The Best of 2012

Rating: 9/10 (14 January 2013)

From the day I heard about this movie (this was still when Will Smith was in talks for the lead role), I knew I had to see it. That was almost three years ago, and finally it has come. This movie, a twisted, bloody, alternate-history story about a slave seeking revenge on his wife's captors, is one of the best movies to come out in recent memory. It is also one of the best Westerns I have ever seen, only behind Leone's "The Good the Bad and the Ugly" and Peckinpah's "The Wild Bunch". It heavily borrows from the work's of Mr. Leone, and much like Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds", is largely a homage to his directorial style. Let me address some of the major complaints I've heard about this movie. I've heard that the movie is racist because of its heavy use of the n-word. I will not say the movie doesn't use it a lot, but this is a movie that takes place in 19th century Southern America. You don't have to be a history professor to know that this was not a kind place or time for African-Americans. Another complaint is the film's historical inaccuracy. And, while the film makes several anachronistic errors, it is important to remember that this is very much an exploitation movie. If a movie like Steven Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan", a very serious film about World War 2, makes a mistake of this nature, then I see a point in pointing it out. But why, in a movie about a slave becoming a bounty hunter, is that important? And the only complaint I really had was the lack of clever dialog. There were many quotable one-liners, but there was a lack of the quirky and delightful conversations that Mr. Tarantino is famous for. Now the numerous things I liked about "Django Unchained." The movie borrows heavily from Sergio Leone, enough that I wish Mr. Leone was still alive so I could hear his opinion of it. It was well shot, but a scene that stood out was the final gunfight in Candyland. This was one of my favorite movie shootouts ever. The soundtrack is also incredible- there's some Ennio Morricone, a great opening song, Jim Croce, and even a James Brown/ 2pac mashup! The acting was great, but the two stand-out performances, to me, were those of Leonardo DiCaprio and Samuel L. Jackson. DiCaprio plays a fantastically over the top villain that reminds me of Dennis Hopper in "Blue Velvet", or Gary Oldman in "The Professional". Sam Jackson plays a house slave that is an interesting and unlikeable character. I particularly liked that Jackson did a role that seemed very much unlike him. This movie already picked up some Golden Globes, and with the Oscars not too far in the future, we are left to wonder how "Django" will fair. I can only hope for the best, but I believe the Oscar crowd will once again be afraid to give a daring movie such as this one the recognition it deserves.