First Look: Django Unchained

By DOUGLAS TSENG

Starring: Jamie Foxx, Leonardo Dicaprio, Christoph Waltz

Directed by: Quentin Tarantino

Why watch: Quentin Tarantino takes aim at the Wild West.

The low-down: Set in pre-Civil War South, a slave (Jamie Foxx) sets off to rescue his kidnapped wife (Kerry Washington) with help from a bounty hunter (Christoph Waltz).

The buzz: Yes, it’s a Western, but don’t let the W-word scare you off. This is no ordinary period piece — especially when it’s maverick auteur Quentin Tarantino calling the shots. One wonders how he’s going to invigorate a cobwebbed genre with his post-modern sensibilities. Judging from the footage going around, it’s going to be more True Romance than True Grit, a revenge thriller packed with an anachronistically hip soundtrack, a non-linear narrative, a Samuel L Jackson cameo, over-the-top violence, insanely quotable lines and countless odes to obscure ’70s movies. Did we forget to mention that Leonardo DiCaprio plays an inglourious basterd, an evil ranch/brothel owner who does despicable things to his slaves? Do we have your attention now?

Opens: Jan 24, 2013