Comment Archives: stories: Movies
Re: “People Issue 2012:
Rebecca Hall, the projectionist”
Really a pleasure to have met her. Wish I lived closer to go to the shows every wednesday. Film rules!
Re: “Black and white and read all over”
Simpsons Did it! Simpsons did it!
Wait, Uncle Tom's Cabin doesn't sound like Django Unchained at all. Unless I missed the scene where Django forgives his tormentors, and is beaten to death by them.
Re: “Black and white and read all over”
This was a great review. There was an interview with Tarentino on NPR last night and I couldn't help but wonder how much better it would have been had the interviewer been Mr. Rosenberg.
Re: “Black and white and read all over”
It's a good review of an average movie, @bob zabic rok your review, while pithy, sucked. Thanks for you POV and insight Sal.
Re: “Black and white and read all over”
How to Fall in Love with Chicago
By Nicky Zabic edited by Dr. Snezana Zabic
Tal Rosenberg, you’re fired. I read your review of Quentin Tarantino’s newest film “Django Unchained” in The Chicago Reader (1/3/12) and it was as boring and lifeless as the Chipotle you wrote it in on your lunch break. Much like the purpose of getting a journalism degree, you missed the point of the film entirely. Instead you went on a poorly written rant about why you don’t like Quentin Tarantino’s latest work. Now I shall best you. Why? Because I am the Good Will Hunting of being a smart ass. (And I drank a cappuccino after 6.)
Chicago winter is here and for a lot of us that means a lot more time indoors. Like any Chicagoan, I get whisked away by the home luxuries of internet, television, and bathtub sex, but one must venture outdoors. I decided to ask my wife on a date and we were off.
A couple trains and a nice stroll down Lincoln avenue lead us to the charming Davis theater in Lincoln Square. I call it charming because it’s super old and kind of dirty, the seats are bigger than the screen, and the place hasn’t changed since I was a child. Other theaters look like deranged manifestations of a crazy person. Why is ice cream in pill form? And why are people so excited about 9 dollar “Hottie Dogger bites”? My point is, this is the theater that Quentin Tarantino wants me to see “Django Unchained” in and while I’m certain he accepts profits from everyone equally, I know what I’m talking about.
The movie begins and I’m a little nervous that film’s violent reputation might be too much for my wife to sit through. After all, before we came here, she suggested we see a French film about a middle-aged man questioning his validity in the world and existence itself.
The film is scored well and the sight of men in chains makes me a little sad. Still, I realize that with every film Tarantino is modernizing genres for a new generation. “Kill Bill”—kung fu, “Inglorious Basterds”—war movies, “Django Unchained”—period piece. Of course a lot of people are gonna go after Tarantino for making a spaghetti western/revenge fantasy full of plot holes. When is the last time you watched a John Wayne western and started asking yourself why the Indians are wearing tan cargo pants? Give me a break. I suppose you’ll tell me “Lincoln” (playing in the next theater) was any more accurate. Steven Spielberg hasn’t made anything watchable since he stuck his old grey hand up a dinosaur’s ass. He’s doing the same thing as Tarantino, which is making the movie he wants to make. The movie is super violent; maybe it’s because I haven’t been to a movie in a while, but at first it’s kind of disturbing. It makes me think about all the shootings that have happened lately and how we shrug off the idea of people just filling one another with bullets all the time. “Django Unchained” is number 2 in the box office, which means a lot of us are going to see it. The thought floats away and I wonder of where I would have been during that time. I’d like to think I would be fighting to abolish slavery in one way or another. I can’t imagine America was much more loving towards Mexicans at that time. On the other hand, I might be at a theater with my wife taking in a show and putting it out of my mind altogether. I consider how atrocious of an act slavery was and how people shrug that off too as if it wasn’t this nation’s collective history. Slavery exists in many forms today; after all children are not only our future, they are also the makers of our shoes, clothes and toxic electronics. (I’m typing this on one.)
I notice a recurring theme in the film. “Business.” “Flesh for cash”. Two men crossing this nation killing men who profit from enslaving other people. All of them justifying their actions with business and the intention of human will. All the characters are reserved gentlemen or cold-blooded murderers. An important scene it the movie sums it up well. Dr. Schultz and Django are exposed the extremely savage murder of a slave. German Dr. Schultz is visibly disturbed while Django masks his contempt. When asked why he isn’t as disturbed as his partner he replies,
“I deal with Americans a lot.”
I think the film is urging America to ask itself: What are we willing to ignore for in the name of business? Who are the polite killers in our society? And when are we gonna gain the nerve to kill our masters? Or at least liberate ourselves?
The movie ends and we stroll down the block to a bookstore where I look for but don’t find Stephen Colbert’s new book “America Again: Rebecoming the Greatness We Never Weren’t.”
After a little more browsing we find nothing and agree to go eat somewhere in the neighborhood. Trattoria Trullo looks way too nice to walk into with a hoodie I haven’t washed since Christmas but we decide to splurge. After rejecting their beer selection and ordering the pasta dish most parents order for their picky children from a curt Italian server, I wondered, Is there an Italian word for “emasculated American who orders meat sauce”? The meal and the conversation were as delicious as the picture of “Christopher Columbus’s Shame” I drew on the paper tablecloth. Remember guys, always carry a sharpie. I left a few extra dollars out of guilt and we walked off our hearty meal heading to the Damen bus. On the way we saw a cafe where a friendly hipster whipped up a pretty tasty cappuccino at “Perfect Cup” and while I would never take in music or use drugs with that young man, he made a great drink. I ranted between sips about how corporate companies introduced coffee culture to America, but the small businessman was preserving the quality of the product. I thought about how I might run a business and how doing something I loved by myself in the coming years might be a good way to liberate myself and preserve the quality of something I love.
Re: “Black and white and read all over”
@ jamesjc:Tal gives some pretty specific examples of what doesn't work:
"Schultz is presented as a mercenary, yet he agrees to undertake the likely suicide mission of freeing Broomhilda because she speaks beautiful German. The supposedly formidable Candie fails to grasp that Broomhilda and Django know each other despite the fact that they both have the letter R branded on their faces."
Re: “Black and white and read all over”
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Re: “Putin's Kiss: The kids are hard right”
Violence is violence, and left or right doesn't change it or make it worse or better. Opposition violence is a better and less biased and deceptive descriptive.
Re: “Black and white and read all over”
Ok, thanks for the opinion and the background on Uncle Tom's Cabin. But this is hardly film criticism, and it only just barely qualifies as a film review.
You say things like: "Django Unchained may be entertaining and occasionally funny, but its ideas don't really hold up." Ok.....such as? Did you name one of the ideas it failed to demonstrate?
And after referencing a review of Inglorious Basterds, you simply say: "No one should be surprised that the director would construct another movie on this cracked ethical foundation..." Really, that's it? Hook, line, and sinker....the Mendelsohn take is now fact, the "cracked ethical foundation" of the previous film obviously poisoning the new film.
I guess he just needed more "well rounded characters." Humpf. Sure, why not?
This is just sloppy, and the readers of this paper deserve better. You don't need to like the film, but it deserves a serious assessment as work of cinema.
Re: “Black and white and read all over”
My biggest beef: the shootouts were A W F U L. And I felt weird that he elicited so much sympathy around the fighting ring thing, even though there's no evidence that really happened that way.
Re: “Black and white and read all over”
Ehhhhh.
Re: “Lean on me”
A real gem here. A potent combination of gritty realism and credible character studies captured my attention throughout. The scenes of the bare-knuckle, no-holds barred fight are quite graphic as are the scenes at the Sea World-type show with trained killer whales. The main characters are shown as believably flawed but redeemable human beings. The principal male character, played by the talented Matthias Schoenaerts, engages in hedonistic and irresponsible behavior followed by guilt and fledgling attempts to atone for his selfishness. The remarkable Marion Cotillard adeptly plays a beautiful and athletic young woman who struggles to accept and adapt to the loss of her two lower legs. Highly recommended by....moi.
Re: “People Issue 2012:
Rebecca Hall, the projectionist”
Keep up the good work Becca! Just want you to know that all your dedication to keeping the 35mm and 16mm classics alive is really appreciated.
Re: “The year in review: film”
Legally regulated (manufacture, distribution and consumption) of marijuana is coming to a state near you in 2013:
CALIFORNIA
“These laws just don't make sense anymore. It’s shocking, from my perspective, the number of people that we all know who are recreational marijuana users… these are incredibly upstanding citizens: Leaders in our community, and exceptional people.”
—Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom (preparing the way for Governor Jerry Brown to initiate proceedings to legalize and regulate marijuana through the state legislature)
MAINE
Maine's legislature is moving on a legalization-and-regulation bill that could bring the state $8 million a year in new revenue.
''The people are far ahead of the politicians on this. Just in the past few weeks we've seen the culture shift dramatically.''
—Rep. Diane Russell of Portland, District 120 (Occupation: Public Relations Consultant)
NEVADA
"Thinking we're not going to have it is unrealistic. It's just a question of how and when"
—Assemblyman Richard (Tick) Segerblom of Las Vegas, elected to the Nevada State Senate in 2012
OREGON
"We have decades of evidence that says prohibition does not work and it's counterproductive. it's a matter of dollars and common sense. There's a source of revenue that's reasonable that is rational that is the right policy choice for our state. We are going to get there on legalization."
—Peter Buckley, co-chair of the Oregon state legislature's budget committee.
RHODE ISLAND
Rhode Island is also expected to legally regulate marijuana through the state legislature instead of a popular referendum.
''Our prohibition has failed, Legalizing and taxing it, just as we did to alcohol, is the way to do it.''
—Rep. Edith Ajello, chairs the House Committee on Judiciary and is a member of the House Oversight Committee.
VERMONT
In November 2012, the state's Democratic governor, Peter Shumlin, cruised to re-election while strongly backing marijuana decriminalization. And the city of Burlington passed a resolution in November 2012 calling for an end to prohibition – with 70 percent support.
ALASKA
Most Alaskans already have a clear view of things from their own back garden. Personal use and possession of Marijuana in Alaskan homes has been effectively legal since 1975
Re: “People Issue 2012:
Rebecca Hall, the projectionist”
I salute Ms. Hall and the other founders of the Northwest Chicago Film Society for their ardent dedication to presenting quality films to the public at the Portage Theater. The printed programs they hand out at the film showings present well-written, insightful, and quite often wryly humorous summaries of the films' history and main themes. In her on-stage introductions to the films, Ms. Hall is invariably charming and witty (albeit with a delivery containing a few too many nervous "uhs and ahs", but she'll improve on, uh, that). I admire (and envy) the energy and enthusiasm that she and her colleagues bring to their work.
Re: “People Issue 2012:
Ehsan Ghoreishi, the filmmaker”
I will forever love ehsan because, for a moment in time, he loved my daughter. it shows in the filming of ' I am a visitor in your world' the cinematography is so very beautiful. he is a gifted person altho his singing could use a bit of work.
Re: “People Issue 2012:
Ehsan Ghoreishi, the filmmaker”
Ehsan, this is absolutely great - maybe you should write too. Very happy to read this and see those pictures! Proud of you, you go man!
Re: “People Issue 2012:
Rebecca Hall, the projectionist”
Get in line, I saw her first.
Re: “Till Death Do Us Part”
Is that it? A short paragraph? Come on guys you placed this movie on top of the movies on the website, just to display a lame review? You are from Chicago! You should know better! This is a Haneke movie! Take a look at the Time out review is way better.