Tag Archives: Kurt Russell

My Thoughts on: The Hateful Eight (2015)

Ohhhhhhhh boy.

This is only the second Quentin Tarantino film I’ve actually seen (Inglourious Basterds was the first) and I still don’t know exactly what to think about it. I knew from Inglourious Basterds that I was in for a bloody and violent experience, but that still didn’t prepare me for what I saw.

The Hateful Eight is set in the Old West, at a stagecoach lodge during the height of a blizzard. Eight characters are holed up in the lodge until the storm breaks, and the story gets more complex from there. There’s a killer loose, and one by one characters start dying.

Putting aside all of the graphic bloodshed and swearing, there’s one thing in this film that really bothers me. Call me old fashioned, call me missing the point, but I’m really bothered by how John Ruth (Kurt Russell) treats Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh). I get that Daisy is a wanted outlaw and dangerous in her own right, but sometimes she gets punched for no reason and that really, REALLY bothers me.

I suppose I enjoyed this film in the end, but it was almost too violent for my tastes. I especially didn’t like the reveal of what happened to Minnie and her family, that almost made me turn the movie off on the spot. And the reveal of a hidden character who’s actually been present the whole time…I want to like it, but it’s so out of nowhere. Literally, there’s no sign this character exists until the reveal, and when it comes I was more like “Huh?” then “Oh my gosh!”

I really tried to keep an open mind while I watched this film, but the simple truth is I didn’t like The Hateful Eight as much as I liked Inglourious Basterds. It’s not a terrible film by any means, it just doesn’t mesh with my personal tastes.

Let me know what you think about The Hateful Eight in the comments below and have a great day!

Film Reviews

Become a Patron of the blog at patreon.com/musicgamer460

Check out the YouTube channel (and consider hitting the subscribe button)

Don’t forget to like Film Music Central on Facebook 🙂

The Fox and the Hound “A Hunting Man” (1981)

1 Reply

“A Hunting Man” might be one of the shortest Disney songs I’ve ever heard. It comes in the second half of the movie when the hunter Amos Slade (Jack Albertson) is returning from a long hunt with his two dogs Chief (Pat Buttram) and a now-grown up Copper (Kurt Russell). As he drives home, Amos is happily singing about his life as a hunting man.

I ain’t got no job, I’m a hunting man.

And I’d rather have a dog than a dollar.

So let’s go banjo ring-a-ling-a-ling, ho!

Give a little hoot and a holler!

This “song” is barely long enough to be a verse in a regular Disney song, but it does give an idea about the kind of man Amos Slade is. While the hunter is presented as the story’s villain more often than not, this song shows that he really isn’t a “bad” man. Hunting, for all its cruelties, is how Amos earns his living, and it truly makes him happy because he gets to spend time with his beloved dogs. The only reason he gets mean is when someone (like a certain fox) gets in the way of his hunting.

And that’s about it for “A Hunting Man.” Like I said, it’s one of the shortest Disney songs I’ve ever heard, but it does give some insight into the character of Amos Slade. Let me know what you think about this song in the comments below and have a great day!

Disney/Dreamworks/Pixar/etc. Soundtracks A-Z

Become a Patron of the blog at patreon.com/musicgamer460

Check out the YouTube channel (and consider hitting the subscribe button)

Don’t forget to like Film Music Central on Facebook

The Fox and the Hound “Lack of Education” (1981)

1 Reply

Unfortunately, I end up saying this about a lot of older Disney films, but The Fox and the Hound is yet another example of a Disney film that is all but forgotten. Loosely based on Daniel Mannix’s 1967 book of the same name, The Fox and the Hound follow a young fox named Tod (Keith Mitchell/Mickey Rooney) and a bloodhound pup named Copper (Corey Feldman/Kurt Russell) as they strike up an unlikely friendship. Tod’s other friends, including an owl named Big Mama (Pearl Bailey), attempt to convince Tod that being friends with a bloodhound (especially when you’re a fox) can only lead to trouble. This is the point of “Lack of Education” where Big Mama and the rest of Tod’s friends attempt to spell things out for the young fox: that if he continues trying to be friends with Copper he’s going to wind up dead.

You listen good Tod, because it’s either education or elimination!

Now, if you’re so foxy and old Chief is so dumb
Then why does that hound get the fox on the run?
‘Cause he’s got the hunter –
and the hunter’s got the gun
Ka-blam, elimination!
Lack of education!

If you pal around with that Copper hound
You’ll wind up hanging on the wall
Keep you nose to the wind –
and you keep your skin
‘Cause you won’t be home –
when the hunter comes to call

Oh, Big Mama, I know Copper would never track me down.
Well, Copper, he’s my best friend.

Ho ho, your best friend!

Now, Copper’s gonna do what he’s been told.
Suppose he won’t chase no fox in no fox hole?
Along comes the hunter with a buck shot load.

Ka-ka-blam!

Elimination.

Lack of education!

Tod seemingly makes a good point when he says Copper would never track his best friend down, but while this is true now, Big Mama knows all too well that with enough time and training, Copper will hunt anything down. She doesn’t want to upset the young fox, but in her mind it’s better if he’s made aware of the facts of life now. Of course, this being a Disney film, Tod doesn’t take the lesson to heart and tries to maintain his friendship with Copper, with increasingly disastrous consequences.

Unlike many Disney songs, “Lack of Education” is performed in more of a “speak-sing” style (meaning the performers are half-talking and half-singing) and Tod doesn’t sing at all. It’s a short, blunt moment that goes completely over Tod’s head, which makes sense, after all who wants to believe their newfound best friend will one day hunt them down and kill them?

I hope you enjoyed this look at an underrated Disney classic. Let me know what you think about “Lack of Education” in the comments below and have a great day!

Disney/Dreamworks/Pixar/etc. Soundtracks A-Z

Become a Patron of the blog at patreon.com/musicgamer460

Check out the YouTube channel (and consider hitting the subscribe button)

Don’t forget to like Film Music Central on Facebook

Disturbing Disney #12: The Bear from The Fox and the Hound (1981)

20 Replies

I think I’ve mentioned before that the Disney films made between Sleeping Beauty in 1959 (the end of Disney’s Golden Age) and The Little Mermaid in 1989 (the start of the Disney Renaissance) often get overlooked or underrated because they’re not quite up to the standards of either era (or at least that’s the perception). A classic example of this is 1981’s The Fox and the Hound, a good film that is criminally neglected and yet it has one of the most disturbing sequences I’ve ever seen.

In summary: The Fox and the Hound is about…you guessed it…a fox and a hound who become friends (despite being natural enemies). The fox, named Todd, is eventually set loose in a game preserve to keep him safe from a gruff hunter and his hound Copper (formerly Todd’s friend). But the hunter wants to kill Todd for nearly getting his other hunting dog Chief killed and so he trespasses onto the preserve to hunt the fox down, laying a series of steel traps by a secluded watering area.

The trap nearly works, but at the last moment Todd senses the danger and runs for it. In the ensuing chase (including another disturbing moment I’ll cover next time), the hunter believes he has Todd cornered in some bushes, but he is so very wrong. Instead of the fox, the hunter has cornered THIS:

Even referring to this bear as “a bear” is an understatement; he’s practically a monster in the way he’s presented as this huge snarling mass of muscle and teeth (the demonic red eyes add to the monstrous impression). And then there’s the SIZE of this beast; even though the bear is colored black, in size he’s really more like a grizzly bear (which doesn’t make sense as I believe this story is supposed to be set in Appalachia).

The sheer viciousness of the bear’s assault is terrifying, and also not surprising, considering he’s been disturbed by this raucous hunter (and also shot). But the disturbing part comes when the hunter’s foot gets caught in one of his own traps and the bear comes closer and closer for the kill. Even though he’s an antagonist, this hunter is facing a pretty agonizing way to die and he can’t do a thing about it.

And then there’s the fight between Todd, Copper and the bear. This huge bear is just THROWING these two around like nothing, and it’s painful to watch. The entire sequence has me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end, especially when the bear has Todd cornered on a fallen tree perched halfway up a huge waterfall (the ominous music tells you this will end badly). This bear is an excellent example of Disturbing Disney (I hope you enjoy the full scene up above).

What do you think of the bear in The Fox and the Hound? Let me know in the comments below, I’d love to hear about it 🙂

Become a Patron of the blog at patreon.com/musicgamer460

Check out the YouTube channel (and consider hitting the subscribe button)

For more Disturbing Disney, see here

Disturbing Disney #2: The truth of Pleasure Island in Pinocchio (1940)

Disturbing Disney #3: Escaping Monstro from Pinocchio (1940)

Disturbing Disney #4: Dumbo loses his mother (1941)

Disturbing Disney #5 The death of Bambi’s Mother

Disturbing Disney #6: Faline vs. the dogs (1942)

Disturbing Disney #7: Cruella wants to do WHAT??

Disturbing Disney #8: The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met (from Make Mine Music, 1946)

Disturbing Disney #9: Dr. Facilier’s Fate (The Princess and the Frog, 2009)