Poughkeepsie, NY — I do not know what Roger Ebert was thinking when he reviewed “Knowing,” a 2009 sci-fi train wreck staring Nicholas Cage. Roger, I want my dollar (Redbox) and two hours back.
I almost gave up on Ebert until tonight. Here’s what he had to say about Quentin Tarantino’s new picture, “Inglourious Basterds:”
For starters (and at this late stage after the premiere in May at Cannes, I don’t believe I’m spoiling anything), he [director/writer Quentin Tarantino] provides World War II with a much-needed alternative ending. For once the basterds get what’s coming to them.
Ebert is right. For once, it’s nice to see a WWII movie that doesn’t leave me feeling helpless, sad.
“Basterds” is a hip and refreshing departure from films like “Saving Private Ryan,” “Patton” and “Schindlers List.” Instead of a rule-following-nice-guy like Tom Hanks, viewers get Brad Pitt: a drug abusing roughneck whose scarred neck is not from a shaving accident. While Liam Neeson and Ben Kingsley risk their lives to save others, Pitt and his rowdy revelers risk their lives to maim, smash and scar Nazi soldiers.
The long take of Shosanna, shot over head, walking from the projection room and down the stairs was one of many showcasing Taratino’s great eye for directing.
Christoph Waltz played Colonel Hans Landa perfectly. The unnerving calmness Waltz brought to the character–and that maniacal smile–reminded me of Ralph Fiennes in “Schindlers.”
On the other hand, Manohla Dargis, movie reviewer with the NY Times, was right. Waltz’s character was so intellectually superior that Tarantino needed another character to match the “Jew Killer’s” eccentricities. If not another character, I don’t even think rewriting any of the existing characters could have fixed it either. But if they were considered one character, maybe the nine “basterds” are supposed to be the counterbalance to Landa and his intelligence. That would be another explanation for the films righteous ending.
Never the less, it was really nice to see Hitler obliterated by a bunch of country bumpkins like the “basterds.”
- east coast paper boy
Tags: adolph hitler, basterds, ben kingsley, brad pitt, christoph waltz, colonel hans landa, fujifilm, fujifilm instax, inglourious basterds, knowing, liam neeson, manohla dargis, movie poster, movie review, new york, new york times, nicholas cage, ny, ny times, patton, photography, polaroid, pougkeepsie, quentin tarantino, ralph fiennes, redbox, regal cinemas, roger ebert, saving private ryan, schindlers list, Tarantino Avengers in Nazi Movieland, tom hanks, world war II, wwII
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