Inglourious Basterds

I've been a fan of Tarantino's work since I laid my teenage eyes upon Pulp Fiction. The mixture of story, quick wit dialogue and memorable characters makes for a pretty damn good movie.

Inglourious Basterds is great addition to his library of work (Pulp and Kill Bill being my favorites followed by Death Proof) Although this film is very different for Tarantino. This story has a complete narrative marked by his love of chapter titles.

There are two stories to follow:



The first, a teenage Shosanna Dreyfuss (Melanie Laurent) has escaped the wrath of Nazi Officer Col. Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) only to come face to face with him in her later years. Shosanna runs a movie theater in Paris where she is ordered to only play films by German/Austrian directors. She meets a young war hero who is smitten with her. She denies him any real attention until she is forced to dine with him as well as meet the infamous Dr.Joseph Goebbels. After all, this is Nazi occupied France and their will is law. Eventually, her movie theater is chosen for the premier of the film version of the young war hero's exploits, produced by Goebbels. Shosanna concocts a plan to do in the Nazi high command.



The Second, Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) enlists the help of a group young Jewish-American soldiers, "The Basterds", to land in France and take out the Nazi high command, including the fuhrer himself, Hitler. Of course, Aldo has an unconventional way of inflicting some well-deserved pain to the Nazis. Just as the Native Americans did to the settlers and soldiers of the past, they scalp the head of each kill. If you were lucky enough to be set free from the Basterds, they would leave you a mark you could never erase. Another great scare tactic at Aldo's command, The "Bear" Jew played by Eli Roth (Writer/Director of Cabin Fever and Hostel). The Bear's weapon of choice, a baseball bat. Together this group of Americans kills its way through the French countryside to reach its ultimate goal.

There is a third story involving a rogue Nazi, a British Actor and German Actress who join the Basterds cause. Their story is interesting on its own but I won't go into it here. (The Basement Bar scene is excellent) The finale has our two main stories come together for an over the top, surprising and violent end.



Tarantino has cast some amazing actors in this film. The are two real standouts for me. Christoph Waltz as the delightfully evil Col. Landa. This actor is so beyond brilliant. He is able to speak French, German, English and Italian to perfection. His scenes are riveting. He will be nominated for best supporting actor, no question. The other, Melanie Laurent as Shosanna. She is given this story line ripe for any actress. She commands scenes and you are drawn to her story. One of my favorite scenes is the "Glam Rambo" scene heightened by Tarantino's fitting use of the David Bowie song Cat People (Putting Out the Fire). Shosanna is getting ready for the opening night of the Nazi film and it will be night no one will soon forget. I also loved the portrayals of some of histories greatest villains. Hitler is played as an over the top buffoon. Goebbels is this douchey prick who really needs Hitlers praise and approval. The one scene which just doesn't work for me involved Mike Meyers. It was just waste of casting, another actor could have easily played it better. Overall, the use of music and some amazing scenes make for a fantastic movie. Also if you are not used to subtitles, it has those too. A great film that I thoroughly enjoyed. My Grade: A-

9

Animation is so much more than a child's medium or simple form of entertainment. It can tell any kind of story and can take you anywhere.

9 plays more like an animated drama than anything else. Director Shane Acker has fleshed out this harsh post-apocalyptic landscape and detailed his characters down to the last stitch. It is directed with a cinematic scope that other traditional films rarely use to their advantage.



9, the title character voiced by Elijah Wood, is the last creation made by a recently deceased scientist. Humanity has been eradicated by the machines they created. Machines that were made specifically to destroy their human enemies during war. All that survives are these hodge-podge machines and little sack covered gear-bots. Each one with a distinct personality. 9 meets 2, voiced by Martin Landau, on the day of his birth. The first of his kind he has ever met, but not the last. As these two get to know each other, they are being hunted by a motley machine with the skull of a cat. 2 is taken and 9 enlists the help of the other, um, numbers to help get him back. We meet 1 (Christopher Plummer) who is the leader and the law maker of the little survivors. His cowardice, he believes, is keeping the survivors safe. 9 convinces 5 (John C. Reilly) to join him on his quest to retrieve 2. They arrive to the machine's home base and 9 accidentally awakens the master machine. The survivors are now forced to destroy the machines or meet their demise.



The action is crazy. I mean these scenes are impeccably choreographed and thrilling. The voice work is very well done. Especially in Elijah's case as he gets most of the dialogue. Jennifer Connelly voices 7 with a bravery and fire, she is the action star of the movie. This is a technically brilliant computer animated movie. It is full of atmosphere and tension. One scene showcases an element of heart that drives the story home. These little guys have to succeed. The future depends on them. Overall: A great dramatic sci-fi film light on humor but full of detailed imagery. My grade: A-