"Inglorious Basterds"

Not an hour out of the theater and I'm already writing my review for Quentin Tarantino's latest movie, "Inglorious Basterds." One of my favorite movies of all time is "Pulp Fiction" and this movie had all the makings (and hype) of duplicating, if not exceeding, the greatness that is Fiction.

Let me start by saying that this was, in fact, a very good movie. Brad Pitt is without a doubt my favorite actor. Besides "The Mexican" (which I think he did after losing a bet), Pitt has not made a bad movie. In "Basterds", Pitt is THE star. Every scene he's in, he owns. And every one of his scenes is better than the ones in which he's not in. Aside from him, the rest of the movie succeeds in what it's trying to do. The story was great, the actors phenomenal, and the direction made it all work together.

I"m going to do my best to not sound pretentious here, but I feel like Tarantino is the best director at getting what he sees in his head transferred onto the screen. Every shot seems incredibly thought out and artistic. You can spot a Tarantino film a mile away and this one is no exception. HOWEVER...what I didn't get from this movie was the "cool" factor that "Pulp Fiction" and "Reservoir Dogs" had. Pitt was cool...no doubt. Every scene without him did not have that same feel, though. I missed that in this movie. This is not a knock on this movie b/c I don't think Tarantino was trying to make it "cool" throughout. It's simply to say that the "cool" is what I love most about his movies, and this one didn't have enough (as far as I'm concerned).

Overall: I'd give this movie and A. Stay away if you don't like graphic violence...which leads me to my next point...

What, in movies, has happened to the classic "camera turn-away," when there's a graphic scene (whether sexual or violent or what have you) where everyone in the theater knows what's about to happen and right before it does, the camera conveniently turns away, saving our eyes from things we need not see. With the level of violence shown in "Inglorious Basterds" and most other R movies these days, where do movies go from here? Some might call this artistic expression, but it seems more to me like an "anything you can do, I can do better" or "whatever you show, I'll show more" and I don't see an end in sight. Has anyone ever left a movie saying, "Wow, that would've been great if only the violence was more graphic?" To me, it just seems unnecessary and actually takes AWAY from what the film is trying to do. B/c instead of talking about the movie itself, people are left discussing the graphic nature of the film. To me, if you focus so much on being gruesome, then it proves that you really don't have much to say.
("Inglorious Basterds" is a good movie despite the graphic violence, not b/c of it)

"Duets"

The other night a friend of mine (Becky) pointed out to me that I had several "negative" reviews on my blog. After reading a few, I agreed. So I thought I'd write a quick review of a movie I watched recently and enjoyed thoroughly.

The 2000 Bruce Paltrow movie "Duets" is one of the more surprising movies I've seen in a while. The movie is broken up into 3 different "duets", with all very different stories. If the storylines are good, the singing performances are even better. The movie revolves around karaoke singing. Hard to explain, but it is pulled off well. I never like giving anything away in movies, but know that the movie is much more than people hopping from one karaoke bar to the next. The singing is more or less the healing source for things gone wrong. If you're looking for a different movie, check out "Duets."

Also,it's hard to pass up a movie starring Huey Lewis.
"Duets" also includes Paul Giamatti and Gweneth Paltrow

"District 9"

Finally Hollywood has put out a movie that dares to be different. I'm not a huge sci-fi guy (and don't say that "Star Wars" is sci-fi b/c it's way more than that), but my curiosity got the best of me, so I went and saw "District 9" on opening night. I have to say that I was more than pleased w/ what I saw. The movie is almost broken up into 2 parts: 1. the set up and 2. the play out. At first, I was thinking that the 2nd half of the movie was more entertaining than the 1st, but after thinking about it, I'd say they were both equally entertaining...just different.

Things I loved about this movie:
1.They didn't use any well-known actors. It makes the story more believeable and gives authenticity to where the movie takes place.
2.How they portrayed the aliens. There's not much more I can say about this w/out giving something away, so I'll just say that I LOVED what they did w/ the aliens.
3.There was no romance story that you would typically see in a summer movie. (That is, the lead guy doesn't suddenly get partnered w/ a female who he hates at first and then eventually falls in love with). There is a love ingredient in the movie, but it is certainly not in the forefront
4.The science fiction aspect of the movie was very, very well done.
5.The movie was shot in a very real way. It's a mix of documentary and live action.
6.The movie had me talking in a South African accent for days. And I nailed it.

Overall, I'd give this movie an A-. I didn't leave the theater obsessing over it, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I would recommend it to all my movie-obsessed friends...you know who you are.

Next: "Inglorious Bastards" comes out this Friday. If I write anything less than a raving review of it, consider me the most depressed person in the world.