Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Inglourious Basterds was not what I expected. But then again, Quentin Tarantino has a knack of being different than what one would expect. I haven't seen all of Tarantino's films but I would call myself a fan, because I really like the ones I have seen.

When I say Basterds wasn't what I expected, I guess I just mean that it wasn't all Brad Pitt all the time, the way the trailers make it out to be. Now that I've mentioned him I guess I'll start with what I thought of Brad Pitt. First off, I do not like him. The whole I'm-cheating-on-my-amazingly-gorgeous-wife-with-Angelina-Jolie thing really pissed me off. Unfortunately, my personal feelings toward celebrities tend to affect my opinions of their work. I do this for musicians too. Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised by him. Pitt did a great job with his southern accent (according to this list, he is pretty bad at accents). It makes Lt. Aldo Raine more likeable and provides the comic relief. While Brad Pitt was funny in this movie, I wasn't blown away by his acting.

I was very impressed with Mélanie Laurent as Shosanna. For one, she's beautiful, and two, she did wonderfully at being classy and composed and a little wrathful at the same time. I need to look up some of her French films and watch them. Hopefully she'll make her way back to the States soon. I do want to mention that Christoph Waltz, the guy that played Col. Hans Landa, a higher-up in Hitler's SS, is really, really good at being evil. It makes me a little frightened for his family.

Tarantino's way of using music to convey emotion and create drama and suspense is no less than superb. Something big is about to happen, and a song that shouldn't fit but somehow does is blasted at full volume. It makes my heart beat faster. The anticipation of the forthcoming events is so wonderful. Quentin Tarantino does this in all of his films (okay, all the ones I've seen) and every time it produces the same remarkable effect. When you can feel your pulse pounding, the music vibrating in your chest, and you can't take your eyes away from the screen, you know he did something right.

The Bottom Line: A: Take some pretty excellent acting, mix it with a storyline that makes you wanna go redneck and kick some Nazi ass, and throw in some blood and guts for good measure. Bake at 350 for 153 minutes, and you've got a winner. Mr. Tarantino, I bow to you.