Quentin Tarantino Movie Discussion

[idk, my bff jill?]

I neither like nor dislike Mike Myers, so when I saw his name in the opening credits, I wasn't discouraged, but the entire scene with him managed to annoy me and sort of bring down my mood a bit until it was over with.
Luckily, as everyone has already said, he was gone relatively quick.
But wow.
Still.
/shudders

[ola]

Another link re: Basterds - Scarecrow Video in Seattle posted pretty much anything influencing/referenced in the movie on their blog:

http://www.scarecrow.com/2009/08/27/...were-basterds/

[sarah]

I FINALLY saw the Basterd's this weekend and fucking loved it. I loved seeing the classic Tarantino moments. I loved the story telling and I loved that everyone spoke the language they were supposed to. Who knew I'd be reading subtitles most of the movie? It was fantastic!

[jayson]

I loved that everyone spoke the language they were supposed to.

this is what made it work best for me as well. i'd MUCH rather read subtitles than deal with hours of an actor doing a terrible job faking an accent, or even worse, a lone actor not faking an accent at all while the rest of them do (see kevin costner in robin hood).

i think some of the early reviews of basterds which suggested the dialogue wasn't as witty as other qt movies fails to take this into account. perhaps people didn't go home quoting the movie instantaneously but then again, most of us don't speak french or german fluently. still, when i read the translations on the screen, the dialogue was extremely witty and very very tarantino.

i am so ready to see it again (and again and again)

[turtlex]

jayson - i love you and all, but there's no way I am going to "see kevin costner in robin hood" again... not even for you !!!

[Still Servant]

I've been quoting Basterds every day since I saw it.

"This might just be my masterpiece."

Love that line.

[Ruki]

basterds was awesome. i wasn't really expecting to like it but now i can't remember why. tarantino rocks.

[Seymour_Glass]

I saw Basters today. Here's my facebook review:

First off this is easily Tarantino's best since Pulp Fiction. I'm not going to say that it rivals Pulp Fiction yet, but I might in about a week after this movie finishes swimming through my brain. The choice to have all the characters speak the languages they actually would be speaking adds a weird sense of realism and also works into the plot, in a way that makes a lot of since. Subtleties of accent and mannerism mean a lot. Also, great peformances from the entire cast, especially Christoph Waltz, who won Best Actor at Cannes. In the first scene I missed some of the subtitles because I couldn't take my eyes off him. That good.
Speaking of the first scene, it was excellent, and sets up the motivations of a major character down the road. This and the bar scene are the two standouts in the movie; a slow, inevitable build, followed by a burst of violence. A-game material for all involved.
I'd also like to address the criticisms this film received for "turning the Jews into Nazis". That's simply not true. You see one major Jew character's family mercilessly slaughtered by Nazis early on, and you can imagine similar backgrounds for many of the Basterds, given their willingness to do violence to nazis. The climax can be twisted to enforce the above statement, but I refuse to believe it. It's irresponsible for those critics to dismiss Tarantino as glorifying violence, but what he's actually doing is much trickier; he forces the viewer to deal with their own morality, and where they draw the line between justice and vengeance. The climax, in particular, teeters on the edge of satisfying and nightmarish, leaning more towards the second as the screams of the nazis and laughs of the movie screen grow louder. It raises questions, and is aware of this. tarantino is too masterful a filmmaker to be ignorant of his movie's message.
Yes, I said master filmmaker. And, I loved the way he worked film into the climax. I loved the way he worked film in this movie, period.

[jayson]

I'd also like to address the criticisms this film received for "turning the Jews into Nazis". That's simply not true. You see one major Jew character's family mercilessly slaughtered by Nazis early on, and you can imagine similar backgrounds for many of the Basterds, given their willingness to do violence to nazis. The climax can be twisted to enforce the above statement, but I refuse to believe it. It's irresponsible for those critics to dismiss Tarantino as glorifying violence, but what he's actually doing is much trickier; he forces the viewer to deal with their own morality, and where they draw the line between justice and vengeance. The climax, in particular, teeters on the edge of satisfying and nightmarish, leaning more towards the second as the screams of the nazis and laughs of the movie screen grow louder. It raises questions, and is aware of this. tarantino is too masterful a filmmaker to be ignorant of his movie's message.

seymour, my friend, i could not agree more.

i think an important point to consider about the violence perpetrated by the bastereds and by shosana, is that it was committed against nazis, not against innocents. this stands in stark contrast to the violence of the nazis, particularly in the opening scene.

[Seymour_Glass]

I agree. The violence perpetrated by the protagonists is not against innocents. however, i couldn't help but feel uneasy about the nazis trying to escape the theater. It made me question where i would draw the line. Me questioning my morality = awesomeass filmmaking.
And the opening segment was instrumental in setting up these questions, because of it's depiction of the nazis. And while I winced when

Spoiler:

Aldo swastikaed Landa

I felt it was the right thing to do to that horribel man.

[jayson]

I agree. The violence perpetrated by the protagonists is not against innocents. however, i couldn't help but feel uneasy about the nazis trying to escape the theater. It made me question where i would draw the line. Me questioning my morality = awesomeass filmmaking.
And the opening segment was instrumental in setting up these questions, because of it's depiction of the nazis. And while I winced when

Spoiler:

Aldo swastikaed Landa

I felt it was the right thing to do to that horribel man.

you'd not be human if it didn't make you think twice. i struggled with it as well. i think that was what qt wanted of us. i thought it was right as well, but that didn't make it easy to handle.

[Seymour_Glass]

Exactly. That's what pisses me off so much about critics who are just dismissing the movie as glorifying violence. i don't think any movie that realistically depicts violence glorifies it, especially when it's as unflinching as this.

[AIMB]

When you guys saw it was the theatre full of old people thinking it was just another world war 2 movie? Mine was FULL of them. The old lady in front of us had her eyes over her face half the time, poor thing. And I was so surprised when none of them walked out.

[IWasSentWest]

that movie was BALLIN. loved how it went a different way with the war...i kept expecting hitler to somehow sneak out the theatre, and thus somehow still sticking to the actual history of what happened (in the broad sense) but he got his face turned into mush! holy shit that was awesome.

alot of subtitles, and i went with my not so smart (aka never read a book, ever) friends, but even they didnt mind at all.

and what the fuck was up with the random sex scene with the filmaker guy and his translator? the whole theater laughed for ten minutes when that shit happened haha

[IWasSentWest]

btw, i talked like aldo for three days after i watched it. him speaking italian was priceless

[AIMB]

thats a bingo!

[Seymour_Glass]

I love how Aldo looked so much like Brando in the Godfather when he was disguised as an Italian.

[IWasSentWest]

haha yeh your right. bonjourno

[Seymour_Glass]

I just sat waiting for him to scratch his face.

[fernandito]

I didn't want to post my review of Inglourious Basterds until I got to see the movie at least twice, and I finally got to watch it again over the weekend so here it is : Let me start off with the verdict - I loved it. This is a return to form from a director that is capable of delivering cinematic gold everytime he sits in the directors' chair. Unlike Death Proof, the dialogue in IG was both engaging and entertaining, and it often helped increase the tension that usually resulted in outburts of violence. The movie also had a perfect dialogue to violence ratio, according to QT's standards. I really only have two complaints about the movie , 1) While the scenes involving the basterds were ... dare I say it , glorious (?), there was not nearly of them, and 2) The scenes with Emmanuelle dragged on a bit. I understand that they were necessary to set up the events to come, but the actress that played her simply did not have the acting prowess necessary to carry a movie forward with as much screen time as she was given. I loved Brad Pitt as the charismatic Aldo Raine, and please let there be justice come Oscar season - Best Supporting Actor : Christoph Waltz. One of the most memorable villians I've ever seen! He played the part with suice poise and effortlessness, this guy is destined for great things.

To summarize - Amazing movie, definitely ranks up there with my favorite QT films. Hope he continues along these lines. 8.5/10.

[Heather19]

Feev, you've had me on pins and needles since you first saw it. I was dying to know what you thought of it. I'm glad to hear you really enjoyed it. I've been wanting to go see it again, and hopefully I'll get a chance before it leaves the theaters.

And are you talking about Shoshanna? I thought she was wonderful in the film.

[jayson]

glad you liked it feev, though i have to disagree on melanie laurent (shosanna/emmanuelle). i thought her performance was nothing short of spectacular, second only to mr. waltz, and his i found his to be the best performance i've seen from anyone in decades.

at this point, shosanna comes in second only to beatrix to me as far as qt's greatest female characters and with repeated viewings of basterds, she may take that top spot yet. without a strong performance from laurent, i couldn't say that.

as for the screen time of the basterds themselves, while i'd not have complained about more, i still think it worked perfectly to leave them shrouded in mystery. like the germans, the audience knew only bits and pieces and it helped create the sense that only by crossing their path could one really know about them.

[IWasSentWest]

i too felt shosannas scenes kind of drug along. but i mean it went well for the end of the movie. and the basterds did deserve a little more screen time. but alah pulp fiction, i guess it just works to have your stars in only half the scenes.

[Seymour_Glass]

I respectfully disagree about Shoshanna and the Basterds screen-time, effectively becoming jayson's echo.

[Ruthful]

btw, i talked like aldo for three days after i watched it. him speaking italian was priceless

I especially liked the theatrical hand gestures. I have to remember those if I ever decide to impersonate an Italian.