Pose Reviews A Movie. #7: Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Don't let the name fool you. It's actually pretty glorious.

Yep. Quentin Tarantino is back--this time, tackling a new genre for his growing catalogue of homages: the war film.

But this one doesn't really feel like a war film. To be honest, it feels more like Tarantino's other five movies parachuted into Nazi-occupied France and made a new film.

But it works.

First, there's the irresistible dialogue. I know, I know, every film critic, fanboy and video store clerk praise Tarantino for his scriptwriting skills, but for damn good reason! The man knows how to write--not just catchy lines and phrases, but entire CHARACTERS.

For example, one of the highlights of Inglourious Basterds is, by far, Christoph Waltz's portrayal of SS Colonel Hans Landa, the slimy yet weirdly charismatic "Jew Hunter." But his performance is such a hit because he has great lines to deliver. Same with Brad Pitt's portrayal of U.S. Lieutenant Aldo Raines--good acting, great lines.

The writing is not the only thing that Inglourious Basterds has going for it though--the film also does a great job of constructing suspense. The tension in some of these scenes can be cut with the soldiers' own knives, and it's AWESOME. But let's face it--at two and a half hours, it kind of has to be, doesn't it?

The only trouble I had with Tarantino's latest effort is that it's...well...a little self-indulgent. The man is clearly a cinematic genius, we get it--but do you have to reuse the same songs from the Kill Bills? Do you really need to give us a "History of Tarantino in Typeface" in the first three minutes? (If you notice, he re-uses the fonts from just about all of his previous films in the opening credits--maybe it takes a geek to notice that, but it also takes a geek to do it). And do you really need to include Brad Pitt delivering what are essentially just Uma Thurman's lines from Kill Bill Vol. 1 about the value of leaving someone alive and disfigured to send a message to your enemies?

Style is one thing--but self-plagiarism is quite another.

That said, however, it's still a really solid movie. So solid, in fact, that my MOTHER even liked it. And I'm sure you will too.

...

Oh, and the cameo by Mike Myers almost makes you forget that he made The Love Guru.

Just sayin'.

tm Does the QT 20 Part 4: Fight Club

Starring Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, and Helena Bonham Carter – this is a good movie and worthy of repeated viewings. There’s the big Plot Twist, which is pulled off semi-believably, but there are several layers to the whole movie and it’s clear that a lot of thought went into it, most of which undoubtedly came from the original novel, written by cult-fave author Chuck Palahniuk

Norton plays a corporate drone and meets Pitt, a free spirited soap maker, on an airplane. They hang out after the flight and Norton becomes envious of Pitt’s anti-establishment character. By accident, they form Fight Club – a brawl between two willing combatants that becomes an emotional and physical outlet for the participants - basically, pugilistic therapy. Its success escalates and more people become involved, this in turn sees the Club turn to pubic pranks intent on self-improvement for the members and showing the public its shallowness and greed; this then escalates into bigger and bigger stunts, Club members become organized and militarized, and it culminates with the Mother Of All Stunts.

Bonham Carter is the woman between the two men and she’s does a great job of playing the flaky waif, though she does kinda disappear for a while. And worthy of mention is Meatloaf (yes, the singer), who wears a fat suit with huge boobs complete with nipples.

Not wanting to be overdramatic, but the home-grown terrorism aspect makes it strangely a little hard to watch post 9-11.

This is a 2-dvd set – there are four commentaries with the disc and a lot of production scenes. Good stuff. Too bad the Fincher/Pitt/North/Carter commentary is not all of them together – sounds like only Fincher and Norton were recorded jointly.

tm sez: 8/10