The Weinstein Company\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 147 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 R\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Reviewed December 30, 2015<\/p>\n
The Hateful Eight\u00a0is not just a movie.\u00a0\u00a0This is an experience. And that\u2019s exactly what Director\/Writer Quentin Tarantino was aiming for. Tarantino has created a Western with bloody cartoon-like violence that puts eight crusty characters in a Wyoming Cabin in a comedy\/murder mystery that reminded us of a game of Clue! And he\u2019s presenting it in some 100 theaters across the country as a Road Show with a program and everything.<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s nearly 3 hours long, shot big by Bob Richardson (Django<\/span>) so it could be shown in 70 mm ultra Panavision with surround sound. The soundtrack by Ennio Morricone\u00a0<\/span>(Once Upone a Time in the West, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly<\/span>) includes an 8 minute overture and there\u2019s an intermission! Tarantino wanted it to be like the epic films of the \u201950\u2019s and \u201960\u2019s like\u00a0<\/span>Ben-Hur, Battle of the Bulge, or Around the World in 80 Days.<\/span>\u00a0And he even used the same lenses used for the chariot race in\u00a0<\/span>Ben Hur<\/span>\u00a0to shoot this film! It\u2019s big!<\/span><\/p>\n It starts outside, with vast vistas\u00a0\u00a0of snow covered mountains, but most of the story takes place in Minnie\u2019s Haberdashery cabin on the way to Red Rock where they can take shelter from a fast approaching, monster blizzard. It feels more like a drawing room comedy whodunnit play than a movie. And that\u2019s how it started and almost ended!<\/p>\n Tarantino gave the script to 6 potential Hateful 8 cast members and when it got leaked on the internet, he threatened to scrub the whole project. He was just going to do a live read at a theater in Los Angeles and that\u2019s it. But the presentation was such a hit, he decided to get over it and make the movie. He even dropped looking for the culprit who leaked it. You know who you are.<\/p>\n The first half of the film sets up the characters and a lot of questions about who is there and why. The tag line for the movie \u201cNo One Comes Up Here Without a Damn Good Reason.\u201d The film draws you in to analyze the characters and their behavior to figure out what\u2019s going on. And true to Tarantino, there are plenty of surprises along the way.<\/p>\n Kurt Russell is John Ruth, a bounty hunter taking bad girl, Daisy Domergue, played by Jennifer Jason Leigh to be hanged, and collect his reward. Samuel L. Jackson pops up on the road and talks his way into the stagecoach as does the man who is going that way to become Sheriff of the town and the man who will be able to pay Ruth his money. Walter Goggins as Chris Mannix is pretty funny as the bumbling sheriff wannabe.<\/p>\n When they get to the cabin, four more characters, in every sense of the word, make their acquaintance. Tim Roth as Oswaldo Mowbray. Michael Madsen is Joe Gage. Damian Bichir is Bob and Bruce Dern pulls his Dernsy\u2019s as Confederate General Sandy Smithers. This takes place in post Civil War times which has bearing on how these people react to one another.<\/p>\n Just when you think you might find out something about what\u2019s up in this cabin, there\u2019s an intermission.\u00a0\u00a0Yes, there\u2019s a break in the movie. And the second part reveals clues that give you even more to question. It\u2019s a head scratcher, but keeps you curious about what could happen next. Just be warned that there is a lot of shocking bloody violence, shootings and raw language.<\/p>\n The actors said, with Tarantino\u2019s blessing, they all took risks. Russell says, He\u2019s open to anything as long as helping tell the story. \u201c On the 4th or 5th take he\u2019d say, ok guys, smash all the rhythms, just tear it apart and let yourself go down any road you want to. He has the confidence to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n Jason Leigh says she and Russell become like a \u201cdysfunctional married couple.\u201d She doesn\u2019t get hit on, but gets beat up a lot but says there\u2019s no one she\u2019d rather be chained to. She\u2019s a bloody mess, but actually plays it pretty funny. Goggins says working with Leigh, \u201cI never knew that Daisy was going to be that complicated and Jennifer just killed it. She\u2019s incredible to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n Tarantino was actually writing this as a kind of sequel to Django but decided to write the lead for\u00a0\u00a0Samuel L. Jackson instead of using Jamie Foxx who plays it over the top, as usual, and it works. Jackson says \u201cI\u2019m flattered that he wrote it for me. He does push my limits and excite me, that make me think.\u201d Russell says \u201cWhy wouldn\u2019t I want to work with Sam Jackson in a Tarentino movie. He\u2019s bold actor, unafraid, generous, intelligent, inventive and creative, doesn\u2019t hold anything in.\u201d<\/p>\n Jackson describes the film as a \u201cfun game for audience member to attache to specific characters.\u201d He, too, is complimentary to Tarantino for making this big beautiful film, old style, and the chance to work with a great cast. He calls working with Bruce Dern an \u201cincredible honor.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0And Goggins says watching Bruce do a Dernsy is amazing. When he gets this twinkle in his eye, that would always be the best take.<\/p>\n Tim Roth as Oswaldo Mobray says the actors were all very excited to see the big camera and lenses on the set in Telluride, Colorado. He describes Tarantino\u2019s filming this for 70mm with all the detail outdoors as well as indoors as \u201cproper cinema. This time \u201cWe\u2019re not in a hard drive, we\u2019re in a movie!\u201d<\/p>\n Is this worth your bucks? This is not your regular movie night. This is a special attraction, which is just what Tarantino wanted it to be.\u00a0The Hateful 8<\/span>\u00a0is his 8th movie. There are rumors he may only make one more film EVER and it may be another Western. We\u2019ll have to see if his big Road Show type of presentation and making films in a big format will catch on with other directors. Time will tell. It\u2019s an expensive process and it will probably depend on the success of this run which is sure to have the Tarantino cult following.<\/span><\/p>\n You have to\u00a0\u00a0be patient when watching this film and cut out a lot of time not only to see it but think about it. The actors were so excited Madsen says he said WOW when he first read the script and describes it aptly as a whole bunch of subjects with a cowboy hat on it. Dern says Other than 2 or 3 days, working with Hitchcock, he was excited to come to work every single day on the film. Why? \u201cBecause the guy just might do something that\u2019s never been done and you don\u2019t want to miss it. You want to be in on it. And that\u2019s what Quentin Tarantino is.\u201d This is your ticket to be in on it, too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Weinstein Company\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 147 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 R\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Reviewed December 30, 2015 The Hateful Eight\u00a0is not just a movie.\u00a0\u00a0This is an experience. And that\u2019s exactly what Director\/Writer Quentin Tarantino was aiming for. Tarantino has created a Western with bloody cartoon-like violence that puts eight crusty characters in a Wyoming Cabin in a comedy\/murder mystery that reminded us of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[14,16,17,18,13,15,12,10],"class_list":["post-442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-review","tag-70-mm","tag-bruce-dern","tag-jenifer-jason-leigh","tag-kurt-russell","tag-quentin-tarantino","tag-samuel-l-jackson","tag-the-hateful-eight","tag-western"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviesandshakers.com\/staging\/4428\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviesandshakers.com\/staging\/4428\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviesandshakers.com\/staging\/4428\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviesandshakers.com\/staging\/4428\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviesandshakers.com\/staging\/4428\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=442"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/moviesandshakers.com\/staging\/4428\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":444,"href":"https:\/\/moviesandshakers.com\/staging\/4428\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442\/revisions\/444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviesandshakers.com\/staging\/4428\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviesandshakers.com\/staging\/4428\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviesandshakers.com\/staging\/4428\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}