Thompson on Hollywood

Cannes 2012: Tarantino's 'Django Unchained' Looks Like a Hard-Ass Sergio Leone Western [Updated]

Festivals

The Majestic Salon Diane was packed with the top movie press in Cannes, notebooks poised, as the King of Cannes, Harvey Weinstein, introed and unveiled footage from three upcoming Oscar hopefuls that weren't ready for the Croisette this year: Paul Thomas Anderson's $35 million "The Master" (here's how the footage played; it's set for an October 12 release, which TWC is releasing globally, financed by Megan Ellison's Annapurna), David O. Russell's "Silver Linings Playbook" (TWC, November 21) and Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained," a global partnership with Sony (slates for December 25, we'll see if it happens).

By Anne Thompson
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May 21, 2012 3:41 PM
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Controversial? Hell, Yes! EW's First Look at Tarantino's 'Django Unchained'

News

Christmas has come early, thanks to EW's first look at Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained" (out December 25).

By Sophia Savage
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April 26, 2012 1:02 PM
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'Django Unchained' Character Guide and Official Synopsis

News

The graphic poster for "Django Unchained" (December 25) is spare and actor-free, so we decided to fill in a character guide and an embellished official synopsis--we did read the Quentin Tarantino script.

By Anne Thompson and Maggie Lange
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April 13, 2012 4:29 PM
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'Django Unchained' Update, Casting, Poster, Release Plans: Is Tarantino's Taboo-Buster a Holiday Movie?

News

Well, the official stateside poster for Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained" is out, and I like it. Why? In a simple, Saul Bass way, it tells you what the movie is about--slavery in the ante-bellum South. And it plays on the title.

By Anne Thompson
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April 12, 2012 4:11 PM
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Quentin Tarantino’s Official Top Eleven of 2011

News

Here is Quentin Tarantino’s official Top Eleven of 2011, per the Tarantino Archives. I am happy to see that Tarantino shares my love of "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," as a script and as a movie. I love it that "The Artist" ties with another Weinstein Co. film, "Our Idiot Brother." He does seem to admire Hazanavicius, as he puts him on his best director list. As "Iron Lady" and "My Week with Marilyn" are also on his list, methinks he is being kind to the Weinsteins.

By Anne Thompson
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January 14, 2012 2:37 AM
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EXCLUSIVE: BAFTA's New Guru Site Posts Video Wisdom from Likes of Swinton, Tarantino

Awards

BAFTA has launched its "Guru" initiative, a website for aspiring TV and film producers, directors, actors and anyone else wanting inspiration and advice from some people who know a thing or two about the industry, from Quentin Tarantino to Tilda Swinton:

By Sophia Savage
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November 11, 2011 3:05 PM
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CASTING WATCH: Gordon-Levitt and LaPaglia Join Tarantino's Django Unchained as Aussie Brothers

It's official: Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained is getting Joseph Gordon Levitt and Anthony LaPaglia to play hick Australian brothers; small parts, but crucial, reports ThePlaylist, to key scenes at the end of the script. (LaPaglia is an Aussie.)

By Sophia Savage
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October 31, 2011 8:25 AM
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Gordon-Levitt Talks To Tarantino About Django Unchained; Premium Rush Moves to August 2012

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is in talks to join Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained (check out the already awesome cast). His schedule is tight but having Premium Rush moved from a January to August 2012 release should help, as Tarantino intends to start shooting Django in New Orleans in January, when Gordon-Levitt would have been busy doing Rush press. With this film, plus Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises and Steven Spielberg's Lincoln coming up, Gordon-Levitt shouldn't be too discouraged if he doesn't manage to build the momentum necessary for a 50/50 Oscar nomination. He's just getting started.

By Sophia Savage
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October 21, 2011 6:02 AM
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Tarantino's Django Unchained Cast Shaping Up for Fall Shoot; Washington Joins Foxx, DiCaprio, Waltz

The latest actor to board Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained (December 25, 2012) is Don Johnson (TV's Miami Vice, Nash Bridges; Bucky Larson, Machete, Tin Cup). The actor is in negotiations to play plantation owner Spencer Bennett. He would be joining Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio, Christoph Waltz, Samuel L. Jackson and Kurt Russell. UPDATE: Kerry Washington is now confirmed to be playing Django's wife, Broomhilda. The synopsis is below.

By Sophia Savage
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October 13, 2011 5:48 AM
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Citizen Kane and Pulp Fiction, Two Overrated Classics Coming to a Blu-ray Player Near You

This week in his “Now and Then” column, Matt Brennan — inspired by the re-release of Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941) and the upcoming Blu-ray edition of Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994) — tries to explain how a movie becomes a “classic.” Trailers below:To paraphrase the famous saying, some movies are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. Citizen Kane and Pulp Fiction fall into the latter category. That they’re stylish, innovative, and spectacularly well made is undeniable. But in the end, claims of their greatness say more about what critics and cinephiles think movies should be than about their intrinsic value. To put it more bluntly, they’re overrated.