Quentin Tarantino is style. Just wanted to make sure everyone was clear on that. Inglorious Basterds, Tarantino’s remake of the film The Inglorious Bastards, is everything you would expect from the usually controversial and often over the top writer/director, but there are also points that make this film stand out from his usual work.
The film opens with Tarantino’s renowned organized chaos, as the opening credits flipflop from fonts, sizes and colours almost at random. The movie is broken down into chapters, which makes the passage of time easier to swallow for the viewers, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
The movie itself begins on a dairy farm in Nazi occupied France. Col. Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) interviews the owner of the farm in efforts to find hiding Jewish families. The scene’s primary focus is to let us know that Hans is the main villain of this film, but that he’s a cunning, intelligent and sometimes almost philosophical enemy instead of the brutish butchers that audiences have come to associate Nazis with.
The scene goes on for far too long, which is one of the few negative issues with this movie; there is far too much build up for predictable outcomes, making the payoff, maybe not disappointing, but there’s not much of a surprise when the outcome finally occurs. It feels like at times that there’s explanatory scenes just for the sake of explanatory scenes; there are talking scenes that go on for 20 minutes to a half hour that easily could have been established in under ten minutes.
Come chapter two, we’re introduced to Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) and he’s rounding up a covert strike force of Jewish Americans to drop deep into Nazi occupied France, their mission: killing Nazis. The scenes with conflict are fairly predictable for Tarantino work, graphic and bloody. Don’t assume because there’s violence though that this is another hack and slasher like Kill Bill, the violence and action has been pulled back to focus more on the story, but still leaving room for violence and gore when the time calls for it; making the movie much like a World War II Pulp Fiction.
The movie goes on, Raine’s killing Nazis, Hans is doing his Nazi thing, obviously leading to the eventual clash of these characters come the climax. Every scene is carried out with Tarantino’s signature ways of making every single scene fun to watch and exceedingly stylish in every way from costumes to scenery; not quite as cinematic comic booky as Sin City, but still very appealing to watch.
The story is fairly predictable and easy to follow, so even the simplest mouth-breather should have no difficulty following the plot. Reason for this is that, as the movie progresses, the film begins to focus more on the characters as much as the story, and with the characters being significantly more complex than the story, this is where it becomes even more fun to watch.
The acting is really something, while normally I like characters not going over the top, in this movie almost every character goes over the top in their acting, which makes it strangely balance out and still seem tasteful. Pitt’s portrayal of a good l’ southern boy is simply ingenious from the accent right down to making his jaw and lower lip stick out an inch or two further from his upper lip, it just fits for the character. Waltz simply steals the show though as he portrays Hans in so many different ways and methods that the movie begins to feel like it should be about him and you catch yourself almost wanting to see him succeed as he so easily outsmarts his opponents; you have to remind yourself frequently that this is the bad guy and you shouldn’t be wanting him to win. I honestly think had they made this character anything but a Nazi then he would be the fan favourite of this movie.
Final thoughts: if you want a fun war movie this summer but G.I. Joe’s just not sating your violence and gore fetish, then by all means check this movie out. The story’s hardly literary gold but it still makes for a movie that’s fun and easy to watch… k well maybe not easy to watch as some of the violence will make the audience flinch and the last scene even made me look away (while laughing though… I think I have issues). The movie is stylish, violent, funny and very entertaining as long as the dragged out explanatory scenes don’t put you off; it’s like watching a good wrestling match, you know how it’s going to end but it still manages to entertain you. All in all, good film, I don’t think it will win any awards for Best Picture or anything, but still a fun movie regardless.
I’m out
By: Lee Clifford
Quentin Tarantino is style. Just wanted to make sure everyone was clear on that. Inglorious Basterds, Tarantino’s remake of the film The Inglorious Bastards, is everything you would expect from the usually controversial and often over the top writer/director, but there are also points that make this film stand out from his usual work.
The film opens with Tarantino’s renowned organized chaos, as the opening credits flipflop from fonts, sizes and colours almost at random. The movie is broken down into chapters, which makes the passage of time easier to swallow for the viewers, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
The movie itself begins on a dairy farm in Nazi occupied France. Col. Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) interviews the owner of the farm in efforts to find hiding Jewish families. The scene’s primary focus is to let us know that Hans is the main villain of this film, but that he’s a cunning, intelligent and sometimes almost philosophical enemy instead of the brutish butchers that audiences have come to associate Nazis with.
The scene goes on for far too long, which is one of the few negative issues with this movie; there is far too much build up for predictable outcomes, making the payoff, maybe not disappointing, but there’s not much of a surprise when the outcome finally occurs. It feels like at times that there’s explanatory scenes just for the sake of explanatory scenes; there are talking scenes that go on for 20 minutes to a half hour that easily could have been established in under ten minutes.
Come chapter two, we’re introduced to Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) and he’s rounding up a covert strike force of Jewish Americans to drop deep into Nazi occupied France, their mission: killing Nazis. The scenes with conflict are fairly predictable for Tarantino work, graphic and bloody. Don’t assume because there’s violence though that this is another hack and slasher like Kill Bill, the violence and action has been pulled back to focus more on the story, but still leaving room for violence and gore when the time calls for it; making the movie much like a World War II Pulp Fiction.
The movie goes on, Raine’s killing Nazis, Hans is doing his Nazi thing, obviously leading to the eventual clash of these characters come the climax. Every scene is carried out with Tarantino’s signature ways of making every single scene fun to watch and exceedingly stylish in every way from costumes to scenery; not quite as cinematic comic booky as Sin City, but still very appealing to watch.
The story is fairly predictable and easy to follow, so even the simplest mouth-breather should have no difficulty following the plot. Reason for this is that, as the movie progresses, the film begins to focus more on the characters as much as the story, and with the characters being significantly more complex than the story, this is where it becomes even more fun to watch.
The acting is really something, while normally I like characters not going over the top, in this movie almost every character goes over the top in their acting, which makes it strangely balance out and still seem tasteful. Pitt’s portrayal of a good l’ southern boy is simply ingenious from the accent right down to making his jaw and lower lip stick out an inch or two further from his upper lip, it just fits for the character. Waltz simply steals the show though as he portrays Hans in so many different ways and methods that the movie begins to feel like it should be about him and you catch yourself almost wanting to see him succeed as he so easily outsmarts his opponents; you have to remind yourself frequently that this is the bad guy and you shouldn’t be wanting him to win. I honestly think had they made this character anything but a Nazi then he would be the fan favourite of this movie.
Final thoughts: if you want a fun war movie this summer but G.I. Joe’s just not sating your violence and gore fetish, then by all means check this movie out. The story’s hardly literary gold but it still makes for a movie that’s fun and easy to watch… k well maybe not easy to watch as some of the violence will make the audience flinch and the last scene even made me look away (while laughing though… I think I have issues). The movie is stylish, violent, funny and very entertaining as long as the dragged out explanatory scenes don’t put you off; it’s like watching a good wrestling match, you know how it’s going to end but it still manages to entertain you. All in all, good film, I don’t think it will win any awards for Best Picture or anything, but still a fun movie regardless.
I’m out
By: Lee Clifford
Quentin Tarantino is style. Just wanted to make sure everyone was clear on that. Inglorious Basterds, Tarantino’s remake of the film The Inglorious Bastards, is everything you would expect from the usually controversial and often over the top writer/director, but there are also points that make this film stand out from his usual work.
The film opens with Tarantino’s renowned organized chaos, as the opening credits flipflop from fonts, sizes and colours almost at random. The movie is broken down into chapters, which makes the passage of time easier to swallow for the viewers, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
The movie itself begins on a dairy farm in Nazi occupied France. Col. Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) interviews the owner of the farm in efforts to find hiding Jewish families. The scene’s primary focus is to let us know that Hans is the main villain of this film, but that he’s a cunning, intelligent and sometimes almost philosophical enemy instead of the brutish butchers that audiences have come to associate Nazis with.
The scene goes on for far too long, which is one of the few negative issues with this movie; there is far too much build up for predictable outcomes, making the payoff, maybe not disappointing, but there’s not much of a surprise when the outcome finally occurs. It feels like at times that there’s explanatory scenes just for the sake of explanatory scenes; there are talking scenes that go on for 20 minutes to a half hour that easily could have been established in under ten minutes.
Come chapter two, we’re introduced to Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) and he’s rounding up a covert strike force of Jewish Americans to drop deep into Nazi occupied France, their mission: killing Nazis. The scenes with conflict are fairly predictable for Tarantino work, graphic and bloody. Don’t assume because there’s violence though that this is another hack and slasher like Kill Bill, the violence and action has been pulled back to focus more on the story, but still leaving room for violence and gore when the time calls for it; making the movie much like a World War II Pulp Fiction.
The movie goes on, Raine’s killing Nazis, Hans is doing his Nazi thing, obviously leading to the eventual clash of these characters come the climax. Every scene is carried out with Tarantino’s signature ways of making every single scene fun to watch and exceedingly stylish in every way from costumes to scenery; not quite as cinematic comic booky as Sin City, but still very appealing to watch.
The story is fairly predictable and easy to follow, so even the simplest mouth-breather should have no difficulty following the plot. Reason for this is that, as the movie progresses, the film begins to focus more on the characters as much as the story, and with the characters being significantly more complex than the story, this is where it becomes even more fun to watch.
The acting is really something, while normally I like characters not going over the top, in this movie almost every character goes over the top in their acting, which makes it strangely balance out and still seem tasteful. Pitt’s portrayal of a good l’ southern boy is simply ingenious from the accent right down to making his jaw and lower lip stick out an inch or two further from his upper lip, it just fits for the character. Waltz simply steals the show though as he portrays Hans in so many different ways and methods that the movie begins to feel like it should be about him and you catch yourself almost wanting to see him succeed as he so easily outsmarts his opponents; you have to remind yourself frequently that this is the bad guy and you shouldn’t be wanting him to win. I honestly think had they made this character anything but a Nazi then he would be the fan favourite of this movie.
Final thoughts: if you want a fun war movie this summer but G.I. Joe’s just not sating your violence and gore fetish, then by all means check this movie out. The story’s hardly literary gold but it still makes for a movie that’s fun and easy to watch… k well maybe not easy to watch as some of the violence will make the audience flinch and the last scene even made me look away (while laughing though… I think I have issues). The movie is stylish, violent, funny and very entertaining as long as the dragged out explanatory scenes don’t put you off; it’s like watching a good wrestling match, you know how it’s going to end but it still manages to entertain you. All in all, good film, I don’t think it will win any awards for Best Picture or anything, but still a fun movie regardless.
I’m out
By: Lee Clifford
Quentin Tarantino is style. Just wanted to make sure everyone was clear on that. Inglorious Basterds, Tarantino’s remake of the film The Inglorious Bastards, is everything you would expect from the usually controversial and often over the top writer/director, but there are also points that make this film stand out from his usual work.
The film opens with Tarantino’s renowned organized chaos, as the opening credits flipflop from fonts, sizes and colours almost at random. The movie is broken down into chapters, which makes the passage of time easier to swallow for the viewers, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
The movie itself begins on a dairy farm in Nazi occupied France. Col. Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) interviews the owner of the farm in efforts to find hiding Jewish families. The scene’s primary focus is to let us know that Hans is the main villain of this film, but that he’s a cunning, intelligent and sometimes almost philosophical enemy instead of the brutish butchers that audiences have come to associate Nazis with.
The scene goes on for far too long, which is one of the few negative issues with this movie; there is far too much build up for predictable outcomes, making the payoff, maybe not disappointing, but there’s not much of a surprise when the outcome finally occurs. It feels like at times that there’s explanatory scenes just for the sake of explanatory scenes; there are talking scenes that go on for 20 minutes to a half hour that easily could have been established in under ten minutes.
Come chapter two, we’re introduced to Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) and he’s rounding up a covert strike force of Jewish Americans to drop deep into Nazi occupied France, their mission: killing Nazis. The scenes with conflict are fairly predictable for Tarantino work, graphic and bloody. Don’t assume because there’s violence though that this is another hack and slasher like Kill Bill, the violence and action has been pulled back to focus more on the story, but still leaving room for violence and gore when the time calls for it; making the movie much like a World War II Pulp Fiction.
The movie goes on, Raine’s killing Nazis, Hans is doing his Nazi thing, obviously leading to the eventual clash of these characters come the climax. Every scene is carried out with Tarantino’s signature ways of making every single scene fun to watch and exceedingly stylish in every way from costumes to scenery; not quite as cinematic comic booky as Sin City, but still very appealing to watch.
The story is fairly predictable and easy to follow, so even the simplest mouth-breather should have no difficulty following the plot. Reason for this is that, as the movie progresses, the film begins to focus more on the characters as much as the story, and with the characters being significantly more complex than the story, this is where it becomes even more fun to watch.
The acting is really something, while normally I like characters not going over the top, in this movie almost every character goes over the top in their acting, which makes it strangely balance out and still seem tasteful. Pitt’s portrayal of a good l’ southern boy is simply ingenious from the accent right down to making his jaw and lower lip stick out an inch or two further from his upper lip, it just fits for the character. Waltz simply steals the show though as he portrays Hans in so many different ways and methods that the movie begins to feel like it should be about him and you catch yourself almost wanting to see him succeed as he so easily outsmarts his opponents; you have to remind yourself frequently that this is the bad guy and you shouldn’t be wanting him to win. I honestly think had they made this character anything but a Nazi then he would be the fan favourite of this movie.
Final thoughts: if you want a fun war movie this summer but G.I. Joe’s just not sating your violence and gore fetish, then by all means check this movie out. The story’s hardly literary gold but it still makes for a movie that’s fun and easy to watch… k well maybe not easy to watch as some of the violence will make the audience flinch and the last scene even made me look away (while laughing though… I think I have issues). The movie is stylish, violent, funny and very entertaining as long as the dragged out explanatory scenes don’t put you off; it’s like watching a good wrestling match, you know how it’s going to end but it still manages to entertain you. All in all, good film, I don’t think it will win any awards for Best Picture or anything, but still a fun movie regardless.
I’m out
Sean Chin
Chief Editor & Founder of Live in Limbo. Host & Producer of the Capsule Podcast. Sean is an award-winning photographer and Nikon Professional Services member. His work has appeared on the CBC, Pitchfork, and MUCH. He is an Academy Delegate at the JUNOs (CARAS) and has been involved in the Toronto music scene since 2005. He is also an endurance and CrossFit athlete. You should follow him on Twitter @SeanChin.