The Hateful Eight

The Hateful Eight has some interesting characters and scenes, but it's not exactly iconic.

I wasn't interested in The Hateful Eight from the trailer,  and the reviews didn't make it sound like something worth watching. I've never been a fan of Tarantino's dialogue, but it actually wasn't so bad this time. The characters were pretty interesting. I sort of missed about 10 minutes when they first got to the Haberdashery, but it probably wasn't important.

Not just for that reason, but it's one of the few movies I think I'd like to watch again, knowing all the secrets now. Bob's accent was weird. I didn't really buy him as Mexican. The British guy brought a lot of life to things. Domergue was intriguing, too. And you can't go wrong with Walter Goggins.

John Wick

John Wick is a lot of fun. The soundtrack adds just the right energy, the composition is interesting both in terms of lighting and blocking, there's some cool stuff going on with the action, and Keanu doesn't have too many opportunities to ruin scenes with his signature brain-dead delivery. 

John Wick looked like a cool movie from the trailer; there were some standout action sequences that made it seem like it would be unique, and I was hoping Keanu Reeves' acting wouldn't ruin this movie like it did Johnny Mnemonic. His delivery in the trailer was pretty terrible. One of his first scenes in the movie is with Willem Dafoe, and the contrast between their levels of acting is crazy. It's like Keanu is reading off of cue cards and Willem is just an actual person saying something.

Luckily Keanu doesn't have a lot of dialogue. He's primarily just doing stunts, most of which he apparently performed himself, so that's cool. I always get a little lost with close combat. It's tough to tell what's going on, and these fight scenes were no exception. I wish I could've seen it in the theater; a bigger screen might have helped, but it didn't come to the cheap theater. It seems like they only get kids' movies anymore.

The soundtrack was great. It sounded good, it fit what was going on, and it added just the right kind of energy. The composition was great, too, both in terms of lighting/colors and blocking/framing. The sets were gorgeous, and the neon overhead shots of New York were cool. John's house was actually designed to be an art gallery, so it had lots of windows and light, and it looked perfect. The art director said he wanted something everyone would want to live in, and he really hit the mark.

Everything was super sleek and opulent for the whole movie. John's suit looked great. The wacky subtitles were a misfire. I don't know if they were going for a comic-book feel or just trying to do something different, but it was just annoyingly distracting. The different sizes and placements just weren't necessary. There's nothing wrong with regular subtitles.

Cockneys vs. Zombies

Cockneys vs. Zombies was a cool idea, but the execution was atrocious. Nearly everything the characters did was illogical to the point of being obnoxious. I did like some of the characters, and it was funny at times, but you're better off just watching the trailer and pretending you've seen the movie. 

Cockneys vs. Zombies had a great trailer, so I was immediately interested. Roeper didn't review it, so I didn't have any help there. Reviews on IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes were mixed. I felt like it was one of those movies where you would like it if you were predisposed to, so I kept it on my list.

That was a big mistake. This movie was terrible. The idea was cool - tough old people fighting zombies. But the execution was rough. It felt like some college kids got together and made a movie. The production value was just nonexistent. The zombies didn't look dead. They moved so slowly, I don't see how they could be a threat to anyone.

I haven't seen the classic zombie movies, but I think that's what they were going for with these zombies and effects; that and, they clearly had no money with which to make the movie. The effects were super fake and super gory at the same time. They were pretty gross. Even though the zombies were slow, I did still find them scary, but I'm easy to scare.

Django Unchained

Some parts of Django Unchained dragged, and overall it was too long, but there were a lot of great scenes. Waltz' character was kind of annoying, but Foxx was fine, and DiCaprio was awesome. If you like Tarantino's stuff, it's worth watching while you can still catch it at the dollar show.

I've actually wanted to see the original Django for a few years now, but it hasn't happened yet. I didn't think I needed to see this one at the theater, although I'd always planned to see it at home. But then yesterday I saw that it was available on iTunes, and I thought, "How many times are you going to get a chance to see a Tarantino movie in the theater?" Lucky for me, it was still at the dollar show (which is actually $3.50, but I think that's reasonable).

You could tell what kind of movie this was right from the opening credits. Tarantino was definitely having fun with it. I'm glad he got to do a movie like this, and it's an interesting concept. It goes on for so very long, though. There was a lot that could've been cut out. Self-indulgent, you might even say.

True Grit

I didn't have high expectations for this movie, but I was pleasantly surprised. I do love Westerns, or at least modern ones. The dialogue was good, and there was at least one surprise in the plot. There were about five too many instances of deus ex, however, and I was disappointed with the way it ended.

3:10 to Yuma

Crowe and Bale both did an excellent job here. It drags a little toward the middle-end, but the ending is fairly satisfying.

Jonah Hex