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Over the weekend, I took in a pair of movies on the pay-per-view machine. (My floor's not sticky, the chair's more comfortable and the drinks are cheaper.) Herewith are my thoughts on the screening.
Django Unchained
Django Unchained is Quentin Tarantino's slave revenge fantasy. Set in 1858-1859, it's got Peckinpah-ish levels of violence, and at nearly three hours it's a bit long. There's a term in singing which I think is "vibrato" - taking one long note and converting it to multiple notes. It's very popular on the win-a-recording-contest TV shows as a way to showily demonstrate "artistic" talent.
Django Unchained has the movie equivalent of vibrato. There are dozens of subtle and not-so-subtle nods to various western movies of the past, and, perhaps deliberately, Tarantino's Mississippi looks shockingly like California. Overall, I found the movie merely okay.
Winter's Bone
If Django Unchained is full of "art for art's sake," then Winter's Bone is the anti-Django. Shot extremely starkly with handheld cameras, Winter's Bone is the story Ree Dolly, played by then 19-year-old Jennifer Lawrence, and her struggle to avoid loosing the family farm during an Ozark winter. It's bleak, filled with poor people cooking meth and shooting squirrels to survive. You could consider Lawrence's role as an extended audition for her role in The Hunger Games. Winter's Bone is an independent film, so it may be hard to find, but it's well worth looking for.
Django Unchained
Django Unchained is Quentin Tarantino's slave revenge fantasy. Set in 1858-1859, it's got Peckinpah-ish levels of violence, and at nearly three hours it's a bit long. There's a term in singing which I think is "vibrato" - taking one long note and converting it to multiple notes. It's very popular on the win-a-recording-contest TV shows as a way to showily demonstrate "artistic" talent.
Django Unchained has the movie equivalent of vibrato. There are dozens of subtle and not-so-subtle nods to various western movies of the past, and, perhaps deliberately, Tarantino's Mississippi looks shockingly like California. Overall, I found the movie merely okay.
Winter's Bone
If Django Unchained is full of "art for art's sake," then Winter's Bone is the anti-Django. Shot extremely starkly with handheld cameras, Winter's Bone is the story Ree Dolly, played by then 19-year-old Jennifer Lawrence, and her struggle to avoid loosing the family farm during an Ozark winter. It's bleak, filled with poor people cooking meth and shooting squirrels to survive. You could consider Lawrence's role as an extended audition for her role in The Hunger Games. Winter's Bone is an independent film, so it may be hard to find, but it's well worth looking for.
