Quentin Tarantino ‘s Django Unchained had me at hello — or at ” Dj -” if you will (the “d” is silent) — so at this point trailers and clips are just icing on the spaghetti “Southern.” If I’m speaking a foreign language to you, forgive my excitement for Tarantino’s latest neo-exploitation bonanza and just dive right into Movieline’s rundown of the gunshots, dead baddies, and gleefully inside-baseball genre winks in the second trailer for Django Unchained . Dead guys: 3, plus 2 or more offscreen Faintings: 2 Beers: 2 Crash zooms: 2 Glimpses of Sam Jackson in his Benjamin Button makeup: 5 Glee-filled Christoph Waltz quips: 4 Gunshots: 13 Jonah Hill s: 1 Explosions: 2 Inside nods to the original Django : 2 Times I’ll be listening to the Franco Nero Django theme for the rest of the week: 100 Watch it on YouTube. Django Unchained hits theaters on Christmas. Perfect holiday viewing! [via iTunes ]
Speculation and excitement have been building among Quentin Tarantino fans for the Christmas-day release (in N. America) of Django Unchained , starring Leonardo DiCaprio , Samuel L. Jackson , Jonah Hill , Christoph Waltz and Kerry Washington . But for those Tarantino fans just jonesing for a Tarantino fix ahead of that roll out, Lionsgate and Miramax are teaming up on a massive Quentin Tarantino Blu-ray disc boxed set. There may be a bit of sticker-shock for some, but the $119.99 list price includes eight film in addition to two bonus discs with five hours of extras, according to Home Media magazine. The box set includes titles Reservoir Dogs , True Romance , Pulp Fiction , Jackie Brown , Kill Bill Vol. 1 , Kill Bill Vol. 2 , Death Proof and Inglourious Basterds . Critics; perspectives on the filmmaker’s films and a feature containing interviews with stars and other filmmakers dubbed “20 Years of Filmmaking” highlight the bonus material. [ Source: Home Media ]
Before there was Django Unchained , there was Django , and the star of that 1966 spaghetti western, Franco Nero, can be found in the 1970 surreal comedy Compañeros, which also inspired Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming anti-slavery opus. The Film: Compañeros (1970) Why It’s an Inessential Essential: With Django Unchained on the way, it’s a good time to revisit the films that inspired Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming pastiche. The winningly surreal action comedy Compañeros is the third installment of a trilogy that spaghetti-western director Sergio Corbucci’s shot with Franco Nero, the star of the original Django (1966) and the mysterious man who makes a prominent cameo at the end of the Django Unchained trailer. Like most spaghetti westerns, Compañeros is a mish-mosh of narrative tropes that takes the kind of mercenary outsider made popular in the genre by A Fistful of Dollars (1964) and Django and places him in the political, revolutionary-centric context of “Zapata westerns” like Tepepa (1969) and Duck, You Sucker! (1971). Compañeros stars Nero as “The Penguin,” a Swedish mercenary who blows into town and is instantly plied with requests to join two warring factions: the current political regime and the revolutionaries. Soon enough, he bumps into the effusive Vasco, played by spaghetti-western staple Tomas Milian, a shoe-shine man who accidentally becomes a captain in the revolutionary cause. Through a series of convoluted events that inevitably involve double- and triple-crosses, Vasco and the Penguin team-up to help protect a scientist (Fernando Rey!) who knows the combination to a hulking bank vault that everyone suspects houses a huge bounty. But to get to the safe, the trio has to avoid Jack Palance’s mustachioed, pot-smoking baddy. (Did we mention that his character keeps a pet falcon? ) Almost everyone betrays everyone else along the way, making the film’s uplifting finale a welcome one. How the DVD Makes the Case for the Film : Blue Underground has re-released Compañeros in a very tempting box set with three other spaghetti westerns starring Milian: the middling Lucio Fulci’s Four of the Apocalypse (1975) and the manic Sergio Sollima’s Run, Man, Run (1968). The box set is basically a re-issue of their previous editions of the films, but there are some worthwhile special features, including commemorative featurettes on the films, that nicely complement the collection. The 17-minute documentary included on the Run, Man, Run DVD boasts some entertaining soundbites — such as when Milian proudly exclaims, “If there’s one thing in this life I’m sure of: I am fucking talented.” The “In the Company of Compañeros ” featurette is especially informative. In it, Nero and Milian look back at their work in the film and even music composer Ennio Morricone talks a little about the main theme he composed (“a kind of joyful requiem, but also dramaticit was a kind of reggae with a Gregorian theme.”). Milian’s anecdotes are the juiciest of this bunch. He explains that the way he he wore his beret in any given scene indicated how his character was feeling in that sequence. He also hilariously describes Jack Palance: “The way you see him behave in the movie? That’s the way he behaved on the set. He knows he has a scary face and he uses it.” Other Trivia: Milian and Nero joke about their rivalry during the production of Compañeros and how they went on to become great friends. Milian has an especially funny anecdote about the time he showed up to the set of Compañeros an hour and a half before filming started, only to discover that Nero had already been there two hours prior to his arrival! According to Milian, Nero would get to set early so that he could have crow’s feet applied to his face to make him look older. When a younger Milian asked Nero why he did this, Nero supposedly replied, “30 years from now, people are going to say: he never ages.”
We’re just as obsessed with the sneak peek of Quentin Tarantino’s latest as you are. By Kevin P. Sullivan Jamie Foxx in “Django Unchained” Photo: Columbia Pictures The trailer for ” Django Unchained ” is finally here, and if you’re here, you’ve paused the trailer long enough to read this, so thank you. We here at MTV News are just as obsessed with the trailer for Quentin Tarantino ‘s long-awaited Southern, so we’ve put together the trailer commentary below, and if you’re looking for an even deeper dive, here are the five secrets of the “Django Unchained” trailer: What’s In A Name? Tarantino has always filled his movies with some subtle (and not so subtle) references to the movies he admires. The title character in “Django Unchained” owes his name to the rich legacy of other Djangos in film. The original Django appeared in an Italian-made Western from 1966 by director Sergio Corbucci. In the original “Django,” the character is a mysterious drifter who drags a coffin around with him wherever he goes. Naturally, the coffin contains a machine gun. Dozens of other films ripped off the film, trying to repeat the original by featuring a character with the same name, but Corbucci and star Franco Nero only made one other Django movie, a 1987 sequel called “Django 2: il grande ritorno.” The Hidden Gun This tricky little pistol shows up twice during the trailer, but expect to see a lot more of it in the actual film. A contraption used by Dr. King Schultz, the hidden gun retracts up into the wearer’s sleeve and pops out when needed for a surprising blast. The device shows up pretty regularly in Westerns, and it even makes an appearance in one of Tarantino’s favorite movies of all time, Martin Scorsese’s “Taxi Driver.” The Leo Zoom-In The first time we see Leonardo DiCaprio , Tarantino does a jarring zoom-in on his smug, smiling face. The move comes straight out of the spaghetti Westerns that the style of “Django Unchained” pulls inspiration from. The most notable director of the genre, Sergio Leone, directed four of its most famous films: “Fistful of Dollars,” “For a Few Dollars More,” “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly,” and “Once Upon a Time in the West.” Tarantino has borrowed from Leone and the spaghetti Western aesthetic on other occasions, including nods in “Kill Bill” and “Inglourious Basterds.” Don Johnson The lucky journalists at Cannes who got a sneak preview of “Django Unchained” left the theater raving about the performance of ’80s TV star Don Johnson. He actually appears in the trailer, right around the two-minute mark, as the Colonel Sanders-esque gentleman on a horse. Johnson has found himself in a series of intriguing roles in recent years, appearing in “Machete” and “Eastbound and Down.” It’s safe to say that “Django Unchained” will continue that trajectory. Franco Nero Right at the end of the trailer, Tarantino throws in one last Easter egg for hard-core film fans. That man next to Jamie Foxx when he speaks the “D is silent” line? That’s Franco Nero, the original Django. Check out everything we’ve got on “Django Unchained.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com .
When word got out that Quentin Tarantino’s next film would be a revenge tale starring Jamie Foxx as a slave-turned-bounty hunter, the buzz surrounding Django…
Prepare yourselves, movie goers, for life, liberty and the pursuit of vengeance. On Christmas Day, Quentin Tarantino will unleash Django Unchained , a thriller that stars Jamie Foxx as a slave-turned-bounty hunter who is after two things: His wife. His freedom. The incredible cast also features Leonardo DiCaprio, Samuel L. Jackson and Christopher Waltz – and did we mention it’s written/directed by Quentin Tarantino?!? – and you can check out the first official trailer now. You really should go ahead and do so: Django Unchained Trailer
With $6.4 million at stake for UNICEF, some of the world’s best footballers faced off in England over the weekend with some of the sport’s most enthusiastic celebrity hobbyists. The good news: Charity won big! The bad news: Celebrities did not, with one even landing in the hospital. The annual Soccer Aid benefit packed Old Trafford, the home of the Manchester United, where the team from England beat the “Rest of the World” team — comprising the likes of Will Ferrell, Edward Norton, Mike Myers, Gerard Butler, James McAvoy, Woody Harrelson and shouty TV chef Gordon Ramsay — by a score of 3-1. And since no soccer tilt would ever be complete without some poor bastard writhing on the pitch in hyperdramatic anguish, this match was no different — at least until, in the second half, things got really ugly : Ferrell limped off the field in considerable pain with a leg injury late in Sunday’s annual Soccer Aid game at Manchester United’s Old Trafford but will have counted himself more fortunate than Ramsay, who earlier was hospitalized following a heavy challenge. The foul-mouthed Hell’s Kitchen star was stretchered off the field while receiving oxygen, after being flattened by former England international Teddy Sheringham midway through the second half. He later was released from the hospital. Let us relive the moment in pictures! Observe Ferrell above right, shortly before he wound up on the turf with a leg injury that ended his day: So were any actors not hurt during this very intense exhibition match? Surprisingly many, if the rest of the photo record is to be believed! Nevertheless, Edward Norton and Woody Harrelson took every fluorescent precaution available to them… …while Mike Myers competed with swanlike finesse and grace… …along with flying Scotsmen Gerard Butler and James McAvoy (as seen alongside teammate Harrelson)… Here’s to a swift recovery for Ferrell, Ramsay and all the rest convalescing after the match. Charity hurts. [Photos: Getty Images]
The Weinstein Co. has unveiled a batch of new images from Quentin Tarantino Christmas Western Django Unchained , including shots of Jamie Foxx as the former slave-turned-bounty hunter Django, Christoph Waltz as his German comrade in arms Dr. King Schultz, and Leonardo DiCaprio as the evil plantation owner Calvin Candie. But it’s the image of Foxx sidled up to a bar next to Franco Nero — the original Django — that gets bonus points for film nerdage. Click here for the full gallery of new images from Django Unchained . Set in the South two years before the Civil War, DJANGO UNCHAINED stars Academy Award®-winner Jamie Foxx as Django, a slave whose brutal history with his former owners lands him face-to-face with German-born bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Academy Award®-winner Christoph Waltz). Schultz is on the trail of the murderous Brittle brothers, and only Django can lead him to his bounty. The unorthodox Schultz acquires Django with a promise to free him upon the capture of the Brittles – dead or alive. Success leads Schultz to free Django, though the two men choose not to go their separate ways. Instead, Schultz seeks out the South’s most wanted criminals with Django by his side. Honing vital hunting skills, Django remains focused on one goal: finding and rescuing Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), the wife he lost to the slave trade long ago. Django and Schultz’s search ultimately leads them to Calvin Candie (Academy Award®-nominee Leonardo DiCaprio), the proprietor of “Candyland,” an infamous plantation. Exploring the compound under false pretenses, Django and Schultz arouse the suspicion of Stephen (Academy Award®-nominee Samuel L. Jackson), Candie’s trusted house slave. Their moves are marked, and a treacherous organization closes in on them. If Django and Schultz are to escape with Broomhilda, they must choose between independence and solidarity, between sacrifice and survival…’ Written and directed by Academy Award®-winner Quentin Tarantino, DJANGO UNCHAINED is produced by Stacey Sher, Reginald Hudlin and Pilar Savone. The executive producers are Harvey and Bob Weinstein, Michael Shamberg, Shannon McIntosh, and James Skotchdopole. DJANGO UNCHAINED will be released in the U.S. by The Weinstein Company on December 25, 2012, and internationally by Sony Pictures. Django Unchained is in theaters December 25.
After scoring a book deal, selling several TV pilots, and making her name 140 characters at a time on Twitter , microblogging mom and Canadian wit Kelly Oxford has sold her first screenplay to Hollywood. Warner Bros. acquired her spec Son of a Bitch for a reported low- to mid-six figures; the story concerns a pothead party girl who tries to keep her image intact despite discovering she’s pregnant. The ringing sound you just heard is Anna Faris’s agent’s phone. [ Deadline ]
Posters are fine and all , but you can’t really get too breathlessly caught up in a movie’s hype until there are glimmering first images from the set. Especially when they feature one of the world’s biggest stars in in all his 19th-century slave-baron resplendence wielding a hammer. And sucking nefariously on a smoke. Yes, Leonardo DiCaprio, come on in! I’ll let you repair my morning. The first-look Django Unchained photos come by way of EW , which also gleaned some background from leading man Jamie Foxx while passing along your first glimpse of Foxx and Christoph Waltz as the freed slave Django and the German mercenary Dr. King Schultz. Needs more hammer. [via Movies.com ] Follow S.T. VanAirsdale on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
