Don't Become Too Attached To Anyone..."The Hateful Eight"

The Hateful Eight  (2015)

Rated R

Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern

Written and Directed by Quentin Tarantino

The Story:

Bounty hunter John Ruth (Russell) is bringing Daisy (Leigh) in to collect the reward. However, as they race in their stagecoach to the haberdashery to avoid an impending blizzard, they run into another bounty hunter, Major Marquis Warren (Jackson) stranded in the storm. Then they meet Chris Mannix (Goggins), who claims to be the new Sheriff of Red Rock. Once they all make it to the haberdashery, they meet even more people and things get ready to take a very deadly turn.

Someday, Quentin Tarantino will write a movie without profanity or violence.

Maybe even a kids movie.

That day is not today.

:)

No, instead, Tarantino takes us on a trip back to the wild west and puts us into a nest of ruthless rogues who like to talk.

And talk.

And talk some more.

But, that's what Tarantino is known for: dialogue.

And this movie has a ton of it.

Just a bit under 3 hours worth.

The movie starts off with chapters, and that is all fine and good, but then when the movie comes back from intermission (yes, it's that long...) Tarantino makes a stylistic change that I didn't agree with then, and still don't now.

He introduces a narrator for the last half of the movie.

I don't get the choice, other than to remind his audience of what they may not have remembered since the intermission.

It's jarring, and again, out of place since the first half of the movie did not include a narrator, I still don't see why he felt the need to bring one in to the proceedings.

Otherwise, it's a fine cast, and if you love Tarantino movies, you'll probably love this one just as much as the rest of his catalog.

Final Grade:  B-

Only 100 Days Left Until "Pete's Christmas" !!

Pete's Christmas (2013)

Rated PG

Starring Zachary Gordon, Molly Parker, Rick Roberts, Bruce Dern

Directed by Peter Ganatra

The Story:

Poor Pete (Gordon). He awakens on Christmas Day and discovers that his parents (Parker and Roberts) forgot to get him anything for Christmas. Naturally, the day for this middle child just gets worse and worse.  At the end of the day, his grandpa (Dern) gives him an empty box and tells him that he's supposed to figure out why it's so special.  Then Pete wakes up to relive this terrible Christmas Day over, and over, and over...

Is it too soon for Christmas movies? I vote nonsense! It's never too soon! :)

However, Pete's Christmas started off a bit slow and I was leaning towards pulling it out and shipping it back unfinished.  I hadn't bothered reading the plot, just saw "hey, a new Christmas movie" and thought why not?

So naturally, all of the bad things keep piling onto Pete.

But that's where this movie actually kicked things up a notch.

Other films start off strong and get weaker as they limp to the end.

This one started off slow, but built and then finished strong.

Filled with some good actors, everything plays out nicely as Pete learns that the only way to make Christmas stop, is to learn that there is more to Christmas than just getting (or not getting) a gift.

Eventually he learns, and yes, he even figures out what the mysterious empty box is all about.

Very sweet after all.


Final Grade: C+/B-

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Probably not.  My honey is not a big fan of the Groundhog Day type of films, and I have to choose those wisely.  Maybe in a few years. :)

Frontier Justice... "Hang 'Em High"

Hang 'Em High (1968)

Starring Clint Eastwood, Inger Stevens, Ed Begley, Pat Hingle, Bruce Dern, Alan Hale Jr.

Directed by Ted Post

The Story:

Jed Cooper (Eastwood) bought some cattle from a local ranch and as he is moving them towards his homestead, he is surrounded by a vigilante posse that accuses him of rustling...and murder!  Cooper professes his innocence, but the mob lynches him, and leaves him for dead.  Cut down by a passing Marshal (Ben Johnson), Cooper is taken to Fort Grant, Oklahoma to stand trial for his crimes by Judge Fenton (Hingle).  Found innocent, the judge offers Cooper the chance to round up the mob, and any other bad guys, by becoming a Deputy US Marshal.

Coming off the Man With No Name trilogy of spaghetti westerns, Eastwood created his own company, The Malpaso Company which was the home for Eastwood pictures for the next 20 years, with Hang 'Em High being the first.

The story is a fictionalized account of "Hangin' Judge Parker" from Fort Smith Arkansas.  It portrays the hardship faced by the US Marshal service to cover entire territories with few men, low pay, and danger at every turn.

Cooper tries to bring all of the mob to justice, but some resist and wind up being shot instead of hung.

However, when some rustlers are brought in and tried and convicted of murder and rustling, Cooper bristles at the methods that the judge takes.

At the end of the day, he has to make a decision on whether or not it's in his best interest to help the judge bring law and order to the Oklahoma Territory or walk away and leave a vacuum of lawlessness.

They squeeze a love story into the film after the halfway point to make the Marshal's choice a little more difficult, but at the end of the day, justice will prevail.

Pretty good film.  Glad I finally got around to seeing it.

Final Grade: B-

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: One viewing was good enough for me.

In The Navy..."Down Periscope"

Down Periscope (1996)

Rated PG-13 for language

Starring Kelsey Grammar, Lauren Holly, Rob Schneider, Harry Dean Stanton, Bruce Dern, William H. Macy, Rip Torn

Directed by David S. Ward

The Story:

Lieutenant Commander Dodge (Grammar) has rubbed some of his superiors the wrong way.  Finally given his chance to Captain a submarine, he is given a relic of a diesel class submarine that is so old, they have to bring on a civilian veteran (Stanton) just to help them know how to work the thing.  Dodge is given a test to elude and defeat a nuclear sub piloted by Commander Knox (Macy) but Rear Admiral Graham (Dern) wants to ensure Dodge fails, and he is saddled with a misfit crew of sailors nobody else wanted, including Executive Officer Pascal (Schneider) and the Diving Officer (Holly), the first female submarine candidate for the Navy.  If Dodge fails... he's out.  Heaven help him.

I don't think I've seen this one since it was released.

Caught it again recently, and it's not bad.

A really good cast with an adequate script, there's nothing ground breaking to be had, but it's an acceptable diversion of 90 minutes.


Grammar flexes his muscle as a leading man on the silver screen, and his comedic instincts are as sound as the years he honed his timing on Cheers and Frasier.

Plus, while it is a comedy, they at least treat most of the war games between the submarines straight- humourous, but not slapstick.  Dodge and his crew actually use strategy and cunning to outmaneuver superior technology.

It's a classic underdog story, and those are almost always entertaining.

Not a bad one to revisit if you see it on cable as you flip channels.

Final Grade: C+

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I haven't bought it by now, so I probably won't rush out now, but I have no problem if I were to see it on again in the future