Ingloriousness – Movie Review

I saw the new Quentin Tarantino movie yesterday, at 3:25pm, another one of the advantages of being unemployed, but hey I saw the matinee, so what the heck.

I’ll first start off with my history with Quentin and go from there.
I first saw Pulp Fiction in 1996 just about a year or so after it came out, I didnt see it in the theatres because I was out of the country at its release. I remember renting it at Blockbuster and hearing from old friends that it was ‘hardcore’ and one of their favorites. I saw it and immediately loved it. Of course it was all about the writing. Quentin is known for his dialog and his characters and Pulp Fiction had that in spades. There was also the non-linear storyline that I loved and that was fresh to me a the time. I had very little exposure at the time to the films that inspired Quentin so everything was new and fresh for me.
I rented Resevior Dogs and again, I loved that. I didnt care for 4 Rooms, and I do think that Jackie Brown is another very good film. Kill Bill is good, but not my favorite and I did like Death Proof. So while i dont like everythign he does I would consider myself a fan, so with that lets get on to the show….

Inglorious Basterds is first not a re-make and second is basically a foriegn film. Ifyou are annoyed by reading subtitles, then pick something else to watch, unless you speak German, French and a little Italian. This movie was definitely mis-marketed, in that its not an action film, there are 2 action scenes, and at 2.5 hours, its mostly talking heads, which turns out to be reading, so if that sounds tiresome, take a pass. That all said , I love it. I’m a film-snob, so I like this kind of thing.
Tarantino is like a smash-up dj, who puts the things he loves in the movies that he makes, he’s really just a big film geek, and thats why I love it. This is a Spagetti-Western set in WWII and except for a couple of weird places it works the whole way through. It has his mark on it, the shots, and music its all Tarantino, but its also fresh, becasue its a period film and he has to restrain himself more than his previous works, and I think it works becasue of that.
Its not the usual Tarantino either, theres very little foul language and of course no pop-culture. There are a couple of graphic scenes (scalping of the Nazi) but beside that its not very violent.
Christoph Waltz is amazing, one of the best villians ever! You can always tell a good movie if it has a good villian. (read Silence of the Lamb, Empire Strikes Back, etc) He plays Col. Hans Landa and is completely charming and ruthless.
Brad Pitt chews up the scenery in his scenes, but honestly its good, but doesnt really have too much to work with here. The Basterds are not in the movie much themselves, despite with the title would lead you to believe.

So, I have it an 8. Great movie if you are a fan of Tarantino and dont mind subtitles.