Movie Review: Inglourious Basterds

THREE THINGS I LIKED:

1. THE FIRST SCENE OF THE FILM WAS THE BEST SCENE OF THE YEAR — At least that's what the Skandies voters said. I'm not sure I can argue either—although I've still got movies to get to. Still, if anything else at this point can give the outstanding more than 20-minute beginning to Basterds in which Col. Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) is memorably introduced by calmly using a kitchen table interrogation to work a confession out of a farmer (Denis Menochet) hiding a Jewish family under his floorboards, it would probably be a later scene from this very film—an undercover tavern sequence with the Basterds, a unit of Jews under the command of Brad Pitt's Lt. Aldo Raine and committed to scalping Nazis, immediately coming to mind. But the point here is that Quentin Tarantino crafts a number of scenes that seem to be him doing what he does best: getting lively dialogue while building suspense and always finding a satisfying payoff.
   
2. IT'S THAT LAUGH-OUT-LOUD, FEEL-GOOD HOLOCAUST MOVIE YOU DIDN'T KNOW WAS MISSING FROM YOUR LIFE — Because Hitler dying in his bunker's so, you know, boring. Instead, Tarantino offers the twist of having a group of Jews kill him—where esle?—in a movie theater. And beyond that, Hitler's hardly the character that steals this show anyway. I haven't even mentioned the performances QT got out of both Mélanie Laurent and Diane Kruger, two more strong females that both had Oscar consideration (although the Up in the Air girls got both the supporting nods they were vying for).
   
3. I SEEM TO LIKE EVERYTHING TARANTINO DOES — Depending on how you classify the Kill Bill deal (I'm still waiting for both to be released in a single DVD package, although it appears a third is in the works), this is either Tarantino's sixth or seventh feature full-length film—and I've liked all of them. It's been nearly two decades since Reservoir Dogs came out and this guys still hasn't made anything I didn't enjoy.
   

THREE THINGS I DIDN'T:

1. I SEEM TO LIKE EVERYTHING TARANTINO DOES — It isn't to say I'm passionate about everything he's done anywhere near the level of craziness some of his fans have, but seriously, not one thumb down from me on anything he's directed. Does this make me a fanboy?
   
2. IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE A HISTORY LESSON ... — But you're talking about World War II here, so you know how some people feel about that. Some people insinuated it was wrong to laugh along with Life is Beautiful, and of course there's going to be the usual guilt others may insist you feel for taking a little sadistic glee in watching Hostel director Eli Roth play the Jew from Boston who bashes Nazi brains in with a baseball bat.
   
3. ... BUT IT WON'T HURT BEING A FILM JUNKIE EITHER — Roth's role was something I was aware of going in, but Tarantino litters Basterds with references that I either missed or didn't find as profound as some fans have made them out to be. Take what you like (I still liked a lot, obviously) and leave the rest.
   

25 WORDS OR LESS:

Manages to simultaneously inspire Tarantino's most devout fans as well as enrage his most passionate detractors, myself closer to being among the former.