MovieMeditation's Cinema Reviews

When Chris Mannix reads the Lincoln letter I almost cried the first two times, and it gave me goosebumps all four.

It's beautiful, you have this letter that is fake, but so poetic, so full of life being read in a place full of so much violence. We have these two men who hated each other, fought on opposite sides of war mainly for reasons of colour, but at the end they're reduced to being just two dying men next to each other. Their friendship is beautifully handled, and when the Roy Orbison music hits I get goosebumps every time too, perfect.

I think the letter reinforces Tarantino's overall anti-racist message. He's one of the only director who accepts that racism is a part of everyday life and most people's vocabularies.

It's sad that this letter is fake, but has such as positive message. The part where he says you have done so much for your race, but there is still so much work to do. It's like a sign of hope, but it is not real. It's sad knowing that now such hatred and racism still exists, maybe that's why I found it so moving.

I think the Mannix and Warren relationship was brilliantly written, and having seen it four times, I still find it great how it changes so much in just a couple hours, truly great writing. It reminded me of Mr Orange and Mr White in Reservoir Dogs, both on opposite sides of the law and hated each other but by the end comforting each with some sort of respect for what they have both done. Humanism in a world of madness.

John Ruth's character is supposed to be liberal at the beginning, but even he succumbs to racial stereotypes and show his dark side when he finds he has been treated in real life. It's true of today, people claim not to be racist, but when they see a black person do something bad they'll often make a derogatory comment based on the colour of their skin. It's also heart breaking, when he finds out he's been lied to, I felt genuinely sorry for him.

When Chris Mannix reads the Lincoln letter I almost cried the first two times, and it gave me goosebumps all four.

It's beautiful, you have this letter that is fake, but so poetic, so full of life being read in a place full of so much violence. We have these two men who hated each other, fought on opposite sides of war mainly for reasons of colour, but at the end they're reduced to being just two dying men next to each other. Their friendship is beautifully handled, and when the Roy Orbison music hits I get goosebumps every time too, perfect.

I think the letter reinforces Tarantino's overall anti-racist message. He's one of the only director who accepts that racism is a part of everyday life and most people's vocabularies.

It's sad that this letter is fake, but has such as positive message. The part where he says you have done so much for your race, but there is still so much work to do. It's like a sign of hope, but it is not real. It's sad knowing that now such hatred and racism still exists, maybe that's why I found it so moving.

I think the Mannix and Warren relationship was brilliantly written, and having seen it four times, I still find it great how it changes so much in just a couple hours, truly great writing. It reminded me of Mr Orange and Mr White in Reservoir Dogs, both on opposite sides of the law and hated each other but by the end comforting each with some sort of respect for what they have both done. Humanism in a world of madness.

John Ruth's character is supposed to be liberal at the beginning, but even he succumbs to racial stereotypes and show his dark side when he finds he has been treated in real life. It's true of today, people claim not to be racist, but when they see a black person do something bad they'll often make a derogatory comment based on the colour of their skin. It's also heart breaking, when he finds out he's been lied to, I felt genuinely sorry for him.

If he wasn't there, then the mystery would have been obvious. A Mexican running the place and only two other men, one being English, it would have been easy to assume that they were all working together.

I think it's Oswaldo who tells Jodie to spare his life, and in reality I think this would have happened. It's a great decision and without it we have a totally different film. He really does does add a genuine touch to the proceedings, and throws you off in terms of mystery. Just the fact that couple of people recognised him meant that it was unlikely he'd be plotting to take Daisy, and the way he acted normally around the other three took suspicious away from them too.

I don't know how it's forced at all. You have to have characters that make the plot work, and I felt I could definitely buy his character being there and still being alive. An ex confederate soldier, he was able to really bring out the different characters like Mannix and Marquis, help develop that relationship and pose moral questions about race and war once again.

Without him it's a totally different film and really doesn't work. I honestly don't understand how you would see it as forced. And yes his acting is brilliant. When I first watched it I thought it was good, then me and Cobpyth had an in depth discussion about the film and he told me just how brilliant he thought he was. Since then I've been more impressed on each viewing, the screechiness of his voice is both terrifying and desperate, he's a pathetic evil old man but there's something in there that's very human, his eyes throughout the whole thing are fantastic, when he stares at the camera you look in to them and really see him for who he is. The same with Daisy, her eyes, the close-ups of the whole film were fantastic.

If he wasn't there, then the mystery would have been obvious. A Mexican running the place and only two other men, one being English, it would have been easy to assume that they were all working together.

I think it's Oswaldo who tells Jodie to spare his life, and in reality I think this would have happened. It's a great decision and without it we have a totally different film. He really does does add a genuine touch to the proceedings, and throws you off in terms of mystery. Just the fact that couple of people recognised him meant that it was unlikely he'd be plotting to take Daisy, and the way he acted normally around the other three took suspicious away from them too.

I don't know how it's forced at all. You have to have characters that make the plot work, and I felt I could definitely buy his character being there and still being alive. An ex confederate soldier, he was able to really bring out the different characters like Mannix and Marquis, help develop that relationship and pose moral questions about race and war once again.

Without him it's a totally different film and really doesn't work. I honestly don't understand how you would see it as forced. And yes his acting is brilliant. When I first watched it I thought it was good, then me and Cobpyth had an in depth discussion about the film and he told me just how brilliant he thought he was. Since then I've been more impressed on each viewing, the screechiness of his voice is both terrifying and desperate, he's a pathetic evil old man but there's something in there that's very human, his eyes throughout the whole thing are fantastic, when he stares at the camera you look in to them and really see him for who he is. The same with Daisy, her eyes, the close-ups of the whole film were fantastic.

I just thought there was too much wrong with leaving him alive, he could have told on them too.

I just thought there was too much wrong with leaving him alive, he could have told on them too.

You stated that it's an example of the film taking the character who had by that point emerged as the closest thing that audiences had to a favourite character and then proceeded to shatter their perception of the character. It was only when you pointed that out that I realised just how much Warren was this film's equivalent of MacReady from The Thing. Though both films are supposed to be ensemble films with no clearly-defined protagonist, both Warren and Mac ultimately evolve as de facto protagonists within the narrative, especially when they both decide to take charge once both situations start to descend into chaos. Warren's monologue is comparable to the sequence of events that comes halfway through The Thing where the other members of Outpost 31 find a shredded piece of thermal underwear with Mac's name on it (with the film having already suggested that the Thing tears through people's clothes when it assimilates them). The next time that we see Mac, he's broken into the base and is threatening the others with dynamite - this being the man who was the closest thing this film had to a capable hero during its first half.

As a result, both films expose difficult sides to both their nominal protagonists through implication that is never confirmed - we never find out for certain if Mac is a Thing, nor can we ever know for certain that Warren was telling the truth or lying about what he did to Smithers Jr. (even if it is shown on-screen, the film had already established multiple reasons to at least consider that Warren was lying in order to goad Smithers into trying to shoot him so as to allow him to kill the old man in self-defence. There are a few other parallels - such as Mac administering the blood test in comparison to Warren lining up the other survivors, both of which go well until they are blind-sided by Palmer's blood and Channing Tatum respectively. Also, the fact that both make it to the end but are not likely to survive.

You stated that it's an example of the film taking the character who had by that point emerged as the closest thing that audiences had to a favourite character and then proceeded to shatter their perception of the character. It was only when you pointed that out that I realised just how much Warren was this film's equivalent of MacReady from The Thing. Though both films are supposed to be ensemble films with no clearly-defined protagonist, both Warren and Mac ultimately evolve as de facto protagonists within the narrative, especially when they both decide to take charge once both situations start to descend into chaos. Warren's monologue is comparable to the sequence of events that comes halfway through The Thing where the other members of Outpost 31 find a shredded piece of thermal underwear with Mac's name on it (with the film having already suggested that the Thing tears through people's clothes when it assimilates them). The next time that we see Mac, he's broken into the base and is threatening the others with dynamite - this being the man who was the closest thing this film had to a capable hero during its first half.

As a result, both films expose difficult sides to both their nominal protagonists through implication that is never confirmed - we never find out for certain if Mac is a Thing, nor can we ever know for certain that Warren was telling the truth or lying about what he did to Smithers Jr. (even if it is shown on-screen, the film had already established multiple reasons to at least consider that Warren was lying in order to goad Smithers into trying to shoot him so as to allow him to kill the old man in self-defence. There are a few other parallels - such as Mac administering the blood test in comparison to Warren lining up the other survivors, both of which go well until they are blind-sided by Palmer's blood and Channing Tatum respectively. Also, the fact that both make it to the end but are not likely to survive.