Quentin Tarantino
The "Django Unchained" Interview
with Kam Williams

With a vibrant imagination and dedication to rich, layered storytelling, Quentin Tarantino has established himself as one of the most celebrated filmmakers of his generation. His World War II epic, "Inglorious Basterds," was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Screenplay, and Best Achievement in Directing, and landed an Oscar for Christoph Waltz for his memorable portrayal of Colonel Hans Landa. .

Prior to "Inglorious Basterds," Tarantino thrilled audiences with "Death Proof," starring Kurt Russell and Zoë Bell. In "Kill Bill Vol. 1″ and "Kill Bill Vol. 2," Uma Thurman, as "The Bride," enacted a "roaring rampage of revenge" on her former lover and boss, played by David Carradine.

Quentin wrote and directed "Jackie Brown," a crime caper starring Pam Grier in the title role. Loosely based on Elmore Leonard's novel "Rum Punch," the picture netted Robert Forster an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Tarantino co-wrote, directed and starred in "Pulp Fiction" which won an Academy Award for Best Screenplay. He wrote, directed and starred in "Reservoir Dogs," which marked the beginning of his career and made an auspicious debut at the Sundance Film Festival.

Here, he talks about his new movie, Django Unchained, a Western featuring Jamie Foxx in the title role as a slave-turned-bounty hunter, and co-starring Christoph Waltz, Samuel L. Jackson, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kerry Washington.

Kam Williams: Hi Quentin, thanks for the interview.

Quentin Tarantino: Oh, it's my pleasure, Kam.

KW: The last time we spoke, the conversation went so well, the interview is going to be published in the new edition of Quentin Tarantino Interviews.

QT: Oh yeah! Edited by Gerald Peary! Volume 2. Cool!

KW: Let me start with a question from Larry Greenberg, a reader who also sent in a question for that interview: He says: When I got to ask Mr. Tarantino a question about Inglorious Basterds his answer changed my life and inspired me to go into filmmaking. It gave me permission to pursue my dream. If that had not happened, I doubt that I would be sitting here today with a script and an insane deadline. It was a key turning point in my life. This time, I'd like to know how you came up with the characters Django and Dr. Schultz [played by Christoph Waltz] and how did you dream up their relationship?

QT: Wow, Larry! That's great! As for the scriptwriting process, it was kind of funny. I always knew I wanted to do a Western. And trying to think of what that would be, I always figured that if I did a Western, it would have a lot of the aesthetics of Spaghetti Westerns, because I really like them. They're really brutal and operatic with a surreal quality to the violence. So, about eight years ago, I came up with the idea of a black man who was an ex-slave who had become a bounty hunter. And his job would be to track down white outlaws who were hiding out as overseers on Southern plantations. Now, that's not a story; that's just an idea. That was kicking around in the incubator for about eight years, waiting for its time. At the same time, I was writing a film criticism book on Sergio Corbucci, the director who did the original Django. So, I was kind of getting immersed in his world. Towards the end of the Inglourious Basterds press tour I was in Japan. Spaghetti Westerns are really popular there, so I picked up a bunch of soundtracks and spent my day off listening to all these scores. And all of a sudden the opening scene just came to me. It just came to me, and I knew I had to sit down and write it, even though I didn't even have my notepad with me. So, I was just writing it on the hotel stationery. During those previous eight years, I never had a German, dentist bounty hunter in mind for the character. [Chuckles] But during that time, I did get to direct Christoph Waltz who was one of the best actors I'd ever worked with. Nobody does my dialogue better than he and Sam Jackson do. They just sing it! And now I think it's going to be hard for me not to write for him. Anyway, I just started writing that scene, and this German bounty hunter shows up.

KW: What was the most challenging aspect of writing the script? Addressing racial issues? Historical accuracy? Did you feel any pressure to conform to political-correctness, or did you feel free to take poetic license, given the glowing reception of audiences to Hitler's dying in a movie theater in Inglorious Basterds?

QT: I felt no obligation to bow to any 21st Century political correctness. What I did feel an obligation to do was to take the 21st Century viewers and physically transport them back to the ante bellum South in 1858, in Mississippi, and have them look at America for what it was back then. And I wanted it to be shocking.

KW: Have you seen the film yet with a black audience?

QT: Yes I have!

KW: And what was their reaction? I know how an all-black audience feels comfortable enough to talk back to the screen and let you know exactly how they feel about what's happening.

QT: [Laughs] Let's put it like this: We screened it for heavily-black audiences quite a few times, where the audience was between 40 and 60 percent black. That's pretty black. We also screened it for a 100 percent black audience, and you would've thought it was 1973 and they were watching the end of Coffy [A blaxploitation era flick starring Pam Grier]. It's funny because I was sitting next to [executive producer] Harvey Weinstein and he turns to me and says, "I guess we know who we made this movie for." [LOL] But the film really has a lot of ups and downs, and taps into a lot of different emotions. To me, the trick was balancing all those emotions, so that I could get you where I wanted you to be by the very end. I wanted the audience cheering in triumph at the end. So, as rough as some of the things I show in the movie are, they couldn't be so rough that you're too traumatized to enjoy the movie any longer.

KW: Gil Cretney doesn't have a question, but he just wants to say thanks for not filming the movie in 3-D.

QT: [LOL] You're welcome, Gil!

KW: Irene Smalls: Why this film? Why now, in the Obama era?

QT: [Chuckles] I would've written this story if Obama were president or if he never existed. For one, I think it's time to tell a story that deals with this subject America has avoided for so long. Most countries have been forced to deal with the atrocities of their past that still affect them to this day. But America has been pretty slippery in the way that it has avoided looking slavery in the eye. I believe that's a problem. We should be talking about it to get past it and to get over it. Not only that, frankly, this is an American story that needs to be told, when you think of slavery existing in this country for 245 years. In slave narratives there were all types of tales and drama and heroism and pain and love that happened during that time. That's rich material for drama! Everyone complains that there are no new stories left to tell. Not true, there are a whole bunch of them, and they're all American with a capital A.

KW: Why do you think you're the first director to confront slavery in such a frank fashion?

QT: I hate to sound full of myself but maybe I just have the shoulders.

KW: Nick Antoine says: Westerns seem to have fallen out of favor in recent years. Even Rian Johnson's Looper, which was sort of a subtle homage to the genre, didn't enjoy as much success as I think it deserved. Why do you think Westerns are so unpopular? I think Westerns are the best!

QT: If you ask me, I'd say Westerns have been doing really well. True Grit did great, and 3:10 to Yuma did pretty well, too. I actually think there's something else going on. There was that last blast of Westerns that came out in the Seventies, those Vietnam/Watergate Westerns where everything was about demystification. And I like that about those movies. And there's another aspect about the Seventies. Blazing Saddles, as wonderful as it was, sort of hurt the Western. It made such fun of them, that you almost couldn't take them seriously from that point on. That's why only Westerns that had the stink of Watergate or Vietnam could be taken seriously. There were so few Westerns made since then, from the Eighties on, that the few directors who did were so pleased with themselves and so happy to have the opportunity that they got lost in visuals, they got lost in the vistas and the pretty scenery. Suddenly, Westerns, which were our action films and what the working man went to see to blow off steam and have a good time, became boring to most people growing up from the Eighties on, because they're kind of pastoral.

KW: Interesting. I never thought of them that way. Film student Jamaal Green asks: What are your three favorite Shaw Brothers films?

QT: Great question, Jamaal! My three favorite Shaw brothers films would be The Avenging Eagle directed by Chung Sun, King Boxer, AKA Five Fingers of Death, and the last would have to be one by Chang Cheh. So, I'm going to go with Five Element Ninja, AKA Chinese Super Ninjas.

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles: What would you say were the most essential components in a script you consider working on?

QT: That's kind of a tough question. Well, maybe not. The dialogue. But the dialogue and the characters would be wrapped up in each other, because if I'm doing my job right, then I'm not writing the dialogue; the characters are saying the dialogue, and I'm just jotting it down. So, it's all about me getting into the heads of the characters. I prop them up a little bit, and then they take over from there.

KW: Since you're also the director, do you ever have trouble adapting your vision to the screen?

QT: Sometimes. But usually the process is that it gets better, because when I'm writing in my bedroom, in a bar, at my kitchen table or wherever, I'm conjuring it all up on the page. That's all well and good, but it is going to be a limited perspective at that point and time. Occasionally, what I write might read really well initially, but then you change your mind while hunting for locations when you discover settings which offer even better opportunities for drama or dramatic staging.

KW: Keith Kremer asks: How do you feel about the end of the year award season? Is it too much? Are you honored when recognized or do you not even care?

QT: [Laughs] For some reason, everyone thinks I'm always too cool for school when it comes to competing for trophies. But I worked extremely hard on this movie all year long, so it's really nice to get recognized and be considered one of the best in the end. And it's nice to get invited to the parties and to be able to hobnob and celebrate a job well done with your colleagues. However, I have it all in perspective. If the film is nominated for awards, and even if it wins them, it doesn't make the movie any better, just as if it's ignored that doesn't make the movie any worse. A lot of the movies I love didn't get nominated the years they came out. The Wild Bunch didn't win best picture in 1969, Oliver did. [Laughs]

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

QT: So far, I see a happy guy doing what I'm supposed to be doing. So far, so good.

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

QT: Frankly, my earliest childhood memories are of watching Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein and Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed. I remember not liking Frankenstein then and going, "Who is this bald guy?" But I love it now.

KW: Well, thanks again for the honor, Quentin, and best of luck with the film.

QT: I always look forward to talking to you, Kam. Good talking to you.

To see a trailer for Django Unchained, visit

Silver Linings Playbook
Film Review by Kam Williams

Pat Solitano (Bradley Cooper) completely lost it the day he came home early from work to find his wife (Brea Bee) naked in the shower with one of her colleagues (Ted Barba). In fact, he proceeded to beat up her lover so badly that the only way he avoided a prison sentence was by agreeing to enter a mental hospital.

That was eight months ago and now that he's being discharged he's eager to reconcile and reunite with Nikki. But that's not gonna happen, because she's so afraid of his temper that she sold their house and got a restraining order issued against him.

And she has good reason to be concerned, since her ex has been diagnosed as bipolar with depression and anger management issues. Consequently, with no wife, job or home to return to, the state releases Pat to the custody of his parents (Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver), although he considers the move temporary.

While suffering under the delusion that Nikki will come back to him soon, he is introduced to a recently-widowed neighbor (Jennifer Lawrence). As luck would have it, Tiffany happens to afflicted with a very compatible set of weird neuroses.

She confides in him that she's been very promiscuous as of late, and that she was fired for sleeping with just about everybody in her office. A Platonic friendship is gradually forged between the two, with chivalrous Pat protecting rather than further exploiting the vulnerable young woman. Meanwhile, Tiffany agrees to secretly deliver forbidden letters to his estranged wife so long as he promises to be her dance partner in an upcoming ballroom competition.

Adapted from the Matthew Quick novel of the same name, Silver Linings Playbook is a tenderhearted tale about two terribly wounded souls who survive by grudgingly leaning on each other's shoulder. Written and directed by Academy Award-nominee David O. Russell (for The Fighter), this charming little film has already landed four well-deserved Golden Globe nominations in the Best Picture, Screenplay, Lead Actor and Lead Actress nominations.

The protagonists are played by People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive Bradley Cooper and Oscar-nominee Jennifer Lawrence (For Winter's Bone) who again exhibits an impressive acting range in service of an emotionally-demanding role. The pair's stellar supporting cast is at its best when providing comic relief, especially Anupam Kher as Pat's eccentric shrink, Chris Tucker as his motor-mouthed pal, and Robert De Niro as his obsessive-compulsive father.

Credit director Russell for keeping the audience captivated and in suspense for the duration with the help of a cleverly-concealed script as well as a motley crew of colorful characters. A slice-of-life romantic romp revolving around a couple of unstable misfits who take forever to wake up and realize they've found one another.

Excellent (4 stars)

Rated R for profanity, sexuality and nudity

Running time: 122 minutes

Distributor: The Weinstein Company

To see a trailer for Silver Linings Playbook, visit

Jamie Foxx
The "Django Unchained" Interview
with Kam Williams

Academy Award-winning actor, talented Grammy Award-winning musical artist and comedian Jamie Foxx is one of Hollywood's rare, elite multi-faceted performers. He was last seen in Horrible Bosses and also recently lent his vocal talents to the popular animated adventure RIO, as a canary named 'Nico.'

Meanwhile, Jamie recently executive produced a sketch comedy series called "In the Flow with Affion Crockett" as well as "Thunder Soul," a documentary chronicling the achievements of Houston's Kashmere High School Stage Band.

In addition to his outstanding work in film, Foxx has enjoyed a thriving career in music. In December 2010, he released his fourth album, "Best Night of My Life," featuring Drake, Justin Timberlake, Rick Ross, T.I., and other artists. In January 2010, Foxx and T-Pain's record breaking #1 song "Blame It" off of his previous album, "Intuition," won "Best R&B performance by a duo/group with vocals" at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards.

In 2010, Foxx delivered a hilarious cameo appearance in "Due Date," and appeared in the hit romantic comedy "Valentine's Day." The year before, he starred opposite Gerard Butler in Overture Films' dramatic thriller Law Abiding Citizen.

Jamie demonstrated his affinity and respect for fictional portrayals with The Soloist in which he played Nathaniel Anthony Ayer, a real-life musical prodigy who developed schizophrenia and dropped out of Julliard, becoming a homeless musician who wonders the streets of Los Angeles. Prior to that, he played the leader of a counter-terrorist team in The Kingdom.

In December 2006, Foxx was seen in the critically acclaimed screen adaptation of the Broadway musical, Dreamgirls. That came on the heels of his Best Actor Academy Award-winning performance as the legendary Ray Charles in Ray.

His big-screen break came back in 1999 when Oliver Stone cast him as star quarterback Willie Beamen in Any Given Sunday. The versatile thespian's additional film credits include Ali, Miami Vice, Jarhead, Stealth, Bait, Booty Call, The Truth about Cats and Dogs, The Great White Hype, and an Oscar-nominated supporting role in Collateral.

Jamie first rose to fame as a comedian, from which he initiated a potent career trajectory of ambitious projects. After spending time on the comedy circuit, he joined Keenan Ivory Wayans, Jim Carrey, Damon Wayans and Tommy Davidson in the landmark Fox sketch comedy series, "In Living Color," creating some of the show's funniest and most memorable moments. In 1996, he launched his own series, "The Jamie Foxx Show," on the WB Network.

Here, he talks about playing the title role of slave-turned-bounty hunter Django opposite Christoph Waltz, Samuel L. Jackson, Kerry Washington and Leonardo DiCaprio in Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained.

Kam Williams: Hi Jamie, thanks so much for the time. I'm honored to have another opportunity to interview you.

Jamie Foxx: [Playfully clears his throat, before answering in a very refined tone] Why thank you. [Chuckles. Then, speaks in his normal voice] What's happening with it, Kam?

KW: I suppose I should start by asking if you'd like to comment on the recent shootings in Connecticut?

JF: I got two daughters, man, and all I want people to do is to mourn the loss of these precious kids and their teachers and to pray that their families heal.

KW: What interested you in Django Unchained?

JF: Quentin Tarantino... Leonardo DiCaprio... Samuel L. Jackson... Christoph Waltz... Kerry Washington... Oh, man! It was like an all-star team. What's funny is that I didn't know anything about Django, and I was hearing all this buzz and then I saw online how the biggest actor in the world, Will Smith, was going to work with Quentin Tarantino. And I was like, "Damn! There's another project I didn't know nothing about." But luckily, I somehow got a chance to meet Quentin and read the script which I thought was brilliant. Next thing you know, I was in a room talking with him about trying to make it happen.

KW: Did you have any reservations?

JF: I didn't have a knee-jerk reaction like some people did to the language and the violence. My stepfather was a history teacher at Lincoln High School in Dallas. So, I was already familiar with the N-word and the brutality of slavery. What I was drawn to was the love story between Django and Broomhilda and how he defends and gets the girl in the end. I thought it was just an amazing and courageous project.

KW: Children's book author Irene Smalls says: In this film you turn the docile stupid black man myth on its head. You also portray the enduring love of a black man for his woman.

JF: Most definitely! When you see the slave who's been chained and whipped with no way out, and he finally catches up to this, some people call that revenge. But I say, "No, it's righting a wrong at that time." You've been wronged for so long, and here's your karma personified, standing in this funny blue suit. And on the end of that suit is your maker. You've never seen that in a movie before, at least not when it comes to slavery. Ordinarily, when the slave gets a chance to hold the whip or the gun, they start singing a hymn or doing the speech about "If I do this, I'll be as bad as you." We come out with a mix-tape, and that's it. But with Quentin Tarantino, it's just like a regular Western. The bad guy has to pay, and the good guy gets his woman.

KW: Have you seen the film with a black audience? Were people talking back at the screen?

JF: Yeah, they were yelling like crazy.

KW: Irene also says: In both your stage name and your career choices you've paid homage to great black artists who have come before you. Is this film another acknowledgement of that legacy?

JF: Absolutely! I know this might sound strange, but some of the people I actually studied for this film were a little more contemporary. Of course, I started with the original film Django and Clint Eastwood's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, but I also watched Wesley Snipes in New Jack City, and Denzel Washington in Glory and A Soldier's Story. Those performances moved me in a way that I cannot explain. So, you're seeing me tip my hat to those guys in this film.

KW: Film student Jamaal Green says: Jamie, you are such a talent in so many areas, it seems like there isn't anything you can't do. Is there any chance that directing will be something you may try next?

JF: We're doing a directing thing with Canon and Ron Howard, a special where we have people send in pictures. I would also like to direct some comedies with people like Chris Tucker, Kevin Hart and Mike Epps, and go to work with them on some fun stuff.

KW: Nick Antoine was wondering whether you're ever going to get around to doing Skank Robbers, that long-rumored film based on the characters Wanda and Sheneneh that you and Martin Lawrence played on In Living Color?

JF: No, that's not going to happen.

KW: This question is from your co-star Kerry Washington: If you were an animal, what animal would you be?

JF: Wow! If I were an animal, I would be an eagle.

KW: The Melissa Harris-Perry question: How did your first big heartbreak impact who you are as a person?

JF: Guys don't adapt as well as women do to getting their heart broken for the first time. It's tragic. I really wanted to be in love, get married, have kids and buy a wood-paneled station wagon for the family. But it didn't work out, and, boy, it wrecked it!

KW: Would you mind coming up with a Jamie Foxx question I could ask other celebrities when I interview them?

JF: Hmm... [Thinks] If you only had 24 hours to live, what would you do? Would you do the bad stuff, you never got a chance to do, or would you do good stuff to make sure you make it into heaven?

KW: Great question! Thanks! Harriet Pakula-Teweles says: You have so much fun singing. What would be your dream band, if you could select the members from any group?

JF: My dream band? Jesus Christ! I would start with Prince, and then Questlove and Buddy Rich on the drums, Rick James on the bass, and Herbie Hancock on the piano. The horn section would be Miles Davis on lead trumpet, with Wynton and Branford Marsalis. I'd have Santana on lead guitar and Sheila E. doing percussion. My hype man would be Jerome [Benton] from The Time, and my singing group would be New Edition. There it is!

KW: Great band! Thanks again for the time, Jamie, and best of luck with the film.

JF: Thanks, Kam.

To see a trailer for Django Unchained, visit:

The Central Park Five
Film Review by Kam Williams

Around 9 PM on April 19, 1989, a 28 year-old, female jogger was brutally beaten, sexually assaulted and left for dead in a wooded area of Central Park located off the beaten path. Because she was an investment banker with an Ivy League pedigree, the NYPD felt the pressure to apprehend the perpetrators of the heinous crime ASAP.

Within hours, cops had extracted confessions from Anton McCray, Kevin Richardson, Korey Wise, Yusef Salaam and Raymond Santana, Jr., teenagers who had been denied their right to an attorney. Although none of the five had ever been arrested before, they were all convicted of rape and attempted murder on the strength of those incriminating admissions alone.

Part of the explanation for the legal lynching was that the victim was a wealthy white woman while the accused were poor black kids from Harlem. The press was all too willing to exploit the hot button issues of color and class, and the media sensationalized the case's lurid details, coining the term "wilding" to describe the alleged behavior of the defendants.

Real estate magnate Donald Trump even took out full-page ads in every New York City daily newspaper, calling for the death penalty and saying that the boys "should be executed for their crimes." In the face of the vigilante-like demand for vengeance, no one seemed concerned that the suspects' DNA failed to match the only semen found at the scene.

Sadly, they were only exonerated in 2002 after having completely served sentences ranging from 6 to 13 years when Matias Reyes, a serial rapist whose DNA was a match, confessed to the crime because of his guilty conscience. This gross miscarriage of justice is recounted in The Central Park Five, a riveting documentary co-directed by the father-daughter team of Ken and Sarah Burns.

The film features reams of archival footage, including videotapes of the framed quintet's coerced confessions. Mixed in are present-day reflections by them, their lawyers, and relatives, as well as by politicians, prosecutors and other pivotal players.

A heartbreaking expose' about a rush to judgment which ruined five, innocent young lives.

Excellent (4 stars)

Unrated

Running time: 119 minutes

Distributor: Sundance Selects

To see a trailer for The Central Park Five, visit

This Is 40
Film Review by Kam Williams

When we first met Pete (Paul Rudd) and Debbie (Leslie Mann) in Knocked Up (2007), the couple was in crisis, primarily on account of her controlling behavior. She unreasonably suspected her husband of cheating because of the odd hours he kept as a Rock and Roll talent scout.

Their subplot simply provided an amusing diversion from a front story revolving around the farcical plight of a popular TV host who ended-up impregnated by a slacker after a one-night stand. With This Is 40, miserably-married Pete and Debbie have graduated from peripheral characters to the protagonists of their own battle-of-the-sexes comedy.

At the point of departure, we find them both on the verge of turning 40 years-old. She's in denial, still trying to pass for 38, and generally dreading the impending arrival of her birthday.

Meanwhile, he's regressed behaviorally, and routinely undermines any potential romantic mood by flaunting unappetizing bodily functions ranging from flossing to flatulence. So, it comes as no surprise that the spark has gone completely out of their relationship.

This sad state of affairs is established during the picture's opening tableaus when see how, between work and raising two high-maintenance daughters (Maude and Iris Apatow), Pete and Debbie are too drained by the end of the day to even think about lovemaking. In fact, the most passion either exhibits is for their jobs.

He's the CEO of a struggling, retro record company representing obscure has-beens like Gram Parker, and she owns a trendy boutique facing its own financial woes following embezzlement on the part of a trusted employee (Megan Fox or Charlyne Yi). On top of the burning question "Can Pete and Debbie get their groove back?" this raunchy sitcom ratchets up the tension around the prospect of losing their multimillion-dollar McMansion.

It's important to note that This Is 40 was written and directed by Judd Apatow, master of the shocksploitation genre whose gross-out productions have basically glorified profanity, potty humor, graphic sexuality and gratuitous nudity. This offering won't disappoint his diehard fans in that regard, and even has the rudiments of a plot for folks whose IQs have reached room temperature.

A midlife crisis comedy marking the milestone with a tribute to immaturity!

Very Good (2.5 stars)

Rated R for sexuality, nudity, crude humor, drug use and pervasive profanity

Running time: 134 minutes

Distributor: Universal Pictures

To see a trailer for This Is 40, visit