbviolent trash under the guise of "high art."
20-something frat boys with backwards caps and t-shirts love Tarantino, as do most film critics who are likely afraid to criticize him for fear of ostracism. Film has become like the modern art world (check out some of the drivel in the secondary galleries at the Guggenheim, as an example, and you'll see what I mean.) The more childish and outrageous it is, the more it's praised.
I was the only person in my crowd of friends who was absolutely unimpressed with "Pulp Fiction." I tried to watch "Kill Bill" but found it unwatchable and utterly stupid.
The only Tarantino film I've ever seen and liked is "Death Proof," his ode to 70's chase movies and grind-house fare. Watching cowardly stuntman and serial killer get his come-uppance at the hands of 4 women who, unbeknownst to him, are also movie stunt drivers is a thing of beauty. And to film the chase scenes, Tarantino relied on the old methods - real driving, no special effects.
I have no plans to see Django...
Bill8472| 1.25.13 @ 9:25AM
Given that slaves were typically named by their masters in the true historical context of American slavery, I have already found it impossible to believe that the name "Django" (however it's pronounced) would be a name borne by a black former slave.
Additionally, I may be ignorant (no doubt someone here will endorse that if they read this post at all), but I only know of one person who was named Django, and that was Django Reinhardt.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 1.25.13 @ 6:10PM
In the article, I think James Bowman makes the same point:
"But the spelling of the name, presumably taken proleptically from the great French jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt ..."
Maxwell| 1.25.13 @ 8:18AM
I'm getting old, maybe to old. I just refuse to give Hollywood much of my hard earned money. Matter of fact, I can list on ONE hand how many movies I have seen in the past 10 years. Lets see, there was Animal House, The Italian Job, and the Girl Who series. Now, as far as the DVD library, the same three plus the Wilson Combat .45 ACP Care & Instruction DVD.
CJW| 1.25.13 @ 8:23AM
I have tried to watch Pulp Fiction and it makes no sense to me. There are a few interesting scenes but I see no plot and no point of view. It is a movie about nothing. In the past three years I have gone to the movies only for Gran Torino, Argo, and Les Miserables, I also refuse to pay the ridiculous prices for the junk offered. I liked Departed with Jack Nicolson, especially when Mark Wahlberg shoots and kills Matt Damon.
chuck| 1.27.13 @ 8:48AM
Seeing that jackass Matt Damon getting killed in worth the price of admission.
CJW| 1.27.13 @ 12:57PM
The other good scenes from Departed is Martin Sheen getting thrown out of a window, Lenny DeCaprio also getting shot and killed , and Alex Baldwing playing an incompetent, foul mouth, clueless police chief, which meant he did not have to act. Be himself.
TLP| 1.25.13 @ 9:01AM
You're not getting Older. Your getting Wiser.
I don't go to a Lot of Movies, as I HATE all of these Motherjumpers, and the Jet Fuel, Carbon Emission Belching Private Jets that they rode in on, on their way to their Million $ Yachts, their Thousand $ Bottles of Booze, their "Girls" that their Assistants "Procure" for them, and their Limousines that they take for the ride to the Green Energy Conference so they can Bash all the Millionaires and Billionaires.
Their movies all Suck, anyway.
Riff Raff| 1.25.13 @ 8:35AM
I have only seen parts of Master Tarantino's body of work ("Master" as in little boy, like Alfred calling Robin "Master Grayson"). Parts of Pulp Fiction, and most of Kill Bill Vol's 1 & 2. These were all on cable, and all are experiences I regret. The trailers for his more recent works are far more than enough to turn me away from the theater when his movies are shown. I find Quentin Tarantino to be a seriously mentally ill person. I see no point to his films except perhaps to take extremely graphic, cartoonish violence and "elevate" it to some kind of "art" status. But frankly, this is an insult to actual cartoons, which are far more imaginative and entertaining that anything Tarantino has produced. That so many of Hollywood's "A" list seem to seek out Tarantino movies demonstrates that they are of like mind, and this is disturbing, as is the slobbering praise his movies get from mainstream critics. The first thing a movie should be is entertaining. Judging by the box office of Tarantino movies, a large number of people actually find this dreck entertaining, and that too is disturbing. No doubt these are the same people who spend their waking hours playing violent video games instead of looking for jobs. But I do not find this garbage entertaining and will not patronize his work.
TLP| 1.25.13 @ 9:05AM
The only Movie he ever made, worth a Clinton, was the one with a Very Young, Smoking Hot Salma Hayek was dancing on a Saloon Stage with a Boa Constrictor wrapped around her.
The Movie Sucked.
But Ooooooooooh, that Salma.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 1.25.13 @ 9:11AM
He was in "From Dusk to Dawn", and was involved in the production, but I believe Robert Rodriguez was more creatively responsible for it.
Frank Drackman| 1.25.13 @ 9:22AM
No offense but Salmon Hayek always reminds me of every stupid Ill-Legal(At Bushwood) trying to buy lottery tickets at the Qwik Trip with a used up Mexican phone card...
Now Ulma Thurman, She's hot, even her feet are hot, even her friggin elbows are hot, how many women have hot elbows, and can look sexy with a cardiac needle through their sternum?
Frank
Tina B| 1.25.13 @ 11:03AM
So oooooh that Salma can ride that StarTrain all she wants cuz she's hot? Can you be bought that easily, Timmy?
TLP| 1.25.13 @ 12:35PM
Oh, I can be bought for a lot less than that.
Trust me.
Bye the way.........That was the only Flick of Freak Face's that I ever saw.
Doctor Right| 1.25.13 @ 9:46AM
"Judging by the box office of Tarantino movies, a large number of people actually find this dreck entertaining, and that too is disturbing."
Good point. I
In fact, there is actually a genre of film nowadays known as "Torture Porn."
These films (the "Saw" series, "Hostel," etc) specialize in some of the most vile scenes ever enacted on film, most of it having to do with the abuse, degradation, torture, and mutilation of young women in a myriad of horrible ways.
If you really want to be disgusted, look up a film called "The Human Centipede." I refuse to describe it here, but it's plot and content are more than shocking, even to jaded curmudgeons like myself.
And these movies are highly profitable, with devoted audiences! It's unbelievable, and deeply disturbing that there are so many people who want to see this garbage and who also find it entertaining.
I once encountered a very attractive, very well-dressed professional women in her mid-30's who happened to mention that she was a HUGE fan of these types of movies. Sorry, but that gave me the creeps, and so did she.
Frank Drackman| 1.25.13 @ 11:49AM
And she probably thought a guy who calls himself "Doctor" when he's not was creepy.
Frank "creepy as hell" Drackman
Frank Drackman| 1.25.13 @ 8:46AM
In no particular order, lets see, future sujunctive,
are the movies, that if you don't like, you probably think Jack in Wi(BHOAT)makes perfect sense, or at least haven't seen, marks you as an Uned-jew-macated Rube.
1: Fight Club
2: Dirty Hairy
3: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
4: Jackie Brown
5: Resevoir Dogs
6: 2 Mules for Sister Sara
7: A Walk to Remember
8: Bronco Billy
9: Munich
10. Inglorious Basterds
Frank "Smell my Thumb" Drackman
Doctor Right| 1.25.13 @ 9:47AM
Do you actually have a point?
Frank Drackman| 1.25.13 @ 11:48AM
Do you actually have a life?
Seriously, "Dr" Right, trading barbs with you is like slapping the Mongoloid kid in 4th grade(someone had to do it), you know, enjoyable, but its not exactly fair to the Mongoloid, and in the end you just endup with a sore hand(story of my life).
Frank
TLP| 1.25.13 @ 12:37PM
Welcome to the Club.
CJW| 1.25.13 @ 10:36AM
You are a CLINT E fan.
Best Movies:
1. On the Waterfront
2. The Verdict
3. Wild Bunch
4. Great Escape
5. Raging Bull
6. Godfather 1, 2,
7. Divorce Italian Style
8. Patton
9. Back to School, any movie with Rodney D.
10.Goodfellas
Frank Drackman| 1.25.13 @ 11:58AM
Yes, I'm a Clint fan, not in a gay Jack in Wi way, and I'll agree on 6, 8, 9, and 10, but never really got Brando's appeal, in fact the best part of "1" was Vito having a heart attack after scaring the annoying kid. And "The Verdict"??? Paul Newman didn't make a decent movie after Cool hand Luke.
Frank
CJW| 1.25.13 @ 12:33PM
I liked Brando's movies like Viva Zapata, The Men, Young Lions, Wild One (Lee Marvin was great, saying "Storm the Bastille"), Appaloosa would have been a good one and half hour movie instead of two days. Any Eastwood movie is good.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 1.25.13 @ 5:27PM
Here's one for both the doctor and the attorney- on Encore D, until 625 pm this evening, they're running the 1996 version of the Island of Doctor Moreau, with Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer.
CJW| 1.25.13 @ 6:26PM
Thanks, Albert, but just got in from a meet.
markenoff| 1.27.13 @ 1:48AM
"The Cowboys". Shows how a group with less muscle can use guile and surprise to defeat a stronger force.
JimH| 1.25.13 @ 9:25AM
I haven’t seen the movie. I read a local newspaper commentator while discussing the movie refer to a character in it named Broomhilda. If so, this is an even bigger anachronism than, as pointed out above, Wagner’s Brunhilde would be. Or is the writer just nekulturny?
Doctor Right| 1.25.13 @ 9:49AM
Wasn't Broomhilda the witch from Bugs Bunny???
If the local commentator is in his early 30's, he might be dumb enough to think that's the name of Wagner's opera.
Frank Drackman| 1.25.13 @ 12:06PM
"Doctor" "Right", you're making me wearout the "" keys on my computer....
"Broom Hilda " was the witch on "HR Puff N' Stuff", dumbass.
Might wanta get a real "Doctor" to write you a Nemenda Scrip...
HR Frank "Cant do a little cause he can't do enough" Puff n' Drackman
Albert Constantine Jr.| 1.25.13 @ 9:59AM
I’m going to depart somewhat from full agreement with what many are saying here about Tarantino. I think he is a talented (though uneven) filmmaker, but a very disturbed person. As a result, many of his movies have great use of music, great scenes, or great dialogue, or interesting characters; but overall they are assembled and presented like comic books (and in particular the gory pre-code comic books like DC Comics put out in the 1950s). As comic books are the source of so much of what Hollywood does today, he stands out amongst many of his peers as sort of a comic book/ film expert.
In addition to his blood and gore fetish, among his other characteristics is his avoidance of any sense of responsibility for the glorification of violence and other anti-social behaviors amongst his fan base, particularly the mentally unstable, for whose violent impulses he continues to give a visual template.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 1.25.13 @ 10:00AM
As someone who has had to step over the dead at a workplace violence shooting spree and help evacuate the wounded; as well as police up severed body parts and carry our war dead, I’ve had an opportunity to see that these things are not always as cool as filmmakers such as Tarantino would like to portray them.
During a public relations event a few years back I did a static display of dozens of samurai type swords our officers seized from felons in the first five years after Kill Bill Part I was released. Hollywood (and Tarantino) does not necessarily put bad ideas into heads, but they definitely help many develop a plan on how they can execute their evil impulses.
CJW| 1.25.13 @ 10:43AM
The libs are always talking about the "gun culture and gun violence culture." Yet the Hollywood libs will deny that their violent movies, video games, etc have anything to do with the so called gun culture and violence. But they also say that the movies/tv shows depicting blacks, women, gays, etc in an "unfavorable" light are bad because they contribute and propogate the unfavorable stereotypes. I am having difficutly understanding this.
Tina B| 1.25.13 @ 11:08AM
I too wonder why there is so much spent on advertising if what we see and hear on the screen has so little effect on us. I mean wtf? How can up be both up and down, black be both black and white? Who believes this?
TLP| 1.25.13 @ 12:43PM
Democrats.
Look who just got Reelected.
President Up is Down, Black is White, and The Constitution is something one wipes their @ss with, after reading The Communist Manifesto, on the Toilet.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 1.25.13 @ 11:33AM
Excellent points, Tina and CJW. I think it is a reflection of the liberal rejection of the convention that "You can't have your cake and eat it too". In their minds, they can (though it usually involves them somehow taking possession of someone else's cake to achieve their objective).
TLP| 1.25.13 @ 12:44PM
No. They buy their own Cake.
They just buy it with Our Money.
Doctor Right| 1.25.13 @ 11:45AM
It's called "hypocrisy."
Frank Drackman| 1.25.13 @ 11:54AM
thanks "Doctor" Right, some of us missed 5th grade vocabulary....
TLP| 1.25.13 @ 12:49PM
You are saving me so much typing.
You have no idea.
PolishKnight| 1.25.13 @ 10:39AM
I lose respect for Tarantino when I saw him kissing the butt of Michael Moore about the lousy, largely unwatched Bush bashing documentary Fahrenheit 911. Tarantino said that he wasn't praising Moore because of ideological reasons but because he "liked" the film. In other words, he made a massive, brazen lie.
Inglorious Basterds was a politically correct hack and the acting was awful and predictable. In other words, Tarentino has gone "Hollywood".
I disagree with writers above that Pulp Fiction was juvenile. I think it was a fun, well timed movie that seemed to pass quickly.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 1.25.13 @ 11:10AM
Tarantino was credited with writing the screenplay for “True Romance”, and I have seen it written that Christian Slater’s character Clarence Worley is an idealized quasi-autobiographical portrayal of how Tarantino viewed himself at the time. The mantra which Clarence wanted to hear over and over was “You’re So Cool”. To the extent that such a claim that Tarantino based the protagonist on himself is accurate, what he wants to hear from the In Crowd are those words, over and over.
As such, his pandering about Michael Moore (or anything else) takes on almost a pathetic quality.
TLP| 1.25.13 @ 12:45PM
Again: Is there ANYTHING you don't know?
Albert Constantine Jr.| 1.25.13 @ 1:04PM
I aspire to be like Dietrich on "Barney Miller".
Until I read this article today, though, I did not know that otiose meant " idle; without a function, useless”, or that proleptically referred to the presumption of a future act. Now that I’ve looked both up, at least that’s two less things I don’t know (and I imagine Matthew Walther is adding them to a list of words that he’ll be using in his next article).
TLP| 1.25.13 @ 2:34PM
I love Walter Matthau.
CJW| 1.25.13 @ 6:29PM
Albert
Are you going to the Goethe retreat?
Barney Miller was great. Well written. Good dialogue between Dietrich and Harris.
The "old inspector" was a classic.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 1.25.13 @ 8:23PM
Do you mean the Goethe Festival in Lancaster, Pa?Jedes Jahre.
They're currently showing "Barney Miller" reruns on Antenna TV, and I do catch one or two each week (with Inspector "Whattayasay, Barn" Lugar, of course).
CJW| 1.25.13 @ 9:07PM
Good memory !! Lancaster, Pa. Did Steve Landesburg die couple of years ago? I liked the episode when Wojo brought in the mj brownies, and Fish caught the young hood chasing on the roof.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 1.25.13 @ 9:44PM
Steve Landesberg did die two years ago according to imdb. During his stint on Barney Miller he also did a guest shot on Rockford, playing one of the cast in a big con Jim set up (I think it was a Richie Brockelman tie-in).
Stan Redmond| 1.25.13 @ 11:07AM
For cryin' outloud. IT'S A MOVIE!
TLP| 1.25.13 @ 12:48PM
No. It's Leftist Propaganda. Like all of the Iraq War Movies, they put out, that nobody went to.
Stan Redmond| 1.26.13 @ 2:35PM
I must have missed the leftist propoganda. It was a fantasy revenge shoot em up movie. The plot was almost the same as "Kill Bill" just in a different setting.
TLP| 1.26.13 @ 5:15PM
You did.
You missed it.
Frank Drackman| 1.25.13 @ 11:52AM
Oh yeah, I left out "Ghost World" with a umm not exactly "smoking" but whatever the term is for a 16 yr old Scarlett Johansen(I like "Strokable"), and for the "Doctor" Rights in the crowd, Mr. Pink himself, Steve Buscemi, busts through the typecasting and plays an annoying nerd.
Frank
Frank Drackman| 1.25.13 @ 11:53AM
Can't wait for the Prequel...........
"Django, Back in Chains"
I'm outta here...................
Frank "exit on a high note, like JFK" Drackman
Albert Constantine Jr.| 1.25.13 @ 9:35PM
"Back in Chains"
Would Joe Biden be providing the voice over narration in his southern dialect?
Norman Conquest| 1.25.13 @ 12:54PM
Yes, it's only a movie. So are Birth Of A Nation and Zulu. Far better ones at that. They also had happier endings.
markenoff| 1.27.13 @ 1:52AM
Don't forget "Triumph of the Will"
Kotorokun| 1.27.13 @ 10:10AM
If you will it it is no dream.
Bob S| 1.25.13 @ 12:59PM
How black is that?
Michael| 1.25.13 @ 3:50PM
Want a violent movie with an actual storyline? Go to the video store and rent "The Wild Bunch".
Stan Redmond| 1.26.13 @ 2:40PM
Great movie. Yet somehow it managed to be ultra violent without any evil "combat style assault weapons of war AR-15 with large caliber magazine clips."
Kotorokun| 1.25.13 @ 6:55PM
Tarantino should make a film about Mohammadans and the chosen tribe ridding the planet of one another. It might actually be worth watching, unlike the rest of this hack's oeuvre.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 1.25.13 @ 8:25PM
Make up your mind- are you Norman Conquest or Kotorokun?
CJW| 1.25.13 @ 9:10PM
Depends on the meds, the dosage, etc
Albert Constantine Jr.| 1.25.13 @ 9:32PM
...usually found on the Ben Stein thread, remarking about bagels, gas, etc...
Stan Redmond| 1.26.13 @ 2:37PM
Just go to liveleak and watch Syrian civil war porn.
hrgfue | 1.25.13 @ 7:53PM
NFL,NBA,2013 Fashion kickoff for u
Riff Raff| 1.25.13 @ 9:08PM
Is it my imagination or is Django wearing a Little Joe Cartwright costume for Halloween?
Albert Constantine Jr.| 1.25.13 @ 9:33PM
Now that would be a Hoss of a different color...
DBJM| 1.27.13 @ 11:36AM
Tarantino is not exactly going for historical accuracy in his movies so for Bowman to criticize him on these grounds is a bit misguided. It's like criticizing Picasso for failing to draw the human form realistically. In any case, Bowman's alleged errors are themselves not entirely correct. First, if we assume that the movie's opening scenes take place in December 1958 (a reasonable assumption given that the weather is clearly cold), then this places the movie approx. 2 years, 4 months before the Civil War. To fault Tarantino for not saying "3 years before the Civil War" is thus unusually nitpicky. Second, phrenology was well known in the USA during the mid to later 19th century, so for Bowman to suggest this as another anachronistic element of the film is misleading. Third, the story of Siegfried the mythical German hero is a story that long predates the Civil War (so unless the movie actually mentions Wagner's later opera -- I don't recall -- then this is yet another criticism that is unfounded). Finally, dynamite may have come a few short years later (late 1860s?) but gunpowder in the form of blasting sticks with fuses had been used for mining for a long time -- again, a nitpicky criticism for Bowman to make.