All posts by DrKronner

After years spent at various sites, Kronner finally found a home at Geek in 2012.
Movie News & Opinions

Tarantino’s Spaghetti Western “Django Unchained” to Star…Will Smith?

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I think it can go without saying, I’m a Quentin Tarantino fan. Not only am I a fan of his films overall, but of the writing style, the way they’re shot, and way they pay homage to what came before them. Tarantino simply put, is my favorite film-maker. Every few years we are treated to something new from him. Now, it seems that the follow-up to his mega-hit Inglourious Basterds is around the corner, and it will be called Django Unchained.

Inspired by the 1966 spaghetti western Django. The film was considered one of the most violent in history up until that point so it seems an obvious choice for Tarantino. The original movie dealt with a gunslinger who enters a town at war. The KKK is feuding with a Mexican gang, and Django gets caught in the middle.

Taratino’s movie will take the western theme, but it will be earlier, post-civil war era. It will tell the story of a former slave named Django who is trained by a German Bounty Hunter, and tries to free his wife from an evil plantation owner.

In no real surprise, it seems that Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterd‘s Hans Landa) will play the German Bounty Hunter, though not yet official. In another real shocker, Tarantino staple Samuel L. Jackson appears set for some screen-time as well. Also rumored is that the star of the original film, Franco Nero (aka Gen. Ramon Esperanza in Die Hard 2), will be involved in some capacity, but it’s not yet known as whom. We reported a while back that Treat Williams has apparently turned down roles in both The Dark Knight Rises and this movie to do some TV cop show. Good call Treat.

Now, as far as the casting of Django himself – over the weekend there were rumors galore that Will Smith seems to be the front-runner and Tarantino’s choice for the title character. Smith however is a product. And he markets himself very carefully, so it’s unclear if he’ll accept a role this…gritty.

This is from The Hollywood Reporter:

Sources prepped for those meetings say Tarantino would like Smith to star in the film, the script for which has been making the rounds in recent days to wide acclaim. No official offer has been made to Smith, and any deal would of course be subject to working out financials, which might be difficult given Smith’s status as one of Hollywood’s few sure-thing stars.  

Indeed, though Smith has been out of multiplexes since 2008’s Seven Pounds, he is still considered among the top two or three box-office draws worldwide. 

Smith is being teed up for the title role of Django, a freed slave who seeks to reunite with his slave wife, a journey that will see him team with a German bounty hunter to take down an evil plantation owner.

Tarantino wrote the bounty hunter part with Waltz in mind, according to insiders. The German ends up training Django and helping him seek his wife.

Jackson would play the house slave to the bad guy, Monsieur Calvin Candie. The slave is an expert manipulator and will face off with Django. 

Smith and his reps have received the screenplay, which could be a hot potato due to the themes of racism and the liberal use of the N-word. It’s unclear whether Smith has read the script yet. The actor manages his image very carefully, but the part is heroic and could be iconic. And let’s not forget that Denzel Washington won his two Oscars playing characters who used the N-word.

The movie is slated for a 2012 release, and while I think he would be good in it, weather or not The Fresh Prince Will Smith joins the cast won’t affect my decision to see it. I can already tell you I will be in the theater opening night next year…

TV

AMC’s ‘The Killing’: Episode 7 – “Vengeance”

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If you’re behind, maybe read these first:
–  AMC’s ‘The Killing’: Episodes 1 to 5 – Suspect List
– AMC’s ‘The Killing’: Episode 6 – “What You Have Left”

The Killing Sunday night’s episode of The Killing started off strong, so let’s get right to it… We start off with where we stopped last week. Detective Linden pounding on Bennett’s door while he is trapped in Stan Larsen’s car. After it appeared unlikely, Amber Ahmed finally comes to the door and lets in Linden. She does this about the same time Holder is questioning Mrs. Larsen about Stan’s whereabouts. Neither interview goes well. Bennett’s life is spared only by Stan’s self-control and a promise he made 18 years earlier. Bennett’s wife seems to have been eliminated from the suspect pool, and Holder got himself kicked out of the Larsen house.

Linden then, as expected, misses her flight. You know, the one she guaranteed she would be on. In the wake of Rosie’s funeral everyone is having a terrible day, including Councilman Richmond. His refusal to abandon and publicly condemn Bennett Amhed has giving the Mayor enough ammunition to publicly attack him for “supporting a murderer”.

The KillingThe Mayor’s attacks hit home with the bigots and racists, that’s an important demographic – they vote. Richmond’s campaign seems to be forever doomed, though I seem to think that once Bennett’s innocence is proven it will only strengthen his cause. This however, at least to me, is the most interesting aspect of the show. After all, I don’t care about Linden leaving – cause she won’t. And Holder’s ‘is he/isn’t he’ a drug user aspect seems a little forced, and I believe he will yet prove himself an asset. So until Stan Larsen actually kills someone to avenge his daughter, I’ll turn my focus to the election and Richmond’s self-destructive actions. I mean, doesn’t he know politicians are supposed to be morally corrupt? We get to see a little more of Richmond’s background here as he visits the mother of his dead wife, killed by a drunk driver. He does so just before her daughter’s killer is released from prison.

So the episode closes with 2 events: The first is the Mayor using the City Council against Richmond to kill his basketball program, effectively removing Bennett from the payroll. The second, and significantly more substantial event has to do with our beloved pair of Detectives. After visiting a mosque to follow-up a lead, they are mysteriously slipped an address. Upon arriving at said address they break in only to be met by an FBI swat team. Maybe this has introduced a new motive for Rosie’s murder…

Overall the episode wasn’t great, just a lot of set up, but it looks to be headed in the right direction…I give it 3 Bears.

TV

Justified: Season 2 Finale – ‘Bloody Harlan’

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The first season of Justified far exceeded my expectations. Raylan Givens delivered on every level and the show produced not one, but two of the best characters on television today. That first season ended with one of the best finales I’ve ever seen, and somehow season has not only managed to avoid being a let down, but actually turned out better than the first.

Last night that 2nd season came to an end in a ‘full circle’ kind of way, and I loved it. There aren’t many shows on anymore that can put you on the edge of your seat, but that’s wear I sat through the whole episode. The finale picks up with Raylan talking to Art about transferring to Glenco, which is a move to make Winona happy. Boyd requests a parlay with the Bennetts, and Loretta McCready disappears from her foster home.  These 3 events set up the rest of the episode.

First, we learn that Winona is prego. This explains some of why she doesn’t want Raylan in the field. So perhaps we’ll see a little Raylan in the future, though more likely I think Winona either get killed, leave Raylan, or lose the baby before that happens.

Next, during Boyd’s parlay with the Bennetts he anticipates their intentions and sets up ambushes at both Ava and Johnny’s houses. This results in the death squads sent to each location being executed by the Crowder gang. The explosion we saw in last weeks preview killed not Johnny Crowder as we expected, but the Bennett’s men instead.   And the assault on Ava’s house ended almost exclusively with Bennett clan deaths.

Almost – Dickie shot Ava before escaping.

Doyle receives a call from Dickie with the news while still at the parlay. This is Boyd and Arlo’s big “F U” moment with Mags and Doyle. The Bennett assault was a failure and Boyd now has the upper hand.

Next we see Loretta has not been kidnapped, but instead commissioned a ride to Harlan for a chance at revenge on the Bennetts for the murder of her father. Raylan learns of her intentions and heads to Harlan. This is when Raylan falls victim to Dickie’s baseball bat. When Raylan recovers consciousness he finds himself strung up by his ankle in Piñata position.

This is when things looked the worst for Raylan, that is until Boyd Crowder shows up with a gun and a whole lot of bad intention. He has just seen Ava’s gunshot wound and has some swift retribution planned for Dickie Bennett. After getting Raylan cut down from the tree, Boyd allows Dickie to live at Raylan’s behest in order to help find Loretta.

Raylan takes Dickie to play ‘Human Shield’ at the Bennett’s house. When he gets there Loretta is already inside with Mags and Raylan has to deal with Doyle. Doyle seems unconcerned with the danger posed to his brother and decides he has had enough of Marshall Givens.

This is about the time that Loretta, inside the house opens fire on Mags, shooting her in the leg. This gunfire causes Doyle’s men outside to open fire – hitting Raylan and nearly killing Dickie as well. With Raylan on the ground, Doyle decides to end the feud once and for all. This results in Marshall/Sniper Tim Gutterson blowing a hole in the Police Chief’s forehead…

This brings the entire Marshall service rushing in at Art’s command, who is there because of Winona’s plea for him to help Raylan. The injured Givens limps into the house to find the injured Mags at the end of Loretta’s gun barrel. After Raylan is able to talk the gun out of Loretta’s hand he sits down with Mags. And full circle we’ve come as Mags pours a couple of glasses of her famous Apple Pie drink and, like with Walt McCready, the glass for the drink proves to be fatal. This time however, Mags poisons herself. News of Doyle’s death and Dickie’s arrest, couple with Coover’s death and Loretta’s attempted murder, Mags decides it’s all too much.

The episode and season end with Raylan’s hand in hers, and the Bennett’s hold on Harlan County officially released. I don’t think many people expected Dickie to be the only Bennett to survive the season, but such is life. This sets things up for the 3rd season where we are sure to see Boyd reclaim the county as his own.

I truly believe this is be the best running series on Television and I already can’t wait for season 3…

Video is also from Warming Glow…

OTHER JUSTIFIED ARTICLES:
– Justified: A Beacon of Modern Masculinity
– Justified: Cottonmouth – Harlan County’s Best of the Season
– FX Renews My Faith: 3rd Season of JUSTIFIED Ordered
– Justified: Episode 209 “Brother’s Keeper”

TV

Give it a Chance: ‘The Chicago Code’

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For the 2nd show in our Give it a Chance series is on that is already endangered – Fox’s The Chicago Code. It’s no surprise that this show is good, after all it comes from Shawn Ryan, the same guy who gave us Terriers and The Shield. But much like Terriers, the ratings just aren’t there. Granted, it gets roughly 8 times the amount of viewers that Donal Louge and gang got, but on network TV that still may not be enough.

At first glance this may appear to be ‘just another cop show’, but it’s more than that. It’s actually what ABC’s Detroit 1-8-7 should’ve been. Where 1-8-7 looked at my beloved city and ignored the corruption, The Chicago Code has embraced it. Detroit is rotten almost entirely though with corruption reaching the highest levels of local government (Kwame Kilpatrick, Monica Conyers, Stephen A. Hill),  1-8-7 choose to ignore much of this and instead act a publicity piece for the city. The creators constantly sucking up to a city council that didn’t want them there and the characters continually defending the city as if they’d never been there. Refreshingly The Chicago Code instead recognizes the flaws of its setting, and it’s characters attempt to fix said flaws. Perhaps a fantasy of Ryan’s, as he grew up in the ‘Windy City’. I know if I were gonna make a cop show in Detroit I would want my version of the city to be fought for by my protagonist. And that’s whats happening on The Chicago Code.

The fight to save Chicago is done so with some inspired casting. First the guardian of the city and new head of the C.P.D. is Teresa Colvin (Jennifer Beals) and she is on mission to cleanse the city’s government of corruption. Her muscle – her Ex-Partner Detective Jarek Wysocki (Jason Clarke). Wysocki is joined by Friday Night Lights star Matt Lauria who plays his young partner Caleb Evers. The trio seem to have excellent chemistry.

Jarek and Caleb are given Carte blanche as far which cases they get to take. This is not popular among the other police which only makes their jobs harder. Also on the job is one of the stars of the short-lived NBC show The Black Donnellys – Billy Lush. Lush plays Undercover Detective Liam Hennessey and is known as a cop to only a very select few.

Liam is undercover with the intent of bring down the most powerful man in Chicago – Alderman Ronin Gibbons (Delroy Lindo). Gibbons not only controls the Police budget, but is also as corrupt as they come. This is the basis of the show. Colvin bringing down Gibbons, the man who appointed her.

Ok, so reading that it does sort of sound like ‘another cop show’, but the stories are woven together in a way that forces you to see the situation from multiple angles. The dialogue is well written, and while not as good as The Shield or Terriers, it’s about as good as you can hope for on network TV…

I’d rank this among the best cop shows on TV right now, right up there with Southland. I gave the show a chance because of Shawn Ryan, but I return to it each week because it is awesomely entertaining. I urge you to give it a chance as well…

TV

AMC’s ‘The Killing’: Episode 6 – “What You Have Left”

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The sixth episode of The Killing starts as we prepare for the funeral of Rosie Larsen. This is a reminder of how little time has passed on the show. Despite this already being the sixth episode, Rosie’s body isn’t yet in the ground. We see Richmond’s campaign is trying to get back on track with the return of Jamie, but there is still friction with Gwen concerning trust issues. And Linden’s investigation just keeps pointing towards Bennett.

Now some people may say the show is moving slowly, but I actually appreciate the pacing. They are taking their time to play all the angles and producing a true ‘who-done-it’. So, what happened tonight?

Episode 6 focused mainly on Bennett and the evidence seemed to just continue to pile up, only now it seems perhaps it wasn’t Bennett who killed her, but rather Chrissy Seaver Mrs. Ahmed who may have committed the crime.

Belko’s source called in with Bennett’s name, which was delivered to Stan. As the episode came to a close, it did so with Stan giving Bennett “a ride home”…something that does not bode well for Bennett. Especially since in this episode we learned a little more about Stan’s past. Before Rosie was born, Stan was muscle for the Polish Mob. And though he has no record, it seems like killing Bennett wouldn’t be a stretch for Stan.

Linden and Holder know Stan has Bennett and are desperately trying to find them. Bennett is also having a major effect on the Richmond campaign without even knowing it. Darren assuming Bennett’s innocence has refused to distance himself from the teacher in fear of ruining an innocent man. The mayor is using this against Richmond obviously and his longshot to become Mayor just got a little longer…


Not an overly eventful episode outside the funeral, but the plot progressed nicely. This was my favorite episode yet, expertly crafted – 4.5 Bears. Boom. I’m quite excited for next week.