Django Unchained (2012, dir. Quentin Tarantino) ****/****

Django Unchained could be the best film I've seen in 2012 and that's saying a lot.  The violence, as typical with Tarantino, is excessive but suitable to the film.  Revenge is a typical theme is Tarantino pictures and it is prominent in Django.  Jamie Foxx plays the title character, a slave who is freed by a bounty hunter (Christopher Waltz).  They then team up and become a bounty hunting duo.  Django's ultimate goal is to free is enslaved wife from the plantation owned by Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio).  It is a brutal tale and much bloodshed and death ensues and Tarantino is a master at creating visceral, cathartic experiences through his stylized violence.   At 2 hours and 45 minutes the film is long but not overlong.  Tarantino weaves brilliantly into his screenplay several set pieces that are exciting and heart-pounding.  This is among Tarantino's best and the year's best as well.