I know Tarantino has carved out his niche in cinema (as I'm constantly reminded of by my movie buff friends) but I really missed the point of this movie. I really didn't mind the first 30 minutes in the stagecoach and I seriously believed the movie was heading in a direction I could appreciate. Well, I was wrong. I can appreciate the fine cast and the work they did given the dialogue they had. Each character had their fair share of screen time. However, like most Tarantino movies, I found the dialogue totally contrived, juvenile and almost desperate at times. There was so much repetitive dialogue that led absolutely no where. I found no advancement of plot. I saw it with a friend of mine and we were both huffing, puffing, sighing, and looking at each other in disbelief during the last 2/3rds of the movie. The 'flashback' scene seemed to go on forever and in a standard story structure it could have been introduced earlier, but clearly Tarantino didn't want it done that way. The violence is excessive and really ridiculous (in my opinion of course). I love violent movies and I agree with what Tarantino said in a popular interview with Krishnan Guru-Murthy when Django Unchained was released, that violence does 'make good cinema'. However, not quite the kind of violence shown in this movie. I was critical of Krishnan Guru-Murthy's style of questioning and felt that he was pressing Tarantino unfairly and came off pretentious, however now in retrospect I'm happy with how he was questioned. As it's been discussed many times before, I took offence to Tarantino's over use of the 'N-word'. I no longer believe it's just 'his style'. I believe there must be some inherent racism at play when a director seems to have a repetitive agenda they are pushing in movie. The justification that Samuel Jackson was the main character and some of the racist language is somehow forgivable simply because it's set in the 1800s when racist attitudes were more prevalent, doesn't sit well with me. I found the scene where Samuel Jackson tells Bruce Dern the story of how treated his son to be so deliberately contrived and the dialogue was quite simply painful to sit through. I also found it funny that Tarantino had to insert himself as narrator at certain points to explain what was happening, although nothing was really happening. I try to find more depth in the movies I watch and every time I watch a movie I am hopeful that it will make me think about it long after it's over. A good cast alone can't make me praise a movie for its performances. Again, to many actors it's just another paycheque and more exposure for their career. That being said, I liked all the actors in the movie. I am still of the belief that Reservoir Dogs and Jackie Brown are my favourite Tarantino movies. I have read several reviews of Hateful Eight that seem to echo my exact opinions of the movie so at least I know I am not the only 'crazy' one who didn't like it. Again, good cinematography, good acting, and 70mm film don't automatically add to a movie's appeal, in my opinion.
