“Kill white folks and get paid for it? What’s not to like?”
This is only one of the more outrageous lines delivered by Jamie Foxx’s character, in Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained.
I spent New Years Eve at an AMC in East Hanover delighting in the latest Tarantino installment.
If you’re unfamiliar with how Quentin gets down, be warned.
In all of his movies, blood, guts and carnage are the order of the day.
Django Unchained is no different.
I daresay it’s more gory than Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction or Inglorious Basterds.
But don’t let the gore dissuade you from seeing, what, in my opinion, is one of his best films.
Django Unchained tells the slavery era story of an unlikely friendship between Django, a freed slave and Dr. Shultz, his mentor (played impeccably by Christopher Waltz) and their journey to rescue Django’s wife Broomhilda (yes, Broomhilda) from the Candyland plantation.
Don’t let the name fool you.
There are no gumballs or cotton candy at Candyland.
But I digress.
The cast features Foxx and Waltz, as the principal characters, but is rounded by Leonardo DiCaprio, Samuel Jackson and Kerry Washington, who each put in exceptional performances.
Samuel Jackson is flawless as Stephen, the ass-kissing house slave (cum right-hand-man) to Candyland’s plantation owner, Calvin Candie (aka DiCaprio).
And DiCaprio is thoroughly believable as the consummate plantation owner, oozing with palpable disgust for the black bodies he owns.
I won’t bore you with a play-by-play, but if I were Siskel and Ebert, I’d be giving this movie a two thumbs up.
For the true cinephiles out there, there are two apps, which let you get into the movie right from your iPhone.
The first, the Django Unchained app, lets you explore the characters, view images and videos, download wallpapers and ringtones, put your face in a Django Unchained poster, and buy tickets to the movie.
The second app is a game.
Aptly titled Django’s Bounty Hunter 1800, you assume the role of Dr. Shultz, the bounty hunter, and help rid the town of Greenville of criminals.
It’s a shoot-em-up style game, where you’ve got to click to aim and tap to shoot at various criminals on the screen.
Both apps are distributed by The Weinstein Company, who have made a meaningful attempt to integrate their app with the movie.
If you haven’t see it, go see it.
If you’ve seen it already, see it again – it’s that good.
Anyway, here’s a clip.
Enjoy!
Stephen Chukumba 