"Kurt Russell"

2015 · Quentin Tarantino · 168 min · Crime / Drama / Western

The Hateful Eight is Tarantino's most claustrophobic film, trapping eight untrustworthy strangers in a single room during a blizzard and letting paranoia, deception, and violence do the rest. Samuel L. Jackson commands the screen, Ennio Morricone's original score is magnificent, and the 70mm Ultra Panavision photography is gorgeous even when it's capturing ugliness. The three-hour runtime is a real obstacle, the first half prioritizes setup over momentum, and the relentless brutality of the second half will push some viewers past their limit. It's Tarantino at his most divisive, a film that some consider his most underrated and others his most excessive.

1981 · John Carpenter · 99 min · Sci-Fi / Action

Escape from New York runs on atmosphere, attitude, and one of the coolest protagonists in action movie history. Kurt Russell's Snake Plissken is an all-timer, and John Carpenter builds a grim, dystopian Manhattan that feels convincingly dangerous on a budget that had no business pulling it off. The film's structure is more episodic than propulsive, and the story it tells is thinner than the world it creates. Those pacing issues keep it from reaching the heights of Carpenter's best work. But the first act is superb, the premise is irresistible, and Snake's cynical swagger gives the film a personality that four decades haven't dulled.