Django Unchained Film Review

It's a couple of years before the start of the American Civil War and Dr King Schultz who is a German immigrant dentist is searching for a slave by the name of Django.

When he locates Django he finds that he has recently been purchased by a chain gang so he has to purchase him and gain a bill of sale as proof of ownership.

Why is he searching for a slave?  Well, Dr Schultz is also a Bounty Hunter but there isn't a bounty on Djangos head, instead he needs Djangos help to identify some brothers who do have a bounty on them so he gives Django his freedom and asks him for his help and this is how the story of Django Unchained begins.

As you can probably guess Django agrees to help Schultz and they end up in a partnership and they soon find the brothers that Schultz is looking for, but this is only the beginning of their partnership...

As with Quentin Tarantino's other films, the soundtrack throughout the film is fantastic and plays an important part of the story telling and as per usual there is a different 'special effect' that is used throughout the film that is both gory and funny at the same time.

It's quite a dark film and is Tarantino's first attempt at a Western and I have to say it is one of (if not the most) fantastic film I have ever seen.  Some of the subject matter in the film can be hard to stomach and I'm not talking about the bloodshed but the graphic depiction of how slaves were treated as nothing more than property for their 'owners' to do with as they please.  From whipping their backs to dogs ripping them apart limb-from-limb.  Although you don't always see the full gory details on screen, you hear what is happening and your imagination does the rest.

There is the typical Tarantino humour throughout the film and you find yourself laughing at subject matters that you shouldn't/wouldn't normally be laughing at.  One particular example is there is a moment where what can only be described as the beginning of the KKK where they are discussing the merits of their new headgear which consists of a poorly designed white hood with eye-holes they all can't see out of properly.  I can remember hearing the whole cinema erupting with laughter, followed by an uneasy silence.

Although you could wait for it to be released on DVD and Blu-Ray I would strongly recommend you watch this amazing film at the Cinema as the experience you'll get from the atmosphere is simply fantastic.

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Microsoft XBox 360

I've never really gotten on with games consoles, more specifically, their controllers.  That was until the Nintendo Wii came along which changed things for me and I became an avid gamer for several years until the games became tiresome and the Wii's popularity slowly dwindled.

Give me a keyboard and a mouse and I can cope - give me a controller with fewer buttons/keys and I just don't get on with them.  That was until I got hold an XBox 360 controller that I used on my laptop to play Duke Nukem Forever (yeah I know, it's not a great game but I only paid £5 for it secondhand).

I found I got on quite well with the controller so I finally bit the bullet and last month I purchased an XBox 360 console along with a couple of games - GTA IV, NCIS and Flatout Ultimate Carnage.

The NCIS game is a lot weaker than I expected and it's a bit of a 'no brainer' so I'll keep it for when I just want to play a game without having to think too much.  Flatout Ultimate Carnage is a fantastic game with lots of cars, tracks and crashing to have fun with.  GTA IV is just as good as the previous versions but I haven't done many of the actual missions as of yet as I just keep driving around trying out the different vehicles I come across.

All-in-all I'm having fun with my XBox and the next game I will be getting will be one of the Raving Rabbids games, one works on the standard console but the other requires the Kinect Sensor which I don't have yet, but looks like a great way of playing games!

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Casio LK-120 Key Lighting Keyboard

I've always wanted to learn to play a musical instrument but I've never gotten around to it, that was until today!  I am now the proud owner of a Casio LK-120 digital keyboard.

The reason I went for this keyboard is because it has full-size keys, was in my price range and has light-up keys to help you learn any of the built-in songs.

I want to learn how to play properly so I've picked up a book and found some good videos on YouTube.  I plan to do things properly so I'll be starting by learning all the scales rather than just memorising how to play certain songs.

From reading the book that I have I have already learnt about pentatonic scales and what a piano score it.  Separate from the book I have also learnt how to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star using the Casio keyboards built-in teaching method with the light-up keys so you know exactly what keys you should be pressing.   This way I get the best of both worlds, I'm learning to play properly but I'm also able to play a little tune so I can feel like I've achieved something as learning the scales properly is going to take some time...

  

I gave myself a budget of £100 so the Casio LK-120 was just what I was looking for and when I saw that it had light-up keys that help you learn to memorise songs I knew it was the keyboard for me!  It even has a small display telling you what fingers on what hand you should be using to play the different notes with.

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