Maybe Tarantino should just stop talking about retiring and actually do it.

Rating: 2/10 (10 May 2015)

I really hate to rain on the parade of positive reviews, but I want my 2 1/2 hours plus back.
First, it is way too long.
Second, I watched this right after an excellent foreign movie, and the contrast in the acting didn't favor this experience. As usual, most American movie stars don't really act, so much as just repeat the same bit in all of their movies--in other words, Jamie Foxx was Jamie Foxx and Leonardo DiCaprio was Leonardo DiCaprio, and that's that. They just basically play themselves, as opposed to occupying the character. It didn't help that Tarantino cast himself in a small part. He is not a good actor, but he didn't seem that bad compared to the others, which says something unfortunate about his fellow thespians in this production. Except for the costumes, all of the characters just seemed to be lamely pretending to be from the civil war period. In spite of what some ill-informed people have claimed, nobody should confuse this movie with history.
Third, I realize that this was supposed to be a homage to B movies with some irony thrown in, but these ambitions totally fail, and it just wound up playing like a B "B movie".
It is easily Tarantino's worst movie. I get the feeling that this was Tarantino's attempt to show how much he really cares about injustice or society or something pretentious like that while still making one of his trademark films, but in reality this film is just a sloppy, self-indulgent mess.
At the very least, please Quentin, if you don't follow through on your threat to retire, in the future stay behind the camera, not in front of it. You'll be doing all of us a big favor.