If Quentin Tarantino can make us wait an average of 2 years and ten months between each movie (I'm counting Kill Bill as one and assuming Django Unchained will arrive on schedule. But will it?) than you can all forgive me for not jumping on every piece of Tarantino news-- even the excitement of a trailer -- the minute it arrives.
What's your name?"
His name is Django. The D is silent. Let's stay silent no more about the trailer ... or the teaser the teasler... the traiser? Aren't teasers support to be 1 minute long? We'll break this traiser into three pieces as we do.
YES
- Things that are off the chain: the shot of the blood sprayed cotton, the self-aware zoom-in on Leonardo DiCaprio casts gleefully against type, Django throwing off his coat, the shot reverse shot of Jamie Foxx and Kerry Washington in the water (dream sequence?). More after the jump...
- The consistent style and aesthetic -- notice the deep red visuals of DiCaprio's long straw, long cigarette and long outstretched arms juxatposed with his presumed long shadow over the bloody plot.
- In short the art direction and costuming look interestingly stylized and richly conceived in this short glimpse.
- It's a Quentin Tarantino movie and, excluding Death Proof (sorry), they've all been pretty great.
NO
- "amongst your inventory is a specimen I'm keen to acquire" . Errrr... is it just me or is Christoph Waltz a little affected here. I mean more than usual. Like the Inglorious triumph is very much on his Tarantino-enabled brain
- Excluding Death Proof, since its plot utterly escapes me several years on (was there a plot beyond talking then driving?), this is Tarantino's third straight Revenge Fantasy. Time to shake things up again like he did with Jackie Brown?
- I shutter to think of QT's overripe love of the 'N' word in the actual context of slavery
MAYBE SO
- Jamie Foxx hasn't been all that compelling since Collateral (2004). Can he muster new screen mojo?
- Despite its length this isn't really giving us much. Where's Samuel L Jackson who people keep trying to convince me has a better part than anyone?
- Sitting Christoph Waltz at a table in a drinking two shot with another character for what we assume is a lengthy conversation / mission statement / charismatic manipulation is a bit been-there risky after his A+ introduction in Inglorious Basterds.
- A narrative that is about picking off a short list of people one by one is a bit been-there risky after the glorious pop simplicity of Kill Bill.
- Finally the thing I'm most curious about (though not in an optimistic way necessarily) is how a Tarantino flick will play without the brilliant contributions of his longtime editor Sally Menke (RIP). He trusted her aesthetic and input and she obviously had a profound impact on the uniquely tense rhythms and thrilling cadences of his filmography. This will be the first Tarantino feature without her. Best wishes to Fred Raskin, who assisted Menke on Kill Bill (his only previous Tarantino film) and also did assistant work on some brilliant P.T. Anderson movies but Menke's shoes will be very tough to fill.
The 'Off the Chain' teasler in case you haven't seen it is embedded right here for your consideration / for your convenience.
Are you a Yes, No or Maybe So? Or maybe you're a fullblown DiCaprio-esque "Yesss Woooooh!" Do tell.