Saturday, August 22, 2009

Inglourious Basterds, History Revised



Hello dear readers, It's time for another wonderful movie review from your Pal, Bunni!

I saw Inglourious Basterds yesterday, lst showing when it opened, it’s cheaper that way, the big stadium seater not to far from me, just a walk and bus ride.

Close to a nice place for lunch afterwards, and I avoided the drenching downpours later in the day, so it was all good and a great way to spend my usual Friday’s off.

I’m not a huge fan of Quentin Tarantino. I have previously gotten his films from the Library, the early ones were the best; Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Kill Bill # 1, (kind of). The last few I could do without, Death Proof, just not my idea of great action and suspense, too campy, trashy, blood spurting for the sake of blood for my tastes.

So, that being said, I decided to see this new offering, his seventh full-length film (10 years in the making!) in the cinema specifically because of Brat Pitt’s hilarious looking character and over the top performance as Lt. Aldo “the Apache” Raine, the Nazi-scalping leader of the “Basterds”, Jewish-American Soldiers out to kill as many Nazi’s as possible. Aldo is an ex moonshiner, good-‘ol-boy from the deep south, Tennessee I believe. His accent alone is worth the price of admission. He is so funny in his tone and delivery, than even when he’s speaking serious lines, they turn out to be comical.

Another great performance is from the main villainous character; German SS Officer Col. Hans Landa, “the Jew Hunter”, played to perfection by Christoph Waltz, who won the Best Actor Prize at Cannes for this portrayal. The two female leads are beautiful and spot on in their characterizations. The lovely “Shosanna”, Melanie Laurent, who escapes certain death in the opening chapter to reemerge as the owner of a cinema in France, 1943, and the Beautiful double agent “Bridget von Hammersmark” Diane Kruger, who gets herself into some daring and complicated exploits.

This film is 2 and ½ hours long! So eat, drink and fortify yourself before. It would take too long for me to write about all the various chapters, plot twists and other elements in this review…I’m sure you can find other reviews on line that do so, if you so desire.

The short of it is….if you can consider anything in this film short:

It opens in a German, Nazi occupied Country, France in 1941, this is “Chapter 1”. Each subsequent chapter tells a different part of the story, all relating to the climatic ending in the Cinema owned by Shosanna, where history is re-written, some would say for the better.

This being a Tarantino flick, the buildups to the action are sometimes tediously long, so long in fact that it gets to be annoying. You find yourself thinking, “alright already, enough of this nonsense, you are just grandstanding”. I feel a great movie should totally immerse yourself in the action, not take you out of the plot to wonder to yourself when the director is going to get on with it. Quentin is too full of himself and his technique. He is sometimes all over the map, with many styles and genres, it can get tedious. Granted, the bulk of the movie has very good technique and action, when it finally arrives. But, the dragging out scenes just for the sake of suspense is annoying.

Still this is a minor criticism, and it might be just me, so don’t let that deter you. Plus, being a movie about World War II, it is devoid of any battle scenes, or much fighting action, per say. You get a smattering of blood and violence at the end of the various chapters/vinettes, and by then you are so sick of waiting for something to happen, it's like, ok, ho hum, it's about time, what next?

The ending, however, is worth the wait, and there are some real surprises! The final conclusion is kind of predictable, given what our Hero, Aldo, likes to do. The music is also very good and well placed for the action. How the Giorgio Moroder hit from “Cat People” sung by David Bowie makes it into there and is effective is testament to Tarantino’s quirky filmmaking, and it does work!

Well, enough of my ruminations, here is the official trailer for your enjoyment!

You might have noticed that Brad Pitt is making the rounds and promoting this movie very heavily. Some interesting quotes of his are below, from his various interviews:

July 28th – He’s a domesticated man

At the Berlin premier of “Basterds”, Brad revealed his new curfew to the London Daily Mail: I’m a dad now – my partying ends at 6 p.m.”

Aug. 10th – He’s a great role model

At the Hollywood premier, he joked that he took his character home with him to the family: “I did! I’d tell those little basterds to get out there and start scalpin”! And: “I’m just a drunk!”

Aug. 13th – He’s not going to be elected in New Orleans any time soon

In an interview on the “Today” show, Brad graciously dismisses talk of becoming a candidate: “I’m running on the gay marriage, no religion, legalization & taxation of marijuana platform, I don’t have a chance of being elected”.

Brad, I'd vote for you anytime! See some cinematic Basterds, people, you'll have fun! Lord knows we see enough REAL BASTARDS in the news every day ;-).



35 comments:

Opus #6 said...

I will have to see this film. Thanks for the review.

LazyKing said...

I didnt want to see it because Brad has a weird voice (I didnt get why they didnt hire a german actor to play his role) but this is an excellent review.
I love how you described all the main characters and the anecdotes.
And I want to see this movie now (while eating pretzels and drinking coke).
This review rocks.

Teresa said...

Great description and a great review of the movie. The preview clip of the movie looked awesome, so this is a must see for me.

Snarky Basterd said...

Tarrantino is awesome (I'm a gory kind of guy). I'll be seeing this one too.

Amusing Bunni said...

Hi Opie! I'm sure you'll enjoy it, and the two female leads are very beautiful, just like you!

Hey Lazy King, Oh, you should def. see it, and Brad plays an AMERICAN, he's on our side....so he shouldn't have a german accent....hee hee. I'm glad you enjoyed my review. I always love to get your feedback, I know you're going to love it.

Hi Teresa: I'm glad you stopped by and liked my review, I tried not to give too much away, and the preview pretty much gives a great idea of what the film is about! Let me know how you like it.

Hi Dr, Dave! Are you back from your vacation? I'm glad you stopped by! If you like Tarantino, you'll love this film, but you could probably guess that from the preview and my review.

Happy Weekend, everyone.

Opus #6 said...

Bunni, thank you so much for all of your help with my Twitter account. This is such a SLOW weekend with LL and Nickie out of town. My blog traffic slowed down, but now it is speeding up again, thanks to Twitter, and I haven't even been on for 24 hours. Cool! I don't know how many followers I will end up with. Quality over quantity, like you say. I belong to a followers Mom's club for my blog, and most of those ladies are horribly offended by my politics. So they don't comment much. I do find some that pop in, so it is worth it. After all, the libs are the ones we really need to reach.

Ha ha, rambling. Can't do that on Twitter, huh?

Amusing Bunni said...

Oh, Opie, My Pleasure! You are really getting up to speed! Isn't it GREAT! I'm sure you're very happy you finally got on it. Twitter is a natural compliment to Blogging, and as you know, many of our pals are on it, so you can keep up on all our activities by watching the "stream"! If I can help you with anything else, let me know! You have the most beautiful photo on there too, I'm sure you'll have TONS of followers...hee hee.
Luv, Bunni

God,Guns,Free Speech said...

Great review, I will wait untill it comes out on dvd, I dont like going to a movie theater, rather watch it in the comfort of my home. I like Pitt as an actor,but his political views are off the wall.I think Pitt is a good man in that he has done a lot for the kids in Africa.
You should be a movie critic!

Amusing Bunni said...

Hi GG FS!
Thanks for stopping by and your very wonderful comment! I would like to be a movie critic, if I could get paid to see the movies, and then write about them, even better! I do tend to be opinionated, so being a critic is tailor made for me, (ask my RL pals, too) hee hee.

Yes, Brad does seem to be kind of a nut job, some of the stuff he does and supports, but that's hollywood for you! If he can make some kids lives better, though, that's nice!

LLnL said...

This post was Fantastic! The first time I read your film reviews I realized that their is no need to try to write my own. You are truly gifted and I can't help but trust opinion.

The buzz before the release left me indifferent but with so many people going gaga I was convinced that I would, at the very least, enjoy this movie. Once again your review has me running to the theater...or at least driving.

Amusing Bunni said...

Hi LLnL! I'm happy you stopped by, long time no see! I thought you didn't like my political posts or something. Well, since I do go off on dear leader, I can see where people who still like him might take offense, but maybe someday you'll see the light!

Until then, you can still enjoy my funny parodies, movie reviews, and other assorted silliness! Hope everything is well with you & your summer has been great. Thanks again for your kind words! It really cheers me up to know that people enjoy my efforts.

Andrew33 said...

I can't stand Tarrantino's movies. His movies are "Make a gory movie yet draw it out as slowly as possible, make it as low I.Q as possible and call it "artsy". I love war movies, but this will not be one I will watch ever.
I wouldn't touch this with tax cheat Timmy's nose and Obama pushing. If you folks like it, that's all good, I just have different taste and I loathe Hollywood. Tarrantino is everything I find disgusting about Hollywood personified just like his movies are. Can you tell I don't go to many movies or watch much "network tv"? There is plenty of good stuff on tv to watch besides ABC,CtheBS and NBC.

Barking Spider said...

Hi, Bunni:
Having now seen the trailer and read your review I think I actually might want to see this film after all! I'm like GGFS, though and will probably wait for the DVD or Sky Movies and watch in the comfort of home.

If you can give me any advice about feeds, or anything else you think would a good idea for me to set up on Twitter, I'd be very grateful.

Spidey.

cbullitt said...

Brad Pitt's best performance was also in a Quentin (written) movie. He was "Floyd" in True Romance.
I'll see it--but I'll wait for this one on video. It's not like Gladiator, or Patton, which required the big screen. Glad you liked it.

Amusing Bunni said...

Hi Spider: Nice you stopped by and you liked my review, the trailer makes the film look good.
If you like to watch at home, I'd say just wait, like cubl says, it doesn't really require a big screen.
I don't do feeds on my twitter, I think people just press that if they want to get feeds. Other than setting up your pic and link, there isn't too much to set up on twitter. Email me any questions and I'll help you, I'm off to work now, eeekkkk.

Hi CBullitt: I had not seen true romance, I"ll have to check it out. You are probably best to wait until it comes out on dvd. You are right that it doesn't require a big screen, like some epics to. I wouldn't call it an epic. And as far as WWII movies lately go, I liked Valkerie more!

Cwn Annwn on Patrol said...

Nice review. I was highly disappointed in Death Proof and somewhat hesitant on seeing this. Going to try and check it out this week. Quentin also wrote the screen play for True Romance, an older movie that has Brad Pitt in a small role that you might like. The movie has lots of references that come out in Pulp Fiction. Like you I like to go to the first show not only for the price but the crowd are usually a movie crowd and not people talking on the phone. Thanks for the review.

Amusing Bunni said...

Hi Cwn: How are you, glad you enjoyed my review. Thanks for the rec on the other film, I'll try to find at the library! I know, isn't the lst show the best, less kids and jabberers. I pick out a perfect seat in the middle just right distance and no big headed people in front of me...hee hee.

I'm glad you visted, let me know how you like the movie, I hated death proof, so this is much better.

Snarky Basterd said...

Hey, Bunni...thanks for the comments over my way. Don't worry; you, along with our blogger friends, know how to use other people's work.

HOWEVER, I was a bit of a cad with her. I can't take it back, but maybe I can learn my own lesson about humility.

I'm seriously thinking of just taking the thing private for those who give a crap.

WomanHonorThyself said...

wow thanks Bunni for the trailor!..sure does look intriguing..~!

Amusing Bunni said...

Hi Dr. Dave! No problem, you are just being you! Please don't go private. You can't deprive the world of your talent and snark. We must keep up the good fight, people are starting to wake up!

Hi Angel: I'm glad you enjoyed the trailer, it is pretty exciting, and the movie is pretty good too!

Juicer said...

Damn, did you have to write that long of a review, shit i had to run to the bathroom, man it seems like you never stopped talking. From the looks of it the movie looks okay i will have watch it. thanks for the detailed explanation. Hey while your at it can you please tell us the ending. lol...................bye Juicer.

Amusing Bunni said...

Juicer, I'm sorry your past experience in reading has been limited to "see Spot Run" and Dr. Seusse, but semi-literate people tend to enjoy reading a post that is more than 2 sentences long!

I would tell you the ending, but you'd probably complain I went on too long about it, so now, no ending for you! hee hee I'm the Blog Nazi and you're not! Thanks for stopping by anyway.

Anonymous said...

Reservoir dogs was the best, though I never heard of it unitl PF came out.

I'll probably wait for the DVD on this one. I haven't been in a theatre since 'Miracle' came out in 04.

Woodsterman (Odie) said...

The film sounds like a rental down the road. Great blog ... the squirrels are a hoot ... but shouldn't they be bunnies ... LOL

Woodsterman (Odie) said...

I forgot to add ... thanks for the "follow".

Amusing Bunni said...

Hi Bat's, yeah it's probably fine to just watch at home on dvd. I can't believe you've not been to a theatre in like 5 years! I like to go and watch action flicks on the big screen to get out my aggressions vicariously.
Thanks for visiting.

Amusing Bunni said...

Hi Odie! Thanks for coming by and following me back! I've seen your funny comments around and checked out your blogs, they are a riot.

Yes, I do have lots of squirrels, but they are the protectors of the bunnies! Bunnies don't dress up and do lots of special ops, they prefer to be behind the scenes, giving the orders!

Glad your a new follower, and keep up your great blogs, I love all the funny signs. And I'm sure the guys love all the hot women! Bye, Bunni

Anonymous said...

Hi Bunni,

I had read her comments in your blog section. She is absolutely right .... your reviews are fantastic!

She is also right about advising you not to let those idiots at work get you down, especially when you are the only one around there that does any work of substance ... make that any work at all!

Your pal,
Diva

Amusing Bunni said...

Diva, I'm glad your my friend, all your kind words and encouragement make the horror show that is my job bearable (barely...hee hee)
God Bless you! Bunni

Hypnotransformations said...

Hi Bunni, Thanks so much for visiting my blog. I saw this movie last night and absolutley loved it. My boyfriend, quite the movie critic, had very similar sentiments as you =) He found the dialogue tedious and couldn't stop talking about the need for editing. I think the therapist in me found the dialogue riveting, allowing me to analyize Tarrantino's thought processes behind the characters. But that's just me, lol.
I look forward to more reviews to come. Did you see District 9? I saw it and really couldn't figure out what all the hype was about.

Amusing Bunni said...

Hi Hypno! Thanks for visiting and following me!
I'm glad you liked my review. Your BF sounds very smart as well. As an amateur therapist, I would say Quentin's motivation for making this was fattening his bank account...hee hee.

I have not seen district 9, and I probably won't, it looks kind of silly, and I don't want to see some ham handed attempt to lecture us about "illegals" in a film as an allegory. Plus, those creatures are ugly.
Have a pleasant day. I have a few other movie reviews on my blog...hurt locker, Terminator 4, etc.

Cwn Annwn on Patrol said...

Hello Bunni.
I have not been blogging latley and just stopped by to say hi. I finally watched this movie.I thought it was great and enjoyed going backover your review after seeing the movie.

Amusing Bunni said...

Hi Cwn: How nice of your to remember my post! Wow, it seems like a long time ago. I'm glad you got a chance to see the movie! I figured you'd like it, and I'm very happy you did.

You should see AVATAR now! I haven't done a review yet, was doing other things, it's awesome though. Must been seen on the big screen in 3D
Merry Christmas to you and yours.

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