THE HATEFUL EIGHT (Quentin Tarantino 2015)

[Johann]

That Magnolia trailer is something else, isn't it? Bravo PT Anderson!

You're right about me seeing more new movies. My "recalcitrance" is a hindrance and must be ditched. :)

[Chris Knipp]

Fingers crossed that there will be a change of heart and you'll have more reports in new stuff.

[Johann]

I feel guilty now. Thanks. :) I'm sure there are relavatory movies being made. You gotta go to the theatre or you will never know. Just like you won't win the lottery if you never buy a ticket....


I wish I could see The Hateful 8 in the proper format, but I can't make a trip to Montreal just now.
The theatre closest to me (Landsdowne) only has a regular screening- in the VIP lounge- at $20 a ticket (?!) I hate paying more unless it's an IMAX show...

[Chris Knipp]

Exactly. It's a lottery but you have to buy a ticket once in a while.

It's also in 70mm in Toronto and Vancouver. But don't worry about it. It's the same film.

[Johann]

Just saw the movie. I liked it. Not as much as other QT flicks, but this one definitely has his stamp all over it.
The tension builds up pretty fierce...
The "N" word was definitely used way too much- I'm puzzled as to why he uses it so much- its not necessary Quentin!


Violent as all Holy Hell, this one. (With a fantastic music score!)

[Chris Knipp]

I hope you had a big screen and 70mm? I got 70mm but wish it had been a bigger screen. The aspect ratio is amazing, but such a ratio requires a very large screen to get the images up close. I loved the score. Those who say its mediocre Morricone I can't understand. Watching multiple Q&A's featuring the cast shows how much they love working with Tarantino. I was impressed by how honored Jennifer Jason Leigh was to be chosen and that Bruce Dern, who I calculate has been in movies for 55 years, said this was the most fun he'd ever had on a film set. I agree he uses the N word even more this time and that the excessive use of it is inexplicable. Is that one reason he gets so few awards and nominations?

[Johann]

No, I didn't get to see it in 70mm- that would've been sweet. I saw it in the VIP theatre. I had a couple beers- the VIP theatre lets you drink alcohol.
The score was worth the price of admission. Seriously. I'm buying the soundtrack- I already have 4 of QT's soundtracks, might as well add another. "mediocre Morricone?" Stanley Kubrick used to play Morricone music on his sets to get everybody "in a mood"- and another Kubrick connection here is Jennifer Jason Leigh- she was cast in Eyes Wide Shut as Marion, but there were problems somewhere...as with Harvey Keitel. Jennifer goes through a bit of hell, here, no? LOL

It would be a Joy working with Quentin I think. He lives and breathes movies. He's conscious of his own filmography and that of many, many others. I love that he sees the merits of guys like Bruce Dern and Kurt Russell. (But I heard Bruce Dern is in "Chateau Bow-Wow" (the doghouse) with Quentin, over his agent leaking the script...)


Thumbs up from me on The Hateful 8. Just be warned...blood and racial slurs abound...

[Chris Knipp]

I'm glad you enjoyed the venue, too bad not 70mm though. Nice you have the QT sound track collection.

Yeah, JJL takes a beating, but she loved working on it and with Kurt Russell. I see from this article maybe Bruce Dern's agent IS a prime suspect, but it's not certain -- an early draft; but QT almost gave up the whole project because he felt so betrayed, it says.

I think QT creates a club atmosphere on set. Being on his team feels like an honor. You are selected for you, you are respected. Also there are no electronic devices permitted on set. That means people relate to each other. They're not texting or on the internet. They like that. But it's also hard work. And he chilled the set interior so it was cold all the time to duplicate the fiction of the story. They were freezing all the time.

We should note using 70mm is a dramatic gesture in defense of FILM. QT says "we ceded too much to the barbarians" in letting Hollywood make digital dominant. There is still a good dozen of the finest US directors who are adamant defenders of FILM. Having turned to digital myself in still photography finally the past five years I am personally aware film has beauties digital lacks -- but digital has amazing conveniences.

[Johann]

Yes, to have the presence of mind to shoot on film, with old cameras, that is cinephilia. That's Pure, that's to be respected, admired. There's more craft involved when you shoot on film, especially with your lighting. You have to take more time to get it right, and you have to send that shit to the lab.
PT Anderson is another man who is honoring tradition with 70 mm. These guys are keeping cinema alive.
(Too bad you can count 'em all on one hand...)

"We ceded too much to the barbarians"- I love that. Everything is digital these days- most "tentpole" movies are slapped with 3-D.
Sam Peckinpah would hate movies today. Absolutely hate them.

[Chris Knipp]

Here are some important directors who use film rather than digital. See here where they are on film talking about it: 8 Directors Who Still Use Film Stock, Instead of Digital Photography. It takes more than one hand.

Judd Apatow
Quentin Tarantino
Steven Spielberg
James Gray
Wes Anderson
Paul Thomas Anderson
Alex Ross Perry
Christopher Nolan
Ryan Johnson

[Chris Knipp]

Revisiting QT in Charlie Rose's JACKIE BROWN moment interview (1997) led me to my HATEFUL EIGHT review and find this story about its 2019 re-formatting for Netfilx in 4 episodes as a mini-series. I also added where I saw THE HATEFUL EIGHT - in 70mm at 187mins. with the Ennio Morricone overture and the intermission break: the Village East. I can't confirm this but I think it was first shown there and I saw it Dec. 24th in the evening.

This was not as good a movie as ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD, but the circumstances of that special presentation were more memorable. I can barely remember where I saw the recent film.

I rewatched JACKIE BROWN, the movie with witch QT by his own declaration "became a professional." It is also one where the use of the N-word, in the scenes between Ordell Robbie (Samuel L. Jackson) and Beaumont Livingston (Chris Tucker), was still spot-on and hilarious and had not started to feel forced and unfunny. This was not a movie that I warmed to originally, and I never reviewed it. The marriage of QT and Elmore Leonard isn't totally successful. Tarantino's baroque style gets in the way of Leonard's plot twists. But those Ordell-Beaumont dialogues and the presence of Pam Grier and Robert Forster make the movie special.