Tag Archives: Quentin Tarantino

IRON SIGHTS: TWO PSYCHOS HAS LAUNCHED

Iron Sights 2 PsychosRichard C Meyer, the indie comic book legend best known for his mercenary superhero team JAWBREAKERS (3 volumes so far) has launched the second volume of his IRON SIGHTS series on Indiegogo.

This 100 page graphic novel, titled Iron Sights: 2 Psychos, takes the action to Mexico. Like the first Iron Sights story, think of this like a Quentin Tarantino movie or the El Mariachi series crossed with Sicario and 100 bullets but served up in the inimitable Richard C Meyer style.

Meyer’s writing and the art by Ibai Canales already have customers lining up to reserve their copies, plus Richard is offering a special deal for those of you who missed the first Iron Sights book and want to order both the original and this new sequel. Continue reading

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THE ORIGINAL DJANGO MOVIES

FRONTIERADO IS COMING AUGUST 7th!

The best Django, Franco Nero, played the gunslinger in Django, Django Strikes Again and (wink) Django’s Grand Return

Like Tarzan, James Bond and Sherlock Holmes the melancholy bounty hunter Django has been presented in various incarnations and with wildly differing continuity. And like soccer the Django movies have been an enormous success almost everywhere except the U.S. 

The great Franco Nero created the role in 1966 in a film so popular in Europe (but banned in the UK for its still- controversial violence) that it spawned a legion of sequels. Some sequels starred Franco Nero or others in the role of Django, while others were just unrelated westerns whose distributors simply  attached a phony Django title to them, sometimes redoing the dubbing to have the lead character referred to as Django, other times not bothering.

Original Django poster Balladeer’s Blog helpfully presents a synopsis of the films featuring (legitimately or not) the most durable Eurowestern hero of them all. And, yes, if you’re wondering, the western bounty hunter Django was indeed the reason George Lucas named that outer space bounty hunter Jango Fett.

DJANGO (1966) – In 1867 Mexico Django, a veteran of the Union army in the Civil War, seeks revenge on Major Jackson, the Confederate officer behind his wife’s death. Jackson and his still-loyal troops, now turned  outright Klansmen, are, like so many other fleeing Confederates, fighting for the Mexican Emperor Maximillian in the war to keep his throne.   Django battles Jackson’s hooded thugs, even ambushing dozens with the Gatling Gun he keeps concealed in a coffin. When he’s out of men Major Jackson calls on Maximillian’s Imperial troopers for reinforcements and prepares to face Django and the Mexican rebel troops he’s fallen in with. For a detailed review of this unforgettable film click here: https://glitternight.com/2012/08/08/the-original-django-and-two-blaxploitation-westerns-a-primer-for-django-unchained/

DJANGO SHOOTS FIRST (1966) – AKA He Who Shoots First. Django comes into an enormous inheritance from his murdered father, an inheritance he learns he must share with his late father’s unscrupulous business partner, Mr Cluster. Django starts blowing away a host of bad guys as he tries to piece together who is responsible for his father’s death.

DJANGO, A BULLET FOR YOU (1966) – Django uses his guns to protect a group of downtrodden farmers from the villainous, land-grabbing town boss of Wagon Valley. He Continue reading

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JOE BIDEN REVIEWS DJANGO UNCHAINED

biden crazedIn the same format as Balladeer’s Blog’s previous item Newt Gingrich Reviews Ilsa: She-Wolf of the S.S. here’s my exclusive Joe Biden review of Django Unchained.

HEY KIDS! It’s Crazy Uncle Joe here with a movie review for my peeps! I finally got a chance to see this flick called Django Unchained, which I mistakenly thought was a documentary about a musician. Turns out instead that it’s an NRA gun-nut’s wet-dream of propoganda!

This black guy called Django goes around SHOOTING DEMOCRATIC VOTERS in the American South during the 1800’s! The filmmakers thought they could slip that hidden message past us but anybody who knows history knows it was Democrats who owned slaves and defended slavery with Continue reading

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DJANGO UNCHAINED AND BALLADEER’S BLOG

Django Unchained posterI have been getting emails asking me to comment on the Quentin Tarantino reboot of Django in his new movie Django Unchained. I already did, months ago. Below is the link for the interested parties now that there is so much discussion of Jamie Foxx’s comments going on.

My view on the Django phenomenon also included a look at ALL the 1960’s, 1970’s and 1980’s Django flicks plus my tongue-in-cheek biography of Django.

It all started, however, with the review where I examined the original Django and two blaxploitation westerns about a former slave blowing away former Confederates in the Wild West.

FOR THAT REVIEW CLICK HERE: https://glitternight.com/2012/08/08/the-original-django-and-two-blaxploitation-westerns-a-primer-for-django-unchained/

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Filed under Bad and weird movies, Blaxploitation, Spaghetti Westerns

DJANGO: THE DEFINITIVE BIOGRAPHY

 Yes, with the upcoming release of Quentin Tarantino’s reboot of the Django saga in his western Django Unchained, it’s been a veritable Djangofest here at Balladeer’s Blog.  

In the style of my Frontierado Sagas here’s a thoroughly tongue- in-cheek biography of the most famous Spaghetti Western hero of them all.

The Wild West gunfighter known to the world as Django blazed his way into the annals of history first as a Jayhawker, then as a Union soldier in the Civil War and finally as a bounty hunter.

His blood-feud with the former Confederate officer Major Edward F Jackson over the death of Django’s first wife is as well-known as the clash between the Clantons and the Earps in Tombstone, AZ. Movies have distorted many of the facts of this legendary gunman’s life just as they have with other western figures like Doc Holliday, Billy the Kid and many others. The many films about Django feature wildly contradictory information and part of the purpose of this biography will be to illustrate the true events underlying the cinematic myths about this operatic figure.

The real name of the man eventually known as Django was Continue reading

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NOTEWORTHY COLLEGE FOOTBALL RESULTS FROM SEPTEMBER 8TH, 2012

HISTORY ON HOLD – The 20th- ranked ST AMBROSE UNIVERSITY FIGHTING BEES were on the road against the (6) ST FRANCIS (IN) COUGARS, whose Head Coach Kevin Donley was going for the all-time NAIA wins record.

Donley will stay tied with Hank Biesiot and Frosty Westering at 255 wins for at least one more week. The Fighting Bees (love that name) out of Davenport, IA walked away with the victory in this 15-14 Instant Classic.

NUMBER TWO TAKES A FALL! – The unranked MONTANA TECH OREDIGGERS (helmet at left) shocked the nation yesterday by rising up to defeat the 2nd ranked CARROLL COLLEGE FIGHTING SAINTS!

And this was no flukish, last- minute, hold on by the seat of their pants upset, either! The Orediggers (love that name, too) won this victory over the NAIA’s most famous football dynasty by an impressive 37-20.

LENOIR- RHYNE RULES THE WORLD – The LENOIR- RHYNE UNIVERSITY BEARS (helmet at left) upset the DIVISION ONE team the DAVIDSON WILDCATS.

The Bears logged their first win of the 2012 season in this milestone home stand. They mauled the Wildcats and toyed with them at will in this 20-2 rout that the Lenoir- Rhyne faithful will be boasting about for some time to come.

TOP 25 UPSETS – NAIA – The 9th- ranked MISSOURI VALLEY COLLEGE VIKINGS (helmet at left) upset the (5) MIDAMERICA NAZARENE UNIVERSITY PIONEERS in their own house in a commanding 41-7 butt-kicking.  ###  The unranked KANSAS WESLEYAN COYOTES brought down the visiting number 11 team, the OTTAWA (KS) UNIVERSITY BRAVES in a 31-28 Instant Classic.  ###  The BACONE WARRIORS improved to 2-1 with a 19-0 road win over the (22) LANGSTON LIONS.  ###  … and the ever-tough MCPHERSON BULLDOGS brought down the 24th- ranked BETHANY COLLEGE SWEDES 14-0.

TOP 25 UPSETS – D2 – The CENTRAL MISSOURI MULES stunned perennial D2 football powers the (3) NORTHWEST MISSOURI BEARCATS by a score of 31-21.  ###  The TARLETON STATE TEXANS toppled the number 5 MIDWESTERN STATE MUSTANGS in a 20-17 game for the ages.  ###  The 23rd- ranked TAMK JAVELINAS (where NFL Hall of Famer Darrel Green played his college ball) notched a road upset over the Continue reading

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DJANGO THEATER: A LOOK AT THE FILMS OF THE MOST DURABLE SPAGHETTI WESTERN GUNSLINGER

The best Django, Franco Nero, played the gunslinger in Django, Django Strikes Again and (wink) Django’s Grand Return

Like Tarzan, James Bond and Sherlock Holmes the melancholy bounty hunter Django has been presented in various incarnations and with wildly differing continuity. And like soccer the Django movies have been an enormous success almost everywhere except the U.S. The gunman’s most recent iteration will be as an African American in Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming reboot of the Spaghetti Western hero’s saga.

The great Franco Nero created the role in 1966 in a film so popular in Europe (but banned in the UK for its still- controversial violence) that it spawned a legion of sequels. Some sequels starred Franco Nero or others in the role of Django, while others were just unrelated westerns whose distributors simply  attached a phony Django title to them, sometimes redoing the dubbing to have the lead character referred to as Django, other times not bothering.

Original Django poster In anticipation of the mad rush for the various Django films that will presumably follow the release of the Tarantino reboot with Jamie Foxx Balladeer’s Blog helpfully presents a synopsis of the films featuring (legitimately or not) the most durable Eurowestern hero of them all. And, yes, if you’re wondering, the western bounty hunter Django was indeed the reason George Lucas named that outer space bounty hunter Jango Fett.

DJANGO (1966) – In 1867 Mexico Django, a veteran of the Union army in the Civil War, seeks revenge on Major Jackson, the Confederate officer behind his wife’s death. Jackson and his still-loyal troops, now turned  outright Klansmen, are, like so many other fleeing Confederates,  fighting for the Mexican Emperor Maximillian in the war to keep his throne.   Django battles Jackson’s hooded thugs, even ambushing dozens with the Gatling Gun he keeps concealed in a coffin. When he’s out of men Major Jackson calls on Maximillian’s Imperial troopers for reinforcements and prepares to face Django and the Mexican rebel troops he’s fallen in with. For a detailed review of this unforgettable film click here: https://glitternight.com/2012/08/08/the-original-django-and-two-blaxploitation-westerns-a-primer-for-django-unchained/

DJANGO SHOOTS FIRST (1966) – AKA He Who Shoots First. Django comes into an enormous inheritance from his murdered father, an inheritance he learns he must share with his late father’s unscrupulous business partner, Mr Cluster. Django starts blowing away a host of bad guys as he tries to piece together who is responsible for his father’s death.

DJANGO, A BULLET FOR YOU (1966) – Django uses his guns to protect a group of downtrodden farmers from the villainous, land-grabbing town boss of Wagon Valley. He Continue reading

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THE ORIGINAL DJANGO AND TWO BLAXPLOITATION WESTERNS: A PRIMER FOR DJANGO UNCHAINED

 The upcoming release of Quentin Tarantino’s reboot of the seminal Spaghetti Western saga Django wreaked some minor havoc with my recent Frontierado holiday posts. I had been working on a draft for a review of the original Django and its central figure contrasted with other EuroWestern heroes like Charles Bronson’s Harmonica, Gianni Garko’s Sartana, Terence Hill’s Trinity, Tony Anthony’s Stranger and of course Clint Eastwood’s Man With No Name.

I also had a draft in progress for a review of two blaxploitation westerns from the 1970s which featured a former slave turned gunslinger taking on former Confederates in the Wild West.

A few days before I was to publish those reviews the airwaves and the web started crawling with what seemed like ’round the clock trailers for Django Unchained, Tarantino’s reboot of the story, this time with the title figure an African American who goes from slavery to a career as a bounty hunter gunning down southern rednecks in the Wild West.

Instantly my two reviews, right down to AN ACTUAL JOKE I WROTE THAT, ASTONISHINGLY ENOUGH, SHOWS UP IN THE TRAILER FOR DJANGO UNCHAINED, seemed like Continue reading

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Filed under Bad and weird movies, Blaxploitation, FRONTIERADO, Spaghetti Westerns

THE MOST LAUGHABLY WEIRD SPAGHETTI WESTERNS

mascot cowboy smallerWhat better way to start Frontierado Week than with a look at some of the most obscure but laughably weird Italian westerns? And what better way to start that list than with one of the countless  Spaghetti Westerns with phony Django titles?

The upcoming release of Quentin  Tarantino’s Django Unchained   will  reboot the Django saga by making him an African American and pitting him against racist villains out west. This will nicely blend Django’s bounty hunter tale with the 70s blaxploitation westerns  starring Fred Williamson and others as former slaves blowing away Neo-Confederates in the Wild West.

Franco Nero starred as the original Django but sadly has just a cameo in the reboot. The original movie was a monumental success everywhere in the world except the U.S. back in 1966. There was only one other “official” Django movie (also starring Nero) but there were literally nearly a hundred false Django movies featuring different actors in the lead role (my favorite being Terence Hill) or that just plain retitled and redubbed other Italian westerns to make them seem like Django movies.

django kill1. DJANGO KILL (1967) – Originally titled If You Live, Shoot!, this was one of the many Eurowesterns to be re-released to theaters years later as a phony Django movie just so it could clean up on the guaranteed cash cow of the Django name.

In this one our pseudo-Django finds himself involved with a kidnapped teen boy, the gay outlaws who have kidnapped and raped him (seriously), and their Wild West castle (?) where they torture their victims medieval-style, including roasting them on spits. Pseudo-Django shoots gold bullets in this flick and greedy townspeople rip open the corpses of the gunmen who fall to him just to get at the precious metal.

Even worse is the scene where the gold-hungry townspeople rip open the wounds of people who were just injured by the gold bullets, adding wince-inducing screams to the tableau. Continue reading

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Filed under Bad and weird movies, FRONTIERADO, Spaghetti Westerns