Ironic, this is Tarantino film #8 as well. Of 10, allegedly. We’ll see if he has one more in him. This one? I liked it okay upon first watching, but for whatever reason didn’t sit quite right with me. I think I liked it more this time around, even despite the little story involving a naked man in the snow that is, well, just plain fucked up. I have played Red Dead Redemption II, Red Dead Redemption and Red Dead Redemption Zombie Curse edition in the meantime though, so that may have made a difference in my enjoyment of this. Damn. I don’t play many games, but now I want to play Red Dead Redemption II again, at least for that opening. That Shit is cinematic. Like this. But there I get to, like, shoot snow leopards and ice mooses in that one; here I just watch, Passively, and try not to think of a giant black dingus. Damn you, Tarantino, for that one.
The Winter Mountains of Wyoming. Brutal snow storm setting in. A Stagecoach trying to get to Red Rock and knowing they ain’t gonna make it so settling for The Haberdashery at the pass. A lot of randos on the snowy road, though. And a bunch all end up at one snowy stop on the top of the pass as the blizzard sets in. And the characters collected seem...kinda shady, despite however they present themselves. And in pretty fine fashion, the truths all come seeping out, whether they like it or not. Except that one guy. He was okay. Which one? Yeah, well, watch the short 3 hour version to find out, the 4.5 hour extended version or whatever seems a bit overkill. The story ain’t that complex. Shit, Seven Samurai had like an entire village to plan AND execute savin’ in less time, this is just a wooden outpost, with an outhouse I would never use in a blizzard because fuck you, that bucket there on the porch is just fine. Not like it’s gonna stink up the place, that’s like instant Poopsicle® kindsa weather out there, so fuck you, outhouse!
Tarantino takes all of his talents and puts it into his second western to follow Django Unchained (the D is silent). Basically what we have is a stage play here, but with a lot of swearing, gore and raysttisms. Seriously, the blood splashes are brutal, provided by 2/3rds of the ole KNB EFX Group, with Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger doing some pretty fucked up flashes of gore throughout. All the actors here are top notch, except for maybe one. Surprisingly, that is not Jennifer Jason Leigh. She actually does a fantastic job here, especially with her dark comedic expressionisms mocking those around her. To top It all off, it looks amazing, and the inclusion of a few Reservoir Dogs? That’s...a nice touch.
