I do not frequent movie houses for at least three reasons: I have lost a lot of respect for Hollywood because of the crap they have released (and time is not relative); the anointed talent in film continue to anoint themselves and then they talk too much; and for personal reasons, I don't like going to the movies alone (that old impression about a guy in a theater with a long jacket on).
Well, tonight I'm out of the closet and please allow me to babble on.
Whoa, what a story on this release. "Django Unchained" is about many things but specifically references some serious examples of persecution of "black folk" around 1855.
Did that slavery thing really happen? It was almost as ugly as what the Germans did to the Jews, what the Romans did to the Christians and what the bad Islamic fundamentalist used to do to the infidels. (Thank goodness Obama declared that war over.)
If these things in history are all true (and because I saw it at the movies, I'm sure they are), I am thankful I had nothing to do with any of it and therefore I feel no need to apologize. But I digress.
Let me give some detail, a precis if you will, about this picture show without giving away its message.
Two guys who are not the same skin color meet. One guy is a good liar, and the other one really doesn't know how to lie and needs to be taught. They buy a lot of bullets and start a business. The fortune they amass is the result of the bodies they accumulate.
One guy agrees to take a risk, and the other guy agrees to risk something else. Later, they learn together that any risk has consequences. Just when you realize that it's a pretty lousy time to be alive during this chapter of American history, they buy more bullets. Then (and it's so predictable) a female becomes part of the narrative.
This is a movie you wish would end even though there is no justice. But then you want it to continue because you're waiting on some justice. It's a movie that shows exactly what a bullet can do to human flesh. A movie that shows what a dog from an unloving family is capable of. A movie that depicts horse pooh-pooh on the ground and men with real bad teeth. And it's about love in a twisted sort of way.
In the early '60s, Sergio Leone was genius as a director with a young Clint Eastwood in what we now affectionately call the "spaghetti westerns." There are some similarities to "A Fistful of Dollars," "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" and "Django Unchained."
In this new millennium film, Quentin Tarantino is brilliant with all his hired hands. The acting is done so well that you begin to believe they are not acting at all. The cinematography is beautiful, and the story, although slanted, is more than believable.
Be prepared, it is not what I would consider a feel good flick (or maybe it is if you're a little twisted yourself).
I asked myself on the way home, "Self, on a scale of 1 to 6 and 6 is epic, what is your rating of this film?"
"I'm giving this a 5 and a must see."
Coming up: I'm going to go see another movie by myself.
Greg Ziccardi can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.org.