The Hateful Eight has had a strange and painful journey to the silver screen, starting with its script being leaked to the internet in January 2014. Tarantino was so distraught by the leak that he threatened to scrap the film all-together. Fans wishing to remain spoiler-free were left with nothing for a while, besides rumors of private staged script-readings with the actors, and false trailers for the film. Finally came the first official trailers, announcements of a 70mm road show tour, and a nationwide release date.

The story of the film is rather contained, especially for Tarantino. It deals with eight (well actually nine (well really actually more than nine)) characters stuck in Minnie’s Haberdashery as they wait out a brutal blizzard. Knowing that the story would almost entirely take place in a small cabin, Tarantino relies on his famed use of dialogue and his star-studded cast to make the film come alive. Sadly, there doesn’t seem to be enough life in The Hateful Eight to make it a truly great movie. Tarantino has been known to use scenes that appear to be dialogue for the sake of dialogue, but never has he taken it to such an extreme. In a way, The Hateful Eight feels like the first scene of Inglorious Basterds, but set in the Post-Civil War South and lasting almost 3 hours.

That’s not to say that the movie is a flop, however. It still has its fill of wonderful one-liners, tense moments, and stylized gunplay. It just seems that none of these moments really stick the way they should. One particular trademark “shocking” Tarantino moment involves a scene of truly brutal and cruel sexual assault and torture, and it ends up leaving a bad taste in the mouth more than truly provoking an emotional reaction from the audience. And in light of some of Tarantino’s comments about the political nature of this film in relation to America’s on-going history of racial issues, these scene becomes layers and layers more problematic.

One truly bright spot of the film is its wonderful soundtrack. Composed by none other than the legendary Ennio Morricone (click here, here, and here for a taste of his career’s work), it is one of Tarantino’s main points of praise to himself (among many others). Morricone is one of the all-time greatest movie composers, and for him to win another Golden Globe award for his work is a great thing to see. Tarantino has always been a master at creating atmosphere with music, and The Hateful Eight is no exception.

While it may not top the list of greatest films of the year, I still recommend checking out The Hateful Eight. Fans of Tarantino will likely find enough to be entertained, but don’t expect anything truly groundbreaking or unbelievable. With a filmography as impressive as his, Quentin Tarantino is allowed a few films that aren’t perfect. But that doesn’t mean they should be ignored entirely, especially by fans of his work, or of the preservation of old-school film.

Click here to see if The Hateful Eight is playing near you, and check out the trailer for the film below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnRbXn4-Yis

The post Cinema Spotlight: The Hateful Eight appeared first on KRUI Radio.

In order to best understand this movie, its important to note in what context  it was first received. By 1966, the year of the film’s release, the genre of the Western had become worn out. Particularly, the “Spaghetti Western” (Westerns directed and produced by Italians) had been mostly ignored by film critics. Sergio Leone’s graphic and over-the-top depictions of violence, along with his morally ambiguous characters, stood in stark contrast to the standard (and sometimes cheesy) John Wayne Western.

The film starts out with a slow and dramatic rise of tension, as three dusty cowpokes descend on a lonely and dilapidated building. The lack of dialogue allows the use of the soundtrack and the sound effects to tell the story and set the emotional stage. It isn’t until the second scene, nearly 11 minutes into the film, that we hear the first of the dialogue. One man’s peaceful family existence is brutally shot down in cold blood (Leone would use very similar opening sequences in his next film Once Upon a Time in the West) and the main plot begins to take off.

The story revolves around three characters: Blondie (The Good) the morally questionable anti-hero played by Clint Eastwood, Angel Eyes (The Bad) a ruthless bounty hunter, and Tuco (The Ugly) a wise-talking loud-mouth bandito. All three become tangled up in a race to find a buried treasure worth $200,000 in gold.

The film takes place in the waning years of the American Civil War, and the main characters spend time with both Union and Confederate soldiers. Interestingly, the film never passes moral judgement on either side of the conflict, but is more interested in looking at the consequences of the war on its fighters and on the nation itself.

An important point needs to be made regarding the sound and stylistic elements of the film. Especially for those of us raised on mainstream Hollywood movies, or those of us familiar with the gritty and realistic modern Western, it can sometimes be difficult to interpret the film. In true Italian style of the time, all of the sound and dialogue is recorded separately from the filming. While American movies may take a perfectionist stance on synching sound and video, this film focuses more on atmosphere and style. Dialogue is not perfectly synched with the actor’s mouths, the sound effects are sometimes obviously recorded in post-production, a style maybe too little difficult to swallow at first.

This translates into other elements of the film as well. While many modern Western-themed cinema may focus on a more realistic portrayal of the Old West, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is much more concerned with the drama and romance of the genre. Sometimes, the incredible actions of the characters may not be entirely believable, but its more important to enjoy the spectacle of it all than to be convinced that everything you see on screen is hyper-realistic.

Filled to the brim with sharpshooting, standoffs, shootouts, and getaways, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is an action-packed adventure. However, it is a nearly three hour long adventure, and during the film’s most dramatic moments Leone is not afraid to slow the pace way down, taking his time to rack up the tension.

This film should be best enjoyed like the five-star meal that it is; savoring each and every wide shot and extreme close up. Expecting the cheap non-stop thrills of a modern action flick will only hinder your ability to truly appreciate this masterpiece.

My Personal Rating: 9/10

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is available for streaming on Netflix Instant.

Its also available for download on iTunes.

The post Cinema Spotlight: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly appeared first on KRUI Radio.