From there it only grew as we continued to share our love for all things film, television and pop culture, presenting entertainment in all its spicy goodness and to celebrate this milestone we wanted to celebrate seven of our favourite films from the last seven years.

This is a simple round up of some of our favourite films of the last seven years and ones which we reckon make for an awesome session of binge watching.

Check them out below:

The Great Gatsby – 2013

It all began for us in 2013 with Marvel Studios Iron Man 3, and after that we were off and running. An amazing variety of incredible cinema came our way that year and Baz Luhrman’s glittering and lavish adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s magnum opus, The Great Gatsby, certainly caught our eye. A gorgeous film to look at in every single frame and packing flawless performances from the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Tobey Maguire and Joel Edgerton, The Great Gatsby is a film that makes your heart beat faster and you can’t be caught up in the glamour and emotion of it’s jazz age story.

Nightcrawler – 2014

We got serious in 2014 with our movie watching and one of the coolest, most original releases of that year was Dan Gillroy’s hard-edged anti-hero tale Nightcrawler. Chronicling the rise to power of Los Angeles stringer Lou Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal), Nightcrawler was the tale told from the villains perspective as this hungry, jackal of a character does anything to succeed in a modern capitalist society. From beginning to end, Nightcrawler had it’s audience on edge, and this is what we classify as utterly addictive viewing. Told with breathtaking originality and lightening speed, Nightcrawler was a film

The Hateful Eight – 2015

Quentin Tarantino’s eighth film was a very big deal and it certainly wasn’t what we were expecting. This western-mystery-horror-comedy-action-thriller was a complete backhander that took you by surprise at every turn and introduced to a group of the most despicable mercs, bounty killers, outlaws, liars, cheats, double-crossers and villains ever committed to the big screen! This was QT at his most outlandish and The Hateful Eight delivered one hell of a wallop when it came to the body count and blood splatter of the piece. Tarantino was firing on all cylinders with this one and The Hateful Eight certainly ranked up there as one of 2015’s most memorable releases.

Hunt for the Wilderpeople – 2016

Trust it to the good old vibes of Taika Waititi to give us all the feels with the instant cult classic that is Hunt for the Wilderpeople. A classic film bound by ‘kiwi as’ goodness, Hunt for the Wilderpeople is the perfect story of teenage delinquent Ricky Baker (Julian Dennison) and his ‘Uncle’ Hec (Sam Niell), who set off into the bush and embark on a strange, humorous and ultimately enjoyable journey together. Waititi gave this film a whole lot of heart and spirit, and everyone who saw it was sure to crack a smile.

Dunkirk – 2017

2017 was one definitely epic year for cinemas lovers, and it didn’t get much grander than Christopher Nolan’s wartime masterpiece Dunkirk. This gripping thrill ride of a blockbuster had your pulse pounding at every second as Nolan presented the story of the British Armed Forces desperate retreat from the shores of Dunkirk, France in 1940 as the Nazi war machine advanced on them with the single purpose of utterly annihilating more than 300,000 men. From land, air and sea this story was told, and with Nolan’s ambitious narrative, a breathtaking accurate sense of production design and costuming, a cast of Britain’s best, the magnificent cinematography of Hoyte van Hoytema and the pulse pounding score of Hans Zimmer led to one of the most exciting and visceral cinematic experiences of the decade.

First Man – 2018

Damian Chazelle had made a name for himself as a Hollywood whizz kid with amazing works like Whiplash and La La Land had made him a filmmaker to watch and his 2018 historical-space drama First Man was one incredible watch. Documenting the Apollo space program and the journey of astronaut Neill Armstrong (Ryan Gosling) to the lunar surface, First Man was a breathtaking piece of cinema and it certainly took audiences to the edge. Both the intense performance from Gosling and the force of Chazelle’s filmmaking where on full display here and the result was something truly magnificent.

Avengers: Endgame – 2019

2019 was a massive year for film fans, and when it came to blockbusters they certainly didn’t get much bigger than Avengers: Endgame, the culmination of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s ‘Infinity Saga’, and it made for one of the most awe-inspiring pieces of cinema ever committed to the big screen. Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) were all assembled for this one and they were ready to do whatever it took to restore hope and order back to the universe. The story was gripping, the visuals striking, the visual effects amazing and the emotion marvelous in a story that was testament to the power of the blockbuster and for these stories to resonate with audiences the world over, they truly don’t get any better than this.

There you go, seven films for seven years, and while 2020 is still very much up in the air with what awaits due to all the uncertainty that is going on in the world right now, we can still hold to the fact that cinema still reigns and that one day soon cinemas will be opened and we can all take in these bold technicolour masterpieces once more.

In the meantime we hope you all stay safe and well, and thank you once again for all your support for the SpicyPulp experience….here’s to what comes next.

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In the dead of a Wyoming winter, a bounty hunter and his prisoner find shelter in a cabin currently inhabited by a collection of nefarious characters.

Quentin Tarantino is lauded for his extensive knowledge and understanding of genre, character and cinematic technique and this knowledge led into what would be his most audacious project to date with The Hateful Eight. Best described as one part western, one part thriller, one part detective mystery and one part horror, this ensemble cinematic experience took audiences for one hell of a shocking ride. The director threw any type of heroism out from this script and instead introduced us to a band of untrustworthy cutthroats, turncoats, schemers, liars and all-around villains and let them ‘have at it’ in the most inhospitable place in the Old West. The resulting action of the film was packed full of the director’s trademark dialogue and plenty of shocking moments that made this film one of the most original pieces of cinema to come along in a long time.

The director assembled an incredible cast for The Hateful Eight and Tarantino regular Samuel L. Jackson was in demand here as mercurial bounty hunter Major Marquis Warren. Warren is a sly, devilish fox of a man who was definitely the smartest one in this room and set the tempo for what was to come here in The Hateful Eight and Jackson, of course, brought his A-Game here. Sparring with the Major was Walton Goggins as the disreputable Chris Mannix, the supposed new sheriff of Red Rock, whom the good Major did not trust for an instant and their back and forth really tension made things interesting. Both actors set the stage for the level of distrust that was to come in The Hateful Eight and both were quick to grab their guns when need be in typical Tarantino fashion.

Joining Warren and Mannix where bounty hunter John ‘The Hangman’ Ruth and his prisoner, the deplorable Daisy Domergue, and actors Kurt Russell and Jennifer Jason Lee made the ultimate odd couple here. These two were literally chained together for the entirety of the movie and their antagonistic back and forth between one another led to a definite reaction from the audience. Their relationship is brutal, dark, wicked, fiendish, and incredibly funny. From the get-go, Ruth is determined to hang Daisy and Daisy is determined to make Ruth’s life miserable and unbearable until he does just that. While Russell makes for a terrific brute here, it’s Lee who really steals the show as on the surface she’s the person with the least amount of power, but through the actions of the film she actually becomes the most dangerous out of all of these villains and Lee does a terrific job of being a very bad girl.

Filling out the rest of the collection of Tarantino’s Hateful Eight are Tim Roth as Oswaldo Mobray, the chipper and sprightly hangman of Red Rock; Michael Madsen as cow-puncher Joe Gage, a reserved and extremely untrustworthy individual; Demián Bichir as Bob, the new barkeep of Minnie’s Haberdashery who seems especially suspect in regards to his duties and Bruce Dern as General Sandy Smithers, a former Confederate General who harbours plenty of ill-feeling to having been on the losing side of the Civil War. All four of these characters add to the dark and foreboding ambience of The Hateful Eight, and when mixed together with Warren, Mannix, Ruth and Domergue, well, you can expect that it’s a powder keg of hate just waiting to go off! And Tarantino certainly revels in it.

The Hateful Eight is a film that plays on its audience and from the very outset you never know where the narrative or these characters are going to go. Of all of Tarantino’s films, it’s the one that keeps you on edge the most as a boiling sense of cabin fever rage and bad intentions set the stage for plenty of horrific moments to play out in Minnie’s Haberdashery. Part of the sinister feeling of The Hateful Eight occurs via the way that Tarantino plays with genre here. The Hateful Eight is filled with the tense moments of the detective story, while the film’s blistering setting and it’s character’s atrocious actions bring about plenty of events that occur in the best moments of the horror genre. Tarantino went for something different here and this originality marks The Hateful Eight as the director’s most visceral film he’s ever created.

Alongside its twisting narrative and genre concoction, The Hateful Eight is also shot with incredible detail thanks to the presence of cinematographer Robert Richardson and the grand vision of Tarantino. The director definitely goes big here and The HatefuL Eight was shot in Ultra Panavision 70mm using a series of specialist Panavision anamorphic lenses with an aspect ratio of 2.76:1, that led to the creation of a very large widescreen image that was last seen in classic films of the 1950s and 1960s including Ben Hur and Khartoum. This wide scope offers up plenty of incredible visuals and the detail and colour in these images are utterly beautiful to behold. These lenses open up the vistas of the wintry Red Rock, Wyoming landscape, while also instilling a deep sense of claustrophobia and tightness within Minnie’s Haberdashery. All of it adds to the ambience of The Hateful Eight and it’s a credit to the vision of Tarantino.

The ‘Tarantino Film’ experience of The Hateful Eight also gets dialled up here and there is a continual stream of shocking moments that take your eyes for a ride as an audience member. There’s gore here in The Hateful Eight, lots of it, and Tarantino delivers it with restless abandon. The director brings the shock factor to the canvas of the big screen and uses it to establish narrative and throw his characters around. This extreme level of gore added to the ill intentions and twisted nature of his characters takes the idea of a ‘Tarantino Film’ to new heights. It’s unpredictable, crazy, confronting and completely brilliant, and audiences walk away from this one with plenty of surprise.

The Hateful Eight is a film that burns its narrative into the minds of its audience and you don’t forget the chaos of this narrative. It’s a maverick film from a maverick director and it offers up audiences something different and reactionary from this cinema genius.

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Set 8, 10 or 12 years after the Civil War, The Hateful Eight finds bounty hunter John Ruth (Kurt Russell) and fugitive Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh) on their way to the town of Red Rock where Daisy is to be hanged. On their way, they encounter union soldier turned bounty hunter Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L. Jackson) and the roguish Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins), who claims to be the new sheriff of Red Rock. Stopping off at Minnie’s Haberdashery, they encounter five other men including Bob (Demian Bichir), hangman Oswaldo Mobray (Tim Roth), the mysterious Joe Gage (Michael Madsen), and former Confederate General Sanford Smithers (Bruce Dern). But it soon becomes clear that nothing is as it seems, and one or more of these men is not who he says he is.

From the film’s opening frame, Tarantino’s lightning fast dialogue grips your ears, and the full expression of his talent as a wordsmith is brought to light here. With dialogue and conversation leading the film, The Hateful Eight has the tempo of a play which is constantly changing and evolving as the film pushes forward.

Tarantino has the best of the best on hand here, and all of his performers give their all to this wide range of villains. Make no mistake…there are no heroes here. Standouts include Samuel L. Jackson’s portrayal as the charismatic Marquis Warren, Tim Roth’s eccentrically debonair Oswaldo Mobray, and the dual performance of Kurt Russell and Jennifer Jason Leigh as odd couple John Ruth and Daisy Domergue. As Domergue, Leigh offers a particularly captivating performance, and her twisted character will no doubt go down in film history.

It wouldn’t be a Tarantino film without lashings of blood and plenty of profanity, and The Hateful Eight has these trademark features in spades. Driving the narrative forward, these effects are at one with the savage world that the characters inhabit. The Hateful Eight might be placed as a western in terms of genre, but there’s definitely a good helping of horror in terms of tone within the film, especially Italian Giallo cinema, which Tarantino has long drawn from in his list of credits. Of particular note is the spectacular score by the legendary Ennio Morricone, who has delivered an evocative score that captures the heightened cabin fever of the haberdashery, and the mad souls trapped inside.

The Hateful Eight is another glorious addition to the Tarantino collection, brought to audiences by a filmmaker who never fails to entertain.

Image: Roadshow Films

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