DJANGO’S CALVIN HAS HIS CANDY

Wow, helluva cast.  My anticipation for this keeps growing. 

This cast just keeps getting better and better. I'd heard rumblings about LaPaglia and JGL, but had no idea Tarantino had snagged Williams as well. Fuckin' awesome!

Easily my most anticipated 2012 release at this juncture.  

I'm doing my damnedest to stay away from knowing too much about this movie.

That's how I went into Inglorious Basterds.  I want my first viewing of Django to go as well as my first viewing of that film did.

My very own LaPaglia is joining the cast and getting to use his accent for once??? And JGL is playing his brother?

There is no film I'm more excited about already, but each new bit of news sends me a little giddier.

Still one more significant role to cast in Scotty Harmony.

Indeed.  There are also plenty of small roles that can be filled with great actors as well.................be they of the star, character, or cult variety.  I'm also curious to see who the third Brittle brother ends up being...............especially since whoever it is will be alongside Gainey and Savini.  I was kinda hoping the role would get cast before I wrote the article, but with the additions piling up I didn't want to wait any longer.

Awesome cast just keeps getting more awesome.

Holy...

This is going to be good. Props on the Corbucci joke. One must not forget history.

Quote:

Originally Posted by stelios 

Props on the Corbucci joke. One must not forget history.

Thanks!  I was hoping at least a few would get a laugh out of it.
 

- Navajo Joe*

- The Hellbenders

- The Mercenary*

- Companeros

- The Great Silence

All are westerns.  I would DEFINITELY recommend seeing the last three.  The first two are pretty fun as well.  Super Fuzz is another one worth seeing if you are into crazy action comedies.

* - available on Netflix Instant

Companeros is my favorite of that bunch.................and one of my all-time favorite westerns in general.  Franco Nero and Tomas Milian are having a criminal amount of fun in that one.  It's too bad they never teamed up again.

Yeah, definitely watch Companeros first of all.

Aw man, Jonah Hill was up for the role of Scotty Harmony, but had to pass.  Just as well I guess, skinny Jonah wouldn't have killed it the way fat Jonah would have.

Not really sure what to make of this news. Apparently James Remar has joined the cast and will be playing a character named Ace Speck. Now Kurt Russell is supposed to be playing Ace Woody, so it seems kind of odd that Tarantino would use "Ace" as a first name twice: http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118045916?categoryid=13&cs=1&cmpid=RSS%7CNews%7CLatestNews

Speck is a different character, so you need not worry about Kurt being absent from the proceedings.

Quote:

Originally Posted by S.D. Bob Plissken 

Super Fuzz is another one worth seeing if you are into crazy action comedies.

 

I recorded this on beta off HBO way back in the day and just got it on dvd last year for nostalgia sake. It's a fun movie for a kid. 
 

Tom Wopat!  James Remar!  The geek hits just keep on coming.

And yet there are STILL countless small and bit roles that he can fill up with actors that are just as fun!

So I guess Clarke Duke wasn't available either.

Sorry but I have to call stunt casting on a lot of these choices. Jonah Hill would've been the most egregiously obvious one, so thankfully he's not in it. But Baron Cohen is almost as bad. It seems like fanboy service to me. These aren't character actors, they're the beloved, undersung favorites of the film geek world. But hey, I guess Tarantino knows his audience.

Well, both Hill and Cohen are certainly talented.  And it's not like Tarantino will be shooting for a period authentic feel in the slightest.  The casting of Cohen must mean he changed the character of Scotty fairly significantly (i.e. not just superficial details like his weight.)

ETA: I shouldn't say "in the slightest", I guess.  But he is certainly not shy about taking liberties with history, or playing with different tones.

I know they're talented, and it doesn't really bother me that their casting might seem anachronistic. One thing I actually really loved about Basterds was that the casting was a total revelation -- we got really great glimpses into previously unknown talents like Fassbender, Kruger, Laurent, Waltz, etc. Not to mention the visibility those roles afforded them. I mean, Basterds can probably be credited for the Fassbender "craze" (well, preoccupation) that's happening right now. He's great in Hunger, but it's not like it was widely seen on the level of Basterds.

With Django, we're just getting famous -- or rather, reputable-in-film-geek-circles -- people shoved into small roles just under the assumption that it'll be cool to see them basically being window-dressing. They're clearly not being cast on the basis of whether or not they're "right" for the character, or on the basis of any real bona fide casting philosophy. It's just Tarantino loading up his movie with big personalities who have a known image that he can exploit. For what reason? Well, I assume it's because he's a film geek like the rest of us. But I dunno if that's the best vantage point from which to cast your movie.

I kind of agree, especially in the case of Levitt. He's playing a very minor character who doesn't show up until well late in the script. A minor, Australian character. I can't imagine Tarantino had him in mind when he wrote the script. Kurt Russell is also playing a much smaller role than you'd think he'd be playing (he's essentially playing the type of role that usually goes to Michael Madsen). Now I suppose some here will argue that the script can be changed, and these characters can be made more substantial, but considering just how many different characters are already in this, and that there are roles being written specifically for the RZA and Michael K. Williams (allegedly), I think it's unlikely. With DiCaprio, Levitt, and now Cohen, I think he just wants to work with these guys regardless if they are right for their parts. Although, just judging from the cast, I was completely off on all of these characters.

You know, it's kind of funny, because when Tarantino cast people like Eli Roth, Zoe Bell, and Omar Doom, fans were complaining he was just casting friends who probably couldn't act as well as professional actors.  Now they're complaining he's casting actors!

But seriously, I know what you guys are saying.  But I think that this thing is obviously evolving, and since this is not an adaptation, and the guy hasn't made a bad film yet, there's no reason to be less excited about this cast than the one we originally envisioned reading the draft of the script that was leaked.

(Although I realize, JMulder, that's not necessarily your concern.)

I said it before and I'll say it again. I will never even think of doubting Tarantino's casting decisions. He's supernaturally good at that. He could have casted Larry The Cable Guy as Django and I'd accept it.

At this point, part of it has gotta be actors going to Tarantino and saying "Dude, I will play Fifth Drooling Idiot on the Right for you for free. Just tell me and I'm fucking there."

This is apparently not far from what James Woods actually said to Scorsese, which led to him as Lester the pimp in Casino.

What's hilarious is every hot bankable star in Hollywood would probably give a nut (or an ovary) to work with Tarantino, and then he casts guys like Tom Wopat. (Who may well be a very fine actor, but you know Tarantino's a Dukes fan.)

On that tip, is James Best still working?* You'd think Tarantino would pull him out of retirement for this, since he actually took an acting class from Best way back in the day. (I choose not to blame Best for the result. As anyone who's seen Shock Corridor can attest, the man's a god.)

* EDIT: Oh, fuck me. And John Schneider's in it, too. Quentin, save the old man from this shit!

Quote:

Originally Posted by JMulder 

Sorry but I have to call stunt casting on a lot of these choices.  It seems like fanboy service to me.

Tarantino has been stunt casting for half his career.  The guy is jukebox.  It's one thing that irritates me about him.

And I do agree that the characters I read in the script have very little in common with most of the actors being cast, only because he wrote them so specifically.  But I will reserve judgement for the eventual print I watch at Arclight.

I actually truly believe his films would be BETTER if he relied more on casting agents and not his marijuana fueled geekasms.  There's no way to understate how valuable a good casting agent is.  As good as his films are, they're sometimes hampered by the obvious stunt casting...the right ensemble casts elevate the material, not just good actors in a role because they're a geek favorite of his (or ours)...it's like adding too much salt to a recipe, kinda throws the entire dish off.  Just my opinion.

Quote:

Originally Posted by stelios 

I said it before and I'll say it again. I will never even think of doubting Tarantino's casting decisions. He's supernaturally good at that. He could have casted Larry The Cable Guy as Django and I'd accept it.

100% agreed.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ambler 

I actually truly believe his films would be BETTER if he relied more on casting agents and not his marijuana fueled geekasms.  There's no way to understate how valuable a good casting agent is.  As good as his films are, they're sometimes hampered by the obvious stunt casting...the right ensemble casts elevate the material, not just good actors in a role because they're a geek favorite of his (or ours)...it's like adding too much salt to a recipe, kinda throws the entire dish off.  Just my opinion.

That will only happen if QT manages to find a casting agent who is as knowledgeable and risk taking as Quentin is, 'cause he's not going to let any "but this actor isn't on the lists" thing fly................which is probably why he just does it himself for the most part.
 

I totally trust his casting.

I'm most curious as to who he's going to get as an editor to replace Sally Menke. He could probably get Schoonmaker and it would totally make sense, but I guess there's the tiny chance of him letting Rodriguez edit it, which would be a nightmare. My guess? Tarantino edits this one, for better or for worse.

I wouldn't call QT's casting style 'stunt casting' simply because he always casts well. He seems to have very specific opinions of these actors and the range he believes they have, and casts them to bring out these elements. John Travolta was a joke before Pulp Fiction. Robert Forster was totally forgotten before Jackie Brown (Ditto, arguably, Pam Grier) Ditto with Carradine. Christ, the guy even got Mike Myers his best reviews in years. So yeah, I tend to think the bloke knows what he's doing.