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| Review by Ben and Elizabeth Robbins |
Twenty-three years ago, I took a girl I recently met to see Reservoir Dogs, a little film by a then unknown film maker named Quentin Tarentino.
It was his first film.
It was ours as well.
It was beautiful, it was poetic, it was raw, it was violent. We fell in love.
Now, just short of the quarter century mark Tarantino has made his grand and eighth feature film, The Hateful Eight.
Who would have thought he would come so far and who would have thought we would now be reviewing this film together?
BENN: What do you want to say about this piece of crap?
LIZ: Wait, I thought you liked it?
BENN: I fucking loved it.
LIZ: Oh good. Cuz you better.
BENN: …
LIZ: Because I think about 80% of the people out there are going to hate this film.
BENN: Yup. Actually more like 90%
The Hateful Eight takes place just post Civil War and is the story of a bounty hunter named John “The Hangman” Ruth brilliantly portrayed by Kurt Russell as he takes his latest bounty by stage to Red Rock to collect his reward for The evil and sadistic, Daisy Domergue played perfectly by Jennifer Jason Leigh.
Trying to outrun a blizzard they encounter Maj. Marquis Warren (Samuel L. Jackson), a disgraced Northern cavalry officer turned bounty hunter himself, and Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins), the newly appointed Sheriff of Red Rock. Ruth begrudgingly agrees to take both men, as they race the storm to Millie’s Haberdashery, the only outpost on the road to Red Rock.
There they encounter four mysterious men and a night of treachery, deceit and violence as only can be told by Tarantino.
LIZ: So, first off, lets talk Ultra Panavison 70mm. Gorgeous. My little film geek heart was so happy.
BENN: Yes. Fucking gorgeous. AND I was so worried that it was going to be Tarantino just visually masturbating with Ultra Panavision 70 Lenses. Like that it would just be all “Oooh, look at the pert scenery and how super crisp and expansive these lenses are.” But what I got instead was an almost perfect balance of sweeping vistas, gorgeous cinematography and composition, which is what these cameras were made for, BUT in classic “I’m Quentin “Fucking” Tarantino and I am going to turn everything on it’s head, he took these amazing lenses and cameras and used them against themselves and put them in a wooden box and perfectly utilized them to create some of the most beautiful claustrophobic scenes.
LIZ: AND… He took these expansive, outdoor scenes and framed them make the storm feel like it was closing in, the forest was trapping them, all the elements working against the horse train. It was oppressive and made you feel isolated and alone.
BENN: Exactly. He was able to utilize these cameras, that are normally used to show expansive landscapes and vast crowds and instead used them to create a beautiful sense of just how much vast nothing, there really is. Like just how trapped they really are.
LIZ: It is totally worth it to see it in 70mm. It is a shame that a lot of people won’t have that opportunity. There is a look that digital projection just can’t replicate. It is the difference between sugar and Splenda.
BENN: I totally agree. We are lucky. In Boston we have three theaters with the Roadshow prints.
LIZ: On the subject of digital film making, Thank you MR. Tarantino for real snow and squibs.
BENN: Yeah, I am so tired of seeing shitty digital blood effects and just effects in general. Practical all the way.
LIZ: I love that he put them in a freezer so that their breath showed. It makes a difference.
BENN: Going back to the cinematography,
LIZ: Oh yeah, sorry.
BENN: I loved how I could see just how much fun and love the cinematographer Robert Richardson was having. Like a kid in a candy store. He was playing with tech that hadn’t seen the light of day since 1966. He must have been in heaven.
LIZ: You can just see the love for westerns. It’s obvious that he is steeped in this. And if you are gonna have a western you gotta have Morricone.
BENN: Very nice segue. So, I thought Morricone was dead. Clearly he is not.
LIZ: Me too.
BENN: When I heard he wanted Morrione, which is clearly the only choice, I thought he was going to utilize previous pieces already written, Which he kinda did, in that there are a few unused cues from The Thing plus “Regan’s Theme from The Exorcist II: The Heretic. But Morricone DID write all-new music for like 90% of the film. Which was amazing!
LIZ: Yeah, I need the soundtrack. Like now. And I loved that they did the old fashion “overture” at the beginning. It really sets the stage for what you’re about to watch. You know what I didn’t love?
BENN: The “modern music”?
LIZ: Bingo. I know Tarantino LOVES to “curate” the soundtrack and throw these… “pop” pieces of music to set the mood…
BENN: He pulls a “Scorsese”.
LIZ: Right. And usually it works.
BENN: It totally didn’t this time.
LIZ: It pulled me out every single time.
BENN: Yeah it was a little jarring. Other than that the soundtrack the was phenomenal.
LIZ: The acting was awesome. It was very much a Tarantino film. You get lulled in to this kind of groove where people are talking but it is just heads talking. Then he just hits you with this fucked up violence. He pulls a “Mary Todd”. That will make mose sense after they see the movie.
BENN: Good. What I liked about it so much was that like most of his films there is always a crescendo to the violence and ultimately the climax of the film but in this one it is much more obvious and deliberate and you are still unprepared for what it is when it happens. I think it is because he, like Whedon or the Coen’s offers no safe haven for any character. You know what is going happen you just don’t know when or to whom.
LIZ: Actually, if you find a character likable, they are almost guaranteed to die.
BENN: Something people are definitely going to struggle with is that Tarantino never shies away from the use of the “N” Word in this film. And He shouldn’t. It’s appropriate to the time period and the characters who use it. Especially by men from the South. And as there are Southern soldiers and mercenaries in this film there is no shortage of it’s usage. It doesn’t make it any more right. It is just what was back then.
LIZ: I know it was a struggle for me to sit and listen to it because I was brought up that you NEVER use that word.
BENN: Same here.
LIZ: But racism existed then and it exists now.
BENN: On a lighter subject. It was nice to see Tim Roth in a Tarantino film again.
LIZ: Poor Tim Roth.
BENN: Spoilers.
LIZ: I’m just saying… I love seeing Tarantino’s “regular” players reunited again. I love Tim Roth, I love Michael Madsen, I love Zoe Bell and No one can do Tarantino Dialogue like Sam Jackson.
BENN: So, in summation. On a grade from Screamers to Mad Max: Fury Road… Where do you rate this film?
LIZ: Is that 1 to 10?
BENN: More like one to eleventeen
LIZ: I’d say it is a solid 8. Get it?
BENN: This review is over.
