Tag Archives: quentin tarantino

Christmas Day Must See: ‘The Hateful Eight’ keeps you in the dark while in a bright white blizzard

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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 (Kurt Russell) and his fugitive Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason 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 (Samuel L. Jackson), a black former union soldier turned infamous bounty hunter, and Chris Mannix (Walton 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 (Demian Bichir), who’s taking care of Minnie’s while she’s visiting her mother, is holed up with Oswaldo Mobray (Tim Roth), the hangman of Red Rock, cow-puncher Joe Gage (Michael Madsen), and Confederate General Sanford Smithers (Bruce Dern). As the storm overtakes the mountainside stopover, our eight travelers come to learn they may not make it to Red Rock after all…

As you may guess, Samuel L. Jackson is brightest star, but his presence is the foundation of the other fantastic performances that bring together The Hateful Eight. With such a history behind the cast, it’s fun to hear Kurt Russell talk about his scene with Michael Madsen: “Snake Plissken is challenging Mr Blonde. Holy shit!”

A rising star, Walton Goggins has been making a name for himself as a very versatile actor, with roles in Predators, and the FX shows Justified and Sons of Anarchy. He also has another western coming out this January starring opposite Scott Eastwood and Danny Glover in Diablo. He has a swagger and personability that’s striking.

The Hateful Eight has many differences from Tarantino’s previous work, but none more noticeable than the score. There are only two songs (one Apple Blossom by The White Stripes) and the rest is musical score from the legendary Ennio Morricone. I recently traveled through Nashville and picked up a copy of the soundtrack on vinyl from Third Man Records. I can’t wait to get home and check it out.

Also unlike his other films, this one has much more drama and suspense. Tarantino talks about how suspense is like a rubber band: “If I can stretch that rubber band to 25 minutes and it still holds and doesn’t snap, then it should be better. Part of that rubber band is the threat of violence hanging over the characters. Violence doesn’t even need to happen but you’re prepared for it.”

I recommend seeing the 70mm roadshow if you can. Quentin Tarantino wanted it to be “like Neil Diamond coming to town.” There’s a beautiful grittiness to film and it’s something that’s not really noticed until you switch back to digital. My biggest issue with 70mm showing is the intermission. I don’t like upsetting the flow of the story. I would prefer to continue being in the onscreen world without interruption. C’est la vie.

I love that Tarantino is creating an experience with this film. It’s being show in the format in which he shot, 70mm, and whether you’re a fan or not, you’ve got to respect his commitment to film. He’s got to a certain level of his career and he has a big studio (The Weinstein Company) backing him up. Could this lead to a resurgence of theaters showing the older format? Probably not. It’s very expensive and the theaters have to put up that cost. Even with rising ticket prices, there’s not enough to cover it. But it’s an event that won’t likely be duplicated.

Last but not least, Tarantino is not finished with westerns and would love to do a mini-series based on the Elmore Leonard novel, “Forty Lashes Less One,” based at the Yuma territorial prison. “If you’re going to call yourself a western director, you need to direct at least three.”

The Hateful Eight hits theaters December 25th, Christmas Day.

 

‘The Hateful Eight’ 70mm theater announcement – Roadshow features 8 different special programs & t-shirts (maybe)

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IMG_4533-During a press conference today in New York, Quentin Tarantino announced that “44 markets and over 100 theaters” would show the 70mm version “for two weeks, exclusively for one week.” He went on to explain that sometimes if theaters were not capable, they would bring in screens and projectors.

Thomas from in70mm.com and I have been tracking the 70mm showings, but the new website has a much more extensive list.

Tickets on sale here: Tickets.thehatefuleight.com

Tarantino was very appreciative of the effort The Weinstein Company had put in getting the film out in 70mm. He explained that Warner Brothers tried to push 70mm for Christopher Nolan‘s Interstellar, but in the end, that was only show in a handful of theaters.

To mark the occasion, Quentin and TWC are commemorating the opening with the “12 Days of HATEFUL EIGHT Giveaways”, where each day a different HATEFUL EIGHT prize, memorabilia or once-in-a-lifetime experience will be given away to moviegoers who buy roadshow tickets in advance leading up to the Christmas day opening.

TWC and Tarantino’s presentation of THE HATEFUL EIGHT will mark the widest 70mm release that the industry has seen in over twenty years.  The film will open in 44 markets including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Francisco, Boston, Atlanta, Washington DC, Houston, Detroit, Phoenix, Seattle, Tampa, Minneapolis, Denver, Miami, Cleveland, Orlando, Sacramento, St. Louis, Portland, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, Baltimore, San Diego, Nashville, Kansas City, San Antonio, West Palm Beach, Birmingham, Las Vegas, Albuquerque, Oklahoma City, Austin, New Orleans, Providence, Knoxville, Santa Barbara, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver.  Quentin and cast members from THE HATEFUL EIGHT will be touring the country making surprise appearances in select cities at 70mm roadshow showings.

Not since the 1966 film KHARTOUM starring Charlton Heston and Laurence Olivier has a film been shot in Ultra Panavision 70 format.  In 2012, TWC distributed Paul Thomas Anderson’s acclaimed film THE MASTER in a similar 70mm format. Beloved by filmmakers and cinephiles for its wide-scope and high-resolution image quality, Ultra Panavision70mm stock captures nearly twice the landscape of the more common 35mm and digital styles.  Because of its unique quality and its importance to the art of filmmaking, Quentin, TWC, and a number of other major Hollywood directors and studios have negotiated deals with Kodak to continue production of 70mm and other film formats despite their higher costs and complexity of use.

The lead cast for THE HATEFUL EIGHT will include: Samuel L. Jackson (DJANGO UNCHAINED), Kurt Russell (ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK), Jennifer Jason Leigh (MRS. PARKER AND THE VICIOUS CIRCLE), Walton Goggins (Justified), Demian Bichir (A BETTER LIFE), Tim Roth (RESERVOIR DOGS), Michael Madsen (RESERVOIR DOGS), and Bruce Dern (NEBRASKA). Written and directed by Tarantino, THE HATEFUL EIGHT is produced by Richard N. Gladstein, Stacey Sher and Shannon McIntosh.  Harvey Weinstein, Bob Weinstein and Georgia Kacandes are executive producing, and Coco Francini and William Paul Clark are associate producing.

There are 8 different versions of the program featuring a different character in the middle of each one!

 

THE HATEFUL EIGHT
THE HATEFUL EIGHT
THE HATEFUL EIGHT
THE HATEFUL EIGHT
THE HATEFUL EIGHT
THE HATEFUL EIGHT
THE HATEFUL EIGHT
THE HATEFUL EIGHT
THE HATEFUL EIGHT
THE HATEFUL EIGHT

New Featurette: ‘The Hateful Eight’ has an all-star cast

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thehateful8-teaser-poster

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THE HATEFUL EIGHT
—————————-——
Release: December 25, 2015 (70 mm release), January 8, 2016 (nationwide)
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Written By: Quentin Tarantino
Rating: Not Yet Rated
Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins, Demian Bichir, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern, Channing Tatum
THE HATEFUL EIGHT

THE HATEFUL EIGHT

Synopsis:

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 (Kurt Russell) and his fugitive Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason 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 (Samuel L. Jackson), a black former union soldier turned infamous bounty hunter, and Chris Mannix (Walton 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 (Demian Bichir), who’s taking care of Minnie’s while she’s visiting her mother, is holed up with Oswaldo Mobray (Tim Roth), the hangman of Red Rock, cow-puncher Joe Gage (Michael Madsen), and Confederate General
Sanford Smithers (Bruce Dern). As the storm overtakes the mountainside stopover, our eight travelers come to learn they may not make it to Red Rock after all…

Quentin Tarantino taps Jack White’s Third Man Records to release special edition vinyl soundtrack of ‘The Hateful Eight’

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hateful eight album

In the true spirit of resurrecting seemingly obsolete media, Quentin Tarantino will not only show The Hateful Eight on 70mm in limited theaters, but its soundtrack, from legendary composer Ennio Morricone, will be released on vinyl in the U.S. on Jack White’s label, Third Man Records. This is a perfect match, as Jack White frequently played Morricone’s songs for waiting audiences when playing as a Raconteur, he also contributed to Danger Mouse‘s star-studded homage “Rome” (as well as released the vinyl) and Quentin Tarantino has used Morricone’s music in his last five films. Although Ennio Morricone, has scored many genres, The Hateful Eight marks the first time he’s scored a western since The Good, the Bad and the Ugly in 1966. He’s often credited for the signature sound of “spaghetti westerns.”

Third Man Records is no stranger to releasing movie soundtracks on vinyl, as they previously releasing the elaborate pressing of the The Great Gatsby starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

Just look how beautiful this is:

Third Man Records opened their first location in 2009 in Nashville, Tennessee and recently opened a larger location in Detroit, Michigan which will soon house a 10,000 square foot vinyl record-pressing plant.

Details on The Hateful Eight soundtrack on vinyl are listed in glorious detail on Third Man Records, available for pre-order now, and they will be giving further details on a limited edition version of the soundtrack on vinyl very soon.

If you would like to see the film in 70 mm, our friends at in70mm.com have been compiling the list of theaters, and we’ve put a map together below. Nothing is official yet, so once tickets go on sale, we’ll have more details.

Quentin Tarantino Says He Will Release Two Different Versions of ‘The Hateful Eight’

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hateful8.0.0

We are only two months away from the release of Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight and some interesting news regarding two different versions of the film has been unearthed in a recent interview with Variety. Tarantino previously announced the intention of releasing the film as a  limited roadshow engagement this holiday season with the film being presented in Ultra Panavision 70mm, but now we find out that that version of the film will be different from the one being released just a few weeks later in multiplexes.

Tarantino had this to say:

“The roadshow version has an overture and an intermission, and it will be three hours, two minutes. The multiplex version is about six minutes shorter, not counting the intermission time, which is about 12 minutes.”

The director clarified that he was not ordered to cut the theatrical version down, but rather wanted to make the roadshow a unique experience with a little more meat. But that doesn’t mean you’ll see a weaker version in multiplexes, rather, a “different” experience. As Tarantino states, he didn’t want to “treat the multiplex release like this left-handed version, either,” he said. So he tweaked certain scenes to better suit the separate viewing experiences.:

“The 70 is the 70,” he said. “You’ve paid the money. You’ve bought your ticket. So you’re there. I’ve got you. But I actually changed the cutting slightly for a couple of the multiplex scenes because it’s not that. Now it’s on Showtime Extreme. You’re watching it on TV and you just kind of want to watch a movie on your couch. Or you’re at Hot Dog on a Stick and you just want to catch a movie.”

The sequences in question play in “big, long, cool, unblinking takes” in the 70mm version, Tarantino said. “It was awesome in the bigness of 70, but sitting on your couch, maybe it’s not so awesome. So I cut it up a little bit. It’s a little less precious about itself.”

The Hateful Eight roadshow is to play in 100 theaters when it opens Dec. 25.

 

‘The Hateful Eight’ Character Posters Have Arrived

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8fulheader

The Weinstein Company has released the posters for Quentin Tarantino’s new western The Hateful Eight and we have it for you below! Each poster features members of the lead cast including Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins, Demian Bichir, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, and Bruce Dern.

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…

Written and directed by Tarantino, The Hateful Eight is produced by long-time Tarantino collaborators Richard N. Gladstein, Stacey Sher and Shannon McIntosh. Harvey Weinstein, Bob Weinstein and G. Mac Brown are The Hateful Eight’s executive producers, and Coco Francini and William Paul Clark are associate producers.

The Hateful Eight will be released in select theaters on December 25, 2015 with an exclusive two-week roadshow opening in 70mm. Following the two-week engagement, the film will open with a digital theatrical release nationwide on January 8, 2016, while continuing to be shown in 70mm as well.

‘The Ladies of the House’ serves up the smart and sexy. Liz talks flipping the script on genre protagonists.

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LOTH posterTypical horror gene fair has the protagonist as a weak young woman who is constantly running up the stairs only to get stabbed during sex or in the shower. While I am not making a dig at Psycho, because we all know that is will always be some brilliant and sick stuff, I am bringing up the obvious that women in horror tend to be the victims. Refreshingly, in John Stuart Wildman‘s The Ladies of the House, this couldn’t be further from the truth. The premise seems relatively simple; brothers Kai and Jacob, and friend Derek, go to a strip club for Kai’s birthday. But, when they decide to follow one of the strippers as she departs, they are in for quite the surprise. This house is home to a group of lovely cannibals.LOTH wasabe - belladonna- MichellePerformances by our leading ladies are strong and quirky due to the smart writing from husband and wife team of Wildman and Justina Walford. The often funny moments come from vitriolic insults they sling at the men and one another. Each character is fully fleshed out, most likely making it a blast to perform. Michelle Sinclair plays Ginger. Perhaps best known as former adult actress Belladonna, Michelle does a great job on screen as newest housemate. Farah White plays Lin (our June Cleaver mommy monster, whose patience and civility are balanced on a razor thin edge) is fully settled into this role. The “Lady of the House,” Getty, is played stupendously by Melodie Sisk. This “take no shit” gal is pretty much my favorite performance of the entire film. Brina Palencia is our sex-crazed, emotionally-stunted lovely. Keeping men for play is her game. But can this family survive these feisty gentlemen? Speaking of which, Samrat Chakrabarti, as Derek, is real douchebag. No love lost for this total asshole, which in its own right, is a compliment. Gabriel Horn, as Jacob, plays the classic, submissive peacemaker. Doomed or not, the passive manner doesn’t help his character’s cause in this film. Finally, we have Kai. Clearly a little bit (or a lot) of a simpleton, RJ Hanson‘s portrayal is sickening… which is a good word here. This gentle giant has a sexually charged trigger that gets him into some hot water. Every beat is well thought out and I couldn’t  take my eyes off of him.LOTH stillThe ladies each have their own specific color they sport throughout the film. Their pin-up style radiates from their wardrobe to the impeccable set design by Winona Yu. The majority of the house is like Pee-Wee Herman‘s Playhouse only scarier, and I do mean that as a compliment. Not a tchotchke out of place, it is filled with delicious details top to bottom. The super cool cinematography from Beau Ethridge is a funky combination of fly on wall, handheld closeups, and my favorite shots in the film, super high angles that are akin to surveillance footage. The biggest practical effect is vomit inducing, no doubt, something Eli Roth would be proud to call his own and a dinner table scene that is surely a fandom nod to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre with dialogue Taratino would pen in a heartbeat. I was truly impressed with the gore factor as it was just enough to make a point. The music is incredible. A rockabilly tune here, to classic 50’s make out sounding mix tape there, I want it all for my very own. THE LADIES OF THE HOUSE - Farah White as 'Lin' and Melodie Sisk as 'Getty' (Photo by Marc Lee)While, yes, we’re talking about a grindhouse indie film about lady cannibals, we cannot overlook the empowerment factor so often thrown to the wind in the horror genre. When women kick some serious ass, and are cleverly written, how can we not stand up and cheer? This film’s undertone is blatantly about love and protection… with a little bit of the kooky macabre thrown in for good measure. Not since Robert Rodríguez/Tarantino‘s 2007 GRINDHOUSE with Planet Terror and Death Proof, which flung the exploitation genre back into the spotlight, has there been a film where the ladies are the winner-winner, this time human dinner. Or perhaps more fitting a comparison in this case would be 2003 release High Tension, which if you haven’t yet seen, for shame. My only gripe is that I might trim the length 15-20 minutes to tighten up the story’s flow, but that’s being nit-picky. Anytime I can watch my favorite genre hold a candle to a bygone era of kitsch, I give Wildman and Walford major props for putting it all out there and for giving us something that can easily be shown as a drive-in cult classic in the future. Now I want to know, what’s next?

The Ladies of the House comes to VOD platforms on May 1.

You can preorder the film on iTunes. 

Jeremy’s Interview: Lance Edmands, Award-Winning ‘Bluebird’ Writer/Director

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SFF_BLUEBIRD_Lance_Edmands_press

If you followed my coverage of the Indy Film Fest, you might remember I was able to catch (review here) the Grand Jury & American Spectrum Prize-Winning Bluebird, written and directed by Lance Edmands. You also might remember that it was my favorite of the films that I saw at the festival. I was curious to learn more about the film, its evolution and its journey to the screen so I reached out to Lance and he was kind of enough to give me 45 minutes of his time. Here’s what he had to say… Read More →

The Full Cast and Plot of Quentin Tarantino’s ‘The Hateful Eight’ Officially Revealed

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bannerthehoatefulThe Weinstein Company today revealed the full official cast for Academy Award-winning writer/director Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming post-Civil War western, The Hateful Eight
The Hateful Eight are: Read More →

Jeremy’s Review: Peter Glanz’s ‘The Longest Week’ Is What Happens When Wes Anderson and Woody Allen Films Mate…But Is That a Good Thing?

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The Longest Week - PosterFresh with master shots, sly camera movements and clever inserts of nostalgic items such as record players flush with witty conversations on the meaning of life, sex and relationships, Peter Glanz‘s The Longest Week wears its influences on its sleeve – Wes Anderson and Woody Allen are everywhere in this film. The economic status of the characters could easily lead us to the New York comedies of Whit Stillman (Metropolitan in particular – the Jane Austen chatter alone pushes this). With all that cinematic genius being channeled, as the title of this article asks, is this a good thing? Maybe, maybe not. Read More →

Jeremy’s Interview: Lance Edmands, Award-Winning “Bluebird” Writer/Director

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SFF_BLUEBIRD_Lance_Edmands_press

If you followed my coverage of the Indy Film Fest, you might remember I was able to catch (review here) the Grand Jury & American Spectrum Prize-Winning Bluebird, written and directed by Lance Edmands. You also might remember that it was my favorite of the films that I saw at the festival. I was curious to learn more about the film, its evolution and its journey to the screen so I reached out to Lance and he was kind of enough to give me 45 minutes of his time. Here’s what he had to say… Read More →