Open Range (2003)

Costner put a lot of work into all aspects of the film, and it shows. Acting was excellent. Story was simple, in an "Unforgiven" kind of way, but still gripping. Fantastic shootout. Solid movie.

Rating: B

Public Enemies (2009)

Heat: The Prequel. It's a typical Michael Mann drama, with a touch of overacting. My favorite characters were the Texas lawmen.

Rating: C

Django Unchained (2012)

When I watch a film from one of my favorite directors of all time, in this case Quentin Tarantino, I’m always nervous. Normally I keep low expectations for any movie I see. But when it’s from a master like Tarantino, I can’t help but to expect something amazing. My nervousness stems from the fear of being disappointed.

Django will quickly remind you of his last project: Inglorious Basterds. Both are revenge stories for a disenfranchised and maligned people. Here, we’ve swapped out Jews for slaves. The movie is fantastic on many levels. You may have noticed most of my reviews are very brief. I normally don’t like to rehash plot points and pontificate on the cinematic attributes of a film. Others do it much better than I. In fact, I like going into films blind, so I have no idea what’s going to happen. Most reviews give away too much.

The truth is, I believe the perfect movie review to be a single letter: The rating a reviewer gives to a film. Letter grades A through F are the ideal system in my book. Of course, this is only the case if you can find a reviewer who has impeccable taste, in addition to taste that is largely in line with your own. If you are fortunate enough to find that person, you’ll be blessed with a continuous source of quality movie titles to see, without having to wade through the muck yourself. I’ve yet to find my movie reviewing soul mate, and I can only hope to be that special person to someone else through this blog. I won’t say anything more about Django Unchained other than to offer my grade below.

Rating: A-