Eight Hateful Links
Wednesday, December 23, 2015 at 3:15PM • New Now Next Jesus. I can't believe we haven't mentioned this but the First Wives Club actresses are finally reuniting - Goldie, Bette, & Diane will star in a Netflix film called Divanation, as a former pop trio reuniting. I was going to shout "when can we buy tickets?" but it's Netflix so...
• Salt Lake Tribune the Utah Film Critics took Fury Road to Best Picture but how's this for fun: They gave Rose Byrne in Spy their Best Supporting Actress prize.
• Cinematic Corner Sati doesn't like Carol (wha!?!?!) but she still makes great lists so we'll pretend we hadn't just learned this about her. Anyway... this one is on her favorite things about Mad Max Fury Road
• Forbes suggests that Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth etc... give you the most ROI at the box office given their salaries per film. The list is kind of interesting but bankability is so intangible since many of today's stars don't have colossal box office because they are selling tickets but because they are playing characters who sell tickets -- notice how many Marvel superheroes make this list.
• MNPP Colton Haynes and Luke Evans have something in common
• /Film Star Wars may be the only franchise getting ink this month but James Cameron won't want to see his records destroyed. He is still promising Avatar 2 for 2017
• The Wrap has been experimenting with Oscar math for years trying to see if we'd ever get a 10 wide year under the new system. This year their experiment ended with 10 pictures. And this plays like sound reasoning on what type of year we'd need to get ten nominees:
A larger-than-usual number of films got votes, but a smaller-than-usual number of them had strong support.
So the question is: do you think it's that kind of year? Here's our current Best Picture Chart
• and finally...
I don't plan to review Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight since I've been slagging it off on Twitter and gave it the #2 spot in my Worst of 2015 list and who needs to be so toxic during the holidays? In short my review goes like this: "the best part was intermission". So to make amends to the Tarantino devotees among you, please enjoy Joe Reid's 50 Best Performance in Tarantino Movies list. I would naturally quibble with the order. Bridget Fonda's awesome "Melanie" in Jackie Brown and Amanda Plummer's hysterical "Honeybunny" from Pulp Fiction are among my favorites and neither even make the top 35! Both are lower than Jamie Foxx in Django Unchained which is puzzling as he gives the weakest of leading performance in the Tarantino filmography (think about it). The top three are all marvelous Oscar worthy choices and I'm pleased that most of the Kill Bill players rank highly. Over the years Kill Bill has sliced such a distinctive but clean and familiar path through the center of Tarantino's filmography that I now consider it his best work, hands down. Or limbs off as the case may be for so many of its unfortunate extras.
If you must know I'd rank the principle performances in The Hateful Eight like so: Samuel L Jackson ≥ Walton Goggins >>> Kurt Russell > Demian Bichir >> Jennifer Jason Leigh (sorry, she's never done much for me as an actor. I'm aware that this is an unpopular opinion amongst film critics) > Bruce Dern > Tim Roth >> Michael Madsen (who sadly is given very little to do). If you plan to see the sadist western over the Christmas break, we would be interested in hearing your opinion despite feeling hateful ourselves.
Reader Comments (31)
Since attending the screening two weeks ago, I've been destroying the film every chance I get, Nathaniel. It's a sloppy, loathsome piece of work.
JJL is not getting that Oscar nomination mark my words.
It's definitely a meh year for films, so I could see ten nominees. And two of them could be critical (Son of Saul) or popular (Inside Out) standouts.
Okay, that's pushing it.
PS. I'm with Nat re: JJL (aka the Black Hole of Acting), although I have appreciated her more in comedies. Go figure.
Kill Bill is definitely Tarantino's finest work - Vol I in particular. I still don't get why it's taking the world so long to process this.
I generally like Tarantino, but the violence and general ugliness right now in contemporary America are so exhausting that I'm not very enthused about this movie. At least his last few films tried to deliver a larger message; it sounds as if this one is just 187 minutes of "doesn't this look cool?"
Jennifer Jason Leigh is the best American actress to never receive an Oscar nomination.
PS this statement does not include women of color who have never received their due from the Academy since they are an extension of patriarchal white supremacy which is Hollywood itself.
I've liked JJL a lot in a few roles...namely "Dolores Claiborne," "Georgia" and "Margot at the Wedding." But I don't really think she'd deserve a nom for "Hateful Eight." She's good in the role, but it doesn't have enough versatility to really rise above the level of caricature. Plus, the Academy is probably going to take some issue with her literally being a punching bag for the men in the film. On the other hand, the Globes and some others seem to have no issue with that.
A little bit more on "Hateful Eight." I gave it a 6/10. The first half or so of the film was interminable. Tarantino has really jumped the shark with his screenwriting. And I think there can be no doubt that his excessive use of the "n" word THIS time came off as a big middle finger to his detractors, and not part of the natural semantics of the film. But the last half or at least quarter of the film is the engaging, strange action that we're used to from Tarantino. He's still quite good at this. Definitely his worst film overall, though.
Bruno, I honestly doubt Leigh's physical abuse would really deter the Oscars. Especially because she's an actress. If there's one thing that could really boost awards potential for an actress, it's undergoing trauma and however that character handles said trauma. Portman, Nyong'o, Cotillard, and Hathaway all fit neatly under that umbrella to name a few recent winners. Plus she's got a whole "overdue" narrative behind her with a lot of people, Tarantino movies can usually get one actor on the board, and I'd say Mara and Vikander mugging the category are a bigger impediment to Leigh than whatever she does in the film.
Haha, I know you won't like my opinion of Carol :) But thank you so much for linking my list, it's always such a pleasure and honor to be linked here!
I know I did not read this one "..Jennifer Jason Leigh is the best American actress to never receive an Oscar nomination..."
Marilyn Monroe, Tallulah Bankhead, Myrna Loy, Kirsten Dunst, Patsy Kelly, Mia Farrow, Elizabeth Ashley, Maureen O'Hara, Kim Novak, Cherry Jones, Claire Danes, Margot Martindale, etc, etc, etc.
Why must so many commenters speak in absolutes? Sure, many believe Jason-Leigh has been deserving of a nomination sometime, but so say she is ''THE BEST," is subjective and makes the reader seem like a know-it-all.
That list by Joe Reid is DREADFUL. His taste is forevermore suspect.
Really?! - no Uma Thurman or John Travolta from Pulp Fiction in the top 10! And no matter how wonderful Daryl Hannah is in Kill Bill (and she is wonderful) no way in hell is she number three!
Tier 1 (undebatable):
Classics that ABSOLUTELY belong on any top 10 list. If you don't have at least 5/6 of these players in your top 10, you are blind, deaf or stupid (or you just don't like Pulp Fiction; which means you are blind deaf or stupid). :)
* Samuel L Jackson - Pulp Fiction
* John Travolta - Pulp Fiction
* Uma Thurman - Pulp Fiction
* Pam Grier - Jackie Brown
* Uma Thurman - Kill Bill
* Christoph Waltz - Inglorious Basterds
Tier 2 (some of tier 2 & tier 3 placements are debatable)
Other Greats to consider in a top 10 (based on personal preference):
- Reservoir Dogs: Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Steve Buscemi, Harvey Keitel
- Pulp Fiction: Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer
- Jackie Brown: Robert Forster, Samuel L Jackson
- Kill Bill: David Carradine, Daryl Hannah
- Inglorious Basterds: Diane Kruger
- Django Unchained: Samuel L Jackson
Tier 3. (some of tier 2 & tier 3 are debatable)
- Pulp Fiction: Ving Rhames, Bruce Willis, Harvey Keitel
- Jackie Brown: Bridget Fonda
- Kill Bill: Lucy Liu
- Inglorious Basterds: Melanie Laurent, Daniel Bruhl, Michael Fassebender
- Django Unchained: Christoph Waltz, Leonardo Dicaprio
It hurts me how underappreciated an actress Lucy Liu is, both in and out of Kill Bill
For Joe Reid
1 Reservoir Dogs
2 Pulp Fiction
3 Jackie Brown
4 Kill Bill (is counted as a single movie despite being released as two separate haves)
5 Death Proof (despite being released as a double feature with Planet Terror for Grindhouse)
6 Inglourious Basterds
7 Django Unchained
8 The Hateful Eight
The anthology movie Four Rooms does not count.
@Nick T, that's the thing though...the way that Leigh's character in TH8 handles the trauma is to pretty much suck it up and say "ow it hurts." It's the type of humor that Tarantino's known for, but may yet offend Oscar voters. Couple that with the fact that the performance is more on the one-note side, which isn't necessarily a dealbreaker (see: Javier Bardem in "No Country for Old Men"), but may work against her. I agree that the crowdedness of the category is ultimately what would keep her out, if she indeed gets left out. I'll be happy if she gets nommed in any case. She definitely has deserved that in the past and the present.
Feh to all this Tarantino talk. Feh.
Paul Outlaw I think you're adorable. But I would like your quick take on Jackie Brown. A film I figure had some initial interest from you.
Nathaniel-can you share your thoughts on the Morricone score? I would be curious if this was a redeeming factor or if it also got lost in the muck.
John T -- it sounded great to me but film scores are the area in which i am least articulate... so... i dunno.
/3rtful:
My QT ranking--
1. Jackie Brown (Thank you, Elmore Leonard)
0. Inglourious Basterds
-1. Kill Bill
-2. Reservoir Dogs
-3. Pulp Fiction
-4. Django Unchained
Haven't seen the rest (yet).
Jackie Brown is a very, VERY enjoyable movie. Great cast, great material and the 2.5+ hour running time was not a slog. I've actually seen this one several times.
Paul Outlaw --
I do recommend you watch Death Proof. On the surface it seems like material you would actively avoid but I believe you can get some value from the mostly female ensemble which is diverse without every pandering to any demographic.
Jackie Brown is the most adult movie Tarantino has ever made. And I think he resents he was unable to create an original story about an older woman for Pam Grier. He needed to lean on an adaptation for a framework to work from.
@Paul Outlaw - totally agree on "Jackie Brown" - it's an Elmore Leornard adaptation, and he is a gift to any director. Pam Grier's outstanding performance sure helps as well. Tarantino has gone downhill since.
I found Django Unchained unwatchable at times. Obviously I do understand that my opinion on his work is a minority one.
That article on the Critics Choice recount to predict the Oscars is interesting (that's the statistics geek inside of me speaking), but I would've thought the one movie that secure the nomination in first round (that also trigger the surplus rule) would be Carol instead of Spotlight, or it could be Mad Max. Look at all the love and enthusiasm the critics showered these two films with. If people had been so enthusiastic with Spotlight I would have imagined the actors in it would not find themselves coming back empty-handed in most of the critics awards.
what?! I adored JJL in the H8ful 8. I love how physical she gets and how she swallows all those all timers with her performance. Perhaps because she s such a staple of the 90's I will always pair her up with the Likes of BridgetFonda and Patricia Arquette and it excites me to see her picking such a performance and playing in such a hardcore fashion at 53!! Shouldn't we at least commend Tarantino for giving her a role that coul have easily gone to the likes of Jennifer Lawrence or any other Hollywood nymphet?
LadyEdith: I don't think it's a minority opinion. Really.
Cris: Yes, that was definitely commendable.
/3rtful: Okay, I will watch Death Proof, although it probably won't be until a long time after I watch The Hateful Eight.
hated, hated, hated, hated, hated, hated, hated, HATED the hateful eight. tired, repetitive Quentin Tarantino.
LadyEdith - Django Unchained was vile filth, which a couple of good performances (DiCaprio, Jackson) did almost nothing to mitigate
At this point do we really need "Avatar" part 2? There are so many great sci-fi novel that could make better movies
Good script, good acting, never lagged
Tres, tres violent! But what did you expect?
His best film since the last 45 minutes of DEATHPROOF
Everyone is love or hate on Hateful Eight. Am I the only agnostic? I thought it was good. Not great, not garbage.