Just quicky review. I went to see The Hateful Eight over the holidays, which was perfectly timed to coincide with the Boot Hill campaign my gaming group is now running.
If you usually like Quentin Tarantino’s films, you’ll like this; if you like Westerns, you should like this; if you enjoy ensemble casts, you’ll also like this movie — but only if extreme violence is not is a problem. The level of gore and blood is far beyond your normal Hollywood movie and fairly strong even for Tarantino. The (minor spoiler) effects of a poison reach horror-movie levels of gore. If you’re still in, it’s a really fun movie. The three hours it takes to tell the story never feel overly drawn out. In fact the time flew by. The writing is good; the 70mm panavision is used to good effect for about 10% of the film when the action is outdoors, but oddly wasted on a movie that mostly takes place inside a single-room building.
It’s tough to say too much about the plot without spoiling the mystery aspect of the movie, but my one complaint about the plot is that the bad guy(s) has to know that a blizzard with detain the main character(s) well before the blizzard hits. I’m not sure how good forecasting was in the 1870s, when I guess the action takes place.
Some of the other things that caught my attention:
- great music
- Jennifer Jason Leigh was great, and I wonder if the script was written with her in mind, as a few incidents (like the poisoning) seemed to reference her role in the somewhat obscure movie Flesh + Blood.
- the voice-over midway through the film was unnecessary, or should have been
On a scale from derringer to buffalo rifle, this one’s a freaking Gatling gun. The best Western I’ve seen since Unforgiven.
Swords & Dorkery 
Just quicky review. I went to read The Swords and Dorkery blog over the holidays, which was perfectly timed to coincide with my judgement of the group’s recent purchase of dollar store Indians to go with the Boot Hill Campaign.
If you usually like Mike Monaco’s reviews, you’ll like this; if you like Blog posts, you should like this; if you enjoy long amateur movie reviews, you should enjoy this — but only if extreme boredom is not is a problem. The level of banal descriptors is far beyond your normal Movie review and fairly boring even for Mike Monaco. The (minor spoiler) effects of this review reach horror-movie levels of boredom. If you’re still in, it’s a really interesting look into an abnormal headspace. The three hours it takes to Slog through the review never feel overly drawn out. In fact the time flew by, in terms of Mike’s movie reviews. The writing is good; the boring typeface is used to good effect for about 10% of the post when it’s clear that Mike is reaching the peak of his opinion, but oddly wasted on a post that Was most probably written inside a single-stall bathroom.
Some of the other things that caught my attention:
A strange confidence in his reviewing ability
Mike Monaco was great, and I wonder if the movie was made with him in mind, as a few incidents (the length of the “quickly” review) seemed to reference his role in the somewhat obscure blog “swords and dorkery”.
the Insertion of his opinion through the review was unnecessary, or should have been
On a scale from dollar store Indian to hand crafted snow man ornament, this one’s a Painted skull rock! The best review I’ve seen since “Krampus Christmas”.
Hey thanks! Painted skull rocks rock! \m/
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