Flavours of the Month: June 2013...

LOOKS:

Django Unchained (Blu-Ray) - I finally got to see it, at long last, and I absolutely loved it. It's a shame that QT's flicks never come accompanied with much in the way of extra features, though.

Argo (Blu-Ray) - three-for-three for Affleck.

Jay & Silent Bob Get Old: Teabagging in Ireland (DVD) - as an avid listener of the SModcast Network, I have to admit I'm getting a bit tired by the formulaic Hollywood Babble-On (it could use freshening up - new jokes, new impressions, more varied targets for seething parody) as well as Jay & Silent Bob Get Old, but only in regards to the repetitive portions of the shows (e.g. the same questions getting the same answers from different audiences in different editions of the podcast during the recent 'Groovy Movie' tour, or Smith going on yet another long-winded rant about filmmaking ... yes, it's inspiring the first couple of times you hear it, but when you've heard it literally more than a dozen times, you get a bit fed up and skip to the best bits of the show). Anyway, point being, I find there's a lot more humour to Jason Mewes' stories when you can see him perform them on-stage ... the added dimension really helps bring back the funny (as well as the shows on the DVDs cutting out the 'chuffa', as Bruce Willis might say).

Click "READ MORE" below for what else has been flavouring my June 2013...

Double Bill Mini Musings: Awards Bait Edition...

Django Unchained:
What's it about?
Quentin Tarantino's 'southern' adventure set in 1858 in which a German bounty hunter frees the titular slave, and takes him under his wing as they go in search of Django's wife Broomhilda, encounter gunfights and flamboyant slave owners along the way.
Who would I recognise in it?
Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Walton Goggins, James Remar, Michael Parks, and Don Johnson, Jonah Hill.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
Surprisingly, for a film that's the best part of 3 hours long, Django Unchained rarely seems to drag. As good as Inglourious Basterds was, there were several scenes where I knew what was coming and I was just waiting for it to happen (e.g. the tense encounter at the bar) - Django Unchained, on the other hand, felt more unpredictable, and featured a more balanced sense of pace (helped too, by following the same main characters for the entire movie, not just parts of it like in Inglourious Basterds). The traditional Tarantino dialogue is there - especially for Christoph Waltz, who once again gives a (rightfully) Award-winning performance - but there's enough nerve-shredding encounters and all-out gunfights (with gleefully gloopy geysers of gore) to keep things fresh and exciting.

Click "READ MORE" below for more Django, and a dose of Argo...