Comments on: Review: Inglourious Basterds

By: Jcankerhuxley

Jcankerhuxley — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 16:28:37 +0000

Could he be speaking of this guy?

Senor Spielbergo, Steven Spielberg’s Mexican, non-union equvilent and the director of “Raiders of the Over-Crowded Cargo Truck, ” “A.I. Artificial Immigrant,” and “The Monty Burns Story”? Or maybe Senior Spielbergo the author of this blogspot:

http://seniorspielbergo.blogspot.com/2008/08/six-stages-of-film-production.html

By: cdouglas

cdouglas — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 04:02:55 +0000

Ease up there, tiger. The only comparison being made between “Up” (A superhero film? Really?) and “Inglourious Basterds” is that they’re both excellent mainstream films that have been released this year. Also, who is this Speilbergb you speak of?

By: Mr Flibberly

Mr Flibberly — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 03:10:16 +0000

I’ve watched most of Tarantino’s movies and quite frankly I am am *offended* by all of the comments in this thread.

How anyone can seriously compare “Up” to to any well made movie is beyond me!

“Up” was an super hero film that didn’t suck. Considering the current Marvel /DC super hero film run that really ISN’T difficult.

And some how a super hero film that sucks slightly less than Iron Man is compared by all to a really wonderful film that questions the very role of cinema in modern life.

I have seen “Up” and I have seen “Inglourious Basterds” and quite frankly as someone who grew up watching Speilbergb, Von Hoffen, the French new wave, Japanese cinema, the dogma movement and everyone else who wasn’t a hack the comparison really offends me.

By: Clark Douglas

Clark Douglas — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 17:20:37 +0000

HGervais, I’m not complaining about the altered history of the film, simply noting it as what it is: historically inaccurate. I honestly have no interest in explicitly spoiling exactly how altered this film is (though most critics have rather enthusiastically described the details of Tarantino’s should-be-a-surprise-ending). I just know that some people will be averse to the idea of an false version of World War II, so I mentioned it.

Additionally, I’ve seen the films you mentioned (except “In the Loop” and “Thirst”) and either really liked them or loved them. I do not call the cinematic climate “stale” due to the lack of great films (there will always be a steady supply of great films, I believe), but because of the mindless banality and incoherency that much of mainstream cinema has slipped into these days. A climate that allows the likes of “Transformers 2″ to become the biggest hit of the year is not a healthy climate. More than ever, we need mainstream films (such as “Up” and “Inglourious Basterds”) that actually attempt to accomplish ambitious things (the others you mention are all being treated like “art” films by theatres around the country).

I’ll also note that the twitter comment suggesting that “Inglourious Basterds” is the best film I’ve seen this year is presumptious, as I simply said it was “one of the best” (part of a group that includes some of the films HGervais mentioned in addition to the likes of “Two Lovers”, “Ponyo”, “Coraline” and “500 Days of Summer”).

By: HGervais

HGervais — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 14:15:58 +0000

I just don’t get how you can call a film which clearly features an alternative reality, “historically inaccurate.” I mean “Inglorious Basterds” comes off as a fever dream of a Jew who loves comic books.
And as for the stale cinematic climate of this summer….have movies such as “Moon”, “The Hurt Locker”, “In The Loop”, “UP!”and “The Brothers Bloom” completely passed you by? Throw in “Inglorious Basterds” and hopefully Park Chan-Wook’s “Thirst” and you have a pretty bumper crop of movies with something on their mind other than explosions & giant machines.
As for the length…I don’t know. I sat in a half full house on a Saturday afternoon and outside of people reacting to what they saw onscreeen, there was not a peep. The audience I saw it with connected with it pretty strongly.

By: Michael Stailey

Michael Stailey — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 07:42:14 +0000

While I enjoyed the film (see our Twitter feed), Clark and I rarely see eye-to-eye, so consider this the Verdict counterpoint. BASTERDS is one of those films that, once the buzz wears off, you begin to see the seams. Quentin introduces and discards storytelling conventions at will — voice over narration by Sam Jackson, flash-pow ’70s word balloons, disconnected musical themes — as if he repeatedly changed his mind about what he was trying to accomplish. And though I appreciate his tremendous knack for dialogue, the indulgence can wear down an audience, such as the over-extended tavern sequence. 10 min or more could have been easily been trimmed without any impact on the story, and the pacing would have improved considerably. Two more quick observations: Harvey Keitel cameo – genius. Mike Myers performance – wtf?