Quentin Tarantino is currently shooting his next feature, Django Unchained, in New Orleans, Louisiana, and his Spaghetti Western-inspired tale of slavery, revenge and bounty-hunthing in the Antebellum South is on track for a Christmas Day release.  While we'll all be rejoicing at the sight of a new Tarantino joint, that sight will contain two fewer familiar faces, as both Kurt Russell and Sacha Baron Cohen have both exited the project.

Yesterday, The Weinstein Company started the hype-building process on Django Unchained by unveiling the first official poster for Quentin Tarantino's latest tale of – amongst other things – revenge, bad language, and violence.  The poster was simple and stylized, evocative and cool, but didn't give much idea of what Django Unchained is actually about.  So, to follow up on that poster, there's now an official synopsis to give an eager public the lowdown on the story.

Quentin Tarantino has a new movie coming out this Christmas, and The Weinstein Company wants to make sure you're ready for it.  That why the house that Harvey and Bob built has unveiled the very first teaser poster for Django Unchained, which is currently in the middle of principal photography in New Orleans, Louisiana under Tarantino's direction.

Part of the fun of any Quentin Tarantino joint is seeing just who the director will cast to populate whatever strange, foul-mouthed world he's building on film.  He's currently knee-deep in preproduction on his next film, a Spaghetti Western set in the pre-Civil War American South, and so far, the casting on Django Unchained has not disappointed one bit, living up to both Tarantino's unique standards and his ambitious material.  With all the major roles filled, Tarantino is now assigning actors to smaller but still important parts, and the latest addition is Sacha Baron Cohen, the British comedy giant responsible for Ali G, Borat, and Bruno.

Django Unchained, the first film from writer-director Quentin Tarantino since Inglourious Basterds, is set to being production in January of 2012.  Since summer, Tarantino's often unexpected, typically eclectic casting has gotten a whole of attention, as is usually the case with whatever the man behind Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, and Kill Bill is cooking up.  As he's rounded out the supporting cast, the crucial female lead in Django Unchained has remained mysterious, with reports consistently suggesting that the auteur was looking for and unknown, but now the role of Broomhilda has been cast, and it's a familiar face.  According to Deadline, Kerry Washington has won the part, and will star alongside Jamie Foxx and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Quentin Tarantino continues to wrangle yet another wonderfully eclectic cast for his next feature, the American South-set pre-Civil War Spaghetti Western Django Unchained.  Last week, we learned that the auteur who most recently directed Inglourious Basterds had persuaded Don Johnson to play a plantation owner encountered by the title character, and now Variety reports that none other than Joseph Gordon-Levitt is currently in talks to play an as-yet unspecified role in Django Unchained.

Quentin Tarantino's fondness for selecting actors who aren't on the current "hot actor" casting lists is now familiar to even the most casual viewer of his work.  He resurrected the career of John Travolta with Pulp Fiction, provided Robert Forster an overdue showcase with Jackie Brown, and gave david Carradine the title role in Kill Bill volumes 1 and 2.  With his Southern revenge epic Django Unchained nearing production, news of some Tarantino cultist casting was all but inevitable.  Turns out that, after a long courtship from the writer-director, Miami Vice star Don Johnson has signed on for a supporting role in the film.

Are you ready for Machete?

Lovers of old-school grindhouse cinema can surely appreciate the over-the-top antics that fill the trailer, and undoubtedly will be a major part of this sick looking flick (“sick” as in muther f*cking awesome btw).

So this week, iamROGUE takes a look at the top 10 reasons why we’re excited to see Machete.

Machete, the Grindhouse spawned flick that is giving Danny Trejo his first major leading role will be premiering at the Venice Film Festival.

And since Robert Rodriguez directed this “midnight movie”, it makes sense that it premieres at twelve am on September 1. What better way to start the witching hour with a heavy dosage of blood, brawn and babes?

Robert Rodriguez and Danny Trejo go together like PB and J; the two have been collaborating since Rodriguez's 1995 action flick Desperado and you just know it's been building toward Machete this whole time. (Trejo's Desperado character even carries around a slew of sharp killing implements.) While the two have Predators on the immediate horizon, they've been busy working on this, a feature-length version of the Grindhouse trailer that kicked so much butt a few years ago.

As for the film's trailer, it's... okay. I'm not jumping out of my seat and salsa dancing. Still, the concept and cast are enough to put a smile on my face and eagerly await the film's debut, which comes on September 3rd.