ONTD

It’s only been three years since writer/director Quentin Tarantino’s last masterwork hit screens, but the wait for his Inglourious Basterds follow-up has nevertheless felt much longer. At last Django Unchained is set to be unleashed across the country over the upcoming Christmas holiday, but the first screenings of the film took place this past weekend. Tarantino has yet to make an outright bad movie (the quality of Death Proof may or may not be a point of contention), so hopes have been high for the Western Django Unchained. Full reviews are still under embargo, but a few well-respected professionals provided some quick reactions on Twitter following the first screenings, and it appears that QT has delivered yet another winner with an especially keen sense of humor. Moreover, the runtime has been revealed to be a lengthy 2 hours and 40 minutes. Hit the jump to read some reactions.

Industry veteran Anne Thompson, who runs the blog Thompson on Hollywood, singled out the film’s violence and a couple of standout performances:

Anne Thompson @akstanwyck

Django unchained is super violent spaghetti western w/ anachronistic songs. waltz & jackson steal it. All talk & action. 1st screening.

— Anne Thompson (@akstanwyck) December 2, 2012

Looper writer/director Rian Johnson was also at the screening, and he has high marks for Oscar hopeful Leonardo DiCaprio:

Django was terrific. DiCaprio blows the roof off the joint.

— Rian Johnson (@rcjohnso) December 2, 2012

An especially encouraging “Tweet Review” came from writer David Ehrlich:

DJANGO UNCHAINED: holy shit. brutally hilarious spaghetti comedy does for business what Basterds did for war. Best American film of 2012.

— david ehrlich (@davidehrlich) December 2, 2012

And here are a few other reactions from those who were in attendance:

From start to finish Django Unchained is a fantastic crowd pleaser. Smartly humorous, great action & dialogue - Definite awards contender!

As for performances all were on par with what you want from a QT film = fantastic!

The runtime of Django Unchained is around 2 hours & 40 mins & I wanted it to be longer~

— Jeff Goldsmith (@yogoldsmith) December 2, 2012

Django Unchained: Don Johnson needs to work more. He and Christoph Waltz together..awesome

Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino's first DGA film, is funny, crazy violent, thoroughly entertaining. Luv that Christoph Waltz

— D-Dub (@silkyd67) December 2, 2012

Really happy to have been to the advanced screening of #Django. Christoph Waltz is such an extraordinary actor. He really stole the thunder!

#Django was a great film: very bloody but also very funny. The kind of film that makes you laugh about issues you don't usually laugh at!

— Julie Seureau (@IndieJuls) December 2, 2012

Just watched what was basically a three-hour homage to BLAZING SADDLES

— Lou Lumenick (@LouLumenick) December 2, 2012

source | 1 & 2