The Hateful Eight (2015) - Tarantino's indulgences take over

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A fearsome bunch of gun-carrying characters appear to be headed towards the same cabin through a blizzard on this exciting poster for Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight

A bounty hunter with a wanted woman in his wagon runs upon an old acquaintance in a blizzard en route to Wyoming and brings him along with them; but soon the little company meet trouble at Minnie's Haberdashery.

The Hateful Eight is written and directed by Tennessean master filmmaker Quentin Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs (1992)), whose 10th feature it is.

Tarantino's second western, The Hateful Eight takes place in the same somewhat unreal Tarantino world as the preceding Django Unchained (2012). (The feeling is only enforced by Tarantino narrating the film himself.) Robert Richardson's (Breathe (2017)) exceptional 65 mm images and Ennio Morricone's (Days of Heaven (1978)) wily score make this tale of hoodlums easy to take.

In the cast Walton Goggins (The Crow: Salvation (2000)) stands out along with Jennifer Jason Leigh (The First Time (1982, TV movie)), the latter throwing herself head-first into a both frightening and pitiful character. The basic idea is to take a group of diverse, villainous characters and let them fight out their grievances in a cabin during a storm. A lot of sulfurous dialog and blood splatters predictably result, but without the shadow of a hero, it is hard not to feel that The Hateful Eight is somewhat overlong. We recognize some of Tarantino's tricks from past films, and curiously enough for this major wide format revival, he keeps his The Hateful Eight almost entirely indoors.

Some of Tarantino's trademark speechifying is just filler, - and I think it a shame that we don't get more wingspan to the film location-wise. SPOILER - What is one to think of the master filmmaker's career now, as the film ends with two men hanging a woman in a cabin to their great mirthful laughter, whereupon it ends? It feels a bit sad. For a newcomer I'd instead advice to watch Reservoir Dogs (1992), Pulp Fiction (1994) and Jackie Brown (1997).

Related posts:

Quentin Tarantino:  2019 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]2019 in films - according to Film Excess

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood/Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (2019) - Tarantino gets lost in Hollywood 
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
Django Unchained (2012) - Tarantino's gutsy, colorful 'Southern' 
Inglourious Basterds (2009) - The Movies take revenge on Nazi scum

2007 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 
2007 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 
Top 10: Best car chases in movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 
Death Proof (2007) - Tarantino's awesome, rubber-burning Grindhouse homage 
From Dusk till Dawn (1996) - Tarantino, Rodriguez and chums' enjoyable Mexico vampire extravaganza (writer-star)
Desperado (1995) - Rodriguez' second Mexico actioner is a sexy, latino fireball (actor) 
Four Rooms (1995) - Rodriguez, Tarantino & Co. fail with LA hotel anthology comedy (co-director)

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 44-62 mil. $ (different reports)

Box office: 155.8 mil. $

= Box office success or a big hit (returned somewhere between 2.51-3.54 times its cost)

[The Hateful Eight premiered 7 December (Los Angeles) and runs 168 minutes (long roadshow version runs 187 minutes.) Originally thought as a Django sequel, Tarantino changed it up for his first draft, which leaked online in 2014, upsetting Tarantino to the point of naming the few trusted colleagues he had apparently shared it with and scrapping actually filming it. He instead held a reading with many of the stars present in 2014 and finally deciding to go ahead and film it anyway. Shooting took place from December 2014 - April 2015 in Colorado and Los Angeles, California. The state of Colorado contributed 5 mil. $ to the production. Kurt Russell (Touchback (2011)) accidentally smashed an antic 1870s Martin guitar during shooting, resulting in the Martin Guitar Museum no longer lending guitars out as props in movies anymore. The film was shot on 3 types of 65 mm cameras and transferred to 70 mm film, the widest 70 mm release since Far and Away (1992). The film opened #3, behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Daddy's Home, to a 15.7 mil. $ first weekend in North America after getting released as a longer roadshow version for its first week in only 70 mm equipped theaters, making 4.6 mil. $ for a final gross of 54.1 mil. $ (33.6 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Germany with 13.2 mil. $ (8.2 %) and France with 12.3 mil. $ (7.6 %). The film's Box Office Mojo site is flawed, listing the film's 5.4 mil. $ Australian gross twice, both in 2015 and in 2021. The film was nominated for 3 Oscars, winning for Best Score (Morricone's first and only Oscar). It lost Best Supporting Actress (Leigh) to Alicia Vikander for The Danish Girl and Cinematography to Emmanuel Lubezki for The Revenant. It also won 1/3 BAFTA nominations, 1/3 Golden Globe nominations, was nominated for 2 Grammys and won 3 National Board of Review awards, among many other honors. Tarantino returned with Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood (2019). Samuel L. Jackson (Common Grounds (1990, miniseries)) returned in Cell (2016); Russell in Deepwater Horizon (2016); and Leigh in Morgan (2016). The Hateful Eight is certified fresh at 74 % with a 7.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Hateful Eight?

The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016) - Unusual, surprising, gory, horrifying indie horror

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+ Best Horror Movie of the Year + Best Low-Budget Movie of the Year + Best Gore Movie of the Year + Best Witch Movie of the Year

The greyish body of a deceased young woman fills the cold poster for André Øvredal's The Autopsy of Jane Doe

A father-son coroner team receive a 'Jane Doe' [unidentified female corpse] from a house with more bodies in it along with an investigative demand for answers asap. But their autopsy reveals shocking mistreatment, and the two - three - are soon locked in by a major storm.

The Autopsy of Jane Doe is written by Ian B. Goldberg and Richard Naing (Dead of Summer (2016), TV-series, both) and directed by great Norwegian filmmaker André Øvredal (Trollhunter/Trolljegeren (2010)).
Øvredal impresses in his English-language feature debut here. Made on a strong Blacklist-featured script, the film is simply skillfully directed. Although there is lots of autopsy-related gore horror, SPOILER this still feels like a bare bones (no pun intended) little horror flick, which develops in a surprising supernatural direction; the deceased was an innocent woman who was not a witch but became one from being the victim of extensive anti-witch torture!
Brian Cox (RED 2 (2013)) and Emile Hirsch (Into the Wild (2007)) are believable as father and son, and both are really good here. - The Autopsy of Jane Doe is also an unusual horror because we almost only spend time with two grown men in it. It is original and plays on several of its genre's chords and also features excellent sound design. From a semi-comical beginning, The Autopsy of Jane Doe evolves into a surprisingly horrifying ride, - a real treat for horror fans and an obvious and strong horror movie night candidate.

Related posts:

André Øvredal: 2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
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Øvredal, Cox and Hirsch attend a Q&A for the film here - don't watch until after you've seen the film!

Cost: Unknown (but likely 1-2 mil. $)
Box office: At least 6.1 mil. $
= Uncertainty - but at least a box office success
[The Autopsy of Jane Doe premiered 9 September (Toronto International Film Festival) and runs 86 minutes. Øvredal was inspired by James Wan's great The Conjuring (2013) to do a similarly pure horror film. Martin Sheen was originally cast but dropped out. Shooting took place in March 2015 - ? in England in London and Kent. The Jane Doe is played by Olwen Catherine Kelly (Darkness on the Edge of Town (2014)) rather than a prosthetic corpse dummy. Forbes Magazine has estimated the film's budget at around 1-2 mil. $. The box office gross above is the total for the film's 19 international markets. Its North American gross is unlisted; perhaps it was very small as it only played a few festivals and had a limited release along with VoD roll-out domestically. Its biggest 3 markets were France with 1.2 mil. $ (19.7 %), Mexico with 1.1 mil. $ (18 %) and Brazil with 0.8 mil. $ (13.1 %). Stephen King has tweeted in favor of the film, saying that it rivals Alien (1979) and early David Cronenberg in visceral horror. Øvredal has two upcoming projects, Bright Skies and Mortal (2018), both fantasy projects anchored in Norway. The Autopsy of Jane Doe is certified fresh at 87 % with a 6.8/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Autopsy of Jane Doe?

After the Storm/海よりもまだ深く (Umi yori mo Mada Fukaku) (2016) - Koreeda's striking portrayal of a disappointing man

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+ Best Japanese Movie of the Year

The faces of the four main characters of Hirokazu Koreeda's After the Storm adorn this pleasant poster

Ryota is an under-achiever, a gambler and a disappointment to his mother and ex-wife. During the period up to and during the 24th annual typhoon in Japan, he tries to make up for his flaws, especially because he wants to keep his son in his life.

After the Storm is the 12th theatrical fiction feature from Japanese master writer-director Hirokazu Koreeda (Nobody Knows/Dare mo Shiranai (2004)), who presents another great drama with humanistic insight, once again asserting himself as one of the truly unique and gifted filmmakers around today. The original title is taken from an old Japanese pop song that is heard in the film and which translates to 'even deeper than the sea'; strictly speaking a better title than After the Storm, which only refers to an actual storm that the action takes places around.
The film's unassuming cinematography leaves the space wide open for the actors, and they honor this with some terrific performances: Hiroshi Abe (A Yell from Heaven/Tengoku Kara no Êru (2011)) is right on as Ryota, who is a bum of a man, but one whom Abe's resourceful portrayal makes sympathetic even through his stealing, lying and wasting away of his money. Ryota has loafed through too much of his life with a goal for himself that he hasn't been able to make happen, while he has let the most important things, his nearest relations, fall apart. We come into his life at a time when this becomes crystal clear for himself as well, though he is unable to make up for his flaws and change the way his life has turned out.
All the actors here give honest, terrific performances, but two that especially also deserve singling out are those of Kirin Kiki (Lake of Tears/Umi no Koto (1966)) as Ryota's very direct, endearing mother and young Taiyô Yoshizawa (Kamisama no Wadachi (2017)) as his intelligent son, who may or may not be following in his father's footsteps, more or less inevitably, just as Ryota seems to have followed in his father's.
After the Storm doesn't match the greatness of Koreeda's recent masterpiece Like Father, Like Son/Soshite Chichi ni Naru (2013), and may appeal to a narrower audience, - certainly to Koreeda fans, - simply because it is very talky, deliberately contemplative in its form and may appear slow. It doesn't have much action; much of the plot moves through dialog, and the result is an entirely realistic drama with universally recognizable behavioral patterns and themes such as divorce, unfulfilled ambitions, gambling, parental responsibilities, neglect - all of it seen against Koreeda's stories' usual arena that is Family.
The film wouldn't achieve the level of impact it does if it wasn't for the outstanding dialog as well, which is both character-specific, wise and funny. In fact After the Storm is surprisingly funny; honest and unapologetic in its dealing with Ryota's vices, family strings and Japanese traits. It deals with the past, sometimes nostalgically but also as a burden that needs overcoming daily, and is both poetic and ultimately moving, another Koreeda treasure that shouldn't be missed.

Related posts:
 

Hirokazu Kore-eda: 2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
Like Father, Like Son/そして父になる (Soshite Chichi ni Naru) (2013) - Koreeda's magnificent reflection on upbringing and family 
 

Watch a short trailer for the film here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: In excess of 5.1 mil. $ and counting
= Uncertain
[After the Storm premiered 18 May (Cannes' Un Certain Regard section) and runs 117 minutes. Koreeda began thinking up the film in 2001, visiting his mother who lived alone in a housing complex following the death of her husband, Koreeda's father. Shooting lasted 1½ month from May 2014 on, during the year that Koreeda was also shooting his Our Little Sister/Umimachi Diary (2015). 89k paid admission to the film in its opening weekend in Japan, where it grossed 3.1 mil. $ (60.8 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were France with 815k $ (16 %) and South Korea with 672k $ (13.2 %). In North America, it opened #47 to 27k $ in 6 theaters and peaked at #46 in 35 theaters and grossed 252k $ (4.9 %). The box office sheet is incomplete with several markets missing. The film was nominated for an Asian Film Award. After the Storm is certified fresh at 95 % with a 7.9/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of After the Storm?

Take Shelter (2011) or, Madness in Ohio

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1 Time Film Excess Nominee:

Best Digital Effects (lost to Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol)

A curiosity-inspiring poster for Jeff Nichols' Take Shelter

QUICK REVIEW:

In the middle of flat Ohio, our worker protagonist Curtis begins seeing storms and bird omens that no-one else sees. His mother's history of mental illness haunts, but he is very aware of it and attends treatments himself. - Still he starts building a storm cellar in the garden.

Michael Shannon (The Iceman (2012)) is an unusual actor with a keen ability for the psychologically unstable portrait. In Take Shelter, however, the portrait is naively written with more than one weak motivation. There's also simply too much to dislike about the characters here in the second feature by writer-director Jeff Nichols (Shotgun Stories (2007)).
The effects are dashing in an otherwise slightly dull apocalyptic scenario psychological drama.

Related reviews:

2012 in films - according to Film Exces (UPDATED I) 
Jeff Nichols: Mud (2012) - Career-defining, electric Americana
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]  

Watch the trailer for the film here

Cost: 5 mil. $
Box office: 3 mil. $
= Huge flop
[Take Shelter succeeded in becoming something of a critics' darling: Premiering in Sundance, it went on to win prizes in Cannes, Deauville American Film Festival, Toronto Film Festival and Zurich Film Festival. It was only released in the US in LA and NY, where it earned 1.7 mil. $ (57 % of the total gross). Roger Ebert awarded the film 4 out of 4 stars, and Nichols gained the respect and attention of enough of the American film community to launch his bigger, and much better, next film, Mud (2012).]

What do you think of Take Shelter?

Moonrise Kingdom (2012) - A 1960's island youth romance present

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Partly painted poster of the kids in their nature-adventure in Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom

QUICK REVIEW:

A former scout flees from home with a same-aged girl on their birth island, where they are quickly searched for by worried parents, authorities and an evil child care woman. - But a fierce storm is also on its way!

Moonrise Kingdom is a mighty enjoyable, classically inventive Wes Anderson (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)) yarn, set in a charming island community.
I love the Bob Balaban (Ghost World (2001)) character and all of his odd, small introductions throughout. The escaping youths, played by debuting actors Jared Gilman (Elsa & Fred (2014)) and Kara Hayward (Quitters (2014)), are sweet, and, as usual, Anderson here has an ensemble cast at his hands that is impressive and very good: Edward Norton (American History X (1998)), Harvey Keitel (Smoke (1995)), Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)), Bruce Willis (Die Hard (1988)), Frances McDormand (Fargo (1996)) and Bill Murray (Groundhog Day (1993)).
The film also features lovely music, - quite a few old Hank Williams songs, - but one notices its wild pace as hasty a few times, where it seems to inhibit any chance of deeper emotional involvement in the characters and story, which I think is a shame.
On the whole though, Moonrise Kingdom is still an incredible and very good film.

Related review:

Wes Anderson: The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) - A very very good dream

Notice especially on this delightful character photo for Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom Bob Balaban on the left in the red coat

Watch the stylish, colorful, eye-candy-studded trailer here

Cost: 16 mil. $
Box office: 68.2 mil. $
= Big hit
[Moonrise Kingdom opened Cannes 2012, where it was shown in competition, and it went on to have an excellent American run over the following Summer, where its very American story may have struck a chord that not all of Anderson's pictures have done in the past. It was later Oscar-nominated for Best Original Screenplay (Anderson and Roman Coppola (The Darjeeling Limited (2007)), but lost to Quentin Tarantino and his Django Unchained (2012)).]

What do you think of Moonrise Kingdom?
What is your favorite Anderson-movie and why?

The Bat (1959) - Minor murder mystery with the great Vincent Price

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Ghoulish, sinister menace hangs heavy over this zealous poster for Wilbur Crane's The Bat

During a thunderstorm, a million dollars are stolen, and a masked murderer with a clawed glove ruthlessly hunts the money in an old mansion.

The Bat is written and directed by Wilbur Crane (The Love Liar (1916)). It is based on Mary Roberts Rinehart's (Dangerous Ways (1919)) novel The Circular Staircase (1908)), which was first adapted into the play The Bat (1920) and later two movies, The Bat (1926) and The Bat Whispers (1930).

For another entry into the hackneyed mansion-set murder-mystery sub-genre, The Bat is alright, and the cinematography by the prodigious Joseph F. Biroc (It's a Wonderful Life (1946)) is very good. Another plus is Vincent Price (The Fly (1958)), who adorns The Bat with the endless ambiguity of his sinister eyes and facial expressions in a sombre doctor part.
The Bat is drawn down mainly by a number of overly annoying female parts.

 

Related post:

 

Crane Wilbur: House of Wax (1953) - De Toth's colorful classic is a must for Price fans (writer)

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: Unknown
= Uncertain

[The Bat was released 9 August (USA) and runs 80 minutes. Shooting took place at Universal Studios in California. The film was shown on a double bill with the British The Mummy (1959). Details on its cost and box office are regrettably not available. Turner Classic Movies reports that the film, at the time, was "not a crowd pleaser." It has since fallen into public domain and can be seen and downloaded free and legally right here. Wilbur as a director only returned with uncredited work on House of Women (1962) but did write more screenplays following The Bat. Price returned in 4 TV-series prior to his theatrical return in House of Usher (1960); Agnes Moorehead (The Virginian (1970, TV-series)) returned in 3 TV-series prior to her theatrical return in Pollyanna (1960)). 5.5k+ IMDb users have given The Bat a 5.5/10 average rating.]

What do you think of The Bat?